Chapter 166: MY TERRITORY
Bright Red Nichirin Sword
One of the most powerful assets, if not the most powerful, of the demon hunters.
It was known as one of the three pieces of a hunter’s supreme equipment.
Through a monumental grip strength, the nichirin blade would heat up to a glowing red, multiplying the damage dealt to demons and inhibiting their self-regeneration.
Three hundred years ago, ever since the first generation of demon-hunting swordsmen died out, Muzan had never seen it again.
But now it had reappeared—and not only that; Marcus was wielding two swords!
Not a single sword gripped in both hands, but one in each. Both glowing red-hot, both burning enough to distort the air around them.
Muzan’s pupils contracted until they’d shrunk to tiny points.
What did this mean?
It meant that Marcus’s grip strength in a single hand already matched, at the very least, the strength of both hands together of a hunter from three centuries ago.
Marcus exhaled.
His breath came out pink, yet blazing like fire.
"I wasn’t expecting it to work this well..." He looked at his swords. "Shame I haven’t awakened the Mark... but this is more than enough."
He raised his head and looked at Muzan with a smile.
"Welcome to my domain."
In that instant, a system window appeared before his eyes.
[Base Attribute Bonus: 3730%]
There were at least three thousand four hundred women in Yoshiwara. The earlier commotion had scared a few of them off, but the vast majority were still there.
However negligible their potential, however worn out their bodies, when the scent of all of them converged from every direction, it entered through his nose, fused with his blood, and spilled through his insides.
3730%
On top of a body that in its day had ranked second only to Gyomei, and that now, already a vampire, was receiving this fresh surge.
A thirty-seven-fold bonus!
It wasn’t simple addition—it was multiplication.
Swish
A flash of pink light crossed the area in absolute silence.
No Forms. No Styles.
All anyone saw was Muzan’s head shooting up toward the sky... exactly the way he had ambushed Marcus.
It was overwhelming...
The head hung suspended in the air, its expression petrified.
Confusion, fear, disbelief.
’HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!’
’HOW COULD HIS STRENGTH TAKE A LEAP LIKE THAT IN A SINGLE INSTANT?!’
’HE DIDN’T EVEN USE DEMONIZATION!’
As it spun through the air, it caught sight of Marcus in the distance, flung far away because he still hadn’t mastered that abrupt burst of power.
Charged with a harrowing fury and murderous intent, it roared out of control:
"What good is your speed?!"
"What good are those crimson blades?!"
"You—!"
All of a sudden, his voice cut off dead.
Because at that exact moment Marcus, who had shot away like a bullet, was spinning back around even faster to return to him.
But that wasn’t the important part—the important part was that Marcus’s mouth was wide open!
Open with that monstrous demonic distortion, stretched to an incredible size, big enough to swallow a whole head.
Every hair on Muzan’s body stood on end.
’Does he really intend to... DEVOUR ME?!’
Compared to this, even Yoriichi was less terrifying!
"Nakime!! Gyokko!!"
Pang!
A door. No—countless doors, sprouting out of nowhere beneath his feet.
’Run?’
Marcus narrowed his eyes mid-charge.
’Useless.’
However long it took Muzan to fall all the way down to his lair, that was more than enough time to catch him.
Except that, as those doors opened, something happened he hadn’t counted on.
It wasn’t only light that burst from them, but a tide of fish shooting out like a geyser. Fish of every size. Fish with hands and feet. Fish with eyes on their backs. Fish blowing bubbles. And every one of them with a jar on its back.
They gushed out like a flood and covered Muzan in an instant.
Marcus slammed head-on into that wall of fish. His teeth cracked against one and a fishy taste flooded his mouth.
He spat and started slashing like a madman, tearing the wall of fish open.
Hundreds of them fell in halves. But among them all...
’WHERE IS MUZAN?!’
By the time he tried to swing his swords again, the doors below had already closed.
Muzan... had escaped.
He escaped as suddenly as he had attacked.
All that remained were scraps of fish slowly fading away and a heap of intact ones flopping around on the ground.
