Esoteric Flame Breathing [INDEFINITE HIATUS]

8 - The Bloody Elemental Masters

The rain continued to fall hard, and the wind slowly died as Jun followed suit with Zira's body and landed on his feet. Soon after, the demon slayer fell to one knee in exhaustion as the boy from before was peeking out from his hiding place behind a tree.

Jun: "I'd say that was quite... shocking." He muttered to himself with a light chuckle at the pun as he got back up and started to walk to the tower. "No time to rest; I need to help Satoru!"

Jun had a limp in his step due to the injuries he suffered from Zira's lightning. Despite that, he was about to pick up the pace to join his comrade in battle against the other two demons, but he couldn't get far enough as he sensed something behind him. He felt unease about this mysterious ambiance and was about to take a breath when the boy called out to him.

Boy: "MISTER!!"

The demon slayer was able to detect the tinge of urgency in the boy's voice and took a step forward before spinning on his heel to bring his sword forward, blocking a sneak attack from behind.

Jun: "Damn it! He's still alive...!" He thought with gritted teeth as he was putting his strength into his stance to avoid getting sent flying.

As he thought, the dust cleared to reveal Zira with a sneer as his fist pushed against the demon slayer's blade in a standoff. The demon's wounds had already regenerated, and his sightly-tattered kimono was the only result of his opponent's last attack.

Zira: "If you think I'm down and out, you're foolishly mistaken." He sneered haughtily as he redirected Jun's sword to the side and went for an attack with his other hand.

Jun jumped back in response and took a shallow breath before counterattacking with an overhead slash. The demon cackled as he met his foe's attack with his fist covered in lightning. Due to the rain coating the area with water, the lightning from the demon's attack traveled through the blade to strike Jun's hands, making him recoil in pain.

Despite the pain he was in, Jun was able to take a deep breath to correct his form and fight back with his sword at the ready.

Jun: "Ni no kata: Sōsō - Shinato Kaze! (Second Form: Claws, Purifying Wind!)"

He unleashed four vertical slashes that resembled claws down on Zira, who brought his arms in front of him to take the brunt of the slashes as they carved into the skin, nearly carving the whole thing off.

Before the demon could back away from Jun to heal, the demon slayer followed up with another overhead slash that managed to slice an arm off by the shoulder as Zira tried to dodge the attack. The demon hissed in pain as the arm landed on the ground with a squelch while Jun kept attacking, not to give his foe a chance to escape by spinning on the spot and bringing his sword up to decapitate his enemy. Unfortunately, Zira saw it coming and barely jumped back in time, only making the blade cut into his kimono.

Zira: "If I weren't mistaken, I'd think you're scared." He taunted, cracking his neck as he regenerated his arm.

Jun: "Of you, yeah, right." He retorted as he adapted into a stance with his blade in front of him. "As payback for what you did to this kid's family, I'm going to rip you to shreds."

Zira: *laughs* "Sounds like fun, so give it a shot."

The two adversaries charged at each other once more, one throwing out punches and the other with slashes from his sword. Continuing the assault, Jun lashed out with a horizontal slash. However, Zira brought his arm, reinforced with crackling electricity, up to block the attack before retaliating by thrusting his other arm toward the demon slayer, but he jumped back to avoid it.