Doom & Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Xover

Chapter 16

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"You were never one of us…" A distant voice spoke with a harsh tone, "It's because of you that they're all dead. It's because of you that we lost everything. How can you live with yourself after the suffering you've put us through? Do you simply not care? Who are you, an outsider, to bring ruin to our kingdom? You should have never come here."

The Slayer's eyes shot open as he sat up without any hesitation. He could feel the cold air blow against his face as it dawned on him that he didn't have his helmet on. He looked around to notice he was in some sort of infirmary filled with other beds. It had to be in the middle of the day because the sun was shining through the uncovered windows.

"Good morning, Hellwalker! Or should I say afternoon?" The Slayer turned to look the other direction to see Rengoku laying in a bed next to his. He was hooked up to several feeding tubes that were very primitive in design compared to what he was used to seeing in hospitals. He was covered in bandages and casts from the top down. Despite this, he looked very lively despite his condition. "We're at the Butterfly Mansion in case you're wondering." The Slayer dismissed what the man said and tried to wrap his head around everything that happened.

In all of his years of fighting, he had never passed out like that before. Decades of fighting and not once did he get exhausted. Even as he was dragged into the gladiatorial arenas of Sentinel prime, he still fought to survive. So why did he pass out NOW of all times? His body ached uncomfortably as if it was sore. How odd, he hasn't been sore for a long time, what could have caused this? His mind wandered back to his strange powerup he had against Akaza. It was unlike anything he's ever experienced before. He didn't have this much of a whiplash after getting his strength from the Divinity Machine, so what happened here? When the powerup happened, it was like his body entered another dimension of strength he's never reached before. All that rage, all the power in his body was multiplied tenfold. His spiritual energy was strangely focused in that moment as well, as if it was channeling his strength to bring out something greater. He didn't know he could pull off what he did against Akaza, but perhaps there's more to his power than meets the eye.

"I'm grateful to you, Hellwalker. I most likely would've died had you not intervened when you did. I feel bad as well because you could've killed that demon if I didn't hold you back. I apologize for my incompetence." Rengoku kept his eyes on the Hellwalker who looked very dazed, as if he was inside his head and ignored the outside world. The Hashira was put off by the Slayer's face as he had short, dark brown hair and a square-like face coupled with blue eyes. Rengoku got used to the helmet so it was odd for him to see the face behind it. He wasn't even sure how old he expected the Hellwalker to be, but he didn't look as old as he had anticipated despite some of his wrinkles.

The Slayer then noticed someone's head resting on the side of his bed. He leaned in to get a better look to see it was Tanjiro resting against the Slayer's bed, sleeping while holding onto his sword. The warrior gave the Hashira a perplexed look which Kyojuro could understand as he explained, "He hasn't moved from that spot since we got back. He's been worried about you, he said something about not wanting anyone to lay a hand on the Hellwalker as he rests." The warrior dismissively rolled his eyes as he searched for his helmet which was on a small table next to his bed. As he went to put it on, he stopped to look at the cut left behind by his last encounter with the Marauder. The words he heard from his strange dream echoed through his mind once more as he put the helmet on.