Demon Slaying

I've seen some disgusting things in my time alive. I've seen bloodbaths made up of villages, entire cities on fire and corpses piled as high as mountains.

And yet this has got to be the first time in a long while that I'm seeing some new kind of disgusting sight. The village, somewhere in the mountains of China, has been turned into some sort of horrific totem.

Bodies were held upright and twisted in odd positions by bony spikes skewered through them. Entire flesh monuments were made of torn up limbs and torsos. And the ground and buildings were covered in runes painted in blood, some of which hurt my eyes to even glance at. A dull but piercing pain that flared up just behind my eyeballs whenever my gaze passed over the specific symbols.

I was alone, the Ancient One knowing I could handle just about whatever came at me and if I couldn't, I'd at least be able to escape.

So, when I heard breathing, I knew it was either a survivor of this hellscape or the one who made it so. Walking toward the sound, I found a young child, huddled up and covered in blood - though that was only partially true. The blood was missing in places where someone had obviously drawn runes through the blood.

Sadly, I was used to sights like this. An empty village with a traumatised child. Demons loved doing this regardless of the reality they were in, it would seem.

Checking the surroundings, I couldn't hear a heartbeat or breathing outside of the child at the center of what was once the plaza for this village. Seeing as it was, I made way for the child, knowing that would be the first thing a Demon would use against me if I didn't make sure it couldn't.

The child gave no reaction to my appearance, too traumatised and shell-shocked by what'd happened to really even register my approach.

Hand on one of my swords, I continued checking my surroundings and listening out for any movement. Don't know if these Demons have heartbeats or need to breath, so it's best to listen for general movement.

I used my newly gained Chi to empower my senses as much as I could withstand and continued my approach.

Once I was in front of the kid, I knelt down and used my free hand to lift their chin upward so I could get a better look at them. Dazed eyes, blank expression, dried tear marks--yep, traumatised child, alright. Before I could say anything or even have a deeper look over the kid just in case they'd been injured, I heard movement a few kilometres from the village.

Whatever was approaching was approaching fast and obviously didn't care about making noise.

Seconds passed and I could hear it whispering to itself, "Silly...silly...forgetting...master's orders...silly," it kept repeating it rambles in a manic fashion, it's pronunciation distorted and twisted. Though it did beg the question why it was speaking English. Didn't Demons have their own language in this reality or something?

Standing, I turned toward the direction of the Demon and soon enough I came face to face with it. It was tall yet still a few inches shorter than me - probably around 6'7". But that's where the similarities ended.

It was gaunt, to the point where it seemed to not have any visible muscle mass; it was literally just skin stretched thinly over long, gangly bones. It's skin was blood red, yet faded, and it had the same runes all over this village seared into it's skin. It's hands were big, too big for it's size, and it's fingers had a few too many joints in them.

The ends of it's fingers didn't end in nails but crude claws - more like bones that roughly pierced through the tips.

Said 'claws' were delicately gripping an old-looking knife that was littered with rust, the handle wrapped in red cloth. Cloth that was no doubt dyed with blood.

...I was getting some seriously bad vibes from that knife. My instincts were screaming at me more about that knife than they were about the red-skinned Demon. Said Demon froze when it saw me, it's black as night eyes narrowing and it's lip-less mouth opening and closing in what I guessed was either surprise or shock. Smoke and little bits of molten rock came out with every exhale, so I guess I should look out for a fire ability of some kind.

"Master...no tell me...about you," it gasped out every word in a raspy way and drawn-out fashion, "Kill...yes...kill you...for sacrifice...for Master!" it roared, a flicker of flame coming from it's mouth as it did so.

It charged, bones spurting out of it's forearms in an uncontrolled manner, blood bursting out at the same time and scorching the ground it fell on.

I love it when they make it easy.

Taking my hand off my sword, I channelled all my Chi to my arms and fortified my strength there. I'd use Hamon as well but I wanted to get a proper feel for Chi right now and this Demon was far from the type I would actually have trouble with.

The red-skinned freak drew back a hand and then thrust it at me but I easily dodged it and grabbed the biggest bone protrusion I could with my hand which now glowed a vivid golden with stripes of black. Once I grabbed it, I kicked as hard as I could with my leg and tore the bone from the Demon's arm. It roared and it screamed and it was thrown back where it came from with a caved in chest.

Spinning the bone spike in my hand, I charged after the Demon using the first stance of my style.

I blurred and appeared in front of it as I pulled back my arm and employed the sixth stance, Tiger's Strike. My arm turned into a golden black blur as twelve thrusts pierced through the Demon's body in less than a split second. The first two thrusts for it's eyes, a single one for both of them. Three through it's throat. Five through every major organ, if it had them. And a final two through it's knees.

