"Caw! Mission! Mission!" Kanamaru perched himself on top of Inori's head as per usual, cawing for the whole world to hear. "To the west! You have a joint mission!"
"With who?" Inori paid for her meals, exiting the diner as she walked out of the town. She covered her mouth as a yawn escaped her lips. "Stars, I'm too tired for this."
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙
Death-attracting Forest.
That was what the locals called the forest. There have been many urban legends and ghost tales regarding the forest, but most, if not all, leading up to death. That was why the forest was called the forest that attracted death.
"They say that if you feel a strong urge to go into the forest, that means you'll die, and nobody can change that." The old lady from the tea shop placed a hand on her wrinkled cheek, sighing dejectedly. "It's been happening a lot recently, and you can hear screaming every night. Once the mist comes, everyone closes their doors and windows. They're all too scared to even come close to the forest now."
"Is that so?" Inori hummed, placing the teacup down. The tea was too bitter for her taste. "And yet, people still willingly go into the forest, huh? Sounds suspicious."
"Dear, wouldn't it be better for you to leave? That forest is beautiful, but it's not worth the risk," the old lady said, concern etched on her elderly face. "You're still young. You can visit this forest another time, maybe when you find a boyfriend to go with."
"Well, there are people going missing almost every night here, right?" Inori sipped the tea. Despite how bitter it felt in her mouth, she really didn't want to waste the drink. She almost gagged at the taste, but held it in. "Then, it's part of my job to investigate it, so please don't hold back if you know something."
A sudden commotion from outside grabbed the attention of the two women. Lifting pulled the curtains to the side, Inori deadpanned at the sight before her. "Oh, stars."
Sanemi was scaring the villagers, particularly the children and women, with his naturally aggressive expression and scars. She could tell the Wind Pillar was a bit taken aback by their reaction, despite him claiming to be used to it.
"Shinazugawa-san! Shinazugawa-san!" Inori called out, beaming when she caught his attention. She beckoned him to come closer. "You're finally here. I thought you wouldn't arrive until nightfall. I already have some information, so come here."
"Brat." Sanemi ruffled her hair in greeting.
Inori had to reassure the old lady that Sanemi was, in fact, her friend and not some creep trying to kidnap her. She had to request a little privacy from the villagers who were worried. It would've been funny if it wasn't Sanemi who they were judging. The Wind Pillar may not look like it, but he was a bit taken aback by their judgmental eyes.
"They're probably stressed." Inori huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "People have been going into the forest of their own will every night, and no matter how much they try to stop them, they would eventually enter the forest and never come out. They're too scared to investigate, especially since those sent also went missing."
Toying around with her teacup, Inori sighed. "They also said that mist comes out every night. This is the mountain area, so mist at night isn't weird, but I don't think it's unrelated," she told the Wind Pillar. "Either way, the villagers are too scared to investigate. So, they just settled on preventing, not that they're having much success."
"Don't mind them." Sanemi waved her irritation off, sipping his own tea. "But the fact that people are willingly going into the forest is weird. Any other information?"
"Other than most of the hunters sent here, even those of kinoe rank, ended up dying? The villagers said the people who went in had a...desperation of some sort." Even Inori furrowed her eyebrows when she received that information. "Some were even tied to their beds, but they ended up biting through the rope and still went into the forest. Also, they said that screams were heard every night, that's mostly what made them believe it's haunted."
"They're desperate to go into the forest? A blood demon art?"
"Most likely." Inori scrunched her face up as she took another sip of the bitter tea. "Chances of it being one of the Twelve Demon Moons?"
"With you onboard? A hundred fucking percent."
"Is that why you requested to have a joint mission with me?" Inori sweatdropped, pushing the tea towards Sanemi. "Please finish this for me, I can't...it's too bitter."
"Then, why did you order this?" Despite his words, Sanemi poured her tea into his cup, drinking it nonchalantly.
"I ordered sweet tea, but this place only has one type of tea." Inori took one of the ohagi Sanemi ordered, completely ignoring the glare the Wind Pillar gave her. "It's too bitter, my tongue can't handle it."
