Chapter 9 - A Savior Girl

In a swift move, he drew his sword and sliced off Asmodeus's head, ending the battle once and for all.

———————————————————

"Aaahhhh…. You little piece of—"

Tsunenari cuts his head in half and leaves the place without saying a word.

Asmodeus attempts to regenerate his head, but fortunately, he is unable to do so. "No way… have I lost to a kid? I wanted to become the strongest and wanted to die like a warrior. But I got the worst death possible. Am I not strong enough?"

"The wounds I've given to the boy will kill him eventually if he doesn't seek help. But what about me? I literally lost to a frickin' kid. A kid who looks 28 years older than his age, I am pretty sure that he hasn't taken a bath for 10 days, that's why he looks so ugly."

But then a boy around 16 years-old comes towards Asmodeus and taunts him, "So you've been defeated, Asmo? You said you'll be the strongest. Even stronger than the upper moons, or probably Kokushibo-Sama HAHAHAHAHAHAAAHHHHAA."

He picks up his two split heads and joins them together. Asmodeus recovers his head but his entire body is turned into ashes. But then, his head starts vanishing too.

"Yes so? I am pretty sure that kid will eventually die too," says Asmodeus, the Lower Moon 3.

"C'mon, I'm not here to provoke you. I am just telling you that you're not strong enough. That's your fault," says the boy.

"At least I am not an Upper Moon 4's pet like you, I could gain more power by training and devouring more people. And what's your motive to be here? You're just triggering me. Aren't ya? If you're here to kill the kid and avenge me, go straight to the east and kill him," says Asmodeus.

"As I thought, you're not even regretting…"

"Regretting? What do you mean? You're crazy, Ash," says Asmodeus.

His name is Ash, the Lower Moon 1.

"I've told you multiple times to accept your fault. You're not even feeling bad about yourself. You're just cursing the kid who defeated you, and you just can't accept your defeat," said Ash, the Lower Moon 1.

Asmodeus was lost in thought and suddenly went silent. He began to reminisce about his past life as a human. From his childhood, he had been an ambitious and determined individual, training relentlessly to become the strongest person alive. He could defeat any kid of his age with ease, but as he grew older, he realized that he couldn't beat weapons. Despite this, he continued to train hard and eventually achieved the impossible - he defeated a person who wielded a sword. His reputation as the strongest person in the land was cemented, and he married a beautiful woman, living a happy life.

Asmodeus was blessed with two sons and a grandchild, but he never let go of his passion for training. He continued to work hard and hone his skills until the day he died. However, fate had something else in store for him. One day, he caught a thief stealing from his house. Without thinking twice, he rushed towards the thief to apprehend him, but the thief shot him with his pistol. Asmodeus fell to the ground, unable to move. The bullet had pierced his head, and he knew that he was going to die.

As he lay there, accepting his fate, he saw someone approaching him. This person had long hair and six eyes, and he carried a sword. Asmodeus realized that he wasn't a human at all, but a demon. It was the scariest thing he had ever seen.

It was Kokushibo, the demon king. Kokushibo turned him into a demon and killed the thief with his mere glare.

He finally realized how weak he was. An average demon is capable of killing around 50 people using weapons. An average demon slayer has the same strength as an average demon. The weakest lower moon can defeat 1000 demons and demon slayers. Lower Moon 6 - Takeshi, Lower Moon 5 - Fuka, and Lower Moon 4 - Xeran are the weakest of the lower moons. They are inferior to me and Lower Moon 2 - Uzumaki. Lower Moon 1 - Ash is the strongest among us, he can even beat all of us. He is known as the strongest lower moon ever, even 3 times stronger than the former Lower Moon 1. Despite that, he cannot beat a normal hashira. Even all of us, along with Ash, cannot beat a hashira. We are nothing against the Upper Moons. It takes 3-4 hashiras to defeat the weakest Upper Moon. Upper Moons 6 & 5 are the weakest of the Upper moons. Upper Moon 5 is still stronger than 6. And they are nothing compared to Upper Moons 4 & 3. No matter how many Upper Moons 5 & 6 try to defeat them in a 1v1, not even thousands of them can win. Upper Moons 2 & 1 are beyond anyone's comprehension. I cannot even tell how powerful they are. Lastly, Lord Kokushibo, the demon king, is the strongest. He can even destroy the entire Japan if he wants to.

