The Web Of Mt. Natagumo
Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of Winds, Waves, And Chains! The Mt. Natagumo Arc begins in this chapter and you know that means some major battles are about to come up so feel free to get excited! And speaking of a little excitement, I'd like to inform you all that Pat reon has now introduced a feature for buying posts! That's right, if the whole monthly payment thing isn't for you or you just can't help that nagging bit of curiosity, now you can view my posts for only $3 dollars! So swing by and check that out. Now then I believe that's everything and with no guest review questions this week, on to the story!
Unknown Location in The Past
The Temari, if there was one thing she remembered about her past, it was that little handball. She remembered playing every kind of game involving the Temari, but she couldn't entirely remember why, or rather she hadn't thought about the reason why in so long she'd almost forgotten. What had her mother and father been like? Had they cared for her, or had they been too busy with other things and left her to her own devices to entertain herself?
Now, however, images were appearing of a time nearly two centuries ago. Japan was embroiled in civil war and her father, if this was her father she was remembering, would don the armor of a samurai and go out to fight for his lord. Despite the serious expression he wore around others, Susamaru remembered him smiling. What had been the catalyst then?
What was it that happened in her life that made her agree to be a demon? Had she been lonely, had she been angry? Try as she might, the number of swirling images that were the memories of her past seemed scattered like an incomplete puzzle. One thing she was certain of, Susamaru had not been like other girls growing up.
Her mother had been strong-willed, not intimidated in the slightest by her father's initial serious face. At least that seemed to be right, someone had said she was a lot like her mother. But one thing she remembered for sure, she'd been an only child. Then he came, Muzan Kibutsuji, offering her power and the ability to play forever. And her parents…?
The Present: Wisteria Mansion
The Temari Demon jumped slightly as she woke up. 'Fuck, what was that,' the girl rubbed the left side of her face, 'was that the past just now?' She slowly opened the door to the box she shared with Jonathan and peered out, noting that it was, thankfully, night time out. Susamaru slowly crawled out of the box and grew to her normal size before sitting down against the wall.
A mumbling noise drew her attention as she turned to see Jonathan looking out of the box at her. "Hey, sorry to wake you up," Susamaru apologized nonchalantly, "though I guess it's technically time for you to get up anyway." The demon boy mumbled a few things. "Yeah I still have no idea what you're saying. I'm alright if that's what you're worried about, just having a little trouble sleeping."
Jonathan tilted his head at that before making a few other grunts and mumbles. "If you're wondering what's bothering me I doubt telling you will do any good. It's not that I don't appreciate it but I get the feeling any words of wisdom you might have for me would be…. misunderstood." The response she received to that was the masked boy making a few kicking motions.
"Oh," Susamaru summoned one of her Temari, "so you want to play, do you?" The answer she received were a few quick nods as Jonathan seemed to be smiling underneath his mask. "Alright, game on then. But I'm warning you, I play rough." That night the parents and other two slayers would be woken up by the sound of a couple of hard impacts on the ground and two laughing demons.
A Couple Days Later: Daytime
"It appears that you're all completely healed," the doctor announced after the group's latest examination. The gathered slayers had been there for a few weeks now, mostly waiting on the busted ribs of the boys to heal up. Mary's wrist and concussion had only taken a week or so to fully mend. This made their time at the mansion quite a contrast to their days of demon slaying up to that point. The little family was fairly content with things being this way and so was Zenitsu but Inosuke was naturally going stir-crazy waiting around with nothing much else to do but play games.
Jonathan and Susamaru were managing to have a great time during the night, though it did make sleeping occasionally difficult. Now that they were fully recovered, however, things would likely start picking up again. "FINALLY!" Inosuke declared, "when do we go on our next mission?!"
"Hold your horses, cowboy," John advised, "the Corps probably needs to be informed first that we're ready for active duty again. Then they need to go through whatever list they have on the latest demon sightings and figure out what would best be suited for us."
"And just how long is that gonna take?" The boar fighter growled. He'd taken to wearing only the lower part of his kimono over the last several days. None of them had yet to understand why he felt so comfortable going around shirtless and frankly none of them cared enough to find out at this point.
"They can take as much time as they need," Zenitsu waved his hand dismissively, "it's probably best that we make absolutely sure we're healed before we go on another dangerous mis…" he stopped speaking as John and Mary's crows suddenly flew in through the window and landed on the floor.
"North-Northeast!" Tennoji announced, "Your next mission is to the Northeast!"
