Emmanuel_Capricorn
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DS : Chapter 179
🕑 Added 2025-04-14 16:25:18 +0000 UTC[3rd POV]
A war always had a cost.
In this war, where the enemies were undead, humans paid the greater price.
The loss of life was the ultimate tragedy. It didn’t matter whether the soul taken was young or old, healthy or ill, each life was priceless because once a life was lost, it was lost forever.
There would never be another exactly the same. Every individual had different stories to tell, they had unique memories, dreams, loves, and regrets.
All of that vanished with death. Entire worlds erased in a heartbeat.
Few people truly understood this. Fewer still allowed themselves to care.
Unfortunately, Tanjiro was one of the few who did.
He felt the weight of every scream. The silence that followed. The stories that would never be told again.
And if each life was priceless, then in that moment, Tanjiro was watching infinity fall.
"stop it..."
"Stop it...."
"Please stop it...."
"Please I beg you!! Just stop!!"
Demons had ears but they didn't listen to the pitiful cries of the young boy who watched cruelty in the eye.
The demons attacked, but they rarely came to the people with swords. The warriors who stood to protect the weak were ignored as the demon went for easier prey.
The order was to kill everyone in the Butterfly Mansion. So why would the demons choose to actively engage with the Demon Slayers while there were easier kills?
"Stop it!!' Tanjiro screamed and attacked one of the demons with a swing of his sword. A trail of water followed the edge of his blade as it attempted to flow through the neck of the demon.
The demon snarled, ducking under the blade before he delivered a kick right at Tanjiro's stomach, seeing him a few meters away. His desperation had created openings in his defence.
Tanjiro sucked in a breath even as his lungs felt like they could collapse at any moment. The demons were strong but they were not smart like they used to be, a side effect of ingesting more Muzan's blood than they could take.
Instead, the demons were like animals, moving on predatory instincts.
The demon blitzed towards Tanjiro at the same speed as a Thunder Breathing user. Tanjiro braced himself to take on the full force of the attack. He planted himself on the ground like a tree and bent his knees to load his legs like a spring.
The attack came but never crashed.
Tanjiro's eyes widened as the demon blitzed past him. His eyes shook and he looked back in horror, just in time to see the demon grabbing one of the patients by the side of his stomach.
The man screamed in pain and fear as the demon sank his demonic claws, making a tear in the stomach for intestines spill out with thick red blood.
In a flash, the man was dragged away into the far corner to be devoured by the demon.
Tanjiro just stood there, eyes hollow. His loaded legs folded and his tense body turned limp.
Demons grew stronger by consuming humans, so their instinct was telling them to eat the weak humans first. Tanjiro had to learn that war never played fair.
As his eyes travelled around, he saw that the demons outnumbered the available warriors by almost threefold. In such a situation, there was no way for them to protect anyone. The only time the demons would fight them was after all the other people were killed.
But at that point, what would Tanjiro protect? What the hell would he fight for?
"Tanjiro!!" Shinobu screamed from afar while taking the attention of four demons onto herself. She attacked any demon who tried to flee and forced them to fight her.
'Lady Kocho...?' Tanjio thought before his instincts screamed. One of the demons had thought of him as easy prey now, so it came with a sneak attack.
Tanjiro barely ducked under the swing and impaled the demon at the heart. The demon howled in pain as nichirin sword burned at the demon like hot iron would.
"Sun Breathing : Second form,"
Tanjiro breathed out flames from his mouth. His sword also turned red, and a trail of flame followed his motion.
"Fire Wheel."
Tanjiro swung his sword upwards, splitting the top half of the demon with his sword. The intensity of Sun Breathing made sure the demon died in an instant.
Had he used Water Breathing, his blade might not even be able to cut the demon. That was how durable the demon was.
Tanjiro breathed hard after the demon disintegrated in front of him.
"This is no time to despiar Tanjiro! Get their attention in any way you can and force them into a fight," Shinobu screamed.
Tanjiro moved into action again, he briefly glanced at Inosuke who was fighting the different personalities of Hantengu at the top of the building before he focused back on the demons.
The battle was akin to a mother deer trying to protect her calf from a pack of wolves.
The demons attacked the weak while the Demon Slayers desperately tried to protect them. It might sound strange but at that moment, the only thing they wished was to be attacked.
They could protect themselves somehow, buy enough time for others to join. But death was instant when they went after the weak.
Witnessing your own death was scary, but witnessing the death of people you were protecting was much worse. Becuase it came with guilt so heavy that Tanjiro did not know how to deal with.
"Aoi! Look out!!" Tanjiro screamed as a demon appeared behind her while she was trying to help a wounded.
Logic was easily overwritten by desperation as Tanjrio threw his sword at the demon. The katana flew in the air, rather wobbly as it was not meant to be thrown but it hit its mark.
"Shrrriiiii!!!!" the demon released a horrible screech while looking upwards.
Tentacles sprouted from the lizard-looking demon and the tip had sharp steel coated with poison. The tentacles wiggled upwards to show pain and anger.
The tentacles straightened in control and were about to shoot at the closest victim but Kanao came there just in time. She still moved with grace, her fighting style stayed true despite the situation.
The tentacles were cut into three levels before the head followed. The attack was not fast, only smooth. Like dandelions in the air, floating slowly but one you couldn't quite catch.
She grabbed Tanjiro's sword as the demon disintegrated and she threw it back at him while calling his name, "Here, Tanjiro!!"
