Breath of the Void

Breath of the Void: Chapter 28

I'm not dead but I am running off of Halloween candy and anxiety because Nevada's votes still aren't in. In other news, if any of you guys are Fullmetal Alchemist fans, I'm putting out the first two chapters of my new fic today. It centers around a "what if" where Kimblee turned against the Homunculi while he was in prison. admittedly, it's just an excuse for me to write Heinkel/Kimblee fanfiction, and then have a legit reason for post-promised day FMA crossover fanfiction with Kimblee in it.

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The reality of the situation was one that weighed heavily on the group of five as they ran through the fortress, now one Pillar short.

Genya had taken his brother's sword and strapped it to his side, eyes still red and puffy from crying, but he knew that he needed to move onwards. Tokito, despite how strong he had been before, was beginning to slow down. The blood loss was getting to him and no matter his protests, he ended up getting carried on Himejima's back.

They had only taken a few moments to patch themselves up— staunching the blood and sewing up larger gashes and Musashi recovered her Heavenly Eye.

But they couldn't stop.

Ubuyashiki's voice had rung out loud and clear, along with his Son's— Tamayo couldn't endure Muzan and he had revived himself.

The first team who had been on their way to finish him off had been slaughtered, only fueling Musashi's movements. The burning rage simmered under the skin of all of them, being forced down in order to keep calm and save energy.

They were Pillars. They had to endure and end Muzan.

The walls parted suddenly, the floor shifting underfoot before the entire area around the group shifted. Musashi skid to a halt, swords crossed in front of her as the rest of the group stopped as well. standing before them, with a bored expression on his face and hair a pure white, was Muzan.

Behind her, she heard Genya's breath starting to speed up. She could feel the barely contained anger of her fellow Pillars, but she held her arm out, stopping the men behind her from moving forwards.

"Calm down," she said, though her voice betrayed her as rage was heard laced between the words.

Muzan sighed softly as the room shifted around them again. Above, seemingly unaffected by gravity, were tables, waiting to be sat at. The floor under them would have been a ceiling and Musashi took care to make note of the architectural design. If there was any way to use it to their advantage, she didn't know just yet.

"Persistent..." Muzan sighs. "You're all seriously persistent. And it bores me. It sickens me from the bottom of my heart. Whenever you open your mouth, you only remember that one, dumb notion about avenging your parents, kids, siblings, or someone else. You've all survived. That should be enough?"

"What heart?" Musashi shot back before any of the others could respond. "It seems to me you lost yours when you became the fake Oni you are now."

Muzan's eyes sharpened. "I am no fake," he hissed, "I overcame and lasted longer than an Oni ever would."

"Huh. Is that so?"

His lips twisted for a moment before he forced his expression back to the blanked boredom.

"I do find it interesting, however," he said, "That he would allow his wife to be a Demon Slayer. To think that you survived that blast, or perhaps you used him as a sacrifice for your safety, Ubuyashiki, Amane."

There was a beat of silence before Musashi snorted, fighting down a laugh. "You're more stupid than I thought," she said before she straightened up, pointing one of her swords at Muzan.