Disclaimer: Demon Slayer is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
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Tanjuro and Gyomei stood watch over Akaza, who was still immersed in the illusion.
Tap tap tap!
The sound of footsteps and clattering roof tiles came from the rooftops across the street.
"Tanjuro-san!"
Kyojuro called out loudly. His haori billowed in the wind as he ran and leaped down from the rooftop. "My apologies! We're late!"
Thud!
He landed firmly on the street, crouching slightly to absorb the impact.
"Is it already taken care of?" Kyojuro looked up, his spirited gaze meeting Tanjuro's as the latter turned to him.
After glancing around, Kyojuro's eyes settled on Akaza, half of whose body had turned to ash.
The Upper Rank demon!
In this state…
He raised his bright, penetrating eyes.
Is he already half dead?
Though somewhat puzzled, seeing Tanjuro and Gyomei remain calm and composed, he acted perfectly naturally as well.
"I see!" Kyojuro straightened up swiftly, crossed his arms, and nodded with a cheerful smile.
Pat.
Giyu followed closely behind, landing lightly on his toes with an expressionless face.
He glanced unexpectedly at Chachamaru on Tanjuro's shoulder.
Then, after letting his gaze linger on Akaza for a moment, Giyu looked curiously at Kyojuro beside him.
"…What's the current situation…?" Giyu asked in a low voice.
Kyojuro turned back with great enthusiasm, his fiery red hair swaying. He smiled brightly, flashing his white teeth.
"I don't know!"
Whoosh!
He raised a thumb. "But it'll definitely be fine!"
Giyu froze.
—?
A cold sweat slowly formed on his forehead. He felt that the eldest son of the Rengoku family, compared to his father was… too talkative.
With that thought, he averted his gaze.
Still, it felt rather nice.
Noticing that Giyu seemed to be in a lighter mood, Gyomei shot him a questioning "look."
Before the group, Akaza, who had been standing motionless, suddenly shuddered.
Creak!
The sound of straining flesh rose one after another, immediately drawing everyone's attention.
Rustle…
The last wisps of pink gas on the ground dissipated. Akaza's nose twitched as if he were enduring something painful, his right half rapidly regenerating.
As the liquid on the ground completely dried up, the dazed look in Akaza's eyes quickly cleared.
He blinked in a daze, standing there stunned for a moment.
'This is… my territory.'
He lifted his gaze. The pale, cold moonlight reflected in his eyes.
His darkening vision met the gazes of Tanjuro and the others one by one.
The endless white expanse, the colossal Divine Dragon, and the unforgettable crimson tachi—all vanished in an instant.
He took a deep breath.
"I'm… out?" Akaza shook his head, murmuring softly, his expression still somewhat bewildered:
"What were all those things just—"
As he muttered to himself, he inadvertently looked down at his right side, which was regenerating from ash.
His pupils abruptly contracted.
His life force had indeed been drained!
What he had witnessed was real!
Which meant that sword…
Before he could finish the thought questioning his own perception, Akaza suddenly remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He snapped his head up.
He glanced left and right, finally locking onto Tanjuro. Instinctively, he assumed a fighting stance, clenching his fists.
In his field of vision, Tanjuro's body swiftly became transparent.
He had already stepped into the so-called Supreme Realm!
[]—Hakai Satsu – Rashin!—[]
Creak!
His muscles tensed instantly!
Noticing Akaza's preparatory movements.
"Don't even think about it!" Gyomei's monk robes rustled as he raised his muscular arm, instinctively swinging his flail and broadsword.
"Wait a moment."
Tanjuro said quietly, stepping in front of Gyomei.
He lowered the still-reddened blade of the Kusabimaru, prepared to decapitate Akaza at any moment.
He turned to Gyomei. "Trust me."
Seeing this, Gyomei was silent for a moment before slowly lowering his Nichirin blade.
At the same time.
"No doubt about it!!" Akaza gritted his teeth, his gaze fixed intently on Tanjuro. He shouted.
"The human who defeated that dragon and held that tachi!"
"It was you!"
Bang!!
The ground beneath his feet fractured violently. Akaza stamped down hard, pushing his awareness to its maximum.
There was absolutely no mistake!
In his eyes, Tanjuro's features reflected with perfect clarity.
This man was the one he had seen in the illusion just now.
