Capítulo 52: Upper Moon Three
As the man rushed to punch Tanjiro, Rengoku moved in the next instant and used his 'Breath of Flames' second from, 'Ascending Blazing Sky'. *splish* Rengoku drew his sword in an upwards arc as he slashed from below, with a trail of flames in its path.
The Demon's hand was split in half down the middle. Before Hiroto could react and launch a second attack, the man backed away with a backflip to his original position.
Both parties stood face to face once more, as the muscle in the Demon's split hand started to grow and reattach to each other. *snap* His hand regenerated at a rate that Hiroto never saw up till now.
"You got a nice blade there." The Demon said, licking the blood off his hand. He then pointed at Tanjiro and said, "I was just trying to get rid of him before we fought since he would just get in the way of us."
Rengoku had his same straight face as he said in a more serious tone, "It's our first time meeting, but I already hate you."
"Is that so?" The Demon smiled. "I really hate weak Humans you know? When I look at weaklings, I just feel disgusted."
Hiroto narrowed his eyes, "You have a twisted sense of perceiving people." Hiroto said as he tightened his grip on his sword.
Rengoku then spoke up, "It looks like you have a completely different moral value regarding such things."
The Demon rested his arm on his hip as he said, "I see, then I have a wonderful proposal for the two of you."
"How about you become Demons too?" The man said nonchalantly, as though he was bestowing a precious gift to them.
"There's no way in hell we would accept that," Hiroto said angrily.
"I can tell that the blond guy is a pillar just by seeing his strength. But you kid, why is your battle spirit so similar to his?" The Demon said, as in his eyes he can see a glowing aura that surrounded people. This was related to how strong a person's battle spirit was.
"I'm the Flame Pillar, Rengoku Kyoujurou, and he's my Tsuguko, Kamado Hiroto," Rengoku answered, being on guard.
"And I'm Akaza. Kyoujurou, Hiroto, I'll tell you why you aren't crossing into supreme territory yet." Akaza, the Demon, pointed at them. "Because you're Human. Because you'll grow old. Because you'll die."
"Become a Demon, Kyoujurou, Hiroto. If you do, you can continue to train for a hundred, even two hundred years. You can become stronger." The Demon enticed the two even further.
Hiroto stared into Akaza's eyes and saw was able to see how much tougher the fight would be compared to the past battles.
Tanjiro was getting anxious, 'Out of all the Demon's I've met up to now, this guy smells the most similar to Muzan. I need to back up my brother and Rengoku-san.' Tanjiro thought, gripping his sword as he started to sweat.
Rengoku looked at Akaza with solemn eyes, as he said. "Growing old and dying is the beauty of the fleeting creature called a Human being. Because they grow old because they die. They are tremendous, lovable, and precious. What they call strength? Isn't a word that is used in regards to the body."
Rengoku looked at Akaza in the eyes, as he turned serious. "This boy isn't weak. Don't insult him. I'll say it over and over again. You and I have different moral values. No matter what kind of motivation I may have, I will not become a Demon." Rengoku stated, with a resolute look in his eyes.
Hiroto turned to Rengoku and looked at him, thinking of how great a person he is.
"I see," Akaza said. He then proceeded to stomp the ground with his right foot forward, and his right palm stretched out, pulling his left close to his body. 'Technique Deployment, Destructive Kill: Compass Meddle'
The ground that he stood on started to glow, as a snowflake pattern that had the numbers zero to ten written in archaic kanji spread out from below him.
"If you won't become a Demon, then I'll kill you all!" Akaza said, kicking off the ground and running towards them. Hiroto and Rengoku both made a move at the same time.
Rengoku utilized his 'First Form: Sea of Fire', as he launched himself to meet Akaza head-on.
Hiroto flanked around to his side, waiting for an opportunity to move in after Rengoku started his attack.
*BOOM* The two met head-on, as the dust and flames intermixed with one another with the two in the middle. As Hiroto prepared to move in, he saw Akaza jump up into the air.
"Of all the Pillars I killed up to now, none of them were of flames! And none of them ever agreed to my invitation. Why is that? As someone who trained in the same martial arts, I find them hard to understand. And they say that only those who were chosen can become Demons" Akasa mocked as he started to fall and started his next move.
"Someone with wonderful talents is going to have an unsightly decline. This is unbearable! Just die, Kyoujirou. While you're young and strong!" Akaza moved his hand at an incredible speed which caused them to blur and create countless after images. *boom boom* Various explosions were heard as he punched the air around him using his, 'Destructive Kill. Void Style.'
