Disclaimer:

I do not own nor claim all the rights to 鬼滅の刃 | Kimetsu no Yaiba | Demon Slayer; all rights are reserved to its respective creator, Koyoharu Gotōge. This is purely a work of fiction; names, characters, businesses, events, localities, and occurrences are all extrapolated from the author's writings and imagination or utilized in a fictitious manner. As such, any direct or indirect references to actual entities, dead or alive, or events do not, in any shape or form, resemble the opinions of the author.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"..." = Dialogue

'...' = Internal monologues

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I greatly underestimated the length of this chapter.

At the time of writing this, it was around 12,500 words so far. And it still wasn't complete!

So, I had to split it again.

The rest will be published within two days from now.

Sorry if this chapter's a bit boring, just know that I initially intended it to be a part of something that was WAAAY too big.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The large, humanoid demon lurked around in the darkness, attempting to locate its prey. It sought to devour and digest the flesh of its two enemies; it was quite hungry.

It growled in frustration.

The unearthly quiet of these eerie tunnels exuded the precariousness of the contemporary state of peace. Essentially, while—at the present moment—the vicinity was in a doldrum, the present endorsement of tranquility was but a temporary measure.

In reality, a great disturbance to this uneasy peace was bound to occur. It was the most auspicious moment to commence such a battle between the predator and its prey...

*Splash*

*Splash*

With large, laborious footsteps, the demon lurched forward through the mire. The slough seemed to extend for several kilometers on end; it was a large expanse of water that constituted a large portion of the old sewage apparatus.

Metallic and man-made protrusions, including pipelines and concrete walls, made their presence ubiquitous. Nevertheless, there was indeed some verdure and other natural undergrowth that had begun to engulf the artificial environment with its slow, but eventual inundation of the system—proving that forces of nature always emerge victorious against any adversary, man-made or not, in the test of time.

The demon stopped advancing.

It smelled something. The smell of fresh, rather than decaying, flesh.

It then surveyed the proximity in order to discern this abnormal scent it was detecting.

It rotated 180 degrees clockwise and scrutinized its rearview.

Then, it spotted him.

Giyuu stood about 100 meters (109 yards) away. He stared at the demon with a look of indefatigability.

If one were to view him from the perspective of the demon, he would appear to be a speck of dot. The enemy, however, harbors extraordinary visual prowess and its optical organs had the ability to closely examine Giyuu from such a prodigious amount of distance.

Once the enemy ascertained Giyuu's propinquity, it let out a battle cry: "RUUAAHHHH!!!!"

It subsequently ran at full speed towards Giyuu.

SPLASH

SPLASH

SPLASH

Giyuu began sprinting as well, except in the opposite direction—he was running away.

Giyuu turned a corner and entered into a lateral pipeline.

As he was bolting, he momentarily looked over his shoulder to determine the location of the enemy.

It was following close behind with remarkable speed.

'Good, it's following me. I should be able to lure it to the site,' Giyuu appraises the situation.

The splashes emanating from each footstep—the byproduct of the swampy habitat—eventually dissipates; they were now racing through a more solid surface composed of either dirt or iron.

Giyuu sets foot into a large, closed caisson, where large, intramural steel tubes crisscrossed around the expanse—some were at ground level, but most were positioned above the floor.

The room can be instantaneously described by its orange hue—the result of the existing copper material and other metals—with a hint of green leftover from the preceding watery environment.

Giyuu, utilizing the full momentum of his dash, leaps into the air and lands on one of the many pipes located within this large space.

He continues running.

BANG

Giyuu could hear from behind that a large indent had disfigured the walkway he was currently on. The source of this reverberation was directly from the alighting of the demon onto the same footbridge as Giyuu found himself on.

In other words, the demon had emulated his movements and promptly hopped onto the same copper duct as Giyuu hitherto was.

'He's fast,' the slayer notes.

BANG BANG BANG

With each stride undertaken by the enemy, more notches were exacted upon the passage's configuration—the resonance of such echoing throughout the chamber.

Thankfully, before it could catch up, Giyuu spotted a metallic outgrowth in the form of a conduit that was situated about 7 meters high (23 feet). He jumps once again and directs himself onto the gravel pathway provided by this peculiar structure.

Of course, the enemy mimicked this maneuver and moved deftly onto the same passage.