"Guess it didn't take them long at all to hear about our recovery," Mary remarked while Zenitsu let out a defeated groan.
"All of you are to proceed to Mt. Natagumo," Juyago explained, "proceed there quickly to slay the demon!"
"Guess that means rest and relaxation is over," John shrugged, "back to work."
A Few Minutes Later: The Front of the Mansion
It took little time for the group to get all of their outfits back on and their belongings together and soon enough they were walking back out the gate of the place which had served as a residence for the last several weeks. But before they left, the group turned back to the old woman of the mansion. "Thank you for your help and hospitality," John spoke for all of them as they bowed, a gesture which was reciprocated by the elderly woman.
"Before you go," the woman held up a black rock and a flint with some kanji on it, "here's some good luck."
"Thank you so much," Mary nodded as everyone but Inosuke turned around. The woman struck the flint against the rock a few times then, creating sparks.
"What do you think you're doing?!" The boar fighter yelled as John was forced to restrain him.
"Hey! Cut it out you idiot!" Zenitsu surprisingly moved in front of the old woman while chastising his fellow slayer.
"What did you just call me?" Inosuke continued to struggle in John's grip.
"She's doing a purification ritual," the blond slayer explained, "it's ceremonial, she's striking the rock for good luck on our journey!"
"Which means you don't have to freak out," Mary added, "I know you're not afraid of fire so quit making a big deal out of it."
"Hmph, fine," he finally stopped struggling so that John could release him. The old woman didn't seem at all phased by any of this as she spoke her next words.
"Always live your lives with great pride," she bowed, "and I wish you luck in battle." The group, again excluding Inosuke, bowed one last time before turning and heading off at a brisk pace. It would be another minute later when the dual wielder spoke up again.
"What's the old lady talking about, 'great pride' and 'good luck'," he asked.
"It's actually kind of difficult to explain," Mary admitted, "when she says to live with great pride, she means to conduct yourself in a way that you won't be ashamed of. Mostly be a good person and all that. As for good luck, she's praying for our safety and that things will turn out in our favor."
"Conduct ourselves in a way that we won't be ashamed," Inosuke repeated, "What's that supposed to mean? And why is she wishing us luck in battle, she has nothing to do with us."
"She technically wasn't required to care for us those last few weeks, either," John pointed out, "but she did because the Demon Slayer Corps helped out her family once. Naturally she'd want us to be safe and for things to turn out in our favor because we protect people. But even if that wasn't the case, wishing others good fortune is just an acknowledged way to be kind. The only time you'd wish someone ill-fortune is if you have some reason to despise them or don't wish them to succeed."
"Why's it matter either way," Inosuke asked, "it sounds like everyone is just getting in on everyone else's business and not minding their own."
"I guess you wouldn't know it since you were raised by boars in the mountain," Mary glanced back, "but we're all connected to one degree or another. People depend on one another to fulfill their roles and it's through that spirit of cooperation that society is able to function. Now that you're a demon slayer your role is to protect people from demons which means you'll be risking your life for people you don't know and who'll likely never have anything to do with you beyond being protected by you. But because you're protecting them they'll be able to continue fulfilling their roles and that in turn will benefit other people."
"So what, I help one person and that helps another person," the boar fighter asked.
"It typically does, yes," John confirmed, "We're all part of a greater whole. Every action we take has an effect even if we can't see it and it's because of that that we need to be mindful of our actions and how they might affect others."
"You're kidding, right," Inosuke tilted his head, "how does what I do on my mountain affect someone else?"
"How do you think that demon slayer found you," Mary asked back, "you did something that drew attention and made you seem like a demon. If you hadn't done that, he'd never have shown up and everything after that never would've happened. We wouldn't even be having this conversation right now."
"Oh this is making my head hurt," the boar fighter groaned.
"Not like it takes much to do that," Zenitsu remarked.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Inosuke yelled before picking up the pace. Naturally the blond slayer screamed as the boar boy chased after him.
"That's one way to pick up the pace," John quipped, "we'd better hurry after them." Mary nodded in agreement as they continued to run to their next destination.
Nighttime: Mt. Natagumo
"Everyone hold up!" Zenitsu suddenly ordered as they stopped on the trail. Their destination was before them, a mountain covered in evergreen trees, "I think we need to pause here!"
"What's wrong," John asked as the group all halted and turned to him, "do you need a minute to rest up before heading in?"
"It's because I'm nervous okay!" The frightened slayer admitted while practically curled up into a ball on the ground, "now that we're about to reach our destination I'm getting scared!"