Hiroto could see that the wind pressure created from the explosions sent invisible attacks that headed straight for Rengoku. Rengoku's battle instinct made him feel dread as he felt pressure coming towards him. 'Fourth Style: Wave of Blazing Flames.'
Rengoku spun his sword clockwise as he blocked the strikes. With Rengoku occupied, Akaza landed on the ground and vanished, only to appear in front of Hiroto.
'Fast!' Hiroto thought as he instantly swung his blade at Akaza's neck. *swoosh* Akaza reacted quickly and sidestepped out of the blades reach.
"What wonderful reaction speed from a kid!" Akaza yelled, launching a punch to Hiroto's side. Hiroto forced his body to avoid the fatal attack.
'Dance of the Fire God, Fake Rainbow' Hiroto twisted his body at a high speed to dodge Akaza's attack while also rotating his body to swing at him again.
Akaza pushed his palm out and redirected the path of Hiroto strike by hitting the flat side of the blade so as not to get cut. Akaza sent a follow-up strike to the joint that connects his arm to his shoulder, looking to cripple him. But just as the punch landed, Hiroto's figure disappeared, leaving Akaza to only hit an afterimage.
Akaza immediately reacted on pure battle instinct as he pushed his body to the ground, *swoosh* making Hiroto's blade miss as it vibrated through the air.
"Haha! Your sword technique ain't bad! And so is your speed!" Akaza did a low kick towards Hiroto's leg, forcing Hiroto to step back.
Rengoku rushed in from the side as he swung his sword down at Akaza who was close to the ground. *shing* Akaza pushed the ground with his hands to propel him off to the side, causing Rengoku's sword to slice at the ground.
"You'll both lose it all! You'll lose your technique by growing old and dying! Isn't that sad, Kyoujurou!" Akaza shouted as he kicked off the ground towards Rengoku.
"Nobody would be if they're human!" Rengoku shouted back, swinging his sword to intercept Akaza's attack. Hiroto attacked from behind him and thrust his sword to his back.
Akaza jumped up and stood on Hiroto's sword, as he launched a kick to Hiroto's face, kicking him away. "Gack!" Hiroto rolled away as he recovered from the attack.
Akaza used the momentum from the kick to propel himself at Rengoku and launched a punch towards his chest.
Tanjiro started to run and went to support his brother off the ground.
"Stop!!" Hiroto yelled back. "Stay back! He's too dangerous! Go find Nezuko and the others and guard them!" Hiroto then jumped towards Akaza once more.
"You don't have to mind the weakling Hiroto! Both of you can give it all you got! Just focus on me!" Akaza shouted as he grinned widely.
Rengoku gritted his teeth as the veins on his neck and forehead bulging. 'Breath of Flames, Fifth Style: Flame Tiger!'
'Destructive kill: War Style' Akaza launched his attack.
Rengoku's sword took the form of a tiger as he launched a series of slashes to contest against Akaza's war style.
*boom thud* The two clashed against each other, blurring so fast that Tanjiro and Inosuke, who arrived moments before, couldn't follow.
Hiroto ran towards Akaza's side and jumped up while using his move.
'Modular Dance of the Fire God, Solar Eclipse.' Hiroto concentrated his power into his hands. Behind him was a ball of fire as he fell towards Akaza, bringing his sword down with a wall of flames surrounding them.
Akaza drew back, barely just missing Hiroto's attack, as he punched towards Hiroto's side, *crack* an audible series of cracks were heard as his ribs were fractured. "Gah!" Hiroto cried out, and swung his sword at Akaza in retaliation, forcing him to dodge back.
Hiroto stumbled and stood to Rengoku's side, who was all bloodied, with blood running down his left eye after having been shattered. As the dust settled, Inosuke and Tanjiro saw the two horrible states and both Hiroto and Rengoku suffered several injuries.
Akaza stood a distance away, with the slashes that he received from Rengoku's attack healing instantly. "Hey, are you two already dying? Don't die on me just yet, Kyoujurou, Hiroto."
*Hah hah* Rengoku breathed out, as he tried to stabilize the wounds he received on his body. Hiroto was in a better state but suffered multiple fractured ribs as he held his side.
Tanjiro and Inosuke stood on the sidelines and just watched on, knowing that they would be useless if they jumped in at this time. Inosuke was having his anxiety attack in his mind as he knew that he was too weak and slow to catch up in their fight.
Akaza adopted a more solemn and sad look as he said, "Even if you both fight with the intention to sacrifice yourselves, it's all pointless in the end when you die. The wonderful slashes that you landed on me have already healed Kyoujurou."
