Hikaru's POV
Tanjiro and I were still facing off against the Delightful demon but I could tell that his worry about Nezuko and Genya was getting higher. Not that I could talk since I was also worried about them. I was also worried about the rest of the village and Tokito, sure he was a Hashira but that didn't stop my worry.
"Hikaru, the other two are in that building there and it's only a short distance away" Tanjiro said and I hummed a little while not taking my eyes off the Delightful demon.
"If we plan it right and read that demon's direction, you should be able to use him to get up to the building while also getting him out of the way so I can head up there as well. It would be a lot better if I had the sword that I had crafted but I have this one for now" I said as I grabbed a vial out of my waist belt. I grabbed the cork with my teeth and ripped it out before rubbing it into my blade. Tanjiro, Kyojuro and Tengan had all given me disappointed looks when I told them how I have been cutting my arms to get blood on my blades so I decided to start carrying a few vials around in my belt.
"You're right, we can use his ability to fly to our advantage, if we don't hurry we can't help Nezuko and Genya" Tanjiro said.
"I know, you're probably going to get hurt when using that guy so drink this first, it should be able to help seal the wounds as soon as they happen" I said as I shoved another vial at him. Tanjiro nodded as he drank it. It wasn't a moment too soon as we dodged out of the Delightful demon's way as he swooped down on us. Tanjiro wasted no time jumping after him, putting his blade through the Delightful demon's right leg and mouth but in return he got the Delightful demon's claw-like hand to the back. The way he had his blade would stop the demon from not only letting out that screeching attack but would also make it hard for Tanjiro to fall to the ground.
'Just like we thought, he is light! I can't imagine him being able to fly with those winds if he wasn't. I can do this,' Tanjiro thought. Using the force behind his jump and his strength Tanjiro slammed the delightful demon into the wall of the building that Nezuko and Genya were in. Using this time that I wasn't getting attacked I quickly rushed to the closest tree and from there I jumped onto the roof of the building. Hearing a yell followed by a crash I knew that Tanjiro had made it inside, now it was my time to join him.
"Nezuko, Genya!" Tanjiro yelled as he got up from the delightful demon and pulled his sword out. Looking at the sight in front of him Tanjiro's eyes widened. In the center of the room was Sekido standing in front of Nezuko. Nezuko was kneeling on the ground with Sekido's staff through her neck with lightning running through it keeping her immobilized and in pain.
"Nezuko! Stop!" Tanjiro screamed in anger as he rushed forwards, towards Sekido determined to save his sister.
"Dammit, first Karaku and now Urogi. The hell are they even doing? Every single thing is pissing me off" Sekido growled as another staff started to come from his hand. As soon as it was the right size he grabbed it out and thrust it down towards Tanjiro. Tanjiro had been ready for this as he moved his hand that wasn't on his blade and pulled up a severed clawed foot.
'Urogi's foot! My lightning can't pass through anything made of my cells. The brat's got good intuition, he really knows how to fight' Sakido thought.
'I can't cut his head off with one hand! The tongue! Go for the tongue!' Tanjiro thought. With that he swung his sword cutting through Sakido's chin, tongue and even the top of his mouth. Wasting no time Tanjiro dodged around Sakido and headed for Nezuko determined to get that rod out of her.
'If I can get their tongues, their recovery will slow down just a bit' He thought. Making Urogi's foot clench around the rod, Tanjiro gave it a pull.
'Yes! I can pull it!' Tanjiro thought as he continued to pull the rod out.
'Crap! Behind!' Tanjiro thought. Quicking seeing the condition that they were in I swung into the room and grabbed the rod going from Tanjiro's neck and cutting vertically along the hand holding it made Sakido let it go. I didn't stay holding it as I slammed it into the floor away from us and turning with my sword at the ready. Seems I wasn't the only one ready as Nezuko stood up grabbing Sekido and set him on fire with her blood demon art.
"Gahh! An annoying technique!" Sakido cursed.
'Yes, Nezuko's blood actually works on them' Tanjiro thought.
