Demon Slayer : The Silent Journey

[3rd POV]

The Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejuma.

The Sun Hashira, Seiji Shigan.

These two individuals were the strongest pillars of the Demon Slayer Corp, their strength was leagues above everyone else.

And right now, they were working together in synch against their greatest adversary, the Demon King, Muzan.

And at the moment, they were winning.

"Stone Breathing : Fourth Form," Gyomei roared out the name. His body began to shift and anticipated the series of actions that would follow.

"Volcanic Rock, Rapid Conquest,"

It was one of the most destructive forms he had in his arsenal. He gave his axe and flail an incredible amount of raw power and he guided them towards the enemy, like the master of destruction.

They were even heavier than they looked so as they sailed across the air, you could feel the force and weight behind them. He grabbed the chain connecting the two weapons and tugged them to change direction when Muzan tried to dodge the attack.

The attack landed. The flail drilled through Muzan, ripping off the entire left side of his torso. His axe swung down, aiming for the head but Muzan tilted just in time so the axe separated Muzan down his shoulder.

Seeing Muzan's broken body as if it were being chewed by a monster, Gyomei only felt unsatisfied.

He wanted to inflict more damage. He wanted to feel more blood. He wanted to squeeze out more screams of agony from the demon.

He wanted more bloodshed.

As a pillar, he had experienced so much. He had seen so much death, he had seen so much evil. Even the orphans he took care of back then, were killed by a demon.

He was filled with such anger that he didn't know what else to do except hurt the enemy.

Even the ways of Buddha could not save him from his own rage,

He could feel the sound of flesh growing and regenerating. In only a split second, Muzan was able to heal the injuries inflicted like it never happened.

But with that regeneration, something changed. Muzan made two extra pairs of eyes on his chest and on his back. His ears also retracted on the side of his head, disappearing from sight and his skin turned smooth without pores. His panicked expression and sluggish movement changed and he finally attacked Gyomei.

The exchange of blows that followed was devastating. The air churned like it would during a storm. The clash between them was an explosion of raw power that combusts the air.

Sparks flew and Gyomei's ears rang due to the constant shockwave.

The exchange did not last long though. It seemed Muzan was getting used to his new form and when he did, the battle turned against Gyomei. He was getting pushed back.

Muzan's tendrils snapped to life, loading themselves up to strike. The Stone Hashira could tell immediately that the momentum of the battle was pulled under him as Muzan adapted to Seiji's technique.

"Stone Breathing : Third Form," Gyomei took a step back and listened to his screaming instincts this time.

"Stone Skin!!"

The moment he activated his form, Muzan's tendrils disappeared and attacked every opening he had.

Gyomei was not fast. His body traded raw power for speed. Which is why he used two weapons with a long chain.

He spun his weapon so quickly that they disappeared. His two weapons at the end of the chain, a flail and an axe were perfectly balanced so as they spun around him, the chains and the weapon would completely cover his body in a protective shield.

That was the idea of the technique.

But the tendrils growing from Muzan's back were simply too fast. The gap between the weapons which was thought to be negligible since it was moving at such speed, was exploited.

In the span of two seconds, Gyomei found himself marred with cuts all over his body. His haori fell and his black uniform got darker due to the blood.

It was over. Muzan had finally broken out of the spell from Living Maliace.

Muzan did this by destroying all his senses other than sight. The feeling that everything in the world was aiming to kill him was gone when he couldn't feel anything.

How could he mistake a breeze for an attack when he couldn't feel it on his skin? How could he mistake the sound of an insect for an attack when he couldn't hear?

The only sense he relied on was sight which was the only truth.

But still....

*!!WoooooooSH!!!*

It sounded like a raging fire. Gyomei's sensitive sense of touch could almost feel searing heat upon his skin.

"Flame Breathing : Third Form,"

Seiji, with eyes that had no thoughts behind them, appeared between Gyomei and Muzan. He brought his long sword above his head before swinging down with an arc.

"Blazing Universe," 

The arc left a trail of orange fire, the colour of hell. Muzan's arm and tendrils were cut off instantly. The cut made the Demon King scream in pain.

Flame Breathing inherited the burning effect of Sun Breathing.

Muzan immediately propelled himself backwards to create distance. Seiji did not follow, instead, he grabbed the flail and jumped high in the air.

Gyomei did not need to be told what he had to do next as he stepped on the chain of the flail. The ball of iron suddenly descended from the height that Seiji had taken and it crashed on Muzan like an asteroid.

"Stone Breathing : Second Form,"

"Upper Smash!!"

The weapon grazed Muzan and tore off flesh and skin before it landed on the ground. The earth caved in like it was liquid before it exploded like glass under the smash.

Gyomei was far stronger than he had ever been or should've been. But in the face of Muzan, it was barely worth noticing. He needed to activate the mark if he wanted to stand a proper chance.

Muzan quickly regenerated his injury and then with immense fury in his eyes, he turned his attention to Seiji who was still in the air.

"No you don't!!" Gyomei screamed and tried to grab him but it was too late. Muzan exploded into the sky, aiming straight at Seiji.

Seiji simply gazed upon the rocketing demon. His purple eyes showed not even an ounce of panic. They were only processing the information and then the body acted on it.

And so Seiji grabbed his blade by the end and held it like a spear.

