Demon Slayer: Kikajiru no Kiba

**Demon Slayer - Kikajiru no Kiba** is a Story Arc of the Exteria Multiverse. It takes place in Interra and follows the perspective of aspiring demon slayers Hitagi Kototsuki, Mieko Urokodaki, and Megami Tori.

## Main Arc

### Slayer Trials Arc

In the early twentieth century, the rural island of Kyushu, Japan, is invaded by demons, forcing a group of expert demon slayers, led by Hiataeru Urokodaki, to settle there and find candidates for new demon slayers. From the harsh selection, five people emerge victorious: Hiataeru's own adoptive daughter Mieko, the strangely light-bodied and ethereal Megami, brooding and mysterious Hitagi, the fearful Orin Himejima, and the stoic Kumako Oniyama. Immediately to test them, Hitagi, Mieko and Megami are sent away.

Their first ordeal is shown in rice fields, where a demon, using a powerful flesh-warping ability called "Noroi", turns his own body into rice for it to be consumed by others and devour them from within. Despite teamwork still being a work in progress, the trio manages to pin down the demon and defeat him. Megami notices a much more powerful demon, Aogane, overseeing the trio, but she refuses to fight them, instead disappearing from their sight. Soon, a new mission calls, leaving them no time to think about it, and they embark once more.

### Misty Forest Arc

Their next trial is finding a demon who has hidden in a misty forest. On their way, they encounter Orin, who has been sent there to investigate as well. They also meet up with two other demon slayers; a young man who leads them deeper into the misty forest, and Inara Kurohebi, a brutish slayer who turns out to belong to a special order, that of Demon eaters: people with the ability to devour fragments of demons and borrow their powers. Inara at first hungers for Hitagi's special *marechi* blood, but ends up calming herself and agreeing to help the group.

And this is needed too - soon the party starts to wander in circles, disoriented by the fog, which turns out to be another Noroi. By tracking the demon's scent, they discover that the mysterious young man they encountered is in fact the demon all along - and that some of Kyushu's demons are able to still retain the "breathing techniques" from their past life as humans. Despite the warrior being proficient in mist breathing and using his perception-controlling Noroi, he is dispatched by the group, including Orin's surprising survival instincts.

### Swamp of Blood Arc

The group is then ordered, by Pillar of Steel (a high-ranked member of the Demon Slayer Corps) Tekkojin Sakiyuki, to investigate a swamp that once belonged to a previous Pillar of Water before his disappearance. There, they find a small village whose terrified villagers seem to hide a heavy secret, a bottomless part of the swamp that hides a massive skull-like demon, as well as a white fog that belongs to an extremely powerful demon, Shirometsu. The white demon challenges the entire group by himself, seemingly more to test them than to actually kill or eat them.

The party escapes both Shirometsu and the skull demon with the help of Axolotl, a strange frog-like creature wielding a small blade, but whose proviciency with it is obvious. With the white demon's hints, they return to interrogate the villagers: there, they learn that the previous Pillar of Water was in fact a Pillar of Blood, and a demon-eater. Fearful of his habits and powers, the superstitious villagers formed a mob and killed him and his pregnant wife, only for him to return - as Kokumetsu, the new Demon King of Kyushu, and responsible of all the previous attacks.

The bone demon returns to attack the village, but the party teams up and destroys it, only to be forced to run away when Kokumetsu himself appears. To survive, Hitagi is forced to use her full powers, revealing herself as a Demon Eater herself, but it barely slows down the Demon King. It takes the intervention of Tekkojin and Pillar of Dragons Hayate Tenkuryu to make enough of a breach for the party to escape, even with Axolotl's seeming desperate sacrifice. The true threat of Kyushu's demons has been unveiled, as well as the truth behind the most powerful demons: they are undead beings, born of a Demon Eater's traumatic death.

### Bone and Forge Arc

The group's next mission, after training, is investigating a strange, holy city, that demons cannot cross. There, helped by Kumako, they discover a cult centered around fallen saint **Amakuza Shiro Tokisada**'s bones. These bones seem to have some relation to demons, and can hurt or repel them, but also hold some occult power. A demon able to infiltrate these defenses, Shion, whose powers allow her to weaken her presence, is sent to steal it, but is stopped. Upon sensing her pain as a demon, Hitagi intervenes to stop her from being killed, taking responsibility for that action.

With a fragment of the false saint's bones seized, the group is sent to a distant forge manned by Tomura Sakiyuki, Tekkojin's younger sibling, in order to forge a blade with it. Tomura's forge stands next to a great battlefield, littered with the swords of previous slayers. There, the group finds one of Kokumetsu's most powerful demons, Shinichi, who claims that Kyushu holds a secret tragedy. Shinichi, however, is not there for the party; he has another target. On the hill of swords, the party finds enough ore to help Tomura complete the blade.

