Muzan: Allow me to open your eyes, shinobi. Become a demon. Serve under me, Kibutsuji Muzan, and all of your desires, all your dreams shall be granted.
Wolf: Heresy.
Wolf: Heresy.
Mortal Draw, Dragon's Breath
(also found on Spacebattles) is a Crossover between Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. It is written by DarkAkatsuki1 of Son of Sparda D×D fame.
In his pursuit of perfect immortality, Muzan travels to a strange temple during the siege of the Ashina lands. It is during this time that Muzan brushes upon death once more. The first time was in his encounter with Yoriichi Tsugikuni and his Breath of the Sun. The second was when he arrived at the temple and stood face to face with an aging shinobi with a prosthetic arm.
It is only after this encounter, by far the closest Muzan had ever come from dying, that he comes to fear something else. A blood-red sword that he would forever carve into his mind, along with a name.
Shura.
Unbeknownst to Wolf at the time, he could never have realized what this would mean in the future...
Beware of unmarked spoilers for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice!
Mortal Draw, Dragon's Breath provides examples of:
- Adaptive Ability: Muzan, over the course of his fight with Wolf, quickly develops immunities to the various mystic items and Shinobi tools in Wolf's arsenal, such as Divine Confetti and Lazulite coated weapons. He can't, however, develop one against the Mortal Blade.
- Age Lift: Since the story is set 20 years before the events of Kimetsu no Yaiba, Urokodaki, Rengoku, and Kuwajima are slightly younger and are all active Hashira.
- Berserk Button: Muzan really doesn't like it when people rebuke his offers or belittle him. When Sekiro bluntly gives him the response at the top of the page in regards to making him a demon, Muzan decides to kill him then and there.
- Break the Haughty: Muzan considered himself to be a superior being. Both Sekiro and Yoriichi dispelled that notion quickly by coming very close to killing him. Sekiro outdoes Yoriichi in this regard because he came far closer to killing him, albeit with the Mortal Blade's assistance. Following this encounter, Muzan makes sure to inform every demon, including his Kizuki, about the existence of the Mortal Blade.
- Butt-Monkey: For as intimidating, ruthless and powerful as Muzan is, the Sengoku Period really made it a point to remind him how easy it was for certain people to kill him. First, it was Yoriichi Tsugikuni and his Breath of the Sun, then Isshin Ashina who Muzan described as being a Sword itself and finally Sekiro, who out of the three of them, was the closest in killing Muzan. Even Muzan himself is flabbergasted by the fact that nearly everyone he has met in the Sengoku Period that has tried to kill him nearly did him in.
- Doom Magnet: Chapter 5 implies that Mikoto is a Marechi, a human with incredibly rare blood and therefore a rare commodity for demons. Of course, it's also equally possible Mikoto's status as the Divine Child of Rejuvenation also makes her a valuable target.
- The Dreaded: Kokushibou, upon Muzan's orders, listed various individuals in Ashina that could become a threat to Muzan's plans, and to Muzan himself if they ever became Demon Slayers. They were the Shinobi Owl, Lady Butterfly, and Ashina Isshin, and warned him about the potential resistance of Ashina and of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Muzan personally met and duel Isshin, and can confirm that he was more trouble than he was worth to kill him/turn him into a Demon. However, he didn't know about Wolf or the Mortal Blade, which made Muzan very, very angry.
- Following his encounter with Sekiro, Muzan informs every demon of his existence and of the Mortal Blade. When a demon encounters Sekiro when he returns to Japan with Mikoto, he's initially terrified and only engages him for the sake of eating his companion and getting a promotion by killing Sekiro.
- Entertainingly Wrong: When Sekiro sees Muzan arrive at the temple, he believes that he is there for a nefarious purpose. While he is correct in that Muzan is searching for something in the temple, he thinks Muzan is after the Dragon's Heritage and seeks to disrupt the Divine Child's ritual.
- Fusion Fic: The story of Kimetsu no Yaiba is merged with that of Sekiro. The author himself is stunned by the fact that the two series were practically made for each other and wonders why, as of this writing, there are only two other fics besides this one that bring the two series together.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Upon learning that Kuro must die in order to sever the Dragon's Heritage, Sekiro wastes no time in searching for an alternative. Were it not for the Divine Child of Rejuvenation, Sekiro would have offered his own life in exchange for Kuro's.
- Meaningful Name: The Divine Child's name, Mikoto, is used as an honorific for gods such as Izanami or Izanagi as a form of respect. The name itself means "lord" or "highness", often respectable language and can be referred to as "the words of the emperor or noble".