Akaza continued talking, "But how about you? Your left eye is smashed, your ribs are broken and your organs are wounded. You'll never be the same after this if you survive. Hiroto is also suffering from having his ribs broken, some of which threaten to puncture his lungs." Akaza stated.
"No matter how much you two struggle, Humans can never defeat Demons," Akaza concluded.
The aura around Rengoku and Hiroto started to rise as they got into their position to attack once more. "I will fulfill my duties!! I won't let anybody here die!!" Rengoku shouted with his trademark stoic face and smile.
"Even if our bodies break down, we will defeat you and all the other Upper Moons!" Hiroto said, before raising his sword and striking it down on Rengoku.
*clannggggg* The sound of metal on metal reverberated through the forest as silence engulfed the battlefield. They watched how Rengoku's sword started to turn from its normal red to a sharp crimson color, similar to Hiroto's.
Rengoku silently nodded to Hiroto, as the two had a tacit agreement. Hiroto didn't know why, but he just knew if he were to hit Rengoku's sword with the intention of having it be similar to his, it would work.
Hiroto knew that Rengoku had the best chances at landing blows on Akaza at the current moment, since he had more combat experience.
The two prepared themselves for the final bout of the fight, as they breathed in respectively. *suuuu*
'Full Concentration breath, Breath of Flames: Esoterica'
'Full Concentration breath, Dance of the Fire God:'
Akaza looked at the two and brimmed with joy as he shouted, "Look at both of your fighting spirits! How wonderful! You have both have so many wounds, yet your drive, your fortitude. Both your stances have no openings! You should really become Demons, Kyoujurou, Hiroto!" Akaza shouted with a bright smile.
"Let's continue to fight for all eternity!" Akaza kneeled on one leg.
'Technique Deployment, Destructive Kill.'
In the next moment, all three used their abilities at the same time.
'Ninth Style: Purgatory' Rengoku rushed forward with a sonic boom behind him, turning himself into a cannon of flames as he destroyed the ground below him.
'Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance' Hiroto propelled himself as he raised his sword as the fire took the form of a dragon, spinning himself toward Akaza to gain more momentum.
'Obliteration Style' Akaza used an explosive jump forward which was followed by a punch, intending to kill the two.
*BOOM* Fire, dust, and steam surrounded each other with the three in the middle. Obscuring them from view, everything settled down after they clashed, with the wind blowing away the debris.
"Ahhhh!!" Tanjiro cried out, as he eventually saw what happened.
Akaza had his right arm punched into Hiroto's shoulder, as Rengoku's arm was ripped off and was held with Akaza's left.
"You'll both die!! You're gonna die, Hiroto, Kyoujurou! Be a Demon! Tell me that you want to be a Demon!" Akaza yelled, trying to convince them again. "You are both one of the strongest ones who got chosen!"
Hiroto looked dazed, as the blood flowed out of his shoulder and onto Akaza's arm that was in his shoulder.
'Am I going to die? No… I can't… I have to protect Nezuko… Tanjiro… I can't let it end here… Forgive me, mother… I can't be with you just yet.' Hiroto thought, as he looked up and stared back into Akaza's eyes. The mark on his hand started to grow and move up along his arm and onto the left side of his neck to his face.
"AHHHHHH!!!" Hiroto yelled out, as his pupils dilated and blood started to run down them as he forced his arm to move and swing down at Akaza.
*swish* The blade dug into Akaza's neck, but he let go of Rengoku's arm and stopped the blade from going all the way through with his bare hands, as it dug into his hands.
"Kagh!!" Akaza coughed up, as he tried to push the blade out but was slowly being overpowered by Hiroto as he forced his sword down. Hiroto's eyes started to glow red as he pushed himself to force the blade through Akaza's neck.
Akaza pulled his arm out of Hiroto's shoulder and launched his fist towards his face.
"ORAHHHH!!!" Rengoku yelled as he lifted his remaining arm to stop Akaza's punch. *crack* The bones in Rengoku's arm started to break from the pressure, but Rengoku didn't relent and stared hatefully back with determination in his eyes.
The three were in a tug of war, as they kept pushing and pulling against each other.
"I WON'T EVER LET GO UNTIL I LOP YOUR HEAD OFF!!" Hiroto shouted, bringing his forehead down onto Akaza's head.
*THUD* Akaza's eyes started to shake, but he held his ground as he pushed himself to withstand and stop the sword. "AGHHHH" Akaza yelled, pushing at the blade and the hand that was held by Rengoku.
Hiroto then said, "If you want to push my blade out, then be my guest!" Hiroto gave away the pressure he put on the sword and brought it out of Akaza's neck.
