A large alley on the border of the entertainment district - 8:10 PM
The scraping of feet under dry dirt resounded in the night air, followed by the trampling of a collective dozen more steps towards the pair who had now stalled in the middle of the dingy alley. Ichinose's eyes darted between the two great threats that had essentially locked onto them, what on earth did he do to deserve this double-edged fate?
The Lower Moon had seemingly stopped the enjoyment of it's disturbing meal, as it looked up, the being's mouth opened wide, dropping what looked to be a separated arm from it's drooping jaw. The arm made contact with the ground in a sickening splat, blood slowly coursing its way out of the appendage and onto the floor. The demon proceeded to leap from its position in a flash, in the next moment it had planted its self upon a nearby roof, it's claws deeply embedded on the slanted tiles which generated an echoing screech. Any gangsters who were not made aware of the demon had now grinded to a halt, staring up to look at the silhouette atop the building slack jawed. The demon had leant down and extended it's body over the edge of the roof, gazing over the bountiful harvest that had seemingly walked right into it's grasp. Blood shot red eyes rattling as they darted from prey-to-prey.
A fresh stillness transcended and had made its self known throughout the air, an entire crowd was able to be silenced by one discrepancy. It was as though they all knew they had become apart of a hunt. The first to move would be sure to set off the commencing bloodbath. The groups of prey were scared stiff, though another presence was very keen on presenting its self to the predator. As opposed to the teeming prey of the hunt, Sukuna stood firm like some great tree, separating animal from food. Ichinose's eyes drifted off to the King of Curses, who proceeded to sign, pointing behind him into the crowd. Before the great tree had uplifted it's roots, a shadowy blur flying into the crowd. Ichinose followed Sukuna's lead, attempting to run into the crowd with as much force as his legs could provide him. The demon had identified the movement of the pair, darting after them, the hunt commenced!
As soon as the demon hit the crowd, screams of the many were heard, people would be crushed as the gangsters forced each other backwards in order to separate themselves from the evil that had made contact with them. A great crush as they attempted to surge behind each other. Meanwhile Sukuna glided in and out of each new space being made available between the moving crowd, like a carp down a gushing river, avoidant of every rock with a slippery ease. Ichinose however was more glued to not dying, he clumsily weaved out of the reach of several of the groups blades as they came down on him, a gun barrel had almost emptied the contents of his skull however it was redirected away at the last minute by the knocking of the gangster's shoulder in the overall moving commotion of the greater group. Ichinose's left ear was bombarded by sound, the gunshot pierced the air as a trickle of blood ran out. With a great ringing overwhelming the senses of his left side, his right ear was all the more keener to what was going on at the front of the crowd. The demon's slaughter had caused a wind all of screams, as messages of death carried themselves with each gust closer and closer. It was as though a meat grinder was headed towards him, ready to mangle his body for mere sustenance.
Sukuna however had already made his way to the other side of the crowd, gaining a rather large distance between the ever decreasing gang. He'd huff, brushing off pieces of gore that had splattered onto his legs and body, as it'd seem the gangsters had sliced their own kind up upon attempting to run away. Long blades in a panicked crowd aren't especially safe. Followed by a stumbling and thrashing of legs, Hayara tripped from out of the edge of the crowd, leaping out into the empty and open space and towards the King of Curses, though not necessarily by choice.
They now observed from a distance as each person was dispatched coldly, the demon did not even consider them a meal as it thrashed its way through each and every morsel, popping them like blood bags. The great crowd reduced to a pile of bodies, either stamped in by their fellow comrades as they tried to run, or viciously ripped into by that relentless monster. The kanji eyes of the lower moon rushed to catch sight of the only living beings left, Hayara and Sukuna. It slowly walked through the corpse-terrain it had concocted of its own will. The death rattles of the last to fall still fresh in the night breeze.
"You're going to fight it." Sukuna asked of Hayara
The demon slayer could not give out any complaint or protest, simply a horrified nod in response. His world fuzzed and blurred around him, still recovering from that gunshot that perforated his left ear. He examined his own body, and then his surroundings, probably the last time he would see the world before being culled by that demon now before him.
