Mugen Train Arc (Part 2)

(A/N): This is a backtrack of the previous chapter on what had happened to Enmu + Akaza talking with Rengoku.

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(Enmu POV)

Standing atop the train, I hug myself as I feel Kibutsuji-sama's blood run through my veins. Being the only Lower Moon left, I took it upon myself to get strong enough with Kibutsuji-sama's blood so that I can receive even more. My plan to overtake the Mugen Train and kill all of its occupants was going flawlessly until I had two variables enter.

The two Hashiras who had boarded completely bypassed my Blood Demon Art and woke when my pawns entered their train car. Because of their interference, now each of the Demon Slayers were awake. Among those who were awake, I found myself staring at a young boy with a scar on his forehead with a mask plastered to the right side of his face.

"Oh, are you awake? Good morning. You could've slept in, though."

Giving a friendly wave to the boy, he gives an angered, worried look to me.

"I wonder why?" I continue. "I gave you a good dream, didn't I? You know, I could've given you a dream where your whole family gets slaughtered. Would you have preferred that? Of course not. It's not nice, is it?"

Chuckling into my hand, I think of to put this boy back in a dream and fall off the train.

"Well then, this time… How about a dream where your father's alive?"

Instead of answering me, I see veins pop out of the boy's head and the aura around him slightly change.

'To be honest, my favorite part is… …when their sweet dream is over, and I give them nightmares. I just love to see a face all twisted with pain! Oh, there's just nothing like it. Who doesn't want to watch someone, brought low by misfortune, suffer and struggle? It's so much fun! Still, I like to be careful. I'm rather thorough about killing demon hunters, even if my methods are a bit roundabout. Yet, this guy chose to wake up from his dream and I would like to know why. The endless desire for sweet, convenient dreams holds such sway over the human heart, yet this boy along with the boar mask chose to wake up when the Hashiras shook them.'

Unsheathing his blade, the boy speaks as if he heard my thoughts.

"Don't trample through people's hearts! I'll never forgive you!"

"You're not even the main dish. Once I'm done with you, I'll kill that one Demon Hunter and then I can receive more of Muzan's blood. Once I get stronger, I can challenge an Upper Rank Demon to a Blood Battle for their rank."

The boy then unleashes a series of slashes which then take the form of a rampaging tiger that's been engulfed in flames.

"'Blood Demon Art: Whispers of Forced Unconscious Hypnosis' Sweet dreams!"

A sound wave then shoots from my hand and directly hits the boy, making his eyes snap shut. Thinking I had won, I slightly jump when the boy opens his eyes.

'He's not falling asleep.'

Slashing at me with his flaming sword, I jump away and say "Sleep."

Losing consciousness once again, the boy plants his feet firmly back on the train just when he's about to fall off and comes charging back at me.

"Sleep."

No matter what I did, the boy broke free of my technique and continued to approach me.

"Sleep! Sleep!"

Watching him grip his sword, I grow desperate.

"Sleep!"

'It's not working. Why? No, that's not it. He's fallen under my spell many times already. The second he starts dreaming, he registers that fact, then commits suicide each time to rise again. He may be dreaming, but it's still suicide. To kill yourself once is grueling enough. It takes an absurd amount of willpower. This brat is… insane!'

Immediately after thinking that, I place the boy in a horrendous nightmare which no one should be able to break from. Yet, I watch as he breaks free faster than before and yells, "They'd never, ever say that! They're my family! Don't insult my family!"

Removing the head of my first body with the flaming tiger, my head flies an entire train car down.

"My patron…" I whisper. "…told us to target a Hashira capable of Sun Breathing. But here I am losing to a boy like you. Somehow, your very existence… just gets on my nerves."

Transforming myself into a mass of flesh, I stare at the lovely expression of the boy and continue to prod at him while revealing that I've fused with the entire train, and I'd be killing every passenger of this train just to get stronger. Trying to slice at my head, I reabsorb myself into the train and wait for him to fall into despair.

However, when I find my consciousness in that of the train, the boar boy in standing directly atop my spine with the train operator unconscious in his arms. Throwing him onto the coals, the boar boy points his serrated katanas at my head.

Hurriedly, I make my flesh appear across the entire train, sending my flesh tendrils out to consume some of the passengers. However, the moment that my tendrils appear, a scorching heat envelops my torso, and a blinding cold envelops my legs.

The flesh for my torso reappears immediately, yet the flesh for my legs can no longer heal and I find myself losing control over the last four cars of the train. Exerting myself to the fullest, I manage to regrasp control over the last four train cars, but my tendrils don't come within an inch of a passenger before the searing heat or blinding cold show themselves again.

Returning my attention back to my head, I look in terror as the boy from before points down at where my neck is. Trying to grab the two of them with my flesh hands, they easily defend and then I watch in horror as the boar boy leaps into the air and slashes just deep enough so that my spine is exposed.