"One day, you're going to die of fucking sugar overdose."
"Oh, would you look at that?" Inori averted her eyes to look out the window. "The sun's setting. Let's go, shall we?"
After paying, the two pillars made their way toward the forest, receiving odd looks from the villagers on their way. They stood at the entrance of the forest, feeling the eerie night breeze blow their hair back. It didn't really take a demon slayer to know that the forest was bad news.
"Reeks like a shit ton of demons."
"Yes, I can feel it too." Inori felt a shiver run down her spine at the unpleasant feeling, swiftly squashing her anxiety down. "Should we split up and investigate it first or—"
"You shouldn't come inside." The two pillars stopped in their tracks as a little girl suddenly emerged out of the trees. Her eyes were sunken with thick bruises underneath, and her yukata was dirty and ripped. "The swordsmen who came were all killed. You won't be any different."
"Do you know something?" Sanemi narrowed his eyes, stepping forward without a care to the girl who flinched and stepped back. "If you know something, tell us."
"Shinazugawa-san, she's obviously injured." Offering a gentle smile, Inori stepped in front of the Wind Pillar. "Please let me take care of her." Turning around, she took slow steps forward and crouched, careful not to get too close to the obviously frightened girl. She noticed the rusty bronze color of dried blood staining the girl's grey sleeve.
"Hey, your arm is bleeding. It might get infected, so come here. I'll treat it." Inori smiled, lowering her voice to a whisper that seemed to echo in the silence. She pulled out some bandages and a few medicines from her bag. "You may not believe me, but I promise I won't hurt you. Neither of us will. We just want to make sure whatever's in that forest will stop terrorizing this village."
"It's impossible." The girl shook her head, crumpling the fabric around her chest. "The monsters eat them. They eat them slowly and make them scream. There was so much blood. Everyone was in pain." She slowly raised her head, nothing but pure terror reflected in her brown eyes.
"But the demon with the kanji in her eye is the worst." The two pillars tensed at her words. "She would beat them. She would cut them to pieces. She was the one who made them scream the loudest. She would hang them and turn them into decorations. The other monsters bow down to her, but she would beat them too. She is the queen of this forest. You can't beat her. Please leave."
The two pillars exchanged glances. Inori had to admit that the girl's story was suspicious. Demons wouldn't let humans live, not if they had the chance to kill them. The demon inside the forest was obviously a demon moon, so a little human girl like her wouldn't go unnoticed. The fact that the girl survived seeing a demon feast was suspicious.
"You must've been so scared." Inori still smiled, manipulating her words and voice to soothe the girl. "Don't worry, the other swordsmen may be defeated, but the two of us won't. But can you tell me what happened?"
"No, no, no, no, no, no." The girl began to claw her face, much to the Inori's worry. "Don't come closer. Don't come closer. Don't come clo—"
Inori had to knock the girl out because she wouldn't stop clawing her face. The Star Pillar began bandaging her wounds. "Uh, well, at least we confirmed that there's a lower moon here."
"Fucking finally." Sanemi cracked his knuckles with a grin. "I haven't killed one of the moons in ages."
Inori glanced around, noticing the mist that was beginning to fill the air. "This mist also reeks." She batted her hand, fanning away the mist, albeit futilely. "The other demons bow down to the lower moon demon even though demons tend to kill each other. Plus, people are desperate to enter the forest. Whatever this mist is, I suspect it has something to do with their compliance."
"Only one way to find out." Sanemi pointed her finger towards the now dark sky, then jabbed his thumb into the forest behind him. The sun had set, and the growls of the demons were finally beginning to echo.
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙
Inori had to slap a hand over her mouth to stop herself from throwing up, but even that wasn't enough to stop her from gagging and doubling over.
When the two pillars first entered the forest, they didn't find anything weirder than a few skittish animals. But when they went deeper, the first thing that hit them was the smell. The smell of rotten corpses, blood, and waste was enough to make them sick, but the sight that greeted them was far worse than the smell.