With each passing second, the demon was slowly catching up to Giyuu. This, however, was intentionally done on Giyuu's part; he needed to keep the enemy's full attention fixed on him and him alone—otherwise, the plan he devised with the Insect Hashira might not come to fruition. Suffice it to say, Giyuu was essentially going slower than his maximum speed in order to execute their stratagem.

'It should be around here...' Giyuu scanned his surroundings to find the designated location.

STOMP STOMP STOMP

'It's getting close, I ought to pick up the speed,' Giyuu's pace, with the full might of his Hashira abilities, was now analogous to that of a steam train in operation.

Due to the sheer size of the monster's physique, its current momentum demanded fewer strides and more velocity vis-à-vis its upper body movement.

Basically, if it wanted to increase its speed, the monster had to exert additional effort in attempting to move its gargantuan body in lieu of trying to increase the number of steps per minute.

Nevertheless, it was obvious that the Water Hashira's aptitude when it came to speed was greater than that of the bulky demon.

'It should be around here... There!' Giyuu comes to an immediate halt and thereupon turns around to directly face the oncoming demon.

He adjusts himself into a Shin-no-Kamae sword stance and awaits the arrival of the enemy towards his disposition.

'Not yet...' he gauges the right time to execute their plan.

"RAAAUUUGGGHHH!!!" the enemy, seeing that Giyuu was now stationary, then ran at full speed—intending to use brute force to overwhelm its enemy.

This, fortunately, was all according to plan.

"Now!" Giyuu yells.

Shinobu then appeared from the ceiling, jumping down to the demon itself.

Both of her hands were situated onto the Tsuka (Handle) of the blade, holding the blade upside down. Specifically, she was clutching the weapon with a Reverse Grip—the practice of holding a katana with the blade pointing down, along the wielder's arm.

With great precision and speed, she pivoted the katana so that the Kissaki (Point) of the metal was aiming towards the nape of the enemy's neck. Additionally, she lifted the hilt of the blade so as to create enough momentum to inflict a great deal of power that will supplement her strike.

SLIT

Immediately after landing atop the enemy's neck, Shinobu's Nichirin blade penetrated through its nape.

With her sword instilled with a myriad of wisteria poison, Shinobu imbued a plethora of said substances into the enemy's spinal cord.

"ARGHGHGHGH!!!" The demon bellowed in agony as the lethal dosage of toxins permeated throughout every corner of its body.

'It worked, good,' Giyuu, with the realization of their plan, gives an internal sigh of relief.

Shinobu took the liberty of removing herself from the monster as it undertook a copious amount of instinctual, spasmodic movements—it was now experiencing a violent episode of convulsions and sudden body gesticulations.

The cumulative effect of the sudden injection of virulent poison along with Shinobu's laceration onto its neck bone, however, left the enemy utterly paralyzed and at the mercy of the slayers.

"Now's our chance!" she called out to Giyuu.

Giyuu unsheathed his katana from the scabbard and charged ahead. Shinobu did so as well.

..

..

Earlier...

The two Hashiras were still deliberating over the details and meticulousness of their strategy against the enemy.

"I have an idea," said Shinobu.

"Yes?" Giyuu curiously asks.

"You know how the demon is uncoordinated, has delayed reaction, and is maladroit?" Shinobu requests confirmation.

"Yes," Giyuu confirms.

"It's likely that the enemy can't cognitively process two things at once. This is why it tried to eliminate one of us as soon as it was possible—the first time being the failed surprise attack against me, and the second time when it punched you in the chest. That was all so that it could lessen the burden of having to fight two animated beings simultaneously," Shinobu begins.

"In other words, it can't multitask," Giyuu suggests.

"Yeah, that's one way to put it I suppose," Shinobu acknowledges.

"Its mind is too one-dimensional; it can only focus on one thing at a time—and that includes fighting adversaries," she continues.

"Then the solution would be to overwhelm it mentally," Giyuu propounds.

"Precisely. Though, I doubt that's a clear-cut plan we can rely on. After all, have you seen all those bones out there? I'm sure it has faced numerous opponents before. My theory is that the demon's ridiculous strength combined with its incredible regenerative powers allow it to compensate for its cognitive deficiencies—irrespective of how deficient it is in the first place," Shinobu notes.

"I guess the real question we're asking is how to compensate for the enemy's strength," she adds.

"We overwhelm it physically as well," said Giyuu.

"Huh? What?" Shinobu asked confusingly.

"Do you have any poison which can immobilize demons for a lengthy period of time?" Giyuu inquires.

"Yes, I have plenty of them. But I've tried many concoctions on it already during the battle, and none worked," Shinobu replies.