- Named by the Adaptation: Mortal Draw, Dragon's Breath gives the Divine Child of Rejuvenation the name "Mikoto".
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: It hasn't been mentioned in the story itself yet, but
Word of God confirms the Demon of Hatred is still alive and well, and Muzan expresses a clear interest in recruiting them in the first chapter. - Oh, Crap!: The second Sekiro takes out the Mortal Blade, Muzan is panicking for the first time in years and tries to kill Sekiro as quickly as possible.
- Playing with Fire: The Breath of Hatred used by the demon in Chapter 5 has a Nichirin Sword become wreathed in flame upon being drawn from its sheath.
- Robbing the Dead: Par of the course for Sekiro. After he severs the head of a demon looking to devour the Divine Child, he takes their sword - a Nichirin Blade - as his own. The sword itself responds to him and goes from blood red to jet black.
- A Scar to Remember: Muzan getting slashed just once by the vacuum of the Mortal Blade's swing caused Muzan to start dying, forcing him to divide his body and retreat before a second slash. But even after cutting off the wounded cursed area and completely creating a new body, his body refuses to regenerate and heal the lethal wound. He ends up with a scarred wound from shoulder to crotch that is barely being held together with numerous stitches, and even then it's still bleeding and Muzan is in constant pain.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- When Muzan attempted to sway Isshin, the man remarked he was similar to Shura and proceeded to try and kill him. Muzan quickly fled, not only because Isshin seemed to know where his hearts and brains were, but also because he found Isshin unpleasant for being a "Sword."
- The second Muzan realizes he is dying after being struck by the Mortal Blade, he decides to hightail it out of the temple all the while dreading the blood-red blade.
- Spared by the Adaptation: A terribly depressing version. In the Spacebattle Forum, Word of God says the Sculptor is still alive in this story. The problem? He's still the Demon of Hatred and still rampaging in Ashina. The reason why Sekiro doesn't kill them here is that he was more focused on saving Kuro, though the author makes it clear that this will have severe repercussions in the future.
- Time Skip: The Breath of Hatred Arc starts three hundred years after the events of Sekiro and after Wolf's initial confrontation with Muzan. It also starts while Urokodaki and Kuwajima are still the Water and Thunder Pillars respectively.
- Underestimating Badassery: As is typical of Muzan, he thinks of Sekiro as little more than a nuisance during their battle. He later realizes the potential the shinobi has and offers to make him a demon, only to sorely realize just how dangerous Sekiro really is the moment he draws the Mortal Blade from its sheathe.
- Undying Loyalty: Sekiro is very loyal to his master, Kuro. So much so in fact that, upon learning the only way to remove the Dragon's Heritage is to kill Kuro, Sekiro didn't waste any time searching for an alternative to the point where he was more than willing to offer his own life in exchange. Luckily for him, the Divine Child found another way.
- Villain Respect: Possibly. When Muzan senses Sekiro returning to Japan, this occurs:"You had taught me what I lacked too well." The svelte voice was damning but at the same time, it was almost wistful. One could easily mistake it for respect. Perhaps it was. Perhaps it was not. "I thought I knew what it meant to wait. You had taught me otherwise."
- We Can Rule Together: Done twice. Muzan offered to make Isshin a demon years before the Interior Ministry's siege. Isshin laughed and remarked that he was rather similar to Shura before he attempted to kill him on the spot. Muzan tries again with Sekiro in the middle of their fight after witnessing the shinobi's talents. Unfortunately for the demon, Sekiro already has a master and it will be a cold day in hell before he ever thinks about betraying him.
- Wound That Will Not Heal: Muzan's regenerative ability is leagues above that of other demons to the point where actually trying to land a lasting blow against him means nothing since the damage will be undone almost immediately. The Mortal Blade, on the other hand, is the only non-Nichirin blade that can bypass Muzan's regeneration and almost kills him.
- Wrecked Weapon: After Sekiro rebukes Muzan's offer to make him into a demon, the latter doubles his efforts to kill him and shatters Kusabimaru in the process.
- You Remind Me of X:
- In response to Muzan's offer to make him a demon, Isshin laughed and remarked that he was a likeness of Shura. Afterward, Isshin attempted to slay the Demon Progenitor then and there.
- When Kuwajima, Rengoku, and Urokodaki arrive at the tea shop set up by Mikoto and Sekiro, the Hashira all note how similar Mikoto is to Ubayashiki in terms of presence
