I Feel You - Gyomei Himejima

Chapter 15

Night washed over the sky, and evil that comes with it lurks in the shadows. Everyone hid in their houses, locking their doors and windows and putting on Wisteria Incense to ward off the demon. I feel the air in the mountain grew colder and thicker. Fog spread across the trees.

My horse grew uneasy, pulling on her leash and stomping on the ground.

"Easy girl..." I pet her head, "You feel anything?" I ask looking around, peering my eyes through the darkness.

All of a sudden a roar followed by a shockwave of it almost bursts my ears open. The horse neighed and stood on its hind legs, clearly stressed and feared of something nearby.

A shiver ran down my spine as I pulled out my katana. I heard the sound of heavy footsteps that shook the ground; it didn't come from a human, it sounded more animalistic...

My eyes widen as they jump through the fog, lunging at me with not two but four claws.

"It can't be." I gasped.

It was a bear that had been turned into a demon. It had grown another pair of limbs, having six, its head as well growing another exact mirror next to each other. It stood tall at 3 meters. As a result of its transformation, it's bigger, stronger, and sturdier.

I rolled underneath it before it landed on where I was, its heavy feet dragging across the dirt creating a deep trail. I grab my sword sheathing it back to my hips as I run deeper into the forest, leading it away from the town. It followed after me and closed the distance between us in an instant.

Once it got close enough, he lunged his claws at me, and I turned around swiftly, unsheathing my blade and slicing through his paws. I was only able to slice through its pads as his paw was so thick, as thick as my torso.

My heart dropped as it picked me up from the floor with his lower pair of arms and threw me against a tree. The impact caused the tree to break into two as I was sent through it. I felt my back ache as I slowly regain my composure, standing up from the ground.

The demonic bear didn't waste any more time and lunged at me; I managed to use my breathing technique in time, disappearing from its sight and presence and then reappearing behind it in mid-air.

I managed to slice off its head, but it reacted fast enough to move away that I only sliced through one of its two heads.

It roared in pain, leaping off into the fog to retreat momentarily in the direction of a house at the edge of the village. I breathed heavily and groaned in annoyance; I ran after it; however, that's where I was dead wrong. When I thought it had gone somewhere safe to regenerate, it had waited for me to pass through a thick fog it hid in and ambushed me. Pinning my arms against the ground. Crushing my left arm in the process.

I screamed in excruciating pain. 'Now I see why it's a monster...' Its strength was other-worldly. I can't battle against it. It opened its jaws and roared at me so loud my eardrums burst and bled. Causing me a headache.

'Why isn't it killing me?'

"Papa? What's that?" The little girl from earlier asks her father as they stand outside the door. Yet I was oblivious to their presence, my ears having burst, only able to hear an annoying ring. All I could see was the bear, reigning victorious.

The bear's ear twitched, and it looked up at the house in front of it. Locking its sight on two targets. I turn to where it was looking at as well, my eyes widen to see the two citizens out of their house.

"Run... RUN!" I yell in a panic as the bear gets off of me and charges at them.

The man's jaws dropped, seeing the bear charging at them; he pushed his little daughter towards its direction and locked himself back in the house. My heart dropped, using every ounce of adrenaline in my body to stand up and pick up my sword. Blood trickled down my ears and mouth, and my left arm was limp and broken.

Yet it was too late as I heard a devastating, stomach-churning crunch. In one bite the bear had swallowed the kid whole.

"No."

Images of my little siblings flash in my head.

"No, no, no, no, NOOO!" I yelled at the bear, rage rushing in every nerve of my body as I charged at the bear. It had regenerated its other head back and turned at me, launching its claws at me. I disappeared and reappeared on his side, slashing right through its upper left arm.

It roared, turning once more to where I reappeared and slashed his claw up. Once again, I disappeared and appeared behind it, slicing off its lower right arm. The cycle goes on and on; before it could land a hit on me, I was gone; before it could react, another limb of his fell to the ground. Until I sliced its legs in one slash, and it fell to the ground on its front. Limbless.

I did the finishing blow and sliced both of its heads in one slow slash, forcing every strength I had to push the blade through its thick skin.

It was only a matter of time before his body began to turn into dust. I fall on the ground on one knee, trying to hold myself up with my sword dug on the ground. I breathe heavily, my heart beating against my chest as a tear involuntarily falls down my cheek. Thinking back on what Gyomei said as a farewell.

'Come back in one piece.'

"Yeah... I'll be coming back in one piece for sure," I mumble. I began to hear just a little bit.

"Kuza! Kuzaaa!" Mato flew over to me and landed on the ground next to me, "Oh god, I was only late for half an hour!"

"Mato... Can you go and ask for help from a villager?" I ask coughing up blood.

"Will you be okay? You're not dying right???" He worries hopping closer.

"I'm fine--" I was cut off when I heard the sound of a biwa being plucked. The ground beneath us suddenly becomes a door that opens rapidly. My eyes widen as I grab Mato and throw him into the air.

I fell through the dimension of multi-level wooden rooms, halls, and corridors constantly shifting around me. I fell through a certain platform in which the gravity shifted all of a sudden and I fell on my side. Gasping for breath I quickly stood up, looking around this mysterious domain that bended physics in itself.

'Where am I?!'

"Kuzaaa!" Mato cried as he attempted to follow me through the doors. Before he could fly anywhere further, he was grabbed by the throat by a uppermoon.

Mato struggled, looking up and studying the face of the demon; he resembled that of a demon slayer, his hair deep red, and his eyes were three pairs. It was only a matter of time before Mato lost all air in his lungs and stopped struggling.

Kokushibo threw him to the side, and a door opened just in time for the crow to be thrown back against my horse.

I look around, aware of my surroundings constantly shifting, another string was struck, and a door appeared in front of me. It opens and behind it stands an imposing figure.

"Finally... I have my hands on you." Muzan glares.

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QuickFact: The demonic bear Hamito fought is the same bear she encountered and killed in the first chapter.