Doom & Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Xover

Chapter 10

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It was another day of training for Tanjiro and his friends: more excruciating stretches followed with some simple games. However, they challenged themselves by performing physically demanding tasks while maintaining their Total Concentration Breathing. They were inside the large room of the mansion where they performed their exercises. Several long ropes were hanging from the ceiling and their current task was to climb to the top and go back down in the shortest time. Tanjiro, Inoske, and Zenitsu anxiously readied themselves to climb as they waited for one of the residents of the mansion to give the green light. A blue haired girl with twin ponytails and matching eyes started the countdown for them. Kanao stood next to her, smiling like always.

Once the countdown reached zero: the three boys started climbing. It was a fierce race as Tanjiro and Inosuke struggled for dominance in the race while Zenitsu lagged behind. Once reaching the top, Inosuke dropped from the immense height, landing on his feet. This made him slightly buckle but he maintained his footing. The blue haired girl, Aoi, complained to Inosuke, "You're supposed to climb down, not drop down!"

Inosuke burst into a triumphant laughter while pressing his fists against his hips, "Only pussies climb down! I, Lord Inosuke, am the strongest!" By that time, Tanjiro managed to climb down and said to Inosuke:

"That's not much of a threshold when compared to Mister Slayer."

Inosuke retorted, "Shut up! I still owe him an ass-beating! I'll surpass him one way or another!" Zenitsu finished climbing down as well and expressed his annoyance:

"You two keep going on and on about that guy. Seriously, what did I miss?! Why are you so fixated on him?!"

Inosuke responded right away, "I want to kick his ass! That's all the reason I need." The doors of the room opened, gathering everyone's attention. Shinobu walked inside while reading a letter. Everyone there greeted the owner of the mansion; She quickly greeted back but it was obvious she was focused on the letter. As she read further into it, she raised her eyebrows in shock and let out a slight gasp. Tanjiro felt the need to ask, "Miss Shinobu, what's the matter?"

She finally removed her sights from the letter and looked at everyone else as she explained, "It says, here, that the total population of the demons has gone down drastically. The threats haven't been as frequent as they used to be. Though there's no strong estimate, it's speculated that at least several hundred demons have been killed off recently. It also says there have been frequent reports across many towns claiming to have seen the Hellwalker. So far, it's looking like the majority of these kills are at his hands." This shocked everyone in the room.

Tanjiro had to process the words he just heard from Shinobu. At least several hundred?! It hasn't been too long since he'd last seen the Hellwalker yet there are that many deaths? He thought, perhaps, it might be an exaggeration. After all, there are hundreds of demon slayers working for the organization. However, taking into consideration the sheer tenacity of the Slayer, his overwhelming strength, and intense hatred for demons: It's definitely not impossible. It's just a difficult reality to grasp.

Inosuke exclaimed in response, "So what?! I'll kill five million demons once I'm out of here! Just watch! I refuse to be sidelined by that jackass!" Most of the people in the room dismissed Inosuke's claims, however, Tanjiro took it differently. This is an inspiring moment for the Demon Slayer Corps, they now have a humongous edge over the demons with the Hellwalker on their side. Inosuke has the right idea to be that optimistic, and he should be too. It's becoming increasingly apparent how amazing the Hellwalker is, garnering even more respect from Tanjiro (as if he didn't respect him already).