"I'll be fair though, I'll give you your arm back." Sukuna gave one of his grins again, Ichinose prepared for the worse.
It was as though a faintly warm sensation surrounded the stub on his arm, a nursing aura which raised his spirits, flesh bent and twisted without pain and jutted forwards, digits with fingernails on each formed out of thin air as Hayara stood in absolute shock at the seeming miracle performed, his dominant hand now back where it was, in it's rightful place, a defiance of logic that would only befit the demons, yet here he was, able to regenerate on behalf of Sukuna's efforts.
"Though, what's the saying? An eye for an eye?" Hayara's left arm was detached from the elbow, falling to the ground in an instant, the pain was momentary as the remainder of the arm contorted in on its self, forming a sealed stub of skin. A perfect amputation.
"Don't die in an ugly fashion." Sukuna ordered, before shoving Hayara forwards.
The demon slayer flexed his newly formed right hand, using it to unsheathe his katana with an unready jittering. The man's sheathe fell to the floor, as he had no other hand to pick it up with. He clutched the Nichirin blade as tight as he could with his only hand, veins almost popping out of the freshly formed skin from the force applied to the handle. Each step forward was hesitation. Each step forward was fear. Each step forward could be the last. Upon closer inspection, the demon looked to be female, with jutting horns that were seemingly the texture of keratin, the same material that made up fingernails, though by assumption it must be much more durable. Ichinose in this moment was a slave to anxiety, it had his heart by a chain, constricting it ever so much, until it expelled beats like a great drum.
"Aren't you going to start?" Sukuna would begin clapping lightly, as if he was cheering Hayara on.
Each clap drove him forward like a rope was tied to his legs, pulling him ever closer to his fate, that rope, that motivation, was Ichinose's fear. The pure pressure drove him to rush forwards. The lower moon gave out a great cackle, before disappearing from the demon slayer's vision seemingly completely. She moved alike an insect in his peripheral vision, a blur until she was already upon him. Hayara raised his sword in a panic, his muscles contracting and screaming in an attempt to lift his arm as swiftly as possible. The blade grated against large and piercing nails which ran their way onto the metallic surface of his weapon with a grinding screech. His body was lifted into the air as the demon kicked his abdomen, pain pummelled him in that moment like never before, the strike sent him like the wind towards a nearby building, Hayara was able to catch himself back into his senses, his blade was at his torso, he attempted to direct the bottom of his handle towards his back. The handle made contact with the wall of the building as opposed to him, and he was saved from the brunt of the force. He hypothesized his spine would have snapped if he made a full force collision with it. However he still experienced a large searing pain from the assault, and so was reeling on the floor, seemingly in a corner as there was only wall behind him. The demon inched closer, ready to indulge in it's meal.
Hayara's legs shook as they attempted to raise his body from the floor, the mud beneath his feet would begin to make him sink, he was ever closer to a grim demise. His boots smashed out of the dirt and filth as he took off sprinting. The man clutched onto the walls as though he was a monkey, using the wooden support beams as a grip to clamber up onto the roof, with the demon close behind giving chase. He rushed onto the many tiles that occupied the building's roof, his swift demeanour causing the slate underneath him to begin to slide off, and as he turned to look downwards, he clearly saw the lower moon clawing up and onto the roof, taking his opportunity he picked up a large roof tile and lobbed it towards the demon's face as it was climbing up, the slate shattered on it's face, not even a blood-drop, she just seemed more pissed now.
"I'M GOING TO CLAW YOUR MANGY FLESH!" The lower moon snarled as it spoke. A dainty female voice nowhere to be seen.
"FUCK OFF!" Hayara screamed in a perpetual state of horror.
