Demon Slayer : The Silent Journey

Author : Double chapter 💀

_______

[Seiji's POV]

I regained consciousness as quickly as I lost it. A huge sense of relief washed over my soul when I realized I could see Muzan in front of me.

I had never been so glad to see his ugly face.

But I did not see his face for long as a flail swung at his head. It was a ball of pure iron the size of a basketball with spikes on it.

The ball seemed to possess unworldly momentum and the sheer speed at which it moved was just a consequence. The weapon passed through Muzan's head like it was an illusion.

Clearly, it was not a mere illusion as I saw his head turn into pink mist the moment the weapon smashed into him.

With his head completely gone, I could see the person behind him with nothing to block my view.

"Seiji!!!" Gyomei bellowed.

His muscles bulged, nearly ripping his uniform. Huge muscular veins the size of small snakes wrapped around his body and bulged over his thick skin.

His face was raw anger. I had never seen the kind-hearted Gyomei with such expression. You would not believe how someone so soft-hearted could look so monstrous.

He planted his feet on the ground, and the earth gave up instantly under his feet. The unstoppable momentum of his charge razed the ground and his feet left a small river of violence.

He continued sliding for a long time even after firmly planting his feet on the ground. Then, he pivoted on his heel and rotated his hip to create centrifugal force, and he controlled his flail again.

In the next moment, Muzan's body which was sliced in the middle and held together by tendrils plus lacking a head, was blasted away like a lifeless corpse.

I kept my eyes on it as his body skipped on the ground like a rock skipping in water, he eventually smashed on a small hill far away.

I whistled. The scene was as beautiful as the sunrise.

"Seiji, are you okay?" Gyomei asked immediately as he approached me.

"Yeah, nice save," I wheezed out.

It was only when I breathed normally that I noticed the ache in my lungs. I had been using different breathing styles, switching them up like a girl switching dresses in a clothing store. I think I even made new styles and forms while doing so.

That battle was without a doubt the single most intense fight of my life. I could not even form proper thoughts. Heck, I did not even remember much from the fight.

It was simply pure adrenaline and instincts. My body was so focused and absorbed by the fight that even when I fell unconscious, it fought on its own. It just goes to show how little I was conscious of what I was doing.

That was just how strong Muzan was.

"I got your call for help and immediately made my way here," Gyomei said, I could still see the worry on his face.

I imagined it would be quite scary if the strongest among you called for help. He could only imagine what kind of monster he would be up against.

I think this was also my first time calling for help. It had always been the other way around with the Hashiras calling me for help due to my eyes and strength, to the point where I was referred to as the pillar of pillars.

But now those good deeds have come back for me. I could see from the sheer strain on Giyu's legs that he wasted no time before rushing here.

"I'm glad you are here, Gyomei," I said sincerely and maybe there was something in my voice that I couldn't hear. His eyes widened briefly before he showed a genuine smile, like what you would see from a father or an older brother.

The soft expression didn't last long though as he turned his focus to the direction where Muzan crashed. I think he heard something because he immediately became alert.

Right then, I felt a cold chill run down my spine once more.

Waves after waves of pure hatred and bloodlust hit us. It was like we were standing on a beach with an incoming tsunami. So tall and destructive that we gave up running altogether and only stared at our demise.

"Seiji.." Gyomei said, his voice was slow and measured and I could see goosebumps on his skin.

"What the hell are we up against?"

I had to admit. The Demon King was a completely different beast when he was angry. The sheer intent for massacre I felt even from this distance was choking.

"That is Muzan Kibutsuji," I said, putting a name on the monster before us.

"!!!"

Gyomei thinned his lips, "You mean, that is the Demon King,"

"Yes," I said, "He is the source of it all,"

And then all of the fear and wariness I had seen on Gyomei vanished into thin air. The natural instinct of a living creature, flight or fight was completely ignored.

It was squashed by the deep emotion that came from his heart. The soul overrides the body at that moment. Instincts were suppressed by an emotion.

I saw Gymoei burn in unbridled rage, so intense that I was caught completely flat-footed. Who would've guessed someone so gentle could bear this much anger?

If I nurtured immense hatred towards the demon for everything they did, then Gyomei had been flaming rage for it.

"....I expected as much when I heard a call from you," he said. He looked like he could explode at any moment.

I could see white smoke, wispy in nature, coming off his body. It was sheer strength materialized.

Even with my perfect training regime and building a perfect body over the years, my physique could still not compete with his. He was just built on different things other than just human flesh.

Maybe I would eventually surpass him with another decade of training but for now, he eclipsed me in raw strength.

"Do you think we can kill him?" he asked. He put much desire on the word kill and again, it was strange coming from him.

"We will," I answered.

Gyomei grabbed my sword which was lodged on the frozen earth and pulled it out with a flex of his hand. He passed it to me before we both noticed that Muzan was slowly coming back to us.

He was like a beacon. His presence was domineering.

My eyes cut through the distance and saw how his body had almost completely healed. He had fully formed his head by now and the only injury was the one I inflicted. It seemed my red blade was working as it was supposed to at least.

'That was too close,' I thought to myself when I recalled the last attack. I had nearly lost it all right then and there.

