Crossover Anime: Starting with Bankai from Demon Slayer

Chapter 451 The Real Self

The ruins of London, Machiri's hideous insect face, and even the karmic fire on his own body, all transformed into countless rapidly receding lights and shadows at this moment.

His consciousness was forcibly dragged into a bottomless vortex.

Subsequently, countless memories that did not originally belong to him... or that he had long forgotten, flooded into his mind like a burst dam!

It was a vast, boundless primeval forest.

The bird realized that it was looking down at the land from a strange perspective.

He is in heaven.

His field of vision was so wide that he could clearly see a wild rabbit running hundreds of meters away.

He could feel the wind gliding over his skin and the immense lift coming from behind him.

After observing carefully, he understood.

He is a dragon.

To be precise, he was the...

Half of my will.

Within this enormous body exist two distinct yet perfectly intertwined consciousnesses.

It's as if the two merged together when heaven and earth were first separated, or as if two thoughts split off from the same soul after a long period of time.

They share the same body and the same power.

Together they traversed the clouds, tearing apart any lower-ranking dark dragons that dared to challenge them, and devouring the flesh and blood of white dragons, unleashing joyful roars that shook the heavens and earth.

That feeling was one of completeness I had never experienced before.

There is no confusion, no loneliness, only the most primal, absolute freedom belonging to the top of the food chain.

Look, this sky, this land... it's all our hunting ground.

【Um. 】

He asked himself the question and answered it.

Let us soar through the skies for the rest of our lives, carefree like birds in flight.

Flying for too long will make your wings very sore.

It's a bond that connects us by blood and soul.

[By the way, will that witch come again today? Is it really okay for us to keep interacting with her like this?]

It doesn't really matter, she's not any better than us anyway.

They are each other's other half, an inseparable whole.

until that day.

The images in my memory suddenly turned blood red and shattered.

The sky was sealed by countless golden magic circles, the earth was torn apart, and the air was filled with the smells of burning and blood.

The bird saw the woman.

The woman with long, dark green hair, wearing a black shihachi outfit and a light green kimono jacket.

Tokihime.

Her face was covered in tears, but her eyes held a chilling resolve.

Beside her stood a bearded man holding a brass horn, presumably Captain Trombo.

Along with dozens of Death Knights dressed in black armor, and an old man.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Tokihime's voice trembled in the wind as she raised the Zanpakuto in her hand, which was emitting strange energy.

The knife was very strange, as if it were made of mirrors. Every time it flashed, it made people feel as if their inner thoughts were being completely spied on, making them feel extremely uncomfortable.

"For the sake of the world's balance and survival... such a dangerous existence as yours must be divided..."

2

"Stop talking nonsense, Tokihime," the old man said. "It's just a beast."

"Carry out your mission."

Upon hearing this, Tokihime said nothing more, and pointed her Zanpakuto towards the direction of the flying bird. [Drinking from the four seas, dwelling at the ends of the earth]

[All things are encompassed, yet all are rewritten and cut away.]

Buzzing—!

As Trombone sounded the horn that could shatter souls, Tokihime's blade, imbued with an irresistible force of rules, slashed down fiercely!

That knife didn't strike their flesh.

Instead, it struck directly into the depths of their souls!

【Aaaaaaah—!!!】

The bird let out the most piercing scream of its life in its memory.

He felt his soul being torn apart, as if an irresistible force was forcibly splitting him in two!

That kind of pain surpassed the excruciating pain of slow slicing, surpassed any kind of physical torture in the world.

That was the pain of having one's very concept of existence torn apart!

He could clearly see that another version of himself was banished into the dark and hopeless dimensional rift in despair; while he himself, under this tearing force, turned into a faint, pure ball of spiritual light.

Shiki's hands trembled as she held the ball of light in her palms.

Her tears fell onto the spirit, carrying a complex, nauseating sorrow.

"...I'm so sorry, I...I didn't mean to do that..."

"If I could, I would have wished I had never met you all..."

"7

The scene abruptly ends here.

Like a shattered mirror, all memories crumble once more.

"Ughhhhhh!!!"

In the real world, a bird fell heavily from mid-air and crashed into the ruins.

He clutched his head tightly with both hands, letting out a scream of unbearable pain.

The golden-red karmic fire on his body began to flicker violently, and the black-gold demonic markings that originally covered his face now wandered wildly and uncontrollably, as if something wanted to break out of his body.

"What...what am I?!"

The bird knelt on the ground, panting heavily, its eyes bloodshot from extreme congestion.

Those memories were so vivid, as if he had experienced them himself...

No, that's his past!

That fairytale dragon, that Camilla whom he regarded as a monster...

It was actually him?!

That bird struggling to survive in the mud and water of the garrison area... that bird risking its life against wild dogs for half a sweet potato...

Asuka, the girl whose heart raced at the sight of Shinobu's smile at the Hayama Dojo...

Was all of this just a lie?!

Is he just a fragment of a monster?

A defective product, torn apart by Tokihime, that so-called "mother," and thrown into the bottom of Rukongai like trash?!

"No... This isn't real!! I'm a person, I have my own name..." Asuka's voice trembled.

Looking at his hands, which were covered in dust and blood, he suddenly felt that his body was so unfamiliar and terrifying.

If his true nature is just a monster that has lost half of its soul, then what about his struggles over the years, his anger, and his feelings for Shinobu Kocho?

A profound sense of bewilderment and existential crisis overwhelmed him instantly.

His spiritual pressure began to decline rapidly, and his hand, which had been tightly gripping the tadpole, loosened weakly.

"Oh? What happened? How did our invincible Avenger suddenly turn into a pathetic spineless coward?!"

In mid-air, although Machiri didn't know what the bird had gone through, he would never let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"Since you've given up resisting, then obediently become my food!"

The Desire Insect King descended from the sky with a maniacal laugh, smashing down hard on the unsuspecting bird!

The gaping maw of the abyss, filled with sharp teeth, was fully open, ready to devour the bird whole.

Wake up, you idiot!

At this critical moment.

A deafening roar exploded in the bird's mind.