He made his way further onto the roof as quickly as possible, hearing the clitter clatter and scraping of claws right behind him he reflexively swivelled to meet the source of the sound, the lower moon was once again only inches from him. A claw made it's way towards his gut to slice it open and spill his innards over this very roof, however instead of meeting flesh it luckily met his blade in the nick of time. Ichinose grunted as he attempted to drive the nichirin blade through the demon's hand, though to barely any avail, the nichirin sword cut a shallow mark into the hand of the lower moon, the injury regenerating almost instantly after the strike was made. The Demon Slayer tried to follow through with multiple wild slashes, his blade extended forward as it missed the mark each time, the lower moon would glide through each and every slice, a wicked smile beginning to crawl onto her face as she made light work of every attack thrown towards her. She was toying with Ichinose.
Hayara's strikes slowed as his exhaustion climbed, the injuries he had sustained during the start of the rowl had handicapped him severely it seemed. The lower moon went in for another swipe at the demon slayer's neck with her sharp needle like claws. Even a scrape would mean blood spurting out of his throat leading to an untimely death due to blood loss. This demonic dance was a mad waltz for his survival. He positioned himself to the side with his blade held up to his chest. As the demon instinctively swiped towards Hayara's new position it once again met the blade. Ichinose gave a deep inhale, as though he was a drowning man picturing the sweet escape of fresh air.
The demon slayer's training kicked in to the best of his recollection. He summoned all the power he could from the air that had entered his body and coursed through his veins. Veins which pulsed and nearly erupted out of the skin of his only hand as he brought the nichirin blade through the demon's arm. The lower moon was finally on the other end of some distress. Ichinose continued to force the blade through it's arm, flesh tore and attempted to regenerate, however found difficulty to as it was a sword forged in sunlight, the true bane of any demon's existence. The lower moon knew however that this was not a life threatening injury, and instead used this as a prime opportunity to cause Ichinose the most pain possible. She began to claw at his skin, picking up the pace as her free hand pierced into his arm with her spear like nails. Blood pooled around his clothing, marking a great dark crimson stain as he yelped in pain, still he forced the blade further forwards towards his goal, the throat of the deviant in front of him. His focus was the blade hitting flesh as well as his pain, pressure and fear. All mixed into a potion of determination which pushed him into the lower moon's flesh ever further.
The lower moon had decided however, that it was tired of this farce, the demonic woman backhanded Ichinose hard, he came barreling off of the roof with an audible crack to his jaw, it had been shattered by the impact of the demon's hand. He hit the thick mud below in moments. It was surely over. Hayara laid, face to the black abyss of a sky above him. He had tried his best, the pressure of living had now fully daunted on him, the chains around his heart grew thicker with fear. His blood ran cold as the demon approached to finish him off. But why should he care?
Pressure and stress often makes a person operate at a higher level, in order to counteract the very events that cause the body to emit that pressure in the first place. However it makes one overthink, it makes one clumsy, their mind clouded by constant jittering thoughts of this and that. Athletes who play at the highest level often lose because they succumb to the adrenaline that made their bodies operate at that level in the first place.
Hayara Ichinose was operating at the highest level of pressure, in those 2 minutes and 23 seconds, he was absolutely fighting for his life. Hayara Ichinose's life matters to him. It's an idea that he stressed losing, wholly. However Ichinose's values began to shift as he laid on that floor, glittering stars filling his vision and imparting their insubstantial presence to him. The things in this world that last the longest are those which are insubstantial to themselves, whilst all life holds some degree of survival to themselves, a tree does not ever pressure itself, a tree does not fear, it exists and fills its self with the nutrients it needs to survive. Sentience has stripped humans of their ability to perform tasks with 100% efficiency, there will always be error when it comes to emotion. The tree grows its roots to feed with no mistakes, it knows where and when to extend its self, with no caution or preparation. Hayara should just know, if his life is about to end at any moment, then why should he value it so much? Perhaps letting go will have its perks for once.
Hayara Ichinose's value of life was only for it's inherent existence, if he was to operate going forward, it would be the same way in which the stars shine, or the trees grow, simply for the sake of doing so. His earthly concerns were dust compared to the innumerable starlight he kept staring at down on that mud. They must have shone clarity onto him.
He stood, his right arm clutching his sword at an odd angle. He held his blade to the side, as he stepped forwards and inhaled, at approximately 0.5 seconds after each inhale, he would exhale, this cycle continued on his approach to the lower moon.