If I lose my eyes, it would be a huge blow to my overall power. I could forget ever killing Muzan. I was over-reliant on my eyes.

That was a good wake-up call for me, both in terms of my confidence and my fighting style. And I was glad it came without a consequence.

But...

It also really fucking pissed me off.

These fucking demons took my hearing from me, and now they were trying to take my vision. How. Fucking. Dare. You.

My anger, coupled with Gyomei's emotional outburst caused me to release the deep hatred in my heart in the form of bloodlust. If Muzan could have such bloodlust and anger due to the simple humiliation, imagine mine.

Muzan stopped in his tracks immediately.

"Water Breathing : Eleventh form," I said, utilizing the emotion in my heart.

"Living's Malice,"

It flooded out from my body - the feeling of hatred and killing intent so strong it transcended the psychic plane and manifested itself to the world. It was not just a feeling anymore, they could see it, smell it, hear it and interact with it.

Muzan stopped on his track, his senses became fully alert and he looked around himself. It felt like the world was against him. The waving of vegetation, and the swinging of a tree branch to the breezing wind, all felt like an attack.

He was simply rooted in his spot, his mind reacted to even the smallest change in the environment. He felt like those were going to kill him.

Gyomei was not sure what I did since my intent was not on him. But he knew when to take advantage of an opening.

He moved like an elephant on crack. Every step he took sent a rumble on the earth as he stampeded towards Muzan with his weapon spinning like the blades of a helicopter.

"Stone Breathing : First form," he tugged at his chain and then the flail started spinning and became a drill that could make a valley.

"Serpentine Bipolar,"

I wouldn't want to be at the receiving end of the attack. I could see that Gyomei held nothing back, there was no kindness or mercy in his action. He truly wanted to decimate Muzan with every fibre of his being.

Muzan reacted, but barely. He put his arm together to block but as a result, his arm from his elbow below was ripped apart. The damage inflicted by the flail was like a rasengan, something spinning violently without a stop.

Muzan's eight tendrils stood in attention all around him but they never strike Gyomei. They were on guard, they didn't have the bravery to attack when it felt like everything was out to get him. They merely acted like bodyguards for Muzan.

Gyomei took full advantage of Muzan's confusion and started dismantling him in a show of the worst of violence - cruelty.

A fighting technique had never been so raw and merciless. A burst of shockwave, like a bomb explosion, followed each attack Gyomei made. Muzan could only retreat helplessly, still affected by my killing intent.

I deemed then that it was my time to make a move. I knew what I was doing would not work on Muzan forever, he would adapt to it and then we would be at a disadvantage.

My body had recovered in that few minutes of pause. It might not sound like much but for a Sun Breathing user, that was a long break.

I closed my eyes to remember the feeling I had when Muzan caught me. That time, I was able to move my body even when I was unconscious, almost like Rock Lee's innate ability of drunken fighting.

I remember the feeling of helplessness. I remember the darkness and silence. I thought it was over for me then and there. But somehow, I was saved without my own thoughts.

Yet at that moment, I was much faster and more efficient in my actions. Muzan already held my face but I was able to cut him without his notice and before he could do anything.

How?

...

I know.

My mind.

My goddamn mind was complicating things. It was feeling things, and thinking of unimportant things amid the battle. Even when I tried to focus my whole mind, it was straying away from the fight and onto random things.

I could focus my mind on the battle but what would be even better was to just stop thinking altogether.

I had been doing something close to it since the start of the battle. So I did that again, but even more so.

I put my mind out of the equation entirely.

When I opened my eyes, my mind was blank. My purple eyes had no light of consciousness as I let my body in charge.

That didn't mean that I had no purpose though because I did.

Immense hatred for the demons. That became my driving force, my sole purpose for existence.

..

..

/////////////////

[3rd POV]

Seiji shut down all thoughts in his mind. Now his brain was only focused on processing the information his eyes took in.

Before his eyes would take in the world and immense information, his mind would take that and take its sweet time to ponder on the meaning and purpose, then it would send it to his body to react.

And now it was just his eyes, his body. His eyes process the information and the body reacts instantly to that information. A body that had been trained for years to perfection, like a machine with a perfect programme.

Seiji was like a living machine at that moment. Maybe there was a reason why his demon slayer mark materialized like computer circuits.

The hatred in his heart was the driving force, killing the enemy was the purpose

Seiji brought his sword up and vanished from his place, A powerful gust of wind followed his movement and the few trees that remained standing bent towards the direction he was going.

Faster than ever before, Seiji blitzed past Muzan with his red blade.

The Demon King screamed, his tendrils that stood guard were all cut off. He did not see the attack coming because everything felt like an attack.

His echoing voice soon stopped as well because an axe ripped the top part of his face off.

The battle continued, seemingly in favour of the humans.

..

..

[IMAGE]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author : Yeah, it's kinda like ultra instinct but with a glaring weakness and that is his mind is not in control.

In this state, Seiji is more efficient and stronger but he has no battle IQ.

Think of it like artificial intelligence and human intelligence. Ai is better at performing tasks, memorization and knowledge but it will always lack human creativity which is the main innovation.

And Ai knows only what the human knows. So in this state, the fighting techniques are all based on memorization, he can't come up with new strategies, or forms of attack.

Thank you for reading and it is double chapter.