.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The ground shook immensely with the magnitude of a powerful earthquake. Entire skyscrapers rattled from the force of the nearby battle. The duel between Davoth and the Doom Slayer caused the sky to rumble with lightning. A shockwave slammed into all the nearby buildings, decimating them. Within the center of the area were the two warriors locked in intense, fast-paced, close-quarters combat. Both warriors threw over a dozen heavy punches towards each other per second, moving too fast for the human eye to even comprehend what was going on. They constantly shifted positions, circling around each other as they continued throwing punch after punch. The Slayer was left with no choice if Argent Energy was not going to work against the Dark Lord. With each punch the Slayer threw, the Dark Lord would bob out of the way. With each punch the Dark Lord threw, the Slayer had no choice but to block. For the Hellwalker, it was as if he was fighting a mirrored opponent that would mimic everything he would do. Except, his mirror opponent was stronger and faster than him. Every punch they threw created a shockwave that displaced the air, blowing it in the direction of the attack. This happened repeatedly and at such a rapid pace it was as if the two warriors were fighting in a hurricane.
Davoth spun around, whipping his leg across the Slayer's body to launch him across the area and into a building. Without delay, the Dark Lord closed the gap between himself and the Doom Slayer as he immediately threw a punch towards the warrior. With barely any time to react, the Hellwalker raised his arms in defense to block the incoming attack. Davoth's fist collided against the Slayer's arms as the God pushed forward with all of his fight, shoving the Slayer through several buildings back-to-back. After passing through several buildings, they were finally led into a open area with the large Immoran wall straight ahead. The entire area was dark but both warriors were still able to see each other in the shadows.
Davoth retracted his fist, allowing the Doom Slayer to be hurled backwards in the air towards the Immoran Wall. However, Davoth had other plans as he flew after the Slayer and began generating spheres of energy within his palms. Once fully formed, the energy spheres were thrown at the Doom Slayer like bullets. The Hellwalker was able to control his trajectory despite his backwards momentum, using his suit's thrusters to dash out of the way of each sphere that was about to hit him. Before long, the warrior's back slammed into the hardImmoran wall. The Slayer reacted quickly as he pointed both of his wrists above him and fired his grappling hooks to reel himself upwards.
Davoth opened a portal in front of him and passed through it. A second later, another portal opened in front of the Doom Slayer with Davoth emerging from it. The God grabbed the Slayer by his feet, bending his arms backwards before snapping them forward to slap the Slayer's body against the Immoran wall. While still holding onto the warrior, Davoth cracked the Slayer's body like a whip in front of him, letting go once the Slayer was upside down in front of him. The whiplash caused by this maneuver would've killed anyone else, but the Doom Slayer was durable enough to withstand it. Regardless, Davoth smashed the palm of his hand into the warrior's back, pressing him against the wall before charging up a massive amount of energy within the palm of his hand. After bottling up the energy, Davoth released it into a large stream of energy that shot the Slayer through the Immoran wall while melting it.
Tanjiro was helping with the war effort outside the wall until himself and all of his other allies noticed a gigantic energy beam decimating a large portion of the wall. The beam was short-lived, leaving the Doom Slayer to crash into a Demonic Titan with enough momentum to topple it over despite the gigantic difference in stature. Tanjiro's eyes widened upon realizing what was going on and watched in awe as the Demonic titan tumbled forward and accidentally knocked the Sentinel Atlan in front of it over as well. Everyone in the battlefield braced for impact as the two humongous creatures fell to the floor, generating a large tremor that could be felt across the battlefield.
The Doom Slayer was sprawled on top of the Titan's back, groaning in pain as steam radiated from his body due to the energy blast he was propelled from. However, after wincing in pain, the Slayer's eyes shot open as he sprung to his feet, hopping off the gigantic creature's body and squatting down next to it's leg. He scooped his hands underneath the creature's foot, lifting with all of his might as that section of his body was slowly raised off of the ground. It was enough for the Slayer as he positioned himself underneath the creature's foot and held onto it as tightly as he could. He bent his knees to build up power, breathing heavily from the exerted effort to keep the creature's foot above his body. After crouching down enough, The Slayer extended his legs as he jumped into the air while still holding onto the Titan's foot.