"Don't put that brave face on with me now..." The demon cracked another toothy grin as she prepared to feast on this mere man seconds later.
Hayara's calves exploded, he projected himself forwards with a blast of movement unlike anything he could have performed before, he had a clear set goal, there would be no errors, no overthinking lines on how to perform or what to block, he would simply do. The young man's footfall carried an odd pattern to it, as if his footsteps sounded multiple times per second. Ichinose would track his own feet with a neutral but keen observation. As he positioned his body to swerve around the confused demon's first swipe downwards. What would have normally fatally wounded Hayara was easily breezed past. The lower moon would be starstruck by the explosive movement displayed by this young demon slayer. The demonic presence would finally decide to take this fight seriously, her blood demon art would activate, her horns and nails would extend outwards. And with a swipe of her right hand, her nails proceeded to separate from her hand, essentially transforming into razor sharp knife-like projectiles which were now darting towards Ichinose. He was not able to avoid every projectile sent towards him, and grazes were made along his cheek, one nail seemed to also embed its self prominently in his chin, another took off part of his ear, however he kept on. When a tree grows it's roots often face resistance in rocks underneath the ground, it counteracts this by growing around these rocks in order to sustain its self further. The damage he sustained would be made null by the objective now infront of him, the horns in which the lower moon had made extend and grow out now more resembled two long lances. She thrusted forwards, attempting to spear him with her horns. He spun, lowering his body to just barely slide past the right horn, like the roots around a rock he had successfully adapted. His blade was trained on one moment, a moment he would carry out with no error, dead calm. The demon's throat was there. Strike. The blade found its mark through her esophagus. The metal dug further and further in, struggling clawed hands reciprocated and tore the slayer's skin affray, there was only so much pain he could sustain before passing out, the world was a buzz as he faded in and out of consciousness. The nichirin was able to cut through half of the lower moon's neck before Hayara's movements finally grinded to a halt. His grip loosened as he slipped out of lucidity, being sent to the floor with a quiet thud, he was out cold.
Ichinose's last thoughts scrambled together before he had fallen into sleep, these thoughts were most likely composed of his friends and family, especially those he called his comrades who fell before him in this vicarious occupation he took up. His life had always been riddled by inadequacy, even if those he knew held him in a higher regard, however perhaps if his friends were alive and present here, they would see how significant an impact he was finally able to cause. Toe-to-toe with a lower moon, if only for a moment, at least his last moments would be something to scoff at, their opinions of him could finally be confirmed.
The lower moon leant over Ichinose's unconscious body, ready to chow down on it's next nutritious meal. As she readied her jaw to dig into the neck of the slayer, her actions would be interrupted by a voice from a small distance away.
"So you're one of the more competent ones?" Sukuna would spout out, his arms were crossed, his analysis of the entire fight was met with a nonchalant huff, though, Ichinose broke the King of Curses subpar image of him, if only somewhat with that performance.
"Are you my next meal?" The lower moon cackled, bloody spit erupting from her mouth with each grating laugh.
"What part of a person is your favourite to eat?" Sukuna queried, this garnered a narrowing of the demon's kanji engraved eyes.
"Sooo? They say the brain is the part you should often avoid, but it has this tangy sweetness I can't quite get enough of." The King of Curses mind seemed to roam to thoughts of food as he remained idle.
"I'm tired of your dribbling!" The demon shouted, as she lunged towards Sukuna at breakneck speeds, her mouth was agape, ready to rip into him.