"Is it possible to combine all of them into a potent mixture?"

"No, of course not. That's not how plant physiology works, Tomioka-san," Shinobu, slightly irritated by his dumb question, answers.

"Then can you at least create the most efficacious concoction?"

"Well, yeah. But it will only last for about ten seconds, why?"

"Good. We will only need to paralyze it for a few short seconds," said Giyuu.

Shinobu finally realized that Giyuu had a comprehensive plan in mind, "What's the plan, Tomioka-san?"

"It can't process things as fast and it extensively relies on its physical abilities to make up for that shortfall. Therefore, consecutive, rapid attacks at an extremely fast pace will suffice," Giyuu proposes.

"How so?"

"These quick maneuvers will leave the enemy confused—since, according to your postulation, it won't be able to register such fast movements—and will leave no time for it to invoke its regenerative abilities," he expounds.

"Okay... but you're assuming that it will either remain in place or not be able to dodge our maims," Shinobu doubts.

"And that's where—" Giyuu started.

"—My poison will come in," Shinobu finished his statement, realizing the true nature of his stratagem.

"Indeed."

"I get that. But how am I supposed to inject so much poison into it? I don't think the demon will just stand there and take it, Tomioka-san," she retorts.

"I will lure it to a specific location, somewhere far away from the swampy areas," Giyuu begins.

"And then I'll launch a sneak attack from afar," she concludes.

"Yes, that's when you will employ your poison to paralyze it."

"It can't just be any attack though. If you want to buy enough time to guarantee the success of your plan, then you'll need to hit the thing so hard that it will be unable to do much of anything for about a minute," Shinobu surmises.

"And where will that be?" Giyuu queries.

Shinobu, using her vast knowledge of the medical discipline, gives it a thought before responding, "The spinal cord. More specifically, the area between the brain and the rest of the body—where signals from the head are dispersed elsewhere throughout the body. So... the nape of the neck. It has to be there. If I can hit it there with my sword AND administer a large dosage of my poison, then I can surely buy you somewhere between two to three minutes."

"But how are you going to hit the nape directly?" Giyuu asks.

"From above. I'll place myself onto a ceiling. And, as you lure here, give the signal for my drop," Shinobu presents her proposal.

"That means we'll have to find an area where the roof isn't too low—to the point where the element of surprise is lost—nor is it too high that it reduces precision," said Giyuu.

"We'll have a lot of scavenging to do," Shinobu jests.

"Alright. As for our attacks, I'll chop off each limb while you weaken the demon's internal defense mechanisms using your poison," Giyuu delineates.

"Why not directly go for the head?" Shinobu asks.

"Because, from the looks of it, it's incredibly hefty. I'd surmise that it would take about three to four good hits to chop off its head—and that's assuming the enemy doesn't move at all or doesn't utilize any of its other limbs. Therefore, as a way to increase the odds in our favor, simultaneously paralyzing it and then eliminating both its arms and legs will do us good," Giyuu provides his rationale.

"Ah. I see."

"What do you think of the plan?"

"Sounds good."

"Okay. This should work," Giyuu comments.

"Still don't know why you insisted on being bait," Shinobu tacitly questions.

"That's an entirely different matter," Giyuu said as he rose to his feet.

..

..

Present

'Third Form: Flowing Dance,' Giyuu starts running.

In an awesome display of adroitness and prowess, he swings and bends his blade and body in a winding maneuver and then subsequently dances in a flowing motion—cutting up everything in his path.

A massive gush of white-blue ocean water zig-zags around, formulating multiple curves that twist and contort throughout the field of battle. In the end, the final product of this form creates a striking resemblance to that of a snake's physical makeup.

Within mere seconds, he lands a hit on his target.

SLASH

He chops off both its left leg and left arm.

Meanwhile, Shinobu, after gracefully landing onto the floor, makes her move as well. She begins sprinting towards the enemy.

'Butterfly Dance: Caprice,' she gives the incantation.

Shinobu, using the momentum of her run, leaps into the air and skillfully stings her opponent an innumerable number of times with her blade—irreparably poisoning them with her jabs.

Butterflies with an amethyst pigmentation envelop the enemy with their alluring but deadly gaze—leaving it in a trance. This distraction permits the formation of an opening that Shinobu exploits in order to initiate her copious, stinging jabs onto the enemy's chest, arms, and neck.

After finishing her attack, Shinobu, in order to lessen the impact of her landing, does a somersault right before she lands.