The series of actions caused a delay in her reaction as a demon slammed at her side. The demon was the one she was fighting with before she was forced to react to save Aoi. The demon had followed her and finally caught up.
The demon swung bladed arms with spiky edges. The giant blade collided with Kanao's arm from the side, then the force folded her body in a way no human body should be folded.
An explosion of raw force, a spatter of blood and torn flesh.
And then she shot off like a ragdoll, skipping on the earth like a peddle skipping on water. She crashed into the nearest tree, a Sakura tree she often liked to rest under.
"Kanao!!!" the screams of horror and concern rang out collectively.
Tanjiro felt a lump in his throat, his body all but froze even when his sword fell beside him. He didn't even dare move until the smoke cleared and it revealed Kanao clutching her side, spitting out blood.
But she still glared.
She used her own sword as a support stick and walked back toward the demon that just traumatized her. Her side was spilling out blood and she looked exhausted but the little girl pushed on.
The scene struck something in every person who saw it.
...
What the hell were they doing? Why the fuck were they despairing?
Perhaps it was seeing such a delicate-looking girl standing despite the brutal assault she just suffered. Every person present who called themselves a man gritted their teeth in shame.
Then that shame made them stand up.
Even the patients of the Butterfly Mansion, the ones who were being protected stood up. Adrenaline pushed their bodies beyond the limit as they tore away their own bandages that hindered their movement.
"Aww what the hell, give me that!!" the man Aoi was helping stood up and took away the sword she was holding.
"If you want to eat me you better work for it you cursed fucks!!" the man screamed and slashed the demon that just attacked Kanao.
"Fuck you!!"
That was the first cry of many that followed. From then on, there were no longer victims. Only warriors in a war.
A war always had a cost.
A cost everyone was now willing to pay in full.
"I'm so ashamed I could die!!" an elderly man, a sweeper of the Butterfly Mansion. His name was Tagashi, you might know him as the person who gave Seiji those duck eggs.
He thought of himself as a victim in this attack, and he even acted like a victim. Until it hit him that literal children were protecting him, they were fighting for him. A young girl he watched grow up, one he saw as a granddaughter, was fighting for him.
Was that how things were supposed to be? For the younger generation to fight for this old man?
No!! He realized he could not accept that.
"So come at me demons!! Let me be the price of freedom! Perhaps then I would regain some of my dignity!" the old man picked up the nearest object he could find, a broken broom and he stood, waiting for his death to come.
But he wouldn't just give up though, he'd draw at least a drop of blood from these fuckers.
That sentiment was shared by everyone present.
The next fight that continued resembled a battle now instead of a slaughter. It was a one-sided battle, but everyone fought. There was no excuse for being injured, no excuse for being unskilled.
All fought the war. All were ready to pay the price of war.
....
A few minutes into the battle and then there was a shift. It was like the Gods themselves had blessed the determination of the humans.
A lone bird soared through the sky, chirping loud sounds that echoed through the chaotic battlefield.
Somehow, the song of the bird was heard.
Perhaps it was the foreboding feeling that came with the chipping that made everyone hear the sparrow.
"Thats....." Shinobu looked at the bird in the sky, recognizing the odd bird instantly.
"Raven,"
It was a hilarious name for a sparrow.
But that was not why everyone who saw the bird smiled.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!*
An explosion shook the entire compound. It sounded like thunder that came from the depths of the earth and struck the sky. An upside down lighting.
Every eye turned to the direction of the explosion to see giant smoke rising in the distance. A single second later, the personalities of Hantengu that were clashing with Inosuke and a few odd Demon Slayers, disinteragted.
"WHAAAA-!!!!!"
Again, one of the proud Twelve Moon demons died like any common undead.
His main body, so tiny that it should slip the gaze of any other human, attracted two purple eyes and that was his death sentence.
Perhaps this was what Hantengu spent his entire life fearing.
A small movement in the air, too fast for even Shinobu to react to, and then he was there.
He stood on the roof, just beside Inosuke and his eyes were looking down at them.
Long purple hair grown over the year glided with the wind. He was dressed in a full Demon Slayer uniform. His black haori blended with the night.
"That's two," he said, an odd voice that somehow felt void even with its weird intonation.
The moment his word fell, everyone came out of their stupor. They hurriedly looked around themselves and realized the reason why their body had calmed and their instincts stopped screaming.
Every demon was frozen on the spot. They were looking down, and they were sweating bullets.
Perhaps it becuase they had the same face not too long ago, but the humans could redcogize fear in their demonic faces.
"huh?" Tanjiro took a step and the demon seemed to flinch at that harmless movement, His pupils shrunk and shook violently.
Every demon present felt like the world was out to get them, even the gale of wind seemed sharp enough to slice their neck if they made any sudden movement.
They just stilled, confused at how their demonic essence screamed danger. It was like they were standing under the sun.
"...That's it everyone. The epic entrance is over, you can kill the demons now," Seiji said while crossing his arms.
That was a cue for everyone to slash or attack the frozen demons. In the blink of an eye, the demons were reduced to half in number.
Living Malice, a technique that materialized sheer killing intent into the world, was especially effective on the demons that traded their smart mind for more power.
They were like animals living on instincts so when they felt Seiji's killing intent, they just froze.
"GAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! Renjiro is back!!!" Insouke bellowed.
"You're so screwed now demons!"
...
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Author : I am back!! I had to take care of some things irl but now its over.
Thanks for waiting patiently! More chapters coming soon!
And this is Seiji after time training arc!! 
