Demon Slayer : The Silent Journey

Chapter 20: First mission accomplished

I started the conversation.

I vent my frustration, anger and hatred with my first words. It was a violent, direct and bold way to start a sentence.

My body sliced through the air that was resisting my speed and then I swung my sword horizontally. The sharp sound of metal slicing wood rang out in the quietness of the night before a hurricane roared.

Seven trees were cut down in an instant, including the tree where the demons were on.

My eyes glowed purple in the darkness as I carefully observed thier reply to my daring action. The demon boy, Yahaba, was calm and collected. He activated his demon art and a red arrow carried him away as the tree collapsed.

On the other hand, the demon girl, Susamaru, was easy to anger. Her eyebrows knitted with rage and she conjured a temari ball in her hand. She threw the ball at me while she was falling.

She was the type to disregard her own safety if it meant she could hurt her enemies. It was a very typical trait for demons who had great regenerative abilities so it did not surprise me.

The temari ball shot at me with the speed of a bullet - which sounds scary, I know - but I dodged the ball with an effortless tilt of my head.

There was no difference between the speed of a bullet and a crawling baby in front of my eyes.

I allowed the demons to land on the ground while I took that time to examine them more closely. In that short instance, I was able to discern thier blood demon art.

It might have taken longer if I did not know thier abilities before, but since I watched \'Demon Slayer\' in my past life, it was simply a confirmation more than a real analysis.

Susamaru, the demon girl can conjure many Temari balls which she could then throw and kick towards her enemy at the speed of a bullet. Her balls were capable of penetrating cement walls.

Yahaba, the demon boy has eyes on the plan of his hands. These eyes are extremely sharp and capable of tracking even footprints. His blood demon arts allows him to conjure invisible red arrows which interfere with the vector of matters - the object affected by the arrow is pulled to the direction of the arrows.

"I\'ll have your head for that!!" Susamaru said with an angry face. But I noticed that, although she was short-tempered, she was doing it a little too much.

"I will rip out your heart and feast on it." She said with a creepy grin and veins popping out of her forehead. She was trying a little too much.

\'A distraction then.\' I thought to myself and gave a side eye to Yahaba who was sneaking away before he hid behind a tree.

They must\'ve done this a lot because they were experts in it, too bad I caught on quickly. But then again, I could see through trees so there was no hiding from my sight.

If I remember correctly, Susamaru and Yahabe worked extremely well together. Yahaba would control the Temari balls of Susamarua to create projectiles akin to a honing missile. The combination of thier two blood demon arts made them quite a tricky adversary.

Yahaba was the weaker physically and acted as a support of Susamaru. That was why he his immediately.

Susamaru conjured temari balls out of thin air with a huge, nasty smile on her face. She pulled her arms back and they blurred as the balls shot at me.

But this time it was different.

The balls had invisible arrows guiding them. It was the blood demon art of Yahaba and with it, the balls swerved and moved with impossible angles.

*Boom!*

The sound barrier was broken.

It seemed the arrows increased the power behind them as well. How neat.

Luckily, the invisible arrows were not invisible to my eyes. Instead, they act as an obvious indicator of where the balls are going to hit. Prediction had never been easier.

"Flame Breathing : Third Form."

"Blazing Universe."

Inferno wrapped around my blade and I felt my body heat up to an unnatural degree. My breath turned into flames and I leapt into the air.

The temari balls followed me but with a twirl of my blade, they were sliced in half. The temari balls were part of the demon so they disintegrated upon making contact with my blade.

Then I crashed beside the enemy with wide eyes. Susamaru was clearly surprised that I was not caught off guard by the honing attack like most people.

My blade created a burst of hot air that sent a shockwave through the surroundings. Everything was lit up in golden fury as my blade bit into her body.

I cut diagonally across her chest.

Her body could not even put up resistance to my blade, it was like carving a cake.

"AHHHHHH!!!!" the demon girl released a shriek that would surely burst my eardrum if I was not already deaf.

I smiled and jumped back as twelve invisible red arrows came at me with brilliant speed. They were quick and although they had no piercing power, they could drag me around like a ragdoll if they catch me.

So I twirled my long sword to create a protective barrier. The flames took the form of a flower and I deflected every incoming arrows with ease.