The monster, unable to react to either of these attacks due to its substandard mental capabilities along with Shinobu's antecedent assault against its neck, can only fall to its knees as it helplessly watches the two Hashiras slowly lacerate and eliminate all of its body parts.

Giyuu, following his assailment, instantly turns around and commences a dash once again. He springs into the air and adjusts his battle stance.

'Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin,' Giyuu mutilates the enemy's right arm with a vertical maneuver that, as he's falling down, sees him initiate a flowing motion that irredeemably slices off the limb.

SLASH

Giyuu makes another landing again.

Shinobu, right after hoisting herself back up, also begins a second assault.

'Butterfly Dance: Caprice, Illusory Light.'

SLASH SLASH

She unleashes a barrage of straight, short thrusts with her sword that concludes with a destructive, superlative cleave that manifests itself into a giant butterfly that carries enough force to invariably rupture the surrounding landscape and, thus, leave an enormous crater.

BOOM

The locality is thoroughly desecrated by her attack.

And, in the process, the demon's entire dextral side—including its right leg—is wholly destroyed.

Even Giyuu is a little surprised at the level of destruction to which his partner has employed to defeat their foe. But he presses on nonetheless, paying no heed.

The demon now had no arms or legs, and also was missing the entire right portion of its body.

Moreover, its healing abilities were impaired thanks to Shinobu's toxins.

Thus, it was the Hashiras' perfect opportunity to kill this beast.

And, mind you, all of this happened within the span of 30 seconds.

'Fourth Form: Striking Tide.'

With a two-handed grip on his Katana—the right hand being positioned right above the left hand—in the Hasso-no-Kamae stance, Giyuu thrust onwards and released the blade's incredible power in the form of a single slash that aimed to severely wound the demon.

In a matter of three seconds, he charged forward and leaped to conduct a fast-paced cleft against the demon's torso. The trajectory of his run hitherto the leap allowed for the jump to be supplemented by a strong projectile; a vital prerequisite for Fourth Form posture.

SLASH

An enthralling, light blue image of a tidal wave appeared to complement the irrevocable slashes he had concocted. His maims were so swift that a spectator would not be able to tell if he did actually slash the enemy.

Shinobu adjusts herself in an In-no-kamae stance. The left foot is forward, and the sword is held pointing upright with the hilt, or handle, in front of the right shoulder. The blade is sloped slightly to the rear. When cutting, the sword is raised above the head.

'Dance of the Bee Sting: True Flutter,' Shinobu concurrently goes on the offensive.

With great haste and impressive acceleration, Shinobu supplements the Insect Breathing Technique that was just invoked with her awe-inspiring speed. Thus, with such velocity, Shinobu aimed to impale the demon with an amplified, powerful, single thrust against it.

Shinobu also grips her katana with both hands, with the right hand situated next to the Tsuba (Guard) while the left hand is placed near the rear end—the Kashira (Pommel).

Shinobu's nimble maneuvers and uncontested agility allowed her to initiate supple motions that gracefully and speedily allowed her to reach the demon and land a direct hit in a manner which the naked eye could not possibly distinguish.

STAB

Shinobu impaled the demon right in the chest with her powerful lunge.

'Second Form: Water Wheel,' Giyuu leaps and vertically spins midair as he releases a flowing attack in a circular motion.

'Dance of the Dragonfly: Compound Eye Hexagon,' Shinobu conducts a six-stroke maneuver.

'Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust,' Giyuu attacks again.

'Butterfly Dance: Caprice,' Shinobu follows.

SLASH SLASH

SLASH SLASH

SLASH SLASH

SLASH SLASH

SLASH SLASH

Without any resistance, the slayers have virtually reduced the demon to just its head and chest—its stomach and other major limbs have been cut off. Additionally, major blows were launched against the neck; one more strike, and the head will be completely detached from the shoulders.

The Hashiras' consecutive, coordinated attacks were working in tandem with each other. Their aggressive assailment had exacted damage of the most egregious kind to the enemy; it was slowly being cut open from left to right, up and down, as each slash produced more power and vigor than the previous.

The enemy could not keep up with any of these attacks, and nor could it recuperate on short notice.

The demon's physique was now extremely irregular and jagged; it looked like some puzzle piece rather than a living, breathing being.

The Hashiras were getting exhausted; the demon was quick to heal some of its wounds but was unable to do so quickly enough. Thus, the Hashiras—with their resolve firm and their minds set to killing this thing—carried on with determination despite the arduous activity they were currently assuming.

