Chapter 20: Upper Rank Subjugation War
As for this third-party organization whose identity is unclear whether it is a pal or an enemy, the Demon Slayer Corps' common lord, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, did not give any clear instructions. He only asked everyone to be vigilant and to report immediately to the nearest base if they encountered any incident that might be related to Ratatoskr.
Although Ratatoskr has shown a pally attitude so far, not only killing two evil demons, but also saving the Demon Slayer Corps members and ordinary people involved in the battle, but in the eyes of the Demon Slayer Corps, it is ultimately an organization with demons as members.
Most importantly, they don't know how many members there are in this organization.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki mobilized all the connections and channels he could to investigate Ratatoskr background, but found nothing.
In the next two weeks, there were occasional members of the Demon Slayer Corps claiming to have encountered members who claimed to be Ratatoskr while slaying demons.
It's as if this organization emerged from between the rocks.
While Kagaya Ubuyashiki was worried about the appearance of Ratatoskr, Kotori Itsuka was also worried about another problem.
She couldn't recruit any new members.
After bringing the Kamado siblings, Tamayo, and Yushiro into the organization, she couldn't find any other characters to win over.
In the Demons camp, she met almost all evil Demons who ate people, and they all enjoyed doing so.
As for the Demon Slayer Corps, those who join the Corps either have a deep hatred for demons or want to inherit the spirit of their predecessors. Unless someone is persecuted like Tanjiro Kamado, they will never consider quitting the Corps.
Not to mention, although the Demon Slayer Corps does not give holidays, the organization's benefits are still very generous considering this era.
Not only are there places to stay and accommodation in every city, but if a soldier is killed in battle, his family will also receive a large sum of compensation.
This is not something that the newly established Ratatoskr can do.
After all, the Kotori Itsuka in this world has neither a luxurious battleship flying in the sky nor a big investor behind her.
Even the work of slaying demons had to be done personally by her as the commander. In the past two weeks, she had been running all over Japan to improve the reputation of the Demon Slayer Corps.
She did not forget that the requirement for side quest one was to have a high reputation among both humans and Demons.
In order to complete the first side mission as perfectly as possible, after Tanjiro Kamado finally learned the highest level of breathing techniques, she and the Kamado siblings acted separately, and have been spreading the influence of Ratatoskr during this time.
It is precisely because of this that not only the Demon Slayer Corps noticed them, but even the demons noticed them.
Both Kotori Itsuka and Kamado Tanjiro can feel that the demons they encounter are becoming more and more powerful.
After all, a bad reputation is still a reputation.
Then another week passed.
After confirming that Ratatoskr had attracted enough attention from both the human and demon camps, Kotori Itsuka and the Kamado siblings reunited.
"Commander, what are we doing here?"
Tokyo, Flower Street.
Tanjiro Kamado, wearing a conical hat and carrying a wooden box on his back, and Kotori Itsuka, wearing a demon mask, walked among the bustling crowd.
Unlike the men who were having fun here and the women who were receiving guests, the attire of the two of them was out of tune with the atmosphere of this street, attracting a lot of strange looks from the people around them.
However, they are not the kind of people who care about other people's eyes. Even if they notice it, they will not care.
"What do you think?"
Hearing Tanjiro Kamado brainless question, Kotori Itsuka replied unhappily: "Besides killing demons, do you think I have any other reason to invite you to a place like this?"
"ah..."
Tanjiro Kamado was somewhat awkwardly silent for a while, then asked, "Is there a Demons hidden in this flower street? But how did the commander know?"
"I am the sister of the Flame Pillar. You can find out the movements of the Demon Slayer Corps members just by asking."
"Oh, I see."
Tanjiro Kamado nodded in understanding, without any further doubts.
There are indeed Demons in Huajie.
However, the reason why Kotori Itsuka knew about this was not because she had access to information about the Demon Slayer Corps.
Although she is indeed a member of the Flame Pillar's family, for reasons of confidentiality, the families of Demon Slayer Corps members cannot directly participate in the missions and movements of the Demon Slayer Corps.
The reason she knew there were Demons in the Flower Street was simply because she was a time traveler.
