The Good Demon [KNY]

Part 5: Freedom

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"WAIT!" Akai shot up and got on his two feet. It was a cold, starry night. It was a beautiful dark blue, full of specks of colored light. 

"Please be it. Please be it!!!" Akai bounded through the trees and hopped over logs and rocks. His legs were still stiff, so he tripped on rocks here and there. He finally saw the line of trees that made up the wall. There was always a thin film of wisteria pollen in the air around the trees. So Akai held his breath as he lept past it into the woods outside of it.

"YES!!!" Akai screamed. "FINALLY!!!" He jumped with joy as his 1000 years of imprisonment that felt like a week of nothing to do ended. Once he finished he sat and had a look at the stars. They really were pretty this night.

Akai spent the rest of the night slowly descending the mountain. He remembered to dunk himself in a river before walking on an old path. His clothes had eroded into patchwork, so most of his body was exposed.

Akai felt bored, so he bit down on his thumb and nibbled on it as he walked. He sniffed the air with a happy sigh. He smelled dirt, grass, and blood.

Blood.

Akai gritted his teeth and sprinted down the path. The faint scent of blood grew, but not by that much. The person bleeding must've still been alive. A torn apart corpse would have reeked of blood. Akai turned off the path and followed the trail of a struggle. Blood here, footstep there. Akai sprinted past a large tree and saw it. A traveling merchant on the floor, scrambling away from a low-level demon.

"Stay away!!! Please!!!" The man screamed.

"A snack like you will-"

Shink

Akai drew his knife and beheaded the demon instantly. It fell to the ground and crumbled to dust.

"Are you alright?" Akai lent a hand to the man.

"I'm fine, thank you! Thank you so much!" The man shook his hand thankfully. "I must repay you some way!"

"I could use some clothes and shoes. That's all." Akai said.

And with that, he saved his first-person, and got some nice clothes to add on. With that. He continued his journey. He didn't know where to, and he didn't care either. He just hoped that it led to the death of Muzan. Akai hoped that the demon had perished during the 1000 year nap, but if he hadn't, then Muzan would be dead soon.

"Now how do I do that?" Akai mumbled as he nibbled his thumb.

He could join the slayers. They were strong, demon-killing experts. The problem would be getting them to trust him. He'd have to make them trust him somehow. He could try befriending a few.

"Oh yea, Aoi!" Akai remembered the girl from two years ago. "I hope she's alive..." Akai sighed and continued walking.

He'd be able to gain new techniques and get stronger with their help. He might even be able to take down the lower and upper moons. He remembered one in particular. Upper moon 3, Akaza. He always overheard demons talking about him. Akai wondered what he looked like. Akai probably wouldn't be able to fight the upper moon, so seeing him now would be certain-

CRASH!!!

Akai jerked his head in the direction of the noise. An object had flown into the ground and made a crater. The object was a demon. It was upper moon 3, Akaza. (IRONY)

"Ohhhhhhh fuck." Akai whispered. He got into a defensive stance and drew his knife.

Akaza climbed out of his crater and sniffed the air. He turned his head quickly and made eye contact with Akai. The energy he let out was like a raging fire. Akai's instincts told him to run.

"Hm... you smell odd." Akaza looked at Akai, analyzing his form. "I thought I smelled an upper moon. I guess not." Akai shook the blood of a wound on his arm. "Would you mind helping me fight a Hashira?"

"I wouldn't mind killing you." Akai growled. He had forgotten who he was talking to, and regretted it Immediately.

"Is that a challenge?" Akaza tilted his head inquisitively.

"I'm not afraid of you." Akai was very much afraid.

"Hm." Akaza curled his fingers into a fist and got into a fighting pose of his own. He seemed ready to pulverize Akai when he sniffed the air again. Akaza let out an angry sigh and said. "That damn hashira is here. I'll leave you to him." Akaza turned and ran into the woods.

"Yea, you better run..." Akai whispered as he felt a heavy weight lift off his chest. But one thing lingered on his mind.

"Akaza left me for who?" Akai said. He turned to see a giant spiked ball attached to a chain come flying at him. "WOA-" Akai began to scream before being crushed.

Akai regenerated a moment later and groaned in pain.

"You're still alive?" A deep voice asked.

"Yes. Please don't do that agAIIIIIIINNNnnnn..." Akai got up slowly to be met with a seven-foot-tall monster of a man. He had short, spiky black hair, a long scar along with his forehead, empty white eyes, and a beaded necklace. The man held a long chain with an axe blade on one side, and a giant spiked ball on the other.

"Please don't kill me! Please don't kill me!" Akai immediately got down on his knees and began begging. The man simply stared forward without changing his stance.

"You are... begging on the floor?" The man asked.

"Wha- oh..." Akai realized the humongous 'Hashira' was blind. "Yes, I am. Please don't kill me!" Akai went back to begging.

"Where did the upper moon go?" The man asked angrily.

"He left! I'm the only one here!" Akai said with his face on the floor.

"You're an unusual one. And you survived that attack..." The man was confused about Akai's situation. "Close your eyes, boy." The man said.

"Okay." Akai closed his eyes. "What-"

CRACK!!!!

The man blasted his fist into Akai's head. Akai blacked out and or slipped into a coma. The man picked up Akai's limp body and wrapped it in the coat that he wore over his slayer uniform. He slung the wrapped-up Akai over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried him off. Presumably back to demon slayer headquarters.