Dozens of demon slayers were crucified into the trees. Their bodies were slashed open, organs spilling out of their flesh. Flies, maggots, and beetles gnawed their flesh and organs. Some of them had a huge chunk of their faces eaten, leaving them looking like a half-skeleton. Some had their brains visible from what was left of their cracked skull. Some had their eyeballs hanging out of their sockets. Some had fresh blood dripping all over their body, from their hair to their toes. Some even had nothing left but the bones scattered on the ground. It was a gory sight straight out of a nightmare.
Did Zashi-nii look like this too?
"We should go deeper." Sanemi placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it tightly in a silent display of support, preventing her from sinking into her memories. "We can bury these guys after we defeat the demons."
Inori nodded. She steeled her nerves, putting her nausea and disgust away. She focused on the fury boiling inside a glass bottle, ready to explode at any given moment.
But she honestly didn't know which was worse, the crucified demon slayers or the villagers locked up in hanging cages. None of them would even realize there were barely human-sized birdcages hung on the branches if it weren't for the blood that seemed to drip from the sky. From where she stood below the cages, she could see limbs sticking out of the cages.
"I'm going to check."
If she thought the cages were bad, the people locked up inside were worse. The corpses inside were infested with maggots, flies, and other insects. Their flesh and organs had been ripped out, most likely by scavengers and demons. Some still had fresh blood dripping down the cage, a sign of recent death. Some of the cages were even overstuffed with corpses. Inori made a mental note to never eat before hunting demons again because she felt so sick, she was surprised she hadn't thrown up yet.
Mangled up and rotting corpses, half-devoured corpses, spilled organs and destroyed bodies, Inori had seen them more times than she could count over the short time of being a demon slayer pillar. But none of them could compare to what she saw on this mission. She was sure she would be getting nightmares for days or weeks into the future after this.
"Ara, ara, look what we have here." Inori snapped her head towards the voice, her eyes widening. A female demon was sitting on the cage hanging from a branch across from her, a smirk on her face. The demon had two horns sprouting out of her forehead and sparrow wings for ears. Her eyes glowed silver, the number one carved into her left one.
Lower Moon One. Inori unsheathed her swords. Didn't I just kill it a few months ago? There's a replacement already?
"Silver-rainbow hair and mismatched eyes. Why, if it isn't the lady the Lord wants." Lower Moon One cackled, sweeping her eyes over Sanemi, lingering just a little longer than what was considered comfortable. "Hm...a marechi? How lucky. To think that the little rainbow lady and a marechi have gathered in one spot. I can kill many birds with one stone tonight."
Star Breathing: Third Constellation: Mischief of the Twins
Just as Inori leaped from the branch she was on, Lower Moon One threw the human-filled cage at her. Inori instinctively kicked the cage, feeling her breath hitch at the realization of what she had just done. Though she didn't have time to dwell on it when she was swinging her sword, blocking the demon's claw while falling.
"Now, now, don't be impatient." Lower Moon One chuckled, watching as Inori landed gracefully despite the height of her fall. "A queen doesn't need to fight the war, she gets her knights to do it for her."
Blood Demon Art: Life-Draining Mist
A veil of pink mist wafted through the air. Inori slapped her hand over her mouth, making sure the dangling sleeve of her haori covered her nose and mouth.
Heavy stomping echoed throughout the forest, followed by unintelligible growls and moans. It didn't take more than a few seconds for dozens of demons to crawl their way out from the underground. Inori scrunched her face up, her nausea multiplying at the grotesque sight of the demons' faces. They resembled half-decomposed corpses that had just risen from their graves.
"My blood demon art is strong, you know." Lower Moon One smirked behind her hand. "My mist contains a...parasite of some sort. Inserting parasites into a living being is very easy, though you don't seem to have much trouble." She frowned, realizing that both demon slayers had their mouths and noses covered. "Well, it doesn't matter. You can't fight effectively with one hand, and there's just no way you can defeat all my knights. I'll just come to pick up what's left of you later."
"Wait up! Dammit!"
