Demon Slayer - Tale of Flame and Dream : A Fan Story

Chapter Twenty: Overwhelmed

Ren's sword slashed but hit only air. Hiro was yanked out from in front of her by Aka's fabrics. Ren then heard a loud ripping sound coming from her very being. Looking down she noticed that her haori was tearing apart, becoming nothing more than shards of patterned fabric. "Aw come on" she moaned, "I really liked that" "That's odd, I meant to tear all of your clothing" Aka said in a thoughtful voice. Aka then lowered Hiro onto the ground next to her and with scorn in her voice said "Are you really as dumb as you look, it was obvious she was taunting you into attacking her you idiot" it looked like a mother scolding her child for misbehaving. 'With the two of them near each other I can't hope to kill them both, or can I?' Ren thought to herself. During the two weeks she had been helping train Kellia, her and Rengoku had taken time away, from training Kellia, to work on a new Breathing Form. True to her word, Ren avoided using the Sun Breathing Technique but instead was able to make significant progress in her own form. Rengoku thought he could replicate her movements but despite his incredible strength and speed, his aerial manoeuvrability proved impossible for him to manage. Due to the fact that it was only those two that saw how Ren created the form, He suggested that she name it the tenth form of Flame Breathing and like the ninth, label it as an Esoteric Art. This was her trump card, 'The ace up her sleeve' she remembered the western traders saying, and it was this that she'd use to kill both Hiro and Aka. Hiro shrugged away from Aka, "Alright" he said in an irksome voice, "I get it, I can't rush in, but my hornets won't go near her now" "Well that's an easy fix" Aka said, as soon as she finished, she launched a new attack at Ren forcing her closer to a fountain in the middle of the town square. 'Not good' Ren thought to herself looking back at the water, if she falls into it, the repellent will be washed away. In an attempt to counter the attacks Aka was throwing at her, Ren leapt up buildings and onto rooftops. The fabric sheets continued to pursue her crashing into the buildings, Ren was able to sever them before they were able to grab her but could do nothing to prevent Aka's attacks from destroying the buildings. While Ren was preoccupied dodging Aka, Hiro used his hornets to fly up to the same rooftop Ren was on top of.

"Have fun defending against the two of us at once" he mocked as he launched more hornets at her. Ren increased the speed of her sword slashed and guards in an attempt to defend against the two demons attacks. 'They're separated, I have to try now' She thought to herself, beginning to move towards Hiro but the attacks she was guarding against caused her to lose momentum when she had to guard from attacks behind her. 'Crap' she winced as she felt herself slip. She closed her eyes as she thought of what to do, only to think 'I'm sorry Kyojuro, I have to take this risk' she lunged forwards, directly towards Hiro at blinding speed while simultaneously delivering a flurry of blows, her slashes increasing in strength as if with each hit, she was gaining more and more momentum. Ren's blade was soon slicing through the fabrics and hornets with minimal effort. She saw the surprise in Hiro's face as she once again slashed at his limbs, severing them and even causing a deep gash in his torso. This time, Hiro fell back, just as Ren felt her muscles seize similarly to before. 'Not good' she thought, however, this time she didn't fall unconscious, but her body burned with intense pain. 'Recover your breathing' she told herself, but she couldn't, her breathing had grown shallow and fast. She ended up resorting to driving her own fist into her sternum, forcing all the air out of her lungs, winding herself, but resetting her breathing. This allowed her to take deep breaths and recover just in time to roll out of the way of another attack launched by Aka. "Flame Breathing, Fourth Form: Blooming Flame Undulation" Ren gave several sword slashes protecting against the flow of fabrics that billowed at her. Behind Ren, she heard Hiro land, clearly having just healed and launch himself towards her. "Flame Breathing, Seventh Form: Seven Falling Stars" Ren leapt out the way and bounced from wall to wall performing summersaults to avoid the attacks, she was able to slash at Hiro and Aka in very quick succession. Yet again however, Aka pulled Hiro out of the way to avoid Ren severing his head. It was clear to Ren the difference in each of their strengths, Aka was leagues above Hiro. "I won't save you next time you failure of a demon" Aka snarled at Hiro. "Flame Breathing, Third Form: Blazing Universe" Ren said as she slashed downward causing the two demons to break apart. "Flame Breathing, Sixth Form: Flaming Spiral Slash" Ren followed up giving a swinging motion that made her look like a bladed spinning top. She felt her blade sever several fibres and saw Aka's blood red hair fall to the ground, she could barely dodge Ren's rapid attacks. Ren turned to Hiro as she used yet one more Flame Breathing technique, "Flame Breathing, First Form: Unknowing Fire" she said darting towards Hiro, He couldn't dodge but guarded using his hornet swarm. Ren backed away confident she could keep them apart.

