Gritting her teeth, Chizuko climbed back into what was supposed to be Tanjiro's room.
"Hachi, please go find help," Chizuko whispered to her crow.
The long haired demon with a fan started cackling, "Ha! Just took the little bean and threw it all the way out, right? Sekido?"
"There's nothing fun about this, I'm pissed off about everything," Sekido didn't share his partner's humour, "The same goes to being stuck with you, Karaku."
Karaku wasn't affected by Sekido's grumpiness, "Okay, glad that we're apart then," he spotted Chizuko who was at the corner, "Ohhh? Hey look! Isn't that the little missy we're supposed to look for? Ah, she seems very angry, you've found yourself company, Sekido."
Tanjiro opened his mouth, he wanted to notify Chizuko of the possibility that they had to work together to slice off their heads at the same time.
Sediko stabbed his staff into the tatami floor, its metal rings clanged against each other.
Tanjiro, Chizuko and Nezuko all fell down writhing in an instant.
Biting down on her lips, it took every ounce of willpower for Chizuko to suppress her scream. Yellow and white sparks flared in all directions, the extreme heat was frying her alive, her whole body went into violent spasms. Piercing pain came from her abdomen, Chizuko peered downwards and saw how her uniform was stained with scarlet blots. Not good, her wounds from her last battle were tearing open.
Get up, get up, get up. Chizuko willed her trembling arms to push herself up from the floor, yet the terrible cramps were preventing her from doing so. Pained groans escaped her mouth and there was a metallic taste deep down her oesophagus. Grimacing, Chizuko curled her knees, she must get up.
"You," Sediko ordered, jerking his head in Chizuko's direction, "Go pick her up before she is cooked."
Karaku strode forward, sighing dramatically, "This is no fun, why do I always get the difficult jobs?"
Chizuko-chan! Tanjiro panicked, both he and Nezuko couldn't warn her nor get to her side on time. He tried to speak, but reality was slipping away from him.
Tanjiro's eyes widened at the brink of unconsciousness, someone is on the roof.
Bang.
A bullet shot through the air, puncturing the necks of Sediko and Karaku, the scent of gunpowder lingered.
Genya, Chizuko lifter her head.
Genya frowned, he had missed the demon on the right, its head was dangling off its vertebrae.
"Dude that was awesome! Bravo!" Karaku praised, finding the audacity to laugh despite his seemingly dire situation, "Now this is the fun I've been looking for! I lived for hundreds of years, yet no one was ever like you!"
Genya dashed towards the giddy demon, he had to seize his chance to defeat the Upper Moon.
"Genya-san! No!" Tanjiro exclaimed.
Genya had already sliced Karaku's head off.
"You can't beat them like that no matter how strong your weapons are! They'll split up and regenerate into two separate demons!" Tanjiro clutched his katana, his hands cold and clammy, "They're doing this on purpose! They're letting us cut them! Their weakness is not their heads!"
Not even Akaza or Kokushibo can do that, Chizuko furrowed her eyebrows, how do they defeat the demons without being outnumbered? She glanced at the slightly rusted sword she borrowed, hoping it won't fracture during the fight.
"Chizuko-san!" Genya yelled, "Look out!!!"
A bird-like claw snatched Chizuko by her shoulders, dragging her skywards rapidly, "Kakakaka!! Someone has finally figured us out! For the first time in forever!"
Chizuko's heart almost leapt out of her throat along with her scream. She thrashed, "Let me go!!"
Urogi had a wide grin on his face, "Now stay still, spider lily, Muzan-sama doesn't want you to be flattened~"
Tanjiro was scaling up the roof, "Nezuko! I'll go save Chizuko-chan! Don't worry about me and go help Genya ou- GENYAAAA!!!!!" he couldn't help but shriek at the sight of Genya being impaled by a spear.
"GENYA!!!" Chizuko bellowed, she felt her blood turn cold.
"Go! Nezuko! Please go help Genya now!" Tanjiro continued climbing, it would be too late for him to rescue Genya even if he started coming down from the debris now. He leapt for Urogi, "Let go of Chizuko-chan!!!"
Meanwhile, Chizuko shook her katana off, catching it with her feet. Black veins appeared around her eyes as she backflipped with all her might. The sheathe fell off due to the momentum and the blade jabbed into Urogi's jaw.
"Aaarrrggghhh!" Urogi howled in pain, Chizuko was released from his clutches.
"Hold onto me!" Chizuko extended her arm for Tanjiro to grab, she should be able to land safely on both feet in her demonic physique.
"Chizu-" Tanjiro raised his eyebrows upon sniffing the new scent Chizuko was emitting. It was as if she had applied perfume that was saccharine yet tangy. It smells like a flower, he realised, it is like nothing he has ever smelled. Staring at Chizuko's slitted eyes, sharpened fangs, pointed nails, Tanjiro's mouth hung agape.
Ehhhh!!? Why... Why does Chizuko-chan look like a demon all of a sudden!? And what is that fox pattern on her cheek!!?
"There's no time to explain now! I'll tell you everything later! Hold onto me now!" Chizuko's voice snapped Tanjiro out of his thoughts. Right, he had almost forgotten that they were plummeting from almost five or six stories from the ground. Tanjiro reached out to Chizuko.