More thrusts could be used but I needn't use them for this small fry.

It couldn't even react before it went blind and it's entire body was filled with holes, and now it could react to what was coming next. I let go of the bone spike and grabbed both of my swords and tensed my arms to their maximum.

My veins bulged and my joints began building up an unreal amount of power. The oxygen in the surrounding area rushed into my lungs as I employed the fourth stance, Coiled Tiger. A stance that built up power like a spring in your arms and shoulders before it was let loose for maximum effect. Once it reached a certain threshold, my arms moved and my blades cut through the air, whistling as they did so.

And then the Demon was beheaded.

It dropped to the ground and I charged my leg full of Chi - and then I began stomping on the Demon's corpse. I don't know if these bastards are as tenacious as the ones in the other world but I'm not taking any chances.

I stomped and I stomped until the Demon was little other than a puddle of bloody sludge under my sandals. Sheathing my blades, I cast some simple fire magic and burnt the remains to a crisp. I was surprised the magic burnt the blood seeing as the Demon seemed to have some sort of fire ability but it mattered very little to me in the end. The Demon was soon just ash. Not even a bloody puddle left behind.

Opening up a portal directly leading to the Ancient One's 'office', I didn't have to wait long for my good friend/teacher to wander through it and regard the surroundings with a mixture of sadness and apathy.

She'd no doubt seen this type of thing more times than I could count. Sometimes I feel sorry for the poor woman, having to shoulder these types of sights without much external aide. Then again, experiencing all of this and growing from it had made her the powerful being she is today. So I guess the sacrifice gave her something in return.

"Know who caused this?" I asked her as she looked around and she gave me a solemn nod.

She sighed then answered me, "Yes. Within Hell there's a Cult of Demons that worship Mephistopheles like a God, they call themselves the Hand Of The Devil and repeatedly come to Earth to hold sacrifices in his name. He's not particularly fond of them but he never stops their actions, finding them somewhat humorous," she spat out in distaste, her frustration obvious on her face. She pointed to the ash of what was once a Demon, "That is the average, run-of-the-mill Demon who has joined that cult. The runes inscribed into their skin change them into that gaunt appearance."

"Hm," I hummed, wiping my sandals on a patch of ground that wasn't covered in blood. Well, it wasn't before I started wiping my sandals off on it. "Then why not sort this out yourself, An? I mean, why send me and not some average Sorcerer? I'm sure they could've handled it. That Demon was weak as hell - pun intended," I smirked despite not really feeling in a jovial mood.

She gave me a look before shaking her head, a ghost of a smile across her lips, "Because I knew if I sent you, you'd kill it. These Demons are very...hard-to-kill, for most people. And if you let it get away, it'll just sacrifice more people in the hope that it can summon more of it's kind."

Hearing her answer, I nodded, "So you sent a nuke to kill a hornet's nest before they could spread," I said before shrugging, "Not the worst idea, considering the implication that these aren't hornets but instead murder-happy Demons who love sacrificing people to their 'God'." Turning, I regarded the child while still speaking to the Ancient One, "What do we do about the kid? Can't leave 'em here, can we?"

"Of course not," the Ancient One said, "Especially not after the taint that's spread through their body from being subject to such a barbaric ritual." Seeing me give her a sidelong look, she elaborated, "People, typically normal humans more than Sorcerers though it has been known to happen, who've come into close contact with Demons or more specifically their rituals are known to pick up a sort of taint on their soul. It doesn't effect them physically but as time goes by and if it doesn't get treated, it makes the person aggressive and bloodthirsty until in the end they become feral."

"Then...what do you do to stop that?" I worriedly asked, not liking the idea of having to potentially put a child down because they'd gone feral.

A knowing smile spread across the Ancient One's face when she heard my question and I knew I'd been had - she read me like a book. "Don't worry, Yuji, you won't be having to do any of that nasty business. The treatments are hard on the subject but perfectly safe if someone like me were to do them. Sadly, removing the taint fully is nigh-impossible. But removing the majority is very possible. It will just act as a sort of...beacon, to other Demons. They'll get curious and try to visit her - and when Demons get curious, people usually end up dying."

I turned away from the bald woman and back toward the child. I couldn't help but feel bad for the kid - not just because of this situation but also because of the situations they'll have to go through in the future. Being a beacon to Demons isn't exactly a curse anyone would want.

Shaking my head, I pushed those thoughts out of my head. After all, the kid needed treatment first and foremost.

"Then let's start the treatment now," I said and walked over to the kid, leaning down and picking them up, "No time to waste, right?" I said and grinned over at the Ancient One who gave me a nod and walked back through the portal I'd conjured earlier. I followed soon after, yet not before casting one last glance at the bloodied village.

I guess there's no rest for the wicked. Gotta get back to Demon Slaying sooner or later, huh?