"I guess we probably should've expected this," Mary sighed while adjusting Jonathan's box on her back. John had handed it to her a little bit before their arrival.
"I just want to know why he's sitting like that," Inosuke commented, "it's pretty weird if you ask me."
"Like you're one to talk!" Zenitsu exclaimed back, "you're the last person I want to hear talk about weird! And besides, I can't be the only one getting spooky vibes from that place!" He pointed at the mountain.
"Oh wow, spooky vibes from a demon-infested mountain. Whoever would've expected such a thing," Mary remarked sarcastically, "did you think we were about to walk into a nest of sunshine and rainbows?"
"Well no, I just thought, I don't know, that it'd be less creepy," Zenitsu admitted.
"Regardless of whether or not it's creepy we still got to go in there," John pointed out, "they're not paying us just to go take a quick look."
"I say we leave this odd duck here," Inosuke suggested.
"I'm not the odd one here, you guys are!" The blond pointed an accusing finger at them, "a normal person would be terrified of this place and I'm normal!" Before anyone could say anything else, Mary felt something and turned towards the mountain once again. That's when they all noticed an ominous wind.
"What is it, Mary," John asked while also looking in the same direction.
"Something strange," she answered, "I think we better get moving." Her husband nodded in understanding before the group proceeded forward, save for Zenitsu who begged them to wait up. After running on the trail for another minute the group arrived at what appeared to be the foot of the mountain with several large trees around the trail marking the entrance. Mary saw the likely source of her bad feeling then: a demon slayer lying on the ground.
He was clearly injured and had dried blood on his face but still lifted his head when they approached. "Help me," the slayer spoke the moment they were in earshot.
"They've already sent other slayers here," John asked as numerous questions started swirling around in his head. 'If they had another slayer here then something clearly happened. Are there more in there and if there are does that mean they need backup?'
"Are you alright," Mary asked, kneeling down to get a better look at their comrade's wounds. Unfortunately, she would only have a moment before something flashed in the moonlight and the boy was suddenly yanked off the ground by a seemingly invisible force.
"They were attached to me too!" He yelled in terror while flying through the air, "please! Don't let me die here!" His body suddenly turned in midair and was yanked through the trees out of sight. Zenitsu covered his mouth in horror at what they'd just seen. The others were a bit shaken too.
Mary took a calming breath as John put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "The feeling you're having right now," her husband began, "is it the same as in Asakusa?"
"No," the lady slayer shook her head, "it's foreboding but it's not him."
"Then whatever's in there isn't the worst it could be," the former hunter acknowledged, "let's head in."
"I'll go in first," Inosuke snorted in amusement, "you can all stand behind me trembling like little animals. This vibe, it's making me hungry."
"You mean you're hungry for a fight," Zenitsu was back to trembling on the ground. The boar boy's answer to that was to simply laugh before heading in with Mary and John following close behind him. Naturally this left the nervous blond sitting on the road by himself. Ordinarily the two parents might've worked together to drag him along but if they had other comrades waiting on the mountain then time was of the essence.
That being said, the trio was eventually forced to slow down a bit and move at a more moderate pace in order to survey their surroundings. Apparently the mountain had once been a place for pilgrimages or a shrine as they passed some old statues that resembled monks. What would finally halt their progress would be Inosuke suddenly looking at his hands. "What in the world is this," he asked upon noticing some odd thread on his fingers.
"Spider webs," John observed, "since you ran around without a shirt on I thought your mountain had a more moderate climate. Have you really never encountered spider webs before?"
"Of course I've run into this sticky thread before," the dual wielder shook his hands in an attempt to rid himself of the web, "but this whole place is full of 'em! I've never seen this many in one place before!"
"He's not wrong," Mary looked around and noted there seemed to be some kind of spider web in nearly every tree and bush around them, "I've never seen this many at once, either."
"Hopefully it's just something to do with the environment of this mountain," John gripped his sword, "either way keep your eyes open, we're in enemy territory now." His wife nodded while Inosuke finished cleaning the webs off his hands. Then, just as they were resuming their search, they saw movement.
"Up there," Mary called as they quickly ascended a small hill. It was there they found the source of the movement, another slayer. It was a boy with short black hair that had bangs hanging on either side of his forehead. He was clearly nervous but wasn't paying as much attention as he should've been, allowing John to approach him from behind and place a hand on his shoulder. Expectedly the slayer turned and was about to draw his sword until the father held his hand up.
