False Prophet

Chapter 1

Douma wasn't one for celebrating. After feasting for the evening, a week has passed since he gain the title of Uppermoon Two from his former superior and now titleholder of Uppermoon Three Akaza, he decided to go on a journey.

He had always wanted to go west to the land of China. To learn something new compared to the same old stories he hears from his human cultists. He made the excuse of going on an odyssey of self-discovery, wanting to be able to give better advice. To walk and see how humans live in comparison to his temple.

It was also to try how people taste in other places.

It was easy to hide on a boat, starving himself for a time while also learning to speak the language of the lands he was to go to. The men on the boat were merchants and spoke as they would as sailors going between ports. Douma busied himself to make sure he didn't sound vulgar, listening to the captain.

Once they made port, he did go around, simply listening, using his broken Chinese, and learning the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin where needed. He hid his hair and eyes for he didn't want to stand that out. How would people act naturally if he didn't look the part?

Of course, he was still a wolf wandering in a herd of sheep.

He kills his first woman and finds she didn't taste much different from those in Japan. His tongue did pick up a tangy difference, perhaps the lack of fish in their diet was the main change.

He became a fox let into a chicken coop, killing as he pleases without having to worry about other demons. His lord's demons saw no need to leave their homeland when there is food.

As Douma Uppermoon Two, he was quite the gorger.

It was this gluttonous behavior that had him running into someone special.

Someone far more powerful than his lord.

He met Buddha.
—
Douma had been in this land for about a year when he was confronted by a man, a Buddhist monk by the looks of it.

As a fake monk, advising his followers with a broken form of Buddhism, Douma has learned a bit in his time here.

This fateful encounter would be the one to change everything.
He had taken shelter for the day, the sun setting in the distance when he had arrived. A man in his thirties, orange robes and nothing else on him. In contrast to Douma who still walks in his sovereign attire only leaving his hat behind.

" Hello, have you come to rest here for the evening? I will be leaving shortly but I can keep you company for a short time-" Douma was smiling, faking his welcoming attitude.

The man watches him, not stepping into the shadows that become longer with the dying sun.

"Why do you hide?" Douma tilts his head.

"Whatever do you mean?" The monk steps into the darkness, where he can easily be killed.

"Why do you lie all your life? Learning nothing about being human and instead throwing it away to become a creature of the night." Black hair bleaches to its original tone and his eyes twinkle with their true color.

His hand finds his fan, opening it and hiding his face from his visitor.

"Oh, are you a slayer?" The monk shakes his head.

"I deny being someone who takes life in that matter. I help those who need to learn the lessons of the world to reach enlightenment."

Douma laughs, closing his fan to clap at his guest.

"I bring people to enlightenment, send them to paradise!" Douma continues his laughter, remembering all he had killed in his cult.

A bright light blinds him and the next thing he feels is a tight sensation around his head. Douma lifts his hand, digging his claws into his skull trying to take it off him.

"I won't allow you to be a false prophet of my teachings any longer." Buddha raises his hand, starting to chant a sutra, tightening the crown around the demon. A pain like no other race through Douma. Far different from any physical strike from Akaza or slash from slayers, much more bone-rattling then the claws that dug into his head when he was turned by Muzan.

He goes blind, blood coming up in a cough and he falls to his knees.

Douma was stunned, not knowing how to react other than a blank expression.

He could hear the steps of Buddha as he came forward, pressing a finger to his forehead.

"You will learn to suffer as a human while remaining a demon."
—
1899 Meji Era

A thunderstorm was overhead, a boom going off every once in a while, shaking the foundation of the temple. A small temple that no visits but could provide shelter if one came to it.

A woman was running, holding a bundle in her arms tightly. They were both soaked to the core when she stumbled into the temple. A wet cough can be heard followed by a cry of an infant, a pale hand escaping the bundle.

"Inosuke please, hold on, please hold on for Kaa-san." Kotoha was desperate, her son was sick. Inosuke was so close to death, she couldn't imagine a world without him in the first few months they had together.

She couldn't lose him so easily because her husband neglected him.

She looks around, finding a shrine, with a statue of a man said to be a disciple of Buddha himself, having come to these lands to spread his teachings and heal.

The young mother had to try, for her son.

She kneels, Inosuke held closely to her chest as she cries her plea.

"Please, save him. Save Inosuke!" Her cries echo in the small shrine.

—
Below, chains rattle, and for the first time in years, rainbow eyes open. His expression remains neutral, listening to the continued cries of a young woman.

His platinum blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, his bangs pushed back by the golden ring crown that encircles his head.

Douma looks up from the prison he resides in. His lord hasn't called for him, most likely having lost connection with him in the decades since his imprisonment. Once or twice he has felt the familiar tug of Nakime's power and not even that could drag him from his prison.

Funny how a deity proved him wrong and now he is here, to learn a lesson.

It was hard to be taught a lesson when no one is there to teach him.

So here he has sat, below a shrine that acts as the only sign of his existence, hoping that one would pray for his help. A genuine soul who needed his power and could teach him how it is to be human and to suffer.

Most are selfish and he ignores them.

But this one was different.

It was a young mother, begging her son to be saved.

Douma tests his chains and finds them loose.

It seems his judgment was in line with Buddha.

So with his hands curl he tugs and his chains vanish for the first time in a century.

He stands, making his way up top and maybe these humans will be the ones to truly teach him his lesson.

Hello Everyone! Once again posting a story that is also on ArchiveofOurOwn. The main difference is y'all are going to receive updates in time with that website!
I do hope you enjoy the story !