Doom & Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Xover

Chapter 62: Epilogue Part 2

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Flynn reached his hand out towards Xernex's helping hand to pick himself up. As soon as Flynn was on his feet, he followed behind Xernex who gestured for his friend to follow. Flynn was in his old Space Marine armor from before he met the Night Sentinels while Xernex was wearing standard Sentinel armor. Flynn raced next to his friend, walking alongside him before repeating his question, "Alright, so, what's going on here? What is this place and how are either of us here?"

Xernex explained, "Well, I don't know a whole lot, myself. But the best way to describe this place would be like...a... a dimension between the world of the living and the next place. Think of this place like a bridge or gateway."

"A bridge to the next place? So, what, is Heaven real?"

Xernex's face contorted in contemplation as he tried to come up with an appropriate answer, "I guess...? I honestly couldn't tell you. I think it's better if I explain things by telling my experience in this dimension." Flynn made a "mhm" sound in agreement as he waited for his friend to collect his thoughts before recounting his tale, "So... it was right after I was erased by the Dark Lord when I had infused you, as a spirit. I figured that was it for me, but, then, I woke up in this place. So, there are these guides that roam this dimension, they guide people to the next place, it's their duty. My guide happened to be a nice fellow by the name of Yoriichi, you might've seen him earlier, the taller guy, kind of looks like an older Tanjiro."

"There were two Tanjiro look-alikes."

"Ah, well, one of them was Yoriichi. Surprisingly, a lot happened before I was allowed to come back and help you guys out one last time. Time is... it's different in this dimension, it flows at its own pace compared to the world of the living. That's where Yoriichi explained, to me, the rules of this dimension exactly like I'm explaining it to you now."

"Alright... so, is there a point you're trying to make?"

"Kind of, I'm getting there. So, guides... hmm, okay, I'm getting ahead of myself again. Sorry, you're the first person I've ever had to guide, and I only learned of these things recently, so, my apologies if I'm stumbling on my explanations."

Flynn responded with a simple, "mhm" as he waited for Xernex to continue.

"So, guides are people that are given a second chance after all of the sinful things that they've done. In Yoriichi's case, he was responsible for sparing Muzan and pretty much allowing thousands of people to die at his hands. That was his greatest sin. So, as a result, in order to be granted access to the next place, he has to work his time off. Think of it like a prison, we have to serve our time in this dimension until a set amount of time has passed equal to the value of our sin. We can shorten our time by doing good things and helping out by interacting with the world of the living, moments at a time, as a spirit. Yoriichi had been here for several centuries, slowly working his time off until he found a big scoop in the form of Tanjiro, that's why he chose to make his presence known to Tanjiro and start training him to repent for his sins. As I understand it, him helping me to aid you guys during your last battle against Davoth was the last thing he needed to be set free. So, you'll, most likely, see him once you pass through. Speaking of which, we're here."

They now found themselves in front of a gargantuan pale-gray gate in the middle of the void. The gate started to open up, allowing a bright white light to invade into the darkness of the abyss the two friends were currently in. Once the gate was fully opened, neither of them could see what was inside besides a blinding white light. Xernex took a deep breath, looking towards Flynn as he stated, "Well, this is where we part ways... for good, this time."