"Easy there kid," he spoke in an even, calming voice, "we're here to help. I'm John Keller, this is my wife, Mary, and our other fellow slayer, Inosuke."
"Other slayers, thank God," the boy sighed in relief, "what rank are all of you?"
"Mizunoto," Mary answered, "all of us have the same rank, what about you?"
"Seriously, they sent Mizunoto here," their fellow slayer's nervous look returned, "everyone that's been slaughtered so far has been a Mizunoto. It doesn't matter how many they send it won't be enough. We need a hashira right now-UFF!" He was silenced by a punch to the face from the boar boy.
"Inosuke!" The lady slayer grabbed his wrist, "what was that about?"
"The only thing that's not enough is this sputtering little weakling right here," the boar fighter growled as he moved within inches of his face, "now why don't you tell us what's going on here, weakling?"
"Is that any way to talk to your senior," their fellow slayer asked while wiping some of the blood off of his face, courtesy of the bloody nose Inosuke had just given him. "We got the orders from our crows to come here. There were ten of us who showed up and began patrolling the mountain. But not long after we started it happened; some of the slayers started killing the other slayers."
"The slayers started killing each other," John raised an eyebrow, "if that's the case then why didn't you start killing anyone?"
"I don't know," the boy shook his head, "all I know is there was this odd rattling sound and then-." He stopped speaking as a sudden noise reached their ears.
"It wouldn't happen to be this sound, would it," Mary asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes, this was it," the slayer confirmed while looking around fearfully, "shortly after we heard it was when some of the slayers started killing each other."
"We need to locate the source of it immediately then," John declared, drawing his sword. His wife and Inosuke quickly followed his movement and drew their own weapons while looking around. Another sound caught their attention then, the sound of shuffling feet. Looking over towards their left, the group saw a small number of figures approaching, figures wearing Demon Slayer uniforms!
"It's them," the frightened slayer gasped. And something was definitely strange about them. Their movements were odd, almost forced in a way and their heads were all down. As they approached, one swung for John while another swung at Inosuke.
The others followed suit, attempting to strike them with their blades as the group continued to evade. "What's up with these morons," Inosuke laughed, "don't they know it's taboo for demon slayers to fight each other?"
"Have you not been listening to a single word that's been said," Mary barked, "something is obviously controlling these slayers. They're jerking around like puppets on strings!"
"Then we'll just cut 'em to pieces!" The dual wielder unraveled the bandages around one of his swords and charged. Thankfully, he was stopped by John throwing an arm around his neck.
"Some of them could still be alive," he pointed out, "and we shouldn't cut up the bodies of our comrades unless we've got no choice."
"Ah come on! Why do you keep denying me the chance to cut something with my blades?!" Inosuke struggled in his grip.
"Because you keep pointing them at the wrong target," the former hunter grunted before throwing the boar boy into one of the possessed slayers aiming for their ally's back. Mary moved in and kicked another one he was defending against away.
"Aw dammit!" The boar boy seemed to be tangled in something else while on top of the manipulated slayer, "more spider webs!"
"'More spider webs'," Mary repeated before catching the same glint behind another slayer that she'd seen on the wounded one from before. Acting on a hunch, she dodged around her attacker's next strike and brought him to the ground with a sweeping kick before swinging her blade just above his back. The sword made contact with something and the slayer collapsed, very much like a puppet with its strings cut. "Threads! They're being controlled by threads on their backs!"
"So that is what's going on," John smirked before kicking another slayer as he and Inosuke both leapt up and swung their swords in wide sweeping motions. Right after passing over them, the slayers all collapsed due to their cut threads.
"Ha, I already knew about those threads before you did," Inosuke declared.
"Then why didn't you cut them in the first place," Mary deadpanned. Naturally the boar fighter didn't have an answer for that as he tried to avoid her gaze.
"Figuring it out is only the first step," John reminded everyone, " the next thing we need to know is how they're attached in the first place and the location of the demon controlling them." He was about to proceed to do just that until he noticed an odd feeling on his left arm. Looking down, he spied some white spiders crawling on his sleeve. 'What in the world,' he started to think before realization struck and he quickly swatted them off. "Of course, it's spiders, make sure there are no spiders crawling on you!"
"Oh outstanding," his wife huffed while brushing some of the spiders off of herself, "spiders, it just had to be spiders."
"Be thankful it wasn't something like snakes or cockroaches," her husband quipped, causing her to shudder a bit.
