"Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide!" Koji charged into the wildly growing thicket of thorns, swinging his Nichirin Sword in a continuous barrage of attacks, shredding the surrounding thorns. He paid no mind to why Doma hadn't followed, only pressing forward with unwavering determination towards Kikage.
"I must stop him from killing more people!"
"I must buy enough time for the others to evacuate!"
"Protect the young children, protect the doctors!"
"Preserve more sparks of hope for the future!"
Koji swung his sword down, severing the thorn vines that shot up from the ground to entangle his ankles, completely ignoring his own bleeding legs. "An old guy like me has already lived long enough!"
He finally saw Kikage through the dense thorns, who was crushing a corps member's neck. The Nichirin Sword burst with an aura like flowing water. "Water Breathing, Sixth Form: Twisting Whirlpool!" His body twisted violently, his blade whistling through the air, creating a sharp and massive vortex that shredded all the thorns in his path.
"Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel!" His body, carried by the rotational force, unleashed a brilliant, circular slash of sword energy.
Kikage swiftly moved sideways to dodge the attack. He was about to sneer when he saw a spray of blood erupt from his arm as his forearm was severed and fell to the ground.
Thump—
The person he had been holding fell to the ground, their neck already broken. Looking at the youth's face, Koji nearly shattered his teeth, his gaze fixed coldly on Kikage.
"Finally, a Hashira has arrived? No, just a crippled old man." Kikage's arm regenerated almost instantly, and he sneered. A dense thicket of thorns suddenly erupted from the ground beneath Koji, completely surrounding him.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!" A bolt of lightning-like light streaked across the sky, and the thorn thicket trapping Koji was instantly shredded. A figure wearing a golden, lightning-patterned haori appeared beside him. "Hey! What's the situation now?" the man who had rushed here after receiving a Kasugai Crow's message shouted loudly.
Koji took the opportunity to catch his breath and looked at the man before him. The current Thunder Hashira, a guy named Kurokawa, he seemed to recall. "I just got here myself," he shook his head.
"Damn it! Is it an Upper Moon?" Kurokawa gritted his teeth and growled, looking at the characters in Kikage's eyes.
"More than one..." Koji said in a low voice, thinking of Doma outside the base.
"What?" Kurokawa gripped his Nichirin Sword tightly, his pupils trembling slightly. "What should we do?"
"Buy enough time for the others to evacuate." Koji's voice was perfectly calm, but his eyes burned with a scorching flame.
"Tch! What a pain," Kurokawa said, his face flickering between expressions, and he raised his sword.
Next, the two of them coordinated, one experienced, the other swift and sharp, and for a time, they kept Kikage fully occupied.
"Just like this, hold on for a little longer..." Koji tried to control his increasingly heavy breathing, constantly unleashing a continuous flow of water-like slashes.
Bang!
A figure flew diagonally and crashed heavily into the black thorn bushes, coughing up a large mouthful of blood. Seeing this blood-soaked figure, Koji's heart trembled. "Shosuke!"
"Watch out, Master! That guy's attack is coming!" Shosuke struggled to get up, coughing up more blood.
Boom!
A drumbeat sounded, and a massive wooden dragon charged forward with immense force, casting a deep black shadow on the ground. They also saw the figure standing beneath the wooden dragon. A young demon boy carrying a set of Raijin taiko drums on his back, with the characters "Upper Moon Four" in his eyes, and "Hatred" (憎) on his tongue.
The true Upper Moon Four, Zohakuten.
"Three Upper Moons?" Koji managed to roll away as the wooden dragon brushed past him, scattering everyone. He and Shosuke looked at each other from a distance, the same resolve in their eyes. They rose simultaneously and charged forward fearlessly, continuing to swing their swords.
The Mist Hashira, Tamakawa, hid her body in the mist and attacked Zohakuten beneath the wooden dragon. Kurokawa, who had dodged the wooden dragon's attack with Thunderclap and Flash, coughed up blood. Looking at the spectacular Blood Demon Art before him, he felt his own smallness for the first time.
"We've done enough. The people in the base should have mostly evacuated by now."
