Doom & Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Xover

Chapter 60: Finale

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"Let's rip and tear, kid." Flynn declared while staring down the Dark Lord. Flynn stood alongside his partner, Tanjiro, who was radiating with energy which caused his armor to glow with a bright red color which had enough intensity to generate steam. Both of them had their demon slayer marks activated and they were both ready to go.

Without warning, both Slayers disappeared from their position and advanced towards the Dark Lord in unison. Davoth barely had time to react as they both smashed their fists into the deity, blowing him away, before chasing after him at full speed. They ran next to the Dark Lord's body and proceeded to bat their opponent, back and forth, between them as if they were playing table tennis with Davoth. The God expelled his energy in every direction to push the Slayers back, separating them quite a distance apart. However, Flynn immediately sprung back towards the Dark Lord.

Davoth focused on avoiding Flynn's punches, blocking and weaving out of the way of each punch thrown his way until Tanjiro appeared behind him and knocked Davoth off his feet with a low sweep kick. Flynn seized the opportunity to smash his fist into Davoth's jaw, launching him into a rock formation that got in his way. Tanjiro chased after him, zooming past the Dark Lord from underneath him before jumping up, spinning backwards, and striking the Dark Lord to the ground with a kick, all in one motion. As Davoth's body bounced off the ground, Flynn charged in to deliver one more powerful blow that caused the Dark Lord to crash into a rock formation. Tanjiro got up to assess the situation before disappearing with his partner once they silently formed their next plan of attack.

Davoth forced himself out of the rock, hovering high in the air before raising his hands and unleashing a barrage of destructive energy beams that snaked towards the two Slayers. The two partners ran together, constantly taking the lead in front of each other as they effortlessly avoided the tendrils that passed them. Once they were within range, they leapt towards the Dark Lord, who was in the air. They were side-by-side when they jumped which gave Davoth an opportunity to strike them both as he summoned upon a humongous bolt of lightning which sought to electrocute them. They twirled out of the way, mid-air, as the lightning bolt struck the ground underneath them.

Flynn dashed forward while using his wrist grappling hook to pull Tanjiro forward because the boy had no aerial maneuverability outside of the Super Shotgun. Davoth backhanded Flynn aside before shifting his attention towards Tanjiro who was flung towards him. Davoth raised his other hand towards Tanjiro in an attempt to unleash an attack, but Tanjiro's enhanced eyesight predicted Davoth's next maneuver, allowing the boy to perform a diagonal spin kick to get out of the way while simultaneously striking the Dark Lord in the side of his neck, kicking him down to ground level where both Slayers performed at their best.

Tanjiro pointed the Super Shotgun behind Davoth, firing the meat hook to pull himself in with his fist drawn back to strike the Dark Lord who stopped himself from hitting the ground. He anticipated the boy's attack, counterattacking with his own punch as their fists collided and generated a powerful shockwave. Tanjiro brushed past the Dark Lord, spinning around to face Davoth who advanced towards the boy and began relentlessly unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks. Tanjiro was able to effortlessly avoid them all, performing swift jabs that sent shockwaves through Davoth's body with each opening the God created before ultimately maneuvering himself to grab the Dark Lord by the arm, hurl the God over him, and slam him into the ground at full force.

As the ground caved in, causing Tanjiro to leap away, Flynn jumped in and drove his fist towards the Dark Lord, pushing the God even deeper and causing the crater to expand exponentially. Flynn was on top of the Dark Lord, fist still grinding against Davoth who was wide-eyed with fury due to the humiliation. He unleashed his energy in every direction once more, this time, unleashing multiple beams of energy that cut through the terrain, sporadically, like a disco ball. Flynn bounced back, avoiding each of the beams that threatened to slice him in two. Tanjiro had to evade the beams as well, performing various flips to dodge the intersecting beams that closed in on his position.

Flynn leapt back, next to Tanjiro, before asking, "Hey, Tanjiro, you think you can shoot one of those lasers again?"

Tanjiro gave Flynn a perplexed look, as if he had no idea what the man was talking about before remembering, "Oh. Uhh, I can try. Being honest, the other one from earlier was an unconscious effort. I'll see what I can do, though." Tanjiro kept jabbing his arm forward multiple times as he tried to unleash the beam as he did earlier. He cursed out loud, "Damn it, why isn't this working?!"

"I don't know, but you better figure it out, quick! I don't think Davoth's going to give us a chance to figure it out, otherwise. Try focusing your spiritual energy, The Wretch made that armor for you, after all."

Tanjiro did just that, extending his hand in front of him and channeling his energy into the palm of his hand, unleashing a burst of energy that shot out. He cut the stream off, quickly, due to the surprise of figuring it out. Tanjiro cheered, "I did it!"

Flynn announced to Tanjiro, "Alright, good! I need you to get in close and fire that thing towards me when I'm behind him, got it?!" Tanjiro gave Flynn a strange look before nodding:

"You got it!"

The two Slayers split up, with Flynn racing around the perimeter of the sliced-apart crater while Tanjiro charged directly towards Davoth. The closer Tanjiro got, the more demanding his reaction time needed to be. Fortunately, Tanjiro was now strong and fast enough to not get hit. Tanjiro dove forward like a swimmer, evading a blade of energy that passed right underneath him, before rolling forward and opening up his hand to unleash his built-up energy. He saw Flynn get in position, further away from the Dark Lord, with his arms spread wide as if he's about to catch something. Tanjiro understood the plan, raising his palm towards the sphere of energy the Dark Lord had encapsulated himself in and unleashing everything he had.

A humongous and crimson energy beam was unleashed from the palm of Tanjiro's hand, breaking through the Dark Lord's barrier before pushing him out. In an instant, the beam reached Flynn who managed to catch the Dark Lord, in the nick of time, and push back against the energy beam with all of his might, sandwiching Davoth between Flynn and Tanjiro's energy beam. Flynn's feet dragged across the ground as he was pushed back by the energy beam. Soon enough, steam began to rise from the God's body as he started to growl from the pain before evolving into shouts of agony. Davoth had enough, teleporting away and allowing Flynn to feel the full brunt of the blast. Tanjiro quickly stopped his attack once the Dark Lord had teleported away.

Davoth reappeared behind Tanjiro with his arms crossed. Tanjiro turned around to see Davoth severely injured with entire chunks of his skin burnt off, causing him to bleed profusely. Davoth stated, "I was correct about you, you are problematic. I'll need to get rid of you, first." Davoth tried to utilize his telekinesis but Tanjiro refused to give Davoth the opportunity, closing the gap between himself and the Dark Lord before throwing a series of flame-coated punches towards the deity. Davoth focused on trying to dodge each of the punches until he started to push back, yet, he was unable to land a single blow on Tanjiro. The boy was far too nimble, predicting each of his attacks and evading with ease. Davoth extended his arm in front of him, hoping to unleash a wide beam of energy to catch Tanjiro off-guard with. However, the boy performed a backwards flip in the air. Just as he did so, the Slayer rushed past Tanjiro, from underneath, and smashed his fist into Davoth's face, blowing him away with another punch.

Davoth dug his feet into the ground to halt his backward momentum before using his manipulative powers to rip out an entire chunk of the ground, the size of a comet, and chucking it towards the two Slayers. They destroyed it in a single punch, blasting the boulder to smithereens as millions of tiny rock pebbles scattered in every direction. Amidst all this, Davoth appeared in front Tanjiro, using the boulder as a distraction so he could get in close so Tanjiro would have no time to react.

Except, Tanjiro was able to react as he leaned his body back and raised his knee towards Davoth to push him up, followed by Flynn joining in as he brought his leg down to slam the Dark Lord back down. Tanjiro utilized his abnormally hard skull to headbutt the God, knocking Davoth back towards Flynn who topped off their combo with a rapid spin kick to launch Davoth away. The two Slayers charged towards Davoth once more, moving so fast that their afterimages failed to catch up with them. Davoth shouted as he created a large portal in front of him which Tanjiro and Flynn were unfortunate enough to pass through.

The two Slayers were now falling in the air, extremely high up in the atmosphere where the ground approached them at crawling speed. They extended their arms and legs, spreading their body as much as they could to slow their descent and figure out a way to get out of the situation. However, they didn't need to spend much time thinking because Davoth had already created a portal for himself in the air. He utilized his aerial advantage to repeatedly strike Flynn who could barely dodge. Tanjiro, however, was able to evade each attack. Davoth stopped, releasing a large amount of energy spheres which surrounded the two Slayers like a minefield that descended with them. Just as Davoth was preparing to make all of the mines converge on one position, the Slayer took drastic measures to make sure Tanjiro was okay, using his grappling hook on Tanjiro before spinning around to build up momentum and hurl the boy outside of the minefield just as the energy spheres converged on his position.

Tanjiro wasn't going to abandon his partner, so he quickly pulled out the Super Shotgun and fired the Meathook which wrapped around the warrior's body to reel his partner to safety just as the mines exploded, blasting them further back, uncontrollably, in the air. Tanjiro was suddenly halted by the Dark Lord who grabbed ahold of him using telekinesis, seeking to end the boy's life once and for all. Flynn was quick to react as he fired both of his grappling hooks towards the Dark Lord and launched himself towards the deity, tackling the God to break his hold on Tanjiro.

Flynn proceeded to use his suit's thrusters to dash towards the ground, intending to ram the Dark Lord into it. Davoth, through a strenuous effort, managed to break free from Flynn's grip, leaving him to fall to the ground while he ascended back towards Tanjiro who was now isolated. Unfortunately, he was interrupted by Flynn grappling onto him to hold him back. Davoth looked back towards the warrior, gritting his teeth as he exclaimed, "I've had enough of this!" while raising his arm to slice the cable in two.

