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The weather of Immora was eerily calm as the ominous gray clouds loomed over the capital of Hell. The Dark Lord waited in anticipation of the Doom Slayer's arrival, he knew the Hellwalker was well on his way to Immora as he had received reports of the Doom Slayer and his ally cutting through the forces of Hell back on Earth. He knew they would soon pass through the Gate of Divum and when they did, he would be waiting alongside his army.
During the Slayer's time in the distant dimension he was sent to by the Dark Lord, Davoth's best scientists have been working extensively to create a powerful suit of armor for the Dark Lord that would overwhelm the warrior. They had collected data for the suit by using the Super Doom Hunter as a reference to make the necessary changes needed to the Dark Lord's armor.
The Dark Lord's suit was a large, angular, and crimson red machine that was two to three times larger than Davoth, himself. The machine supported its own set of shoulder launchers similar to the Doom Slayer and possessed arching black horns along the sides of the suit's helmet to resemble a typical demon.
They are here…
Immora portal scene by David Levy
Davoth and his imperial guard, Immoran soldiers wearing standard crimson armor, stepped outside of a watch tower planted on top of Immora's city wall. The wall was a humongous, crimson and black superstructure that pierced the sky, dwarfing even hell's largest demons in size. Despite being set so high in the air, Davoth could see the barren wastelands beyond the walls perfectly. The ground was littered by bones from the countless corpses that have decomposed here. A grayish-brown ash coated the wastelands below.
Emerging from a blue portal from the far edge of the wasteland in front of Davoth was the Doom Slayer accompanied by his ally. Davoth furrowed his brow out of slight confusion to see who was accompanying the Doom Slayer: it was Tanjiro. The boy was much taller than before and wore a modified version of Xernex's armor while leaving his sentinel prosthetics exposed. Additionally, he was wearing his haori like a cape that was slung over his right arm.
So that's where Xernex's missing armor is at. The question still remains as to who stole it, clearly not this child. Currently, the Dark Lord was intrigued by the ferocious expression Tanjiro had plastered on his face. Despite his mouth and nose being covered by Xernex's mask, his eyes communicated intense rage and a newfound resolve. So this is the boy that the Doom Slayer has chosen to accompany him as he dies. Try as they might, nothing can stop the Dark Lord.
Davoth raised his hands up as he ordered, "Atem me…!" With that single command, all of Davoth's forces began to reveal themselves in the face of the Doom Slayer. The rest of Davoth's imperial guard marched up to the edge of the wall, aiming their rifles at the two new targets. Hiding within the corpses of the barren wastelands were the demons who obeyed their master's command. Every demon that the Doom Slayer has faced over the years presented themselves. There was an individual army for each demon, all scattered amongst one another as the fodder demons stepped forward to protect the heavier demons who supported from the back. Cacodemon and Pain Elementals took to the sky as their allies below them all roared intensely.
At the very back of the army were several dozen Titan demons that were barely half as tall as the wall behind them. They stepped forward before letting out a breathy howl that emitted a foul stench from their mouths. Lastly, a separate fleet of ships hovered above the walls. The fleet of ships consisted of many crimson vessels shaped like an inverted cross while others had a more peculiar shape. This was the army that the Dark Lord had prepared in anticipation of the Doom Slayer. All this was just for him, exclusively. However, they were not alone…
In response to the army, several hundred portals of various sizes opened up behind Tanjiro and the Doom Slayer. Emerging from these portals was the remainder of the ARC forces on Earth and Mars, the entirety of the Demon Slayer Corps, and the now-unified Night Sentinels. King Valen emerged from his portal with a reforged Crucible in-hand which was no longer made of argent energy but instead, of pure wraith energy, giving the blade a brighter blue color compared to the rest of the Sentinel weapons. Valen nodded towards Tanjiro and the Doom Slayer who did the same. No words needed to be exchanged between the three of them because their plan was coming to fruition.
Valen then looked back at the portals behind them to see the members of the Demon Slayer Corps reveal themselves, the first ones being the Hashira who led the charge with the lower ranking slayers following behind. As the Hashira stepped out, their jaws dropped at the sight of Tanjiro's transformation, they could barely recognize him. However, someone was pushing through the crowd as the demon slayers looked to see what the commotion was about. Soon, an impatient and worried Kanao forced her way out of the army, her eyes widening upon seeing Tanjiro even though she recognized him from a mile away. The boy appeared as though he had found a newfound resolve as his eyes were no longer as innocent as they used to be. They were tainted by rage, guilt, dread, and determination. The girl could barely hold back her tears as she sprinted towards Tanjiro, slamming into him as the two lovers embraced one another. Zenitsu and Inosuke were equally surprised like everyone else but wasted no time in joining Tanjiro's side. The entire army looked around at the rest of their army as more troops continued pouring in.