"Uh, guys," their fellow slayer pointed at the downed attackers. The controlled slayers were rising back to their feet and picking up their weapons once again.
"Shit, the spiders are probably still on them," John realized as they readied their weapons for another attack.
"Even if we brush the spiders off of them more will just come along and attach more threads," Mary realized in annoyance, "we need to find that demon."
"Or we can just squash all of these spiders!" Inosuke declared while stabbing the ground repeatedly and crushing the demon-produced arachnids.
"And just how long is that gonna take," the other slayer asked while dodging out of the way of another slash.
"Too long," John kicked away one attacker before dodging the other, "Mary, you work on locating the demon."
"I'll see what I can do," she responded while jumping over another slayer and cutting their threads, "but this feeling of mine doesn't really work on command."
"You want something that works on command," Inosuke spoke up, "I got just the thing!"
"You've got a detection ability?" Mary asked in confusion.
"We can get an explanation later," the former hunter grunted while blocking another attack, "but if you really can do something like that, then Mary and I will cover you. Also, other guy, what's your name?"
"It's Murata," he informed while cutting the threads off the back of another slayer.
"Right, Murata, Mary, and I will cover you, Inosuke, so get ready to use that abi-," John stopped talking as an ominous feeling came over him. All of them looked up towards the treetops then to find someone standing on the spider threads, creating the illusion that he was floating in midair. It was a boy with deathly white skin, piercing teal eyes, jagged white hair that fell to his shoulders and covered his left eye along with a white kimono with a spider web pattern on it. When he looked up, the group also caught a glimpse of a red-dot pattern on his face and forehead.
"I will not allow you to disturb the peaceful life my family has here," the demon spoke with a surprisingly deep voice.
"Family," Mary repeated, "don't tell me there's more than one of you on this mountain?"
"Mother will deal with all of you shortly," the apparent spider demon ignored her question but inadvertently answered it anyway. But Inosuke wasn't having any of it and jumped up then off the back of one of the manipulated slayers to get some height in the air. The demon boy, however, didn't even flinch as Inosuke's slash fell just short of its target.
"Damn you!" The Boar Fighter fell back towards the ground, "don't run away! Fight me! Fight-UFF!" He landed back first on the dirt.
"You alright, Inosuke," Mary asked after witnessing the hard landing.
"Why'd he even show up if he wasn't planning on fighting us?!" The dual wielder demonstrated that he was just fine by hopping right back up.
"I think because the so-called 'mother' is the one already fighting us," the Breath of Water user pointed out while dodging another strike, "we can hunt down the rest of however many demons are on this mountain later, for right now-."
"Yeah, yeah I know," Inosuke dodged and cut the strings off another attacker, "you want me to find the demon who's controlling all these guys. Just shut up already and let me focus." He planted his blades in the ground and took a knee with both hands held out to his side. "Breath of the Beast Seventh Fang: Spatial Awareness."
Something that Inosuke had never quite adequately explained to the two parents was how his sense of touch was far sharper than an average human's. The reason being was because he had no idea up to this point that it was abnormally sharp. But it was this ability he was utilizing now by feeling disturbances in the air to sense where their target was. And it proved successful as he felt something with a signature that could only belong to their current opponent.
"I found you, funky string demon," the boar boy smiled beneath his mask.
"You got a location then," John asked while blocking another attack.
"There's a strong presence just over there," Inosuke pulled his blades out of the ground and pointed in said direction.
"Good work kid," the senior slayer complimented. For some reason this seemed to make their comrade a little giddy before he dodged out of the way of another attack.
"We're not going anywhere with all of these guys attacking us," Mary pointed out.
"Then leave them to me!" Murata declared while moving forward and clashing his blade with one of the others.
"What do you mean 'leave it to you'," Inosuke asked, "You're the guy who pissed his pants earlier."
"I did not you stupid boar!" Their fellow slayer yelled back, "and I was talking to Mary and John anyway so shut it!"
"Being fair you do seem to have suddenly gained a backbone," Mary remarked while kicking away another attacker.
"I know that wasn't my finest moment back there, I'll admit it," He responded, "but I am a demon slayer. Now that I know about cutting the threads and the spiders, I should be able to find a way to hold them off, especially with the basic moves they're all using. Not to mention, there are probably more people under the demon's control closer to her and who knows what else they might be capable of. It's best if you all go on ahead so that you can save them!"
"Alright, watch your back kid," John nodded before he and Mary both ran, grabbing Inosuke while doing so.