"Flame Breathing : Fourth Form."

"Blooming Flame Undulation"

Flame breathing was known to be an aggressive fighting style that required explosive strength and inhumane stamina to burn forever. But the Forth Form was created solely for defensive purposes.

I flicked my sword to clean the blood off and I watched as Susamaru healed herself. I observed her body closely as her body healed and not just that, she grew four more arms from the side of her torso.

"I will burst your head for that!!" she screamed at me. I brought up my sword and a smile tugged my lips.

The enemy spoke.

Six Temari balls with an inbuilt aim bot in the form of arrows rushed at me at the speed of sound. It was surely a sight to behold, anyone else might\'ve shat their pants.

Thier action was desperate and angry. They took me as a weak opponent at first but now they realized they were the ones who should be scared.

They were giving everything they had. I could tell at a glance that they were inexperienced, it was probably not long ago that they turned into demons. They had solid teamwork and they found a genius way to work together but that was it.

They didn\'t really know how to fight. Nor the dangers that came along with it.

I\'d assume that all of the opponents they faced till now were too busy dealing with their combines attacks so they were never confronted head on.

Multiple battles such as that had given them false confidence.

My arm and sword became one and they blurred into multiple afterimages. I focused on my breath to maintain deep concentration and maximum reflex.

My eyes and my mind were quick, it was just my body that had to catch up.

Six deadly balls bounced and swerved in a way that defied physics. Yet their objective was the same - put a hole in me.

But under the shocked gazes of the enemy, I deflected the incoming projectiles with ease. My arm completely disappeared with rapid movements as I blocked every attack coming at me.

I also used the shiny, reflective side of my sword to look behind me, so I was able to block all attacks that came from every angle.

I liked the expression on thier faces while looking at the scene I was painting.

Despair.

Because no matter how angry they were, no matter how frustrated they were, and no matter how much they desired strength.

I was always angrier, I was always more frustrated and my thirst for power was far greater.

I just learned how to control them. I mould them into a blade that cuts down demons unfortunate enough to encounter me.

"I am Malenia, blade of Miquella and I have never known defeat." I said with an amused smile on my face while I slowly walked towards Susamaru.

The sound of a blade moving at incredible speed in the air and the clanging sound of temari balls getting deflected rang through the surroundings. Sparks surrounded me.

"Wh-What are you doing!!" she screamed.

"Can\'t you see? I\'m entertaining myself because truthfully, your strength is.." my legs propelled me forward faster than sound.

"..boring."

In an instant, I was behind her and the deed was already done by then.

Susamaru\'s head slide off her neck and I crushed her head with the soles of my shoe. Her body disintegrated after a few seconds.

I disappeared again right after, my movement was untrackable by the naked eye. Years of training and perfect movement allowed me to achieve feats of incredible speed.

"You have good eyes." I said from behind Yahaba. He was sitting on top of a tree, trying to hide from me.

Yahaba lept off the tree and put his hands forward. His palms had eyes and they blinked. Then multiple arrows shoot towards me.

"Let\'s see who has better eyes." I said and easily cut through the invisible arrows. He was telling me everything, his strategies, his fears, and even things he had not realize yet.

"I spy with my little eyes, something red." I said, lunging towards my left and swinging my sword.

I was just in time to catch Yahaba who - with the help of his arrows - was trying to fly away from me. He was trying to escape to the city because he knew I wouldn\'t return.

But alas he could not escape me.

His body was bisected at his waist. While his lower body continued flying towards the city, his upper body fell to the forest floor.

Blood splurted out, painting his vision red.

He started regenerating his legs and while he was trying to push himself back up, I cleanly cut off his head while landing.

He died like an animal in a sacrificial ritual.

..

..

"Well that was therapeutic. Don\'t you agree Raven?" I asked her while she flew towards me and perched on top of my head.

"That is mission accomplished," I said with a smile, watching Yahaba disintegrate to ash.

"Now let\'s get the fuck away from Tokyo and continue our speedrunning elsewhere." I said and I continued my journey.

I had accomplished my first mission.

But there was no rest for a speedrunner.

In less than two months, I had to be a Hashira.

And I won\'t accept anything less.

..

[IMAGE]

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