Demon Slayer: Breath of Desire

Catching the scent of three unfamiliar smells rushing toward him at high speed, Marcus stopped what he was doing:

"Still not ready?"

"If you hadn’t ripped off those four arms, it’d have been ready ages ago!" came Kotetsu’s irritated voice, accompanied by the scrape of a chisel over wood.

"There was no other choice—six arms don’t look human..." Marcus sighed in resignation.

At that moment, Genya came running around the bend in the road, a shotgun in one hand and a sword in the other.

Seeing Marcus in his demon form, he froze with his mouth open.

"Stop staring at me, it’s me. You’re not the only one who can use Demonization. Get inside and help the kid, protect him—I’ll handle the two coming after you."

"Two?"

Before Genya could make sense of it, a vase rose up out of the earth.

Gyokko sprang from the vessel, fist raised, aiming for his back: "You’re no use to us anymore!"

Genya’s eyes went wide with panic at the whistle of the air, but before he could do anything he was yanked roughly to Marcus’s side.

Behind him, the ground split open all at once and the fragments of clay flew out, turned into fish.

Godlike Hands—Gyokko’s ability, which transmuted anything he touched into fish.

Having missed his strike, Gyokko revealed his new form: the lower half of his body was a long serpent’s tail with greenish scales, and his torso looked humanoid and muscular, though it kept his nauseating face.

"As expected of you—you noticed our arrival."

The ground trembled and a wooden dragon emerged from the earth.

Zohakuten leaped out from inside it, carrying five drums on his back, and landed expressionless beside Gyokko.

"It’s kind of obvious," said Marcus, giving the bewildered Genya a pat. "Don’t just stand there staring, it’s his second form, nothing to be surprised about."

"Second form?"

"Get inside already," Marcus insisted.

Genya finally remembered his duty: "B-But..."

"That’s exactly why you shouldn’t waste time." Marcus unsheathed his two swords. "I’ve got three minutes to finish them off and get over there!"

"You’ll finish the two of us in three minutes?"

Gyokko let out a strange cackle. "You reek of overconfidence. Besides, your next destination isn’t yours to decide."

Gyokko looked at Nezuko, who was rubbing her eyes after being woken by the din, and grinned maliciously: "Muzan-sama! I’ve found Marcus and the girl. If he tries to teleport to Asakusa, we’ll capture her at once!"

At the village entrance, Muzan stopped.

Having scattered the Hashira who were barely holding on, he smiled arrogantly.

Much better than he’d imagined!

With that girl in tow, he doubted Marcus would dare return. And even if he abandoned her, capturing her would accomplish the same goal!

Muzan briefly closed his eyes: ’Nakime. Have Kokushibo and Douma appear.’

Meanwhile, at the Asakusa mansion...

Swish

A gigantic sword slash glided down in silence, like moonlight itself made manifest.

A second later, the gate was split in two with a deafening crash.

The slash, loaded with thunderous force, didn’t lose momentum and reduced Yushiro’s guard post to rubble.

He ended up cut in half and was sent flying, screaming, until he slammed into the dividing wall.

Those inside the mansion and the neighboring houses hurried out.

Hakuji led the group, escorted by Gyutaro with his sickles in hand.

The two of them froze for a second at the sight of the visitors, but grasped the situation immediately.

"Kokushibo!" Hakuji said coldly. "Taking advantage of the Master’s absence to attack?"

Kokushibo kept his hand on the grip of his katana, no emotion in his eyes.

"Traitors."

Beside him, Gyutaro sneered. "You say that as if you weren’t one yourself, once."

Kokushibo’s eyes opened slightly as an intense killing intent began to radiate from him.

"Ara~ ara~..." Douma stepped forward with a broad smile and waved his hand. "Kokushibo-san, don’t get so worked up. Don’t forget our goal."

"Goal?!"

Shinobu stepped forward alongside Kanao, gripping two Nichirin katanas tightly as she fixed a cold stare on Douma. "Then tell us—what is your goal?"

At the sight of them, Douma’s eyes lit up.

"Oh my... my little butterfly, I’ve missed you." He inhaled deeply, the shade of his gaze shifting. "So it seems... the two of you ended up becoming demons as well."

"Who are you calling demons, you inferior creatures?"

Ume stepped out into the hallway, arms crossed, her attitude defiant. "Lowly creatures like you—how dare you cut down the gate of my house?!"

Douma’s smile froze, while veins bulged on Kokushibo’s forehead.

Behind Ume, Ivy and Pearl gave her a rare look of approval.

Tamayo advanced slowly with her hand raised, keeping her composure before the two Upper Ranks.

"You arrived just in time. If you’d waited until Hakuji and Ume had left for Yoshiwara, the situation would have been critical."

"Critical?! What’s so critical about it?! We’re still here!"

Behind them, Inosuke slung his two katanas over his shoulders and made to charge.

But Tamayo held out her arm to stop him.

"Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke. You three look for chances to feint—you’re not ready to take them on head-on yet."

Inosuke wanted to protest, but Zenitsu lunged, trembling, to cover his mouth.

"Understood." Tanjiro nodded seriously, his eyes fixed on the Upper Ranks, exhaling breaths of scorching air.

Hakuji, Gyutaro, and Ume faced off against Kokushibo.

Shinobu, Kanao, Ivy, and Pearl lined up against Douma.

Tamayo remained at the rear to provide support alongside Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke.

As for Yushiro... his body writhed in a pool of blood, trying to piece his two halves back together.

__________

Throw your stones, drop them ALL! 💎

And don’t forget to comment, I wanna know if you liked the Chapter 👀

______

And if PS aren’t your thing but you still want more Chapters...

P-a-t-r-e-o-n → Athome790