the way of the eclipse

red lights district part 3

The days passed in a blur of monotony, with each one blending into the next. I had almost begun to believe that the demon was not here. Tanjirou and I were about to report our findings—or lack thereof—when the explosion tore through the air. It sounded like the world itself had been split open.

We rushed outside, and the scene that greeted us was nothing short of chaos. A demon stood in the middle of the street, her presence commanding the attention of everyone around. She was barely clothed, her attire more suited for the entertainment district, but even there, it was an unusual sight.

"Damn... I mean, this is the entertainment district, but why?" I muttered, utterly baffled.

"Excuse me, how dare you!" the demon snarled, her eyes blazing with anger.

"Hey, redhead," I called out to Tanjirou, "how long can you last alone while I round up the rest of us?"

"Well, uh..." Tanjirou stammered, clearly nervous.

"That works. See you," I said, sprinting off to find the others. My coworker, the flamboyant Uzui Tengen, was nowhere to be seen. I swore under my breath as I dashed through the narrow alleyways, calling out to my comrades.

By the time I had gathered everyone, the situation had escalated. Houses were in ruins, and flames licked at the remnants of what once was a peaceful neighborhood.

"Yuzu, I'm trusting you to hold up," I said to her as I unsheathed my sword and strapped my umbrella to my back.

"I got this. Don't worry. You two make yourselves useful and get to work," Yuzu replied, her eyes fierce with determination as she went to assist the demon girl. Sorry people I don't even know the demon girl's name, but that didn't matter now.

(TSUKUYOMI TSUKI, WHAT DID WE SAY ABOUT BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL?!)

I rushed to help Tanjirou and my coworker, the scene before me growing more chaotic by the second. There were now two demons—just my luck. The one Tanjirou and Uzui were fighting was a boy who resembled a bug. His appearance was grotesque, to say the least.

"Great, another one of you pests... My, my, aren't you the Mirror Breaker?" he taunted, pointing at me with his blood sickle.

"Well, you don't seem much to look at either, if I do say so myself," I shot back, getting into a fighting stance.

"I truly didn't come here to talk. Uzui, whatever your name is—I'm just going to call you redhead—go take care of the demon girl. I'll handle this one,"

I yelled. They left, but not without Uzui making some snarky comment. I swore to myself that once this fight was over, I'd have a few words for him.

"Sending away your helpline? How interesting," the demon sneered.

"I'm not sending away my help. I'm just buying them more time," I replied, taking a deep breath.
"Eclipse Breathing, First Form: Tears of the Sun and Moon," I announced, lunging into the air. My blade arced in a powerful, swift horizontal semi-circular slash aimed at the demon's neck. He dodged quickly, but I managed to slice through his arm, which began regenerating almost immediately. His eyes bore the mark of Upper Moon Six.

"What's your name, Slayer?" he rasped.

"Tsukuyomi Tsuki," I answered.

"Nice name. It matches. I'm Gyutaro," he introduced himself, a twisted grin on his face.

"You're quite the talker, huh? Quit talking. I came here to fight," I said, annoyance creeping into my voice.

"Why don't you become a demon, kid? After all, what fun would it be to kill you?" he suggested, his words dripping with malice.

"No, thank you," I replied, quickly decapitating him without using any breathing style. He managed to nick my leg with his blood sickle as I landed behind him. The wound wasn't deep, but I had to remain cautious. To my dismay, Gyutaro's severed head didn't disintegrate. Instead, he laughed—a hideous, cricket-like sound—as his head reattached itself.

"You really think that's enough to kill me? And here I was thinking you were smart," he mocked as he stood up.

"You are strong, I'll give you that. Able to decapitate me without using any form... Eclipse, huh? How unique," he said, lunging at me again. I dodged and countered with my Third Form, slicing through his arm once more.

No matter how many times I cut his head off, he kept coming back. It was infuriating. We had fought our way across half the city, and exhaustion was starting to set in. I slowed my breathing to counter any poison he might have used on me. It wouldn't kill me outright, but I couldn't afford to be careless.

"How surprising. You're still able to fight after all this time. I thought my poison would have affected you by now," Gyutaro commented, clearly impressed.

Suddenly, he lunged at me with renewed ferocity, catching me off guard. He pinned me to the ground, his blood sickle poised to strike.

"We could have been friends, but it's over for you," he hissed.

In a desperate move, I grabbed my sword cover and took the umbrella part that opened it in my hand. He looked down in surprise, his expression one of confusion.

"Abracadabra, bitch!" I yelled, opening the umbrella and blasting him off of me. The force of the umbrella opening created a gust that sent him flying, leaving a gaping hole in his stomach. It wasn't deep, but it bought me enough time. I quickly collapsed the umbrella and strapped it to my back again, lunging at him with renewed vigor.

"Eclipse Breathing, Eleventh Form: Heat of Appearance," I called out. Darkness surrounded me, and I could see again, albeit faintly. Black and blue flames erupted around me, striking Gyutaro and doing significant damage. I closed in, slicing him to bits. Hopefully, this time he would stay dead. (Spoiler alert he didn't)

I rushed to find my comrades, the city now engulfed in flames and partly destroyed. As I ran, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head. Something had struck me, splitting my head open. I fell to the ground, glancing up to see Gyutaro standing over me, laughing through his terrible smile.

"You really thought you could beat me? You're a tough one to crack. Say, how strong are you?" he asked, his voice dripping with condescension.

"I'm the sixth strongest at the moment. I just took the place of a fallen one," I replied, blood flowing from my mouth as my vision started to blur.

"How sad and pathetic to see such a new pillar be killed so easily," he said, before vanishing. He was probably running away to help the other demon.

As I lay there, my blood pooling around me, I smiled weakly, gazing up at the sky. My vision darkened, and I whispered, "I was never cut out for this role," before finally passing out.