However, they are then ambushed by Sanborenai, an immensely powerful Demon, equal in power to Kokumetsu. Her sick interest in the party makes her toy with them, forcing them to use their greatest asset, including Mieko's unique ability to freeze human bodies by contact, and Hitagi's imperfect mastery of legendary Sun breathing. Sanborenai, undeterred, grievously wounds the party, including cutting off Megami's arm, leaving her handicapped and forcing the party to flee with the unique blade, to tend to their wounds.

### Secret of the Waterfall Arc

Shirometsu appears to the party, surprisingly helpful. The demon admits he is Kokumetsu's unborn child, given life by demon blood, and seeks to kill his father before the latter destroys Kyushu. He hints of secrets hidden in Hayate's hometown, a city of waterfalls that once belonged to the **Kamado** family. There, a powerful demon following Kokumetsu's orders waits in ambush, one responsible for the death of Hitagi's family; Megami faces him despite her handicap, and awakens a powerful mark on her body, that allows her to destroy it despite everything.

Further investigation leads the group to a cave behind the waterfall, where bones rest; those bones belong to the hand of Amakuza, and have blessed the water with innatural regeneration properties. However, the cave is also guarded by Aogane, who claims to be a servant of Kokumetsu as well. Aogane claims Megami's mark will quickly kill her in a few years, and promises to heal her arm should the group listen to the story about the true origin of Kyushu's curse. The party, reluctantly, accepts.

### Origin of Demons Arc

A long time ago, demon slayers from Honshu were called under the orders of official Shitaimaru Ubuyashiki. Among these hunters, the stern Leiko Nomizaki, the unstable Kanjo and the patient Keisuke Kocho, who were called to a great banquet organized by Shitaimaru, in which he planned to tell them a method he found to destroy Honshu's main threat, legendary millenium-old demon Muzan Kibutsuji. Also present, a noble blademaster of the Kamado family, and two familiar faces: Aogane and Shinichi, respectively Shitaimaru's secretary and an aspiring Demon Slayer.

However, the banquet turns to a nightmare as the guests, after eating, undergo catastrophic changes, turning into half-demon monstrosities, and start killing each other. Amidst the chaos, Aogane disappears, taking Kanjo with her; Keisuke, feeling himself change, uses medical knowledge to put himself to sleep; leaving Leiko alone to fight against the Kamado blademaster, turned into an immensely powerful Sun-wielding demon, Musshoku. Thus, the hill of swords is explained, as well as the birth of Kyushu's demons.

### Secrets of the Corpse Arc

Hitagi, Megami and Mieko awake, Megami's arm having healed; but the demon slayer mark still remains on her. Still, there is no time to mourn; Shitaimaru, whom Hitagi reveals as the leader of the Demon Eaters, is revealed by Aogane to have kidnapped Orin and experimented on her due to Orin's background tied to demons. The party returns to the mountain where they underwent their first trial; where, according to Aogane, Shitaimaru is hidden. There, the party finds reserach notes documenting the truth about the island.

Shitaimaru, desperate to kill Muzan, had stumbled upon this mountain, where Amakuza's skull remains hidden, infesting the water with "necroparasites", small worm-like organisms that can animate dead flesh. Attempting to weaponize this immortality, he had infested a hundred demon slayers with it during his banquet, in the hopes to create a body strong enough to defeat Muzan. This however, had backfired, created the demon infection the island is now known for. With that knowledge in hand, the party goes on to defeat Orin.

Shitaimaru himself is nowhere to be seen, but after Orin's demon-induced frenzy is calmed, the group is attacked by Shinichi, who attempts to bury Shitaimaru's secrets once and for all. Due to Megami's mark, Hitagi's imperfect sun-breathing, and Mieko's ability to use a pure version of Water breathing that wounds Kyushu's demons, the powerful necromancer demon is finally defeated. Yet this is not over; as Shinichi predicted it in his last words, the sun is eclipsed, and Kokumetsu's armies begin to march on towards the Demon Slayer headquarters.

### Castle and the Eclipse Arc

A gigantic castle emerges from the clouds, having been built by Kokumetsu himself. In this castle, the demon slayers attack, facing off against several demons. Shirometsu appears among them, seeking to receive the proper death of a demon; however, his suicidal ideals are confronted, and he is asked to help humans instead of merely disappearing from the world. He relents, and helps them reach his father's throne room, where the latter is already facing Sanborenai - shown to have survived Tokito's suicidal assault.