'That is good, that means that now my blood is in Sekido's system it will start driving him mad with blood lust. I wonder if it will affect all of them since they are technically all the same person?' I thought. I wasn't holding out on my blood affecting him all that much since it hadn't helped against Gyutaro and Ume until the very end.
"Nezuko, Hikaru" Tanjiro said but I was paying him no attention. My attention was on the aura that was coming up fast on us and I was trying to figure out if he could manage to attack us from all the way over there.
"Hot damn, that looks like fun! Lemme join you guys!" Kakaku cheered. Wait a minute, he was the one that had sent Tokito flying with a swish of his fan. The fan that he had in his hand.
"Crap! Run-" Was all I managed to get out as I tried to push Nezuko and Tanjiro out of the way. I was too late as I felt the pressure from the swish of the fan crush down on us. All three of us were crushed to the ground and it felt like my insides were also being crushed. Hold on, hold on, hold on!
'Too much pressure! My body's getting squashed!' Tanjiro thought. The pressure got even greater, it was soon so heavy that it collapsed the flood underneath us. We were laying on the floor beneath the one we had been on, Nezuko and Tanjiro, who had blood coming from his nose and mouth, were both passed out. By some miracle I had managed to stay awake though I also had blood coming from my mouth and nose.
"Now, time to end this," Kakaku said.
'Not on my watch' I thought as I fought with my limbs to try and get up, my sword was still gripped in my hand so I didn't have to worry about that. I wasn't going to let Tanjiro or Nezuko get hurt anymore. I was stronger now and it was time to show it.
Third person POV
Tokito quickly dodged out of the way of another attack from a fish monster before he unleashed his own attack and split the pot on the creature's back making it start to disappear.
"Whoa! Thank you, Tokito-dono! You cut him in the blink of an eye!" Kanamori said as he stood there holding a large cleaver that he had been using to protect himself.
"Kanamori-san!" Kotetsu cried out as he went running towards the older man with his hands stretched out.
"Young Kotetsu! I'm glad you're safe, I honestly thought I was gonna die" Kanamori said as he patted Kotetsu's head.
"Are you this Kanamori person? You have my blade ready? Bring it out" Tokito bluntly said.
"Oh no, this is really chipped," Kanamori said as he noticed Tokito's blade.
"That's why I'm here," Tokito said.
"I see, I see. Then I'll give you your blade" Kanamori said and that made Tokito give a pause.
"That went pretty quick," Tokito said. It was obvious that he wasn't expecting Kanamori to already have his blade ready.
"Actually Tanjiro-kun and Hikaru-kun asked us to fix your blade and they wanted you to know about it," Kanamori explained.
"Tanjiro and Hikaru? They actually..." Tokito said while trailing off.
"That's why I had to look for your first swordsmi....Oh right! Haganezuka-san!" Kanamori yelled out at the end. Quickly he rushed through the woods, the other two following until they could see a wooden shed.
"Oh thank the gods! There are no fish monsters here! He's working in that shed. We have a sword to give you so take it and go to the village chief!" Kanamori said pointing to the shed while they continued to move.
"No I can't," Tokito said.
"Eh, why? Geegh!" Kanamori said as Tokito grabbed the back of his haori and pulled him backwards while also stopping Kotetsu with his arm.
"Oww, what was that!" Kotetsu demanded.
"It's coming," Tokito said. Up ahead near the wooden shed, hidden by the bushes was a pot with a floral pattern.
"You noticed me, huh? I guess that means you're a pillar" Gyokko said as he emerged from the pot.
"Is there something important in that abandoned shed? I wonder what all the rustling in there's about. Hyo, hyo!" Gyokko said. He was in his normal form with a lot of hands coming off his body and even had hands for hair.
"Hyo, hyo! Nice to meet you, my name is Gyokko, may I have a minute before I kill you? My dear guests, would you like to look at my artwork tonight?" Gyokko questioned.
"Art? What are you talking about?" Tokito asked.