And with that thought, I walked through the portal and it closed after me. For now, though, we needed to get this kid sorted out and I needed to master my Chi and implement it into my Hamon and breathing style. Then I can get back to killing Demon bastards.

Sounds like a plan.

/ / /

~ Three Months Later ~

Letting out a breath as demonstration, I felt the Chi within me churn and circulate alongside my Hamon but I ignored the latter as I wasn't teaching someone how to do that.

Not that I could either. Humans in this world just didn't have the robust physique needed to learn how to use breathing styles - maybe if I found someone strong enough, they could learn it but you kinda need to be young to learn it properly. It's like martial arts in that sense. Learn it too late and you can only ever expect diminished returns.

"Feel the Chi inside you, Yan," I said to the young girl in front of me, "It moves every time you breath, every time you eat, and most of all, every time you think about it. I'm not gonna sprout a bunch of mysticism to you. Just think about it and breath like I taught you to, that should lead to you feeling it."

She, the child I rescued all those months ago, closed her eyes and scrunched up her brows as she concentrated on trying to find her Chi. Her breathing pattern was an overly simplified version of Total Concentration Breathing but instead of focusing on oxygen, it focused on Chi.

Clever, right? Well, give me a few months and I can figure out a lot. Especially if I start complaining.

For the first month, we treated her and used sorcery to teach her English. Luckily she was a kid and took to learning like a sponge in water. The only drawback was how reclusive she'd become after the incident in her village - not to mention how she froze up every time you mentioned the world Demon, which I very quickly made a banned word in Kamar-Taj. Another month after that, the kid was starting to get closer to the Ancient One and to a lesser extent me.

...I blame the fact I'm 6'10" and built better than an Olympic Gymnast. Makes for a very intimidating sight for a kid. Tiger stripe Demon Slayer Marks probably don't help either.

But in a way, I was getting closer to Yan as I taught her about Chi and Martial Arts. No disrespect to the other masters in Kamar-Taj but I was heads and shoulders above them when it came to martial arts, Chi and swordplay. Three things Yan had shown a lot of interest in.

So, with a referral from the Ancient One, Yan came to ask me about Chi.

Firstly, I started with a pretty brutal physical training routine but she didn't complain and stuck to it. There was a fierce determination hidden in her eyes behind the blankness and I could see myself in her when I was younger. Which is why I began teaching her even harder, turning the training routines damn near suicidal - the Ancient One tried to stop me but I wouldn't budge on this issue. The kid wanted to be strong, I could sense it, so I'd make her strong.

She wasn't a Spartan, nor did she have access to a breathing style or a Demon Slayer's Mark, but I could make her the best version of herself. Chi, a strong body and exceptional skill. That's all she needed and from there she could learn sorcery to improve her fighting capabilities.

She obviously wanted to kill Demons, and while I'd been down that road and gained no peace from it, I knew how futile it'd be to try and convince her to drop it.

All I could do is make sure she becomes strong enough to realize it's a fruitless endeavour.

So, after I brought up her physical body a little, I began tutoring her on martial arts and Chi. Today would be the day she'd sense her Chi, I could just feel it. She'd do all of us proud, I can tell you that with a straight face.

But until then, I focused on my own Chi. I'd made outstanding progress in my own control of this abundant energy inside myself. The passive strengthening alongside my own training had already seen me making definite improvements in my already astounding physical strength which was a very welcome surprise. I suppose this world has taken off a sort of limiter inside me because I'd hit a plateau in my last life but here it seems to have disappeared.

I'd even made progress in trying to fuse Chi and Hamon together. It produced a much stronger, purer energy but even my absurdly tough body wasn't tough enough to withstand having that energy inside it. So, I needed to get stronger before I tried to do that merger.

Maybe I could use one of the many serums in the MCU? Or see if one of those Symbiotes comes to Earth like in the comics. Or I could do both.

Thoughts for later, I suppose.

Just as I thought that, I felt a burst of Chi come out of Yan's pores. It wasn't golden like mine but a sort of light green. It felt refreshing compared to the more oppressive feeling of my Chi. No doubt this type of Chi could be used in Chi Healing to incredible effect though I doubt Yan will like that. For such a quiet kid she's very much so like Inosuke in the sense that she believes attacking is the best course of action.

Either way, I smiled and saw Yan's scrunched up brows and eyes relax before opening and looking down at her Chi in wonder. Right now, she actually looked like a normal child. None of that determination or blankness to be seen.

Haah~ I really am getting old if I'm getting this kind but if I can help it, I'll help her walk the right path. Last thing we need is a mindless killer who only cares about Demon Slaying.

Oh and here walks in my good friend the Ancient One. But she's frowning.

...Well, no doubt I'm off to some sort of mission.