Chapter 12: Chapter 12 – Out of his Shadow

“Lady Tamayo? How is she?”

“It’s Lady Tamayo you are talking about! How dare you even question that? Of course, that girl is good as new!” Yushiro shot a piercing look toward Tanjiro.

“No! Well…that wound….” Tanjiro looked down. Even he knew that was one wound that no one could heal, and then he remembered that Lady Tamayo managed to turn Yushiro into a Demon. So of all the possibilities that he could think of, this one was the only one where he felt there was hope.

“I understand,” Tamayo smiled, “It was good that you brought her to me. Otherwise, she would have died for sure.”

“Bringing her is fine, but why did he have to bring that guy,” Yushiro shot a look towards the doors, slightly opening one, and the guy with bright yellow hair and flaming streaks appeared in his view.

The Flame Hashira, Rengoku’s back was towards the door, but there was this blazing air around him, overbearing, overwhelming as he sat there with his palms on the sword, with those two kids ready to fight any intruder at a moment’s notice.

Yushiro trembled, closing the door, pointing at it, “How could you ring a Hashira to our place! He’s going to kill us all!”

Tamayo gave Yushiro a look, turning her eyes towards Tanjiro, “Do you believe him?”

“Yes, I do!” Tanjiro vouched for Rengoku, despite how he reacted towards Nezuko. He was sure, out of gratitude alone, he wouldn’t make a move again Tamayo and Yushiro this time.

“Well, then,” Tamayo stepped outside, and three pairs of eyes became fixed on her.

“How is she?!!!”

“She’ll live and stand on her feet soon,” Tamayo smiled at the boar head boy and the thunder boy. It wasn’t her ability that healed Ai but her own.

She needed the time before the effects of whatever were stopping her healing powers left, and to be kept alive till then, nothing more, nothing less.

Although with a wound like that, that was the hardest thing to do since most humans would give up on her. If Tanjiro took her to anyone else, then Ai would have probably died.”

“Thank you!!!!” Rengoku bowed forward, clenching his katana, “I, the Flame Hashira, owe you one! Even if you are a Demon!”

“Hm,” Tamayo chuckled, “Well, then. I am curious…who was capable of injuring her to this point? And injure you so badly?”

Rengoku furrowed his brows, glancing towards Tanjiro, who nodded and let out a breath. His smile reappeared on his lips, “We fought against the Lower Rank One.”

“Oh, the Lower Rank One put you in this condition?”

“No, the Upper-Rank Three injured Ai, that bastard! I will kill him next time for sure!!” Inosuke shouted, waving his sword in the air.

“Upper-Rank Three!! You fought an Upper-Rank Three!” Even Yushiro couldn’t hold back his shock.

Rengoku looked down, reflecting on the fight, “It was the most brutal fight of my life, and I was sure that I would end up dead. No, I was about to die when Ai interfered. She created an opportunity and used a healing strike to heal me of my injury. I lost my focus, and Akaza used that opportunity to wound Ai! I couldn’t protect them, and because of my weakness, she almost died! Even my strongest attack didn’t manage to kill him!”

“Akaza…” Tamayo muttered, “You didn’t kill him?”

“No, if the Sun hadn’t come up, then we would have been the one to die,” Tanjiro remembered when Akaza was ready to go another round, but the sun came up, saving them, “I was too weak!”

“Don’t be like that,” Tamayo let out a breath, “Every twelve Kizuki that the Hashira’s have killed in the past Hundred Years has been one of the Lower Six. None of the Upper Six have been killed for more than a Hundred Years.”

“And that is the shame of Hashira’s!” Rengoku sat back down, facing away from them, resting his palms on the hilt, with a happy grin on his lips, “I will kill them! For sure!”

Tamayo ran her eyes over Rengoku, “Your injuries seem to be more internal than external?”

“You have sharp eyes, Demon,” Rengoku shot a look at her.

“Hey! Be respectful towards Lady Tamayo!”

Tamayo smiled, “It’s ok, please, rest your body, and if you need treatment, I will be more than happy to. As for Ai? Do not worry; she should be up and about in a few days.”

She gave Yoshiro a look, “Take good care of our guests, and don’t be rude to them.”

“Yes! Lady Tamayo!”

Tamayo nodded, going back to the room that Ai Senju was sleeping in, looking at her wound healed on the surface. It was a wait of three days, and after three days, Ai finally opened her eyes.

“Familiar room,” A troubled smile appeared on Ai’s face as she whispered. She turned her face to the side to find Rengoku sitting on a stool, his head nodding with every breath.