"Let me show you," Gyokko said. Another pot, this one a plain one appeared and seemed to be oozing a dark red liquid that could only be blood before something came from the pot. It was truly sickening to look at seeing as it was a mismatch of five different swordsmiths together with swords all through them. You couldn't see where one started and ended, you couldn't even tell which limbs belonged to each person.
"Presenting L'agonie Des Forgerons!" Gyokko said. Kotetsu and Kanamori, who knew the swordsmiths, were horrified to see them.
"Behold these hands! They're full of blisters, unique only to swordsmiths. Intentional, mind you! That's why I put them up front" Gyokko continued.
"Kongouji-dono, Tetsuo-san, Kanaike-san, Koutarou" Kanamori cried as he looked at the people.
"Ahh...Tetsuhiro-oji-san!" Kotetsu sobbed out, tears running down his face.
"Yes! You are right! I used five luxurious swordsmiths for this one! Quite a lavish number, I didn't think you'd be so moved by this!" Gyokko smirked.
"And these swords stabbed through them, reinforce the 'blacksmithness' of this work! Now I left these comical masks on to express emptiness and absurdity. This plan is...Mind you also intentional! And guaranteed! If I twist the sword like so" Gyokko said as he grabbed one of the swords and twisted it. This made one of the unfortunate swordsmiths scream out in pain, it seems there were some still alive.
"Wahh! Stop!" Kotetsu screamed out as Kanamori grabbed him to hold him back even though he was just as distressed as the young one.
"So? Wonderful right? I plan on mass producing this beautiful piece!" Gyokko laughed.
"Hey, cut it out fuckface!" Tokito glared, serious for once. He moved quickly and swung his sword at Gyokko only for the demon to disappear into his pot.
"I'm not even done explaining yet! Make sure to listen until the end" Gyokko said as he appeared in a pot on the roof of the wooden shed.
'So he can move from pot to pot...Okay' Tokito thought.
"My pride is in the pot's" Gyokko said before he was cut off as Tokito jumped and sliced the pot on the roof.
'He moves so quickly, he ran again. Now he's there. That pot just came out of nowhere, how did he even spawn that' Tokito thought.
"How dare you cut through my pot, my art! You uncultured swine! You pigs have nothing but muscle in those brains, you lack the intelligence to appreciate my art. But that's okay too!" Gyokko growled in anger, all his hands clenched.
'No but since he's dodgiing me a lot, he should die if I cut off his head unlike the splitting demon from before' Tokito thought. Another pot appeared in Gyokko's hand and soon enough two fish came out of it like the air was water.
'Fish? What the?' Tokito thought. The two fishes cheeks puffed up before they deflated sending needles everywhere. This attack was called Fish assassin: Thousand needles. Tokito, seeing the needles, was quick to react by sliding down the side of the roof so that the needles hit the roof instead of himself. Seeing another fish, Tokito quickly moved since its aim wasn't Tokito but Kanamori and Kotetsu.
"Wahh! Young Kotetsu!" Kanamori cried out while wrapping himself around the child to protect him and waited for the attack.
"Ah!" Kotetsu cried out as he saw what happened.
"Tokito-dono!" Kanamori cried out as Tokito stood in front of them, his body pierced with needles everywhere but he had also managed to stop some of them.
"You're getting in the way so go hide" Tokito ordered.
"Ahh...Sorry....I...I" Kotetsu managed to get out. Seeing the two fish about to attack again Kanamori grabbed Kotetsu in his arms and ran away while Tokito deflected all of the needles.
"Hyo, hyo, hyo! You look really funny with all those needles" Gyokko laughed.
"So? Have your limbs gone numb from the poison? Truly comical. You're going to lose your life in a worthless place like this all because you saved some worthless lives" Gyokko said.
'Whether they're there or not nothing changes, truly worthless lives'
'Who was that? I can't remember, I think someone said the same thing before but who said that? Summer. Hot. The door was open, maybe it's because it's hot but the cicadas got annoyingly loud even at night' Tokito thought.
