Isekai Mizuki S1 - A World With Demons

Chapter 74 - VS Karaku

Isekai, Mitsuri, Genya and Murata were still chasing Hantengu through a modern village. Murata was closing in, and got ready to make a swing. Unfortunately, before he could attack, one more demon popped out of the body's back, blasting wind, which Genya, Murata and Isekai dodged. This one was the same one that warned Genya and Murata to stop running after the man. The three went on to chase down Hantengu, while Mitsuri hanged back to hold off the demon until morning arrived or Hantengu was killed.

The demon cracked his neck a little, and stretched his arms. "So, what do we have here...? A pink-haired woman with... *ahem* noticeably great curves. Well, introductions are in order, I suppose," he said, really relaxed despite being in the face of a Hashira of the Slayers Corporation.

"I'm Mitsuri Kanroji, Love Hashira of the Slayers Corporation!" Mitsuri introduced herself, not letting her guard down, despite seeing how relaxed this one is. "Nice to meet ya. M'name's Karaku," the demon named Karaku said, yawning.

"This one's... really not taking it seriously. Each one seems to be an embodiment of the skeletal one's emotions. Depending on how laid-back he seems to be, I think this Karaku's the embodiment of his relaxation!"  Mitsuri thought, coming to a conclusion about the embodiment's main emotion.

"Welp, aaah... I'd really love to just sit the fuck down and relax for all I want, but I have a duty to perform. We're all guardians of the one you keep chasing, and our job is to defend him. I'm not letting you pass until you kill me, oh, and might I tell you, I won't die until HE dies," he explains, referring to Hantengu as "he".

The Hashira drew her blade, ready for battle. Karaku licked his lips, cleared his throat, drew two fans, and immediately blasted extremely strong gusts of wind, which were strong enough to break down two houses. Luckily, no one was in there at the time, so no injuries nor casualties were caused. Mitsuri dodged the attack, and immediately charged in for a sweep kick. Karaku wasn't being serious at all, so the battle was dragged on for a long time, before Karaku gave up on toying with her and tried to end her before they could get Hantengu.

Unfortunately for the demon, Mitsuri was being really persistent, and she kept stopping him from attempting to deal any possibly fatal attacks. The battle eventually became more unstable, with constant hits being inflicted onto each other. However... a certain demon has had enough...

Back at the alley...

Tanjiro was able to land an extremely powerful combination of melee attacks. It sent his enemy, Sekido, flying towards a dumpster. After landing on the ground, Tanjiro took a look at the dumpster, which was popping with lightning.

Inside, Sekido pretty much hit the apex of angry. He yelled in anger, jumped out of the dumpster, and ran off elsewhere. Tanjiro decided to follow him, by trying to catch up using Splashing Water Flow: Turbulent and Rocket Jump. Then, with the crowd celebrating the Festival, he flashed by them. It caught Masachika's eye, and he ran off to take a look, all while getting his sword out.

Giyu was beginning to struggle in his battle against Urogi and Aizetsu. Eventually, a sonic screech finally got to his mind, leaving him disoriented. However, before the latter could jab Giyu with his Yari, Sekido arrived and took the two away. Tanjiro caught up with the Hashira, and they both agreed to follow him.

Back to Mitsuri...

Karaku nearly killed her by wind-blasting a large rock towards her, but it was broken by Sekido rushing through it, and also taking Karaku. He then bolted towards where Hantengu, Genya, Isekai and Murata were. Elsewhere, Masachika could see Genya and the other two. Before anyone could do anything, one final demon appeared behind Hantengu, stretched its arm out, and a cluster of small wooden dragons was about to kill Genya.

Genya realized what was coming at him, and he braced for impact. But suddenly... a large splash of blood that wasn't his came upon him instead, and a certain someone's sword fell to the ground. He opened his eyes and looked to see who took the hit for him.

Masachika stood in front of Genya, now impaled by the wooden attack. The demon retracted his attack, and the former dropped down, his blood dripping to the ground. Genya's first comment upon seeing what happened was: "Holy shit..."

The demon that impaled him had his aura disappear. "You're all so evil and barbaric... You attack a weak and innocent man who has never lied or hurt anyone his whole life. I will put you all down so that these evil hands that hurt the brittle never touch something so innocent ever again."

Tanjiro, Giyu, and Mitsuri caught up to them, to witness the new demon and an extremely injured Masachika. "No, no... no no no... Come on, Masachika, get up, man... don't die on me!" Genya muttered, getting increasingly more concerned and scared about his best friend. "You're my brother-in-arms, man! I can't live without you! Don't fucking die on me, dude!" Genya begged, tears flowing from his eyes.

Isekai sighed, trying to figure out a way to save Masachika AND kill Hantengu. Then, something clicked. "Tanjiro, take away Masachika to the hospital! There's one just about 2 or 3 miles off that way, you should have enough time to make it there if you hurry the hell up! Don't worry about us, Ms. Kanroji, Mr. Tomioka and I'll handle this... thing! Genya, Murata, you go after the skeletal one! Don't waste any more time, Masachika's going to die! And you two, if you can't kill him, just try to keep him in the open until dawn!" Isekai ordered. Everyone agreed. Tanjiro turned back, and took a left, then ran straight for the hospital. Genya and Murata ran forward, with the demon trying to stop them, but was interrupted by Giyu cutting its arms off.

The demon regenerated, and the three who were left behind took a battle stance. "Such rude and barbaric fools just hurt who they want. Who in hell hurts an innocent and weak person? I will kill you so that you never do such cruel things again! I am Zohakuten, the manifestation of the demon's hate, and the fusion of all four embodiments of Four's emotions! And I will kill you right here and now!" the demon named Zohakuten said, his battle form up and ready.

"Us? Evil? No no no no no no no, have you any idea how many humans you need to devour to get to a rank that high, mate." Zohakuten responded by saying that how many humans he ate was irrelevant. "Oh, hell no. DISGUSTING!" Isekai said, really agitated. "We're gonna kill you, here and now!"

To be continued...