Then, the meathook of the Super Shotgun wrapped itself around the Dark Lord as well, drawing his attention as he turned behind him to see Tanjiro being pulled towards him while Flynn did the same. Now locked in-place, Davoth was struck by the two Slayers as they passed by him while delivering a devastating blow at the same time. As Flynn flung himself upwards, Tanjiro physically grabbed the Dark Lord to stop himself from descending further, positioning Davoth so he was pointed towards the ground and with that same hand he used to hold on, unleashed a concentrated beam of Davoth's own energy back at him. The beam continued expanding as it engulfed the Dark Lord while blasting him towards the ground. Anyone from far away was able to see a large beam of light descend from the sky before crashing into the ground and generating a humongous dome of crimson light which exploded upon reaching its full size.

Tanjiro managed to slow himself down a little bit, but it was a futile effort because he rapidly picked up the pace again, despite his best efforts. That's when Flynn descended next to Tanjiro who was scrambling to come up with a solution, crying out, "Uhh, Mister Flint, what are we gonna do about this?"

Flynn looked towards the ground to see it was getting closer by the second. The warrior nodded as he stated, "Hold on." before embracing Tanjiro, holding him close as he began using his suit's thrusters to dash sideways to slow their descent as much as possible. Tanjiro was surprised by the maneuver, it was their first embrace which left him speechless. However, now is not the time to be celebrating such a small achievement. "Brace yourself." Flynn warned, which prompted Tanjiro to shut his eyes and prepare for the pain he was about to experience.

They both slammed into the ground with Flynn cushioning the impact for Tanjiro, leaving Flynn to feel the brunt of the impact. They skid across the ground for less than a minute before stopping. Flynn weakly let go of Tanjiro who rolled onto the floor and onto his stomach. They both groaned intensely, struggling to pick themselves up as Tanjiro winced in pain, cursing, "Oww, this hurts… a lot…"

Flynn was in the most pain but still managed to stand up and help Tanjiro onto his feet before assuring, "At least you're alright."

They turned their attention towards the gigantic crater formed by Tanjiro's attack which had been filled with the lava from underneath the surface layer of the planet. A geyser of lava rose from the center of the crater with hot magma dripping off the Dark Lord's body. He was breathing heavily and, unfortunately, so were they. Flynn prepared to say something to Tanjiro, looking towards him only to stumble on his words once he saw the light of Tanjiro's armor waver in brightness. Flynn pointed this out to Tanjiro by calling out to him, "Tanjiro, your armor…"

Tanjiro raised his arm to see his armor getting darker before lighting up again. The profuse amount of steam generated by the Praetor X also began to decrease by the second. Tanjiro answered, "This thing didn't really come with an operating manual, but I think this is a good indicator that we need to wrap things up, quickly. This'll be our only shot at this rate."

"Then we have no time to waste. Let's do it."

Full force Kamehameha by Norihito Sumitomo

Both Slayers vanished from their position, accelerating towards the Dark Lord who flew towards them without fear. Davoth cased himself in his own energy as he sped towards them like a lightning bolt. They side-stepped the attack, observing as Davoth turned to face his two targets and engage in close-quarters combat with the two of them. They went back and forth, exchanging blows until Tanjiro delivered a shocking punch across Davoth's jaw which staggered him briefly, followed up by another wide kick from Flynn which knocked the Dark Lord away.

Davoth skidded across the landscape while unleashing his energy into the clouds. As soon as the energy reached the sky, it broke apart before riddling the terrain like a rain storm. The two Slayer advanced forward, tapping into their breathing techniques before stating their attacks:

"Sun Breathing: Burning Bones, Summer Sun!"

"Blood Breathing: Third Form, Bleeding Drill."

Tanjiro's attack and the Slayer's combined to create a combined spiral of burning blood as they passed through the energy rain like a set of drills. Tanjiro was the first to arrive in front of the Dark Lord, closing the gap between himself and his opponent as he began mercilessly thrashing the deity with his fists before passing it off to Flynn who continued in his stead. They continued back and forth like this until Flynn knocked Davoth back with a powerful punch. As Davoth was knocked away, he performed a surprise attack by unleashing a beam of energy towards the two Slayers in front of him.

Tanjiro reacted quickly by unleashing his own beam to intercept the one coming towards them, causing the two beams to collide before eventually exploding in a ball of expelled energy and smoke. As Davoth was blown even further back by the explosion, Flynn chased after him, cutting through the smoke like a light in the darkness, before digging his fist into Davoth's abdomen which caused the God's expression to widen in pain. Flynn snapped his other fist forward, shooting the Dark Lord back even further.

Davoth was now skidding across the lake of lava formed from their battle. Tanjiro now took Flynn's place as he moved fast enough to the point he was practically sliding on lava. Tanjiro threw several more punches until he began sinking into the lava. He reacted quickly by grabbing ahold of the Dark Lord and proceeded to use him as a sled to tread the lake, all the while pouring hot lava into his open wounds. Once the other side of the lake was in-sight, Tanjiro jumped off the Dark Lord's body, firing the meathook to wrap around the Dark Lord's body to rip him out of the lava before slamming him on top of solid ground.

Flynn sped in from the side, kicking Davoth off the ground before catching up to him once more and began senselessly beating the Dark Lord to a pulp. Eventually, he punched Davoth away, but the God was able to remain standing, but not for long. His entire body twitched from the pain as he vomited a chunk of blood which splashed onto the floor before, eventually, crashing to his knees. Tanjiro ran up next to his partner who turned his head to face the boy before declaring, "You're gonna ram your fist straight through him, you got it?"

Tanjiro nodded in agreement, "Got it." before grabbing Flynn's hand and allowing himself to be lifted off the ground and dragged along by the warrior who began violently spinning in circles to build up momentum. The world became a blur for Tanjiro but he trusted Flynn's reaction time. Once they had built up enough momentum, Tanjiro was released with his fist brought back, intending to plunge it straight through the Dark Lord's body and finish the fight. There was barely any time once Tanjiro unleashed a powerful battle cry from the top of his lung and shot his fist forward at the right time. Tanjiro felt himself make impact with Davoth's body, creating a powerful shockwave which lifted up all of the nearby dust and dirt surrounding them, obscuring everyone in the cloud of dust generated by the attack. There was silence, until…

"I understand how your power works, boy…"

Unwinnable battle by Norihito Sumitomo

An aura erupted from the Dark Lord's body, clearing away all of the dust to reveal the deity standing triumphantly, while holding Tanjiro back. The boy was in complete shock as the light of his suit finally died down and returned to its normal color. Davoth continued, "You thrive off the damage you take… Unfortunately, for you…" Davoth built up energy within the palm of his hand that was holding Tanjiro back, "... You stopped taking damage." Davoth prepared to unleash the energy once more before reconsidering, "Hmm, blasting you wouldn't be prudent, it would only restart the cycle… Fascinating… my creators understood that you'd be outclassed by me, so they took advantage of our power gap to give you more strength. This was certainly a variable I was unable to account for." Davoth tossed Tanjiro aside, not wanting to run the risk of triggering the boy's ability once more by accident. Flynn rushed towards the boy, catching him in the air before setting him down

Davoth continued, "Far too much has gone wrong in such a short amount of time. That boy was never a factor in my plan, yet he was able to push me to the edge. My city has been destroyed, and my forces are depleted. Had you not run out of power just now, you may, very well, have managed to ram your fist through me. The thought of surviving off of sheer luck leaves a poor taste in my mouth, a taste I seek to cleanse. There's too much for me to fix in this desolate place. The only option I have left is to wipe the slate clean and start again. I will rebuild Immora from the ashes of your corpse by obliterating everything from the surface of this planet."

Flynn lunged towards Davoth to cut him off, but he was frozen, in place, by the Dark Lord's telekinesis before being pushed away by the deity who, then, disappeared and reappeared on top of the Immoran wall. Tanjiro and Flynn looked around frantically, not knowing where Davoth had gone to but knew they had to evacuate everyone to safety as Flynn relayed to Valen, "You need to get everyone out of here, now. He's going to destroy everything!"

Davoth raised his hands above his head and began pouring every ounce of energy he had within him into a concentrated sphere of pure destructive energy. A gigantic sphere formed above Davoth's head, continuously expanding in size until, eventually, becoming as large as the demonic titans he commanded. The sphere looked like the sun, a ball of scorching hot energy that was ready to annihilate everything down below. Anyone in Immora, no matter where they were, was able to see the miniature sun hovering above the Dark Lord. The two Slayers took notice of the miniature sun above Davoth as well and widened their eyes in shock upon seeing what they were dealing with.

Davoth taunted, "There is no dodging, Slayers! Your oblivion is inevitable, and I will laugh as I watch you get vaporized!" Davoth hurled the sphere towards the ground at full force. The two Slayers barely had time to dodge, even if they wanted to. Their only option was to hold it back. They stared up at the miniature sun crashing towards them, sweat coating their bodies due to their nervousness. The two Slayers planted their feet, bent their knees, and raised their arms to catch the energy sphere. Once they felt the sphere push against them, they began to progressively sink into the ground as a large crater formed around them. Powerful gusts of wind blew in every direction with the might of a hurricane, even reaching over the walls to continue blowing against the allied forces still fighting their battles.

The dragon theme by Bruce Falcouner

The ground shook as if the entire world was falling apart, the landscape began to crumble with tall rock formations collapsing to the ground like a stack of cards. Even the Sentinel Atlans and remaining demonic Titans had a difficult time standing, to the point they fell over once the foundation they stood on began to crumble apart. The remaining members of the Demon Slayer Corps began to retreat while the injured (including Kanao, Inosuke, and Zenitsu) were evacuated. All they could do was look towards the chaos and shield their eyes from the intense gusts of wind blasting into them. People were barely able to stand, getting knocked over by the powerful streams that destroyed the terrain.

Valen announced to all of their forces, "Send all the vehicles towards the Dark Lord's position! Help the Slayers out as much as possible before it's too late!" All of the vehicles from the Allied Forces began moving beyond the wall to intercept the Dark Lord and unleash all of their firepower onto the deity to stop him from destroying everything.

