Chapter 3: Parallels of Life and Death
The three boys took a quick glance at each other, Zenitsu the petrified one, Inosuke the infuriated one and Tanjiro the bewildered one; what were their real intentions? Despite the fact they were fully numb in their bodies, the trio couldn't help but try to speak again, Zenitsu being the first. Whilst the demons bickered between themselves, the Demon Slayers took this opportunity to try and get in contact with each other.
"T-Tanjiro, I-Inosuke.."
Despite the fact that he was recently nearly strangled to death, the boys' voice seemed to be recovering well from Kamado's and Hasbira's perspective. Their voices were discreet, not wanting to be caught gossiping during this time. Inosuke was the next to speak, his voice low but not as soundless like the golden blonde males.
"We need to beat these guys' asses..!"
Nearly getting caught, the boys silenced themselves and pretended to be flat on the group like earlier, exhaling in relief when the demons took it as a hallucination. Well, except one of course.
"..Are you boys done talking..?"
Muzan. He had a deep tone to his voice, the demons picking up on it simultaneously, peering their ravenous pupils, with their engraved ranking, at them, ready to feast. In addition, Zenitsu squinted his eyes shut, stuttering quietly to himself, thinking he was going to die. Although, this couldn't even compare to his fright at the Final Selection: it was beyond that. Subsequently, Inosuke mentally cursed to himself, it happens immediately after he spoke. In conclusion, Inosuke had fucked them up, real bad, to the point of no return. Nevertheless, Tanjiro Kamado still wouldn't give up hope, even if his comrades had a long time ago where the attack first began. Though, the next events to occur shocked him, to say the least, speechless.
Muzan approached to the teenagers, crouching down to meet their level. Using the tip of his sharp fingers to lift up his fancy fedora, his eyes met with Tanjiro's, the most recent addition to the Breath of the Sun users. Soon his eyes traced to Inosuke, Zenitsu and back to them all as one. He was a reasonable person for his actions but what he was about to do was preparing to turn the tables on it all, a shock.
"Instead of killing you, I'll make you a deal, Inosuke Hasibira, Tanjiro Kamado and Zenitsu Agatsuma. Either you die here and now or you can continue your lives as demons, supported by my blood alone."
Several of the lower Uppermoons stared in disbelief while the higher ranks only narrowed their eyes. Before any of this, Muzan had called a meeting for his remaining 6 Kizuki about his, plan, that he had in mind. True, some were against it but in this game, they were merely dolls for the puppeteer to control with the thin strings they possess, forced to agree to these conditions. However, it caught a keen interest in some on why they were following through with this crazy plan, to exterminate the Demon Slayer Corps once and for all? That couldn't be it, probably a full-scale Upper Moon attack would obliterate them in minutes of went out correctly. Fractured puzzle pieces in this plan failed to match up in the minds of the creatures, unknown of what to react or feel about it. In the end, they were just tools that their King could use to set out his commands, though this ruler of theirs had their loyalty for good reason, not just power alone.
Taking good looks at each other of what could be their last, a snap clicked in their mind, fear and despair corrupting their very beings. Atmosphere changing, the air felt toxic, suffocating their very beings out of them. This wasn't a choice to them, it was blackmail. Confirmation of if they would really be murdered was appearing, the solid glares could make them flinch in seconds. At the same time, they did not want to become demons, they did not want to fight their friends.
"No! We'll never become demons like you!"
Zenitsu and Inosuke felt the words they wanted to slip out of their mouths fall into Tanjiro's hands, nodding in agreement to him. All three were going to make a sacrifice to die instead of becoming demons and hurt innocent civilians for amusement, even if the thought of it was terrifying.
"Yeah, you scumbags! Just give up! Ha!"
Inosuke yelled in a cocky tone, a smug look appearing on his face as he turned his head in the direction of Tanjiro, his rival. Nodding in unison, Zenitsu joined in but wasn't as confident as his other two best friends, hesitating before he released his opinion.
"..Yeah. We're n-not going to be demons to h-hurt the girls..! And t-the boys.."
Kibutsuji, however, expected this outcome, playing his own game cards. Out of nowhere, the three demons that were closest to the humans, restraining their hands as they forced them to sit up, pulling roughly.
Zenitsu squealed, clearly distressed as he attempted to escape the clutches of the demon. He was trying to run away, his body aching from how overworked it was but even so, he was too weak in comparison to Upper Moon 1.
"Guys we're going to literally die! Tell Nezuko I love her!"
Tanjiro was fully restrained, seeing Zenitsu in such a panicked state reminded him of when he found out Nezuko was a demon, bringing her up. Though he didn't want to hurt others, and he wouldn't as long as he died in this situation.
Inosuke was the violent slayer in this movement, thrashing his entire body despite the pain to escape and idiotically fight all the demons at once. Even though they were in a life or death situation, he would always have that passion to fight and that was one thing that couldn't change.
All three awaited death in their own way, eyes closed for each of them. They didn't want to witness their own best friends being eaten alive limb by limb like mincemeat. But in this case scenario, they were greeted with something nobody could expect, the plan from the very beginning.
Screams.
Loud and clear.
Two of them opened their eyes to see a gruelling sight, Inosuke had something stabbed into the nape of his neck, him gagging in response in a brutal cycle of throbbing pain.
This was just the beginning.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone