Disclaimer: Demon Slayer is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
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Hiss——!
Michikatsu let his blade hang at his side. He inhaled slightly, drawing the frigid ice crystals into his lungs, yet they had no effect on him.
[]—Moon Breathing Eight Form!—[]
[]—Getsuryū Rinbi!—[]
His arms tensed as he gripped the hilt with both hands.
The extended blade gathered a cold gleam. Michikatsu stood at the opening in the corridor, his eyes locked onto Doma atop the ice Buddha.
With a powerful pull from his upper body, he swung the moonlight condensed upon his blade with tremendous force.
Whoosh!
The tip of the blade trailed moonlight. A great arc of lunar radiance cast its shadow, instantly blanketing the entire sky above the temple!
The crescent-shaped blade light detached from the sword and shot straight toward the ice Buddha!
Doma, who had been watching in this direction, instantly contracted his pupils.
"Kokushibo-dono!"
Doma pushed off with his feet and swiftly leaped high into the air.
Shank!
Watching the ice Buddha below him being cleaved in two by the lunar arc, he looked toward Michikatsu in astonishment.
"You're alive too!"
Whoosh!
Hakuji seized the opening, shooting into mid-air and launching two Air-Types toward Doma.
Doma twisted his body in mid-air, evading Hakuji's attacks with ease.
Crash.
Countless massive chunks of ice from the Buddha continuously fell into the water.
The enormous Buddha head crashed down with a thunderous splash, raising a tremendous wave before slowly sinking into the depths, leaving only its crown visible above the surface.
Doma nimbly created distance from Hakuji, his feet together as he stood vertically balanced on the tip of an ice block jutting from the water.
A hint of surprise showed in his eyes.
"This truly astonishes me. That you two would—"
Whoosh!
Michikatsu vanished from the distance in a blur!
His figure abruptly reappeared beside Doma, his raised blade poised to strike down heavily the next instant.
Doma's gaze seemed unable to keep up, still fixed on where Michikatsu had stood moments before.
Only his neck instinctively tilted slightly.
Snick!
The sound of a blade cutting through flesh came from beside his ear.
His pupils shifted downward to look at his own body.
His left arm had been severed cleanly by the sharp blade!
Michikatsu tilted his head slightly, standing almost shoulder to shoulder with Doma. His voice was heavy, exhaling white mist in the freezing environment.
"I... never died."
…
A figure darted between the falling colossal ice block ruins.
"Two more demons have appeared."
"Think, don't stop thinking, Tengen."
Tengen's expression was grave. As he ran, he glanced at the two demons that had suddenly appeared in the distance, muttering to himself continuously.
"Our objective is just their heads."
As he spoke, white mist puffed from his lips.
His tone was not as composed as usual.
After all, a twenty-meter-tall ice Buddha had suddenly appeared, only to be shattered moments later.
In an era where buildings were typically two stories high, with only Tokyo and other bustling areas having more than three stories.
Witnessing such a colossal entity up close was overwhelmingly shocking.
Whoosh!
He leaned forward, swiftly crossing the exposed rooftops.
And Tengen's pupils contracted.
"What—"
Out of the corner of his eye, while rapidly moving to find an opportunity, Tengen seemed to spot something.
His pupils darted as he moved, and he abruptly stamped his foot down on the rooftop beneath him.
Halting his forward momentum, he twisted his body.
Turning his head, eyes wide, he looked toward the flooded courtyard and shouted.
"Kamado!"
His voice echoed across the water's surface.
Frost clung beneath the eaves.
Splash…
Ripples of water gently spread.
Tanjuro drifted in the dangerous water, his eyes closed. His skin was covered in a layer of white frost.
His eyelids trembled faintly, darting left and right.
It seems the hallucinogen was taking its toll.
…
Whoosh—!
A mist swept through the immediate surroundings.
"Where is this?"
Tanjuro slowly opened his eyes, enveloped in a gust of wind carrying a sakura-scented mist as he appeared within a vast white space.