Tanjiro and Flynn continued getting pushed back deeper into the ground, the sensation they felt from pushing back against the sphere of destructive energy caused their bones to rattle, their skin was burning hot because of the energy and the exerted effort to keep the miniature sun from pushing them back even further. The Slayer shouted, "Tanjiro, you think you can tap into that power again?!"

Tanjiro winced as he screamed, "DON'T YOU THINK I'D ALREADY BE DOING IT IF I COULD?!"

"Then don't give up! We can still do this, but we have to keep on pushing!"

The Sentinel Atlans were in position as they began unleashing the devastating firepower of their shoulder cannons towards the Dark Lord. Davoth nonchalantly raised his hand towards the incoming blast and generated a shield which nullified the blast. Soon, the entire fleet of the Allied forces began closing in on the Dark Lord, unleashing all of their firepower and depleting every single bit of energy and ballistic ammunition they had on board. Davoth swiped his hand across the empty air, creating a chain of explosions which spread across the entire fleet of the Allied Forces, destroying all of their ships with ease. Davoth laughed maniacally as he began pouring more energy into his attack, firing several more smaller spheres which merged with his attack, exponentially increasing the sphere in size and boosting the collateral effects generated by the attack. Davoth exclaimed giddily, "I've forgotten the joys of destruction! For too long, have I focused on creation and forgot to enjoy pure chaos! Ha ha ha ha! What a magnificent feeling this is! To watch so much be crumbled away with a minimal effort. Be gone from this world, Slayers, so I may start again!"

Tanjiro's eyebrows curled up in distress before crying out to his partner, "Mister Flint, if we don't make it out of this-!"

Flynn interrupted, "Shut the hell up, Tanjiro! I am not about to start hearing you give up now! We can do this, but we have to work together and give it everything we got, so keep pushing!" Both Slayers pushed with all of their might but to no avail. They kept getting pushed further into the ground and it was only a matter of time until they lost their foundation and crashed into the lava below. There was nothing either of them could do, even their combined strength, as they are, is unable to defeat the Dark Lord. What chance did they think they had against Davoth, now that they were out of options? They didn't know, but all they could do was fight until they no longer could.

Birth of a God by Norihito Sumitomo

Both Slayers heard footsteps approaching them from behind. They didn't bother to look, only focusing on the task at hand until they heard a familiar voice state, "He's right, y'know. You just have to give it everything you've got, you have all the power you need, right at your disposal." They turned to see a translucent Xernex standing between them, staring directly into the miniature sun.

Both Slayers did a double take as they simultaneously called out his name from pure shock. Xernex nodded towards them both, leaning in as he placed a gentle hand on both of their shoulders. Flynn pointed out, "How are you still alive?!"

The Night Sentinel chuckled, turning towards his best friend and informing him, "I'll explain that to you later. Let's just say I was given special permission, considering the situation and what's at stake. Oh, and I hope you don't mind, I also brought along a few friends." As soon as Xernex said this, ghosts of their past began to appear from thin air. One by one, people such as Yoriichi, Tanjuro, Lady Shinobu, and a multitude of others that Tanjiro and the Slayer have seen pass away over the years presented themselves to the two Slayers. Tanjiro's pupils expanded upon seeing all of his deceased friends and family appear before him, almost moving him to tears. He regained his focus once Xernex continued speaking, "We're all here for you. Tanjiro, you don't need to be afraid anymore. In some way, shape, or form, all of us live on through you. If you don't push past your fears and give it everything you've got, you'll betray all of the faith that we put into you and all of your loved ones that are still alive will die! Is that what you want?!"

Tanjiro exclaimed, "No!"

"Then go beyond your fears, don't let Davoth intimidate you any longer because you're not alone. All of us are here to back you up and finish this fight, you know what you need to do!" Tanjiro took a large and deep breath. If he was able to expel energy by focusing on his spiritual energy to release it, surely, he could do the opposite. He closed his eyes and funneled his spiritual energy into his suit. The burning hot energy of Davoth's attack began to course into the Praetor X. Tanjiro's armor exploded with a bright red color that replaced its standard green color, generating steam from the tips of the suit.

Davoth grit his teeth angrily upon seeing this as he cursed, "Damn you, Xernex… so, my creators have chosen to interfere after all! Ha! If they think they can stop me, then let them try!" Davoth pushed his energy forward with all of the strength he could muster.

Xernex praised, "Very good, Tanjiro! Now, take it in and throw it back at him with full force!" Tanjiro brought his right hand back while using his left to hold the energy sphere back. The army of spirits that were behind the two Slayers mimicked Tanjiro's movement, creating a wave of movement across the sea of spirits behind them. Before Tanjiro could begin to build up energy, Flynn positioned his open hand behind Tanjiro's before turning his head towards the boy and telling him:

"We'll do it, together."

A tiny bud of energy formed within the palm of Tanjiro's hand. Soon, that bud began to grow in size until it fit inside Tanjiro's cupped hand. Once enough energy was accumulated, the boy, alongside all of his comrades, snapped their hands forward to unleash the energy built up within him. A powerful beam of crimson energy was unleashed from the hands of the two Slayers which pressed against the destructive sphere created by Davoth. Everyone watched as Davoth's attack began to get pushed back incrementally, eventually being lifted several meters off the ground and allowing both Slayers to fully stand up with their hands raised alongside the army of spirits behind them.

Davoth began to panic, pouring more energy into the sphere to increase its size and make it more difficult for the two warriors to push back. This, consequently, increased the size of the Slayers' own beam as it began to enlarge at an exponential rate, almost becoming as large as the destructive sphere, itself, and skyrocketing the miniature sun back towards its creator. Davoth raised his arms in front of him, creating a energy shield to protect himself once his own miniature sun slammed against him. The shield couldn't withstand their full power for long, quickly shattering and forcing Davoth to physically hold back their attack.

Davoth's expression was that of wide-eyed fury as he began angrily shouting, "THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! IN MY YEARS OF PLANNING, NEVER, ONCE, DID I CONSIDER THAT A CHILD, CHOSEN BY THE ANCIENT GODS, WOULD BE THE REASON FOR MY DOWNFALL! YOU WERE NEVER A FACTOR IN MY GRAND SCHEME, YOU WERE BUT A INSECT COMPARED TO ME! WHY DID THE ANCIENT GODS CHOOSE YOU?!" Davoth was consumed by Slayers' attack, getting blasted back while his skin corroded away due to the energy melting away at his body. Tanjiro and the Slayer began taking several steps forward while unleashing every single ounce of energy that either of them had within them.

Tanjiro shouted back at Davoth from the top of his lungs, "YOU'RE WRONG, DAVOTH! THIS ISN'T JUST A RESPONSE FROM YOUR CREATORS, THIS IS RETALIATION FROM EVERY LIVING BEING THAT'S SUFFERED BECAUSE OF YOUR TYRANNY! YOU WISH TO TAKE AWAY EVERYTHING WE LOVE BECAUSE OF YOUR PITIFUL REVENGE! SO LONG AS I DRAW BREATHE, I'LL NEVER LET YOU TAKE AWAY OUR CHOICE TO LIVE! MANKIND ISN'T PERFECT, WE MAKE MISTAKES, BUT OUR ABILITY TO PUSH PAST THOSE CHALLENGES IS WHAT MAKES US WHO WE ARE! FOR ALL OF THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE DIED IN THE PAST AND THE PEOPLE WHO ARE STILL CLINGING TO LIFE NOW, WE WILL DEFEAT YOU! I HAVE A FAMILY TO GET BACK TO, AND I WON'T LET YOU GET IN MY WAY!"

The beam of energy continued to expand to an astonishing degree, growing as tall as the wall of Immora and incinerating everything that was unfortunate enough to be in front of it. The two Slayers continued walking forward, pushing with all of their might and obliterating Davoth with all of their might. The beam pushed Davoth along as he stared into the abyss of light created by the energy beam. It was inconceivable, there was no way he could lose like this! He absolutely refused to accept it! He began screaming as loud as he could because of the pain once the gargantuan beam of energy broke past the stratosphere and launched Davoth into space.

Tanjiro and Flynn stood still, taking in a large amount of air while staring at the aftermath of their attack, a skyscraper-sized hole ripped through the landscape. Nothing that used to be there existed anymore as it was blasted into oblivion with no trace of it left. The spirits that accompanied the warriors were gone, leaving the two Slayers to their own antics as they powered down and fell on their backs, wincing in pain while still trying to catch their breath. Their demon slayer marks shut off, instantly, while the Praetor X's power faded away and it's original color was restored.

Tanjiro focused on catching his breath before anything else, he exhausted every little bit of energy he had in his body. It was an effort to even breathe, his entire body was sore, drained, and it hurt like hell. The boy's ears rang loudly, he couldn't even hear what was going on around him. However, he could relax knowing that it was finally over. The fight… his vengeance… all of it… it's finally over... Tears started to stream down from the boy's face. He opened his eyes which burned from staring into the bright light of his own attack for a period of time. However, he was able to keep them open despite the pain, and the ringing in his ears calmed down. He then heard Valen's voice sound over their communicators, "Are you still alive? What's going on? Is the Slayer with you?"

Tanjiro answered, "No… he shouldn't be-" Tanjiro turned his head to see the warrior sitting up with his head leaning back from exhaustion. Tanjiro ignored Valen upon seeing this and forced himself to sit up as well before calling, "What the- Mister Flint, you're okay!"

