To The Stars | Tokito Muichiro x OC

47 • Mount Natagumo

"You flew back here as fast as you could." Kagaya cradled the exhausted crow on his lap as his daughters gave it some water. "My swordsmen are almost eliminated. It appears that there might be a member of the Twelve Demon Moons there."

Kanamaru suddenly flew into the Ubuyashiki Estate, landing in front of Kagaya. "Caw! Hoshizora Inori has finished her mission! Heading back soon!"

"Thank you, Kanamaru." Kagaya took the reports Inori had sent him, handing them over to one of his daughters. "Is she near Mount Natagumo right now? If one of the Twelve Demon Moons is there, then it seems there is a need to send the pillars to the scene."

"Caw! She's within distance, but she doesn't know!"

"I see. Then, Giyu, Shinobu," Kagaya called out to the two pillars behind him. "In case Inori isn't informed of this, please head to the scene."

"Orders received, Oyakata-sama."

"Hey, Tomioka-san." Shinobu smiled, rising to her feet. "If we could all get along together, everything would be great, no matter if it's humans or demons. Don't you think so too, Tomioka-san?"

"Impossible," Giyu replied, his tone harsh and cold as usual. "As long as demons still eat humans, that sort of thinking is just a fantasy,"

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙

One...two...three...four...five—oh! The fifth presence has disappeared.

Entering Mount Natagumo, Inori immediately swung her sword, glancing at the strings she had just severed. "This presence...one of them is a demon moon. The others seem to be normal demons, so why are they in the same territory?"

Well, that didn't matter when all she needed to do was kill all the demons here. She was soon greeted by the sight of ten cocoons hanging from the trees. Gripping her swords, Inori kicked the ground.

Star Breathing: Thirteenth Constellation: Coils of the Serpent Bearer, Seven Heads.

The cocoons broke apart and crumbled. Inori watched as a few demon slayers crawled out of the cocoons, gasping and groaning. She noticed most of their clothes had melted, and so had their skins. There were also those that had their heads or upper bodies melted, and Inori clicked her tongue because she was too late.

"Can you take care of this area, Kanao-san?" Without needing to turn around, Inori asked. In response, Kanao stepped out of the trees with a squad of kakushi behind her. She smiled at Inori, nodding. "Since they're still alive, the demon shouldn't have gone far. I will get going now."

Kanao nodded again, and Inori immediately rushed off. More cocoons hung all over the trees, and Inori cut every single one of them. Her lips pursed as she found more dead victims than survivors, but she swallowed her emotions down and continued to run.

There were at least four living demons in the mountains, and if Kanao was here with squads of kakushi, then she could assume Shinobu was here too. But since the Pillar Meeting would start in the morning, that meant Shinobu should've already been at the Ubuyashiki Estate, which also meant that Kagaya had personally sent a pillar over, which meant the situation was just that dire.

True to her thoughts, one of them at least, Inori spotted Shinobu sitting on top of a demon who had her back on the ground. The Insect Pillar was smiling, which didn't mean anything good. There was a twitching cocoon behind them, so Inori made quick work to slice it open while Shinobu was busy trying to bargain with the demon. Though 'bargain' wasn't the right word when the demon begged to be spared because she was coerced by another demon, and Shinobu asked how many people it have killed, to which the demon answered with a lie.