Demon Slayer: The Demon Hunter

Word count: 1625

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Fujino lay on the ground, lost in a deep slumber, drool leaking from his lips. Meanwhile, the one responsible for his state lingered nearby, the head of the demon emerging from the mass of flesh, hovering ominously above him.

Enmu gazed down at him, a smirk playing on his lips, filled with amusement and a touch of arrogance. "Ahh~, that was quite the close call! You nearly had me there. But you fell for it, just as I thought. Now, I get to feast on the passengers while you experience your worst fears."

A glimmer of excitement sparkled in Enmu's eyes as he blushed slightly. "I can only imagine the faces you'd make, the way your face would contort in despair when you witness how I devoured all the passengers. It would be delightful."

As Enmu indulged in his twisted fantasies, he became so distracted that he failed to notice the smacking sound coming from the top of the cabinet beside him. The metal creaked and bent further before finally giving way.

"Hahahaha! Follow me, kendaro, I know where the demon is!" a loud, boisterous voice echoed, belonging to a shirtless boy wearing a boar helmet and wielding two serrated katanas. He jumped from the hole alongside another figure.

"W-wait, hold on, Inosuke. The demon's scent is too strong; we should be careful.," said the boy adorned with hanafuda earrings and a green and black checkered kimono.

"Bah, who needs to be careful? It's just a demon; we'll cut its head off and..." Inosuke trailed off, going quite. Tanjiro, noticing his friend's rare speechlessness, quickly turned to what he was looking and understood his friend's predicament..

Before them loomed the mass of pink flesh, with a head perched at the very top, hovering right above an unconscious Fujino while giggling to itself in a perverse manner.

"..."

"..."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the two, primarily due to their disbelief. Tanjiro felt a whirlwind of emotions; he was relieved to reunite with Fujino after a while, yet anxious for his safety since the demon posed a clear threat. Fear also crept in, as Tanjiro could sense the demon's strength from its scent.

As for Inosuke...

"Hey, Kamado, when did demons start having long necks? Do you think your sister has one?"

Well, The King of the Mountain isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

"Oh, you're awake?" The voice jolted them from their daze. The demon was hovering nearby, paying close attention to the newcomers. Enmu opened his mouth to speak but stopped. As he focused on Tanjiro, a smile spread across his face.

"I see, so you're the one after all. That makes sense now," Enmu said cryptically, leaving the slayer duo puzzled. "I've only known you for a minute, yet your very existence is... well, it's incredibly irritating, you know? That must be why he asked me to kill you."

Tanjiro swallowed hard, partly due to the "Lower 1" mark on Enmu's eye and partly because he was being targeted by this demon for reasons he didn't understand.

"Ah well, you guys must be confused, I'll try to make this quick. While you two were dozing off, I merged with the train itself! My bones, flesh, blood—every inch of this train is now part of my body."

'He... merged with the train?' Tanjiro's face reflected a mix of horror and understanding. Ever since he boarded that train, he sensed something was off. Even after Rengoku defeated the supposed demon responsible for the disappearances, he still felt a lingering unease about the entire situation.

The realization that they had been practically inside the demon all along was terrifying.

'The demon and the train are one?' Inosuke's thought process spiraled to a new level. Having been raised in the wilderness among boars, he was well-acquainted with the variety of predators and how dangerous they could be.

To him, this train was a formidable beast, a challenge that he wanted to conquer. Discovering that it was not only a demon but also the one that took down his rival meant that this train-demon hybrid was his super-duper-ultimate rival!

And Inosuke never backs down from a fight!

"This makes everything even more exciting! Watch his, kompachiro. I, Inosuke, lord of the mountain, will take you down! Inosuke declared with determination as he drew his twin katanas from their sheaths and charged at the demon.

"Inosuke, wait! Hold on!" Tanjiro shouted, but his pleas went unheard as Inosuke leaped high into the air, preparing to strike the demon.

The ground around Enmu began to bubble, as metal transformed into grotesque flesh, quickly overtaking the roof of the carriage. Multiple tendrils of flesh erupted from the grotesque mass and shot toward the airborne Inosuke.

With a laugh, Inosuke skillfully dodged and weaved as the tendrils were launched at him. His remarkable flexibility made it easy for him to twist mid-air and slice through one of the tendrils that aimed to hit him in a sweeping motion.

Inosuke landed on a tendril and propelled himself forward, evading several attacks along the way. "Beast Breathing Fourth Fang: Slice 'n' Dice!" His blades blurred as he unleashed a flurry of strikes against the fleshy assaults, each one falling as he found himself descending straight toward Enmu.