"None of you are escaping!"
Drawing in a deep breath, Urogi screamed in Chizuko and Tanjiro's direction.
The air contorted, massive shockwaves spiralled towards the duo.
Chizuko squeezed her eyes shut. Searing pain erupted from her cochlea and eardrums, she couldn't hear, like cotton was stuffed into her ears. Her muscles were numbed, she reverted back to her injured human form once she fell through a tree with Tanjiro. Chizuko coughed, blood was leaking from her ears and nose.
Regaining some strength, Tanjiro immediately swung his sword at whatever that was grappling his ankle. Crap! His face drained of colour, realising the big mistake he made. What now? I cut him again! He'll regenerate! I'll be putting Chizuko-chan in danger!
Tanjiro and Chizuko were tortured by another round of shockwaves.
The two exchanged a look, this was weaker than the first time.
That's it! They get less powerful every time they split! Chizuko rolled to the side, evading yet another attack from Urogi.
"CAW!" Hachi hovered above them, "Emergency! Swordsmith Village is under attack! Chief in danger! CAW! Chief in danger!"
"Chizuko-chan! Please head to the village! We can handle it here!" having figured out the Upper Moon's tactics, Tanjiro suggested, knowing that the entire demon slaying corps were doomed if the swordsmiths were massacred.
"Alright!" Chizuko trusted Tanjiro's judgement, "Let's go! Hachi!"
***
Dong dong dong dong!!!
"Run!! Everyone!!! We're under attack!!!" a swordsmith was up on the tower, ringing the bell of the village, screaming at the top of his lungs, "Wake up and run!!! Watch out for their nails!! They are sharper than swords!!!"
The villagers grabbed every weapon they could get their hands on, fleeing while defending themselves with kitchen knives, spears and sickles.
A giant, drooling goldfish-and-vase hybrid monster roared, chasing a band of swordsmiths into an alley.
"Oh shit! Get back! Get back!!" the swordsmith in the front gestured frantically to his friends.
"It's no use! We're surrounded!!!" another pointed to the back. They all shuddered as five of those strange monsters that popped up out of nowhere rallied around them.
A figured darted out of the forest in an inhuman speed.
"Fox Breathing, Third Form, Genko, Hokuto Shichisei!"
With the sword she picked up on the way, Chizuko eliminated the blood thirsty goldfish monsters.
"H-Hashira!" one of the kids exclaimed, "A hashira is here!"
"I'll come back to you for first aid later! Please stay safe and take cover!" Chizuko was racing with time, she had to get to the chief before her demonic physique wore off.
According to Shinobu, her demon physique was untable since she wasn't used to her new skill. Thus it had a certain time limit, though Chizuko couldn't quite grasp its pattern. Furthermore, Shinobu had also deemed it as dangerous. It was true that the injuries she suffered would be delayed or reduced to a certain extent, but the aftermath might still be fatal without Chizuko noticing.
"Chief!!!!!" Chizuko's eyes almost popped out of her sockets. A larger, more muscular goldfish monster was stomping around the rubbles, several corpses were littered across the area.
The sickening sound of bones being crushed could be heard clearly, Chizuko's anger peaked.
"Fox Breathing, Fourth Form, Kinko to Ginko, Onmyō!"
Crack. The rusted sword she found on the way shattered upon slashing the goldfish's scales.
Oh no.
"Love Breathing, First Form, Shivers of First Love!"
The goldfish monster was sliced up by Mitsuri.
"Mitsuri-sama!" Chizuko let out a relieved breath.
"My heart will never throb for those who hurt people!" Mitsuri glared at the gigantic monster.
"Chizuko-chan! I got a notice from your crow!" Mitsuri asked Chizuko, "Are you alright? Where is your katana?"
"Er... About that... Haganezuka-sama still hasn't fixed my katana..." Chizuko mumbled as she bandaged the chief, she didn't want to make Haganezuka look bad, "I-It's okay! H-He takes his time I think!"
Chizuko and Mitsuri stopped chatting as Tecchin, the chief, coughed, "Tecchin-sama! Are you alright!!?"
"I must be in heaven... I'm being hugged by two cute young girls..." he wheezed due to his broken ribs.
E-Eh? Chizuko sweatdropped.
***
Fish?
Muichiro rolled off the roof as the goldfish spat out tens of thousands of needles.
What the-
"Young Kotetsu!!!!" Kanamori hugged Kotetsu, thousands of chopstick-long needles were charging towards them.
Seeing no other choice, Muichiro threw himself in front of the two.
Warm arms wrapped around Muichiro's torso.
"S-Suzuki-dono!!!" Kanamori and Kotetsu shrieked.
"Chizuko!" Muichiro didn't expect her to appear out of nowhere, he tried pushing her away but she refused to budge.
They were stabbed by the spikes that literally rained on them. Chizuko, who was in front of Muichiro, took most of the hit, looking much like a porcupine.
"Hyo Hyo Hyo!" Gyokko laughed, his voice seemingly of that submerged in water, "The both of you look hilarious in all those needles!"
Catching sight of Chizuko, Gyokko had found his prey for tonight, "Hyo Hyo! Look what we have here? Isn't that miss blue spider lily?"
Hi, it's me ravenlatte ヾ(・ω・ｏ)
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