A/N- This is one of my favorite songs and I feel like it would fit this chapter really well. You don't need to listen to it if you don't want to, especially if you don't like slowed and reverb, because this version of the song is slowed and with added reverb. I just think it fits will with the chapter. Also there is violence and blood in this chapter, so if you're sensitive to that stuff, just be careful.

"Y/N, are you ready for this? Muzan is a very dangerous enemy, and even though you're fighting with the hashira, they can be overpowered by him in an instant. You may get hurt or even die in this fight. Are you ready?"

Oyakata was questioning you before you went out with the hashira to attack Muzan, who was currently heading for the house of Oyakata himself to kill him and disable the Demon Slayers, or at least the hashira, who would be seriously crippled by the death of their leader. The hashira were all ready to fight, waiting by the gates for Muzan to arrive. But, since you weren't a hashira, they had to make sure that you were willing to fight and possibly die by their sides.

Which, of course, you were willing to do.

"Yes, Oyakata-sama. I am ready and willing to shed blood to protect you," you responded, speaking formally because of the seriousness of this occasion.

He gave you a smile and handed you a new sword, freshly made and sheathed. When you touched the sword, the blade's color turned a bright scarlet red, like freshly shed blood. You liked this color, and you brandished it proudly as you charged forward to the gate, where you heard blades clashing.

You were ready to battle. And you were not going to lose.

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"Just give up already, little miss," Muzan said, for the fifth time, as his sword clashed against yours.

He was a surprisingly good fighter for a demon who looked like he never went outside. His glassy skin was shining with a greasy, translucent sheen in the weak silver moonlight, and his red eyes were the only bright, colorful thing in or on his body. He was wearing a black suit and black tophat, and would blend in perfectly with the darkness if it wasn't for the glow of his skin and eyes.

"Not a chance! I'll fight until I die!" you responded, pulling your sword and yourself away from him and analyzing your surroundings.

Both demon and human blood mingled, mixed together on the grass. Muzan had arrived with a force of both lower and high rank kizuki, and the hashira had defeated them, but not without paying a price in their own blood. Mitsuri had been the first one to fall, with slices all across her body from Rui, the spider kizuki's, rough thread. Not long after Mitsuri died, Giyuu was injured while protecting Shinobu, who was trying to get an injured Sanemi off the battlefield before he hurt himself even more. The wound itself was simply a shallow cut across his ribs, but it hurt a lot, and he had to retreat from the fight with Shinobu and Sanemi to get medical assistance.

At this point, the only hashira left on the field with you were Tengen, Obanai, Gyomei, and Muichiro, and all of them were hurt in some way. You doubted they would last long before passing out, dying, or retreating. You could only rely on yourself and your skill to defeat Muzan now.

In your head, you kept on torturing yourself, your thoughts whispering to you, You can use Dark Side of the Moon and kill him instantly. You're just a coward who doesn't want to hurt yourself.

You hated that side of you sometimes, the side that called you a coward when you refused to put your life in danger.

But was that side of you lying?

You heard a male voice swearing and crying out in pain, and turned to see Obanai collapsing, his body practically cut into two at the waist. Gyomei's silver tears were flowing faster, and he fell to his knees, dropping his bead necklace, to pick up Obanai's body and carry him off the battlefield. By the time he had gotten him to Shinobu, who was waiting in a small building on the other side of the gate, the light of life had already faded from the serpent hashira's eyes.

Gyomei ran back into to the battle screaming out a wordless battlecry and slashing at Muzan with maniacal strokes that didn't even hit their target. Muzan smiled a cruel, tight-lipped smile at knowing that he had taken care of most of the hashira, the strongest ranked Demon Slayers, with ease, and that he had made one of the most steadfast, nonchalant, unbothered hashira go berserk with rage. With a swift downward strike of his sword, he sliced Gyomei's body into two, and you turned away so that you didn't see his organs and lifeblood spilling out onto the grass.

You had been fighting for many hours now, and Muzan showed no sign of tiring, unlike you and Muichiro, who was now the only hashira left on the field. You spotted him hesitating in his strikes, swaying in his walk, and making weaker and even failing to make total concentration breathing moves because of how weary he was. Blood was streaming down his skin, and he had a bad cut on his forehead, which was blinding him in one eye. The deep cuts he had made to his wrists earlier had opened up, and they were bleeding too.

Muichiro himself knew that he was weak, and that if he kept on fighting a hopeless battle, he would either faint or die in the end. But he looked at your eyes, watched your fighting spirit, watched how hard you worked, even through your injuries, and he kept on fighting, keeping himself going with the promise that, until Muzan was reduced to ashes, he would not stop struggling onward with the oath he made to protect others when he became a hashira.

You met Muichiro's eyes, and stood still for a moment mid-battle to examine him. He was weary, and covered in blood and bruises. Yet he was still smiling, and he wouldn't give up. You knew that, as long as you were both alive, he wouldn't give up fighting to the end for what he believed in. Your heart pulsed with love, and your muscles became more stronger. You would kill Muzan if it was the last thing you did in this life!

"Muichiro, charge with me!" you called at the top of your lungs.

His smile became a huge beam of joy, and he held tighter onto the hilt of his sword.

The sun had risen.

It was time to go forward with confidence, giving your all or nothing, your blood sweat and tears, on this battlefield, right now!