Flynn leaned forward, his exhaustion was clear as day. He muttered, "That's not a good thing… that means we're not done, yet." Flynn lifted his head before letting out a furious groan as he stated, "...He's still alive…"

Tanjiro's eyes widened as he slowly turned his head in the direction Flynn was looking at before cursing, "No fucking way…!" Davoth trudged forward, one step at a time, with blood coating his entire body. He left behind a trail of his own blood that stretched across the crater. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

The crystal imbued within the Dark Lord's chest was severely cracked, barely holding itself together. Davoth looked upon the two Slayers with pure disdain, his pupils were dilated much like Flynn's. The artifact cracked once more before the entire thing shattered. All of the tiny pieces of the artifact dropped to the ground, drowning in the pool of blood Davoth left behind. The God spoke, "You… you have taken everything from me…" The demonic echo of the Dark Lord's voice faded away following the destruction of Davoth's artifact. Now, he sounded exactly like Flynn, without any filters. Chills were sent down Tanjiro's spine upon hearing the exact voice of his partner coming out of the Dark Lord. Davoth's eyes turned white, but his pupil still remained red, and the symmetrical red pattern that covered his body (which stemmed from the artifact in his chest and were completely identical to Flynn's) disappeared with the removal of the crystal. Then, the boy remembered the warning of The Wretch:

"...Davoth is not a true god like his creators. He receives his power from an artifact created by the Gods. Without it, he is but a mere mortal."

Silverback by Slow Roosevelt

So that's what they meant, which means Davoth should no longer possess the godly strength he previously had. The only problem is: both himself and Flynn are tapped out and completely drained of strength while Davoth appears to have enough to keep fight. Davoth angrily exclaimed, "You've stolen my chance at recreating everything…! I didn't care if it was destroyed because I had the power to restore it… but, now, you've permanently removed any chance for my people's resurrection! Everything that was once mine is gone and it's all thanks to you! I will make you two suffer the same pain I am feeling right now, I will not show you mercy. As the Slayer likes to say, I will 'rip and tear' you apart!"

Davoth raced forward, unexpectedly, to tackle the two Slayers to the ground. Both Slayers were too drained of energy to even dodge. They yelped in pain after being tackled by the Dark Lord. Davoth spun towards Tanjiro, wanting to take out the more, potentially, dangerous target, first, by pummeling the boy to the ground with a single strike. The air was taken out of Tanjiro's lungs with the punch, leaving his body to ragdoll on the floor, lifelessly. Davoth lifted his foot above Tanjiro before bringing it down upon the boy's skull, pressing down on the boy's head as hard as he could with the full intent to flatten it underneath his heel. Tanjiro began screaming in pain from having his head sandwiched into the floor.

Flynn angrily yelled as he forced himself to his feet and blindly charged towards the Dark Lord. Davoth backhanded the warrior away. Tanjiro had to react quickly or he was done for, but the only weapon he would be able to reach, given his position, would be his nichirin blade. It was now or never! Tanjiro grabbed the blade and swung it against the Dark Lord. Davoth swatted the blade in-half with a nonchalant swing, distracting him long enough for Flynn to run up with Valen's argent hammer, activated, and bat it against the back of the Dark Lord's body, launching him into a rock formation which tumbled to the ground, burying him underneath the debris.

The Slayer reached down to help the boy onto his feet, groaning in the process before explaining, "I think he's lost his immunity to argent… this'll be our best chance to take him down… come on, Tanjiro, pull yourself together…" The boy hunched over, holding onto his head and feeling the effects of vertigo kick in almost instantaneously.

Tanjiro muttered, "...yeah… i'll try…" as he barely stabilized himself enough to pull out his argent axe and ignite it. However, after taking a few steps forward, he fell, flat, on his face. The Slayer lazily tilted his head towards Tanjiro after seeing him fall. The way both warriors were moving, they looked like drunk men who had no control over themselves. Their movements were sloppy and lacked control, that's how exhausted they both were.

Flynn leaned his head back in thought before forcing himself to pick Tanjiro up, grabbing him tightly before informing, "Rest up, kid… It's my turn to buy you some time…" Tanjiro could barely respond as he was lifelessly tossed away by Flynn who threw Tanjiro as far away from the battlefield as he could so Davoth couldn't find or get to him. As soon as the warrior did this, Davoth broke free from the debris and began angrily stomping towards the Hellwalker. Flynn mumbled underneath a tired breath, "...I'll see what I can do on my own…"

Tanjiro was flung a sizable distance across the landscape before sliding across the ground, on his stomach. The boy groaned in pain, trying his best to keep his eyes open but he felt so tired he could barely move. Eventually his eyelids shut, and he could no longer keep his head lifted up. He lost consciousness with this entire body resting lifelessly on the warm Immoran terrain.

Flynn, wielding the Demonic Crucible in one hand and Valen's argent hammer in the other, charged towards Davoth who did the same. There were no theatrics this time, no special abilities or flying. They were both on the same playing field, this time, which means he didn't have to worry about an aerial disadvantage. If he's able to get a swift and decisive victory by slicing through Davoth with the Crucible, then victory is assured! The Hellwalker slammed the Argent Hammer into the ground to knock Davoth off-balance. In response, the former God leapt towards Flynn. The warrior seized this opportunity to swing his Crucible at the Dark Lord. Davoth saw the incoming blade and reacted quickly by performing a quick raising ax-kick which struck against the Slayer's helmet, pushing him back several meters and disrupting his attack.

Davoth made a "hmm" sound upon realizing how much danger he is in with his immunity to Argent no longer at his disposal. He must get rid of this danger before it comes back to bite him. Davoth recklessly charged towards the warrior to bait the Hellwalker into attacking him. Flynn did just that, swinging his demonic Crucible at the Dark Lord who ducked underneath the blade before grabbing the warrior by both wrists and squeezing tightly. Flynn brought his head back before shooting it forward to headbutt Davoth who did the same. Their identical eyes were locked onto each other. Davoth squeezed until the warrior let go of both his weapons and growled in pain. With the Hellwalker's weapons removed, Davoth planted his foot on the warrior's torso before shove-kicking him away.

Davoth knelt down next to the two weapons, inspecting them as he announced to his target, "As much as I would love to use either of these weapons against you, Slayer, my fury would not be sated if I killed you in such a swift manner. I want to tear you limb for limb. Once I have gotten what I want from you, I will terminate you with your own weapon. Until then, I don't want these in my sight!" Davoth chucked both weapons away, towards an identifiable rock formation he could refer back to, for when he needed the weapons to use against the two Slayers. Now, it was only a matter of finding where the smaller Slayer was hiding.

Flynn was slightly relieved knowing that Davoth chose not to use the argent weapons, but it sucked not having them at his disposal. Flynn extended his trusty doom blade for the first time in a while before channeling his spiritual energy into his next attack, "Blood breathing: Second Form, Flash Blood." Flynn slashed the air between himself and the Dark Lord, creating a rapidly approaching, slash-based, blood projectile that shot towards the former deity. Davoth charged towards the attack, sliding underneath it and closing the gap between himself and the Hellwalker. The warrior tried to strike Davoth but the Dark Lord was still stronger and faster than the Slayer, quickly brushing past the Slayer's attack and striking him.

Davoth began to brutally thrash Flynn, throwing punch after punch and repeatedly pushing the Slayer back. Before long, the warrior was backed up against a rock wall where Davoth continued his senseless onslaught. Davoth yanked the warrior's head out of the rock wall, leaning in to threaten the warrior, "I know the boy is waiting somewhere. You will tell me where he is, now, or I will make you suffer until he comes out."

The warrior mocked in return, "Heh, your demons fear me, but you fear a child… how ironic…"

"SILENCE!" Davoth repeatedly slammed the Hellwalker's head into the rock wall multiple times like a child throwing a tantrum before taking several steps back and exclaiming, "I will not stand for this! I may have lost everything, but I will make sure neither of you get what you want!" Davoth decided he wasn't going to follow through with torturing the two Slayers. He just wanted them dead. His rage has caused him to be short-sighted and indecisive. He has to put his rage aside if he hopes to survive this battle. Davoth located his designated rock formation he discarded the weapons at and began running towards it. Flynn saw this and understood what Davoth was going to do. He couldn't allow Davoth to get the upper-hand with their argent weapons, not while they still had a chance!

Flynn popped out of the rock wall and entered a mad sprint to chase after Davoth who was dodging various obstacles to get out of the way. Flynn followed in-pursuit, using his grappling hooks to reel himself forward while utilizing the thrusters of his suit to close the gap between himself and the Dark Lord. Flynn brought his left arm back (the arm with the Doom Blade) and channeled his spiritual energy into his next attack, "Blood Breathing: Fourth Form, Blood Fang." The Slayer jabbed his blade forward alongside the blood fangs that surrounded him. Davoth turned around, barely dodging as he tilted his head to the side while getting tackled to the floor. The Doom Blade pierced the ground next to his head. Flynn taunted, "What's wrong, Davoth? I thought you wanted to kill me! Why are you running away?"

Davoth's expression shifted to that of wicked fury as he knee'd the warrior in the abdomen before shoving the Slayer off with all of his might. The former God got back on his feet before declaring, "Your death will come soon enough, Slayer!" The Dark Lord leapt towards the rock formation, climbing to the very tip of it as he quickly surveyed the area. He started to panic once more, the weapons were nowhere in sight, where could they have gone?!

Flynn caught up, observing the panic-stricken expression on the Dark Lord's face and mocking one more time, "Oh, what's wrong? Did you throw them a bit too hard?" Davoth angrily shouted before springing towards the Doom Slayer to tackle him down to the floor and beat him senseless for his sins.

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"Wake up." A voice called to Tanjiro. The boy furrowed his brows in discomfort upon slowly regaining consciousness. However, that didn't stop whoever was calling out to Tanjiro, "Wake up!" Something kicked against the side of Tanjiro's face, rolling the boy onto his back and leaving him wide-eyed and awake. The voice sarcastically said, "Took you long enough, asshole." Tanjiro turned his head to see Akaza standing next to where he was laying while wielding a ignited demonic crucible in one hand and the argent hammer in the other. Tanjiro was beyond surprised to see Akaza, of all people, in front of him as he called out to the demon:

"What the?! Akaza…?! How the- where did you get those…?!"