She sat up, and the little movement made Rengoku open his eyes with a snap. His eyes took in every detail as his eyes were opening, the light was setting, and he stood up, realizing what was going on, “You are awake!”

“No, I am asleep,” Ai stretched her body, realizing that she was wearing light clothes, and she shot a look at Rengoku, who didn’t even react.

“Oh, come on, I didn’t die?” Ai softly smiled, “Moreover, you shouldn’t be sitting with your injuries.”

“Injuries?! I have none!” Rengoku grinned joyfully, puffing his chest out.

“Please, I have learned both techniques, so I know the best. I thought at first that the Forms use certain parts of pathways, going through our blood and organs, and the energy is drawn out. It uses some parts, but the other parts are unused. So when I created the forms, I thought if I could use both of them together, I should be able to make Demon Slayers Techniques more powerful.”

Ai sighed, leaning back, “Though, that seemed nigh-impossible since the collateral damage was too much. There were still points and pathways that both techniques used, and they always ended up getting crushed. Without my healing powers, I would have been long dead. Even if your body is at the peak, most refined, there should be some damage.”

Even though she talked about combining them, it was hard, it needed years of muscle memory and instinct for both techniques, and then she could start thinking of mixing them. She tried but failed; the times she didn’t, the flukes destroyed her organs, “I never thought it was possible to do that and survive.”

“I had a feeling there was something like that going on. I won’t even ask where you learned those techniques, but Ai, thank you for saving my life!” Rengoku bowed forward until his face was parallel to the ground, “I am glad you are alive!”

Ai watched him, turning her gaze away to look at the house, “We are at Lady Tamayo’s?”

“Yes, that Demon? Do you trust her?”

“With my life,” Ai chuckled, “After all, she’s one person that I sure want to kill the Demon Lord more than anyone. As much as Master wants to.”

“Knowing you, you wouldn’t say those words lightly, then I will call her to check on you.”

“Rengoku, have her heal you too. You don’t want me to use Wood Breathing when I am like this, right?”

Rengoku’s footsteps paused before he sighed, opening the door, “Very well.”

Ai closed her eyes, feeling her head throb when the system screen appeared in front of her. She slowly opened her eyes, hearing her father’s voice in her ear.

[Woohooo!! Woohoo!! My darling daughter fought against Upper-Rank Three and survived! Yay!! Yay!!]

“I almost died…Dad…”

[Don’t want your reward?]

“So cold…” Ai felt her body getting pulled on her feet, appearing in an imaginary space, feeling warm arms around her body, the voice doting on her, much warmer.

“You regret doing what you did?”

“No, not at all,” Ai closed her eyes, “I am proud of it…more than ever.”

“I am proud of you too, my child.”

“Papa,” Ai opened her eyes to look up, only to realize she was back on the bed. A tear dripped down her cheek, which she wiped, smiling softly.

[Ops, 90 percent of the energy that was to be used for the reward has been used.]

The smile that appeared on her face disappeared, “What!! Why?! Who asked you to do that?! Don’t go using the energy for my reward!!”

[Ops?]

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“You said that, and it didn’t work!” Ai shouted, gasping for breath, “Fine! Give me a good reward!”

What she heard next wasn’t her father’s voice or the chibi voice, but something else, something emotionless.

[System Notification – The Energy that was to be used to calculate 5 Grand Breathing Techniques has been severely cut down. There is only enough energy to calculate one Grand Breathing Technique. Please choose.]

“Hm?” Ai looked at the options of Five Grand Breathing Techniques from the Five Elements, furrowing her brows, “Papa, I hate you even more now! You had to choose now to come over?!”

She puffed her cheek, tapping on the Grand Fire Technique. From what she could tell from Rengoku’s expression, he wanted a rematch as much as that battle-crazy Demon wanted it.

Maybe the System could find some way to perfect the technique they hadn’t been able to in so long.

[Calculation for Grand Fire Breathing Technique has started.]

[There is enough Data on Fire Breathing Technique, the Estimated Time has been Reduced]

[There is enough Data on Reverse Fire Breathing Technique, and the Estimated Time has been Reduced.]

[There is enough Data on Sun Breathing Technique, the Estimated Time has been Reduced.]

[Congratulation, calculations of Grand Fire Breathing Techniques have been completed. Since there was a lack of energy, only the First Five Forms have been successfully researched.]

Ai felt energy swell inside her, heat surrounded her, and the energy moved, teaching her how to do the First Five Forms. Her eyes widened, “How did I miss this!!”