Sukuna would greet this opposing force with a smile which twisted at the corners of his face. He seemed to be standing completely still, not a muscle tensed or shifted as the demon hurtled towards him. Sukuna spun on the spot, the lower moon's hand outstretched as she tried to grab for the King of Curses, but to no avail after such an evasive move. All of a sudden the demon noticed a tugging sensation on the roots of her hair. Sukuna had already positioned himself behind her, in a matter of moments? Her mind raced, with the king of demon's blood she was gifted with superior perception when compared to mere mortals, yet even she had not fully registered the movement that had occured right before her eyes. Sukuna now clutched the lower moon's hair with his hands, pulling her down by it, she kicked and snarled as she attempted to free herself, like a dog being snatched by the collar. One of her fingernails would extend outwards in a split second, aiming up towards her clutched hair, her goal was also to at least get a couple of Sukuna's fingers off in the process. This action caused him to release his grip in an instant, in another way... Sukuna hurled the demon by her hair into a nearby house, the lower moon was sent through multiple of the splintering wooden walls before stopping in a families' cramped kitchen after impacting a metal furnace. The demon's face was a jumble of teeth and gore after coming into contact with the metal head on. This jumble would quickly mend its self due to the lower moon's superior regeneration, she jumped up with a start. Her eyes a panicked flurry of movement trying to search for Sukuna's presence. Like he was a fly to rotten meat, the King of Curses was already in front of her. A fist went through the demon's jaw, what seemed like jello against rock as an uppercut carried the lower moon through the roof and into the air above the house. And before the demon could land back onto solid ground Sukuna's hand forced the demon's face back down into the shattering tiles of the roof. The lower moon was drowning in slate and wood, splinters peppered her mangled face from being forced through any and every surface.
"How do you regenerate? Go on... aren't you going to fight? Where's that passion from earlier?" Sukuna's gut erupted with mad laughter, the demon could only give out gargled spittle in the form of attempted words, most likely begging or curses towards him.
Sukuna discarded the regenerating lower moon into a random corner of the bedroom they were now in like some useless toy. He looked over to see a cowering family in the corner opposite, a blanket over them to provide some meager sense of safety. The King of Curses swiped the blanket off of them, their fear was exposed in full detail as they shivered, the family of 4 was unnoteworthy to say the least. A mother and father with a son and a daughter. The father attempted to reason first, a cold murmur of requested mercy towards Sukuna was all he could muster. The lower moon had fully regenerated at this point and stood up from her corner of the bedroom.
"I assume you think yourself different to these people here, power is certainly a differing factor. Why value those you can extinguish in moments? However the reality is you're the same as them. A demon that cowers from the sun in my eyes is no different to a human who cowers from the dark. Though I believe this family is much more dignified in their fear, look at how they quietly beg? When i'm finished with you, i'll congratulate you if you can remain half as composed as them as you plead for your life." Sukuna chortled out.
The lower moon attempted to step forward, Sukuna opened his mouth like he had more to say but was interrupted by her actions.
"DIE!" The demon snarled brashly as she dashed forwards.
She was sent back into the corner of the room with a backhand, causing one of her fangs to detach from her gums from the force of the strike.
"Don't interrupt me brat. Allow me to give them their reward for their obedient fear." Sukuna motioned with his hands as if he was swatting a fly, the family was bisected in two along the same point. Two separate chunks of each member now on the floor with gushing blood which seeped into the dented wooden boards.
"Your fear causes me far more sickness, it's rebellious isn't it? Since you've got a bit of fight in you, let's find a reward more suitable for it." Sukuna stated with a mocking gaze shot towards the lower moon who had now smashed through the window of the bedroom to escape outside.
The lower moon shot towards the end of the alley with as much swiftness as she could maintain within herself. Her feet blasted through thick mud as she swerved through each and every alley with a vicious speed and tenacity. She dashed in front of an open window, not paying it much heed. A hand appeared out of the window, a vice-like clutch now consuming the circumference of her neck, she had been caught. Sukuna's face was exposed as he poked his head out of the opening, pale moonlight shone down on both of them, highlighting just how stuck the demon was now. The King of Curses tightened his grip, her windpipe would cave in on its self, signified by a spurt of blood erupting from her mouth. She was once again cast aside a couple of feet away into thick mud mixed with her demonic blood.
"Dismantle."
Multiple houses behind the lower moon collapsed in on themselves, anyone inside would have probably met a grim fate from being crushed and suffocated under debris.
