Drinking from the Fountain (Demon Slayer x Male Reader)

Ch. 8 - Oh?

"No."

I wipe my bloodied hand on my pants then tighten my grip on my sword. My arms feel a bit heavy, and my lungs are scratching for air, and this wound sucks, but I'm fine. Mostly just fatigue, I'm amazed it's just that much, if I fought this demon before training with Yorokobi I would've been dead by now.

"Right. I assumed not. You seem so full of energy! So strong. You must have something to lose, to fight for. I respect that." The demon says.

I scoff. "Respect? I don't want your respect."

The demon fake pouts, "Oh but you have it! Isn't that funny?"

My blood boils, I spring forward and swing for his neck in anger. He jumps away from the strike and cackles. "Shut up!"

"Did I hit some kind of nerve? All I was saying is you earned my respect, slayer. Somone as young as you being this skilled is rare." He crouches down as he speaks, twiddling his fan in his hand. "Is it that girl? The other slayer?"

My anger rises as I try to force it back down. My hands grip my sword even tighter, my knuckles turning white. Why does he care? He won't get to lay a hand on her, I'll kill him before that happens.

He chuckles, "So it is! How interesting! How very interesting..." he trails off.

"Don't even think about hurting her. She's... a valuable friend. I will kill you before you get the chance." I say through gritted teeth.

He raises his free hand up calmly in a defensive gesture, "Calm down. I won't hurt her. Well, as long as you stop me from it anyway."

I stand my ground, keeping my deadlock stare on the demon. What a prick.

He sighs a bit at my silence and stands back up, "Right. I should've expected that. Look, I will make you an offer. If you can survive till morning, but can't kill me, I will let you and her leave."

I drop my shoulders, a look of curiosity consuming me. "What?"

"You heard right. If we are met with a stalemate, I will allow you to walk out of this town both you and her intact and healthy."

"And leave you to feed on the citizens of this town? I don't think so. This fight will end with your head on the dirt." I calmly say back. Thankfully this conversation period let me get some stamina back.

The demon shrugs a bit at that, "As I expected you slayers are all the same. For the people and whatnot. No matter. Seems we'll go about this the old fashioned way."

We keep our staredown for a few more tense moments. Then he shoots toward me, waving his fan to make a blade. I block the wind blade and use its momentum to push me back a bit, throwing a kick into his stomach as he tries to blindside me with a clawed hand. He slides back and throws another two wind attacks my way, which I barely manage to hold back with another two first form slashes. He lands with a soft thud and rolls back onto his feet.

He shoots back toward me, keeping both arms peeled back once again. I keep my sword up and prepare for a feinted attack again.

Then, out of nowhere, he jumps and slashes his fan through the air beneath him, using the created wind blade as a booster. He catches an extra two feet of air, soaring above me. He tosses out another three as he goes overtop of me. I manage to dodge the first two, but the next one is not gonna be that easy. It's gonna hit me square in the chest.

Fuck.

I raise my sword in a last ditch effort, the attack slamming the blunt end into my chest. It slams me against the ground and starts to let up shortly after. I roll back up to my feet and try to gather my breath. The demon watches with a careful eye.