A combination of efforts from the team allows them to end Kokumetsu's desperate attempt to take the world with him in the grave, while Sanborenai is ultimately killed by Megami; with Hitagi, supporting the team, being forced to consume Shitaimaru's last resort for her, a finger stolen from one of Muzan's decoy bodies. As the battle seemingly ends, Musshoku descends from the eclipse, having finally defeated Leiko after several decades of uninterrupted battle. Yet Musshoku, when arriving on top of the castle, undergoes a strange seizure and collapses. When Musshoku rises again, it is possessed by Shitaimaru, who had planned this and hoped to use Musshoku's ability to kill Muzan.

The slayers, however having underwent years of trauma and terror due to the man's actions, choose to oppose and challenge the demon he had become. An arduous battle, where Kanjo and Keisuke intervene to help, ensues, and as Shitaimaru seeks to call upon Amakuza's powers and grow further in strength, it is denied; for Leiko did not merely die, but delved into the depths of death and connected herself to Amakuza, breaking Shitaimaru's grasp on him. Demons of Kyushu are finally defeated... but at a terrible price; Megami's death in the aftermath, due to her mark.

## Other Arcs

### Asura Invasion Arc

A few years after the end of the story, a mourning Hitagi, unable to cope with the loss of Megami, is visited by Shirometsu, who has survived the ordeal, and learned of a demonic threat from the island of Honshu. The pair endeavors to travel to the north and solve the threat or die trying. On their way, they are ambushed by Sanborenai, who is revealed to have returned from the dead through sheer obsession and force of will, and views Hitagi with twisted adoration, joining her side in a perverse desire to watch her grow in strength and kill her afterwards.

A string of mysteries in Honshu are revealed to be tied to Asuras, a new type of demons native to Honshu. Most of them are Chinese or Korean people, prisoners of war brought here by force due to Japanese imperialism. Hitagi teams up with Orin and Tomura, respectively there to investigate under orders of the Demon Slayer Corps, and curious about Honshu's technological progress. On their way, they encounter enigmatic, powerful Asura: the stern and loyal Ieyasu, the scheming and sarcastic Hideyoshi, and the mysterious Mitsuhide, each of them shaped after a powerful historic figure.

Further investigation reveals that the three Asura leaders, and a fourth one, Nobunaga, are the result of a military and scientific conspiracy, who have used the power of the Yata-garasu, an ancient and immensely powerful demon, to experiment on prisoners of war in order to create super-soldiers, and have used the perfected method on the afore-mentioned Asura leaders. This, at least, is what Hitagi gleans from Ha-rin, a failed experiment sold into sexual slavery by the Japanese army, but rescued before tragedy during her investigations.

However, Hitagi, meanwhile, still suffers from the consequences of her battle with the Demon Kings, and her consumption of Muzan's fingers. Muzan's consciousness starts to pervade and influence hers, despite Hitagi's desire to remain human. The only glimmer of hope she finds is Yasushi, a light-footed amnesiac warrior, who bears strong similarities to Megami, and is revealed to be part of her, sent as a form of celestial messenger to protect Hitagi from herself. Hitagi, still torn by her own emotions, advancces towards the experiment's headquarters, home to **Unit 731**.

After releasing the prisoners and destroying all traces of their captors, Hitagi and her team faces off against Nobunaga's own. A well-fought battle ensues, from which Hitagi, having perfected Sun breathing, emerges victorious. Mitsuhide, however, intervenes and reveals the real reason for their existence: he claims to have seen the future, through his own powers, a future in which Japan falls victim to the Yata-garasu's power, wielded by the United States. Instead of rivalry between the two demonic groups, Mitsuhide forces Nobunaga to step down and negotiates peace with Hitagi, long enough to protect Japan from the incoming threat.

## Characters

### Demon Slayers

* Hitagi Kototsuki
* Mieko Urokodaki
* Megami Tori ("Yasushi")
* Orin Himejima
* Kumako Oniyama
* Inara Kurohebi
* Leiko Nomizaki
* Kanjo
* Keisuke Kocho
* Tomura Sakiyuki

### Demon Slayer Pillars and Leaders

* Hiataeru Urokodaki
* Tokito Tanuki
* Hayate Tenkuryu
* Tekkojin Sakiyuki
* Hisaku Kurotetsu
* Kawaru Komura ("Axolotl")

### Demons (Preta)

* Kokumetsu
* Shirometsu
* Sanborenai
* Musshoku
* Shinichi
* Aogane
* Shion

### Demons (Ashuras)

* Nobunaga
* Ieyasu
* Hideyoshi
* Mitsuhide
* Ha-rin

### Other

* Shitaimaru Ubuyashiki
* Muzan Kibutsuji

## Trivia

* Kikajiru no Kiba means "demon-eating fang", a reference to themes of corruption and assimilation instead of demon-hunting.