Demon Slayer : The Silent Journey

Chapter 129: The strongest Hashira and the Demon King on equal ground

[3rd POV]

(The Kamado household)

"Thank you for the food!!" everyone said collectively with similar wide smiles on their faces.

There was food on the table, and the amount and the quality of the food was something an isolated family like the Kamado should not be able to afford. But here they were, eating better than most people living in cities.

Today's main dish was venison.

The meat was made in different ways, from a stew to roasted in charcoal. They had nearly used the entire meat from one deer for this dinner.

But that was not the only reason why the meal was so special. Eating meat had become the norm since Seiji had been living with them. What really stood out in today's meal was that the deer was not hunted down by Seiji but by Tanjiro.

The young boy had come a long way.

"So good!! Big brother the deer you brought back tastes the best!!" Takeo, the second son of the Kamado family enthusiastically said to his older brother.

This was a natural behaviour of Takeo, he was the greatest glazer of his older brother. Although Seiji was cool with the scars and being a samurai, in the eyes of Takeo, his older brother Tanjiro was simply the coolest.

Seiji chuckled to himself, knowing he had brought home fatter and healthier deer but he simply couldn't compare with Tanjiro it seems.

The young boy scratched his cheek shyly, yet pride overflowed from his smile. He couldn't describe it in words but he had fed the instinctual desire of a man to provide for his family.

"I'm glad you like it. Although don't expect to eat it every day as deers are getting quite rare," Tanjiro said with a smile.

Takeo nodded and continued eating the food with more vigour and appreciation.

Deers were not getting rare, Seiji thought to himself. In fact, Winter was usually when they were the easiest to hunt since they ventured around in search of food and predicting their movement was easier from limited food sources and their trail on snow.

Autumn was the rutting season, so most female deers were in the early stages of pregnancy during winter. Tanjiro was just too nice to kill pregnant deer so that's why prey was rare for him.

Kie Kamodo also ate her food with an unusual fondness. It was not the first animal that Tanjiro caught but it was certainly the biggest. She couldn't help but feel a sense of motherly pride swell in her heart. She felt that Tanjiro was all grown up now.

"Then big brother, can you bring home rabbits next time?" Hanako asked with a hopeful tilt of her head to which Tanjiro nodded.

"I'll try,"

Dinner was always a lovely affair in this age. People were so much more appreciative and grateful for having food on the table, Seiji observed.

The children were also getting fatter, although not too much since every day was filled with doing work or playing outdoors. Seiji could only smile at the warm atmosphere, dreaming about what it would be like when he had his own family.

"I want seconds!" Takeo declared and put his bowl forward.

"Me too," Hanako followed.

"Me also!" Shigeru followed but you could see that he still had plenty of rice left.

"Okay~ Here comes seconds," Nezuko said, scooping rice and giving them their second share. She also adds a tiny bit to Shigeru's bowl.

Everything was going well, it was like any other evening but everything changed when the smile on Seiji disappeared while looking around the house.

Everyone paused, feeling something wrong in the air.

Seiji was the most silent person in the room but his presence was the biggest. He was like the unspoken head of the family at this point so when his constant smile faded into a deep, growling frown, everyone noticed immediately.

They all watched Seiji as he slowly reached for his giant blade that stood in the corner of the room and he laid it beside him.

"Seiji-nii, what's wrong?" Nezuko was the first one to ask. Tanjiro noticed sweat falling from his side profile for no reason. It was winter, he shouldn't be sweating.,

But something about seeing Seiji so serious freaked him out a bit.

"It's nothing," Seiji said, his eyes glazed over in a faint purple glow that went unnoticed under the light.

Finally, he was here.

Muzan Kibutsuji.

But he was still a few kilometres away and he was coming towards them ever so slowly - like he expected the world to pause for him. Seiji determined that there were still a few minutes left before he arrived.

"Raven," Seiji called out and the small sparrow which was perching in the cover of the bulb flew down.

"Call for other Hashiras, like I told you to," he said and as if noticing the seriousness of the situation, the bird flew out of the window and disappeared into the night.

Seiji blinked a few times before he looked away from the direction he was looking. The others only saw a wall where he looked at.

"Don't worry, let's continue eating," Seiji said and although feeling a bit unnerved, they returned to their meals.

Children were very carefree by nature so they didn't think much of it. Except for Tanjior and Kei who couldn't help but feel was horribly wrong.

They couldn't react yet, Seiji thought to himself. If he told the Kamado family to run to safety, Muzan would have noticed and he would have been alerted at the turn of events.

So Seiji did nothing and allowed the Demon King to make his way to the house.

After five to ten minutes, he was finally here, like an inevitable death.

"Stop giving me the bony parts, I like the softer meat too," Takeo complained to Hanako.

"You are the one who said not to waste any,"

"Yeah, that means you should eat everything, not give me the parts that you don't like," Takeo huffed.

"Stop bickering, here let me eat them," Nezuko offered and right then, the main door to the Kamado household was pushed open rather forcefully.

All heads turned to the door except for Seiji who continued digging into his food. He already knew who it was.

They saw a man dressed in a black western suit with a coat whiter than snow hanging on his shoulder. He looked like he was around his mid-twenties and he had raven black hair and a pale complexion.

He had a stoic face like that of a handmade doll. Yet his blood-red eyes with slit like a feline - the ultimate predator - held cruelty that could not be missed. They were eyes that saw only lesser beings or prey.

A deep chill ran down everyone's spine. Maybe it was the rushing of cold air coming from the open door but they felt numb.

"Ah-Are you a visitor?" Kie spoke after a long silence, she eyed Seiji for guidance but the man simply ate his food.