He came to his senses in confusion and instinctively looked at the cherry blossom petals drifting toward him.
He reached out, catching a petal in his palm.
He lightly pinched the luminous petal between his fingers, an overwhelming sense of familiarity surging within him.
Cherry blossoms, mist, the scent of decay.
His mind froze at the realization of where he was.
His sensory information instantly remembered something he had encountered here before.
—The Divine Dragon!
Tanjuro swiftly came to his senses. He looked up abruptly, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
He glanced left and right. The immensely conspicuous giant Divine Dragon in the distance immediately filled his field of vision.
Along with,
The sword thrust into the Divine Dragon's eye socket.
A dark crimson katana.
—Fushigiri, also known as its true name, Hairui.
The Gracious Gift of Tears was a blade that severs immortality.
In the world of Sekiro, this blade possessed the ability to permanently kill immortals like Tanjuro.
Even Kuro, whose wounds healed in an instant, could be injured by this blade, leaving blood and scars.
It was the bane of all immortal beings.
Whoosh!
Tanjuro dashed through the mist, heading straight for the Divine Dragon.
He stepped onto the divine dragon's eyelid and crouched down, gazing questioningly at the immortal severance blade embedded in the dragon's eye socket.
The Divine Dragon's eyes were closed and motionless.
If not for the faint aura still fluctuating around its body and the lingering power of the Dragon's Return within it, Tanjuro might have thought it was dead.
He withdrew his gaze and looked back at Hairui.
But why was this blade here?
The Hairui was the ritual sword used to obtain the Dragon's Tear.
He clearly remembered that after obtaining the Dragon's Tear, he had left with the immortal severance blade.
In the ending leading toward the Return of the Dragon, he had carried the Fushigiri on his back.
Time was pressing, and Tanjuro couldn't dwell on it for long.
He seized the hilt of the immortal severance blade.
…
On the Outside World.
Bang! Smack!
"My, my."
"Have you both betrayed us as well?"
Doma smiled as he chatted while swinging his fans, fan-shaped ice crystals continuously spreading into mist.
"Could it be that I'm right?" Seeing that the two demons opposite him showed no sign of responding, he shook his head and sighed.
"So that's how it is～How cruel! Leaving only me and Muzan-sama."
He swiftly retreated across the watery terrain, his tone frivolous.
"How very sad Muzan-sama must feel."
Whoosh, whoosh!
Hakuji pursued relentlessly.
"Don't you two find us pitiful?"
Doma suddenly stamped his foot onto a rooftop behind him, his body held vertically, arms crossed, his gaze meeting Hakuji's as he charged toward him.
"Pitiful?!" Hakuji's expression was fierce. He took the opportunity to close in, throwing a punch directly at Doma, roaring with fury.
"You goddamn inhuman bastard, have you lost your mind?!"
"Oh my, how cruel～" Doma smiled, tilting his head as he narrowly dodged the attack.
[]—Blood Demon Art!—[]
[]—Kesshō no Miko!—[]
He swung his fans abruptly.
Whoosh!
As the ice crystals condensed and grew in mid-air, a half-person-tall ice sculpture rapidly took shape.
And slowly, it transformed into a replica of Doma.
"These children can unleash Blood Demon Arts of the same intensity as mine, you know~"
"But," Doma hopped back a few steps, bringing his crystal child with him, and casually created four more.
"You two should already know that, so I won't elaborate."
He slowly opened his eyes, which had been smiling, revealing his true expressionless nature.
"Since you two don't wish to catch up, I'd rather not make Muzan-sama any angrier."
Snap!
Doma closed his fans. His colorful irises reflected the icy blue scene before him.
"Let's end this quickly."
Five crystal children surrounded the area, forming a circle.
Doma opened his mouth lightly.
[]—Muhyō—Suiren Bosatsu!—[]
The next moment.
Rumble—!!
Five colossal entities formed from condensed ice rose abruptly from the ground.
Their immense shadows enveloped the entire temple from all sides.