A cloud of dust was kicked up from the impact. The lower moon clutched at her waist, it was no longer present. Her intestines seemed to crawl out of her like worms, she attempted to claw them back in to no immediate effect. She would usually be able to re attach herself to her lower body if anything like this happened, however Sukuna had cruelly taken her lower body away, holding it by a limp leg a few metres in front of her like some sick trophy. Regenerating an entire section of her body from new was a task only achievable by an uppermoon. She clutched the remaining torso she had with one of her hands, the other hand guided its self through the cold mud, grabbing and clawing at it in an attempt to drag herself away. She did not want to die, the entire purpose of becoming a demon was immortality, a static existence, it couldn't end, it just couldn't.
"It's enlightening when you become no better then the humans you feast upon who i'm sure have begged for their lives time and time again before you, you should only treat the ones who surround you like dirt if you are a diamond yourself, in reality, you are nothing." Sukuna would instruct as he rubbed his fingers together idly, however a great smile was wiped across his face like it had been painted on when it came to what he had to say next.
"Kill yourself." Demanded Sukuna.
"If you can kill yourself of your own accord before I reach you, then you're free to suffer that fate instead of something with me." The King of Curses would explain with an innocent grin.
"Muz.." The demon would continue to slowly crawl forward, her words were full of hesitation, she could not fully commit to this, she needed to survive.
Her mindset began to shift as the King of Curses took his first step.
"Lord Muzan... Please... Lord Muzan." She pleaded at first, each squelch created by that man's footfall on the mud set off another alarm in her head.
Sukuna drew closer, and closer. She couldn't take any more.
"MUZAN KIBUTSUJI, MUZAN KIBU-"
The curse had activated.
The Demon's veins pulsed out of her skin seemingly as she began to convulse on the floor, Sukuna narrowed his eyes in a keen interest as to what was happening.
Large hands burst out of the lower moon's mouth and stomach, circling over to envelop her head and body all in a matter of seconds, pressure was applied to her head, she wailed as it caved in completely. A lifeless corpse was now laid out on the mud, beginning to burn away. Despite Sukuna being limited to one finger's worth of cursed energy, he felt his reserved increasing steadily, all throughout the events of the night. It could probably be attributed to the large amount of negative emotions generated, such emotion transfers into background cursed energy, and with Sukuna's nature as an incarnated curse, he is able to replenish his cursed energy pool naturally by simply being surrounded by increased negativity, suffering makes him whole. He estimated his cursed energy to be equal to around 2 whole fingers now in this current state.
Though he still assumed that eating the brain of demons with pure untapped negative emotions inside will grant him the strength he needs at an accelerated rate.
The King of Curses huffed after so many trivial events wrapping up the night, he would walk over the debris of the battle, and as he appeared from out of the smaller alleyways, a large crowd was growing to investigate the loud noises that had occured within the hour. Shocked to find a field of wreckage where multiple houses once stood, they began to scramble inside the ruins in order to at least attempt to save any survivors who might be trapped inside. Sukuna would smile at this.
'The value of life is never fixed, some people value it at different levels, which is why compassion is hypocritical. To love is to be stupid especially when you don't receive it in equal amounts.' He would ponder to himself as he observed the movements of the crowd.
He hopped on over to the other side of the large slum alleyway, where the unconscious smashed up body of Hayara still laid. Sukuna furrowed his eyebrows at an unfamiliar sight, curse energy was being utilized by the boy, if only in a miniscule amount. The Reverse Cursed Technique placed on him earlier must have not lost it's energy, and was not coursing around his body. Rather interesting, he had not seen any person in this world be able to contain cursed energy inside of them in such a manner, perhaps it was the norm if he was to introduce cursed energy into any other person. However this was enough to keep Hayara alive for the mean time, Sukuna had planned to decapitate him where he laid as he was losing interest in the demon slayer. However his reminiscence to the unpredictability of Megumi Fushiguros innate ability made him think otherwise, he could provide some value after all.
Sukuna clutched Hayara by the back of his collar, dragging the young man's unconscious body through the dirty slum streets back towards the inn.
Hope you enjoyed!
Apologies for the big delay, my PC got bricked and I had to get a temporary one in the mean time to continue doing stuff on.