"Shinazugawa-san!" Inori kicked the demons lunging at her. She held her breath as her hands made quick work to take off her haori and tie it around the lower part of her face, not once stopping her kicks. "The demon will be here all night. You should focus on making sure you don't inhale the mist."
"Argh! Fuck this!"
Sanemi blasted the incoming demons away, hastily tying his haori onto his face. "I'm going to fucking kill that demon! You deal with these bastards." His voice was muffled, but she could hear him just fine. And it wasn't like she was in any position to complain or stop the Wind Pillar from rushing after Lower Moon One.
Star Breathing: Seventh Constellation: Judgement of the Scales
Inori continued to slash the army of demons. She dodged the blood demon arts blasted towards her, all while preventing any of the demons from chasing after Sanemi.
Scaling through the trees, Inori decapitated the demons who tried to eat the hung corpses. She pursed her lips as she took a closer look at the demons. They look like they're rotting. They were disintegrated here and there, and they were moving too stiffly. Aren't they already dead...no, parasites don't work like that. Parasites will drain their host's life until it's dead but will immediately find a new host. The fact that these demons still crumble after getting their heads lopped off means they're still alive. They have no free will, but they're alive. Her lips pursed into a thin line.
"I...can understand why they pity you."
Star Breathing: Thirteenth Constellation: Coils of the Serpent Bearer, Four Heads
Inori swung her sword until an illusion of a four-headed snake emerged out of it. She jumped from branch to branch as she decapitated any fiend that came in her way, killing all the half-dead demons in the area.
"May you...rest."
Could they even rest? Did they even have a place in the stars? Inori didn't have time to think about that. She immediately followed Kanamaru who was already leading the way for her. It didn't take long for her to reach a clearing Lower Moon One and Sanemi were at.
Wind Breathing: First Form: Dust Whirlwind Cutter
Sanemi dashed forward, an illusion of a horizontal cyclone encircled him. But his attack never reached Lower Moon One as it slashed a wall of demons instead. More and more demons popped out of the ground, lunging forward to attack Sanemi.
Star Breathing: Ninth Constellation: Arrow of the Archer
Inori ran around the clearing, making sharp turns to lop off as many heads as possible. She pivoted on the heel of her foot, sword ready to strike down Lower Moon One, but the demon wasn't slow to block it.
Blood Demon Art: Corrosive Mist
Inori shrieked into her makeshift mask as she was hit by a gust of stinging mist at point-blank range. She jumped back, nearly tripping over her own feet in her haste. Her eyes stung and her skin felt like it was being melted. Still, she forced her eyes open, gritting her teeth through the pain to attack again.
Star Breathing: Sixth Constellation: Dance of the Maiden
Inori killed every single one of the demons who emerged from the ground. The sudden change of tempo and speed disrupted their movements, making it easier for her to slice their heads off. She could see Sanemi coming closer to the now defenseless demon, rushing in after him.
"As long as your knights are dead, not even the queen can be saved from the blade of execution!" Grinning, Sanemi swung his sword. "Die, you fucking demon!"
"STOP!"
Inori dug her feet through the ground, switching the direction of her sword to clash with Sanemi's. Her reflexive moves managed to save the life of the little girl who recklessly stood in between the demon and the demon slayers; so narrowly, at that
"Move it, brat!" Sanemi gripped his sword, uneasy sweat trickled down from his temple at the realization that he had almost killed a human, a child at that. "That's the demon that's been killing the people of your village. Move."
"No!" The girl shook her head, spreading her small arms as wide as she could in front of the demon that smirked victoriously at them. "Don't hurt Nee-san!"
Ah. Inori pursed her lips, a mixture of pity and anger brewed inside of her. Is this why you said even the lives of demons have value? Is this why you pity them, Yoriichi-sama? Is this why they deserve pity?
"Miss, that's a demon who has eaten and hurt humans. We can't let it live." Be that as it may, that was still a demon—a lower moon demon, at that—and Inori was a demon slayer. "Move out of the way."
"No! People always hurt Nee-san and me!" The little girl shook her hand, angry tears falling out of her eyes. "That's why Nee-san hurt them back! I told you not to come closer, but you didn't listen! You hurt Nee-san!"