Akaza raised the blade, gently swinging the blade as he answered, "Oh, these? Well, let's just say I snagged them after the Dark Lord decided to chuck them away, like a dumbass. Honestly, I can see why you guys like these things so much, they're so much fun to swing." Akaza began making "woosh", "Vrrr", and "tzzz" noises with his mouth as he nonchalantly swung the blade, giggling afterwards.

Tanjiro was perplexed, shaking his head subtly in disbelief as he further questioned, "Okay… then… what are you doing here?"

Akaza shrugged his shoulders, walking towards a large rock to lean against it and explained, "I figured I'd see how things play out. Ofcourse, I didn't bother getting too close to you guys until you were done zipping around at lightspeed and shooting energy beams out of your fucking hands. Like, seriously, Tanjiro? Is that how much you were holding back against me? I should just kill you right here and now for that disrespect."

"To be fair, Akaza, until, like, a bit ago… I had no idea I was capable of those things… The full power I showed you then was what I was fully capable of at the time…"

"Heh, how about that, you're cheating your way to success because you were 'chosen by the Gods' or whatever bullshit the Dark Lord was on about and now look at you, broken and battered despite all that bravado. Honestly, it's kind of sad."

Tanjiro stared at Akaza, forcing himself to sit up before looking to the ground in contemplation. Akaza shifted his attention towards the boy once he let out an audible sigh before turning to face Akza. The boy's expression was a mix of guilt, defeat, and a tinge of regret. The boy begged, "Look, Akaza, my resentment towards you hasn't changed… and I'm certain you feel the same way… However, I still have hope…" The boy repositioned his entire body to face Akaza before bowing down and pressing his forehead against the ground and continuing, "I know I ridiculed you, and you resent me for that. However, if you're anything like me, then I would like you to heed my request… Akaza, please help me, I'm out of options… I would never ask this, but I believe in you enough to make this request. So I'm begging you, Akaza, please help me!"

Akaza felt repulsed upon hearing Tanjiro's request and the fact that the boy was performing an extreme Japanese apology. The Demon stormed up to Tanijro, kicking the boy in the face so he was knocked over, onto his back, before climbing on top and pulling the boy close, barking, "You disgust me! You have the audacity to ask me for help after everything you did?!"

Tanjiro's eyebrows curled upwards as he explained, "I know, Akaza, I know… It's an outrageous request that you're well within your right to decline. But, are you really willing to let the Dark Lord destroy everything? To let him win?!"

"Why the hell would I care?! I don't have any attachments like you! I don't care if he destroys everything because I have nothing to lose!"

"Don't you, though? You told me about your fiance, your master, and even your father… Their memory lives on through you. I told you before that killing everyone wouldn't make the pain better and we just had to move on… but, Akaza, do you still remember what your loved ones stood for? Or better yet… what would they think of you now? Do you think you live up to their expectations of you?"

"So what?! I know they wouldn't be proud of what I am now. They sure as hell wouldn't condone me killing thousands just to crave my self-serving vengeance, so what of it?!"

"You still have a chance to make things right. Not just for them, but for yourself as well. I want you to ask yourself this, Akaza: what do you want to do?"

Akaza let go of the boy, giving him a somber expression as he expressed, "I don't know… I've lost my taste for blood, I don't feel like killing anyone because, as you said, it won't change what happened… I've devoted the last couple centuries to my vengeance… without it… I'm nothing…"

"You aren't nothing, Akaza. You're just like me: a victim of circumstances beyond our control… It's easy to lose our way without a purpose, but that's why it's our responsibility to find our own purpose and do what we want to do, not what life compels us. I know that's a bit hypocritical, coming from me, but I still chose to embrace the responsibilities thrust upon me, which is why I'll rephrase my previous question: What is your purpose in life? Is it to constantly chase the past? Or move onto something greater?"

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Davoth struck Flynn with enough force to push him several meters back while his feet dragged across the ground, leaving a trail. The former God closed the gap between himself and the Hellwalker to continue thrashing the warrior as mercilessly as he could. Flynn took the beating, taking a step back with each punch he received from the Dark Lord. Flynn was too tuckered out to even fight back against Davoth who refused to give the warrior a moment to breathe. After a minute, Davoth stopped to note, "It seems your partner has abandoned you, Slayer. Such a coward, he has left you to die. Without his power, his facade crumbles in the face of true strength! You began your journey alone, Slayer, and now you will die alone!" Davoth brought his fist back to deliver one more strike until he was struck across the face by a compressed air projectile. Davoth brushed against the side of his face as he cursed, "Who dares?!"

TEQ Vegeta (Giant Ape) intro theme from Dragonball Z: Dokkan Battle

"You don't have to worry about our pal, Tanjiro. He's taking a good ol' nap and has left me to do his dirty work for him." Akaza exclaimed from on top of a nearby plateau. Both Flynn and Davoth turned their heads to see the demon standing, proudly, with his arms crossed and a sheepish smirk plastered on his face. The demon was unarmed and his appearance was the same as always. Akaza assumed his fighting stance to imprint a mystical snowflake pattern onto the battlefield, the key to getting his foresight to work.

Akaza leapt towards the Dark Lord who prepared to strike Akaza by performing an aerial spin-kick. Akaza's eyes widened, Davoth's battle spirit was quite strong, it rivaled Flynn's which made Davoth equally predictable! Akaza maneuvered his body over Davoth's kick and found himself directly above the former deity. Akaza stated the name of his attack, "Destructive Death: Crushing Type, Ten Thousand Leaves Flashing Willow!" Akaza threw a punch, downwards, towards the Dark Lord who managed to get out of the way of the attack. Akaza's punch generated a concentrated shockwave which shot into the floor before expanding outwards like a tidal wave. Once the demon had finished performing his attack, he landed next to Flynn who instinctively extended his doom blade to kill Akaza. The demon took notice and raised his hand towards the warrior and dissuaded, "whoa, whoa! Easy there, Hellwalker, I'm on your side. The kid sent me."

The Slayer clenched his fist tightly, restraining himself from lashing out and asking, "Why should we trust you?"

"An apt question, Hellwalker. Let's just say, if I don't help you guys kick this guy's ass, I won't be able to find my purpose in my life. Hopefully, that's a satisfactory response."

"...Just don't get in my way, I'm disgusted even having a conversation with you."

"At least you're talking, this time around."

Golden Frieza (Angel) & Android #17 theme from Dragonball Z: Dokkan Battle

Flynn charged towards the Dark Lord, first, with Akaza following from behind. Davoth weaved out of the way of the first several punches thrown by the warrior before finding an opening and delivering a swift gut-punch followed up by a left hook that knocked the Hellwalker back. Akaza was now directly in front of Davoth, performing his next attack, "Destructive Death: Eight-Layered Demon Core." Akaza performed eight, consecutive, punches that generated concentrated shockwaves through his fists. However, the Dark Lord caught Akaza's fists to hold him still and tell him:

"You would dare stand against your creator?"

"Sorry, I came from my dad's seed, not yours." Akaza positioned his body for his next attack, "Destructive Death: Leg Type, Crown Splitter.'' The demon performed a rising ax-kick that struck against Davoth's chin. The attack titled Davoth's head backwards but didn't leave a mark. Akaza smirked, planting his feet on the deity's torso and springing off with enough force to tear his arms off their sockets. Once Akaza was freed, he spun backwards until he landed on his feet and instantaneously regenerated his limbs. In that same stroke, Flynn caught Davoht off-guard with a surprise attack. The Hellwalker delivered a ferocious punch that launched Davoth several meters back until he slid to a stop on the floor. Akaza complimented, "Nice punch, Hellwalker, I almost felt it."

Flynn commented, "Shut up." before running towards the Dark Lord who was picking himself up. The Hellwalker kicked against Davoth's side, launching him further back. Akaza raced after Davoth until he was stopped by Flynn who held him back. Flynn lifted Akaza's body off the ground, before tapping into his breathing technique, "Blood Breathing: First Form, Blood Spike." and slicing the demon in half. The Slayer shove-kicked the upper half of Akaza's body towards the Dark Lord, watching as the demon's torso inflated like a balloon before exploding into an array of blood needles that pierced the Dark Lord.

Akaza's lower torso regenerated the rest of his body, allowing the demon to stand up and give the warrior a sour expression as he complained, "You could've warned me, dick…". Akaza leapt towards the Dark Lord, who was recovering from the Hellwalker's previous attack, and stated the name of his own attack, "Destructive Death: Disorder." The demon created a barrage of concentrated shockwaves that sped towards the Dark Lord by punching the air in front of him rapidly for a brief moment. Davoth raised his eyebrows in concern, rolling out of the way of Akaza's attack only to get intercepted by the demon who closed in on the Dark Lord, "Destructive Death: Annihilation Type." Akaza smashed both of his fists into the deity's torso, pushing him back a few feet while leaving a slight bruise where he struck. Davoth grew furious, lunging at the demon and performing various punches and kicks which Akaza easily avoided while maintaining a sheepish smirk on his face.

Akaza found an opening in the Dark Lord's attacks, seizing the opportunity to grab the deity by the head, jump over him (while still holding onto his head), and bring his arms down to slam Davoth into the floor. Akaza praised himself, "You see, the difference between Tanjiro's little gimmick and mine is that mine's much more refined, I have a sixth sense, so to speak, and thanks to both the Hellwalker and Tanjiro, who kicked my ass, I've become quite the escape artist, so you'll be hard-pressed to land an effective blow against me."

Flynn dropped down from above, diving towards the Dark Lord to impale the deity. Davoth caught the blade with his bare hands, pushing against the warrior who was giving it everything he had to fight back against the Dark Lord. Blood trickled from Davoth's hands due to the blade digging deeper into his skin. Davoth began bending the blade to the side, putting in enough effort to the point strain marks appeared on his arms and forehead, until the weapon was snapped in-half. Flynn grunted after seeing his weapon get destroyed. Davoth took the doom blade in his hands and attempted to jab the Hellwalker with it. Luckily, Flynn was able to roll out of the way before he got pierced by his own blade. Davoth stood up, pointing the doom blade back and forth between Akaza and the Hellwalker, who was getting back up.