"Thunder Wind Breathing : Unerring Lance," he mumbled in a stoic voice before his muscles pulled and then threw the sword like a spear.

Muzan eyes winded when the sword flew at him, breaking the sound barrier with a flash that made it hard to see. He had no other sense than his eyes after all so he failed to react.

The sword pierced him right at his right chest, destroying two important hearts and then he fell back on the ground just as fast as he jumped. The sword pinned him on the ground like paper on a noticeboard.

The red blade always caused immense pain to Muzan. It was different from getting injured by any other weapon.

Gyomei moved quickly and wrapped a chain around the hilt of the sword. He pulled it out from the ground, unpinning the demon in favour of getting the weapon back.

"Here," Gyomei said and gave the sword back. Seiji took his blade which had suffered much damage. The sword was chipped in many places and there was a cracking weakness in the middle. It would surely break at some point during the fight.

Muzan remained on the ground, completely aghast at the situation. Was he actually losing this fight?

Impossible!! Unthinkable!!

He let out a demonic roar and shot at Gyomei. He was fast, so fast that the Stone Hashira had no way to react.

Seiji on the other hand reacted and got in front of Gyomei.

"Move!!" Muzan screamed and his arm exploded in grotesque muscles and enlarged into a monstrous claw. He swiped at the purple Hashira and sent him flying away to the side.

It was fine when the fight was between Seiji and Muzan. The Stone Hashira had tilted the battle in Seiji's favour!

So Muzan was determined to take him out. 

Gyomei took a deep breath, "Stone Breathing : Fifth Form!!"

You could hear the ground rumble with the weight, "Arc of Justice,"

Gyomei threw both his aze and flail towards Muzan, attacking both sides so that with the chain, it created an arc like a C. The attacks would crush Muzan from both sides and turn him into a paste

But Muzan suddenly sprouted two extra hands from his back instead of thin tendrils. The giant arms were covered in red blood and the hands were covered in white bones like armour.

They caught both the flail and axe swinging from both sides in an earth-shattering shockwave. The armour of the hand even managed to crack a bit but other than that, the weapons were stopped.

The force of the attack from both sides actually cancelled each other as Muzan managed to remain in place.

Muzan's new giant hands clamped down on the weapon, keeping their hold even when Gyomei tried his hardest to pull the weapon back.

Veins bulged on his muscles as Gyomei tried to pull back his weapon. But that ended badly for him as the chain snapped.

His weapon was destroyed.

"!!!!!"

Gyomei stood no chance against the speed Seiji could barely keep up with. When he came back to his senses, Muzan's hand was plunged near his heart.

Blood came out from his mouth and he felt like vomiting.

"Die," Muzan declared and pulled his hand out, tearing away a massive chunk of flesh along it.

That left a gaping hole near Gyomei's chest but luckily, his heart was not damaged as he had leaned back with the stab. Also, his chest muscles were too big for Muzan to penetrate deeply.

But crimson blood spilt out like a fountain.

"Gyomei!!!" Seiji screamed, his eyes showing panic. The body he had put into fighting mode came to an abrupt end as his mind came back to worry and rage.

Seiji blurred, using Thunder Wind Breathing and tackled Gyomei far away from the demon. Muzan would not allow such a thing though as he immediately shot after Seiji.

With Gyomei on his shoulder, it was not a contest of speed. Seiji dropped Gyomei on the ground and turned around with his sword just in time for the tendrils to stab a thousand times at them. Seiji was forced to hold his ground and block all the incoming attacks.

It looked like Muzan was going to overwhelm him and finally end the battle but then something happened.

Seiji's red blade caught on fire and this time, it was not the orange fire of Flame Breathing. The fire that wrapped around Seijio's blade was something much brighter and purer.

A golden flame that reflects the light of the Sun.

The air churned and the mood of the battle changed immediately.

"WHAT!!!!!!" Muzan screamed. Gyomei could hear fear and horror in his voice.

"Sun Breathing,"

Finally, Seiji used the breathing style that once drove Muzan to the pits of terror.

The world seemed to pause at that moment for Muzan Kibutsuji. A sense of fear that felt familiar even after hundreds of years caught his heart.

His multiple eyes became blind to the situation, he did not see Seiji anymore. Instead, he saw a man with a red mark on his forehead, looking down at him with eyes that saw him like an insect.

A red blade in hand, and the same brilliant fire around it.

'Why did you do it?'

The voice echoed in his mind and every single cell in his body wanted to run. Every pride was dashed away by fear.

He was only brought out of his flashback when Seiji made a nasty slice wound on his chest. Muzan returned to reality and he moved back as far as he could.

...

"That..." Muzan mumbled, eyes shaking with fear and his body covered in cold sweat.

It was a pathetic display but he couldn't help it. The similarities brought out cursed memories in his mind.

"How did you learn that?"

Seiji gave no reply. He simply lowered his stance and got ready to continue the battle. He did not move though, as Gyomei was recovering from the injury.

..

..

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[IMAGE]

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Author : So I am tired of these constant cliffhanger. I don't particularly enjoy them and I tried to ease the blow by posting two at a time.

But now that the arv is done on patreon, I will so a mass release for all of them tomorrow.

But in return I will take a break ro stack up on patreon again like I did last time in the Douma arc.

Thanks for reading my little book!!