Every Beat || Tankana

VII

CHAPTER 7 : In Bloom

They spent half an hour searching for the demon. In the end, Kanao and Tanjirou decided to split up in an attempt to cover more ground. Hopefully this way, they can find the demon before it can harm anymore of the villagers.

Soon enough Tanjirou caught the demon's scent, but by this time, Kanao was already all the way to the other side of the village. Knowing that they had limited time in their hands, he instructed his crow to inform her about his whereabouts and proceeded towards the origin of the scent.

He found himself in an open area, a rice field. Beside the farm stood a humble house, he assumed served as a home for the owners. The smell might be faint but he knew that there were people inside. He made his way further into the field and the foul demon smell only ever grew stronger. Akito was here. He stepped out of the swampy land of the rice field onto a more stable ground and scanned the surroundings.

"Took you long enough." Tanjirou whirled his head to the direction of the voice, noting how raspy and shrill it was. Upon turning, Tanjirou saw the demon leaning against a boulder. "Where's your lady friend?" he asked, allowing the boulder to disappear below the ground as he straightened his stance.

Tanjirou glared at the monster, pulling his sword from it's sheath. "That's none of your concern." he barked.

That only amused Akito. "Why not? I'm really fond of her. She's strong." he smirked, eyes clearly contradicting what he said.

Tanjirou, seeing through the demon's facade, started to feel anger boil at the pit of his stomach. Without a moment to waste, he launched at his opponent, swinging his sword at his target after calling forth his breathing technique.

Akito dodged accordingly. Now thinking his attack was due, he raised his fist and a cluster of rocks and soil emerged from the ground, shooting for Tanjirou at an unbelievable speed. The slayer twisted his body to dodged the attack, going at it again with another water breathing strike.

This went on; Tanjirou, despite his best attempts, was somehow always one step behind.  Every  blow only ending up deflected by the demon. His blood demon art was immeasurably strong. He will the earth by his command, allowing him to both defend and attack the Pillar. He could even make his body harden like a rock, making it difficult to do so much as to scratch him.

But Tanjirou persisted. He kept picking himself up despite the many blows that the demon manage to land on him. He knew that this was his duty, and no matter what, whether bounded by mission or not, this monster would pay the wager of all the lives he took. He sucked the air through his teeth and swung his sword with every bit of strength he had in store.

His attacks didn't seem to have much success, thus he knew that he needed a strategy.

'Kanao, where are you?'  He thought.

He shot towards the demon. Akito raised both his hands to summon a wall of rocks and avoid Tanjirou's sword. But he underestimated the teenager's intentions. Before the wall rose from the ground, both his arms were cut off.

"Second form," Tanjirou recited. "Water Wheel."

Akito was caught off guard. He definitely underestimated him. He was fast.

So this was the true strength of a Pillar. He didn't even have enough time to harden his skin to avoid this attack.