"Hey! Let go of me!" He raged, "I'm gonna pound that guy's face in for calling me a stupid boar!"
"Will you let it go and get out of here!" Murata yelled back. This didn't stop the dual wielder from shouting incoherently for another couple of minutes before they let him go to run alongside them.
"Dammit, I can't wait to get back so that I can pummel that guy," he continued to grumble.
"Just drop it already," Mary sighed in annoyance, "what we need to know right now is whether or not we're still going in the right direction?"
"My senses have never lied to me Dairy," Inosuke stated confidently.
"It's Mary!" The mother huffed, now even more annoyed.
"We should be getting close," the boy ignored her before suddenly waving his arms around wildly, "and what is it with all of these threads?!"
"If these webs were spun by the same spiders the demon uses in their Blood Demon Art, it really must mean we're getting close," John surmised. Unfortunately, Murata's prediction would come to pass as another slayer barred their way. It was a girl with a ponytail.
"No," she spoke while removing her blade from the throat of another slayer. She also had a dead slayer by the hair with her left hand, "don't come any closer. If you do, I'll end up killing you. You need to run and bring someone of a higher rank. Please, I'm begging you, help us!"
Tears were streaming down her face, the sight of which made Mary grit her teeth in anger. The girl suddenly grabbed her weapon with both hands and swung which the lady slayer blocked but noticed something different. 'She's faster, and her blows are stronger,' the mother observed while dodging the next attack.
"I'm being controlled," she choked out, "so my movements aren't my own at all!" The girl continued to attack, over and over again, each blow blocked or parried by Mary. What made this all the more sickening was they heard a snap at one point, the result of one of her joints being worked beyond its limit. But before she could attack again, John cut the threads on her back, causing the slayer's body to go limp.
Mary caught their comrade then. "Damn," the lady slayer examined the victim, "that demon doesn't care one bit about the strain she's putting on their bodies."
"Of course not," John shook his head, "if it's the mother, her objective is to kill every last one of us. She has no reason to care about the condition of the ones she's using to do it since she'll kill them afterwards anyway." As if to confirm his words, other slayers began rising, their forms manipulated by the threads. What made this group different, however, was the condition of their bodies.
Not only were they bloodied, many of them had limbs which were twisted and broken, some even had bones sticking out of a few places. What made things worse was the girl suddenly getting yanked out of Mary's arms, the threads controlling her once again. "Shit," she picked up her sword, "they get controlled even quicker here."
"The demon's ability must be stronger the closer we get," John theorized. But his attention was drawn to one slayer whose right arm was bent in three different directions.
"Please," he begged, "please, end my life. The bones in my…. Arms and legs are all…... broken. I've got internal injuries…. bones piercing…... my inner organs. The pain… there's unbearable pain every time I'm…... forced to move. I'm a dead man …either way, so please…. Help me… just end it already."
"I understand," John nodded grimly, "Mary, Inosuke, identify the ones who aren't fatally injured."
"What are you going to do?" His wife already suspected the answer.
"What the hunter's doctrine demands," was all he said before charging forward at full speed. Up to this point he'd been holding back due to the condition of the previous slayers. They were either dead or unconscious before, so he had no way of safely checking their condition. This, however, he could confirm and so he used his full strength and skill, slashing through the neck of his unwilling opponent in such a way that there was no pain.
Mary understood this was what needed to be done but still couldn't bear the sight of it, instead focusing on blocking the attacks of the ones who were alive and wouldn't be dying soon. Inosuke was less understanding, so he just focused on helping corral the others. John would cut through the necks of three more slayers in quick succession, ending their already fading lives and allowing them to pass along peacefully into the next life. Unfortunately, this was not the actual solution to their problem.
"So, what do we do now," Inosuke asked as they all moved to stand back-to-back, "killing them made them quiet but their bodies are still moving!"
"I know, I'm still working on that," John admitted while racking his brain. As the girl came in to attack again, the box on Mary's back suddenly opened and her son came rushing out.
"Jonathan!" Mary called, unable to stop him from rushing into the fray. But instead of attacking with his claws, he tackled the girl's midsection and threw her into the air. This confused everyone for a moment until she went over a branch and hung their limply.
"What, the threads aren't moving me anymore," the slayer girl noted in surprise and relief, even if she was suspended several feet in the air. Jonathan jumped up and down excitedly while making a few gestures that his father recognized. 'That's right,' he recalled, 'I gave him a lesson on leg-hold traps one day. To think he'd remember it and use it now of all times.'
