The wind howled through the treetops, a mournful cry in the snow-filled air.
Snowflakes danced, a swirling curtain that blurred the world.
Crunch, crunch.
Aoki walked through the rugged mountains, his steps sure, his pace steady. He left a trail of footprints in the snow, a lonely path through the wilderness.
Rustle!
Beside the trail, a patch of snow-covered grass stirred. A monster emerged, a grotesque fusion of human and spider. It watched Aoki's back, its eyes gleaming with malice. Its eight legs bent, coiling like springs, ready to unleash its attack.
Aoki turned, a sudden shift in the wind. He swung his hand down.
Thump!
The spider-headed creature shrieked, a sound lost in the wind's howl. It flew through the air, a broken thing, crashed against a tree.
Aoki frowned. He looked at the creature, a mix of disgust and pity in his golden eyes.
These spider-headed things... They were once human. Twisted, broken by a demon's poison.
Rustle!
Then, they were all around him. A swarm of spider-headed creatures emerged from the shadows, their eyes burning, their bodies writhing. They surrounded Aoki, a grotesque circle of despair.
Aoki ignored them. He looked up.
A wooden house hung suspended in the air, held aloft by threads of shimmering silk. They connected it to the trees, a fragile web against the storm. Several bodies hung from the silken threads, shrunken, twisted, slowly turning into spiders.
Click, click, click.
A monster crawled out of the suspended house. It was a spider-human, too, but larger than the others, a grotesque giant.
There were five demons on Mt. Natagumo. Rui, Lower Moon Five, and the four demons who pretended to be his family.
This spider-demon was Rui's "older brother."
He was the one who made these spider-headed things.
"What? A demon?"
The spider-demon looked disappointed. His mouth opened, a silent snarl. "You..."
Aoki shimmered, appeared above the spider-demon. He brought his foot down, a swift descent from the heavens.
Thump, thump, thump!
The silken threads snapped, a chorus of tiny breaks. The wooden house splintered, crashed down. The spider-demon fell with Aoki, a falling star of destruction.
Boom!
The spider-demon's body snapped in half, a grotesque puppet severed at the waist. He coughed blood, looked up at Aoki. His face twisted in terror.
"You're the traitor!"
The one who could stop healing, who could kill demons. More terrifying than the Demon Slayer Corps.
"Don't talk to me. You're disgusting. Your only value is to die."
Aoki frowned, a shadow crossing his face. He lifted his foot.
Thwack!
The spider-demon's head exploded, a crimson bloom against the snow. His body flailed, a desperate dance of death.
The traitor had come to Mt. Natagumo.
He had to warn Rui!
Only Rui could stop him!
Air rippled, a silent tremor. Aoki shimmered into view.
The headless spider-demon didn't see him. He ran blindly, a headless puppet stumbling towards its doom.
Aoki lifted his foot.
Thump!
The spider-demon flew through the air, a broken thing against the winter sky.
Aoki followed, his hands a blur. Spidery legs fell, scattered across the snow, a grotesque harvest. When the body hit the ground, it was just a torso, a mangled ruin.
"Disgusting."
Aoki looked at the remains. For the first time, he felt a flicker of revulsion, a desire to turn away. The thought of devouring this thing made his skin crawl.
He sighed.
Now wasn't the time for weakness.
Aoki reached out his hand.
He couldn't afford to be picky. He had a task to complete.
The spider-demon's body twisted, softened, a grotesque surrender. Then, Aoki turned, a sudden shift in his senses. He looked towards the trees.
"Ah!"
A female demon, plump, with white hair and skin like chalk, sat on the ground, her face a mask of terror.
It was Rui's "mother."
Aoki didn't chase her. He looked up.
A black crow perched on a branch, its head cocked, its eyes bright with curiosity. It seemed harmless, a creature of the forest.
Then, their eyes met.
The black crow's feathers puffed out, a sudden burst of fear. It almost fell from the branch. It beat its wings, flew towards the sky, a desperate flight to freedom.
The trees shrank below it. The crow felt a flicker of relief.
"There are demons here. More than one. I need to tell..."
The black crow's eyes widened.
It felt a sudden pressure, a force that bound its body. It saw a hand in the corner of its vision, a pale shape against the darkness.
Before it could understand, the world went black. It was back on the ground.
"This is a Kasugai Crow, right?"
Aoki looked at the crow in his hand, curious.
Kasugai Crows were the messengers of the Demon Slayer Corps, birds of keen intelligence, partners to the demon slayers.
"I'm dead! I'm dead!" The black crow cried in its mind. How did he catch me?
Aoki tossed the crow into the air.
"Go on."
The black crow blinked. It beat its wings, flew. It didn't leave. It circled, wary, puzzled.
What was this demon doing?
Why did he let it go?
Its small bird brain spun, trying to understand.
Aoki didn't explain.
"Go on. Get help. Those spider-headed things might still be alive." He spoke the words into the wind, a message carried on the storm.
The crow looked at him, a fleeting moment of understanding in its dark eyes. Then, it beat its wings, flew away, fast.
The night had been a shock.
It had been flying, minding its own business. It had seen a fight, stopped to watch.
Now, its small life had almost ended.
"The traitor?"
The black crow replayed the key information. It beat its wings faster, a desperate urgency driving it onward.
...
The "mother" demon ran, her body heavy, her breath ragged. Her mind replayed the scene: the spider-demon's death, the devouring darkness.
"The rumors are true! He can kill demons!" Her thoughts were a frantic litany of fear.
Then, her legs gave way. She stumbled, lost her balance, fell forward.
Boom!
She rolled, hit the ground hard. She was covered in snow. She didn't feel it. She looked back, her eyes wide with terror. She saw nothing.
Relief flickered. Then, a voice spoke.
"There's an old saying where I come from: 'Better a bad life than no life at all.'"
The demon mother froze. She turned slowly.
A figure sat on a rock. Golden eyes gleamed, a promise of judgment.
Aoki watched her, his face calm. "But if you're on the wrong path, and you're suffering... Maybe it's better to let go. Don't you think?"
Did demons deserve to die?
From a human perspective, most did.
Eating people was an unforgivable sin.
If he was human, he'd want to kill them all.
But demons were tragic, too.
Not all of them chose this. Many were victims, twisted into monsters.
Many forgot their human lives, became driven by hunger, a desperate need to survive.
"I..."
The demon mother opened her mouth. Darkness crashed over her, a silent wave that swallowed her whole.
"Aoki Style, Funeral."
Aoki shimmered into view. "The past is gone. Rest now."
"Ah... So peaceful."
The demon mother glanced at Aoki, closed her eyes.
"Let it end."
Funeral. A move created from Space Warp, a swift, silent end.
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