Chapter 202: I’m Coming to Eat You
Beside the mountain path, Shinobu lay on the ground, staring in absolute disbelief at the figure standing before her.
A silhouette both familiar and... strange at once.
"Marcus?"
He stood around seven feet four inches tall, his musculature straining the white, pink-accented haori to its very limit.
His long hair, tied back in a ponytail, balanced out his massive frame and lent him a sleek bearing. With the two swords at his waist, he looked like an amplified, imposing version of Marcus.
However, upon studying his profile, things changed.
His face kept its original features, though coarser, trading delicacy for ferocity. Added to his build were two horns that emerged from the sides of his forehead, curving backward.
But when the face of someone so imposing bore demonic marks shaped like flowers, the image turned out... strange.
And even more so when the two curved horns were a tender light pink. This went from strange to downright bizarre.
"Y-You..."
Shinobu parted her lips, unable to get out a single word.
Marcus turned his head slightly and looked at her.
The flower marks beneath his horns glowed softly in the moonlight, bringing out his golden eyes—so deep they didn’t seem human.
Yet at the corner of his lips lingered the mocking smile she knew so well.
"Do I look cool?"
"..."
Shinobu opened her mouth without making a sound.
"So cool..."
It was someone else who answered.
Kanao stood holding her sword with both hands, and though blood welled from the base of her thumbs, her eyes shone like stars.
"Marcus-kun is so handsome."
Marcus smiled at her and turned his gaze toward Douma, who was watching him with his head tilted.
"Ara..." His tone carried a hint of surprise and delight. "So you’re that... Demon Hashira? The Vampire, Marcus?"
"Hmph."
With a snort, Marcus gripped the fan, clamping his fingers down hard.
Douma tried to pull it toward himself but couldn’t budge it.
He tried again, still to no avail.
He blinked. "You’re incredibly strong... To think that, even after leaving Yoshiwara, your power is still this immense."
Marcus smiled.
Swish
He moved his shoulder without warning, and a fluorescent blue flash tore through his clothes.
Boom
A massive roar thundered out as a huge amount of blood shot into the air, raining down on the ground and splattering Shinobu and Kanao.
Douma’s head... had exploded!
Shinobu’s and Kanao’s eyes went wide.
Without any warning, Upper Rank Two’s head vanished, leaving shredded chunks of flesh atop the neck and blood gushing out!
Just like that? Is he dead?
Obviously not!
Swish
Marcus unsheathed Makomo.
The purplish-pink blade gleamed with a demonic radiance, matching the marks on his face.
The instant he drew it, he immediately executed a horizontal slash toward the section of neck that had yet to finish regenerating.
But this time, Douma reacted.
He released the trapped fan and, with a backward flip, retreated at high speed, spewing blood as he dodged the finishing slash.
Marcus was about to give chase, but...
SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!
The consecutive sound of several doors swinging open halted his steps.
As Douma steadied his footing and half of his head sprouted anew, four grotesque figures interposed themselves in front of him.
At the front, clad in a purple haori, stood a being with six eyes, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.
To the sides, Gyokko floated up from a ceramic vessel, and Hantengu cowered, clutching his head.
The four Upper Ranks had arrived together.
And right at the center of the formation, in the safest position, stood Muzan with a somber look on his face.
Seeing this old acquaintance, Marcus knew that chasing down and killing Douma was already impossible.
He sheathed his sword and greeted him with a smile.
"Muzan, it’s been days since we last saw each other... you’re looking well."
"Marcus!" Muzan glared at him. "You still dare to show your face?"
"What do you mean, dare?" Marcus arched an eyebrow. "You went to the trouble of ambushing the Demon Slayer Corps’ people—wasn’t that to lure me out?"
As he spoke, he noticed a faint flicker of unease on Muzan’s face, and it hit him all at once.
"Looks like I was wrong... a coward like you wouldn’t have thought for even a second that I’d leave my lair so easily. So when you captured them, were you planning to use them to deal with the slayers, or to negotiate with me?"
"You’re as presumptuous as ever..." A spark of irritation crossed Muzan’s face. "Do you really think that, without being in Yoshiwara, you can do whatever you want?"
He looked with spite at the face of the man who had inflicted such humiliation on him.
"Is this demonization the reason for your confidence in coming out?"
"Heh heh, you could say so."
Laughing, Marcus mockingly pointed at the four demons guarding Muzan. "And they must be the reason you dare to show your face in front of me."
Being insulted in the presence of his subordinates, Muzan’s face turned livid.
"You lowly creature! Outside of Yoshiwara, you won’t even be able to get near my body!"
"Are you absolutely certain they can protect you?" Marcus licked his lips, fixing a gaze brimming with greed on Muzan. "The price of me taking one bite out of you... I think you’re quite clear on that, aren’t you?"
The moment he uttered those words, Muzan and the Upper Ranks changed expression.
They had spent hundreds of years devouring humans, and it was the first time anyone had threatened them with such words!
"Attack!"
In an instant, Kokushibou unsheathed his sword, two vessels emerged from Gyokko’s hands, Hantengu adopted a trembling stance, and Douma spread open his fan.
Marcus didn’t hesitate either, and in an instant a dense pink mist enveloped him.
’Desire Breathing · Fourth Form: Mist.’
As Marcus vanished into the thick haze, countless silhouettes of him began to manifest in a blur. At the same time, an ethereal, unreachable warning echoed out.
"Muzan, I’m coming to eat you... hold still, okay~?"
Hearing this, Muzan’s face changed drastically, and the eight bone whips on his back burst out as if by reflex.
"Douma! Quick, disperse the mist! You three! PROTECT ME!"
’Blood Demon Art · Freezing Clouds.’
’Moon Breathing · Fifth Form: Moon Spirit Calamitous Eddy’
A freezing, zero-degree wind and a sharp, tornado-shaped gust of slashes swept through the area in an instant.
In just the blink of an eye, the dense pink mist around them was completely dispersed.
Before them, the trees had been leveled, the ground had been torn apart by the whirlwind, and it was also covered with a layer of frozen soil.
However...
"WHERE ARE THEY?!"
The place was completely empty.
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