"Holy shit!" Inosuke exclaimed, "what was that just now?! I wanna do that too!" He laughed rather maniacally then as he intentionally lured one of the slayers away before turning around, tackling him, and throwing him up to get tangled in the branches. "Hahaha! You see that, anything you can do I can do too!" Another shape came flying out of the box and tackled the closest controlled slayer.
"I bet you can't beat my record!" Susamaru declared while mimicking the movement and putting another slayer up in the trees.
"You're on Cinnamaru!" The boar fighter accepted her challenge.
"It's Susamaru you dingus," she called back as everyone went to work copying the move Jonathan had shown them. It went from being a battle to more of a game as one attacker after another was tossed into the trees above. After only a few minutes, the branches were full of slayers dangling from the threads controlling them, unable to move.
"Ha! You see that! I got more of them than you did!" Inosuke declared.
"Learn to count, that whole group over there is mine," the Temari Demon shot back while pointing up to the trees.
"I can count just fine! One, two, eight, seven, ten," the dual wielder pointed at all the ones he'd thrown up.
"That's not how numerical order works," Susamaru huffed. As the two continued to bicker about who got more John and Mary could only shake their heads in amusement.
"You certainly picked a competitive older sister," Mary giggled. Jonathan merely hummed while giving a closed-eye smile. But that's when Mary's odd feeling suddenly crept up on her again. "Oh no, John." Time seemed to slow as they turned towards the other hanging slayers and watched as their heads started twisting.
Jonathan was the closest to someone and jumped up towards the girl slayer, his hand reaching out in an effort to cut the threads. The others rushed towards the still living slayers as well, but time was not on their side as they saw the heads continue to twist and snap one after the other. Just before the girl's neck was snapped, however, something strange happened. What appeared to be a chain shot out of the demon boy's hand, striking at an incredible speed.
The blow was fast and somehow cut through all the threads in nearly the same instant. The girl was cut down just as her neck was starting to strain and as she fell Mary was able to catch her in time by diving to the side and grabbing her midair before landing on her back. Their comrade leapt up then, letting out a scream of terror as she felt her neck. Once she discovered everything was still in place, she breathed a massive sigh of relief before collapsing against a tree and breathing heavily. "Are you alright?" John approached and asked.
"I'm alive," she answered between breaths, "I'm alive but I wouldn't say alright. I think my right shoulder's been dislocated. The others, are they-?"
"Dead," the former hunter looked to the side, "it was only by some miracle that we were able to save you."
"Damn it," the girl hit the tree behind her, "what sort of monster are we facing? To just do that to so many people."
"The demons are defending themselves," Mary reminded, "but you're right, this kind of cruelty can't go unanswered."
"By the way, what's your name," John decided to ask.
"Ozaki," she introduced, "my name is Ozaki."
"I'm John," he indicated himself and everyone else, "this is my wife, Mary, and that's our son, Jonathan. The adopted older sister over there is Susamaru."
"I signed no forms of adoption," she commented but didn't sound as annoyed about it this time.
"And that's Inosuke," the father ignored the Temari Demon as he finished.
"Jonathan, and Susamaru," Ozaki looked between the two of them in confusion, "you two are demons."
"Ah shit, forgot to change my appearance," the demon girl sighed in frustration.
"You don't have to worry about them, they're with us," Mary assured.
"But that makes no sense," their fellow slayer stated, "You're demon slayers too, so why are you travelling with demons?"
"As I just said, Jonathan here is our son," John put a hand on his son's shoulder, "and Susamaru is with us now due to some odd circumstances that have pretty much made her an outcast among demons. You don't have anything to fear from them and you owe Jonathan here your life." The boy nodded before pulling out some of the special medical ointment used by the slayers and handing it to Ozaki.
"Thank you," she cautiously accepted the ointment, "I guess to keep you from thinking I'm ungrateful I won't tell anyone about the demons you're traveling with. Or are they sanctioned by the Corps?"
"We're still working on that," Mary admitted sheepishly while lightly scratching her cheek, "if we do happen to get found out, do you think you could put in a good word for us?"
"I doubt I'll be able to do much, but I do owe you, so I'll do what I can," Ozaki sighed in resignation, "now we need to get out of here and send out a crow. This demon is too strong for us to take on our own."
"You need to get out of here," John narrowed his eyes while looking towards the direction they'd been heading before, "back the way we came is another demon slayer named Murata. If possible, I'd like you to make sure he's okay and then get off this mountain to treat your wounds."