The battle was nearing its end. They knew that, as did the demon.

'Time to end this,' Giyuu mustered enough energy to launch one final strike against the enemy's neck.

'Tenth Form: Constant Flu—'

*COUGH*

Giyuu coughs up blood.

*COUGH*

He coughs again, more blood this time.

*COUGH* *COUGH*

He covers his mouth with the palm of his right hand.

"Wha—?" He looks at the blood.

Then, a sudden gush of excruciating, unadulterated, and tormenting pain pushed hard against both his wounded right shoulder and the chest region. Within seconds, the unmanageable pain had been exacerbated to a degree in which it suddenly and relentlessly rushed in to beckon the attention of the susceptible and unsuspecting nerves that pervaded throughout his body.

He was very much in pain.

'Shit. This is the worst possible time for this to happen,' Giyuu's breathing becomes raspy and his chest feels heavy.

He collapses to the floor and continues gagging.

Shinobu, who had just completed another set of strikes, turns around to find Giyuu on the ground violently coughing.

"Tomioka-san!" she calls. He doesn't answer.

'This is really bad... I don't know why or how, but Tomioka-san's wounds have opened up—he won't be able to make his move. What should I do...? Retreat and treat his injuries like last time? Or finish the job right now? Dammit! I have to end this now!' Shinobu readies herself to make the final blow—which was Giyuu's prerogative, but his current condition has made this duty impossible to execute.

'I'll kill this thing and tend to him afterward,' she improvises.

But before Shinobu could even give the incantation for her Insect Breathing technique, the demon manages to regenerate its left arm.

Now, under normal circumstances, this wouldn't amount to much; after all, the enemy still doesn't have its legs, torso, right arm, or most of its limbs in general.

However, to the surprise and consternation of Shinobu, the left arm unexpectedly and abruptly ejected from the main body and was propelled towards her.

This sudden development gave Shinobu little to no time to react.

'Fuck!'

WHOOSH

The disconnected arm expeditiously flew across the chamber and to Shinobu.

Shinobu tried eluding the arm by means of a dive roll—​​an acrobatic stunt that begins with a horizontal forward diving motion and results in a forward somersault—to the right side.

However, the full frame of her body was not completely removed from the range of the arm.

The arm, though it did not completely land on it, pounced on her left thigh and irreparably scathed it.

*Crack*

Something broke. It was probably a bone.

As such, Shinobu's dive roll was obstructed due to this new development, and she crashes onto the gravel floor.

"Arrrgghhh!" she clutched her sinistral leg in agony.

'Dammit! That arm must've broken my left leg!' Shinobu tries to lift herself off the floor, but the broken leg forbids it.

'What am I doing... I have to help her... I need to save her... Kocho-san...' Giyuu was losing consciousness; there was something within the bite mark on his right shoulder which was causing this phenomenon.

It was at this moment when both slayers had fully realized the reality that their plan had gone awry; they were losing now.

The demon, making use of this window of opportunity, was quick to regenerate its lost limbs and upheave itself off the earth.

Seeing him as the greater nuisance of the two, the demon approaches Giyuu—who was still writhing in pain and slowly losing consciousness.

"Tomioka-san! Get up! Get out of there!" Shinobu screamed.

Her words fell on deaf ears.

Unfortunately, Shinobu could only watch in horror as the enemy took a hold of Giyuu by the head and then promptly—with undeniable force and aggression—threw the Water Hashira against the wall.

BOOM

Giyuu's body blew through a brick wall into smithereens. Your average human wouldn't be able to survive that—he might as well be dead now.

Shinobu, with her eclectic knowledge in the medical field, was au courant with that harsh fact.

Her eyes were wide open. She had just witnessed the brutalization of the Water Hashira.

"Tomioka-san..." she was left incredulous.

Anger boiled inside of her. A scowl emerged on her face as she looked at the demon from afar with disdain—never had she felt so much contempt and palpable hatred towards a demon since her sister passed away.

This demon reminded her of the reason why she despised these beings so much. And why she could never be like her elder sisters in terms of upholding abstract ideals and wishes.

Her blood lust has resurfaced. Unmitigated abhorrence.

Multiple veins protrude from her forehead. She clenched her teeth.

Despite her handicapped leg, she utilizes sheer willpower to upraise herself. Her fury was fueling both her mind and spirit—not a new concept for her though.

She detested it. She wanted to kill it.

She was going to kill it.

No matter what.