The human who defeated that colossal creature!
Possessing life force far surpassing that of a demon, capable of freely wielding such a terrifying, ominous blade!
In other words, his suspicions—That the one who killed Upper Rank One must also be him!
With this thought, the fighting spirit that had been abruptly suppressed within Akaza surged once more. Though he couldn't fight a creature like that himself, he could choose an even stronger target!
He clenched his fists!
[]—Hakai Satsu – Messhiki!—[]
Bang!!
He thrust out his foot, his bare sole stomping hard onto the street paved with dirt and stones. The prayer beads around his ankle jolted violently from the force, clattering loudly.
"RAAARGH—!!"
Akaza spread his arms wide, leaning his upper body forward slightly. The shifting muscles were clearly visible beneath his billowing short robe.
His Blood Demon Art erupted at full power. Centuries of martial arts were poured into this single moment!
He gathered his strength!
Boom—!
An invisible force erupted from his body! The surging energy that enveloped Akaza whipped up a fierce wind, spreading outward!
The rising vortex blurred even Akaza's roaring visage!
Hearing Akaza's words, Tanjuro, along with Kyojuro and the others, leaped back several steps.
He frowned, looking at Akaza with some confusion.
Akaza's words echoed in his ears.
Dragon? Tachi?
As he jumped out of range of Akaza's charging attack, Tanjuro glanced back with a puzzled frown.
He lowered his gaze and looked again, almost to confirm, at the letter written by Tamayo in his hand.
If it "varies by individual", he had speculated earlier that what Akaza was seeing was most likely memories from his time as a human.
If so, upon regaining his sense of self, Akaza should have fallen into a state of self-loathing and regret, perhaps even attempting suicide.
But now.
Tanjuro looked at Akaza once more, observing the demon's full-power eruption, and grew even more perplexed.
He couldn't help but think to himself; What exactly did Akaza see?
Bwoom!!
The earthen street surface was lifted by the rapidly surging airflow, floating weightlessly in mid-air.
Akaza stood at the center of the vortex, his eyes rolling back, demonic fangs bared ferociously.
Whoosh—!!
Clatter! Clatter!
The expanding airflow battered the wooden doors of the houses lining the street, producing creaking, decaying sounds.
"Kamado-san." Gyomei braced himself against the edge of the rooftop. He turned toward Tanjuro, the wind from the street carrying his hair.
The two streams of tears flowing from his sightless eyes were scattered by the gale.
His voice was weakened by the wind whistling past his ears.
From the shape of his mouth, one could barely make out that he seemed to be asking when to strike.
Tanjuro's gaze was also fixed on Akaza in the middle of the street. The flower-shaped earrings beneath his ears swayed incessantly in the current.
Before Tanjuro could respond.
"HRRAAAGH—!!"
Akaza roared savagely. Having finished gathering his strength, he planted his foot, poured all his power into it, and prepared to blur into motion.
He stepped forward!
Creak—!
His foot landed awkwardly, twisting with a grating sound, forcing him to halt his advance abruptly.
"Pfft! Cough, agh?!" Akaza choked violently in his throat.
He couldn't take the second step. He even stumbled in a bizarre posture.
His eyes wide with disbelief, he looked behind him.
His movement halted. The charge stalled.
Bam!
The massive vortex of energy surrounding him seemed to fizzle out as if extinguished, vanishing in an instant.
The clumps of dirt and rubble floating in mid-air jerked momentarily.
Pat pat.
Like objects robbed of their levitation, they fell weakly to the ground.
The rattling doors on either side of the street gradually settled.
Akaza remained frozen in place, looking back over his shoulder, his legs straddled in a horse stance, his expression locked.
He stood in the middle of the street like a statue, motionless.
Only a wisp of thin, white mist, clinging to the surface of his body, slowly drifted away.
"That demon has stopped!"
Kyojuro opened his eyes, which had been squinting against the wind. Gripping his sword, his fingers repeatedly tightened around the hilt, looking eager to act:
"Is this a good opportunity now?"
"Be careful. It might be a trap." Giyu stood beside him, his gaze lowered, ready to draw and strike at any moment.
"Stay vigilant, Rengoku."
"This is…" Gyomei lowered his hand from his ear. Seeing this, his wary stance faltered. He slowly straightened his defensive posture.