Screaming as I feel the pain, the boy I fought before then goes to slash my neck, but I manage to defend myself in time. Causing the entire area around my neck to change, I send a geyser of flesh up and use 'Blood Demon Art: Eyes of Forced Unconscious Sleep', sending the boy to sleep.

The boy breaks from the dream by killing himself again and, using the mask on his head, places it over his face, giving me no way to know where his eyes are.

Leaping into my enclosure of flesh, I use it again and luckily manage to force him asleep, but like before, he wakes up. Trying it again, I shudder when it doesn't work. Alongside the boy, the boar boy also joins in and begins to cut through my eyeballs.

Working together, the two of them cut directly through my defenses effortlessly and the scarred boy, with his flaming blade, separated my head from my neck, making me feel as though the sun itself was cutting through me.

Knowing I would die, as a last-ditch effort, I try and consume as many of the passengers in a moment. However, the two Hashiras who had stayed behind, dealt with it, saving the passengers.

Causing the train to jump off the tracks, we tumble towards a forested area.

Still shell shocked by what had just occurred, I take my last remaining will and crawl from the train. Looking at the scarred boy who was standing up after getting thrown from the train, my anger and despair reached new heights.

'My body is falling apart. I can't regenerate… Did I lose? Am I going to die? Am I? No… It can't be! I Haven't unleashed my full power! I couldn't devour even a single human. My plan to fuse with the train, and devour all the humans at once, was ruined. I ended up like this. After spending all that time and effort… It's them! It's all because of them! Even though I had 200 passengers as hostages, I was still overpowered. I was suppressed. Such is the power of the Hashiras. That guy… He was fast, too. Even though he couldn't completely break my spell! To begin with, everything started to go wrong when those Hashiras didn't fall under my spell. But this brat in front of me was the one to kill me. In return, I just want to kill him, no matter how.'

'Oh, and that boar, too. If it had just been the brat alone, I could've killed him I'm sure, but that boar got in my way. His instincts are abnormally sharp, and he wouldn't fall under the spell of my gaze. Am I going to lose? Am I going to die? This is a nightmare. This is a nightmare! It's always the lowest level demons who get killed by demon hunters. The Upper Rank Demons have only changed once for the last hundred years and that's only because of that one Hashira. They even killed some of the Hashira, who have killed so many demons, themselves. Are our strengths simply worlds apart? Even after receiving so much blood, I still wasn't on par with the upper ranks. I want a reset. I want a reset! Where this time, the Hashiras fall asleep too.'

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(Akaza POV)

Ruffling my hand through my hair, I sigh in disappointment at the work of the supposed Lower Kizuki One. Beyond creating a few minor wounds on the Demon Hunters, they seem to be perfectly fine and if not in the same shape they were when they boarded. I tried to warn Kibutsuji that it was pointless to trust so much in the Lower Kizuki, but this was apparently their last chance.

Looking at the aura of the boy and the boar who tried to free the train operator whose leg was stuck under the train, I sigh in disappointment at their weak auras. As I begin to think that my journey was nothing more than a waste of time, a glorious, flaming aura shows itself to me.

Cracking a smile, the wind blows slightly, kicking up a cloud of dust from the wreckage of the train. Kneeling in that cloud of smoke, I peer through it, directly at the Hashira strength individual who was speaking with the two weaklings.

Bothered that the two weaklings might interfere with my fight against the Hashira, I dash towards the weaker one and try to crush his head. Both like I had expected and like I had dreaded, the Hashira protected him, cleaving his flaming sword straight through my fist and a part of my arm.

Summersaulting backwards three times, the Hashira begins to slowly make his way away from the two weaklings, out into a more open field. Flinging my halved arm to the side with half going one way and the other the other way, the two then flick together, reforming my hand and absorbing much of the blood.

"Nice sword." I state, impressed that he managed to get that far through my arm.

"I don't understand why you would target those two." The Hashira exclaims.

Shrugging my shoulders, I reply, "I thought he'd get in the way of our conversation."

"What could you and I have to talk about? It's our first meeting, but I already hate you."

Scoffing in my head, I rebuke with, "Really? I hate weak humans too. Weaklings make me sick."

"It seems we have different moral values."

Most likely interpreting that a different way than what he meant, I propose, "How about you become a demon too?"

"No way." The Hashira instantly replies.

"I knew it the instant I saw you. From your strength, you must be a Hashira? The fighting spirit of yours in refined, and you're getting closer to the supreme realm."

"I am the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku." He introduces himself.

"I'm Akaza. Kyojuro, I'll tell you why you haven't crossed into the supreme realm. It's because you're just a human. You will grow old, and eventually die. Become a demon, Kyojuro. If you do, for a hundred, or even 200 years, you can continue training, and become stronger."