Cataclysm // Demon Slayer Deku

A Ruler Cannot Be Ruled

DKT's POV:

"So they failed..." I muttered, clenching my fists tighter by my side as I stared down at the new and improved mask I have been carefully working on for the past month. 

"All because I refused to dispose of him all of those years ago."

"If I may, Tanjiro-Sama. This is not necessarily your fault. You merely believed that such power would go to waste if you killed him back then. It is understandable that you would want to keep Lower 1 alive despite what he did back then," a bubbly voice said from beside me, smiling over towards me.

I genuinely smirked, letting out a small sigh, nodding my head. "That may be true, but, now I am unsure of what Lower 1 may do. I have no way of knowing where he is or where he'll go. It's probably best to destroy him myself, no more reconsideration," I said, placing the mask on the table.

"However, now that he has escaped my control and severed our blood-linked connection, I can no longer destroy his cells on command, meaning that not even I can kill him instantly. I may have to use my own blood demon art to finish the job."

"Well, I'm sure you'll manage it, Master," she responded.

I nodded slightly, eyes traveling down to my hands.

"As much as I hate to admit it, lower 1 is an incredibly special demon," I thought to myself. "He is the only demon I have created that has had the capability and success of breaking free from my control. He's already done it before. That's why I created that mask. That mask acted more than just a way to keep him in line. It also acted as a memory constrainer and a power dampener."

"But now that I think of it... I should have merely cut my losses and disposed of him when he decided to go against me in more ways than one several years ago. But, I saw the potential such a demon held. The power he used to demonstrate in many occasions was certainly impressive. If he hadn't tried to go against me, I would have made him an upper moon. He's different from his fellow lower moons. The power gap between Lower 2 and Lower 1 is immense. If I were to give him just a slight bit more of my blood, he would've been able to surpass Upper 6."

I let out a small sigh, shaking my head in disappointment.

"Wasteful. What's truly troublesome isn't his abilities, but the fact that his blood demon art also gives him many... 'attributes' that many would suspect a dragon to have. This is likely part of the reason as to why I can't permanently keep him under my control. After all, a dragon is a ruler. A king of kings. And a ruler most assuredly can't be ruled."

<•------------•>

Shoto's POV:

I breathed heavily and sporadically, feeling my body being gently yet forcefully shaken as my darkened vision slowly turning into a blurry one, unable to make out a single thing around me.

"Shoto."

"Shoto."

"Shoto."

My eyes eventually flickered wide open, vision finally clearing up, chest heaving up and down. 

"M-mom...?" I struggled to speak, arms and legs trembling as I slowly pushed myself off of the ground. "Wh-why is it so... hot in here...?"

I shook my head, ears ringing as the soft and concerned voice of my mother failed to fully get through to me, only barely hearing her voice through my pained stupor. But, I quickly snapped out of it as soon as the burning, shining color of orange filled my eyesight.

I flinched back, skin sizzling slightly despite not being anywhere near the flames.

"Mom! Are you alright?" I questioned frantically, whilst generating ice from my right side.