Disclaimer: Demon Slayer is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
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The night was peaceful, if you count out the burning building, panicked people, and the power outage caused by multiple explosions.
Sparks occasionally spurted from the broken wires at the broken telephone pole.
It was a beautiful scene of destruction.
Clang!
Using this backdrop, the two figures collided violently!
Dazzling embers bloomed from the two blades meeting!
The two swordsmen struggle for a moment, then quickly separate.
Not missing a breath, Kokushibo landed and placed his right foot in front and executed his technique.
[]—Moon Breathing First Form—[]
[]—Yamizuki - Yoi no Miya—[]
(tr. Dark Moon – Evening Palace)
The orange-yellow moonlight swept across the dark street, forming a crescent moon.
Tanjuro's pupils quickly observed. He waited for an opening and raised Kusabimaru to parry the attack.
TRANG!
Kokushibo felt the shock going up his arm as his attack was bounced back by Tanjuro's defense.
Sparks were flying at the place where the blades collided, creating beautiful fireworks, accompanied by a crisp sound.
Kokushibo frowned heavily. He glanced at his blade and tightened his hold again.
[]—Moon Breathing Second Form—[]
[]—Shuka no Rōgetsu—[]
(tr Pearl Flower Moongazing)
Swish! Swish!
Two gorgeous crescent blades instantly slashed toward Tanjuro!
Trang! Trang!
But what Kokushibo got were another parried attack, the crisp sound of iron striking iron, and sparks like fireworks.
"What?"
He felt the recoil from his attacks, and through Transparent World, he could see everything from the vigorous heartbeat to the perfect coiling muscles in Tanjuro's body.
"How..."
"A human... that can keep up..."
Kokushibo's mind reeled in from the surprise, and he looked at Tanjuro's forehead.
'His age... might be over 25 years old...'
'Before our clash, he looked fragile...'
'What happened?'
Kokushibo has never stumbled upon this unexplainable situation in his hundreds of years of living.
Tanjuro's stoic expression and silent attitude when facing someone like him.
A wave of disgust surged up from the bottom of his heart, and rage veins burst out from his forehead.
Kokushibo channeled his anger as he raised his foot and stomped hard on the ground!
Bam!
His stomp instantly broke the brick and stone under his power as he slipped into a stance and took a deep breath.
Kokushibo's concentrated power rose from the ground; his core tightened as he swung his arms around. The huge force of the swing transmitted from his arms to the tip of his blade.
[]—Moon Breathing Sixth Form!—[]
[]—Tokoyo Kogetsu – Muken!—[]
(tr Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon – Incessant)
Whoosh! Whoosh!
In an instant, Kokushibo rapidly performs a multitude of curved slashes that release a wild barrage of crescent moon blades aimed at Tanjuro.
The dense wind of blades wrapped in orange-yellow slashes leaves no room for Tanjuro to dodge.
Dang! Trang! Trang!
But Tanjuro had no intention to dodge anyway.
Brilliant sparks kept flashing from their confrontation in the dark street, creating a beautiful moment of death dance that you could occasionally see in the sparks.
Tanjuro constantly adjusts Kusabimaru in his hands. His eyes keep up and distinguish the direction of the attacks.
He was in no hurry, for he could always find a way to attack in the middle of his defense. He just needs to time it right.
CLANG!
Each flash of light illuminated the two fighters for a moment.
The screeching of metal clashing against metal was enough to damage the ears.
The barrage of attacks kept getting parried.
Click.
Kokushibo lowered his blade as he stared at his opponent, who stared back.
Tanjuro's condition was unscathed, and his clothing didn't even have a single speck of dust or any injuries.
Six eyes looked on in disbelief. Rarely ever had Kokushibo had a moment of doubt about his swordsmanship.
Kokushibo gripped his katana tightly with both hands.
The neat rows of scarlet eyes on the blade share the same feelings as their master, blinking irregularly.
"Huff—"
He exhaled white steam from his mouth.
'What's going on with this man...'
The shock from the parries made his thumbs and index fingers numb, a feeling that he had forgotten from his trainings in swordsmanship hundreds of years ago when he was still a human.
'I couldn't land a single blow.'
Kokushibo held back from attacking again, staring intently at Tanjuro's figure.
Tanjuro fixed his posture as he shifted and adjusted Kusabimaru in his hands. The dark blade outlined by the pale moonlight hung down to the ground.
His deep red eyes stared back at Kokushibo and saw his astonished expression.
"Huff—"
Tanjuro exhaled a white steam from his sun breathing a lot more than Kokushibo from the corner of his mouth.
His hair moved in the wind, and muscles tensed. Wondering and readying for the next barrage of attacks.
The vitality he harvested by defeating demons was put to good use. Tanjuro had never felt so good in his body before.
The Slayer Mark glowed brightly in the dark night, giving him a boost beyond his own imagination.
'His movements...'
'I can see it.'
'I can keep up!'
'And I can parry it all!!'
Kokushibo's attacks were fast and powerful.
But with the boost from Transparent World and his mark, Kokushibo is just a charged-up version of that annoying boss in Sekiro, the Guardian Ape.
'The recoiled blade after the parry is too short of a distance.'
Unlike others he faced, Kokushibo's demonic physique is much sturdier and more flexible to have his blade stunned with his parrying technique.
'I have to create a chance to attack!'
While Tanjuro's brain was working at full speed, Kusabimaru in his hands was sizzling as if grilling a barbeque.
Sssss—
Tanjuro looked down at the blade and saw that Kusabimaru's state had turned red hot from the collision and friction of parrying high-speed attacks.
The continuous barrage of offense by Kokushibo and his quick reaction are heating up the blade.
Tanjuro loosened his wrist so he wouldn't end up stiff if he wants to survive.
Tanjuro also saw that the Posture Gauge above Kokushibo's head was already one-third of the way full and slowly shrinking back.
Two red dots beat like a heart above the Posture Gauge.
—Kokushibo has two stages.
It seems all of this information only appeared after his physical fitness reached the standard and the warning in his heart and his reaction speed kept up.
It is the embodiment of his fighting instinct engraved in his consciousness.
Though, Tanjuro has a suspicion Kokushibo doesn't just have a two-stage decapitation.
Maybe there is a third stage.
Maybe, like that trash lord Genichiro, he has another last effort/technique to bring down his enemies.
When Tanjuro first met Genichiro, he fought on equal footing because of his mastery of the Transparent World.
Even though he still lost his left arm. –_–
Still, Tanjuro didn't let his guard down.
He vaguely remembers that Kokushibo had developed a way to overcome the weakness of getting his neck cut off by a Nichirin blade.
The two sides took a moment to breathe and reassess each other's threat level. Air flows from their lungs as they wait for some kind of signal to clash again.
However, Kokushibo seems to be taking his time right now.
Tanjuro frowned.
'That won't do...'
Tanjuro slid into a more comfortable stance to stabilize his body and receive attacks. He raised Kusabimaru in front of him.
Then, he makes a face at Kokushibo with his chin tucked out and narrowed eyes.
Now, for the finishing move...
Click! Click! Click!
He shook his sword slightly a few times horizontally in Kokushibo's direction.
Throb! 💢
As expected, Kokushibo's body was all covered in rage veins at the disrespect!