Davoth hovered in the air, floating out from the opening in the wall to move towards the Doom Slayer. Despite capturing everyone's attention for a brief moment, Davoth was quickly ignored once the Doom Slayer jumped into the sky while still holding onto the foot of the demonic Titan. Davoth slowly lifted his head to track the Slayer as he saw the warrior ascend into the sky while dragging the demonic titan's foot above his head. Soon, the entire body of the demonic titan followed suit as it was lifted off the ground and ascended with the Doom Slayer. Once the Slayer went as high as he could, he began hurling the demonic titan over him.
All of the allied forces which were near the demonic titan when it was lifted off the ground began fleeing the area as fast as they could once they saw its body rise into the sky. Davoth remained still, nonchalantly observing as the Doom Slayer continued with his maneuver. Once the demonic titan was hurled over the Slayer's body, the Hellwalker proceeded to slam it down upon the Dark Lord at full-force. The humongous body of the creature displaced all the nearby air, causing a powerful gust of wind to blast into the nearby forces that were still fleeing the scene. The entire area surrounding the Dark Lord was coated in the shadow of the demonic titan, the sky was blocked out for the God when he stared into the rapidly approaching demonic titan that threatened to slam into him.
Once the Titan was about to slam into the Dark Lord, the God simply pointed his open hand at the creature. The humongous creature froze for a second before slowly disintegrating from the head-down. The Titan's body dissolved quickly, soon reaching the foot the Slayer was still holding onto. The warrior watched as the seemingly invincible demonic titan that he was using as a sledgehammer disappeared from existence, leaving only the Dark Lord who appeared unphased by the Slayer's attempt to kill him.
The Slayer positioned himself to face the Dark Lord, using his suit's thrusters to boost towards the Dark Lord as fast as he could. However, his aerial mobility was nowhere near as efficient as Davoth's. The God moved so quickly he seemingly vanished from his position and reappeared right in front of the Slayer. They threw a punch towards each other, their fists colliding at the same time. The impact caused an immensely strong shockwave blast which annihilated the nearby terrain.
The Slayer was blown away by the Dark Lord, he wasn't strong enough to overpower the Deity. As the Slayer was blown back, the Dark Lord vanished once more, appearing in front of the Slayer before performing a wide sweeping kick which redirected the warrior's trajectory. The God vanished once more, appearing in front of the Slayer once more and clasping his fists together. Once the Slayer was within range, the Dark Lord smashed his fists into the warrior's body, causing him to plummet towards the ground.
However, the Dark Lord stopped the Slayer's descent as he reappeared underneath the warrior this time, bringing his knee up for the Slayer to crash into. This stopped the warrior's descent as his body slammed into the knee of the Dark Lord, forcing the air out of his body. Davoth punched the Slayer away but didn't allow the warrior to fly off too far as he quickly closed the gap between himself and the warrior to begin relentlessly thrashing the Slayer's body repeatedly with his fists for several seconds. Each hit blew the Slayer's body in another direction only for it to get redirected instantaneously by another hit. The strikes were back to back, occurring mere milliseconds apart. The Slayer had no aerial control over the situation, he was vulnerable while he was in the sky.
Once the Dark Lord was done with his assault, he brought his leg back as far as he could before swinging it forward in an instant, striking the Slayer into the ground at an angle where he would skid across. The warrior plummeted into the ground, crashing into it before his body drilled across the landscape, splitting the terrain he passed through. He passed back through the Immoran wall before going through several more buildings in the process. They were now back to one of the various debris sites caused by their battle as the Slayer was left to roll aimlessly across the uneven ground.
