Part two
They didn't have any choice ofcourse. So they let Leona be, but ofcourse they were generous and let her have a place to rest, to wait for the night.
'The water Deity lives on the lake, on the waterfall, on the mountain. We give our offerings on the shrine built, but he never appears, the offerings just disappear in a puddle of water next thing in the morning.'
Leona breathed in and out, looking at the sun setting. It is almost time. So Leona already held her sword on her lap. People were already inside their houses, doors shut, and young ladies who are her age protected and guarded.
A while had passed, and a cold breeze brushed on Leona's skin, making her open her eyes to a now dark surroundings. Night had fallen.
'It's time...'
Leona stood up, walking in silence, out of the village. Looking ahead as she went west of the village, is a mountain. Breathing in, she prepared herself to launch as she disappeared through puffs of smokes, running through the mountain to search for the waterfall. Leona closed her eyes, focusing her nose to sniff out the waters.
'Further north...' Leona looked up, her black tentacles appearing on her back, grabbing on a thick branch and launching herself up into the air and to another branch. Bored of running, she used that as her new form of transportation, the trees filled mountain helping her transfer from branch to branch, until she arrived to another big tree. Yet there is nothing further, only a vast space, and a waterfall.
"I arrived..."
It was a typical waterfall, with small rocks scattered around, and a small wooden shrine built near the waters. So it must be it. Leona jumped down, landing softly on her feet and so quietly, footsteps then started to be heard around as her feet collided with the rocks, and she arrived on the edge of the waterfall, looking down at her clear reflection as it is clearly a full moon.
'Yet i can smell something... Deeper in that waterfall... Should i risk it? I could just bring that demon up with my tentacles.'
A loud splash echoed, and Leona dived in the water, looking up the night sky before diving deeper. Enhanced vision from being a demon helping her to see that there is more depth in the waterfall deeper and deeper.
'Something is really off about this place...'
Diving in deeper and deeper, she can see something in the distance, something darker in color than any normal deep waters, like a cave...
'Cave?' Leona prepped herself, tentacles behind forming a wall for her as she launched herself to swim faster than she ever did, somehow doing it harder than she ever expected that she soon realized she fell to the ground and out of the water, in a cave indeed.
"It reeks a smell of water and... Demon." Leona used her flames to dry herself clean, walking deeper and deeper inside. Is this the reason why no demon slayers succeeded here? If it weren't for her enhanced senses as a demon, Leona swears she cannot see a thing and will be completely open to the enemy. Plus the fact that the cave is so deep underwater that no human could survive on unless they trained to hold their breath for hours.
Maybe it is the reason why she was the one sent here for a Mizunoto rank, because she is a demon who can do anything normal humans can't. She tries her best to keep her footsteps very quiet as she walked deeper and deeper inside the cave, preparing herself to whatever she might encounter.
All of the sudden, she heard a splash on the other side of the way was heard, a little bit far from where she came from, Leona might add. So she is safe to investigate. Leona sniffed the air, and the scent of the demon seem to disappear, so now she abandoned the sneak up idea and used her fire to throw and see the way more clearly, running in the process and following the direction of the fire, until she saw another way, and this time, it somehow smells like water near and... Human?
Human? Leona's eyes widened, changing directions and running to the direction of the scent, before arriving into a larger cave, but that's not just what makes it stand out of the other parts she passed from. It is the large water bubbles floating, and inside those is atleast 15 young ladies, urnconscious, and bones were below the bubbles, so Leona assumed that the demon eaten them, and it made her heart tighten.
'Now... To set them free and lure the demon.'
A short figure walked inside his cave home, water footprints left on the ground he walked on as he proceeded to enter, his night vision ability letting him see through the pitch black cave that no human eye would be able to see. Upon arriving on what he called his heavenly place, which is clearly his food stash, he stopped on his tracks, rushing and running in further to see something wrong...
Atleast 3 of the bubbles popped, and that is already a big deal for him!
"H-how... Who did this?! Where are three of my precious darlings?!"
(A/n: In reality, your cute author feels disgusted writing and
imagining this scene because i already identified how ugly this
creature is (p-q))
'Disgusting...' A certain demon slayer thought, camouflaging and covering even her scent incase while watching the demon start to whine like a child who's toy was stolen from him.
