Demon Slayer: Histories Past

Chapter Nine - Blood Theatre

My eyes widened, and horror gripped me.

This... this was far more intense than in the alley.

Hands shaking, I found myself slowly slowly asking up the stairs of the theatre. The further I went up, the more intoxicating the smell of blood became.

After what felt like an eternity, I made it to the balcony section of the theatre, where the smell was most strong.

As I walked through, my nerves burned and my footsteps felt shaky.

Swallowing thickly, I pushed my hand to the door that lead to the balcony seats and felt my heart jump to my throat.

Before me, a gaunt and haunting figure was crouched over two dead bodies; from their attire, I could assume them as police officers. The Demon was elbow deep covered in blood, dripping it from its nails and into its mouth.

The thing that disgusted me the most was the wriggling swell on the Demon's back. It was emitting such a strong smell it nearly overwhelmed the scent of blood.

"Hehe~ New prey has arrived!"

I barely had time for my eyes to widen before the mass on the Demon's back erupted, several tentacle like appendages launching themselves towards me.

Stepping back and pull out my katana; barely managing to cut off the majority of the attacks, although I ended up being nicked in the side by one.

Wincing, I glanced back up towards the Demon in front of me; it's canines glistening in blood and drool, it's eyes horrifically wild and crazed.

Etched into one of its eyes was a crossed out kanji. The kanji for Four.

A curious sight I had zero time to contemplate, the demon charged at me again.

With barely seconds to spare I whipped my katana in front of me in a protective stance.

Shortly after, I heard the clang and shriek of metal and claw scraping against each other. The demon flipped back easily towards it original position, gleeful laughs exiting its maw.

"A fresh young girl~" it drawled, causing my hair to stand on end, "With reflexes like a cat~ it's been a while since I've had the opportunity to turn a cat into a mouse~!"

Taken aback by the demons creepy declaration, I suddenly found its claws in my face once again. This time however, I wasn't able to dodge fully, it's long nail carving itself deep into my arm and ripping my haori.

I hissed in pain, taking a small step back before quickly readying myself to slice off the demon's next attack.

"Thunder Breathing: Fifth Form: Heat Lightning!"

Swinging my katana upward, it made perfect contact with the demons other arm, which was aiming to attack my other side.

I took a larger step back, finding myself with my back to the door nearly and watch closely as the demon before me laughed.

"Haha! Your really fun little kitty cat~" it chuckled, "I'll grant you the honor of knowing my name~ Ryuno, Former and Future member of the Twelve Kizuki~!"

The Twelve Kizuki... Oji-san had mentioned them. They were the twelve strongest demons Kibutsuji Muzan had at his disposal.

Even if this Demon was just a former member... Assuming it's former rank to be Number Four, could I really take it on by myself?

I, however, did not have the time to dwell on this fact as the demon, Ryuno came at me once again.

It was similar to dancing, I realized, dodging Ryuno's slashes and claws by moving side to side and sliding along the floor.

It was in a tempo.

1

Clash

2

Swipe

1

Clash

2

Swipe

It repeated like this for god knows how long, before I finally managed to turn the tables.

Having predicted it's attack with counting the tempo, when Ryuno went in to swipe at my side, I swung my blade upwards.

"Thunder Breathing: Third Form: Thunder Swarm!"

My katana cut through Ryuno's arm into several chunks, which fell to the floor at my feet with a soft clunk.

"Hehehe~ Yer far more entertaining than I thought, little kitty cat~" Ryuno's grin turned maniac, its arm growing near instantly, "I haven't had to unleash my true power in a long time~ be thankful, kitty cat, that you get to witness my power~!"

The disgusting thing that wriggled on Ryuno's back burst; unleashing a foul smell into the me air and causing me to wince.

From the mass, several long winding appendages emerged, each of a varying thickness and all looked very similar to tentacles.

I let my eyes widen before I quickly had to defend myself from an onslaught of tentacles coming at me at high speeds.

Deflecting was already hard enough, nonetheless actually decapitating or cutting through them.

These things were moving way faster than Ryuno had been in our earlier bout.

"Quiet are we kitty cat~?" it taunted, "I wanna hear your screams so go ahead~ Scream!!"

I squeezed my eyes shut in a futile attempt to drown out its voice, which only served to entertain it even more.

"Hiding from me~! Not as tough as you seem, kitten!"

Ignoring its taunts to the best of my ability, I envisioned a grid around me.

"Thunder Breathing: Fourth Form: Distant Thunder!"

I heard several thumps and I cracked open my eyes, finding several tentacles lying limply on the ground; the demon's eyes were wide and it's maw still open in laughter.

Eyes widening, I felt myself tugged forward by my throat. In a panic, I nearly dropped my katana as my hands flew to my neck, hands encountering a thin, rope like appendage around my neck.

"You know what?" it sneered at me, "I've had enough of playing with you, kitten. You know how long it takes to regenerate those? And you gottem all in one strike..."

"That makes me angry, ya know?"

I tried to swallow, but found myself unable to, it's grip tightening around my neck.

Shakily, I attempted to cut through the thin tentacles, and either from my lack of oxygen addled brain or because it was so much stronger than the others, my katana was stuck in the middle.

Unable to go any deeper.

The edges of my vision slowly darkened and the last thing I saw before my eyes closed, was Ryuno's maniacal smile and blood soaked canines.

Snap.

Author's Note:
It's been a while huh. *Glances to the side* Anyway~ next chapter should wrap up this fan arc!

Thanks for sticking around,
Meyrin Katsuki