Chapter 16: Blood Moon.

The day passed and the sun had set, the full moon rose from the horizon with an ominous scarlet hue, painting the earth in red. The passing breeze brought the stench of blood and iron as the slayers prepared themselves in Oyakata-sama's mansion.

The Hashira gathered their squads of elite slayers, the squads varied in size but their strength left no room for doubts. Needless to say, the smallest squad belonged to the Thunder Hashira, who took no office and the largest was from the Fire Hashira who was in charge of training cadets.

With the rising moon illuminating the forest in front, the hiding demons came into view. Despite the culling of demons, there was at least a few hundred demons crawling in the forest before the slayers. Even the hard-willed slayers could feel the pressure as the tension was almost tangible.

Seeing this, Zenitsu smiled and unsheathed his blades as he walked out of the formation to face the slayers. His battle aura flared, bringing the demons before and slayers behind to their toes.

"Slayers, tonight the ranks you have mean nothing. The names you were given mean nothing, the breath you practice means nothing, tonight there will be humans and there will be demons. The battle between the man and the demon has dragged on for far too long, causing us much grief, causing us pain, the demons had taken what we held dear, the people we loved, the homes we cherished." Zenitsu paused to see the sadness and the unwillingness in the eyes before him, he saw the flickers of rage burning in their eyes.

"Tonight, we end it all, tonight we bear our swords. The demons have more than a few hundreds of them and there is just one hundred of us."

"SLAYERS !!! DRAW YOUR BLADES !!!"

"The world will know that a hundred brave men stood against an army of demons, that few stood against many, and after this battle ends, even a demon-king can bleed. This is where we hold them; this is where we fight; this is where they die. This is where we make history, raise your blades! For tonight, the ones who live are heroes and the ones martyred are legends."

"TONIGHT, WE PURGE THE WORLD OF THE CALAMITY CALLED MUZAN !!"

"SLAYERS !! ARE YOU READY TO EARN YOUR BLADES TONIGHT?"

"YESS!!!" A thundering roar came out from the slayers, the roar shook the heavens and the earth alike, now the demons cowered. The blood boiling roar of the slayers brought shivers down the spines of the demons, even the remaining moons were rattled while Muzan grit his teeth in rage.

"CHARGE! SLAUGHTER THEM ALL!!" Muzan roared in anger.

Seeing the demons charge Zenitsu smiled. He tuned to face the demons, "May Gods have mercy on their souls, for we shall spare them none. Tell me if you are ready to end this nightmare once and for all?"

"Prepare for GLORY!!!" Zenitsu roared and the slayers followed.

The gallant figure of Zenitsu was carved into the very souls of the slayers and demons alike, this was the pillar that the demons feared and the men revered. This is the strongest pillar of humanity, the RAIBASHIRA, this is Zenitsu Kuwajima!

The Hashira took on the remaining moons as the demons and humans met in battle. Swords and claws clashed, the men and demon fought and despite having the numerical advantage, the demons were being pushed back.

The blades the slayers used were laced with poison and that brought the opposing sides down to even grounds. The demons were as mortal under the blades as the men were under their claws and fangs. The elite squads raged through the battlefield, while the best of them were with the Hashira, picking off the remaining moons and any other that might cause casualties if left unchecked.

Muzan and Zenitsu did not enter the fight, both restraining one another. If either of them stepped in the battle the other side will face once sided decimation, the beautiful face of Muzan was contorted in rage and hate.

She could already see that they were fighting a war that they already lost. She took the easiest way out and decided to make a retreat, but as soon as she tried to run away, Zenistsu who had already perceived a strong demon trying to escape flashed behind her and placed both of his blades on her neck.

"Now miss demon, you better tell me where Muzan is and surrender if you wish to give up, escape is not an option." Zenitsu spoke as the figure in the black kimono turned to face him.

The figure slowly turned and with the moonlight illuminating her through the foliage of leaves overhead. Zenitsu saw her shining ruby eyes, her pale skin and the beautiful yet delicate appearance. She wore a classy black kimono with flowers embroidered on it, her fair skin looked almost translucent under the moonlight.

Her ruby eyes met his golden ones and the two stood in a stalemate. Muzan, who was processing how the infamous RAIBASHIRA did not recognize her and asked for her whereabouts from herself. If she were not in a dangerous situation like this she would have laughed her teeth out.

Barely holding back her amusement and laughter, she looked at the young man that stood before her. He looked around seventeen, with very handsome features and two shining golden eyes that could captivate any that looked at them.

"Tell me RAIBASHIRA, why is it that you wish to find Muzan-sama?" She asked in a melodious voice that still had traces of the laughter she was holding back.

"Well, I need to slay him to finish the demon mess once and for all. Honestly, it's of no consequence to me but since I am a human right now, I decided to lend a hand and this also helps me to better my sword art and battle experience. But, one thing I can't understand, why are you a strong demon running away, even after being caught by a slayer, you can still laugh and be amused." Zenitsu asked, taking his blades away from her neck, sensing that she held no malice against him.

"Seeing that a young boy like you could become the bane of all demons, yet you have no hatred towards our kind, no grudges what so ever. You kill just because you think it's correct, yet your kind hates demons for they need to kill your kind for their sustenance. Ironic right?" Muzan smiled weakly.

"Nah, it's just that the demons were never supposed to exist in the first place. Muzan's existence broke the balance of the world and that is what I intend to correct. I know a bit about how he became a demon and for that reason I honestly don't think it was his fault to begin with, just unfortunate circumstances that fate imposed on people." Zenitsu shook his head while sighing.

Muzan on the other hand was shocked to hear the young RAIBASHIRA's words, she could feel that there was not a single lie in his words, that he meant every single word he said.

"Zenitsu Kuwajima, let me tell you a story, the story of Kibutsuji Muzan, the story of my life." She said with a trace of lament lacing her voice.

This time it was Zenitsu's turn to be surprised.

While the battle raged between the humans and the demons, the strongest of the two sides stood before each other as they had a chat like the carnage happening out there had nothing to do with the two of them.