Road to Hashira

-04-

 "You see now? Demon slayer, you can't win against all of us! Soon, you'll be weary and die, and I'll add you to the menu! I'm not very fond of men though, their skin is so bland and their flesh too tough and chewy, but since you're quite a strong one, I'll happily welcome you in my belly!" The demon continues to laugh as if already claiming victory.

A wounded Tomioka strives hard to keep his breathing constant, but his sword starts feeling heavier, and he's more worried for the girls who've been taken captive. Right now, as his count, he's fighting against 5 demons already. No matter which of them he cuts, they won't crumble and will simply regenerate within minutes. The demons by themselves are not very strong, nor do they even try to dodge, they simply keep on attacking him from all sides, reducing his stamina with their numbers.

Giyu, the water breathing technique can take all forms and shapes, it cannot be stopped, like floodwaters throwing down trees and bringing everything along with it. Breathe, Giyu, take any shape and form; flow freely like a river that smashes through rocks. The words of his teacher echoes through his ears and mind.

(Urokodaki-sensei, watch me.)

"It's over now, demon slayer!" Four of the demons immediately pounce at Tomioka, persisting to slice him into pieces and end his suffering. However...

Giyu breathes so serenely, like a still pond void of disturbance, even the vehement sea waves are put to calm. "Water breathing... eleventh form - Dead calm."

In an instant, the four demons end up being sliced into a thousand pieces. (W-what did he do?! All of them disappeared into thin air! I didn't even see his hands move!) "E-eh?!" Tomioka appears right in front of the last demon. "Kuek!" Soon, what he sees next is the clear deep blue sky like the eyes of the man who made him see the full moon shining bright. "W-what?!"

Tomioka flicks his sword away, cleaning the blood off before sheathing it back.

"B-bastard! Don't you dare turn your back on me!"

Tomioka turns around and is shocked to see the demon still alive, even worse, even the rest that he cut up are regenerating, no, they're dividing! (What on earth...) Soon, he is faced with 9 more demons all with the same looks and a fox tail growing behind each one.

"I'll be sure to finish you now, watch me get serious!" Altogether they pounce at him from different directions.

"Water breathing, elev-... argh!" Tomioka suddenly felt a sharp pain on his wrists. (Crap, using that new style for the first time in a real battle, it's too much!)

"You're done!"

"!!!"

The demons bump against each other as they catch nothing in their center at all. "What the?! More tricks up your sleeves?!"

"Humph, that was my trick, you damned demon!" A beautiful girl with a butterfly head ornament saves Tomioka in the nick of time. "You can thank me later, Tomi-baka-san."

"Kochou, do not interfere, I got thi-..."

"You're saying that in such a sorry state?! You really are too full of yourself!" Kochou deflects the needles with her intricate katana that only had a blade tip and was seemingly very light as herself. 

"Dance of the Centipede: Hundred legged zigzag!" Shinobu dashes in her full speed in a confusing pattern that her opponents were stunned with her movements. She quickly injects poison into their throats which causes them severe pain, effectively paralyzing them. 

"A demon's physiology may be drastically different from humans, but their blood flows the same. Therefore, simply creating a poison that blocks this system is a very effective tool for killing demons just the same. Oh sorry, my bad, why am I even talking to all of you when you're all dead?"

"Kochou, don't drop your guard, he's not an ordinary demon!" Tomioka tries his best to stand on his own and brandish his katana.

"Eh?" Shinobu realizes that the demons have stopped squirming.

"Now, you've really done it you damned slayers! Can't a man enjoy his feast in peace?! Off with you all!" The demons suddenly gather together into one body and reveal a more complex demon with long flowing hair, fox ears, a huge build, and majestic nine tails. The demon's face, which was a handsome young man, now transforms into a monstrous canine outline and lets out a shrill cry. "I'm gonna devour all of you! Then, I will become part of the 12 Kizuki! Ack!" Suddenly, the demon coughs blood and purple veins appear over its face and chest.

"W-what?" Tomioka was bewildered.

"As I've assumed, this demon can separate itself into more bodies and can combine once again to develop a much stronger and resilient body. The poison that I used wasn't just to paralyze them to mitigate their numbers, but that poison also works more effectively inside a larger body where the blood vessels are bigger."

Tomioka glances at Shinobu. (She's that talented. Just after observing a short glimpse of our fight earlier, she was already able to hypothesize the abilities of this demon and formulate an effective poison that would surely bring it down.)

Shinobu glances at Tomioka, frowning. "But apparently, I can't do much as of now, that demon surprisingly has a good tolerance against poison, and unless it's beheaded, it won't go down."(Given its size now, I honestly could hardly do much.)

Tomioka immediately understood, and so he readied his sword.

"Tomi-baka-san, that poison would be enough to impede the moves and abilities of that demon. It won't be able to divide for now as the poison would surely render his smaller bodies immobile, this is our best chance."

"My name... is not Tomi-baka-san..."

"I know I know, just hurry, Tomioka-san."

"You can call me Giyu..." Immediately, Tomioka rushes at his target.

"W-what?!" Shinobu was flustered at the sudden remark.

"Water breathing, tenth form - constant flux!" Tomioka spins and slashes against the tail attacks of the white demon, surely the moves and strength of this demon has been disoriented by Shinobu's poison, and so Tomioka produces enough momentum and power to jump up into the air, the full moon behind him, and finally slashing at the demon's neck like a furious water dragon.