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Bloody and battered, the poor demon slayer helplessly crawled away as he had lost his leg from the battle. He is just a boy who had come in with several of his friends. However, they were disposed of very quickly, it was too much. The sky was pitch black with no sight of the moon nearby. The boy had no idea where he was or where he was going, all he knew was that he needed to get away. He used his own Nichirin Blade to drag himself away from the threat.
"Who said you can leave?" A voice called from above him as he was pinned to the floor. The boy fearfully looked to the right and was met with the sight of a demon mere inches away from his face, baring its bloody fangs to the boy. He looked the other direction and found another demon with the same expression on its face. The boy's voice became shaky as he cried out:
"P-please don't k-kill me."
The demons said nothing as the boy felt the pressure on his back be removed and he was free. He was relieved, preparing to thank them before he was silenced by the horde of hungry demons that began to feast upon him like wild animals. They all continuously bit into the boy, ripping away chunks of his flesh and tearing him limb from limb so they can each get their share of the meal.
They heard the sounds of a crow flying above them and looked to find one of the Kasugai Crows observing the events unfold. The demons grew fearful as they pointed out, "We can't let that thing get away! It'll surely give away our location to the rest of those demon hunters!"
Lower Rank 3, Wakuraba, extended his arm to block the demons as he explained, "No, let it go. That bird will call for reinforcements and when they show up: we'll be ready. It's time we reveal Operation: Super Gore Nest." The demons turn around to feast their eyes upon the army they had gathered. Hundreds of demons perked their heads up, wide eyed and filled with bloodlust. It was a sea of demons that stretched out as far as the eye can see. No one in this world has seen anything remotely close to this. Normally, demons have minded their own business and prefer to go rogue. Now, things are different. With a united enemy, hundreds of demons have united with a common goal: to kill the Hellwalker. It doesn't even matter if a Hashira comes in, even those arrogant bastards have only ever fought one demon at a time. How does anyone plan to overcome an army of regenerating demons? They would love to see a poor Demon Slayer try. The fearful Kasugai Crow fled the scene to retreat back to headquarters and call for help.
Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu were sitting atop the rooftops of the town they were in. They each occupied separate sectors of the small town, constantly moving about to see if they can catch a glimpse of the large demon. Rengoku was nowhere in sight, he said he would be in a position to keep an eye on each of them but that position's not in plain sight. Tanjiro was anxious as he was very far away from the rest of his crew. The fact that he's having to face a demon that required a Hashira to come in puts him on edge. Inosuke looked forward to the challenge, craving the thrill of action. Zenitsu was completely scared, his legs shaking as he couldn't pull himself together. Zenitsu absolutely hated fighting, especially when it's against a demon. He lived every moment of his life believing he would die and cowered in fear of it all.
Tanjiro heard a large commotion coming from the forest. He turned towards the loud sound and noticed a flock of birds fleeing the scene. That had to be it, there was no doubt in his mind. He kept his blade ready, keeping his breathing under control as he prepared for the incoming fight.
Pretty Handsome Awkward by The Used
He felt a slight rumble in the ground similar to a stampede of bulls approaching. This concerned him as he began to question the size of the incoming creature. Without a second of time wasted: a humongous, slimy, deformed demon emerged from the forest and crashed into one of the buildings. He heard screams of terror coming from each building as the creature crashed into the next, destroying everything it passed by. It wasn't humanoid, it just seemed to be this mass of slime that quickly moved across the terrain. Before Tanjiro could do anything, Inosuke jumped in before he did and took swift action.
Inosuke screamed at the top of his lungs with pent-up frustration fueling his voice, "TAKE THIS YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" As he performed a slash with both blades across the demon's mass. A cut mark formed where he slashed but it quickly regenerated. He did, however, catch the demon's attention as it slowly performed a u-turn, destroying everything in its path. Inosuke stood his ground, not shifting his position whatsoever as he anticipated the approaching demon and called out, "That's right, come to Lord Inosuke!" He leapt towards the creature, going in for a double pierce of his blades. However, Tanjiro tackled Inosuke out of the way as the demon passed by where he was. Inosuke angrily shouted to his comrade, "What the hell, Konjiro?!"
The boy retorted, "Don't just recklessly leap towards the demon like that! We don't know what we're dealing with! All I know is that we need to get this thing out of town or it'll cause a lot of damage!" Tanjiro took the boar boy by his wrist and dragged him away as the two ran out of the town with the slime demon hot in pursuit. Inosuke ripped his arm away from Tanjiro as he protested:
"Fuck off! I can do my own running! What's your plan, anyway?!"
