Dance of the blades

Chapter 45 Crush The Ones Who Hinder

Panicked filled Lan Sizhui's mind when he noticed one of the children had gone missing while he and Lan Jingyi turned their gaze for a second to the battle before them. Before he could alert Lan Jingyi though, the sound of rustling coming from his back caught his attention.

"Jingyi, A-long move out of the way!" Lan Sizhui screamed, alerting the two of them as they both were pinned down by Lan Sizhui. Before Lan Jingyi could make a sound of complain, something swishes past him and he narrowly avoided it in the process.

"Tch who would have thought you puny rascals would of dodge that" a voice sounded out from the bushes, the tone giving off the owner's annoyance. 

"Who're you calling rascals, you two faced coward! Show yourself right now!" Lan Jingyi shouted back to the unknown voice. He was pissed! Attacking them behind their backs was one thing but to attack them while a child was with them was another. But then again demons usually don't care about the age of their victims either way.

"Oh did I upset the little lan. I thought that remaining emotionless like a stone was your people's thing" the demon mockingly stated, but he did heed Lan Jingyi's words and revealed itself from the bushes.

"Sizhui" Lan Jingyi whispered to Lan Sizhui, whom nodded in return.

"This demon is unlikely a companion of the other one. I'll take it down, you guard A-long and find A-lian" Lan Sizhui instructed to Lan Jingyi, he gripped his sword and hastily stood.

"Total concentration flame breathing first form," seeing the boy dashing towards him, the demon quickly raised his hands in preparation of an attack. A cocky smile was plastered on his face, he was confident that he would surpass the boy in speed.

But just as the demon raised his hands to counter Lan Sizhui's strike, a faint sensation of heat blew passed him. Much to his shock when he looked back down to his hand, his found it had been split apart, blood dripping from it in a large pools of red.

"Unknowing fire" Lan Sizhui breathed out, sheathing his sword in its sheath. Looking back at the demon behind him, blood shot pupils stared back at him in rage.

"You..." the demon's cocky smile twisted into scowl, with his teeth revealed, they shone under the moonlight, sharp as a blade. Slowly the demon approached him, holding on to his sliced arm to put it back together. A menacing rage shown sweeping through the demon's skin, as cracks appear on the demon's horribly crafted put together demeanor.

Lan Sizhui stood tall, straightening his stance to not seem bothered by the demon's approaching figure. Taking a step forward, he could feel heat radiating off from his blade as gripped its hilt. Sometimes Lan Sizhui fondly wonders whether or not his sword felt the intensity he gets when facing a new opponent.

The moon shines bright upon the darken skies as Ouyang Zizhen charged forward with his sword. He could see each drop of sweat rolling down his face upon the blade's reflection.

He breathed out, exhausted from reflecting the colossal demon's attacks. Just as he was about to land another blow, he paused when he suddenly noticed the two figures running behind them.

What were they doing out here!  A sense of panic had surged through him as he immediately recognized the two, Jin Ling beside him also froze when he laid eye on what was distracting his friend.

 Unfortunately for them, the demon had noticed the two figures as well and taking this opening, it grabbed onto one of the trees nearest to it and threw it against the boys, sending them flying into the trees behind them.

Crack! 

The sound of the impact resonated through the night, leaving no room for question about the state the two young demon slayers must be in. Satisfied by results at immobilizing his attackers, the demon snapped another one of the trees beside it and threw it at the children.

While it had used a lot of force, it had no intention of killing both children. So when the girl had managed to avoid the tree, it did not get upset. Instead it felt a slight hint of joy at his success at capturing the boy, the girl was an added bonus though not as important.

"Caught you" the demon stated, delighted that by waiting patiently albeit with some unwanted company, the boy had finally came out on his own.

The boy bared the same frighted expression as the girl in front of him, making their relation easy known. Both of their faces turned pale as the shadow of the demon loomed over them.

It could almost taste the boy's flesh now, breathing in the sweet aroma of fear that ignited its hunger. It could feel its stomach growl. It was painful almost as if he was stabbed from within...

Oh

For some reason to indulge in its own curiosity, it looked down. It didn't know what it was trying to look for until it found it. There in between its stomach stuck out the tip of a blade.

And as quickly as the blade had came it was gone just the same, leaving behind a gaping hole and puddles of blood beneath where they stood. The pain was only momentary as soon the demon had a full view of its entire body, realizing too late it had been slain.

Thud!

The body unceremoniously fell, hitting against the hard, solid ground. A pair of almond coloured eyes stare upon it nonchalantly, seizing up the mess he had made.

"Ah that was a close call. Are you two okay?" the owner of the blade asked, attempting to make himself sound reassuring to the terrified children.

"Jingyi ge!"  A-lian called out, relief that they were saved. Her eyes were threating for tears to fall as she dashed to his side.

"Ack alright alright no need to cling. You're brother is already clutching onto my robes, I don't need anymore children clinging on me" the said young boy made an exasperated harrumph upon hearing his name mentioned.

"Now then A-long can you please get off me so that I can help your brother" Lan Jingyi said, approaching the injured boy to aid him.