"Hyo, hyo! But you're a pillar so I should prepare something nice. Now what kind of piece should I make? I'm tingling with excitement!" Gyokko exclaimed. Rushing forward Tokito was in front of Gyokko with mist around him.
"Shut it, your words are worthless," Tokito said as he swung his blade. His blade connected with Gyokko's neck and started to cut. Another pot appeared out of Gyokko's hand and instead of releasing more fish, this one let out a large wave of water that soon swept Tokito in a vase-like cage of water.
"Blood demon technique: Water basin of hell" Gyokko said as Tokito was fully encased in water.
"Suffocation is quite chic, quite beautiful. Then again having the cold sensation of a sword through your neck is quite nice too" Gyokko said. Tokito moved and attempted to get his sword to pierce the side of the water vase but the water just moved so that it was still coating the sword.
'Crap, can't cut through' Tokito thought.
"I've obstructed the greatest weapon for you demon slayers, your breath. Imagining your face warping from pain brings me joyous ecstasy, hyo, hyo!" Gyokko laughed.
"If we destroy this village, the demon slayers will suffer a huge blow and if we weaken the demon slayers, Ubuyashiki's neck will be right in the open. Hyo, hyo!" Gyokko laughed.
Elsewhere a crow was flying across the dark sky lit up by the stars and crescent moon and someone was following it.
"Hurry, hurry. Everyone in the village is in danger. To think that the swordsmith village was actually this close to my own district! That shocked me! Alright, here I go" Kanroji Mitsuri, the love pillar, said as she followed the crow back to the village that she had not long left.
A swordsmith was up in a lookout tower that had a bell in it ringing it with a hammer as more of the fish demon creatures climbed on the buildings and were on the streets.
"Enemies! Demons! Protect every family's biggest head! Bring out the pillars' swords! Get the chief out of here! Wagh!" The swordsmith who was ringing the bell screamed as one of the fish demons latched onto him, killing him.
"Gahh!" A swordsmith on the ground screamed out as his back got slashed.
"Tetsugorou!" Another one yelled.
"Watch out! This monster's nails are sharper than a sword! Just get into the buildings" One of them yelled. There was a group of swordsmiths armed with sickles, spears and cleavers fighting for their lives as well as the rest of the villagers' lives.
"Oh shit! Get back! Get back!" One of them screamed. Fast footsteps were heard running towards them and Kanroji appeared from the woods jumping over top of one of the enemies and cutting the pot on its back.
"Sorry for being late, everyone! I'll make sure to beat them all up!" Kanroji assured them as she rushed down the street cutting the pots of the demons as she went.
"Whoa, a pillar's here! Oh yeah!" One of the swordsmiths cheered.
"Quick....Strong" Another commented while watching.
"I forgot that one was strong since she was cute," The last one commented as he tried to stop the bleeding from the one that had gotten injured earlier.
"Ch-Chie-" A swordsmith armed with a spear stuttered out as he looked up from where he had collapsed on the ground near a broken wall. In the room that had once been the room that Hikaru and Tanjiro had met the chief swordsmith was in ruin, the roof was gone and most of the walls were gone. Two of demon slayers had already been killed, one was in two pieces while the other had his neck snapped. The chief of the village along with another swordsmith were in a large fish demon's hands and were getting squeezed hard enough from them to be spitting out blood.
'The demon slayer guards stationed at this village got killed. I can't let the chief, the most skilled man in this village, die. This monster's too big, nothing I do is working. It moves too abnormally fast' The swordsmith against the wall as he started to push himself up. He stopped as he saw a pair of legs in front of him with bright green socks on them.
"You're better off not moving! Your internal organs are probably wounded" Kanroji advised as her sword dawned and lengthened and curved around her much like a whip.
"K-Kanroji-dono!" The swordsmith called out.
'What's with her sword...Did Tecchin-sama forge it? I've heard rumors about her sword but..' The swordsmith thought as he looked at the bending sword. The fish demon let out yells and noises as it rushed towards Kanroji.
"Breath of love: First form, Shivers or first love!" Kanroji said. Her attack took her from one side of the room to the other side and along the way she slashed the fish demon, including the four pots on its back.