Tanjiro responded, "I don't know. We need to find this thing's neck and cut it off!" The demon followed them back to the forest. Together, Inosuke and Tanjiro hacked through the nearest tree to get it to collapse upon the demon. They didn't stop running, looking behind to see the two, large chunks of wood smash into the demon. However, it's body did a mix of cushioning the blow and contorting around the impact as it didn't stop its forward advance.
They needed a new plan, they both simultaneously bounced from tree to tree to build up their momentum before launching themselves towards the incoming demon. They attacked at the same time, both doing a combined slash towards the front of the demon and creating a deep cut wound where they struck. The injury quickly healed itself as the demon zoomed past them and made an effort to steer its way back towards them. It didn't run the trees over, instead, cleverly weaving around them to maintain its current velocity.
Inosuke's short temper got the best of him as he leapt towards the demon and attempted to stab its eyes (at least, where he thought they were). The blades sunk into the demon's deformed skin but got stuck. They were slowly absorbed into the demon's mass as the boar boy tried to take his swords back. He screamed at the top of his lungs, "LET GO OF MY SWORDS, ASSHOLE!"
However, his efforts were in vain as he was also dragged into the slimy mass of the demon. Inosuke felt his body be wrapped in a cold, wet texture as he was slowly devoured and could no longer see the moonlight. Tanjiro cried out for his comrade but it was too late. He prepared for the approaching target but it made a sharp turn back to civilization. Tanjiro threw his eyebrows up in surprise and chased after the demon. Unfortunately, the demon was much faster and rammed right into another set of buildings, demolishing them. Tanjiro was horrified to hear the cries of terror from inside. He winced in pain, pushing his legs further and begging they would move so he could catch up.
He needed to do it now, there was no time to be holding back in a situation like this. He performed a specific breathing technique to tap into the Hinokami Kagura. He took a deep, concentrated breath as he planted his feet firmly on the ground. He needed to get this right, he muttered to himself the name of his attack: Hinokami Kagura: Flash Dance. Putting a majority of his spiritual energy into his legs, he used it to propel himself at incredible speeds towards the demons. With his sword drawn back and his breathing under control, bright flames burst from Tanjiro's black blade as it traced his movements.
Flash Dance is meant to be an extension of his standard technique, taking heavy inspiration from Zenitsu' thunder breathing. Once he was close enough: Tanjiro performed a powerful slash that cleaved through the demon's flesh and nearly severed it in half. However, it wasn't enough but he was able to see Inosuke reaching out for the opening. The flames generated by his sword seemed to have put the beast on fire as it screamed in pain, slowly melting away at its mass and barely making more room for Inosuke. It appeared to have a weakness to fire and the injury was severe enough to stop its movements. Tanjiro took this moment to get as close as he could to Inosuke and take his hand, pulling as hard as he could to free the boy.
Tanjiro began to feel the repercussions of using his father's breathing technique. Just like the last Lower Moon he fought weeks ago: his body wasn't physically prepared to use the technique. However, he needed to fight the pain and push on to save Inosuke and everyone else in this town. He dug his feet in the ground as he pulled as hard as he could, threatening to rip off Inosuke's arm with how hard he was pulling. Strains formed on Tanjiro's body as he pushed his muscles past their limits to perform this task.
The demon regained its composure and attempted to absorb Tanjiro as it regenerated its body. Zenitsu came to the rescue, leaping in to push his comrade out of the way and getting caught by the demon. The creature didn't care, continuing its rampage as it ripped through the buildings with ease. Tanjiro had no time to panic, he had to push his body even further. He attempted to perform the same maneuver but only managed to give himself a speed boost. He got on top of the buildings in pursuit, hoping he would have a good chance of decapitating the demons from above.
As he chased after his target, his vision became blurry and he reared towards the edge of the building but he caught himself. Once he was in position: he concentrated his energy to perform Flash Dance one more time and hopefully end this fight. As he launched towards the demon, he felt his entire body give out. He slammed into the demon, slowly becoming a part of its slimy mass as he was consumed like his two comrades. Tanjiro tried to fight it, however, it was pointless as the light of the town was blocked out and there was only darkness.
Up several dozen meters ahead of the demon was the Hashira, Rengoku, slowly approaching the creature with a triumphant smile. He proclaimed, "What a mess you've left behind. I cannot allow you to do any more damage, demon. For the act of hurting innocent civilians along with taking my students: I'll burn you to the bone!"
Set Your Heart Ablaze/Demon Extermination by Go Shiina
Rengoku assumed a stance, channeling his spiritual energy as he prepared an ultimate strike to end the fight. His spiritual energy was so immense he emitted flames from his body, surrounding him in a circle as he brought his blade back similar to Tanjiro. He declared his attack: Flame Breathing: First Form: Unknowing Fire. In that moment, the Hashira zoomed forward in the blink of an eye to intercept the demon with a spiral of flames trailing his movements. Before anyone could process what had happened, the front of the demon's body was removed. The rest of the slimy mass exploded following this attack and burnt to a crisp before it could splash anywhere. Rengoku was now behind where the demon was, standing up straight as he went to sheathe his blade.