The ground shook at even intervals as the Atlans of the Night Sentinel Army began stepping through the portal. Accompanying the gargantuan sentinel mechs was a fleet of ships, both from the ARC and Argent D'nur, that also passed through the portals and hovered in the sky. Various tanks and other vehicles belonging to their respective factions also revealed themselves. The DSC (Demon Slayer Corps) was left speechless as they gazed at the technology they've never seen before. Finally, Sentinel Dragons dove into Immora, now unified under Valen's leadership as they left the World Spear alongside the Wraiths who promised to aid in the Dark Lord's destruction. Inosuke, unlike everyone else, was filled with excitement as he gawked at the creatures and vehicles surrounding him. He promised himself that he would "tame these beasts."
Davoth ignited the orange serrated blade of his mech and pointed it towards the opposing army, commanding his forces to charge forward and attack. The demons roared at their new opponents as they raced forward with the Titans following behind, their footsteps causing the ground to shake with each step.
Valen stepped forward while pointing the Sentinel Crucible towards Davoth and declaring, "Come, brothers, and let Hell tremble before our might!"
Tanjiro then looked towards the Slayer. They both nodded in agreement before the boy separated himself from Kanao, grabbing both Xernex's argent axe and Yorichii's nichirin blade. The boy took a step forward, inhaling as much as he could before exclaiming something he's wanted to say for quite some time: "RIP AND TEAR!" Tanjiro's voice was distorted by the mask (although nowhere near as much as it did for Xernex). In response to Tanjiro's exclamation, the Night Sentinels all cried out:
"KAR EN TUK!" The Slayer followed Tanjiro's lead as he drew both of his argent weapons and ignited them. The two warriors bent their knees in anticipation as they prepared to lunge towards the action.
Immora by David Levy
Without fear, Tanjiro and the Doom Slayer jumped off of the plateau they were on towards the closest group of demons. Tanjiro smashed his fist into the ground with enough force to form a crater around him. The demons were staggered by the shaking of the ground which gave the Doom Slayer more than enough time to slice them to pieces by with the demonic Crucible. With the Slayer leading the charge, Tanjiro followed after him as he leapt forward to match the pace of the Doom Slayer. The two warriors charged towards Immora's wall side-by-side as they danced around each other's attack and hacked through any demon that dared stand in their way. The boy might not be as strong as the Doom Slayer but he can now keep up and that's all that mattered to Tanjiro at this point.
An Arachnotron positioned itself to lay down artillery fire on the two warriors but it poorly miscalculated their speed as Tanjiro was already in front of it. With a single punch, Tanjiro caved in the creature's brain and blasted it against the wall where it was left to splatter upon impact. No demon, no matter how big or small their size, was incapable of getting in the way of the Doom Slayer and his partner. As the Hellwalker powered through everything, relying less on finesse and more on brute strength, Tanjiro, on the other hand, relied on his acrobatic skills as he performed various flips and tricks in conjunction with his attacks. The boy had gotten quite adept at dual-wielding both his Argent Axe and Nichirin Blade as he knew what he was capable of cutting with a flimsy Nichrin Blade. He was going to honor his master one way or another.
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Kanao and the others gazed in wide-eyed amazement at Tanjiro's increased capabilities. He was an entirely different person! They didn't understand how this happened or how this was possible but they couldn't deny the boy's miraculous leap in skill and power. Perhaps he has always been that skilled but he simply lacked the power to back it up. Tanjiro's maximum capacity was now on full-display for them all to see as they watched the boy effortlessly rip and tear through the forces of Hell alongside the seemingly invincible Hellwalker.
They were cut off by Valen relaying a command to the entire army, "Help the Slayers infiltrate Immora! Our objective is to help them get to the Dark Lord and end this fight! We'll fend off the demons to ease the burden!" The respective leaders of each faction acknowledged the command, relaying it to the rest of their forces who focused on demon slaying. The Demon Slayer Corps followed after the Hashira who led the way as they recklessly charged towards the opposition with the Night Sentinels by their side. Zooming above them were Wraiths and Sentinel Dragons who began unleashing their firepower upon the demons they intercepted.