"Here I come! Beast Breathing Second Fang: Slice!" His twin swords formed an X-shaped attack aimed at the tentacle where Rui's head was located, but Inosuke was suddenly halted by a hand that gripped his neck.

Multiple fleshy hands sprang forth, clutching various parts of him, tightening their grip as choking sounds echoed. However, It wouldn't achieve much yet.

Tanjiro wasn't just standing by while his friend fought; he was waiting for the perfect moment to intervene, and that moment had arrived. "Water Breathing Sixth Form: Whirlpool!" Tanjiro twisted his body, creating a water-like whirlpool of slashes that severed the hands and freed Inosuke.

Tanjiro exclaimed, "I've got you, Inosuke!" as he caught the mountain boy who was about to fall. Inosuke coughed a bit to catch his breath and silently mouthed a "thank you" in response. After a brief moment, they both regained their footing and readied themselves for the fight.

"Not bad, your teamwork deserves some recognition. But it seems you're overlooking something," Enmu said, as more flesh began to spread, enveloping the other carriages. Soon, the entire train resembled a massive pink blob.

"While you're busy fighting and trying to hold me back, tell me, can you prevent me from consuming the passengers?" Enmu asked, fully aware of the answer, just as they were.

No, they couldn't. The train had several carriages, each nearly filled with people. Nezuko was currently working on waking Tetsuya and Rengoku, so until they received confirmation, they were out of the equation.

"Actually, why don't I start right now, beginning with your friend?" he said, as a tentacle shot out from him, wrapping tightly around Fujino and lifting him high.

This, of course, infuriated both slayers.

"No! You—"

"You coward—"

"I wouldn't take another step if I were you," Enmu warned softly, the tentacle tightening around Fujino, causing a pained expression to cross his face. This made both slayers freeze in place.

"Using my rival as a hostage? Fight me like a man!" he growled, gripping his serrated blades tighter, his anger mirrored by his friend.

Inosuke might not know Fujino well—only what his friend had told him—but he felt compelled to save him, even if it meant he could later claim his superiority over him after they win in their fated duel.

"Hmm, no. I don't take unnecessary risks. And I believe there's a Hashira with you, right? In that case, I won't be taking that chance. If you want your friend to be safe, then drop your weapons," he commanded.

Tanjiro and Inosuke remained quiet. They weren't foolish—though Inosuke's judgment could be questionable outside of battle—they understood the demon's intentions. If they surrendered their weapons, they would be relinquishing their only means of defense, turning themselves into easy prey for the demon.

Tanjiro clenched his teeth, his glare filled with fury; this situation was dire. There was no backup available, as he could sense that both Tetsuya and Rengoku were still asleep. He also detected a strong wave of anger coming from—

'Anger? Wait... Fujino?' Tanjiro's attention shifted from Enmu to Fujino, whose face was contorted in a fierce rage that Tanjiro hadn't witnessed since his encounter with Muzan.

"So, what will it be, slayers? Will you sacrifice your friend, or will you choose to resist, knowing that a life will be lost due to your own negligence?" Enmu couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Taking hostages—why hadn't he thought of that sooner? It would have made dealing with other slayers much simpler.

Unfortunately for him, things were about to take an unexpected turn.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Fujino's eyes shot open, and an ear-splitting scream erupted from his throat, so powerful that it drowned out the howling of the incoming wind. Even Enmu flinched, his grip on Fujino's throat loosening. The slayers instinctively took a step back.

Fujino bit down hard on the tendril constricting his neck, his STR allowing him to easily bite through the flesh as if it were soft meat. He swallowed a piece of it, and the transformation began immediately as Demonic Assimilation took effect.

With newfound freedom, Fujino released his grip on his neck, using the tendril as a springboard to propel himself toward the still-stunned Enmu. His muscles tensed, veins bulging, before he struck down on Enmu's head, flattening both the skull and the tendril in the process.

Tanjiro and Inosuke were left speechless by the scene before them, trembling as Fujino shot them a fierce look, his eyes still blazing with anger.

"What?"

<—>

Taisho-era secrets!

The slayers, just like the passengers, were also affected by Enmu's dream-manipulating demon art. Tanjiro found himself dreaming of reuniting with his family, while Rengoku envisioned moments spent with his brother. Tetsuya dreamed of marrying Shimada, and Inosuke's dream was filled with the thrill of battling the fearsome mountain devil, Fujino, along with his ferocious three-headed train pet.

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Apparently, some rumors around college have been circulating that the generous off days we were given would be cut .So, just in case I get overwhelmed with schoolwork, I decided to publish this part of the fight on its own.

Also, I've rewritten some parts in the chapters "Village Life" and "Dreamweaver (1)". The edited sections will be mentioned in the notes at the end of a chapter, so please go and check them out.