Amare Flos (Demon Slayer)

Eira scraped the bark of the tree she stood at. Her heart pounded in her chest, goosebumps began to crawl all over her body and every one of her senses heightened in response to the terrifying figure that had just entered her aura perception range. She had to calm down. Eira clenched her jaw as she forced herself to breathe deep. Her palms tightened around the hilt of her sword, she stared at the comforting light blue colour, it was almost poetic the way that she and her father's sword had reunited for her most important battles.

Ayumu kept his stance completely still, his eyes darted to all those who he could see. Short breaths, dilated pupils, and trembling limbs. Their eyes were unmistakably flooded with terror.

Although the plan was going tremendously, not a single person would've thought the events would play out this quickly, not even in the delusion-saturated mind of Eira was the plan meant to go this quick. Everyone clutched their syringes and swords, sweat forming as beads on their forehead even in the cold weather. The wind taunted them as it howled in every direction.

Akaza had begun walking at a steady pace in the forest, he was completely devoid of any fear. Instead, every part of his body itched for the excitement of battle. It had been so long since someone strong had challenged him, so when he felt that sensation. When he felt as if he was being watched by a predator of the forest, adrenaline filled his veins and a grin unconsciously grew on his face. His fists twitched, they begged to be put to use. Every single second that he didn't sense any formidable opponent, his frustration grew exponentially. His short pink hair flowed freely in comparison to his padlocked battle hunger. Akaza's eyes were narrow as they darted around, only met with trees and greenery. His eyes were caught by a large tree, it must've been a couple hundred years old.

Eira inhaled deeply once more. Her head relentlessly alerted of the gigantic danger that lurked in this very forest. However, she finally calmed down.

The silence of the forest was viciously torn apart by a thunderous symphony of cracks and explosive sounds. Akaza slammed his fists against the utterly massive tree, every punch dug deep into the thick trunk. The earth shook, inferior to Akaza's overwhelming power. He had conditioned his body to the most powerful attacks, honed his martial arts to the highest degree achieved by a living being, and developed an immovable determination. He took pride in being one of the strongest creatures in all existence. All that mattered was that strong people prevailed and nurtured other strong people to create a better society. There was no place for weak people. His grin widened as his fists ravaged the tree trunk.

Every member of the team flinched at every crack and thud that echoed throughout the forest. Their minds were plagued with terror and curiosity alike. Then it stopped.

A blood-curdling screech by several birds blared across the forest. The gigantic tree, measuring forty-five metres, was sent flying into the air. Yukina's eyes widened as she saw the colossal object heading directly towards them. She gasped in short intervals.

The entire ground shook, every creature awakened as the tree trunk fell ever so close to Eira's team. The team had been brutally mutilated at the trunk, splinters pointed in every direction. Eira's jaw clenched as she cursed under her breath, annoyance grew within her. What was this? A taunt? A threat?

Akaza panted as he grinned with battle-hunger. Then his entire body halted, his body twisted towards a particular direction. He could sense someone's fighting spirit. As his focus on the specific area grew, he could sense several. There must've been about fifteen, only two or three with notable strength, however. Akaza's eyes widened, the battle he craved so badly was soon to come to fruition. He crouched down to the floor, his legs overloaded with strength. He powerfully launched off the ground into the sky. He travelled into the sky at an unfathomable speed, his body flew right through the low clouds, forming a hole in the white puff.

Eira's eyes widened as her mind suddenly became empty, she could sense everyone else but Akaza. Paranoia and anxiety slammed at the back of her head as she desperately focused, he was as if his essence had just vanished at an astonishing speed.

Just as Eira's confusion peaked. The answer was provided right in front of her. Akaza plummeted from the sky and alerted the entire area of his presence with an earthquake-like rumble.

There was no time to react, only behold the sight of the terrifying Upper Moon Three. Akaza landed with a crazed look in his eyes, all fifteen members of Eira's team were put into a state of utter terror.

Yet, a human's fear should never be seen as a weakness. Fear created pressure to make bold decisions, decisions that could make or break a situation. Fight, flight or freeze.

A member leapt out of the nearest bush to Akaza, his face etched with terror. It had only been a second since Akaza landed, and he had been scared for that entire second. His hands gripped tightly around the syringe as he came within centimetres of injecting range.

Akaza swirled around at a rapid pace, his movements equal in grace and speed. His heel viciously slammed into the back of the brave member's head. The earth rumbled once again. The member's skull had been blown open. The cerebral fluid that only recently held his brain now leaked onto the damp dirt beneath him.

"I'm… not…" The member spoke with a gravelly tone, an agonising sight, his eyes were crossed and his entire body seemed to be shivering in pain. His attempt to speak was interrupted by Akaza's foot brutally stomping down on his head. A gruesome crack infiltrated everyone's ears. It had only been five seconds since Akaza had landed.

Fourteen members left.

"It's interesting how such a strong person can recruit such weaklings," Akaza's eyes shot directly at Eira, but as he met her glance, his grin dropped into a scowl. Eira's pale blue eyes were saturated with the deepest hatred.

