章 113: Upper-Upper Moon
[Seiji's POV]
"Akaza,"
A demon whom I needed to kill as quickly as possible, I thought to myself.
I wasn't going to make the same mistake as I did with Kanae and wait for him and Rengoku to clash. I would end the demon's life before they ever had the chance to clash.
I tore my eyes off Rengoku and continued.
"Akaza is unlike the rest of the demons. He is probably the most humane demon amongst the Upper Moon," I said.
"He looks like any ordinary young man of medium height. He has pink hair and blue tattoos covering his body like the criminal tattoos he had as a human." I said. I could not remember any other distinctive feature he had.
"His strength is one that could rival mine. The scary part about this demon is that, unlike others, he does not heavily rely on his blood demon art. Instead, he is a warrior and a martial artist, the pinnacle of hand-to-hand combat," I said.
"His blood demon art allows him to create destructive shockwaves from any part of his body and this unique ability makes his martial arts even more devastating,"
"....."
Everyone was busy with their own thought after hearing about Upper Moon 3. It was truly odd for a demon to not rely on their spells and have their own strength and techniques that are very similar to humans.
Although Akaza had no tricks or complex abilities, he was strong enough to the point that those simply did not matter. He would square up with you and beat you fairly.
"Like I said before, Akaza is much more humane than the rest of the demons. If you ever encountered him, he would look for a good fight instead of immediately aiming for your life," I said. "He is a battle junkie basically,"
"Like Sanemi?" Giyu asked.
"Yes, but even more passionate. Like Rengoku's passion for training," I said and they all hummed in understanding.
"So in a fight, he won't end you right away and would prefer to savour the fight instead. He considered himself a warrior before a demon so he might even give you the advantage for the sake of a fair duel," I said.
I put a finger on my chin and thought more about what I knew of Akaza. The others waited for me to continue while digesting the informations.
Then my eyes fell on Shinobu.
"Oh and..." I said, "He refuses to kill or eat women for whatever reason. So if you are a girl, you're probably safe from him unless the Demon king himself gave direct order,"
"....."
They all looked at me in disbelief. It was quite hard to wrap their heads around that an Upper Moon wouldn't kill women.
"Do you know why that is?" Shinobu was the one who asked. "Maybe he umm eats them in other ways?"
I shrugged, "Quite the opposite. I think he is just a gentleman,"
"....."
"Regardless, don't put your faith in that fact. If you see him, just run. If you can't run, then stall him," I waved it off.
After that, I went into a little more details about what I know. I tired to replicate the techniques he used in his fight against Rengoku from the manga and made sure they knew what to expect.
I also described him a few more times with more vivid detail. Like his exact height, his clothes and his hairstyle.
I didn't think Akaza was the sneaky or trickster type. He would probably introduce himself as an Upper Moon but it was better be safe then not.
"And lastly, one of the first demons in existence and the most powerful right after the Demon King himself," I began and closed my eyes to dive into my memories
"He has been the Upper Moon 1 ever since he became a demon. His strength is unmatched because even while he was a human, he was one of the strongest entities in the world, His immense threat is unquestionable,"
"It is said that the Demon Lord himself never looked at him like a servant, he was too strong. It was more like a partnership since the start," I said.
....
"Kokushibo,"
"The twin brother of the creator of breathing styles, Yoriichi," I said.
!!!!!!!
Just like I predicted, everyone was shocked to hear the revelation. Ubuyashiki was the most surprised out of all. I could see his heart pounding rapidly in his chest as his blood pressure rose sharply.
"No..." he mouthed without a voice.
"He is a fallen Demon Slayer who became a demon out of sheer envy for his brother," I said.
"What! He was a demon slayer?" the others asked in unison. You could see how their expression tightened in disbelief.
The Japanese culture, especially at this age, believed in honour and integrity. Although it took place many centuries ago and they never knew him personally, they couldn't help but feel a sense of betrayal and anger.
Like the unreasonable camaraderie they had for every demon slayer - past, present or future - they also felt anger at the act of betrayal long ago.
"Not just any demon slayer, he was the strongest right after his brother Yoriichi, the user of Sun Breathing. Kokushibo was the creator of Moon Breathing, the perfect opposite of Sun Breathing," I said.
"But no matter what he did, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't surpass his brother. Therefore he became a demon, in hopes of getting more power,"
The place fell into silence as each of them tried to understand what I said. It was almost incomprehensible for them. How can someone do such things just for power?
There was also the fact that Kokushibo became a demon because he didn't want to die young from the curse of the demon slayer mark but I left that detail out.
"He never fought for others in the first place," Gyomei said and veins popped on his joint hands, "He only fought for himself, he was never one of us,"
All of the Hashiras present, one way or another, fought for something more than themselves. They did not care for power, they only cared about what they could protect with that power.
So in a way, although someone like Sanemi wanted to surpass me, he was never envious of my power. It was not a desire born from selfishness. Instead, it came from selflessness, the desire that he should be the strongest and should do the most for others.
"He is a demon with six eyes on his face. You should be able to figure out his identity the moment you meet, his sheer presence and danger would drive your instincts haywire," I said.
"If you ever meet him, run on sight. There is no beating him. It would take the combined force of all the Hashiras if we even want to stand a chance against him,"
As my words fell on their ears, I could see their muscles tense and their fists clench. A feeling of weakness and vulnerability that they thought they would never feel again returned and gripped their hearts.
In the canon timeline, they never knew how lacking they were. The only demons they fought were Lower Moons and they thought they were strong enough and that the demons were the ones hiding.
They wouldn't find out their own weakness until they came face to face with the truly powerful demons.
But now, that changed.
I told them how lacking they were and I could see the desire and the need to grow stronger in their heart.
Especially Gyomei, you could feel a powerful aura emanating from him, like a volcano getting closer and closer to erupting.
He would definitely go on to be many times stronger than his canon counterpart.
'Good,' I thought to myself.
One of my main goals was to motivate them to get stronger, in addition to ensuring their safety with the information on the Upper Moon.
"And that is all the information which I was able to gather so far," I finished and released a deep sigh.
"You have my utmost gratitude, Seiji. You would not believe how invaluable this is for humanity as a whole," Ubuyashiki said.
And for the first time since I had met him and to the shock of everyone present, he bowed his head to me.
A master bowing to his samurai. That was rarely seen.
I could assume that with all the things he now knew, he would be able to come up with better plans on how to win this war.
The other Hashiras soon followed as they all gave me a bow of respect and gratitude.
"Thank you!"
"Why are you all thanking me, as if I am another entity? We are all in this together, fighting for the same cause. Helping you is the same as helping me. There is no need for such gratitude," I said.
"Just make sure you all stay alive to see the end of this war and live in a world void of demon," I finished and bowed even lower than them.
Ubuyashiki looked at us, bowing at each other with a fond smile on his face before he turned his gaze to the sky.
His blind eyes were not unseeing at that moment.
They saw hope.
....
....
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Author : Happy New year.
If you read this, hope you close webnovel for a moment and say goodbye to the year of 2024.
Call a friend or family. Hope no one is alone at this time and the only reason you read this chapter at New Year is because you love the book such.
Best wishes.
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