Demon Slayer : The Silent Journey-Chapter 160: The last defeat

[Seiji's POV]

The eerie silent night was no more as we exploded in a battle that shook the forest. The full moon shone dimly on us but the light barely registered in my eyes as more bright and colourful lights followed our every attack.

Every breath I took burned in my lungs, every movement sent daggers of pain through my body. My haori and clothes, fixed with love by Kanae were beyond saving at this point, barely covering my privates as I flashed through the forest.

'I can't stop now,' I told myself.

Kokushibo was an unyielding figure of dark majesty. His many eyes blinked in sync, those golden irises reflecting me like a shattered mirror. I did not recognize myself in his eyes.

"Sun Breathing : First Form,"

"Sun Dance." I moved, not like myself but like Yoriichi would.

I pushed forward, my blade a flash of gold as I executed a vertical slash that aimed straight at his towering frame. My muscles screamed with the effort, but I willed my body to obey.

His counter was instant.

"Moon Breathing : First Form:" he used the first form of Moon breathing to correspond with mine.

"Dark Moon, Evening Palace."

A horizontal slash met my attack, and a hail of crescent-shaped blades exploded outward. The shockwave sent me skidding back, and I barely twisted away in time to avoid the lethal arcs.

My eyes glowed in purple as I dodged those small blades hidden in blades. A cut inside a cut.

On the other hand, Kokushibo remained unmoving. He did not capitalize on my openings and seemed to be content with countering my attacks, proving his superiority to Sun Breathing.

He stood still like a statue carved from the night itself.

I took only a second as a break before I launched another attack.

"Sun Breathing : Second Form,"

I spun my blade in a circle, a wheel of flame spiralling outward. My heart pounded as the heat from my own sword singed my fingertips. The broken blade turned deep red.

"Clear Blue Sky!"

I went beyond what I was capable of in the name of imitating Yoriichi. I was not confident but I had the tiniest hope that maybe, just maybe I would be able to harm Kokushibo with it.

But he was already moving.

"Moon Breathing : Second Form,"

His form was practically impeccable, again it was corresponding to the form I was using. It was the perfect counter as if it was tailor-made to defeat the technique I was using.

" Pearl Flower Moongazing."

Overlapping crescents bloomed like petals, creating the image of a flower. But the delicate image was able to slice through my ring of fire. Sparks and embers scattered, painting the darkness with light.

The shockwave forced trees to bow but he stood untouched.

He was not even trying.

...

"Sun Breathing : Third Form"

"Raging Sun!"

I roared, unleashing a relentless flurry of strikes, each swing faster than the last. I attacked every possible dimension while telling myself that Yoichi would overwhelm him and give him no room to counter.

I imitated that vision in my head.

..

But then his blade danced.....

"Moon Breathing : Third Form,"

....and came another perfect counter.

"Loathsome Moon, Chains."

His crescents weaved between my slashes, meeting every move with dark precision. A crescent blade grazed my shoulder. More blood. More pain. My right arm trembled, the old injury I suffered at the same place came back up.

I still didn't back down.

"Sun Breathing : Fourth Form,"

"Burning Bones, Summer Sun!"

I arced my sword, flames trailing in a fierce crescent. I could feel the heat crack the air. The force of the attack rippled outward, the ground beneath my feet glowing red from the sheer intensity. But Kokushibo didn't blink.

"Moon Breathing : Fourth Form,"

"Moon Spirit Calamitous Eddy."

A vortex of crescents spiralled into my flames, devouring them, splitting the earth beneath us. The swirling dark moons swallowed my sunlit arc like a black hole.

A perfect reply.

I stumbled back, coughing as dust and ash filled my lungs.

At this point, I knew it was meaningless but I kept on going. What else was I to do? I couldn't revert and use mixed breathing again because the only way I was moving was due to the nature of Sun Breathing which bestows supernatural stamina and persistence to the user.

Even Tanjiro's father at death's door could still perform the Hinokami Kagura dance. That was the type of miracle Sun Breathing could do and I was living off purely on that miracle for now.

"Sun Breathing : Fifth Form,"

"Setting Sun Transformation!"