Marcus stood there in the middle of the wreckage, his mouth closed now.
"Haaa..."
[Demon blood absorbed by the host has been detected: does not belong to the Twelve Kizuki. Absorption permitted...]
[Error!]
[Warning: the strength of the absorbed individual is too powerful. Absorption cannot be completed with such a small quantity of blood.]
[Notice: to absorb his Blood Demon Art, the host will require an enormous quantity of blood.]
"Fuck."
Muzan had been too decisive.
The moment he saw him come back with his mouth open, he screamed for help, and no matter how much Marcus hurried, he only managed to take a little of the blood that spurted from his neck.
And according to the system, to absorb his ability he’d need almost all of Muzan’s blood—just as he’d done with Enmu.
The difficulty... tsk! It was no small thing.
Because when it came down to it, if he’d managed to drive Muzan off, it was thanks to the bonus from this nest of women that was Yoshiwara.
But outside Yoshiwara... he figured it would be hard. Very hard.
Until he mastered the Transparent World and the Mark, and could use the crimson blade at will without relying on the system, he didn’t stand the slightest chance of facing Muzan head-on.
Sighing again, he crouched down and picked up a fish.
It was still alive: it thrashed its tail frantically in his hand and kicked clumsily with its little legs.
These fish were the work of the Upper Rank Five, Gyokko.
Marcus stared at it for a few seconds, then held it up.
"Hello, hello, testing." He brought it up to his mouth like a walkie-talkie. "Can you hear me?"
The fish stopped moving and stared at him with those bulging eyes, waiting for him to go on.
"Tell Muzan that, as of today, Asakusa, Yoshiwara, and everything around them are MY TERRITORY."
"Territory of my vampire clan!"
He lifted the fish higher, as if to let it see farther: the ruins, the streets, the lights in the distance, the trails of blood.
"Of course, if he doesn’t like it, he’s more than welcome to come talk it over. I’ll be waiting, any time he pleases."
Puff
The fish exploded.
It was reduced to a mass of ground meat that slipped through his fingers and dropped to the floor, blending into the rest of the wreckage until it faded away.
Marcus looked at the bits of meat and scales left on his hand and wiped them off on his pants.
Then he turned around.
Daki was already running toward him. Only, unlike the tension of a moment ago, her lovely eyes were shining with intensity.
It was a longing look.
What had happened today was simply too much.
Whether it was the desperate waiting, Marcus’s fight against her brother, being decapitated by Muzan, or suddenly turning into a demon.
But nothing—absolutely nothing—compared to this moment. Marcus had made Muzan run!
It was the first time she’d ever heard him scream.
Scream and take off running!
"Maaa~~sterrr~~~ You’re just so amazing~~~"
Marcus raised an eyebrow.
"What did you just call me?"
Daki froze, and her pretty face flushed even redder.
And without paying the slightest attention to the looks around her, she threw herself into Marcus’s arms with a seductive gaze.
"You’re so cruel!" She gave him a little tap on the chest and purred, syrupy-sweet, "My~~ Maaa~~sterrr~~~"
Clank!
The scythes slipped out of Gyutaro’s hands.
He was clenching his teeth hard, watching what was unfolding in front of him.
"Heh."
Marcus flashed a wicked smile and lifted Daki’s chin.
"Seductive suits you too, but I still prefer that rebellious attitude of yours from before. Give it back."
"Tsk!"
Changing her expression in an instant, Daki wriggled out of his arms with a huff.
"I give you a smile and you turn it down. Hmph! Despicable man!"
’There’s the flavor!’
’That’s the Daki I like!’
Smack!
Marcus laughed and gave her a smack on the backside.
Not far off, Tanjiro covered his eyes helplessly and, while he was at it, covered Inosuke’s boar-mask eyes too.
Zenitsu’s face was red as a tomato, and he bit down on his sleeve in frustration.
As for Tengen... he didn’t care about this sort of thing.
Already recovered from the shock of watching Marcus put Muzan to flight, he stood with his arms crossed, staring at him.
"So then... is it our turn to fight?"
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