All the civilians watching from their households clapped in celebration as the threat was over. The three boys were coughing repeatedly after being suffocated by slime for a period of time. Tanjiro had a more extreme reaction: vomiting on the floor after his body was pushed beyond its limit. His insides felt like they were convulsing as if it were having a never-ending cramp. He couldn't focus, he could barely breathe, his mind was everywhere as he couldn't pull himself together. Rengoku made his way towards the boy and pressed his index fingers against Tanjiro's forehead, shifting his attention. The man simply advised, "Breathe. Just, breathe. Focus on your internal organs that are aching in pain and focus your spiritual energy towards that point."
Tanjiro did as told, wincing in pain as he attempted to inhale against his lungs wishes. After trial and error, Tanjiro was able to get his breathing under control and focus his spiritual energy as advised. The pain started to go away and the convulsing came to a halt. Tanjiro was able to breathe comfortably now but with a soreness covering his body. Rengoku explained, "Very good, Kamado, my boy. As long as you can master the breathing techniques: You can do things ordinary people can't do. You can't heal everything though, but with this technique: You'll be able to keep on fighting longer. As long as you keep on improving: you will become stronger than your yesterday self."
Tanjiro's mind was hazy but he managed to utter, "Is everyone okay?" Rengoku's cheerful expression remained the same as he informed:
"Ofcourse, everyone is safe! No one was killed by the demon!" Tanjiro was surprised by this as he saw the demon rip through those buildings, there was no way in hell that nobody died. He questioned his master and called him out. The Hashira was quick to respond, "What do you think I was doing while you boys were fighting the demon?" A realization hit Tanjio as he looked around and noticed several civilians in the street, unharmed. He looked to see his other two comrades safe and sound as they were coughing out the rest of the slime in their system.
However, this all made one reality apparent: he was too weak. Every day, he finds himself being outclassed by the people around him. It became obvious to him how weak he really was. First, it was with the Hellwalker, now, it's with Rengoku. Tanjiro really couldn't save anyone, could he? He wasn't strong enough then to save his family and he still isn't strong enough now to save his friends. Tears welled up in his eyes as he couldn't put up a tough facade anymore. The fearful little boy that saw the remains of his family came out as he wept like a baby. He covered his eyes as he cried out to his master, his voice lacking any form of confidence and broke into a high pitch "I'm so useless… I couldn't save anyone. If it were not for you: Everyone would have died because I was too weak to save them… I'm not like you, I can't do the things you can do! I-"
Rengoku pressed his finger against the boy's forehead once more as he called his name, "Kamado." Tanjiro uncovered his eyes to see Rengoku's serious expression shift back to a cheerful one. "You're not weak. There could have been more damage, but you made the quick decision to lure the creature away from town. Your friend's capture of the demons was not a fault of your own. It's okay to make mistakes, that's what learning is all about. As humans: there are many things we do not know. It's about taking this experience and letting it be a part of you. Learn from it, failure is the greatest teacher. After all, if you give up seeing someone else's ceiling: how can you expect to see how far you can go? Hmmm? You're stronger than you think, keep growing, and improve."
Tanjiro dried his tears, nodding in acknowledgement of his master's words. Rengoku reached his hand out for the boy who happily took it. The other two boys collected themselves and before anyone could say anything: a Kasugai Crow rushed down with an alert: "Emergency! Emergency! This is an emergency message from headquarters! An army of demons has been sighted! Reinforcement is needed! Make haste! Emergency! Emergency!" Rengoku was surprised to hear the news, it was unheard of to hear the demons forming an army like this. Something big was about to happen if it required these drastic measures. However, Rengoku accepted the situation and looked to his pupils, stating:
"Let's go. Something tells me we're only getting started."
The Slayer was given a set of directions from his Vulture. He found himself ascending a steep slope. He was told there was a demon army which made him excited. It didn't take him long to hike up the hill and once arriving on top: he had a view of the land below him. Before him was a blanket of demons covering the land he looked down upon. It was oddly refreshing to see this many demons gathered in one location like this. It was… nostalgic. This made things easier for him. As the demons acknowledged his presence, a sea of heads turned to gaze upon the Doom Slayer who stood tall upon the enormous hill. Their eyes reflecting the moonlight, he could see each individual pair. The Slayer could probably count how many were there if he took his time. However… that's now what he's here to do. He extended his Nichirn Arm Blade, it was time to rip and tear.