The Dark Lord chased after Doom Slayer, pointing his cupped hand in front of him towards the Doom Slayer before pulling his hand back towards himself. This caused a thick rock wall to form in front of the Doom Slayer. Just as the wall formed, it slammed into the Doom Slayer with enough force to halt his forward momentum. This allowed the Dark Lord to appear right in front of the Doom Slayer before driving his fist into the warrior's abdomen, making the man cough out in pain. Davoth floated backwards before pointing his hand towards the sky and bringing it down. Electricity in the sky gathered in one point, causing the clouds to rumble briefly before a humongous bolt of electricity struck the Doom Slayer to the ground. The sound of the lightning strike echoed across the battlefield, it could be heard very clearly regardless of the distance.
Once the noise settled, the Slayer was left to lay on the ground on his back, groaning from the pain as he slowly sat up. He frantically looked around, finding no trace of the Dark Lord anywhere nearby. The Slayer got up, knowing damn well the God wouldn't abandon their battle and most likely had a scheme in mind. That's when the Slayer noticed the entire area began to get darker by the second. He looked to the ground, noticing the shift in color which compelled him to raise his head towards the sky to see what was coming towards him.
A gigantic Immoran skyscraper was dropped on top of the Doom Slayer. With no time to dodge, the Slayer's only option was to fight his way through this obstacle as he began repeatedly punching through the Immoran metal as hard and as fast as he could. On the other end of the skyscraper, the Dark Lord began doing the same, repeatedly slamming both of his fists into the base of the large building as he pushed it down further. Their relentless volley of punches flattened the Immoran Skyscraper in no time. After the Slayer punched his way through the last bit of metal, he was met face-to-face with the Dark Lord who punched at the Doom Slayer. The Hellwalker barely caught Davoth's attack. A shockwave shot through the Slayer's body before sinking into the floor along with the Slayer's feet which were digging into the ground.
A black and red aura erupted from within the Dark Lord's body as he summoned more power to finish off the Doom Slayer. The Slayer's arm began to shake from the exertion as it was slowly being pushed back. The Slayer responded to this by headbutting the Dark Lord, staggering the God briefly which gave the Slayer enough time to spin backwards and shove his knee into the Dark Lord's abdomen with enough force to send him flying behind the Doom Slayer. As the warrior followed through on his attack, he spun backwards enough to land back on his feet, crouching slightly as he breathed heavily from all the damage he's taken from the fight thus far. He turned to face the Dark Lord who had already stopped himself from being blown back even further.
The God planted his feet on the ground, spreading his arms and legs wide as he pointed his limbs in opposite directions. Davoth smirked before snapping his arms back in the other direction, crossing them in the process. This caused the Slayer to be swept off his feet as a tornado began to form around the warrior, engulfing him within the harsh winds of the twister. The Slayer rapidly ascended into the sky, unwillingly slamming into nearby debris that was picked up by the tornado. The warrior tried his best to escape, but his thrusters weren't powerful enough to escape the twister. The Hellwalker pondered his options and gambled on an idea he formed. He reached towards the demonic crucible hanging off of his hip, grabbing it tightly so it didn't get blown out of his hands, and ignited it.
The warrior channeled his spiritual energy into his next attack as he brought his blade back to swing it, "Blood Breathing: Sixth Form, Armageddon." The Slayer swung wide with the Crucible, his spiritual energy infusing with the argent of his blade to create a massive extension of the Crucible that sliced through the tornado and disrupted its flow.
The Dark Lord stood with his arms crossed, watching as the tornado he created dissipated from the Slayer's attack which was heading straight towards him. Davoth didn't budge a muscle as his body vanished from plain sight once the attack passed through, only for him to reappear in the same position as soon as the chaos had ended.
The Slayer landed on the floor, breathing heavily as he stared at the Dark Lord. He needed to figure out a strategy, quick. He operates best when he's closer to the ground, his grappling hook and suit thrusters pale in comparison to the raw speed and maneuverability the Dark Lord has in the air. He needs to stick to the ground, where he has the most power. If he can keep the Dark Lord grounded, he might still have a chance at winning this.