In the logistics team of the Demon Slayer Corps, after hearing that the Sound Pillar Uchiha Tengen had taken several members of the Demon Slayer Corps to carry out a mission, Kotori Itsuka knew where the timeline of this world had advanced to.
Although Kyōjurō Rengoku did not die in the Infinite Train incident, this does not affect what will happen next.
Defeat the Upper Six, Daki and Kibutaro, who are hiding in the flower street.
"As long as I can defeat these two upper-rank demons with the Demon Slayer Corps present, I will become completely famous in both the Demon Slayer Corps and the evil demon camps."
Walking on the street, Kotori Itsuka was thinking about her next move.
Although more than half a month has passed since the Infinite Train incident was resolved and Ratatoskr appeared in the sight of demons and humans, and the name Ratatoskr was known to all the members of the Demon Slayer Corps, knowing and respecting are two different things.
Whether it is demons or humans, Ratatoskr is just an organization that needs their attention.
If you want to truly achieve a high reputation, you must do something that neither camp expects.
Defeating the Twelve Kizuki Demons is obviously the best way.
After all, for the Demon Slayer Corps, although they have killed countless Lower-Rank demons over the past few hundred years, they have never successfully defeated any Upper-Rank demons.
The same goes for Demons . The position of the upper-rank demons has never changed for hundreds of years, and they are like a mountain that is suffocating the Demon Slayer Corps.
As long as they can be the most outstanding one in this long-awaited war against the Twelve Kizukis, the organization of Ratatoskr will be truly taken seriously by the people and demons of both camps.
Not only can the reputation-related side quest 1 increase the completion progress, but the side quest 2 that requires defeating five pillar-level members or upper-rank demons can also do the same.
"Let's go, let's find a place to stay for a few days until the battle starts..."
"boom----!"
Just as Kotori Itsuka was preparing to find an inn to rest and wait for the Sound Pillar Tengen Uzui to start fighting with the Upper Six, the sound of fierce fighting suddenly came from a flower shop not far away.
Looking up, I saw two figures fighting like Demons under the moonlight.
"It looks like we've arrived at the right time."
Kotori Itsuka smiled softly and glanced at Tanjiro Kamado who was getting nervous beside her.
"Tanjiro. It's time to test your progress."
"I underestimated you a little bit."
Feeling the toxin being injected into his body, with tiny cuts all over his body, Tengen Uzui with disheveled hair used breathing techniques to forcibly control the spread of the toxin.
His eyes remained fixed on the two upper-rank demons in front of him, looking for a way to break the impasse.
Although he knew that there were Demons in this red-light district, and his three wives who were sent on the infiltration mission also disappeared because of it, what he didn't expect was that the Demons hidden in this small red-light district was actually an upper-rank Demons.
And there are two upper strings.
Looking at the evil Demons with words engraved in his eyes, Tengen Uzui handsome face was full of solemnity.
"Hey, you're still able to stand after being poisoned by me, what an enviable body you have."
Holding two sickles that were squirming with flesh and blood, Gyutaro said with a sinister look in his eyes: "You are indeed very strong, much stronger than the pillars that my brother and I have eaten before, but you are just a mortal after all."
"Brother, stop talking nonsense with him and get rid of him quickly."
After growing a third eye and becoming a complete form, Daki bit her lip in hatred: "This bastard actually chopped off my head twice! I have never suffered such a great humiliation since I became a Demons!"
Daki and Gyutaro are two demons with one mind and one body.
Only when Daki is in danger will the Gyutaro hidden in her body wake up.
Only when Gyutaro leaves her body can Daki release her full power.
What Tengen Uzui is facing now is the real Upper Six.
"He was chopped off twice, but he didn't die. Could it be that there is some kind of symbiotic relationship between these two guys?"
Although his body was already feeling tired, Tengen Uzui mind was still working quickly. After a fight, he immediately guessed the reason why Daki was not dead.
"So, we have to chop off the heads of both demons at the same time to completely destroy them."
He licked his dry lips, his mood had reached rock bottom.
He is indeed very confident in his own abilities.
If he faced any one of these two upper ranks alone, he was confident that he could kill them.