The visitor, Muzan Kibutsuji, followed the sweep of her eyes and his gaze locked on Seiji as well. His eyes narrowed, seemingly surprised and cautious at the man.

The silence was thick, and that was why the clinking of chopsticks from Sejiji appeared louder than it was. It covered the entire house.

A few seconds later, Seiji finished his food and he put down his empty bowl on the table.

"Thank you for the food," he said while holding his hand.

Everyone looked at him with bewilderment. Even Muzan seemed intrigued by his action. They were all wondering why he chose to ignore everything in order to finish his food.

Only Seiji himself knew that it could be his final meal. So he finished it with a great deal of appreciation.

Finally, his hand went to his sword.

Muzan's eyes scrutinized and he studied Seiji. From his memories, he recognised the Hashira immediately but he was confused as to why he was there. Regardless, he scanned the Hashira, he felt a sense of distaste when he noticed the human's deaf ears.

Even among the already imperfect human beings, he was flawed.

But as those thoughts crossed his mind, the demon king never realized until it was too late,

That a sword was at his neck!!!

"!!!!!!!"

Something screamed.

*BOOOOOM!!!*

It was like skipping a cutscene in a video game. The Demon King was flung away like a ragdoll. He noticed a cut in his neck, at his arm, his stomach, his heart, his shoulders!

He was cut everywhere!

His flying body left a trail of blood that bleeds out like a fountain on the white snow. But the moment he landed on the ground, all his injuries were already healed like they were never there.

The only thing that remained was a phantom feeling of blades all over his body. Muzan immediately got ready for a fight, his senses were heightened and veins popped near his eyes.

....

"Tanjiro, take the sword and bring your family to the cave I showed you. Stay there until I return or help arrives," Seiji said, standing in the place where there used to be a door.

The whole entrance wall of the house was blown apart completely, leaving a gaping hole in the house.

"It's a demon," Seiji clarified while turning back and meeting Tanjiro's shaking eyes.

Tanjiro felt blood drain from his face. He had seen demons before, and although they were dangerous and scary, Seiji always made them look harmless. But this time, Tanjiro could clearly see the seriousness in his eyes.

He could also feel it in his bones, how powerful that demon was in the brief exchange of glances. He felt his heart turn to ice in his chest.

But in that moment of fear and panic where his siblings screamed and cried in fear, an unbreakable resolve formed and he burst into action.

"Let's go!! It's dangerous!!" Tanjiro yelled grabbed Hanako's hand and pulled her up.

Tanjiro ran towards a cupboard that had a sword that Seiji had brought with him when he arrived. It was the same weapon Tanjiro trained with the past week so it felt natural in his hand.

"We need to go somewhere safe!!" Tanjiro said and Kie and Nezuko were quick to follow his lead.

They did not need convincing when they just saw their house blown apart in one single swing. Their body also knew instinctively of the danger that had to befall them Muzan was not really masking his bloodlust at the moment.

They grabbed whatever tools they could and ran out of the house from the backdoor.

...

Seiji looked away when he saw them leave the house and made sure that no demons were close to the path leading to the cave.

He had shown Tanjiro the cave and instructed him about what to do when they faced danger. So he was not too worried about it, the family would be safe.

He was sure that Muzan wouldn't go after them either because for the Demon Lord, killing him was much better than killing the Kamado.

And he was not planning to die soon.

His purple eyes bore on the Demon Lord and pierced through every opening. The last time they met, he was too afraid to even take a close look but now his eyes moved uncommanded, piecing out every weakness Muzan had as if they were looking at any ordinary demon.

When he found the weaknesses, his audacious mind imagined exploiting those weaknesses. He killed Muzan ten times in his mind, no, a hundred times, a thousand times.

He could almost see himself carving his hatred on the flesh of the demon.

"Such killing intent, how were you hiding all that malice before?" Muzan asked, not at all bothered by the eyes that were stripping down his guard until he looked vulnerable to them.

Getting no repose annoyed him so Muzan held out his hand and shot a small blade made of his blood at Seiji. The liquid blade flew, easily surpassing sound but they missed Seiji by a hair's breadth.

"Hm?" Muzan titled his head, confused as to why he missed before he did a perfect recall in his mind of what happened and realised Seiji had moved out of the way.

Yet he moved even before Muzan fired his blade - around the time when his mind finished calculating and decided to shoot the projectile. That was why he didn't notice the first time.

"interesting," Muzan commented with a small curve of his lips.

It was completely out of his plan to stumble upon the purple Hashira and he was upset at his lack of control over the event but he was not angry.

Although it was not his plan, this was a great opportunity to kill his current greatest annoyance. He even shelved the Kamado family in his mind and focused on the more important prey.

Seiji did not speak and instead let his actions do the talking. He threw away the sheath of his sword far away - far enough to pose a problem retrieving - and he got into a stance.

'Not planning to sheath your sword again huh? So you are prepared to die,' Muzan thought of the meaning behind the action.

That made him lower his guard just a bit. He was assured by the fact that Seiji himself did not believe he had a chance.

But was that really what that action meant?

Or did Seiji throw away the sheath of his sword because he was planning to end everything tonight?

After all, if Muzan was killed, every demon under his control would cease to exist.

Amidst the chilling snow and pale moonlight, the strongest Hashira and the Demon King met in on equal ground.

The first sound of their devastating clash was the end of fate and the beginning of chance.

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Author : I need to do some catching up to do on patreon so I can only update one Chapter today.

Consider joining my patreon : Emmanuel_Capricorn

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If you give me 700 stones though which is unlikely, I will upload next Chapter. If you show that much resolve I will do to.

Anyways thanks for readingNôv(el)B\\jnn