"There's no need for more senseless sacrifices. Those guys will probably leave, right?"
"That's right, I have to bring the intelligence about the Upper Moons back!"
His eyes flickered, and his figure once again transformed into a swift bolt of lightning, charging straight out of the base. Just as he was about to rush into the forest, a dense wall of sharp icicles suddenly materialized in front of him, forcing him to abruptly change direction and stumble to a halt.
"Oh my, my, Mr. Gentleman, why did you run out all by yourself?" A soft and gentle voice sounded from the side, its pleasant tone carrying a hint of curiosity and teasing. "You're a Hashira, right? Would you really abandon your own comrades?"
Doma jumped down from a tree with a smile, sizing up the man with novelty.
"Upper Moon Six?" Kurokawa said, his voice hoarse.
"Mmm" Doma nodded, smiling without a care. "I'm Doma. Hello there"
"Could you answer my question, Mr. Gentleman? Oh, right, what's your name?"
"Thunder Breathing, Fourth Form: Distant Thunder!" Kurokawa pretended to consider, and while Doma waited patiently, his body suddenly erupted with a thunderous roar, and he charged at Doma with lightning speed.
"Blood Demon Art: Barren Garden of Hanging Snow." Doma quickly swung the fan in his hand, its frosted surface blocking the high-speed slashes from all angles. Feeling that Kurokawa's slashes were too fast, Doma leaped to the side with a swoosh and smilingly scattered a large cloud of ice crystals. "Blood Demon Art: Freezing Clouds."
The mist-like ice crystals froze the surrounding trees and grass, as if summoning winter in an instant. Kurokawa hurriedly dodged, feeling the cold air in his lungs was about to freeze.
"You don't want to talk? Then there's nothing I can do," Doma's voice remained steady and gentle, a look of disappointment on his face. "I'm afraid I can't let you leave, Mr. Nameless."
"Mmm—as expected, I can't slack off too much, or I'll be punished." He really didn't want to be punished with another year of being confined to the temple. That would be too depressing. "What a shame~" Doma said with a regretful expression. "You're a very interesting person too."
He waved his fan and released several Crystalline Divine Children. "I'll leave it to these children," he said, uninterested.
In truth, catching a Thunder Breathing swordsman who was solely focused on running was not easy. Doma had only managed to intercept him by predicting his straight-line trajectory. If Kurokawa had chosen to continue running instead of attacking him just now, he might have really escaped from Doma. Now, it was impossible. Surrounded by several Divine Children and having inhaled the misty ice crystals, Kurokawa's fate was sealed.
"What a contradictory individual. Clearly running away, yet he chose to attack me."
"It's very confusing," Doma couldn't understand, yet he was very curious. "And very interesting."
"It's such a pity, sob~" He pouted, and started plucking leaves from a bush. By the time he had stripped a bush bare, Kurokawa was frozen in ice, his Nichirin Sword fallen to the side.
Doma stared at the figure in the ice, tilted his head with a conflicted expression for a long while, and finally looked away reluctantly. "Mmm, I can't eat Demon Slayers," he nodded in confirmation. "To avoid food poisoning."
"Mmm, that's right! I'm so clever!" Doma retracted the ice and, carrying Kurokawa, jumped onto the outpost wall.
And then, he saw the end of Koji Kamiya.
The battle was nearing its end. The Demon Slayer Hashira were losing their ability to fight one after another. Koji Kamiya was on one knee amidst the black thorns, covered in wounds large and small. The thorns piercing his abdomen caused massive blood loss, his body temperature dropped, and his mind grew dizzy. He no longer remembered how long he had fought, whether the people in the base had evacuated safely, or if the several Hashira who fought alongside him were dead or alive...
Only one thought remained in his mind: I must hold on for longer!
Koji shook his dizzy head, used his sword to support himself, and got to his feet. He expanded his lungs with effort, hissing out a white stream of air. The surrounding thorns attacked again. He raised his Nichirin Sword, tensed every muscle in his body, his eyes fixed only on Kikage in the distance.
"Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux!" His body spun and tumbled nimbly among the thorns. His left leg was useless, so he put all his force into his right leg, his body rapidly approaching the figure protected by the thick thorns in a bizarre trajectory. The blue blade, carrying the sharp and powerful aura of a dragon, tore through the thorns along the way and struck heavily against the shield woven from thorns. The blade cut open the shield, but most of the technique's power was neutralized, insufficient to sever the Upper Moon's neck.
"Then I'll do it again!"
"Constant Flux - Twin Dragon Wheel Dance!"
Koji twisted his body in mid-air, and from his waning sword technique, an even more powerful sword aura emerged, like twin dragons flipping and soaring in his hands. In that instant, he had finally created his own ultimate technique!
Clang—
The sharp blade viciously struck Kikage's neck, cutting smoothly into it. "Aaaahhh—" In Kikage's astonished gaze, Koji roared, burning all his life force to push the Nichirin Sword in his hands.
Squish!
At the critical moment, countless sharp thorns burst from Kikage's body, viciously stabbing into Koji Kamiya's body.
"Have I fulfilled my duty?"
You have. A reply seemed to come on the wind. A hint of relief appeared in Koji's eyes. He slowly lowered his head, his hand still tightly gripping his Nichirin Sword.
Kikage's head was only connected to his body by a sliver of flesh and skin. Realizing he had almost been killed, Kikage raised his hand with a ferocious and angry expression and viciously tore the body before him to shreds.
Doma stood on the wall, watching this scene, the magnificent and beautiful sword strike still reflected in his rainbow eyes. "That was... a brilliant final curtain, Mr. Kamiya," he murmured to himself, a wave of emotion suddenly rising in his heart again. His head buzzed, his heartbeat grew stronger, and a warm feeling seemed to surge through his body.
"The tenacious and unyielding will of humans, and the miracles born from it, are truly moving." Doma's rainbow eyes seemed to be filled with brilliant stars, and tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Mr. Kamiya's life was one of great value," he said softly. "I wish you a happy next life."
The battle was over. The forest returned to silence. The Hashira's desperate battle was not in vain; the personnel in the base had evacuated, their tracks well hidden.
Doma walked slowly into the ravaged base, his eyes having returned to their usual placidity. But that feeling of being moved was now stored in his memory, to be savored whenever needed. He watched Kikage devour Koji Kamiya's body, his expression unchanging. In Doma's view, after a person died, the soul that truly represented that person had already gone to another world. The remaining shell was just an empty coat. Koji Kamiya's life had ended; that unique soul and will had vanished from the human world. Whether the remaining husk was buried in the ground to rot, burned to ashes, or eaten, was not something to be concerned about.
Doma tilted his head and looked at Kikage, then suddenly held out Kurokawa, whom he was carrying. "Here, you can have this, Lord Kikage," he said with a smile.
Next, he looked curiously at the young, boy-like Zohakuten in the distance and approached him with great interest. "Hi, hello there~" Doma waved enthusiastically.
"Stay away from me, you white-haired weirdo!" After saying this, Zohakuten ran off and disappeared.
∑(￣△￣)
"Eh?!"
"White-haired weirdo? Me?" Doma covered his lips with his hand, blinking in confusion. "That child's words are so hurtful" he lowered his head sadly. "But, Lord Hantengu can be so interesting" he then became all smiles again.
Doma finally knew how to have fun with the Hantengu he couldn't normally communicate with.
After cleaning up, they returned to the Infinity Castle to report. Muzan, who had been watching the entire event through their eyes, had a long face, his gaze towards Kikage particularly dissatisfied. He had thought it was bad enough that the former Upper Moon Six was killed by two Hashira, but he never expected this one to be nearly solo-killed by a crippled former Hashira... Muzan's face felt like it was burning.
He closed his eyes, turned his gaze to Gyokko, and said faintly, "Well done." His arm suddenly extended, granting him blood. "Let me see if you can climb to the position of an Upper Moon, Gyokko." After saying this, he flicked his sleeve and left in a huff.
With the familiar sound of the biwa, Doma was teleported back to his temple. He looked up at the full moon hanging high in the night sky. "Mmm, it's the same moon."
-------
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