"My heart will never throb for those who hurt people with sick jokes" Kanroji huffed as the demon started to disappear. Since it was disappearing Tecchin, who had been in its hand, started to slip and fall.
"Ah!" The swordsmith yelled.
"Tecchin-sama!" Kanroji called out as she ran to catch the chief and dropped her sword.
"Are you okay Tecchin-sama! Please!" Kanroji cried out as tears fell down her face.
"Ugh" Tecchin groaned.
"Can you hear me Tecchin-sama?" Kanroji called out.
"I must be in heaven, I'm being hugged by a cute young girl," Tecchin said while coughing.
"Oh Tecchin-sama, you little perv!" Kanroji blushed.
"I fell on my head too, please take my hand" Another guy called out reaching his hand out.
"Oh, I'm sorry! You okay?" Kanroji asked while reaching a hand out and still holding the chief.
"Th-Thank the gods" The swordsmith who was trying to save Tecchin sighed before he passed out.
'...What the? What the heck's happening? This smell,' Tanjiro thought.
"Stop running the fuck away!" A yell came as Tanjiro opened his eyes. He was held in Nezuko's arms near the wall and he looked to see Hikaru moving around in the room. Was that really Hikaru though? His fox mask had been discarded to the side showing off his face. The band that had been holding his hair up had been destroyed so his hair was now free to flow down to his shoulders. There was a cut on the side of his forehead that was bleeding but that wasn't what had Tanjiro's attention, it was the fact that he could swear that Hikaru was glowing, it was like when Hikaru had rushed towards Rengoku and Akaza. Hikaru dodged around another attack before lightning struck him making him grit his teeth but as soon as it started it finished.
'Oh yeah, that fan demon attacked us and knocked us out cold! Looks like Hikaru and Nezuko gained consciousness first,' Tanjiro thought.
"Nezuko, get Tanjiro down" Hikaru yelled out as Urogi swooped in for an attack. Tanjiro quickly grabbed his sister and they dodged the attack while Hikari swung his sword and cut off one of Urogi's hands but missed what he was aiming for.
"Tch" Urogi tched as his arm started to grow back.
"Dammit, you're too slow! Karaku, just blow the damn building away!" Sakido growled.
"Kaka, that was the plan! No need to tell me" Kakaku said and Hikaru's eyes widened as he turned to try and get to Nezuko and Tanjiro.
'Think! Think! Think of an effective way to attack the enemy! A way that won't let them recover,' Tanjiro thought. He and Nezuko had landed nearby but he had no clue where Hikaru had landed. Looking down Tanjiro realised that Nezuko had grabbed his blade and she was pinned under the rubble.
"Kakaka, the view just got a lot better, now there's no place for them to hide" Kakaku laughed.
'Shit, the rubble' Tanjiro realised.
"Nezuko, don't worry, I won't abandon you. Let go of my sword! I'll just get rid of all the rubble, so don't do this Nezuko! Your fingers are getting cut! Stop in Nezuko!" Tanjiro said but Nezuko continued to move her hands down the sword and coating the sword like Hikaru's was normally coated. Suddenly the sword burst into flames from Nezuko's blood demon art but it didn't hurt them at all.
'The sword's burning from her blood and the color is changing! Thanks to the increase in temperature the black sword is turning red! Her bursting demon blood is making it a blood bursting sword' Tanjiro realised.
"ENOUGH!" Tanjiro heard and his eyes got wide. Oh no.
"Enough! Enough! Enough! I'm going to fucking kill you!" Hikaru's voice roared out into the skys. Tanjiro knew that even though he couldn't see Hikaru, his anger was there and bursting out at the seams. Normally Hikaru would show his anger by yelling, screaming and swearing but ever since Rengoku had gotten hurt he had been bottling it up inside. There was only one other time that Tanjiro could remember Hikaru holding his anger back and then it bursting out and that ended in a disaster and self-destruction. Tanjiro had to hurry before Hikaru once again, something that he regretted.