In his perception, the murderous intent and fighting spirit radiating from Akaza had almost completely vanished in an instant.
It was as if a madman had suddenly turned into a perfectly rational, sane person.
"He's given up fighting…?"
'Why?'
Gyomei frowned.
Puzzled, he turned toward Tanjuro.
Observing Akaza's state and seeing the same look of astonishment and bewilderment on the demon's face, the flower earrings swayed gently.
Tanjuro smiled and let out a relieved sigh.
"Just like that. It's fine now."
He averted his gaze and nodded to Gyomei. "Let's go down."
"Namu…" Gyomei lowered the hand holding the flail's chain, silently reciting a Buddhist prayer.
"So… what was the purpose of all this…?"
Tanjuro didn't sheath the Kusabimaru. His gaze remained on Akaza, his tone calm but resolute.
"To misled an Upper Moon."
Gyomei was taken aback.
Misled?
—?
In his astonishment, he turned fully to "look" at Tanjuro's profile, at the subtle upward curve of the other man's facial expressions, momentarily lost in thought.
Before he could react, Tanjuro had already hurriedly leaped down from the rooftop.
If he waited until Akaza started harming himself before going down, it would be too late.
...
Akaza turned his head, staring in shock and uncertainty at the ethereal figure holding his hand. For a moment, he didn't move.
"Ah…"
The young girl's pale arm was hastily exposed outside her pink kimono. She gripped Akaza's arm tightly, as if afraid of losing it.
She breathed a sigh of relief and murmured softly:
"…Thank goodness. I finally caught you."
She instinctively tried to catch her breath. Realizing she no longer suffered from consumption, a faint blush rose to her cheeks as she slowly looked up.
Her pink irises contained flower-like white pupils, striking and beautiful.
The corners of her eyes were slightly red, as if she had been crying.
Reflected in those eyes now, beneath the moonlight, was the face of a puzzled boy looking back at her with normal skin tone.
The one named "Hakuji."
"It's… enough now."
She looked up, her tone almost pleading, her nose tingling with emotion.
Seeing Akaza's face covered in the tattoos of a sinner, the girl could no longer hold back the tears glistening in her eyes.
In her memory, the tattoos Hakuji had received for stealing medicine and for fighting were only on his arms, and only three lines.
As a demon, Akaza would have had no one to tattoo more marks of a sinner upon him.
The tattoos now covering his entire body were a declaration.
I am a sinner.
With this thought, tears streamed down the girl's cheeks. She pressed her lips together. "Please stop now, Hakuji-san."
Her flower-like pupils trembled.
"You don't need to become any stronger."
The words were spoken in a timid voice, yet they held a magical quality.
In that instant, the lingering reluctance to give up and the fighting spirit in Akaza's eyes completely vanished.
Thud!
A heavy weight crashed down in his heart.
What followed was a flood of questions.
'Hakuji?'
'Who was Hakuji?'
"You…" Akaza frowned, scarcely daring to believe it. He started to ask who she was, but the words stuck in his throat, refusing to come out.
Akaza was stunned.
Why—why did he feel that words like "Who are you?" would be hurtful?
His brow furrowed deeply. Blood vessels stood out in his golden eyes.
No, more to the point, as a demon, how could he feel compassion for a human?
"…Let go!"
Snapping out of his daze, Akaza blinked hard and instinctively tried to pull his arm free from the girl's grasp.
The girl seemed very weak. She stumbled from the force but still didn't let go.
Instead, she looked up, straining to stand on tiptoe, and spoke softly:
"It's me, Koyuki."
She broke out in a nervous sweat, a feverish flush coloring her face. Her voice trembled as she explained.
"Let's not do anything bad anymore."
She struggled to take two breaths.
"Okay?"
Before him, Akaza saw Koyuki's face flushed red from what seemed like a rising temperature, her forehead drenched in sweat.
Familiar scenes began to overlap endlessly in his mind.
He stood there, momentarily lost.
Then he quickly snapped back.
'Oh no!'
Hurriedly reaching out to wipe the sweat from Koyuki's forehead first, Akaza's expression turned anxious.
If this continues, her condition will worsen!
Instinctively, Akaza turned his head, looking around.
'A towel and hot water are…'
The moment his gaze landed on the shattered rubble around them, he froze, standing there stunned.