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Tanjiro leapt above the Doom Slayer as he dug his argent axe into a Hell Knight that intercepted them. Meanwhile, the Slayer brought his Crucible back and prepared to slash as he muttered the name of his attack, "Blood Breathing: Fifth Form, Shrapnel Spray." As the man sliced the air between him and a group of demons. An array of flaming shrapnel blood released from the tip of the weapon, piercing the creatures and disintegrating them as though they had been destroyed by the Super Shotgun. The Doom Slayer had to come up with an alternative if he wasn't going to use his trusty Super Shotgun anymore.
Tanjiro clung to a wall, locking onto a Cursed Prowler that was much further away, and pushing off the wall towards it. The boy stated the name of his attack before performing it, "Sun Breathing: Sunflower Thrust!" Tanjiro jabbed Yorichii's nichirin blade forward as it impaled the skull of the Cursed Prowler before it even had a chance to react to the attack. He yanked the sword out of the creature's skull without caution as he rushed to catch up with the Doom Slayer who was going on ahead.
The Slayer briefly discarded the demonic Crucible as he grabbed the Argent Hammer tightly with both hands and smashed it into a Tyrant that was backed up against the wall. The weapon passed right through the Tyrant with minimal effort before coming in contact with the wall and obliterating it, sending the demon's corpse out the other side. Tanjiro and the Doom Slayer jumped down into a pit filled to the brim with soon-to-be-dead demons. Upon landing at the bottom of the pit, the two Slayers rushed forward to decimate all of their foes.
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Elsewhere, the majority of the Demon Slayer Corps were being annihilated by the demons of Hell. Many fell to the Imps or worse while the Hashira were barely managing to hold their own. The Hashira watched as many of their comrades fell and were split apart. If it weren't for the Night Sentinels providing cover fire with their weapons, the DSC were certain they would've died a couple minutes into the battle. Rengoku unleashed one of his more powerful breathing techniques upon a Baron of Hell that approached him, "Flame Breathing: Fifth form, Flame Tiger." as he zoomed forward while being encompassed in flames that took on the shape of a tiger. Rengoku performed several slashes against the demon's skin but was unable to decapitate it due to the creature's thick hide. Rengoku panicked, preparing to flee from the demon until he was saved by King Valen who finished the demon with his Sentinel Crucible, beheading the Baron as it's corpse fell to the ground, allowing it's loose head to roll on the floor.
Rengoku smiled as he thanked the King in front of him for the save. Valen turned around and asked, "Tell me, do all of you have similar abilities? It looks like the lot of you are utilizing the same strange technique as Tanjiro. Even young children using this technique are able to fight as efficiently as an adult from what I've observed."
"You would be correct! We all utilize breathing techniques to enhance our body and tap into our potential. What you're seeing is the culmination of all of our training!"
"I see. If you were given more capable weapons, the lot of you would make for quite fearsome warriors. After this battle, I would like to work with your Corps, I think it'll be a beneficial arrangement for both of us."
"I look forward to working alongside you, your highness. For now, let us focus on the battle at hand, we can really use your help!"
"We'll support you however we can."
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Kanao was fighting alongside the Night Sentinels in a separate part of the wastelands. She was separated from her group and was accompanied by a handful of demon slayers. However, she was on high alert as she saw them get ripped apart by the smallest of demons. She played it safe by matching the pace of the Night Sentinels she fought alongside as they all charged forward with their tanks.
Their movement was halted by a humongous wall of ice that instantaneously formed in front of them. It was an incredibly thick wall, at least several meters in depth. The Night Sentinels looked around with their weapons aimed, attempting to spot the opposition responsible for blocking their path. The tanks began unleashing their firepower upon the wall in an attempt to destroy it. Unfortunately, the ice wall reflected the shots fired by the tanks back towards them, destroying the vehicles and killing the men inside in the process The Night Sentinels cursed as they began backing up due to their position being compromised.
A young man's voice echoed from behind them, "Who knew all it took was a chunk of ice to make you turn the other way. I pity you, really, it must be daunting fighting someone as strong as me since I received power from Master Muzan and even the Dark Lord." Upper Moon Two, Doma, revealed himself as he stood at the top of ice wall he had created. His usual, nonchalant, and cheerful expression was still plastered on his face.