"What, then what are you all planning on doing?" The girl slayer asked in surprise. The response she received wasn't spoken at first as a sudden wave of absolute rage seemed to pour off of the husband-and-wife duo.
"We're going to deal with the one responsible for all of this," Mary answered simply, "now get going." Ozaki offered no arguments and turned to go while the rest of them proceeded further into the forest. Inosuke's attitude had shifted slightly after feeling their vibe and now he was all business.
"We're getting close," he announced, "the demon is this way, along with something else."
"If it's the final obstacle then it'll be the most difficult," John warned, "stay on your toes."
"I don't need you to tell me that," Inosuke readied his swords as their next opponent came into view, "I'm gonna hack that thing's head off its shoulders so that we can get to killing the demon!" He leapt up then and swung at their opponent, only to find out at the last second there was one little problem with his strategy: the one they were facing had no head to hack off?! The boar fighter realized this just in time to block an attack from one of the two gold blades that made up the tall muscular body's arms but was still sent sliding back several feet.
"Aim for the limbs!" Mary called as both she and John went in next, each one's attack blocked by one of the bladed arms of the large puppet.
"Got ya now!" Susamaru declared as both she and Jonathan moved in, each seizing one of the body's legs. But it began thrashing around, attempting to free itself while also deflecting another attack from Inosuke.
"This is so damn frustrating!" The boar fighter complained, "how do we kill it if it doesn't have a head?!"
"Just do what Mary said and go for the limbs!" John called back as he dodged one of the strikes and grabbed the puppet's arm. His wife mirrored the movement and now all four of them had the beast restrained.
"Gah, fine, I'll show you what I can do!" Inosuke declared as he charged at the body. But before he could, the spiders appeared again and attached some threads to his body. "Oh no, I forgot about these guys!" The group could almost imagine the look of sadistic glee on the demon's face as she manipulated the boar fighter to charge at them.
"No you don't!" Mary declared before throwing her sword right above their comrade. It was moving just fast enough to cut through the threads above him and free the slayer from the demon's control.
"Stop making me giddier than I already am!" Inosuke practically yelled before jumping up and cutting the arms off of the body, "and screw that demon for making me a puppet!" Susamaru and Jonathan let go of the legs then as the parents cut them off and Inosuke finished it by slicing the torso in half.
"Whew, that should be the last one, right," Susamaru asked as the muscular puppet body began to disintegrate.
"Yeah, we should be able to take out the main demon now," Mary confirmed. But for some reason, Inosuke was silent. This was odd for a number of reasons and became even more odd when he suddenly charged John and grabbed him.
"Hey, what are you doing," the former hunter asked in obvious confusion.
"I get it now, I don't always have to go first," the boar fighter spoke before throwing the man up with all of his might, "so this time I'll let you strike the finishing blow!" John was sent flying into the air above the trees, more than a little surprised by the feat. 'I don't know what in the world you were hoping to accomplish with this,' he mused while turning in midair to look below. It was then he saw her, a demon sitting on a large rock who greatly resembled the one they saw earlier in appearance and dress.
Unlike the demon from earlier this one was clearly female, likely the reason she was referred to as 'Mother'. She also had long white hair that flowed down her back. 'Now to finish this,' John adjusted his fall so that he was heading straight for her, his blade poised to take her head. But that's when he noticed something strange.
The woman's eyes were closed, and her arms were held out almost, invitingly? 'What is she? Is she asking for me to take her head,' the former hunter wondered while descending. He reacted more on instinct then, shifting his blade to use what had become his favorite of the Breath of Water techniques; Fifth Form: Blessed Rain After the Drought.
It was a technique where the blade cut through the neck seamlessly and painlessly. As a hunter who wished to minimize the suffering of his prey, it resonated with him and was the same one he'd used on the slayers from earlier. Likewise, as he cut through the neck of the demon before him and landed behind her, she felt no pain. And as her head fell from her shoulders, she appeared at peace.
As John turned to go, however, the head of the demon gave a warning to him. "On this mountain," she almost whispered, "is one of the twelve Kizuki. Be careful." Their search, it seemed, was about to bear fruit.
And so falls the first of the Spider Family as the saga of Mt. Natagumo begins! I know I don't have to tell all of you it's gonna get intense later on, so in the meantime feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters! Also, check out my Pat reon and see about becoming a patron or buying a post! Last thing, stop in next time as our heroes encounter even more members of the Spider Family! 'Til then.