Akaza burst out laughing as he mocked, "Oh, this is priceless! You look like a peasant off the streets wielding a dinky little knife to ward people off! Look how the mighty have fallen, you got cocky with your strength Dark Lord, but without it, you're just a scared and frightened mortal like the rest of us. How does it feel to live with your own mortality? Does that reality terrify you? Is it a concept that's new to you? Hard to believe you're the same 'god' that was giving these two schmucks a run for their money."

Flynn turned towards Akaza and asked, "Are you trying to piss him off?"

"Yeah, because I can and it's fun."

Davoth clenched the blade even tighter, causing more blood to drip from his hands. He scowled at his two opponents, letting out deep and agitated breaths due to the constant insulting from Akaza. Davoth tossed the blade aside before exclaiming, "You may laugh now, but I have yet to unveil my full arsenal. I never thought I would be reduced to this… my true form… but I am out of options."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You shall see, my creators originally designed me to be a creature of an intimidating stature to fit my status, but my original form was far too strong for my own good. It is something I can only tap into for short periods of time, any longer and I will start to lose control. I have not had to rely on this form for several millennia… until you came along. I will burn your homes to the ground, I will take away everything you love and make you suffer. We shall start with your mutilation by my hands…!" Davoth placed his hands over his stomach as his eyes widened. Davoth's skin began to morph unnaturally, as if something was jutting out from within his body.

Flynn and Akaza assumed a fighting stance, preparing for Davoth to attack them. Instead, they were greeted to the sight of Davoth's body expanding, shifting to a jet-black color as large scales covered his expanding body like another layer of skin. The lower half of the deity's face began to expand outwards with sharp fangs replacing his teeth while his eyes shifted to a disgusting, pale-yellow color. The symmetrical red pattern that the Dark Lord used to don on his body returned once more, tracing around and wrapping every side of his body.

Vs. Ridley (Doom Version) by Andrew Baena & Geoffrey Day

Davoth began to shout because of the agonizing transformation once a pair of gargantuan wings sprouted from Davoth's scaly back. The deity continued growing larger as he took on a more boney, yet muscular, appearance. A tail grew from the lower half of Davoth's body, extending several meters long once Davoth had completed his transformation into his true form. Davoth now stood on all fours like an animal, planting his hands and feet on the ground before letting out a powerful, ear-shattering, draconic roar.

Akaza and Flynn raised their arms to shield themselves from the gust of wind generated by the shout. Akaza asked the Slayer, "Whoa! Can you turn into a dragon too?!"

Flynn angrily barked, "Not now!"

Davoth arched his head back before whipping it forward and unleashing a humongous ball of fire from his mouth that shot towards his two opponents. They jumped out of the way but were caught by the explosion which knocked them into the air. As Akaza was flung to the air, the Dark Lord flew towards the demon, grabbing ahold of him before chucking him to the ground at full force, causing the demon to splatter into a pool of blood upon hitting the floor. Flynn tried sneaking up on Davoth, coming from the back by utilizing his suit's thrusters to advance towards the Dark Lord. However, Davoth's tail smacked Flynn towards the ground.

As soon as Flynn hit the ground and Akaza regenerated, Davoth dove towards the ground, hands-first, on top of his opponents, sandwiching them and pressing them into the ground. Akaza was flattened like a pancake underneath the Dark Lord's grip while Flynn quietly groaned in pain, restraining himself from making an audible reaction. Davoth picked the two of them up, bringing them close together before unleashing a constant stream of fire towards them. Both Flynn and Akaza were being scorched by Davoth's flames. Especially Akaza, as he was melted to the bone. Flynn reacted quickly, pointing his wrist grappling hooks towards Davoth's eye and firing them. The grappling hook struck against Davoth's eyeball, causing the deity to flinch in pain and stop his stream of fire, thus, allowing Akaza to regenerate.

Davoth tried to shake off the pain, growling before opening his mouth wide and attempting to bite off the heads of both fighters. They simultaneously caught the attack, holding Davoth back by his fangs. Their arms shook immensely as the fangs inched closer to them. Akaza winced from the effort, opening one of his eyes to see the inside of the creature's throat and formulating an idea. Akaza shouted to Flynn, "Hold on real quick!" before letting go of Davoth's fangs and putting all of the work on Flynn who was struggling even more to hold the creature back. Akaza stated the name of his attack, "Destructive Death: Air Type." before repeatedly snapping his fists forward to create an array of compressed air bullets that shot into the back of the deity's throat. Akaza kept on punching just as the fangs got closer to them. Fortunately, the demon's plan worked as he managed to activate the Dark Lord's gag reflex, compelling him to let go of his prey before coughing uncontrollably.

Once the two fighters landed, Davoth sweeped around the area before adjusting his trajectory to face his two targets. The Dark Lord was approaching quickly, even spewing his flames onto the terrain below before he got to Flynn and Akaza. He started to descend, seemingly diving towards their position and expanding the wall of fire generated by his breath. Flynn and Akaza jumped in opposite directions right as Davoth got close. Unfortunately, they were both struck by him the moment he touched the ground and spun rapidly to smack them both with his tail in one swing before skidding to a stop while facing them both.

Davoth shot another fireball towards Flynn who used his grappling hooks to reel himself away before dashing towards the Dark Lord and grappling onto him. The former deity tried to strike Flynn with his tail but the warrior managed to narrowly avoid the tail swing and grab onto the back of the Dark Lord. As a result, Davoth decided to stand up on his legs before allowing his body to drop to the floor, sandwiching the Hellwalker between his back and the ground. As Davoth prepared to sit back up, Akaza smashed his fist against the belly of the Dark Lord. However, Akaza dealt no damage, leaving him to get swatted away by the Dark Lord before he got up.

Flynn groaned from being crushed by Davoth, but the pain didn't end there. The former deity turned to face Flynn and proceeded to pummel the warrior deeper into the ground with several heavy punches towards the Hellwalker. After pummeling the warrior, Davoth grabbed Flynn by both ends of his body, lifting him up, before trying to pull the warrior apart. Flynn let out a scream of pain as Davoth slowly ripped his body apart.

Akaza raced up from behind, avoiding the rapid tail swing of the Dark Lord before leaping onto Davoth's scaly back and began climbing to the top. Davoth tried to shake Akaza off but the demon held on, tightly, managing to climb towards Davoth's head and positioning himself next to the former deity's eyeball. Akaza mocked, "Ooooh, this seems important." before striking against Davoth's eyeball at full force. This caused Davoth to wince in pain, letting go of the Hellwalker as he took several steps back and covered his eyes due to the agony. Akaza leapt off the Dark Lord, landing next to Flynn who was groaning while trying to stretch his body.

After the Dark Lord regained his composure, he proceeded to arc his body backwards to wind up before slamming both of his fists into the ground, shattering it and causing both Akaza and the Hellwalker to lose their footing. With one powerful flap of his wings, Davoth lifted off the ground and began zooming straight towards his two opponents while building up fire from within his mouth. Flynn and Akaza prepared to get out of the way until they saw a series of bright blue flames shoot out in random directions, snaking their way from the lowest point of the Dark Lord's body all the way to the base of his neck. Large chunks of the Dark Lord's scaly skin was sliced off from the top, left to descend to the ground. This caused Davoth to scream in pain as he overshot Flynn and Akaza by blindly flying past them and crashing to the ground.

Akaza cursed, "What the hell was that?!" But, before his question could get answered, both himself and the Hellwalker heard something land behind them. They turned to look, both widening their eyes once they saw Tanjiro get up on his feet while wielding a fully ignited demonic crucible and argent axe with both hands. Clipped onto Tanjiro's back was Valen's argent hammer.

Limit Break x Survivor (Instrumental Type C) by Norihito Sumitomo

The boy nervously laughed before apologizing, "Sorry it took so long, guys, I was more exhausted than I gave myself credit for." Tanjiro's entire body was shaky from how weak he still was, but his pupils were of a bright blue color due to the wraith energy coursing through them. Pushing his body beyond its limit caused Tanjiro's eyes to turn into a dark red color while shedding blood like tears.

Akaza pointed out, "What the fuck is wrong with you?! You can barely stand!"

Tanjiro answered in a tired and withdrawn tone, "I know I really shouldn't be moving right now, but I can't help it while you guys are giving it your all. Thank you for agreeing to help us out."

Flynn scoffed before mocking, "We don't need his help. We can manage without the help of a demon."

Akaza took offense to this as he pointed an accusatory finger towards the Hellwalker and complained, "Excuse me?! I saved your life a couple times, asshole!"

"I don't need saving, we're beyond that point."

Tanjiro raised his voice, interrupting them both, "Enough! Both of you! This is a weird situation for all of us! I'm not happy to be working alongside the enemy, but we're out of options and need all the help we can get! That's why we need to put our grudges aside and work together to defeat the Dark Lord!"

Akaza insultingly stated, "Well, fuck, if you're both going to be pissy about me being here, I can just leave!"

"Enough with the bullshit, Akaza! I'm serious. Neither of us like you and you feel the same way, but we're just gonna have to get over ourselves if we want to survive! Back when I started my journey, years ago, never, in my wildest dreams, could I have imagined that I'd be shooting lasers out of my hands, moving faster than the human eye can process, and teaming up with a demon, the very thing that took my family away from me, all just to kill a God. I don't think any of us could've predicted where we would be now, but that's why we have to adapt! It's your choice if you wish to help us out or not, but I have faith that you're willing to put your grudge aside and help us do the right thing. I believe in you, Akaza, so please don't try to let me down."

Akaza was staring at Tanjiro with a sour expression, looking away before scoffing, "hmph, you really are the most annoying person I've ever met, but you're right. Now's not the time to be throwing a fit."

