Breath of the Void

Breath of the Void: Chapter 4

I'm literally going insane with this lockdown thing, so oh boy. Yes, I still have a ton of college work. No I'm totally not procrastinating, whatever gave you that idea? Oh right, be safe, everyone!

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It was a week later when Musashi got her first orders.

She had been mostly hanging around the Butterfly Estate in the meanwhile, helping Kocho out where she needed her. The smaller woman had helped her in turning her cloak into a Haori and Ubuyashiki had sent her a message telling her not to worry about uniform for now. She had also sent the exact measurements of her swords along with the basic design of her hilts to the swordsmith village for the Nichirin blades. Creating four would be a task, and Ubuyashiki said he wasn't sure how long it would be.

She would have to rely on Muramasa's blade until then, though it wasn't that big of a deal. She could use the other four, as long as the killing blow was dealt with it. Musashi was just excited to try out new swords.

That excitement didn't fade when her crow arrived, cawing about how she had to head west to investigate strange disappearances in a small town. So she had grabbed her newly made haori, ruffled Aoi's hair, bid Kocho and the other girls goodbye and left as soon as the crow had ordered it.

The walk to the town had taken the entire day, not that she minded. The townspeople were wary, giving her looks full of suspicion as she walked past their homes. Her kasa was tilted down over her face as she glanced around, taking in every detail of the town as she walked and the sun dipped low over the horizon. Night would fall very soon, meaning the demon was going to be out soon as well.

The townspeople quickly ushered their children inside, closing their doors and locking them tight. Their windows were also shut tight as well, but Musashi knew that if a demon were to attack, it wouldn't deter them in the slightest. They would simply rip the door open and if that failed then they would tear the coverings to the windows off or simply break through the walls.

She wasn't offended though, as the villagers gazed at her before closing up tight, she figured that they would act that way with what had happened. Four adults and two children had gone missing in the last few days would make anyone cautious of a stranger in their town. She shifted the sword at her side as she gazed up at the moon, standing still in the center of the town and waiting.

Her eye narrowed suddenly and she gazed back at the town's homes. A thick fog had started to descend upon it. curling around her ankles and clouding her vision. She could feel herself starting to get drowsy despite being fully awake moments ago.

Was this the demon's... oh what did they call it? 'Demon Blood Art'? Was that what this was?

She felt her skin spark as she shook the drowsiness off and a figure came out of the fog, approaching her. She kept her head tilted towards the ground, giving off the impression of someone sleeping while standing as footsteps got closer.

"Ufufufu..." a woman's voice cooed. "A traveler who didn't get inside in time? Must be my lucky day..."

Footsteps came closer to her and she kept still until a set of bare feet stopped in front of her. A hand entered her vision and in a flash, Musashi lopped the arm off. The demon, a woman in appearance, screeched, stumbling back and Musashi lunged after her, visible eye shining bright in the night.

"How!?" the demon screeched as she made a swipe to slash Musashi with her nails. Musashi dodged, slashing that arm off as well.

"Your 'Demon Blood Arts' you mean? Yeah, stuff like this doesn't affect me!" she said, grinning as she continued her advance on the demon, who continued to retreat. Her arm was slowly forming back, but it seemed as if it wouldn't be fast enough as Musashi leaped forwards, drawing another sword and cleanly slicing through the demon's neck with the two blades. She turned on her heel, spinning Myoujingiri in her hand and stabbing it downwards and into the demon's head. The demon let out a cry and Musashi raised a brow, watching as the demon disintegrated. It hadn't put up much of a fight, but then again, she had crossed blades with Shuten Douji and Tomoe Gozen before.