"I will make them pay! I will make whoever who did this pay! How dare them separate me from three of my precious wi-"
The demon was interrupted from his almost endless whining and crying when a black tentacle whipped him off of his feet, launching and slamming him towards the cave wall, the demon slayer appearing from her hiding place where she also hid the three young ladies she saved first to provoke the demon. She cannot set them all free at once, or else the demon would rush towards the village and it will be a huge problem.
"Y-you-" "You're disgusting."
The demon stopped mid sentence, eyes widening, his eyeballs almost popping off. Leona stared at him with a cold gaze. The demon has green skin for one, and is small and looks fat, his arms and legs don't even look normal. One thing to describe the demon: A frog. And it is wearing a white kimono with a hat on it's probably bald head that looked like a noble.
"Me?! Disgusting?!" "Do you even look at your reflection?"
The frog demon looked up, only to be met by shadows and dust from his slam, but the presence tells him a demon slayer is infront of him, yet also something else he cannot explain, but he is still mad.
"You! How dare you separate me from three of my darling wives?! We are loving each other, but you demon slayers are getting in the way! That's why i took the effort to made them rot to death, because they are disgusting to eat in the first place!"
Leona glared down at the demon, her face finally showing from the dust. Yet despite her cold glare and angry look, the frog demon really cannot ignore the fact that she is the most beautiful woman he had
ever laid eyes on, so his scowl turned into a grin of a maniac.
"Say, i have a proposal for you, little girl." 'Proposal? A waste of time...' "Become my wife, and i will spare everyone. Including that village!"
Leona almost lost her cool and just puked out of disgust. Her? His wife? No thank you. Yoriichi has the only rights for that, and she wouldn't want a husband like this, she would rather end her 500 years of lifetime. Anger seething further, Leona whipped the demon with her black tentacles, grabbing his arms and glaring at him from below with glowing purple eyes
"Never, even in a million years." "Y-you! You're a demon! W-why are you attacking a fellow-" Leona didn't wasted any moment and proceeded to slam him to the cave wall, yes it wouldn't hurt a demon, but seeing how he cares so much for his 'looks', it would be better to make him lose his shit. "Shut up!"
"Grrr." Finally losing his cool, the frog demon coated himself with the same bubble as the young ladies, softening the force of her tentacles making her let go. "I doubt you can even cut through this!"
A Small smirk crept on Leona's face. "I can." In just a flash, the bubble of the frog demon popped, dropping him to the ground. But what surprised him further is when the bubbles where the young ladies are popped too and they are already on the ground, Leorna appearing on the same place where she was, as if sheathing her nichirin blade back.
"H-how..." "Despite being a Mizunoto, i think being a demon makes me survive further than my fallen comrades." Leona slammed another tentacle beside him, making the frog demon run out the cave in fear, screaming
"Don't think... That i never planned all of this.."
Leona looked up the cave, a frown appearing on her face as if thinking, "Maybe digging up would be much more faster than swimming.. If i clearly remember, this is under the waterfall, so everyone here is safe."
Leona looked at her own tentacles, slicing them and leaving them on the ground for protection before jumping up, grabbing on the cave roof like a spider with her tentacles, sounds of ground digging echoed with rocks falling, but the separated tentacles already kept the young ladies in a safe spot. Ever since she was training as a demon slayer, she had practiced to focus on one task while also using another part of her mind to manipulate her own tentacles to save unconscious citizens. And it is more useful now.
The frog demon emerged from the waters of the waterfall, swimming up to the ground in panic, and running towards the direction of the village to be able to strengthen himself by eating.
'No time to be picky! That bitch will catch up to me!'
The demon kept running and running towards the direction of the village down the mountain, yet he is slower than he was when he swam in the deep waters. 'Damn it! Why am i so slow on land?! If only i could have atleast some of that man's blood right now... But he is not here at all! We're not even that close!' He felt himself panting and catching his breath upon reaching the foot of the mountain
running with his legs that he surely hates doing, he can see the village in a close distance
Yet the frog demon suddenly froze upon feeling a gust of wind behind him.
"Slow.." A familiar voice sent shivers down his spine before being kicked by Leona and sending him a few feet on the ground. Leona walked towards him slowly and creepily, a dark aura forming around her as her hand reached for her sword on her hip. He knows, she is out for his blood.
Looking down at the shivering demon who is backirng away slowly, Leona unsheathed her blade of black obsidian color, holding it with one hand as she held her sword close to her face, showing the engraving written. As a word left her mouth, the black sword turned into a color of bright red, eyes flashing brighter purple.
"Repent..."
A/n: If i write a story that is not a fanfiction of anime or such, would anyone read? 🥺