Tanjiro smiled underneath his mask before turning towards Flynn who appeared extremely bitter because of the arrangement. Tanjiro temporarily discarded his axe to hand Flynn both Valen's argent hammer and the demonic crucible while calling out, "...and mister Flint, I know, better than anyone else, how much you still despise demons, but I'm asking you to put aside your feelings for them, just once, and accept his help."

Flynn took both of his weapons off of Tanjiro's hands before responding, "Hmph, fine. I'll only accept this because I trust your judgment. He better not disappoint."

Akaza chuckled and said to the warrior, "You still need convincing?"

Tanjiro grabbed their attention by igniting his argent axe one more time and stepping forward, declaring, "Alright, guys, this is it! There's no turning back now, we need to defeat the Dark Lord, right here and right now!" Tanjiro took the lead, stepping towards the Dark Lord with his two comrades right behind him.

Davoth pushed himself back onto his feet, turning around to see Flynn, Tanjiro, and Akaza advancing towards him with their weapons ready. The Dark Lord stated, "So… you've come to face me once more, boy…! I'll make you regret coming back to face me, this fight will be your last!"

Akeboshi by Lisa

Davoth flapped his wings to levitate off the ground before quickly charging towards his three assailants. In response, Tanjiro, Flynn, and Akaza raced towards the Dark Lord. Tanjiro and Flynn pointed their grappling tools towards the head of the Dark Lord, latching on before reeling themselves in. Akaza leapt out of the way, throwing several punches towards the Dark Lord which created compressed air bullets that struck against him. Once Davoth passed underneath the two Slayers, they were dragged along while slowly pulling themselves towards their anchor point on Davoth's body. The Dark Lord spun his entire body around, striking the two Slayer hard enough to yank the anchors off of his body.

Davoth concentrated a large amount of fire within his mouth before unleashing it in such a concentrated stream of fire, it almost looked like a beam that melted through the landscape. Tanjiro and his comrades leapt over the beam that passed underneath them. However, the area underneath exploded into a ball of fire which knocked the three of them away, uncontrollably. Davoth leapt towards the bunch that was flying through the air, reaching his hand behind him to wind up before snapping it forward to bat them down. Flynn fired both of his grappling hooks at Tanjiro and Akaza before using his suit's thrusters to ascend in the air, right above Davoth's arm which swung past them.

With Flynn still holding onto him and Akaza by using his grappling hooks, Tanjiro fired the meathook to wrap around Davoth's arm. This caused the three of them to get yanked along as they were quickly pulled towards the dragon's arm and slammed into it. Tanjiro and Flynn dug their argent weapons into the scales of the Dark Lord's hand, with the Crucible managing to go all the way through Davoth's hand, causing the dragon to roar in pain. Davoth growled, bringing his other hand down to squish the three warrior's against his arm. Flynn quickly climbed on top before smashing Valen's hammer against the palm of Davoth's hand, blowing it back.

Tanjiro and Akaza climbed on top as well, racing up Davoth's arm and leaping towards his exposed throat to attack it. Davoth attempted to headbutt them, but Tanjiro and Akaza's abilities of foresight allowed them to cleverly weave past the headbutt, positioning their hands along the side of Davoth's jaw and push themselves above the creature's head as it passed them. Now above Davoth's head, Tanjiro grabbed Akaza's hand, spinning in place briefly to build up momentum before releasing his demonic ally who performed his next attack, "Destructive Death: Crushing Type!" The demon smashed his fist against the top of Davoth's head, pushing it down, slightly. Tanjiro followed up by channeling his spiritual energy, spinning forward before stating the name of his technique:

"Sun Breathing: Fire Wheel!" The Argent Axe sliced the back of Davoth's head open, spraying blood against the two comrades who were standing on top of the Dark Lord's head. Davoth roared once more, adjusting his entire body so he would begin nose-diving towards the ground in an attempt to take his enemies out along with him. The sudden shift caused Tanjiro, Flynn, and Akaza to get flung off Davoth's body as they began descending in the air.

Davoth arched his body upwards, barely avoiding his crash to the ground, and stopped once he had a clear view of his enemies. He unleashed a massive fireball from his mouth towards the three allies. In response, the three allies performed their techniques at the same time:

"Blood Breathing: Sixth Form, Armageddon!" Flynn slashed at the fireball with his demonic crucible and released a large, argent-fueled, blood projectile towards the attack.

"Sun Breathing: Burning Bones, Summer Sun!" Tanjiro spun around with his argent axe, extended, and unleashed a purple-flamed projectile from his axe that zoomed towards the fireball.

"Destructive Death: Disorder!" Akaza punches the air in front of him rapidly, creating a series of concentrated shockwaves that intercepted the fireball.

All four attacks collided, causing the fireball to explode into a cloud of flames and generate a powerful gust of wind that blew them all back. Tanjiro, Akaza, and Flynn, each, spun backwards before landing on the floor, sliding to a stop and waiting for Davoth to make his next move. The dragon zoomed towards them once more which prompted the three warriors to assume their fighting stances and await the right moment to strike. Davoth was diving towards them, head-first. They prepared to react, accordingly, until the dragon suddenly arched upwards to change his trajectory and flapped his wings together with all of his might, creating a powerful gust of wind that knocked them off-balance and blew them back. This, in turn, pushed Davoth backwards, causing him to land on his legs while standing.

Akaza was the first to regain his footing before charging towards the Dark Lord and leaping towards him. Davoth swung one arm at the demon. Akaza managed to perform a handspring off of the arm to evade the attack, but this left him open as Davoth caught Akaza with the other arm, bringing him close as he mocked, "You are but a petty distraction. Begone from my sight!" before hurling Akaza as far away as he could.

Davoth stomped towards the two Slayers, attempting to bring his fist down upon them to squish them. Flynn spun horizontally with the demonic crucible, extended, while Tanjiro leapt over the fist and sliced at the Dark Lord's wrist. Flynn managed to slice through Davoth's fingers just as they approached him, causing the Dark Lord to cease his attack and retract his fist, instinctively, because of the injury. The Dark Lord's fingers collapsed to the ground, next to Flynn. Tanjiro braced himself as Davoth retracted his arm, steadying himself so he could continue climbing and strike at Davoth.

Tanjiro sliced across Davoth's body, cutting off as many scales as he possibly could before leaping towards the chest of the dragon and digging the argent axe into the torso of the creature. Due to the nature of argent weapons, the boy began to progressively slide down Davoth's body, cutting open the Dark Lord's body as if he was opening up a zipper. The former deity shouted from the agony of having his chest sliced open, reaching both of his hands towards Tanjiro and managing to grab the boy with one hand while grabbing the argent axe with the other. In a fit of rage, the Dark Lord attempted to squish Tanjiro to death within his hand, making the boy cry out because of the excruciating pain.

Fortunately, Davoth was cut off by something powerful striking against the side of his foot, causing him to lose, not only his balance, but, his grip on Tanjiro and Xernex's axe as well, flinging them away by accident upon releasing them. Davoth took a step backwards to regain his composure and noticed Flynn next to where his foot previously was. Davoth raised his foot, telegraphing his intention to stomp Flynn with it. Flynn began to run around the side, attempting to get outside of the Dark Lord's range. However, Flynn underestimated the deity's reflexes and speed as he was, unfortunately, stomped to the ground, underneath Davoth's heel. Flynn lost his grip on both of his argent weapons, watching as they leapt out of his hands once he was struck. Davoth grinded his feet against the warrior's body before raising his foot once more to pulverize Flynn. Just as Davoth brought his foot down, he noticed something move, so quickly it blurred, underneath his foot and stopped it from flattening the warrior. This caused the wind to be displaced, knocking Flynn's weapons away.

The Hellwalker opened his eyes to see Tanjiro holding the dragon's foot back with his hands, blood continuing to pour out of the boy's eyes with his demon slayer mark fully activated despite it flickering. Tanjiro was coughing, strain marks were covering the organic parts of his body. Then, the color of Tanjiro's armor began to turn red once more and began generating a glow. Steam started to radiate from the Praetor X, giving Tanjiro the strength necessary to start pushing Davoth back. With one powerful shout, Tanjiro shoved the Dark Lord back with all of his might, blasting Davoth quite a distance away and forcing him to slide against the floor once he crashed into it.

Tanjiro's armor cooled down at the same time he deactivated his demon slayer mark. The boy crashed to his knees because of his exhaustion, breathing heavily for a few seconds until, eventually, he collapsed to the ground. Flynn got up, taking a few steps forward until he was next to the boy before crouching down to check on the boy's condition. He was still conscious, but severely exhausted. Heh, he can't blame the boy, they're both beyond their limit. He can only imagine how painful the boy's soreness is going to be after this.

Davoth began making a painful noise in the distance, catching Flynn's attention as he lifted his head to observe whatever was happening to the Dark Lord. The dragon's body began to spaz uncontrollably, rapidly shrinking in size and restoring Davoth's original skin color. The former God laid on his back, breathing heavily as he was writhing in pain due to the multiple argent cuts surrounding his body and losing most of the fingers for one of his hands. It also didn't help that his chest and the back of his head were split open. It was the most excruciating pain Davoth has ever felt, he couldn't stand it. He just wanted it all to be over. Unfortunately, he'll only be granted that luxury after he's neutralized the threat before him.

Tanjiro opened his eyes, looking towards the front to see the same thing his partner did. He called out, "...Mister Flint…?"

The Hellwalker, through an exhausted breath, answered, "...Tanjiro… find the Crucible… and wait for my signal… got it…?"

The boy's eyes watered before he nodded in agreement and muttered, "...Got it…"

Flynn took a step forward every time Davoth did the same. He needed to stall for time until everything was ready. He heard Tanjiro get up despite his groans of pain, but the boy was able to walk away. Good. Soon, both Flynn and the Dark Lord charged towards each other. Flynn aimlessly did so because of his exhaustion. Meanwhile, Davoth was focused and had full intentions to kill. Flynn threw a punch towards the Dark Lord who blocked and counterattacked with his own punch that hit the Hellwalker in the stomach, making him reel forward.

