The Shadow of the Insect

~Chapter Fourteen~

Two and a half years in the past...

The Shadow Hashira excluded himself from the rest of the Hashira when Kanae died and only worked alone. Nevertheless, he got his missions from Ojakata. The mission, however, has brought him to a suburb in Asakusa where he should kill weak demons who were up to mischief. The task was done quickly, he would have been faster if he hadn't tortured the demons any further. His method of extracting information from demons is ruthless. He couldn't get any information out of the weak demons and just killed them.

Cursing he went through the dark forest when he noticed a very strong aura. For a brief moment he thought it was Douma but the aura was far stronger. "Come show yourself demon. I want to have a little fun before the sun comes up!" A tall, dark figure appeared between the trees, with long black-red hair and six eyes. In his eyes you could clearly read the words Upper Moon 1.

"What a coincidence to meet a Demon Slayer here. So, it was you who killed the demons? You look weak, is it worth killing you?" he said in a calm voice and stepped closer. Many small veins formed on Neltha's forehead, "Is it worth killing me? I'm the Shadow Hashira and the strongest!" he shouted and ran towards him with his sword drawn.

"I have to watch out for every step otherwise I'm a dead man." He thought. "Shadow Breathing: First Form. Abendschatten!" The blow flew directly to the demon, which, however, did not move an inch. He blocked the attack with his sword as if it had been a small gust of wind. "You're pretty strong you fuck. I'll show you what else I've got. Shadow Breathing: Second Form: *Schattendasein!" A black smoke-like cloud was created that appeared behind Neltha. The demon didn't know exactly what entity was hiding behind him.

He got ready to attack and struck. Neltha was just able to dodge, the demon hit the black smoke that was behind Neltha. A figure emerged from the shadows and just missed its target. "I haven't known a Shadow Hashira in all the years I've been in the world. I didn't know you were playing dirty tricks like that. Making a shadow copy of yourself is impressive. But that's not enough to kill me. Make up your mind, young Hashira." he said with an encouraging voice. "I play with dirty tricks? Which of us is an immortal thing over 500 years old that eats people? You piss me off."

The Shadow Hashira dodged the attacks from him, as already said one wrong step and he is dead. Neltha realized that he hardly had a chance against him, but he didn't want to give up. Upper Moon 1 slowly noticed who he was dealing with, he remembered Douma talking about a Hashira who was quite strong and even injured him. "It must be him... who injured Douma. I should kill him here and now."

All eyes opened from the demon and he changed the speed of his attacks. Neltha has been pushed back and can repel the deadly attacks with difficulty. Every sword slash landed a small hit and cut the body of him. With every hit a little blood splashed through the area. Neltha dodged further back until a tree blocked his way. "Man. Fuck this tree!" He bit his teeth and waited for the blow. The demon took advantage of the second of Neltha's inattention and pierced his left shoulder with his sword. The sting of the demon's sword even pierced the tree and split it.

Neltha had to think of a plan how to get out of the predicament. He jumped up and kicked the demon with both legs. He didn't fly far, but he managed to break free. Neltha could no longer move his left arm, it seems as if he had hit something important. The blood soaked his uniform. "I'm pretty surprised by your persistence, Shadow Hashira. I haven't had an opponent like you for a long time, but this will be your end."

He spat the remaining blood from his mouth and just laughed like a psychopath. "GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! SO THAT'S THE END FOR ME! SO THEN COME YOU SHITTY BASTARD! LET'S END THIS! RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!"