Symbol of fear by Yuki Hayashi
Davoth smirked, noting the Slayer's silence and commenting, "You're under the assumption that you can still win, that you might be able to defeat me, but you're wrong." The Slayer furrowed his brows, adjusting his fighting stance as he prepared to continue their duel, "Slayer, you do not seem to comprehend the vast difference in strength between us. You believe you have acclimated to my full strength, but that is not a privilege I have bestowed upon you. Allow me to demonstrate. Observe."
Davoth raised his hands above his head, spreading them wide apart. It happened so quickly, a humongous ball of concentrated destructive energy formed above the God's head, dwarfing him in size several times over. The orb was of a dark red color, similar to the Dark Lord's own aura. Next, Davoth slowly brought his hands together, shrinking the size of the orb to fit within the palm of his two hands.
The Slayer wasn't going to stand around and let the Dark Lord demonstrate his abilities. The Slayer saw an opening and took it, launching himself towards the God as fast as he could and threw a punch to cut the God off. The Slayer's fist passed right through the Dark Lord as the deity dissipated into a cloud of smoke. The Slayer turned around before skidding to a stop, observing as the entire area they were fighting in became obscured in a thick fog that clouded his vision.
Afterimages of the Dark Lord holding the concentrated sphere of energy in his hands appeared sporadically around the Doom Slayer, taunting him. The warrior quickly grew enraged, igniting his crucible as he relentlessly slashed through the fog. Despite his best efforts, he could not cleave through the fog, it only got thicker with each cut. Several tendrils made of dirt emerged from the ground, wrapping themselves around the Slayer's legs to hold him still. The warrior angrily shouted, breaking off the dirt tendrils with a simple kick. Once he was freed, he heard the God's voice behind him call, "Behind you."
The Slayer whipped around to see the Dark Lord directly behind him for a split-second. In that split-second, the Dark Lord tilted his cupped hand to allow the ball of energy to roll off, dropping it to the floor directly behind the Slayer. The Slayer whipped around and threw a punch but he was too late as his fist punched through the fog where the Dark Lord used to be. He looked down at the energy sphere which was falling to the ground. Everything seemed to slow down as he watched the crimson sphere hit the ground before bouncing back up half-way. Once it reached the apex of it's bounce arc, the sphere began to glow a bright white color as beams of light shot in every direction as the bomb prepared to detonate at point-blank range. There was no time to dodge…
.
.
.
.
.
Tanjiro was protecting a group of injured Night Sentinels, escorting them back to the medical area to seek treatment. As he guided them along, the ground jolted as if the entire planet had been abruptly moved. Not even Tanjiro was able to remain on his feet as himself and every single organism that was capable of standing on two feet fell to their knees. It sounded like an eruption just occurred, sending a massive shockwave that slammed into the Great Immoran Wall with enough force to blast all of the metallic plates, covering the outside, off of it. The mere sound of it alone was able to mostly deafen anyone that was close to the wall when it happened while partially deafening those further away from the blast.
The violent shaking continued for several seconds until finally calming down to a gentle rumble. Everyone on the battlefield stood back up to find out what just occurred. Their attention was drawing to a humongous cloud of smoke that rose into the clouds. It looked as if an atomic bomb had just been dropped inside the city. This made Tanjiro's eyes widen in shock, he was beginning to realize how dire the situation was. This could only be a product of the Dark Lord, no one else. Tanjiro assessed the situation, checking on all of his nearby comrades before rushing off to find King Valen.
.
.
.
.
.
A majority of the city of Immora was flattened by the blast. The bomb leveled anything and everything that existed within the borders of the city. Every single ship that was battling above the city was blasted into smithereens by the explosion. Nothing remained from those who were inside the city, let alone the buildings. There were lakes of lava washing over the grounds of Immora where the buildings used to be. The Doom Slayer was buried underneath several meters worth of dirt. He was motionless, still processing the pain of what had just happened. He tried moving his body but he was stuck in-place due to the dirt holding him back. He grunted, the mere act of moving caused his body to ache from the effort. However, he was able to dig this way out of the dirt and find his way back to the surface.