Kanao turned around to get a better look at the demon, causing her heartbeat to speed up considerably once she recognized who it was. This demon perfectly matched the description given to her and Shinobu by Kanae. She knew it, this was the one who took her sisters away from her! Kanao stopped running. Instead, heading back the other way as she barked, "You…! You're the one that took my sisters away from me, aren't you?! I'll make you pay, you bastard!"
Doma rested his head on his hand before tilting it to the side out of confusion. He repeated, "Sister, you say? I had a Hashira recently that was saying that same stuff to me! Oh! Wait! I know who you are. That boy told me. Kanao, was it? How pleasant of you to finally confront me, Kanao! You're just as pretty as both of your sisters. I'd be more than happy to arrange a family reunion."
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Zenitsu was passing through a ravine in the battlefield. He was lost and alone. His fear was starting to catch up to him. He saw how effortlessly the people around him were killed. He wanted to be strong and dive into battle but he knew damn well he would be dead before he got a chance to strike. He had to figure out how he was going to be able to help in the battle, their swords could barely cut through the other demons as it is so he wasn't sure how much help he was going to be. For now, he was going to try and find his way out of the ravine and return to the battlefield.
Zenitsu's enhanced hearing picked up on the screams of nearby comrades. He had to hurry, he would regret sitting on his ass and letting his allies get killed! He rushed towards the action, following the sounds of their screams and cries for help until the yellow-haired boy exitted the ravine and found himself surrounded by the corpses of dead demon slayers and night sentinels. Standing in the center was his former classmate and now Upper Moon Six, Kaigaku, who currently possessed pale skin, sharp teeth, and pointy ears as well as having a black flame-shaped pattern etched into the sides of his face. The demon whipped around and chuckled upon seeing Zenitsu as he pointed out, "Oh, would you look who it is! I genuinely didn't expect to see you here, pipsqueek. What's wrong? Got tired of sulking and pissing your pants or did you come here to die?"
Zenitsu couldn't afford to let this chance go. He might not be able to handle the other demons but he has no choice but to confront his former classmate here and now. Because he let Kaigaku live, he lost his master and allowed countless people to die at the hands of this deranged lunatic. Zenitsu drew his sword as he pointed it towards Kaigaku with confidence and stated, "You won't be killing anyone else today, not on my watch!"
Kaigaku made a "tch" sound out of irritation, that statement was far too cliched for his tastes. However, he decided to play along with it as he commented, "Alright, brat, let's see the depths of your new resolve. We'll see how committed you are to your own mistake…!"
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Both Tanjiro and the Doom Slayer were far ahead of the ground troops who were struggling to catch up. Consequently, this has left them isolated from the rest of their allies, but didn't bother them. As they approached the wall, doing their best to avoid the clash between Titans and Atlans, Tanjiro's heightened senses alerted him to a rapidly approaching threat. He only had a split second to react as he saw was a blur of white and red zoom past him and rapidly approach the Doom Slayer. In that time frame, Tanjiro managed to dash forward and slice vertically with the argent axe to avoid hitting the Slayer. He sliced off the arm of the new demon which performed a backflip to get away. Tanjiro was surprised to see it was Akaza who had initiated the fight. The Slayer stopped to see who tried attacking him and partially groaned upon seeing the Upper Moon Three demon near him.
Akaza was also disappointed as he looked towards his right arm which was unable to regenerate due to the argent energy and forcefully ripped it off as a result to let it fully regenerate. The demon complained towards Tanjiro, "Really? You had to interfere like that? You're not the one I want, get out of my way, kid."
Tanjiro assumed a fighting stance while keeping his gaze towards Akaza, informing the Slayer, "Go on ahead, I've got some business to finish with Akaza." The Slayer nodded and proceeded to continue his assault on the Immoran wall.
"What business could you possibly have with me, weakling? I have no interest in you, in fact, I despise you for being so weak and cowardly. So do me a favor and get out of my sight before I remove you myself."
"The feeling's mutual. You're right, I was weak and cowardly when we first met. You haunted me for quite some time, always acting as a looming threat and barrier for my progress. I despised you for nearly killing Rengoku and I'm grateful for the Slayer for being there to save him. This is selfish, but I'm not here for that reason. I'm here to prove to myself that I'm no longer afraid of you. If I can defeat you, then I can prove to myself that I have truly moved on."
"So, let me get this straight, you plan on using me as a stepping stone for your little social experiment? Don't you dare look down on me like that. If you want to die that badly, kid, I'm more than happy to give it to you. If you think you've gotten stronger since last time, then let's see how much you've really improved!"