Chapter 23

MC POV

As I sat on the train, waiting for my next mission, Corvus perched at my side, I noticed Yatagarasu swiftly closing in on our location. I opened the window, and as she entered, she exclaimed, "New mission! Suspicious activity in Montu Town—random disappearances, different times of day, in various locations!"

Reflecting on the mission, I couldn't help but mull over the challenge ahead. "Disappearances with no specific location or time... this is going to be a bit hard." Corvus and Yatagarasu then both flew on my lap, and I gradually closed my eyes as sleep overtook me once again.

I suddenly woke up with two voices, Yatagarasu and Corvus, shouting, "We are here!" Following that, I left my seat on the train and exited the station, ready to face the challenges of the new mission in Montu Town.

As I entered the village, I noticed several houses adorned with little altars, adorned with flowers and candles. Each altar represented a person who had mysteriously disappeared. As I traversed the village, it became apparent that at least 20 people had vanished in the last month. While this might not seem like a significant number given the village's large population, the sight of each altar fueled my determination to find the culprit responsible for these disappearances.

Needing a place to stay, I entered a small motel and approached the front desk. Addressing the receptionist, I asked him, "Could I rent a room for the next week?" The male receptionist responded in a formal tone, "Of course, Hashira-sama. We have exactly one spare room available for you to settle into." I handed over the money for a week's stay and made my way to the room.

Aware that I lacked information about this particular demon, I decided to send Yatagarasu and Corvus to scout and search for any signs of disturbance in the area.

As the days passed, eight more people had mysteriously gone missing. I remained clueless about how or why this demon was abducting residents from the village. Walking around my room, attempting to devise a plan to locate the demon, I suddenly felt an eerie sensation of being watched. To my surprise, I spotted it outside my window—a floating eye adorned with the kanji for upper rank 4. Aloud, I exclaimed, "No way!"

Shortly after, a strange noise, akin to the sound of strings being strummed, resonated, and a portal materialized beneath me. Calmly, I remarked, "So this is how you did it, huh? Let's see what we are dealing with." With those words, I began sinking into the portal.

I then fell out of the portal in a garden-like place that stretched on for miles. Another portal appeared at my side, and one more person emerged from it. She was a petite young woman with a slender build, a pale complexion, and large eyes that lacked pupils, only a haze of gradient purple, making her eyes appear similar to those of insects. She also had black hair that faded into black purple and was wearing a Hashira haori and demon slayer uniform—Shinobu.

As soon as she saw me, her serious eyes, which she had when she came out of the portal, turned joyful. She happily waved at me and said, "Yoohoo, Hoshi." I replied to her with a smile of my own and said, "Hi, Shinobu." As she skipped towards me, Shinobu asked, "Do you know what this place is or who made those portals?" "No idea," I replied. "I landed here just before you."

As we talked for a bit, a new portal appeared in front of us, revealing a figure—a tall young man with a lean but toned and muscular body. He had a notably pale complexion and possessed unusually long, pointed nails stained with a pale blue color. His long platinum blond hair was parted to his right, with shorter parts around his face seeming to flare out to either side around his head. The longer parts were left to drape centrally down his back in a thinning spiral. He was wearing regal attire with two fans in his hands. However, the most impactful feature was his eyes—they seemed to be made out of all the colors, with the kanji for upper rank in his right and the kanji for two in his left.

He smiled at us warmly, saying in a charismatic tone, "Hello, you beautiful people. I hope we have a fun time together." As both Shinobu and I stared at this new demon, we both said at the same time, "It's you," in a monotone dead voice. The upper demon said, "Why yes, it is me, the amazing Douma. And who may you be?" Douma said with a large smile on his face. As he turned to look at Shinobu, he remarked, "You seem pretty familiar." Shinobu looked at Douma and quietly said, "I'll kill you," unsheathing her blade. I did the same, ready for the fight ahead.

Rengoku POV

While I was teaching my little brother flame breathing, an eye with the kanji for four floated over our mansion's walls and came closer to us. I quickly unsheathed my blade and said in my loudest voice, "Flame Breathing Fifth Form: Flame Tiger," and dashed at the floating eye. Just as I was about to reach it, a black hole appeared in front of me, and due to my own speed, I fell into it. I could just hear my little brother yelling, "Brother!"

As I fell out of the portal, I found myself in some kind of long corridor leading to a lot of different rooms. Another portal appeared in the ceiling of the corridor, and a bulky man with white hair and two blades linked with a chain, whom I recognized as Tengen, was there. I quickly shouted at him, "Tengen, why are you here?" He replied while doing different poses in a flamboyant manner "I fell through something while I was with my wives!"

Then a third portal appeared, this one at the end of the corridor. A muscular man with white skin decorated by a pattern of blue lines, his eyes bearing the kanji for upper rank in his left eye and the kanji for three in his right eye, looked at Tengen and me and yelled, "You seem strong."

Tengen and I looked at each other and quickly unsheathed our blades knowing that this demon was one of the strongest to ever live and this was going to be our most difficult fight yet.

Mitsuri POV

I was on a mission of my own, one of my first without teacher's supervision, either directly or with his crow. Either way, I was super excited for it, and yet, "What the hell happened?" I yelled. Just after I left my own house for my mission. A floating eye opened a portal in which I fell through.

I then appeared in a big room with no ceiling that seemed to expand and contract at random intervals. Out of the floor, another portal appeared. A snake-like man who I recognized as Obanai quickly came out, and another portal appeared in the left wall while Muichiro, the person who was most likely to become the next Hashira, came out saying, "Huh, how did I get here?" scratching his head.

From the floor, one more big portal appeared from which a male and female demon appeared, clinging to one another. As I looked into their eyes, they both had the kanji for upper rank in their left eyes and the kanji for five in their right eyes. The female demon quickly said, "So this is who we have to kill, Gyutaro."

Sanemi POV

As I was attempting to sniff out some rogue demons, a floating eye appeared behind me. I quickly dashed toward it, trying to exterminate it, but a black door-like portal materialized in front of me, and I fell through it.

Upon emerging from the portal, I found myself in a sizable room with numerous wide pillars. Suddenly, two more portals appeared—one through which Gyomei fell, still in a praying position, and the other from which that damned Giyuu emerged. However, our attention was quickly drawn to a demon standing before us. He had long brown hair with red tips, six eyes with red sclera and golden irises, wore a purple and black kimono, and had a nichirin sword at his side. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the middle set of his eyes had the kanji for "upper rank" in his left eye and the kanji for "one" in his right eye.

For the first time in my life, I felt fear. Suddenly, the demon before us spoke in a thundering voice that seemed like a mere whisper, saying, "This will be your last day in the world of the living." I quickly unsheathed my blade, and Giyuu did the same, while Gyomei prepared his flail and axe for the impending battle ahead.

Muzan POV

As I was seated in front of Nakime in the center of the Infinity Castle hearing her reports. A small grin formed on my face and I said with a bit of happiness entering my voice "The end of the demon slayers has finally begun!"

*Author note: I will keep the voting for my next fic open until Sunday 00:00 Spain time. So if you want to get your favorite idea to become a fic vote! Right now JJK fanfic is winning by a landslide but that isn't the one that I want to do most so I will hope that the votes go to the one I have the most excitiment for though I do love all my ideas. So yeah, author out.*