Douma's obsession - Demon Slayer fanfiction

Fight or die

"Look, she led the demons right here to kill us! Go get her!".

The second those words leave his mouth, an invisible force hurls the man across the hall. He crashes into a massive stone wall before falling to the ground without any further movement. It all happened so fast. Shocked, Miri stares back at Douma, who is towering behind her with his hands raised and a murderous look in his eyes. Did he kill him?

Without having time to think, she draws her Katana and spins to counter an incoming attack from a young demon hunter. With a few quick moves, she disarms him. Miri frowns. It feels so wrong to fight against her own kind. But what other choice did she have when they charged at her? Why did they have to follow those senseless orders from the higher ups?

She looks to her side to see Giyuu, Sanemi and Mitsuri fighting as well. Sometimes against other demon hunters, sometimes against demons. It was pure chaos! "We should deal with the demons first!" she shouts over to Mitsuri, who nods and turns her attention to a group of fire demons.

Miri is about to follow her when a small group of mid-level demon hunters get in her way and charge at her. She raises her Katana. A powerful wave of water swirls right through them, dissolving their small formation. Once again, it takes a while before her eyes can follow Giyuu's quick movements. "Go on Miri, I got it!" he winks at her while the water rapidly splashes around him. She doesn't doubt that for a second.

"Thanks!" she nods at him quickly and proceeds. Her eyes searched the battlefield for Mitsuri. There were so many demons! The loud clanking of blades and screams of rage echoed through the hall, adding to the turmoil.

Suddenly, a sharp object shoots past her. She instinctively leans back, the object narrowly missing her. It was the Blood Sickle! It hurls back to it's owner and Miri dodges it again, her eyes following its path. A large hand picks the sickle out of the air.

Miri scans her attacker. At first sight, the demon looked more like a skeleton than a man. His emaciated form showed every single bone in his body, which looked like spikes protruding from his crooked spine. His bright yellow, tired eyes stared lazily in their direction. "Hunters fighting hunters...how miserable!" he laughs, scratching his face and tearing at his rotting skin. "How MISERABLE!!!" he shouts again, throwing his sickle at her with full force.

At the last moment, Miri manages to pull her Katana up to block the attack, which knocks her back a few feet. Judging by his strength, this must be an Upper Demon! Breathing Technique Three: Prisma! Rainbow-colored beams radiate around her Katana as she gracefully swings it, intertwining the colored light into deadly white strings that rush towards the demon.

It was one of the most complicated yet effective moves. He doesn't flinch when the blow hits him, reinforcing his position. Miri examines him again. Small cuts had formed all over his skin and a lot of blood was dripping to the ground. So her technique did quite a bit of damage. "Is that all you got?" he mumbles, scratching his torso.

Of course it wasn't! The cuts are already healing, so Miri prepares for her next attack. She fights her way through the masses of demons to get closer to him. The next strike had to be right on the mark! With full force, she swings her Katana at his neck. The demon screamed angrily as his skin was ripped open.

"Blood repulsion." Before Miri could completely sever his head, a shockwave throws her back and her Katana flies to the ground. Shit! Hastily, she crawls forward to retrieve it when a bony foot stomps on it. When she dares to look up, a pair of yellow eyes looks down at her in disgust.

From this close, she could see it: it was him. It was Gyutaro, the Upper Moon Six! Her mind is racing. What should she do now? Without her Katana, she was as good as dead.

The Blood Sickle descends upon her and she reflexively squeezes her eyes shut. A cold wind washes over her. Douma! Gyutaro coughs. As he tumbles back, she sees his body completely riddled with ice spikes.

Douma's strong hands lift her back to her feet and she grabs his arms. He saved her! For a moment she hesitates to let go. She felt such a comforting sense of security in his presence. "Stay back!" he says softly, before his expression hardens as he turns to face Gyutaro again.

While dealing with the other demons, Miri watched the two of them fight. One could feel the power emanating from each blow they threw at each other. Several times, a limb was cut off or one of them grunted in pain. But it was all for nothing, she thought. Demons couldn't kill other demons. That was a matter of fact, since they were able to simply regenerate any part of their body. The only things that could kill a demon were a Katana or sunlight... or both.

A risky new thought crossed Miri's mind. "Sanemi!" she calls to get his attention, motioning him to come closer. Giyuu and Mitsuri come to her as well, still defending themselves against the demons that surround them in a small circle that gradually closes. There are simply too many of them. "We can't do this much longer! Do you have a plan, Miri?" Sanemi grits his teeth, seemingly strained.

She nods and looks at them seriously, "Stay behind me!" She turns around and slowly exhales. If what she suspected was right, she would have to put all her energy into this one attempt. Gathering her concentration, Miri steps in front of Douma.

Breathing Technique Ten: Rays of Sun! The blood in her veins heats up and her skin begins to tingle all over. A massive wave of energy rolls through her and into her Katana, which begins to glow brightly. "Miri, what are you doing?" she hears Douma's worried voice, but it feels like he is miles away. Her surroundings narrow in until all she could see was the demon in front of her.

The light becomes more intense as she aims her Katana at him. His skin begins to peel from his face and distant screams of agony ring in her ears. Her Katana is now so hot that she burns her hand on the handle. Breathing heavily, she ignores the sting and turns to the other demons. She couldn't stop! All this fighting had to end here and now!

Her blood felt like it was on fire. The power surged through her body, leaving her in a bright stream, and she threw everything she had into her technique as she grunted in pain. The demons in front of her curled up and fell to their knees. She closed her eyes as a bright flash of sunlight shot out of her Katana, illuminating everything in white.

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Slowly, Douma blinked his eyes open and took in the scene before him. The entire space had been swept clean. Not a single living demon was left. He looked around in astonishment. How could Miri have done such a thing? He would have suffered the same fate if she had turned against him. For the first time in years, he realized how close to death he had been in the last minute.

Miri's Katana fell to the ground just before her legs gave out from underneath her. In the blink of an eye, he was at her side, catching her fall. She was shaking all over and looked up at him with glassy eyes. Did she even know what had happened?

As her hand reaches for him, he notices the burns on her palms. They were full of fire blisters! Without saying a word, he cools her palms and picks her up. The remaining demon hunters stare at him and Miri in disbelief as he walks past them as if they didn't exist. No one dared to stand in his way.

Good for them, he wasn't in the mood for a conversation right now, he thought. With a last judgmental look, he leaves them behind as he strides out of the hall.