Isekai Mizuki S1 - A World With Demons

Chapter 122 - Goodbye, Hakuji

Narrator: Akaza

I can't go to the same place as those three once I die. Good job making me remember my past, Tanjiro. Humans. They're soft, brittle, and weak. They always die right away. They break, and disappear into nothingness.

"Get a fresh start, young man," were the next words I heard in my head, incorporated with Keizo's voice. I hate weak people. They poison wells, and never fight face to face. Despicable, weak people. They lack patience, and quickly reap what they sow. Their actions forced me to kill people with these "protecting fists."

I could never honor my father's last words, and I bloodied my master's precious Soryu Style. Oh... I know what I fought for now... although the way I did my objective was wrong. The person I wanted to kill... was myself.

Narrator: None

Akaza was about to deploy a wide and long-ranged explosive attack. At that moment, Tanjiro charged at him. However, the fatigue from using the Transparent World earlier managed to catch up to him, making his blade fly out of his hands. "OH NO! My sword... IT FELL OUT! I CAN'T STOP HIM WITH MY FISTS!"  he realizes, freaking out. He looks at Akaza, and deduces that he was going to use a large-scale attack.

He then looks at Isekai and Sabito, who were charging at Akaza. "OH NO, THAT'LL BRING EVERYONE ELSE INTO HIS ATTACK! I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING...!"  Tanjiro thought. He regained his composure, and pulled Isekai and Sabito backward using his Shockwire. "WHAT?! WHY, TANJIRO?!" Isekai questioned.

Tanjiro looked at Akaza, whose frown turned into a smile. "I have you to thank... Tanjiro," he mouthed. He could smell gratitude from him. "Destructive Kill... Annihilation Type!"  Akaza commanded his will, ready to do something drastic. A huge area around him had exploded, and it nearly caught Sabito and Isekai. "Did... he use his attack to..."  Tanjiro questioned, confused and also surprised.

All that was left of Akaza's body was nothing but a headless corpse, with his bones showing. "Why did he attack himself...?" Tanjiro asks himself. Isekai and Sabito look at him. "What do you mean?" they reply. Tanjiro looks at them. "For a moment... I smelled gratitude from Akaza. Why did he smile...?" he replied, throwing another question.

Akaza's body started to gurgle and rumble, attempting to regenerate. But Akaza didn't want it. "Enough. Just stop, don't regenerate. The match is over. I lost the moment Tanjiro got my neck. I lost fair and square, and he displayed a magnificent technique. He read his enemy's attacks and spun in the nick of time, then finished the fight before his enemy struck,"  he commented internally, proud that he was wrong about him.

"It's over... I just... want to go to hell like a man."

His feet stopped, and he could see his father in front of him, and he spoke with him telepathically. "Dad... are you okay... now that you're not in pain...?" he asked. His father smiled. "I'm fine, Hakuji. Thank you..." he replied, and I knelt down. "I'm sorry, father... I'm so sorry. I couldn't fix myself. I'm useless..." I said, reprimanding myself for the mistakes I committed in my life, both as a human and a demon.

"That has nothing to do with it," Keizo said, patting Akaza's head. "No matter what you become, son's a son, student's a student. Though, well, we can't exactly take you to heaven with us," he told him, a sweat drop dripping down his forehead. "Master..."  Hakuji thought, a tear forming in his eye. Suddenly, the hand on his head gripped his hair, and the man standing in front of him was now Muzan Kibutsuji.

"Don't you want to get stronger? Are you really just going to let it end here?" he asks, anger and disappointment in his voice. "Are you, Akaza?" he continues, finishing his sentence. Muzan's influence takes over Akaza's mind once more. "That's right. I'll get stronger. I want to be stronger. So what if my head gets severed? Victory or defeat? That doesn't matter. I'll kill everyone! I CAN STILL BECOME STRONGER! I HAVE TO KEEP MY PROMISE OR-"  he thought as a pair of gentle hands took him by the head.