He is questioning his own existence. Why was he even born? If he already knew that he couldn't even surpass Upper Moon 4 then he wouldn't become a demon. And then, he vanishes into ashes.

And dies forever…

In the other scene, we see Tsunenari running towards the demon slayer hideout. He can't run fast due to no energy and blood loss. But surprisingly, he starts laughing madly and says, "What did you think, you lowkey demon? Even if you would kill me, you'd get nothing. I won because of my Marechi blood. I have nothing to gain, but I have only one thing to lose, my brother."

He starts vomiting blood…

"I am even worse than you. More evil than you," said Tsunenari.

He remembers the scene when he was in the prison.

At 2:45 A.M.

That dark entity appeared in front of him and said, "You've killed your father. You're a heartless monster. Now you'll learn the pain I had to go through. I've opened the gate for you, go ahead and escape. You can just take the lives of others, what are you waiting for? Just go ahead and escape, murderer-kun."

"This manipulation won't work on me. And you're right, I am a monster. I am thirsty for my aunt's blood. I'll show her what the hell looks like. I'll force her to beg for her life and kill her."

"You're a clever person. I wanna do the same thing to her. She told me that she would give anything to me. And for the exchange, I want her lifespan. You're a trustworthy person," said that entity.

Tsunenari escaped his village…

He wanted to take revenge on his aunt. He ran towards his aunt's house and found her alone in the forest. She had something in her hand, a dead crow. She must be doing it for the ritual.

He grabs her hair and throws her on the ground. And then ties her to one of the trees with rope.

"I've finally found you, Aunt Ikumi. I mean, you b*tch," said Tsunenari.

"What? How are you still alive?"

"Before I kill you, tell me why did you kill my family? Your brother?" asked Tsunenari.

"Hahahahaha…. I just wanted his property. I hated him from the bottom of my heart. I always cursed his wife and prayed for her death every day. My soul is filled with happiness after listening that your family is dead. I hope you'll die too, like your family."

Tsunenari got triggered and threw a stone on her face. And then he started throwing so many stones until her body was completely disfigured.

He couldn't live anywhere anymore. He had no home.

Afterward, he started living in the forest for almost two years. He hunted animals and birds for food and ate them raw. He was considered a monster by everyone, and some people tried to hunt him down, but they all ended up getting killed by him.

One day, he stumbled upon some demon slayers in the forest and attempted to kill them, but the slayers were too powerful for him and overpowered him. When he woke up, he found himself in a more developed place than his village. It was the demon slayer hideout.

He was given proper food and shelter, and after living a miserable life, he was happy to see that his life would change forever. Three years later, when he turned 11 years old, he decided to bring his younger brother to the hideout. He was slowly healing the wounds in his heart, but when his brother asked him why he killed their father and others, he lost his mind and couldn't speak. He became even more insane.

———————————————————

In the current scene, we see that the surviving kakushi reported to Oyakata-Sama about Tsunenari and the dead slayers and kakushis. Ren and Chikafusa were saddened by the news. However, Ai didn't care much about Tsunenari because she didn't like him at all. The surviving kakushi reported that the demon they fought was one of the kizukis, which shocked everyone.

But when he was saying this all, a boy appeared behind them slowly coming towards them. He was Tsunenari Yoshimitsu. Everyone was happy to see him alive.

However, he was in a critical state and fell unconscious on the ground due to blood loss. Ai got scared to see him in this state. He has over a hundred wounds on his entire body. He is entirely covered with blood.

Kakushis immediately took him to their hospital and admitted him there.

The next night…

Chikafusa and Ai are sent to kill demons. It's their first mission and they have never killed any demon before. Ai is confident to kill the demons.

But suddenly, a huge demon even 5 times bigger than them emerges from the ground and attacks them. They got scared and couldn't react to the surprise attack.

Just as they think it's all over, a mysterious figure arrives on the scene and swiftly decapitates the demon, leaving them both stunned and bewildered by their unexpected savior.

"Baka, why did you scare me like that? I would've killed the demon if you weren't here," said Ai to Chikafusa.

They thought it was Ren who saved them. But he wasn't. It was a girl who saved them. This young lady appears to be around 15 years old and stands at a tall height of 172 cm. She has a striking appearance with a braided crown hairstyle that highlights her voluminous locks. Her hair color is an eye-catching emerald green that complements her hazel eyes, adding depth to her captivating gaze.