I twisted through the air, bringing my blade down in an overhead strike. All of my weight and momentum funnelled into that one swing. The world around me blurred but my eyes perceived my target in slow motion. All that mattered was my sword and his throat.

But I took a glance at his face and his visage was calm.

"Moon Breathing : Fifth Form,"

"Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon — Incessant."

....

Need I repeat these events again and again? For every form I used, Kokushibo used the corresponding form of Moon Breathing and countered me perfectly.

We climbed the number of forms higher and higher. The forest around us was the only witnessed to the ancient battle.

Sun Breathing vs Moon Breathing.

The only way to beat Kokushibo was to be stronger than Yorrichi or at least be as strong as Yoriichi. But that was impossible I realized.

No matter how much I tried to imitate, I could not match that level.

I came to the chilling realisation that I could never beat Kokushibo. No matter if I used Sun Breathing or the watered-down version which was the five major breathing styles.

He was the bane of Sun Breathing and all its legacy.

I collapsed somewhere around the tenth form. My body could not take it anymore, not even with miracles, so my knees just buckled and I sat there, unmoving.

At the mercy of a demon. Yet again.

"That's it, you won," I said as Kokushibo walked towards me with certain and unhurried steps.

His majestic figure towered over me, signifying the difference in our power, in our level. I'll admit he was superior.

He was the better swordsman, the better warrior.

But to my surprise, he said.

"No,"

"This is not the end and I do not win. You do not have your sword, I can see from your movements since the beginning that you are more attuned to fight with a longer sword. You used your left hand which is not your dominant one and your body was still in the process of healing when the fight started," he started listing them out.

All of my weaknesses which he found from the start.

"How could I claim victory when my opponent is at such a disadvantage?" he said.

He would've won regardless. Maybe I would have a higher chance but it will still be my defeat. I knew that, he knew that. It was an excuse but what for?

"You remind me of my brother, and not just because of your cheap imitation of him, no" he said, "In your genius, in your persistence and in your nature, I see that both of you are cut from the same cloth,"

"I thought I would get a decent fight with the successor of my brother, an epilogue to a lost battle but I was wrong," he admitted with a flash of sincerity.

"Even without the context of my history with Yoriichi, you on your own, are a worthy opponent,"

I blinked my eyes, wondering whether what was happening was real or the vivid dream of a man on the brink of death.

Because it didn't make sense. Why was I still alive and why was he telling me all this?

"....."

"I shall spare you this time," he said and then turned around abruptly as if fearing that he might change his mind or someone might force him to change his mind.

!!!!!!!!

"But we will meet again. I hope that by then you will find yourself in your prime so that we can finish this battle," he said and started walking away.

Raw emotions boiled inside me even as relief washed over me.

I realized then that Kokushibo was unlike any other demon. He considered himself a warrior, a samurai first then a demon under Muzan Kibutsuji.

Similar to Akaza, he considered the thrill of a fight was better than the taste of human flesh.

That was why he spared me.

"Are you sure? Next time, I will kill you," I yelled at his retreating back.

Because next time I would not come at him as a copy of Yoriichi. I would not come at him with the weapons he was familiar with.

Next time, if there was next time. I would come at him with my own power created from scratch.

Not Sun Breathing or its legacy.

I would fight him with powers of my own.

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My own Breathing Style. My own forms. My own power which is not a copy of anything else.

Today, I fought as the successor of Yoriichi.

Next time I would fight as Seiji Shigan.

And I would not spare him like he did to me. I would wipe away every trace of his vile being from this world.

He did not reply, merely disappeared into the darkness, leaving me half-dead and fully humiliated.

...

...

...

I forced myself up with bloody wounds and tattered clothes on my body. Then I started walking towards the Butterfly Mansion.

I promise.

This shall be my last defeat.

Muzan, Kokushibo and every disgusting demon that roamed the earth. All that is evil shall regret this day,

For on this day, I was pushed away from the path of imitation and made to follow my own.

..

..

..

[IMAGE]

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Author : And with that at last, we shall create our own style. Not sure if it will even be a breathing style at this point. Something unique to him.

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It's been a pleasure cooking for you all.