👑 | THE EMPEROR REVERSED.

The demon's claws had moved faster than Inosuke's skin could process. It didn't even have time to register the imminent danger, to urge his muscles to abort their current charge, and make him redirect all of his focus to defense. It would have been a pointless endeavor, anyway.

He couldn't feel anything past his elbow. His head weakly turned to the side, finally registering the absence of his beloved hide - blown away by the sheer force of the strike. There it was, lying a few meters away, along with a lump of flesh and a feebly glinting item.

His hide. His arm. His sword.

The few fingers he had left could barely wrap around his second blade, let alone lift it up. The demon had only struck him once, a diagonal cut, slicing through flesh and bone and easily tearing into his every organ. Only his heart was allowed to keep beating a little longer, a deliberate choice from the monster who had just taken him down.

He couldn't move. He couldn't even reply, his throat so deeply cut that his attempt at speaking only produced a gut-wrenching, gurgling noise. Only his eyes could still carry his thoughts, terror soon giving way to resolve. He had no way left to fight.

If one of us goes down the wrong path, we'll stop him.

It wouldn't even be a fair fight. His comrades would carry the strength and experience of every battle they had fought, when he would only be some rookie demon. They would find a way to defeat him.

They'd made a promise.

was that the existence of hope in his eye? muzan could spot it from a mile away — that sense of winning, even when he had clearly lost. it was something the demon lord could not ever hope to understand — he'd lost. HE'D LOST. yet why did he wear that stupid smirk, as if he had accomplished anything?

nothing.

eyes narrow in distaste.

it was nothing.

there's an approach forward, touching that filthy human skull and forcing inosuke to look into his eyes. it was unfortunate that the other had stirred such a reaction in him — a fault in his own self that would need to be snuffed out.

"i will implant my will in your blood," veins rise on his hand, "my blood will run through yours — you will kill any source of hope you have in your heart."

then, eyes widen — that gaze that caused so many to run cold.

"is it your friends? then as you exist in these final moments, let me tell you something," teeth bare like an animal, "i will make you seek them out. my blood will bind you to them — you will kill them, and devour them."

"you will exist as a thing that is entirely alone," he continues, before saying, "you will make them suffer in the only way i will accept."

"in a moment of unbridled brutality."

SHE CAN SEE IT, eyes as sharp as a carnivore--she sees the way his hearts suddenly lurch within him, a fleeting moment of panic before he calms himself. she already knows why. if anything, the only thing that causes her question is the simple fact that he still saw twin in kokushibō's features, despite how he has marred her face. why else did he dig his claws into very bone to tear new eyes into her?

but kokushibō knows better than to outwardly question. there are things she will stand firm upon, even as it gains her his ire and punishment, but this is not one.

she allows the subject to shift.

"...i will do so, my lord." has she? kokushibō hadn't noticed--hunger is a constant within her, never satiated, never satisfied. no matter how much she ate, she wanted more. it were impossible to tell when it all felt like hunger, but then her attention has been taken by children, by husband, by lover, by temple.

all the ways her focus is divided.

whether the loss of appetite was minor, or major — muzan saw through it easily. strength feigning ever-so-minutely; something he was unable to accept in his upper moons. there's no falter in his speech, immediately responding with, "what has caused this pause in devouring others?"

"i would have thought being around dōma would stir the opposite in you," insensitive comment made without a care, "he's always had food handed to him, instead of working hard for it."

and then, neon red eyes stare upon her.

"you're still hunting for food, correct?" he continues, "you're not lazing about like he is, correct?"