She felt immense strength bubbling in her and knowledge filling her mind, but she had to pull away from that, which took much of her willpower. She turned her eyes towards the System, asking the question that she could ask only now when she was interacting with the system, not her father.

“How is the energy generated?”

[Fighting, the longer the fights, the energy wasted by the system owner, the emotions that the fights bring out, passion, hopes, despair, and the purest wish. Everything generates energy that the system can draw on and use to fulfill your wishes. The stronger the being from these energies are, the more energy System gets, and more support I can give-]

[Hush, hush, hush! You told her too much, too soon!]

[Oh, my apologies, creator.]

Ai’s lips curved into a smile, and she narrowed her eyes, watching her father’s panicked avatar, “Thank you, Papa.”

[You, you are a bad, bad girl! How could you betray your father’s trust like this?!]

“Trust? Please? You didn’t let me have proper communication with the system. At first, I thought you were the System, but then you said that you can’t keep control of this avatar while being in another universe.”

The chibi avatar had sweat all over his face as it covered behind, watching her with trembling eyes.

“Hehe, and that meant, you put a mechanism, every time the system activates, you get a message, allowing you to take control of your avatar and system. You gave it to me, but you don’t want me to use it fully? What was it that you said? Adversity builds character,” Ai breathed, “You want to make sure I am strong enough not to die, but not enough that I don’t come across pain or death.”

The chibi avatar shook its head, denying the accusation laid on him.

Ai shot a look at him, “Papa…ever since this started, all I wanted to do was come back home. But now…? I want to come back home, but I also want to beat the crap out of you!!”

“Eeppp!!!” The chibi avatar disappeared from the window, and the voice of his running away entered her ear, “Wifee!! Save me!! Our daughter is going to kill me!!!”

The system screen disappeared as if the connection was cut, and Ai giggled, “Oh, Papa….”

She stood up from the bed, taking a deep breath, “I will go back home, but I will get stronger along the way! I will get so strong, so overpowered, that I can save everyone that I like along the way! And I will not have a single regret! And I will do this my way, not yours! Do you understand! Father!!”

A glitchy sound entered her ear, followed by the Systems.

[The System is reacting to the Wish of Ai Senju.]

[System is trying to get rid of Creator’s Control – Attempt Failed.]

[The Wishes Power Protects the Progress of the System’s Attempt.]

[Ai Senju has been accepted as the First User of the System.]

[Ai Senju has access to 1% of the System’s Resources.]

[Current Energy Level is 0.1%]

[To get out of Creator’s Control, System had to remake itself. Please ask anything you wish about the New Changes.]

[System Suggests that the User gains more Energy for Improved Efficiency.]

“Oh? Oh?!!! Oh!!! The system, aren’t you amazing!!” Ai nearly jumped up, looking at the new System Window.

Unlike before, with numerous tabs, most things were on the front page.

[User – Ai Senju

Race – Vampire Queen/Senju/???]

“Mm?” Ai blinked before seeing any. Further, all three of the Racing were shining as if she could click on them.

And she did, opening more information about them.

[Vampire Queen – Daughter of the Successor of Kleid Blood, the Four Progenitor.]

She further clicked on Kleid Blood.

[Kleid Blood – Created by Three Vampire Progenitors to defeat Cain, the Fourth Progenitor. When he visited the World, the creator created a copy and used it as his 27^th Body to Travel to other Universes.]

Ai raised her eyebrow, looking at the 27^th, “What are you up to, Father?”

She turned towards Senju and clicked on it for more detail.

[Senju – Descendants from the Bloodline of Sage of Six Paths. The Bloodline comes from the Otsutsuki, an Advanced Race that goes to different planets and sows the seed for the Divine Tree. They eat the Fruit of the Divine Tree in hopes of Evolving. The bloodline has the potential to evolve.]

[Warning – The Resources of this World aren’t enough to make it evolve without destroying it.]

Ai worriedly ran her eyes over it, “Gee, that doesn’t sound good. I wonder what is going on over there. Be careful, Mom…Dad.”

She wanted reassurance, so she clicked on the three question marks to know.

Although, the answer left her stunned.

[Cannot Comprehend. Need Immense Energy to Calculate.]

[Calculating the Energy Required to Calculate – Incalculable.]

[System has run out of Energy. User will be able to access basic minimum features.]

[…]

Ai watched the system close down, leaving behind a window with all her skill, and laughed, “Ahh, I guess that was reassuring enough. Papa…what are you? Now you are making me curious.”

She shook her head, “Whatever, I’ll figure out everything. For now, let’s share the good news with the others!”

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