Davoth proceeded to smack the warrior, back and forth, with his forearm (given that his hand was missing most of its fingers) before delivering a powerful chop against the side of the warrior's neck. Flynn reserved his strength, allowing himself to get beaten to a pulp by Davoth who kept punching and kicking the warrior until he was satisfied. He shoved Flynn onto his back and kicked him repeatedly, in anger, followed up by repeated stomps on the warrior's helmet. Flynn caught Davoth's foot, tossing it aside to knock the former deity off-balance and make him tumble to the floor.

Flynn rolled over onto his stomach, slowly pushing himself up while grunting from exhaustion. Davoth scrambled to his feet before tackling the Hellwalker back to the ground, sitting atop the warrior as he continued slamming his forearms against the warrior's body, trying to do any conceivable damage he could, given his broken state. Flynn abruptly grabbed Davoth by the head before slamming his own head against it, breaking the deity's nose while following up with a shove-kick to push Davoth away.

Davoth got up on his feet, treading towards the Hellwalker like a zombie before he was swept off his feet by the warrior who performed a simple low-sweep kick. Flynn was looking around until Davoth grabbed Flynn by the foot and began pulling him closer. Flynn angrily stomped against Davoth's head but the former deity seemed unphased by the warrior's resistance. The Hellwalker tried breaking free from Davoth's grip but the former God was resistant. So, the warrior tried standing up on his feet. By the time he managed to erect himself, Davoth frantically stood up to put the warrior in a choke-hold from behind.

Flynn winced before kicking his head back to reverse-headbutt the Dark Lord before jabbing his elbows into the sides of Davoth's stomach, causing the former deity to let go from the pain and take a few steps back. Flynn mustered all of his reserved strength, in that moment, to forcefully turn Davoth around so his back was facing him so he could scoop his arms underneath the deity's shoulders and get him in a double-shoulder lock. Davoth's eyes widened as he cried out, "What do you think you're doing?!"

Flynn shouted at the top of his lungs, "DO IT NOW, TANJIRO!" That's when both Flynn and Davoth watched Tanjiro leap out from behind a rock and began charging towards the two of them with the demonic crucible fully ignited and brought back to impale his target. As the boy ran towards them both, tears were flooding out of his eyes.

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Ingenium by Yuki Hayashi

Back at the World Spear, Flynn let out a deep sigh and slowly turned around towards Tanjiro, making eye contact with the boy before he informed, "There's something I have to tell you."

Tanjiro's eyes widened in concern upon hearing his partner's somber tone and asked, "What is it, Mister Flint…?"

"Look… kid, I was created by the Dark Lord to resurrect him. For lack of a better term, you can consider me his clone."

"What?! So, does that mean-...?!"

"Yes… I've known this for a while, the Wretch informed me as soon as I got this armor. At first, I didn't think much of it, it didn't change my goals. However, all of that changed as soon as I started to trust you. I began to see things differently and before I knew it, you changed me. That's when I really considered how things were going to play after this. There's no changing the inevitable, which is why I've been passing everything down to you."

Tanjiro took a step back as tears began to well up in his eyes, "W-w-wait…! So your figures, the Super Shotgun, and Xernex's axe… that was you passing everything down to me?!"

"Not just that, but also the mantle of the Doom Slayer."

"What?!"

Flynn knelt down in front of Tanjiro, placing his hands on the boy's shoulder and pointing towards The Mark of the Slayer painted on the boy's prosthetic left arm, explaining, "I lied about the mark. It's not just a symbol to show you're under my protection, but me passing the torch onto you. Even after the Dark Lord's defeated, the world's still going to need a Doom Slayer when all of this is over. I need someone to watch over everything in my place. I don't want to force this upon you, but you're the one person I can trust. If I can't defeat the Dark Lord on my own, I want to trust you to finish the job, if I can't. Can you promise me that, Tanjiro?"

Tears were rolling down the boy's cheeks as he sniffled. Despite this, he looked the man in the eye and answered boldly, "...I promise."

"From this moment onwards, Tanjiro, YOU are the Doom Slayer."

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Tanjiro let out a powerful cry as he thrusted the crucible forward, impaling both Davoth and Flynn with the argent blade. Tanjiro's tears began to roll onto his mask, dripping off from the edges of his mask. Flynn winced from the pain, grunting as he kept his eyes shut due to the Crucible going through his stomach. Davoth was left in wide-eyed shock because of the pain. Tanjiro yanked the Crucible out, taking a step backwards as soon as Davoth crashed to his knees while a hellish essence burst out from the open wound. The former deity looked up to the sky as he screamed in pain and emitted an orange beam into the sky from his mouth. The beam shot into the clouds before dispersing into mist.

Davoth dropped his arms, continuing to stare up into the sky as his skin corroded away and became increasingly pale by the second. The humongous Immoran walls surrounding them began to crumble to dust, blowing away in the wind to reveal everything beyond the borders. The demonic Crucible broke into pieces in the boy's hands as he watched Davoth slowly do the same with his skin chipping away and cracking like a statue. "So…. In the end I could not achieve my goals and revenge….. how repulsive…" Davoth muttered under his breath before slowly fading away.

Flynn stumbled backwards a few steps, almost falling until Tanjiro ran next to his partner, catching him before he collapsed to the ground. The boy gently set his comrade down, allowing his body to rest against the floor. Flynn tried reaching up to his helmet, but the boy saved him the trouble by removing it himself. The man's eyes were baggy and lifeless. He turned towards the boy, lightly coughing before commenting, "...this is it…"

Tanjiro continued crying his eyes out as he spoke, "I know… Nothing I can say or do is going to change anything… but there's so much I still want to say to you! I didn't have enough time, everything happened too fast! I wanted to tell you how I feel but I didn't have time to explain it. That's why I called you 'father', earlier. I know it was premature, but I was just so caught up in the moment so I just rolled with it and-"

The Slayer reached his hand out towards the boy, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him into an embrace before assuring the boy, "I know, and I am so proud of you. I'm sure Daisy would've loved to have a brother like you around…"

Tanjiro's eyes widened upon feeling the gentle embrace of the Doom Slayer. The boy hugged the man, whom he considered a father-figure, back, shedding even more tears as he quietly begged, "...Please don't go… I don't want to be alone…"

"You're not alone… remember…?" Flynn coughed before looking around aimlessly as his skin began to lose it's color just like Davoth's before cracking. "Keep your head held up high, Slayer… Thank you… for everything…" Flynn could no longer lift his head, allowing it to fall back against the ground. Tanjiro could feel the armor decompress once Flynn began to fade away from existence, being reduced to a pile of ash. Tanjiro continued clinging to the empty Praetor Suit, holding it tightly as he cried his eyes out until he was no longer able to shed tears. The only sound in the area was that of Tanjiro's whimpers, mourning the death of his father-figure…

Homura by Lisa

Goodbye for now

I thank you, loud

From the bottom of my heart

There is so much more than sadness,

There's more than this grief

And when I left

I hope at best,

I managed to convey

That in time

The pain will turn to warmth

As we go separate ways

I had always

Thought that what we had would last forever

Within my mind I painted out our days together

Calling out to your heart

Like two lights in the dark

To the fire in my soul, keep burning on

When our fates align

We will meet again

It'll be a journey set ablaze

I keep having to let go of your hand

For our future's sake

I'll remember you

Every time the light shines upon a dream

I'll watch it come true

Tears falling from my eyes

Wishing to be strong for you

There's resolve woven in my goodbye

These memories, they capture me

With nostalgia of the past

Every ocean in this cruel world

Is filled with my tears

Although I know

The more I grow

The pain, it will too

I don't want to lose anything again

The way I did with you

If I gave into the darkness

And the grief that's haunting me

Would that end all the pain I feel

And save what's remaining?

It's your words echoing

All your wishes and dreams

I will not forsake them

I'll keep them safe, I swear

Now it's crumbling into dust

And I watch it fall

It's our one and only

Irreplaceable dream

Our whole world

Reaching out my hand

For that burning light

Wanting nothing more than to hold it close

It once shined so bright

But it disappeared

Leaving only hope

More than happiness

Nothing can compare

To the dream that you had left me to hold

Now without looking back

Taking my first step alone

I'll only look ahead

Walking forward on my own

Keeping the flame within my heart

Always burning bright

Until I find the distant future…

Author's note: And… that's it… that's the story. For those of you who have made it this far… Thank you, thank you so incredibly much. I really mean that from the bottom of my heart, you have no idea how much it means to me that you guys are willing to read to this point in the story. It's been a long time coming, but, we're finally here… but do not fret, my friends. This isn't the end just yet. There will be a three-part Epilogue coming up after this to tie up loose ends in the story. So do stick around to see how everything else wraps up.

But until then, Thank you guys so much for following the story. I made sure to pour my heart and soul into this chapter. Writing these final words, I'm simply left in tears. And, admittedly, I hope you guys are shedding them as well.

I normally don't try to make this request, but PLEASE give me your honest opinions in the reviews, guys. I want to hear your thoughts about this, even if they're negative. It would mean the world to me if you guys took some time to leave a comment describing your thoughts about this story.

Other than that… that's it, guys. I'll see you guys in Part ⅓ of the Epilogue. Later, guys… and thank you so much.

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Co-Author Note: Hey everyone! It's your boi Darklord331 and it's been a pleasure writing up with my buddy Rexreal42! Now I would like to say it has been a very VERY wonderful journey me and my co author have gone through. Because without you and everybody's support we wouldn't have gone this far to the end of the story. Now we are heading to the Epilogue. Thank you everyone who has been patiently waiting and followed our story, we really appreciate and I'll see you guys all soon. Goodbye!