Healing the Hell

There was always someone's blood left on him, and it was the only way. Slaying a demon with the healing blow, he inevitably put a human through sheer agony. "Ninth form," The slayer exhaled, pressing the blade deeper into the enemy scattered on the ground. Seeing the torments coming, the latter tried to free himself for the last time but failed. “Purgatory!” A whirlwind of raging fire soared into the night sky, burning everything out within meters around. Burning the darkness out of the mutilated human soul of the demon who was writhing in agony. Healing flames penetrated every cell of the monster’s body, causing the blood to boil inside his veins. And then – abruptly – it faded away, giving its way to thick smoke and dust rising from the ground. The demon let out his last cry, which morphed into a faint groan escaping his throat. The groan of the human passing out. Rengoku didn’t wait for the smoke to shred away. He sheathed his blade, then carefully lifted the body and moved it to the soft, cool grass under the clear sky. The former demon’s wound wasn’t dangerous. If bandaged properly and timely, which Rengoku started doing right away. In the Butterfly Estate, they would cope with this injury in a heartbeat. So all he needed to do was just to get the poor guy there. Who would have thought that there might be any problems with this? “I don’t like it when I’m being robbed, you know. That belongs to me,” a voice came from the forest edge. Rengoku stood up quickly, his hand on the hilt again. That voice. So melodious and lilting, and so soft that it was almost mocking. And bone-chilling. If you ever hear such a voice in the dark of the night, be sure there is a demon in front of you. “But you’re lucky today, Pillar,” the invisible enemy was aware of who he was going to face. “He got me bored anyway.” The moment the figure stepped out into the moonlight, Rengoku knew it would not be easy. The demon’s body was streaked with dark blue lines and his eyes were glowing yellow, a stark contrast to the cadaverous gray skin. Only the one who had lost himself a long time ago could look like that. And you could only guess how many years, or even decades, or even centuries this demon wandered around the world; how many people he killed and devoured; how much strength he possessed. For such a monster, even turning back into a human being could not guarantee a full recovery. It might be impossible for him to return to his former life. However, Rengoku was not here to judge. The slayer unsheathed his katana and took a fighting stance. Whatever the case, it was his duty to protect anyone’s life. To put an end to the chain of tragedies and give a chance to any soul that was led astray. A gust of northerly wind ruffled bright pink hair. The demon’s thin lips formed a grin, revealing small but sharp fangs. And in a blink of a moment, those very fangs were almost at Rengoku’s face. A gray hand, which was reaching for the unconscious man, was immediately sent flying, and just a second later thudded to the grass. “Amazing reaction!” The demon blurted out excitedly, returning to a safe distance. It took him only a moment to fully recover his elbow-cut limb. “But you can’t restrain me anyway!” “It is my duty to restrain you!” The slayer talked back and gripped the katana tighter. “You won’t kill anymore!” “How about we make a deal?” The demon strolled to the side with his hands behind the back and his laughing snake-like eyes fixed on the opponent. Such a playful serenity, which could easily cost you your life the second you fall for it. At any point, the demon could attack again. “If you win, I’ll leave that weakling to you. If I win, we’ll find out what sort of a demon the Flame Hashira will turn out to be!” There was an obvious flaw somewhere in this plan. In the case of Rengoku’s victory, he would get not one but two former demons for rehabilitation. However, it didn’t matter because… “I don’t make any deals with demons!” “Right. How silly of me. We could just skip the fight. Just come with me,” The monster reached out his hand to meet the other person, his palm turned up in an inviting gesture. “With such talent, you will make an outstanding demon. You can’t even imagine how much you’ll increase your strength after you are reborn!” “No!” Rengoku simply replied and then smiled right in the demon’s face, providing him with hope. Hope for salvation, albeit not yet realized. “Well,” was all the demon said before taking his combat stance. They took off almost simultaneously. The blade, cutting the air with flames, and the icy blue of the blood demon art. Up to this point, Rengoku had only suspected his opponent to be much stronger than the average demons, but now there was no doubt about it left. The slayer parried his precise punches in the last moments, and the ferocious power of those attacks could not be compared to the most challenging cases Rengoku had dealt with before. Soon enough, they switched roles. Rengoku gave up attacking and was forced to only defend himself instead, retreating further and further backward. None of his techniques allowed him to come closer and immobilize the demon. The latter seemed to foresee his every action, regenerated in no time, and increased the distance between them more and more, managing to deliver his blows even from that far. A fresh blow went along the blade with a dreadful clang and landed right under the slayer’s ribs knocking him out of balance. “Come with me while I’m asking nicely”, the demon called, cupping his hand around the corner of his mouth. “Otherwise, I’ll take what is mine by force and kill the one you are desperately trying to save!” “No! You won’t kill anybody else!” Rengoku said again. He had no right to give up. And he didn’t want to. And yet… Too fast. Once again, he had a narrow escape. Another blow almost cost him his life. Too fast and way too strong. A shockwave, which he didn’t succeed to cut through, threw him back, and Rengoku flew about ten meters across the ground before he managed to take over the situation and get to his feet. His temple was throbbing with pain, and his left eye was flooded with blood from the wound above. He had his left shoulder dislocated, and his right flank hurt when he was breathing in. “You still have a chance!” the demon shouted to him. He didn’t push forward, allowing the slayer to have a little break. And while these words carried a completely different meaning in the demon’s mind, Rengoku turned them to his own advantage. Right. As long as he breathes, there is always a chance. Breathing. He had to regain control of breathing, just as his opponent could recover from all the damage received. Breathe in for four seconds, hold it for four more, and then breathe out for another four. The only thing he needed to do in order to win this chance was just to get closer. Get closer to… “Dumbass!” with mad laughter and without a hint of fatigue, the demon rushed into the attack again as soon as the slayer moved. Control your breathing. Direct the full strength into the legs. Dodge all the remote strikes and don’t waste energy on the flame techniques. One blue flash flew within a few centimeters of his head. So was evaded the other one. The third blow almost knocked Rengoku down, but he managed to jump over it. Clinging to the ground with his good hand, Rengoku slipped under a succession of powerful waves. One of them cut off the tip of his fiery red locks, which was a mere trifle in comparison to other damage the slayer had already experienced. His hand slipped inside his jacket, fingers groped for a thin paper talisman and pulled it out. In disbelief, with his eyes wide open, the demon watched as the slayer rolled to him without using any of his techniques. “What the hell are you-” he woke up and was about to jump back, but a short scroll of paper with ink kanji was already wrapped around one of his ankles. He didn’t even get a chance to read them and get the meaning. Right after the talisman touched the skin, the leg gave out. That was more than enough for Rengoku. The demon stumbled, then tried to move his weight to the other leg, but the slayer had already reached for it too. “What the hell!” the startled demon shouted while falling to the ground. His legs, being completely paralyzed, became useless and he was unable to resort to any of those acrobatic tricks which had allowed to avoid most of the slayer’s best attacks and helped him out so many times earlier in their battle. “What did you do to me, you bastard?!” he roared, struggling to turn his body so that he could get to his ankles and rip the cursed talismans off. But it was too late. Rengoku was on his feet again. He gripped his katana tightly and raised it above the opponent, tip looking down. “Ninth form” he croaked, feeling completely exhausted but forcing himself to steady his breathing one more time. The blade sank into the demon’s flesh. “Purgatory!”