"AHHHH!!" Hiroto shouted, and he swung his sword down and cut off Akaza's arm that Rengoku held.
"AGHH!!" Akaza yelled as he realized that Hiroto's sword wasn't normal like the others. Rengoku moved and kicked Akaza to stall him, but missed as Akaza jumped away.
Without wasting any movement, Hiroto moved forward as the mark of his arm that reached his face grew, pushing Hiroto's limits as he forced his broken body to move.
Akaza turned to try and run away but turned around as he felt an imminent sense of danger from behind.
'Dance of the Fire God, Flash Dance.' Hiroto started inhaling huge amounts of oxygen which threatened to burst his lung, and pumped it throughout his entire body, focusing them on his legs as he propelled himself forward with an explosive start. *BOOM*
'The sun is coming up, I need to leave right now.' Akaza thought in desperation, as he used another of his techniques.
'Crush Style, Willow of a Thousand Flashes' Akaza raised his remaining left arm and delivered a powerful downward punch to the ground.
*BOOOOOM* The punch sent out a large shockwave into the ground, causing it to rumble and create massive damage to the surrounding area. The ground below Hiroto's feet gave away as it split apart, causing him to lose his balance as he fell.
Hiroto tried to get up, but the exhaustion hit him like a hundred falling logs at once. "Hiroto! Breathe!!" Rengoku shouted from the side when he saw Hiroto's plight.
*HAAAAAA* Huff huff* Hiroto realized that he was holding all of that air inside his body and wasn't breathing, but with Rengoku's warning he breathed out and began to inhale desperately *cough cough* as he started to cough violently.
Tanjiro saw that Akaza was running and threw his sword towards him, *shik* causing it to be embedded into his body.
"You coward! Stop running! Get back here! Don't run away!!" Tanjiro shouted with anger as he saw Akaza retreating.
Akaza looked back with a baffled and disbelief expression. 'What's this brat talking about? Doesn't he have some brains? I'm not running from you Demon Slayers, I'm running from the sun. Besides, the battle is already done, those two are going to lose all their strength from all that bleeding and die.'
Hiroto struggled to get up and shouted towards the direction Akaza ran with his remaining strength. "Akaza!!! I will hunt you down and cut your head off in the end! Let that arm be a reminder of today, let it haunt you for the rest of your days before I come and relieve you of your nightmare!!!" Hiroto shouted as he stabbed the sword into the ground to support him.
Rengoku stood silently, before walking slowly to Hiroto's side and falling to his knees beside him.
"We couldn't do it, Rengoku… he got away… What can we do now…" Hiroto muttered as he laid on his back facing the orange glow of the sun that slowly came over the edge. The mark on his face and arm disappeared, as he retracted back onto his hand.
Rengoku looked towards Tanjiro who was shouting at Akaza's direction and Inosuke that stood still, shaking and not knowing what to do.
He smiled and said, "There's nothing else we can do now. Although Akaza got away, we managed to save over 200 passengers. Compared to my arm, this is a low price to pay for their safety."
Hiroto covered his eyes with his arm as he silently shed some tears, knowing that Rengoku's wounds would be too grievous for him to carry on being a Demon Slayer.
Tanjiro ran over as he stumbled to the ground, with tears in his eyes as he looked at the wound on Hiroto's and Rengoku's body. Rengoku's left arm was missing and every bone in his right arm was crushed. Hiroto shoulder was pierced through and left a gaping hole, with a multitude of broken bones in various parts of his body. There were traces of blood that flowed out of his eyes.
"Brother…" Tanjiro cried out, not knowing what to do.
Hiroto looked up at him and gave a reassuring smile. "It's okay, Tanjiro. We might've lost this battle, but we survived, that's what is important."
Tanjiro gritted his teeth as he shed tears when he saw how wounded his brother and Rengoku was.
Inosuke slowly approached from the side with his body shaking as he didn't know how to respond when he saw the state of the two people that he, unconsciously, looked up to.
Rengoku and Hiroto had already started to utilize their breathing to slow down their wounds and stop the blood loss, as they sat together and watched the sunrise over the horizon.
REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES 
Suploly
Suploly So... I found it hard to separate these chapters into 2 separate ones. I decided to release a big chapter for this major battle, as I didn't want to disturb the flow of your readers by having to wait another day.
This is probably the longest fight scene I wrote so far, hope you enjoyed it! Let me know how I did and what you think of my decision for Rengoku's fate. It was really hard trying to think of different ways to keep Rengoku alive or even just kill him off, but I came to this conclusion instead as the other options gave me headaches.
Peace out!
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