The Multiverse Hunter

The boy ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, but the demonic dog was closing in quickly. As the boy neared the edge of the forest, a menacing figure emerged from the shadows. The demon, standing at six feet tall with a thin build, had sharp metallic blades protruding from its elbows. Its crimson eyes glowed ominously beneath its jet-black hair as it sneered, revealing its true nature.

'Finally showed yourself, you filthy rat,' Ali thought as he observed the demon from the shadows.

The dog rapidly gained on the boy, its jaws widening in anticipation of an easy kill.

When the distance between them narrowed to just three meters, the boy tripped on a tree branch and fell to the ground. The demonic beast lunged at him, jaws agape and ready to feast.

But in a flash, a pink-haired woman appeared before the boy. With her hands, she grabbed hold of the dog's lower and upper jaws, stopping it dead in its tracks.

The demon, perched in a tree, was stunned by the sudden appearance of the demon slayer. But what he saw next shocked him even more.

The dog thrashed and struggled in Mitsuri's grip, but she held firm. Then, with astonishing strength, she lifted the dog into the air by its jaws. With a sickening SPLAT, Mitsuri tore the beast in half, purely through her own raw power.

'This is a trap, and what kind of monster is she? I need to escape, the dog should buy me enough time to gain distance on her and run away', the demon thought as he turned and began leaping from tree to tree, desperate to flee.

Ali watched in disbelief, thinking, 'What kind of monstrous strength is this? She told me she was strong, but this is something else!' He then shouted to Mitsuri, "I'm going after its master!"

Mitsuri heard him and dropped the two halves of the dog. "Ali, wait!" she called out, ready to chase after him. But to her shock, the two parts of the dog on the ground suddenly began to move. Each half regenerated into a new demonic beast, effectively cloning itself.

Seeing this, Mitsuri backed off and stood protectively in front of the boy, drawing her whip-like sword. 'I have to hurt it with my Nichirin blade, or else it'll keep cloning itself, and the situation will spiral out of control', she thought, as she struck at one of the dogs, forcing it to dodge and circle her cautiously.

Meanwhile, Ali was in pursuit of the demon, sprinting through the forest. 'He's smart, not running on the ground to avoid leaving a trail. But you're unlucky to have me on your tail', Ali mused as he used his heightened sense of smell and sharp vision to track the demon. He noted the slight sway of leaves that marked the demon's passage through the branches.

'Damn it, l've been outsmarted. But what is this unsettling feeling? I've been running nonstop, yet it feels like I'm still being tracked. How?' the demon thought frantically as he finally stopped and landed in a small clearing, deciding to make a stand.

Suddenly, the forest grew eerily silent, too silent. The demon's fear grew as it readied its blades, knowing something was terribly wrong.

'I know this feeling, this suffocating sensation that makes it hard to breathe. I... I am prey right now. I'm being hunted by an apex predator', the demon thought, its eyes wide with terror as it spun around, desperate to catch sight of its pursuer.

Then, it froze. The demon's breath caught in its throat as it realised it was not alone. Standing behind it was a six-foot-eight giant with a muscular frame, silently watching, waiting for the demon to make a move. The demon's blood ran cold as it realised the terrifying shadow looming over it belonged to Ali.

Breaking out of its fear-induced paralysis, the demon spun around and slashed at Ali with its sharp blades, aiming to slice him in half.

Swoosh.

Ali deftly jumped into the air, dodging the attack. As he landed, the demon thrust its blade forward in a stabbing motion, but Ali easily sidestepped to the left. The demon quickly followed up with a swing from its left blade, but Ali arched back slightly, allowing the blade to pass harmlessly in front of him. The demon then attempted another stabbing motion with its right blade, but Ali caught it between two fingers.

Crack.

With a quick flick of his wrist, Ali snapped the demon's blade in half, forcing the creature to retreat, creating some distance between them. The demon winced as it used its left blade to sever the broken one from its right elbow, grimacing as a new, sharp blade gruesomely extended in its place.

'Demons are certainly unique with their different powers, but one thing they all have in common is their damnable regeneration. Not that I'm one to talk,' Ali mused as he prepared for his next move.

"It's my turn now, demon," Ali declared, closing the distance between them in an instant.

The demon was too slow to react as Ali delivered a powerful uppercut to its chest, lifting it off the ground. While the demon was airborne, Ali grabbed both its arms and bent them backward, snapping them at the elbows with a sickening crunch. The demon screamed in agony, stumbling backward as its arms flailed at unnatural angles, a grotesque sight with the blades hanging limply from its thin frame.

"You bastard! You'll pay for this pain!" the demon shrieked, whipping its arms around until they finally reset to their natural positions. The bones in its arms healed almost instantly, its regeneration kicking in.

Ali watched the gruesome display, thinking, 'The stronger they get, the harder it becomes to deal with them without a Nichirin blade or a breathing technique. Hmm, speaking of breathing techniques, this might be a good time to test something new'.

The demon charged at Ali once again, but it was still too slow. It swung its blades vertically, but Ali easily dodged to the left. This time, however, Ali countered with open hands, and black veins climbed to the surface of his fingers.

Ali struck, driving his entire right hand into the demon's midsection, piercing clean through to the other side. The demon, desperate, tried to bring its arm around to attack Ali's head, but Ali was faster. He drove his left hand into the demon's left lung, embedding it deep within the creature's body.

Now, both of Ali's arms were buried up to the elbows inside the demon. With a mighty heave, he lifted the demon high into the air before slamming it into the ground with tremendous force, sending it crashing into a tree trunk. The impact broke several of the demon's spinal bones.

'What is this monster? He's so strong and fast, and those black veins... Is he a demon like me? No, he's different. I need to find an opening to escape', the demon thought, trembling as it struggled to stand.

Ali calmly approached the demon, who was slowly rising from the ground, its injuries already beginning to heal. Ali began rolling up his left sleeve as he closed the distance.

'When I was practicing the basic breathing techniques, I discovered that I could direct the energy from my breaths to specific parts of my body. With my level of control, guiding the energy was relatively easy. But l've never tried this with a full, deep breath. Let's see what happens', Ali thought.

The demon, sensing the shift in Ali's power, stopped in its tracks. As black smoke-like energy began to swirl around Ali's left arm, covering it from shoulder to fingertips in wild, writhing stripes, the demon's fear escalated to sheer terror.

The demon froze, its mind racing. 'What is this overwhelming power? Those black stripes, that smoke-this is death!'

It knew, in that moment, that it was facing a force far beyond anything it had ever encountered.

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