Light intruded into his helmet through his visor. It was then that he was able to see how damaged his armor was. His helmet's visor was cracked all over, and his armor was dirtied by burn marks that darkened the overall tint of the armor, it was no longer the lime-green color it used to be, with stretches of pitch black covering parts of his body. He was alerted to the sound of slow footsteps approaching him. He raised his head to look at the Dark Lord who was menacingly walking towards him without a care in the world.
The Slayer got up on his feet quickly, barking, "You… you destroyed your own city!"
Davoth chuckled in response, stating, "Indeed I have. Let me make something clear, Slayer. Whatever happens here is inconsequential to me. What matters to me is that you die by my hands. Hopefully, you realize how pointless it is to battle me at full strength. I have the power to create life…" The Dark Lord raised his hand in front of him, nearby particles of a large variety gathering in front of the God as it formed a humanoid figure. In an instant, Muzan was resurrected in front of the Dark Lord. The self-proclaimed demon king was wide-eyed in shock, he blinked several times before exclaiming:
"What the-!" before being silenced by Davoth who disintegrated him without a second thought. The Dark Lord continued with his statement:
"...and take it with but a thought. I do not care for those beneath me, it is but a trivial task to restore what I lost. However, I was far too relaxed before, I gave too much power to my creations, placing an unreasonable amount of faith in their abilities only to have that faith betrayed by the Maykrs who have wronged me. I have lost much during my physical absence, my creations have stolen from me what is rightfully mine. I will reclaim this universe and no longer will I grant my creations the same privilege or care I gave it before. However, in order to do that, I must, first, get rid of you, Slayer."
The Slayer took up a fighting stance as he threatened, "I'm going to rip you to shreds…!" before lunging towards the Dark Lord to finish the fight.
.
.
.
.
.
Tanjiro dropped down from a cliff right next to King Valen who had met up with several of his officers to figure out the casualty count from the previous explosion. Tanjiro stepped towards the group as he heard one of the officers question, "How could this happen? Our entire fleet is just… gone! So is the enemy fleet as well, the entire city's flattened. They must've set up a bomb, or it was a chain reaction."
Tanjiro chimed in as he stepped into the circle and stated, "No, only the Dark Lord would be able to pull this off, you saw what he did earlier." The officers gulped before nodding in agreement, there was no denying the horrific feats of strength they witnessed from the Dark Lord. Tanjiro turned towards the king, giving him a determined look as he proclaimed, "I'm going."
Universe 7 in trouble by Norihito Sumitomo
King Valen let out a sigh after hearing what Tanjiro said, reminding the boy, "Don't forget your promise to the Slayer, Tanjiro."
The boy looked at Valen for several seconds before nodding in acknowledgement and replying with, "I know. We have to follow through with the mission no matter what. He's going to need my help."
Valen backed up while looking into the sky, explaining to Tanjiro, "I'll do all I can to help from the sidelines. However, I leave the rest to you two slayers." Valen brought his fingers to his mouth, blowing into them hard to create an ear-piercing whistle sound. There was a pause until a large sentinel dragon swooped down low and landed near the group of Sentinels. Tanjiro looked towards the creature and recognized it immediately. It was the same dragon that carried him and the Slayer to the World Spear, the one with the mark of the Slayer branded on its forehead. Valen looked towards Tanjiro, "This should help you get to the fight quickly. Be safe out there, Tanjiro, don't let your newfound strength get to your head."
"I won't. Thank you, Mister Valen." Tanjiro marched next to the Slayer's dragon which lowered its head for Tanjiro to climb on top of it. The creature recognized Tanjiro as well, imprinting the boy's presence and lowering it's guard around the boy. Once Tanjiro climbed on-board of the dragon and grabbed the handle of the saddle, the boy yanked the handle back to command the creature to take to the skies. The Dragon flapped its wings to hover above the ground before arching upwards towards the sky to ascend above the wall. Tanjiro could only hope he's not too late.
.
.
.
3 chapters left…