Isekai Mizuki S1 - A World With Demons

Chapter 60 - VS Gyokko

Thursday, February 16th, 2030, Kimetsu Academy: Classroom 1-A

Tanjiro entered the classroom, depressed but normal. Ever since Kanao had gone missing, he had never been the same. Everyone's been trying to help him get past his problems. The transformation for Kanao was complete, and she was completely mindbroken and unconscious. Soon enough, the day passed, and nothing interesting happened.

That very night, around 12 AM in the Kamado Residence, Tanjiro decided to get up. He silently changed into his Slayers Corporation uniform, picked up his sword, and left the house without any traces left behind. He decided to go roam around a pub, since there has been an appearance of puddles there, although no traces of alcohol were on the spills. He went to check, and see if anything may happen. He noticed that no one was looking at a specific young woman. He kept his eyes on her, and there, a pot appeared. He didn't mind it at first, as it could have been just a simple pot. But then, water began to rise and spill out of it. And as if on cue, he drew out his sword, and took a swing at the pot. It broke, but Gyokko didn't come out of it. Apparently, another pot appeared in front of the bartender. Before anything could happen, Tanjiro tried to swing again, only this time, Gyokko decided to reveal himself, and use his aquatic magic to blast him backward.

Gyokko coughed a little, muttering, "Ugh, I hate my dust allergy," as he turned to face his adversary. "This is a new one. You seem to have a specific energy to you, much like that Isekai kid. What are you attacking me for? I'm just a man with a Blood Magic that modifies my body," he said. Tanjiro then tightened the grip on his blade. "What did Muzan do to her?! What did he do to Kanao?!" he yelled, demanding an answer. Gyokko thought about who she was, and it pinged him. "Ah, yes, the young lady I took. Haha... She had transformed not two days ago. Kanao's currently the holder of Upper Moon Six, and the second swordsman of the Slayers Corporation to be a part of Muzan's army."

Tanjiro took a deep breath, and immediately nicked his head with a Solar Heat Haze. "Oh, sorry about that, I didn't know we were starting," he apologized as he used a magic to inflict a cluster of cuts on Tanjiro.

Needle-nosed fishes were conjured, and rapidly inflicted hits. He could only block about 70% of the attack, and luckily, none of his vitals were damaged in any form. "Well then, shall we begin?"

Tanjiro wiped the blood off of his blade, nodded, then the two locked into a fierce struggle in the middle of the pub, where all of who were in there left. It caused noises to be made in the city, soon enough, police even had to get involved. When they arrived at the scene, they tried to stop the fight, but if they even passed the door to get inside, they'd immediately be killed by Gyokko's attacks. They learned that the hard way after half the coalition was killed. The only way Tanjiro could even evade the attacks was because of the Rocket Jump he manifested.

However, Tanjiro thought of a plan to be able to stop Gyokko. He knew his weakness was the pottery he moved across. Without that, he wouldn't be able to move. So he grit his teeth, sheathed his blade, and began zapping across the room like a spider hopping across walls.

Gyokko knew he couldn't match speed like this. "I can't follow him. If this goes on, he'll be able to defeat me. I need to back down for now, wait until he wears himself o-"  he thought, until Tanjiro leapt at him, and swung. The Upper Moon never got back down in time, so Tanjiro was able to break the pot with a sword swing.

The demon then popped out, began to screech demonically, and then sank into the ground, leaving a small portal vortex.

Genya and Masachika lived nearby where the scene was happening, and they poked their heads out just early enough to see Gyokko sink down. The activity was also drawing more demons to the scene. "Tanjiro? What are you doing here? What's going on?" Masachika asked. Genya cut down a demon behind him, and then another. "The high activity in this area's drawing more demons here. Tanjiro, go after whoever you're chasing. We'll hold them off," Genya suggested. Tanjiro nodded, and stabbed the vortex area, opening a dimensional portal. He sank into the ground, and he ended up in a world where it was all just water, pottery and shipwrecks and sunken ancient cities.

"Where am I?" was Tanjiro's first question. He moved around, trying to locate Gyokko. Then, a lung pain hit him, making him realize he was running out of air. "Ugh, my chest! Luckily, I had one thing for this situation. Our school's janitor taught me that I can use the Water Magic to be able to breathe underwater. Water Magic: Defensive Arts: Underwater Breathing!"

Underwater Breathing (A water magic skill from the category of Water Magic's Defensive Arts. A bubble shell is formed around the user, allowing the user to breathe underwater. This technique can only work underwater, although this requires consumption of neither breath nor stamina.)

After he got his breathing problems out of the way, he started swimming around again. After a while, Gyokko appeared out of nowhere, now gigantic and even more freaky than Shinobu described it. The demon then laughed. "Are you sure you can kill me now? Can you avenge who you lost to that man? I'm more than ten times larger than you!" he questioned his bravery, explaining his current situation. Tanjiro wasn't taking any of it. He engulfed his blade in flames, which obviously extinguished, seeing as he was underwater. "Alright then, I guess I'm using Water Breathing instead!" he said, switching the powers he was using. "Come, then. Such a shame you have to die. You were a great fighter."

To be continued...