User blog:Hakaishin Aro/The heart of a Lilim

The Echo's scream of rage tore through the night as he finally came face to face with the man who murdered the love of his life. The man named Kibutsuji Muzan laughed evilly at the demonic looking Echo's despair who just stood at a distance observing Kibutsuji battling the Demon Slayer Corps.

The evolved fiend thought he was now prepared to fight the entity, the being who at one time was an inch of finishing him for good. Had his fake daughter not arrived on the scene the Echo would have finished him off. Unfortunately for the Echo, the distorted copy of his Source, for the little girl, the scumbag Muzan was the man who made her and her mom happy after her real dad died. The Echo could sense that from her. The little girl's emotions told him that, so he simply left.

Not long after, his love, his 'childhood friend', the first mortal to ever been genuinely friendly and nice to him, has been killed by Kibutsuji. Her name was Susamaru, a human girl turned demon and used as a tool by the same man now standing not far from the Echo, who was close to burst out of the sheer rage he felt at the sight of Muzan fighting the Slayer Corps.

The worst part was that he helped nearly everyone he came across, the ones who wished to be saved, the ones wishing to take the second chance he allowed them to try and redeem themselves instead of wasting it trying to kill him. Nearly anyone... he failed her, the one who he loved the most.

The 'first demon' of the world he was on, the man he hated more every second that passed was currently engaged in a fight with the remaining Hashira, the Pillars of the Demon Slayers, the best warriors the corps had to offer.

With most of them the entity was on neutral terms, some however, he started to see as his friends, his family even. Looking at the pink haired girl, the 'Love Hashira' currently in battle with the fiend he remembered all the times she tried to connect him and the Temari Demon, one of the few demons that managed to regain or hold onto their humanity. Back then she felt the need to give them a proverbial push in the right direction seeing they will never act on their feelings due to their personalities.

That's when she got hit by Muzan.

"How dare you... Hurt Kanroji-chan!!!" He screamed in pure rage as he launched himself into the fray. The enraged shout shook everyone present, except for the pink haired girl, the reasons however were different.

"So he can speak after all."

"He... spoke"

Muzan was surprised the Echo would rush him, he thought he broke his will, his fighting spirit making him weaker. The Hashira and their fellow demon slayers never heard the demonic looking being speak, only a few individuals in this world were worthy of his spoken words, and one was gone, taken away by the same man who was hurting one of his few friends left across all realities.

As the fury of the Echo's assault gave them a breather, everyone looked at the one named Mitsuri Kanroji, the Love Hashira who wasn't even a least bit surprised by the sudden revelation.

"You knew, Kanroji, didn't you?" one of her companions among the Hashira asked her just as a tremendous shock wave brought them back in the here and now.

They all turned towards the two powerful beings that were duking it out. They all knew how cruel of a monster Muzan was, but the usually calm Echo looked quite frightening, terrifying rather. He even felt that way for all that could sense his bloodlust he wasn't even trying to hide. They quietly observed as chills run down their spines. Even Mitsuri, her especially, felt uneasy seeing the person she could now call friend looking so deranged. Yet she knew all too well how broken he was inside when he lost Susamaru by the hands of that scumbag he was facing in duel. She knew how much he loved her, how much he treasured her. She just hoped he can avoid returning to a state she only heard of from his recounts.

_____________ Battle omitted _____________

The victorious Echo was on his knees, crying, calling Susamaru's name as the first rays of the morning sun shone onto him. There was not warmth in them however, no solace, only endless grief. The Hashira and the surviving slayers gathered nearby, simply observing, since no one dared to disrupt his grieving moment.

Then a weird entity approached him, gave him something the others couldn't see what it was and simply vanished as it was never there. Drying his tears the nameless one looked at the small piece of paper and what he saw on it brought him a small fragment of hope.

Written on the paper were several items, or so it seemed the written words suggested.

He knew for fact accessing the realm where the souls of the deceased resided was possible, through dreams and deep meditation. However, extracting someone from there into the real world, the realm of the living, was a whole another thing, one never perfomed by anyone on this world.

(To put people at ease, it is not about the heart in a literall sense, he had to win a Lilim's heart and at the same time respect the one he loved, meaning no motorboating the Lilim.)

((The Echo is an exclusive property of mine as concept, idea and character!))