Suddenly, Ren felt herself get lifted into the air, though nothing had seized her, she knew that it was Aka. She felt a sudden lurch as she was thrown into the air, as she fell she saw the fountain grow closer and closer. 'Ah shit' she said to herself as she closed her eyes. She felt herself break the surface of the water, the fountain was deeper than it looked, she barely touched the bottom despite hitting the water with quite some force, she felt one of the bones in her arm splinter slightly. Pain shot through her left arm as her vison went dizzy. 'Well that could have gone worse, my timing was off, next time though..." she thought to herself. She knew it was a dumb thing to risk doing but she felt like she didn't have much choice. Just as soon as she landed in the fountain, she felt herself get wrapped in the cocoon of fabric once again. She broke the surface of the water, cold air burned against her skin as she felt the water on her face freeze in the cold night air. "No more repellent for you" Aka spat at her. The buzz of hornets grew to a crescendo as Ren saw a solid sheet of them begin to swarm her. 'Crap, Crap, Crap' she thought to herself, she knew that this will be the end of her. there was nothing she could do; the fabric was too tight for her to swing her sword and the hornets would sting and eat her alive. It was then that she saw an image of Rengoku blossom from the fire of the blacksmiths which was nearby. "If one cannot use their sword, look inside yourself, go beyond your limits and set your heart ablaze" his voice echoed in her head. At once, Ren felt her strength swell she strained her muscles against the cocoon and heard something tear. "What the... how are you this strong?" Aka said in surprise, Ren fell to the ground as she grabbed her sword. The sheet of hornets condensed and became the solid stream once again. "Flame Breathing, Eighth Form: Salamander Sundial" she said as she darted towards Hiro using the flow of the hornets to build momentum as she rotated up the flow of hornets and closed in on Hiro. She slashed at his arms severing them completely, She smirked as she fell away from him, "Looks like you're out of blood" she taunted. "You can't heal anymore" "Damn you" Hiro shrieked, "Bullies will always remain the same, weak and pathetic" Ren taunted further, "Shut your mouth you bitch" Hiro continued, his face was furious, even his whole body was buzzing with fury, Ren even saw his head give spasms of rage. "Calm down you idiot, you're playing right into her hand" Aka ordered, launching her fabrics to protect him. The fabrics arrived just in time to grab Ren by the ankle, dragging her away. Ren spun around and slashed at the fabric holding her, it split in two, while free from the fabric, Ren maintained momentum towards Aka. "No you don't" Aka said raising her arms towards Ren, "Blood Demon Art, Seamstress of Death" Practically all of Aka's fabrics flew away from her. Ren saw each fabric sheet become ridged and razor sharp, Ren attempted to dodge them but felt a couple of the fabric blades cut through her uniform and through her legs and torso. Ren felt herself begin to bleed, she took a deep breath and felt her blood congeal and clot stemming the bleeding as quickly as it started.

But something felt wrong.

Ren heard a slurping and pleasurable moaning coming from Aka. Turning her head to see what was going on, Ren's heart dropped, Aka was licking the fabrics that had Ren's blood on it. She saw the relish on Aka's face. The scent Aka gave off intensified, which Ren took to mean that she was growing in strength. Marechi blood oozed down Aka's throat as she laughed maniacally. "Oh, yes" she moaned, giving a pleasurable cry, "This power, so much power" she continued with increased glee. The hornets began to fly at Ren once more as more fabric blades flooded and littered the air. Soon it was almost impossible for Ren to move, she could feel herself get backed into a corner as she dodged and guarded each of the attacks. Just then, the attacks stopped as Ren straightened up. Ren looked at Aka as she wondered why the attacks stopped. Horror flooded her entire body. Mr Satori was being held by Aka, by his collar. "Mr Satori no" Ren called. "I'm sorry my child, I couldn't leave you to fight alone, not for the sake of the city" he said in a wheezy voice. "How touching, my oldest friend from when I was human, so sad you die now, defending my soon to be dead daughter" Aka said as she raised her hand ready to strike. "Live a long-life Ren, I'll be watching over you" Satori said as Aka thrust her arm through his torso, he spat out a lot of blood, went limp and was devoured by Hiro. "You'll pay for that" Ren snarled, holding back tears. "Will we?" Hiro mocked as he regenerated his arms one more time. "Then by all means Ren, come and take your revenge"