"I know you, this is going to be fun," Akaza almost immediately recognised Eira. He knew her as the rookie he had swiped away with one hit. The friend of Ali who he hated so deeply. Of course, he wasn't going to kill her. More so brutally humble her, allow her to see the staggering gap between a strong human and a strong demon. First, he dealt with the weaklings. Many stood stagnantly, following Eira's orders of only ambushing once they found a sure opportunity. Yukina had completely frozen in the face of this immense danger. She stood a step back and felt her back press against the tree trunk, she had only done two missions before, to which she completed to a high degree, but she felt completely powerless in the face of Upper Moon Three.

Almost too fast for the human eye to see, Akaza dashed towards his first victim. His foot dug into the ground to propel him in any direction, any bush and any position where the people who were supposed to inject him with syringes stood. It was as if they were a fly, he swiftly swatted the first victim. The Demon Slayer's entire right torso area was blown off, the detached body part slammed into the ground and became a pile of scattered muscles and blood.

Akaza's arms flexed as he turned his body around, with a single vicious punch to the air, a powerful blue shockwave ferociously fabricated in the air. The unnatural technique tore through the air, aimed directly at a subsequent line of bushes. One by one, the shockwave brutally ripped through the frail leaves of the bush and likewise shredded the poor bodies of the members that hid there. All that was left were grotesquely bruised bodies in the ripped bushes, instantly dead. The purple-swollen bodies served as a reminder to how fatal a single attack from Akaza could be if faced head-on.

Eira leapt forward, using the tree as a booster pad. She was the only one who could match Akaza's speed and technique. The air became a hint colder as she travelled astonishingly fast, she dug her feet into the ground to halt herself in front of Akaza.

"Let's fight!" Akaza's voice boomed with excitement as he felt Eira's increasing spite and anger. The battle was happening extremely fast. Every swing of Eira's sword was met by a block by Akaza's fist. A quick symphony of clashing attacks played like a child erratically playing a xylophone. Eira's body exerted itself to the max as she averaged three swings towards Akaza's body per second. The intense encounter was joined by Ayumu, who raced forward and aimed a swing at Akaza's head from behind.

Akaza's sensory perception allowed him to quickly react. He let his body fall backwards at a greatly obtuse angle, ducking under Ayumu's attack. As Ayumu's blade finished the swing revolution, Akaza extended his arm and grabbed Ayumu by the waist tightly. Ayumu felt his throat tighten at the intense grip, he felt as if his bones would snap into several pieces. Akaza felt Eira's blade slice relentlessly at his stomach and legs as his arms became occupied with Ayumu, her reach was too short to swing at his head, not that she had enough time to lean forward. Akaza heaved and threw Ayumu forwards, directly at Eira. Their bodies collided and they both slammed into the ground, spinning backwards. 

Not even a second after Akaza had cleverly countered their double attack, a weakling with a Wisteria syringe had dashed into the battle. He pointed the syringe at Akaza's right side. Akaza was still leant back far, a clear moment of vulnerability, at least what the weakling thought. Akaza almost instantly stood up straight, however, the weakling was not as quick to change his momentum. Akaza grabbed the weakling's syringe-holding arm and ripped it clean off, finishing the ordeal with a slam of his fist into the poor boy's neck.

Akaza's eyes were enlightened with excitement and ecstasy as he relished in the never-ending barrage of challenges. This ambush was weak, yet well-thought-out. The only people Akaza wanted to fight were Ayumu and Eira, their fighting spirits intrigued him greatly. He wondered how far they could be pushed til they collapsed. It hadn't even been a minute, yet all chaos had broken out, six people had been killed by Akaza.

Ice Breathing. Fourth Form. Winter's Breeze.

Eira's body hurled forward as she intricately used her backwards momentum and caught herself in a dashing stance. She launched herself off the ground and slashed at the air, a powerful slice aimed directly at Akaza.

Akaza lifted his arms to block the fatal slice, a wide grin on his face as he leant into the attack. The blisteringly cold blade cleaved into his tough muscles and bones and cut them straight off. Eira's eyes lit up as she rapidly studied Akaza's position, her eyes frantically taking in every bit of information about her area. Akaza had killed most ambushers in the area, except for a single person who was still hiding in a tree. By now, Eira could infer Akaza possessed an ability to predict attacks, therefore, the only way she could hope any of the remaining ambushers could get an injection was by either restricting his movement completely or creating a situation where he couldn't stop the ambushers without dying.

Time was stagnant as Eira's spirit intensified with extreme pressure on her shoulders, after witnessing Akaza's ruthless attacks that killed people on impact, one thing was clear.

They were needles in this sword fight. She needed to be prepared to lose all of them if they weren't of use.

Akaza's arms regenerated almost instantly, exactly what Eira had to stop. He launched himself backwards into the air before Eira could unleash any more attacks head-on. Eira readied her blade against her side once again and swung viciously to form a lethal barrage of air slashes directly at the airborne Akaza. The air slashes whistled through the air at an alarming speed.

Blood Demon Art. Destructive Death: Air Type.

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Author's Note:

DAMN I forgot how hard fights are to write, the hardest part is probably to articulate a fast-paced fight through writing. This chapter was actually much much longer before I cut it up and decided to use the last third for the next chapter.

ARE YOU GUYS ENJOYING THE FIGHT SEQUENCE?

FOUR OUT OF FIVE CHAPTERS DONE. TODAY IS THE LAST DAY BTW. EXPECT A CHAPTER IN THE NEXT 12 HOURS.

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