Aspiration For Tranquility (kny x M!reader)

Ch. 20 - Interesting Allies

(Y/n) simply rubbed the tears away and finished what he was writing, blowing on the ink to dry it and rolling the paper up.
He grabbed his katana from its stand, the haori pins Urokodaki had gifted him from beside his bed, and made his way to the door of Urokodaki's room.
With a deep and shaky breath, he tucked the paper into the frame of the door so the old man couldn't miss it and vanished.

Only the small wind chimes outside made any noise around the house for the rest of the night.

Running to the other side of the mountain, (y/n) came across a small village he decided stay at for the time being.
Since it was only around midnight, (y/n) checked into a hotel and set up a futon in the center of the room.
With a heavy sigh, he crashed onto the futon and began to cry.

However, before he could fall into a pit of what he deemed self pity, distant shouts of distress caught his attention.
Pushing his feelings to the back of his mind, (y/n) grabbed his katana and ran towards the sounds.
Within seconds, he came across a scene that made his blood boil.
A demon that looked like a child with the kanji of 'lower moon 2' engraved into one of his eyes was overwhelming a slayer who was having a difficult time pinpointing where the creature was.

(Y/n) assumed the person being attacked was a slayer at least?
No ordinary civilian carried around a large chain with a mace head on one end and an ax head on the other.
(Y/n) was snapped out of his thoughts when the slayer got his arm slashed, causing him to fumble with his weapon.
Letting his anger boil over, (y/n) allowed his heavy, demonic aura seep onto the battlefield and he stepped into view.

Chills seem to run down the backs of both the demon and slayer as the sound of a blade being drawn filled the eerie silence.

"W-what the hell are you doing here? This is my territory, so back off! I don't know who you th-"

The demon tried to intimate (y/n), but his aggression came to a sudden halt as the two locked eyes.
Unreadable (e/c) staring into now petrified green.
While this silent exchange went between the demons, the slayer was quickly trying to decide what he should do.

"It seems like this area has a new owner now, hm? Let me help you see your way out of my territory, boy."

(Y/n) whispered into the ear of the frozen demon in a warning tone, suddenly next to him.
Before he could react, the demon found himself tightly bound to a tree with vines.
He screamed in pain as the vines squeezed and the thorns ripped into his skin, yet his cries fell on deaf ears.

While the demon shouted, (y/n) turned his attention to the slayer who was still trying to think.
Noticing that he's blind, (y/n) hid his aura and made his way towards the slayer silently.
The slayer grew anxious and whipped his weapon around in attempts to hit the demon who was now evading his senses.

"Relax your mind. Calm your breathing. Getting worked up won't save you from getting killed. Listen to my voice and my voice only. Drown out the sound of his screams and focus on trying to find me. Strain your ears if you must."

(Y/n)s voice came from all around the slayer as he tried to coach him into landing an attack.
Why would the demon do that though?
Why would what felt like a powerful demon want to help a slayer fight other demons?
Shrugging his doubts away, the slayer listened to the demon's advice and ignored everything that wasn't the demon's light footsteps.
Unfortunately, not paying attention to anything else but that caused the slayer to miss hearing the demon call an attack.

"Blood Demon Art: Enchanting Lavender Before Death."

(Y/n) called out and cut the back of his arms, an intoxicating lavender aroma wafted over the battlefield.
The lower moon tied to the tree stopped screaming but continued to struggle in the vines' grasp, his eyes now trained on (y/n).
The slayer on the other hand suddenly grew drowsy as if he had downed a bunch of sleeping medication.
In a panic brought upon by the 'attack', he swung his weapon around faster in attempts to locate (y/n) and end the fight.