Inori's lips turned into a thinner line. Revenge wasn't foreign to her. After all, she became a demon slayer to, first and foremost, avenge her family. It was the same for most of the other demon slayers who lost their loved ones to the demons. Revenge wasn't foreign, and Inori could actually understand the girl's desire to protect her sister.
But they were demon slayer pillars, having a little girl protect a demon meant nothing to them. That was made apparent when Sanemi dashed forward faster than the eye could see, going past the girl to immediately decapitate Lower Moon One before she could unleash any more techniques.
"NEE-SAN!"
The girl wailed, holding the body of her crumbling sister. Inori sheathed her swords, but didn't avert her eyes from them. She couldn't stop herself from feeling sympathy for the two sisters as the demon finally crumbled into nothing.
Yoriichi-sama, the reason why you pity demons...the reason you say their life is also valuable...is it because they are not that different from us humans?
Even if she felt pity and watched as the demon died, Sanemi didn't bat an eye, sheathing his sword and walking away from the sobbing girl. That was until the girl decided to tackle Sanemi. Of course, Sanemi wouldn't fall from something like that, but he didn't bother pushing the girl away.
She punched and slapped the Wind Pillar as she screamed out curses at him. "You killed her! You killed her! You killed Nee-san!" Inori rushed towards them. "Why?! Nee-san was kind! She was kind! She loved me! She took care of me! But people hurt her! Why did you kill Nee-san? but not them?! Why?! Why?! Why?!"
"That's enough." Inori wrangled the girl off Sanemi, locking her arms behind her back. "Your sister is a demon. No matter how kind or loving she was, she was a demon who has tasted human flesh. A demon who has taken innocent lives. A demon who has hurt innocent people."
"Those people hurt Nee-san first!" The girl thrashed against the pillar's unrelenting hold. "Just why do you people even exist?! All you do is kill our loved ones! Who cares if they're demons?! They're still someone's loved ones! You just kill them without care! You're the villains here! Murderer!"
Inori knew it was just the words of a grieving child, but she couldn't help but feel as if her heart had just been stabbed.
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙
The sky had gone red by the time all the caged-up and crucified victims had been buried. Inori watched and instructed the entire process with half a mind, still wounded by the words of that grieving little girl.
She suddenly felt something heavy on her head, a calloused hand that ruffled her hair roughly. "You'll meet people like that from time to time," he told her, keeping his eyes on the graves that had just been dug. "As long as you don't forget who you swing that blade for and who you fight for, their words should mean nothing."
"Then, who exactly do I wield the sword for?" Inori stared at her hands. "My family? The dead? The living? What that girl said isn't wrong. Some demons chose to become demons because that was the only choice available to them at that time. Some are even forced into that life."
That's why you pity them, right? That's why you all say they're pitiful creatures, right? Even if Inori somewhat understood where that pity stemmed from, she couldn't stop herself from curling her arms around herself, feeling her skin crawl because she couldn't understand them. But why can't I feel that same pity you feel?
"If it's the hardships of life that made them demons, then they should've simply died as humans," Sanemi replied, and Inori couldn't stop herself from remembering Hizashi. "Life isn't going to be sweet forever. As long as you live, pain comes with happiness. You have no choice but to overcome it. There are really not many options for the life of human beings, it's either endure and overcome the hardships or die."
"What about they who overcome the hardships by becoming demons?"
"Then, they're fated to die by our blades," Sanemi answered with no hesitation. "We're demon slayers, we slay all demons regardless of their reason for becoming one. Once a human decides to become a demon, they seal their fate of dying by our blades." He turned to glare at her, though his glare held no heat. "Don't ever forget that."
Right, she was a demon slayer. Her job was to kill all demons, leaving not a single one behind. Does their reason for becoming one matter? Does it matter whether they deserve pity or not? Does it matter how valuable their lives are? Inori wanted to say it mattered, but something within her roared furiously, as if berating her for even thinking of showing compassion to the creatures that had caused her so much pain.
In the end, it doesn't matter.
"Of course, Shinazugawa-san."
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