1 Protologue

The burgundy haired male yelled, thrashing from his restrained position on the ground. His hands were pinned to his back, his entire body trying to escape the position he was forced into from his combatant. Surrounding the scene ongoing, the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters were lit up in ardent flames, burning numerous crows and Kakushi in blazing infernos. Once a grand building, now destroyed, the Butterfly Mansion. Furthermore, the structure was collapsed onto itself with numerous trapped inside but nobody was able to save them at this point. Another area ruined was the central plaza, demolished to the ground: it seemed nothing less than a wasteland of dead corpses. Once mundane, natural trees now in a raging blaze, the perfect torches. One word is only fitting to describe the unrecognisable grounds, hell.

There it was, the three Kanoe Demon Slayers, all having to try and survive this nightmare with the last glimpse of hope they had in them, two pinned down to the tiled stone ground, the other being strangled near death. The two on the ground could only yell, not able to escape the clutches of the demons keeping them locked with the earth. Luckily, the others, this being the master and the 'mighty' Hashira barely escaped with their lives, fleeing the scene without taking notice that they had left some behind. Currently, their main goal was to regroup and form a plan. On the other hand, this attack was not expected, it was an ambush that had been clearly been planned out for a while.

A sound echoed in the sounds of the weak duo unable to do a single thing, staring at one of their best friends being choked to death. His sounds were desperate, trying to gasp for air as he stuttered, his skin getting paler by the second. Coughs, more coughs, getting even more muffled from the liquid named saliva coming up the boy with golden locks' throat. Zenitsu Agatsuma, along with his two friends, Tanjiro Kamado and Inosuke Hashira could do nothing to stop their awaiting deaths, panic being the only scent in the fragile air to cover up the smell of burning human flesh which some demons were feasting on for dinner, it could make one sick in an instant.

Tears.

Screams.

Coughs.

Pain.

Agony

Words could not describe the boys' emotions, their nichirin swords all broken in an instant from their failure of a fight. Outnumbered, overpowered, it was completely hopeless to resist. Some things were truly not meant to last, these young boys lives were about to come to a close. This exit from life wasn't the prideful one most demon slayers have, neither prideful nor victorious. Additionally, they would be dying not reaching their full potential as protectors of the sun, dying defeated.

Suddenly, there was a thump that hit the ground, a loud one. Eyes widened, staring at what was laying before them. Zenitsu was dropped, on the verge of life and death, choking while gasping for breathable air. He was alive.

Inosuke stared at the boy, him being almost lifeless on the ground. Struggling, he attempted

to escape the demons grasp but grunted in a rage as he couldn't move, him feeling weak at that moment. Meanwhile, Tanjiro couldn't even react, a wave of a powerful but terrifying scent came onto him out of nowhere and as soon as he could realise it, his face along with his two comrades was stuffed into the ground. It turned out that the demons were bowing, keeping the human's heads hung low so they could show respect to whoever had just shown up. Kamada recognised this smell, it came from his house when his family died and Nezuko was turned into a demon. Managing to lift his head up slightly, he could read the fear in both his friend's eyes, seeing that they knew who had just arrived from their own special skill. Every last feeling of hope was sucked out of them, they were going to die and there was no stopping it.

Footsteps came along, seeming like the clinging of leather shoes against the surface. Piercing plum red eyes shone in the distance, coming closer by the second from the foggy grey smoke approaching. One of the first things Tanjiro noticed was the sly grin etched onto the figure's pale race, him feeling his body heat up in fury at the other's expression.

He was the one behind all of this.

All of this chaos surrounding them had to be planned by him.

Infuriated, the boy wanted to scream and shout at the man, display every last bit of anger against him but he couldn't. He merely couldn't. Half of his head was still pressed against the hard ground, even if he attempted to break free, he only got smashed back into it again.

The air grew thin.

Panting for air, the boys began to try to adapt to the sudden atmosphere surrounding them but their bodies couldn't handle it. The feeling inside of them was a cold shiver down their spine, throats dry from attempting to suck in the bitter oxygen into their lungs. Noises came to a holt, crackling embers forming a ring around the living beings that still remained in this place. Upper moon One, Kokushibo, who was pinning down Zenitsu finally spoke up in their formal but monotone voice, it being the leader of the 6 demons lurking. This demon looked inhuman and it is what you would expect from a medieval mythology tale written in the scriptures. Its appearance was grotesque, fangs sticking out of its jaw and three sets of eyes. Humans had the casual white sclera while this abomination had a vibrant red hue to them, yellow irises standing out from the blood colour. With long black hair tied in a ponytail, the ends were a darker version of his eyes, the crimson. One look at him and Inosuke's eyes traced the ground in fear, that not being the usual for him. Finally glancing up, the boys were paralysed in fear, unable to move a muscle from what they were seeing. A thought wondering in their mind was, was this a dream?

No.

It was reality, a despairing reality which seemed more like a nightmare in comparison. Anyone who wasn't a demon slayer would have had their blood splattered all across the ground already; their corpse used as pin cushions. Once shining eyes now stared in disbelief of who stood before them, the mastermind.

"Welcome Master, we are delighted to see your expected arrival."