But one-to-one and one-to-two are two completely different concepts.
Although he brought a few helpers from Yinli, their fighting ability was not strong and they were only responsible for luring out the Demons hidden in the flower street.
Letting them join the war would restrict his actions and make him a burden.
"If you don't plan to run away, are you interested in accepting our help?"
Just as Tengen Uzui was racking his brains to find a way out of the impasse, a proud girl's voice came from not far away.
Part of the attention of Upper Six and Tengen Uzui was drawn over.
"Ratatoskr?!"
Although they were irreconcilable enemies, when they saw the person appearing on the roof not far away, they said this name in unison.
A girl wearing an evil spirit mask, a boy wearing a bamboo hat and a haori with a pine tree pattern, and a girl holding a bamboo tube in her mouth.
This distinctive style of dress has long been known among demons and the Demon Slayer Corps.
"It seems like we have become somewhat famous too."
Kotori Itsuka carried the Scorching Demon Slayer and said leisurely, "Since you know who we are, there's no need to introduce our Spirit."
"It really is you guys."
Gyutaro has completely shifted his attention away from Tengen Uzuiand focused it all on Kotori Itsuka and her group.
To him, Ratatoskr was obviously a greater threat than a half-crippled Pillar-level member.
After all, this organization was the one that Muzan mentioned to pay more attention to when he summoned all the upper-rank demons in the Infinite Castle last time.
"We are so lucky. If we catch you, Lord Muzan will definitely reward us with more blood."
Gyutaro waved the two sickles in his hands and looked at Kotori Itsuka and her group as if he had seen a treasure that had been delivered to his doorstep.
Although Muzan Kibutsuji said that they need to be more careful, to Gyutaro, it seems that this organization's best record so far is just killing one of the Lower Moons, and there is nothing to be cautious about.
The gap between the waxing and waning phases is more than just a little bit.
Even if the six lower moons were added together, they would not be able to defeat the last-ranked upper six.
The reason why Muzan mentioned Gyutaro was simply because there were two demons in this organization who were not under his control, and the Upper Ranks needed to collect as much information as possible, and it would be best if they could capture them alive.
Unexpectedly, the mission target actually came to the door.
Moreover, the two demons that Muzan and Gyutaro specifically wanted to capture alive are actually gathered together.
Both Daki and Gyutaro had excited smiles on their faces.
Although they were not very interested in the rankings, it was somewhat embarrassing to always be ranked last among the upper ranks.
As long as they can complete the task assigned to them by Muzan Kibutsujithis time and obtain more of Muzan blood, they will definitely be able to replace the strength of Upper Five.
"Now that you're here, don't even think about leaving!"
Before Tengen Uzui could say anything, Gyutaro figure flashed and pounced on Ratatoskr and his group.
Seeing that the other party had taken the bait, the Kamado siblings beside Kotori Itsuka looked at each other and dodged to the sides at the same time.
Then, he walked around Gyutaro and stood with Tengen Uzui.
"Clang——!"
The sickle and the axe collided.
Gyutaro was not at all surprised that Kotori Itsuka was able to block his attack.
His advantage is not strength.
Without hesitation, the blood demon technique was activated.
The flesh and blood wrapped around the sickle seemed to come alive, and the sticky dark blood turned into sharp flying arrows, piercing towards Kotori Itsuka at an extremely fast speed.
"boom----!"
Then, the flames started.
In the blazing flames, the flying arrow made of blood evaporated almost instantly.
Feeling the warmth coming towards him, Gyutaro face changed slightly and he immediately pulled back.
Then he swung the knife without hesitation and cut off the arm that was stained with flames.
There is a demon among Ratatoskr that can control fire, Muzan Kibutsuji mentioned this during the Infinite Castle meeting.
Moreover, the controlled flame is not an ordinary flame. Once it is touched, it cannot be extinguished.
Unless the burning body part is cut off directly, the flames will quickly spread throughout the body, causing the possessed person to feel infernal pain.
"Don't worry, I don't want to leave."
Surrounded by the raging flames, a cruel smile appeared on the corner of Kotori Itsuka mouth.
"But you, don't run away with your tail between your legs."