Chapter 160: Nothing Was a Coincidence
"Onii-chan!!!"
From the second floor, Daki saw how easily her brother’s head had been taken off, and she couldn’t hold back any longer.
"You stinking man!! First you take advantage of me, and now my brother too!!"
With her scream, countless sashes came rushing from every direction at Marcus’s back.
He turned, ready to counterattack.
Only, on looking at them closely, he smiled.
They’d come to bind him, not to cut him.
’She shouts fierce enough, but any way you look at it, this is payback for ending up tied to the bed... I’m going to have to discipline her better later on.’
Naturally, Daki caught his mocking expression and ground her teeth in fury.
She kept telling herself over and over that Marcus couldn’t die. If he died, there’d be nothing left to threaten Tamayo with.
’If he dies, onii-chan and I are out of hope!’
’I’m doing this for our lives...’
’DEFINITELY NOT BECAUSE I CAN’T BRING MYSELF TO KILL HIM!!’
Seeing those embarrassed, furious little eyes, Marcus sheathed his swords.
The sashes were an extension of Daki’s body: cutting them would cause her intense pain, and there was no need for that.
’If there’s going to be pain, let it be in bed~’
His green eyes shifted to gold, and all at once countless red arrows shot out, piercing each and every one of the sashes with precision.
The two of them had their powers tightly intertwined.
And then...
The sashes began to writhe~
"Huh...?"
Watching her sashes squirm through the air like earthworms, Daki was left dumbfounded.
’What... what’s happening?’
Marcus winked at her. "Have you taken up worm farming or something?"
"Aaah~~! You absolute bastard!!"
Struck right in her sore spot, Daki leaped down from the second floor and hurled herself at him.
’So what if I don’t have my sashes?’
’I’ve still got my hands and my mouth!’
"I’m going to claw you to death, I’m going to bite you to death, you stinking man!!"
"Daki, get back!"
A roar stopped her cold.
Before she could react, a whirlwind of blood blades erupted from Gyūtarō’s mutilated body, its reach several times greater than before.
They tore up the floor as they went, dragging along stones and dust, forming a crimson vortex that burst outward at full speed.
Rotating Circular Slashes: Flying Blood Scythes!
Gyūtarō’s ultimate technique. In the anime it had leveled half of Yoshiwara and come close to killing Tanjiro and Tengen.
And now it was going off two meters from Marcus’s back.
Marcus frowned, about to turn and block.
But...
"Destructive Death: Compass Needle - Flowing Light Flash!"
A muscular figure, legs wreathed in blue flames, burst into the building and slammed head-on into the vortex.
His kicks struck the edge of the blades and exploded into a ring of shockwaves.
The floor cracked, debris went flying, and the force of the collision blew the entire Kyogoku House to pieces.
And then...
"Sound Breathing, Fourth Form: Constant Resounding Slashes!"
Two golden flashes came slicing through what was left of the whirlwind.
Behind them, a burning red blaze.
"Hinokami Kagura: Clear Blue Sky!"
The slash swept away the last blood blades still chasing Marcus.
"Come help, Inosuke!"
And finally, a voice on the verge of tears, accompanied by a wild howl.
"Aooo!!! Beast Breathing: Boar Rush!"
A humanoid boar charged into the smoke, swinging his jagged blades wildly. There were no blood blades left, but he swept aside every piece of flying debris anyway.
The roar gradually died down.
When the dust scattered, the surrounding buildings—the Kyogoku House included—had been left in ruins.
Marcus remained untouched where he stood, save for a bit of dust on his body, as he lowered his swords and stared in astonishment at the five figures standing before him.
Hakuji clenched his fists as the cuts on his skin slowly healed over. Beside him, Tengen stood tall, holding his two swords out in front of him with his head raised in the most ostentatious way possible.
The flames on Tanjiro’s blade had just gone out, leaving him exhausted and panting from the strain of the Hinokami Kagura. At the front of them all, Inosuke kept his swords crossed, glaring straight at Gyūtarō, backed up by a trembling Zenitsu who had the tip of his blade pointed at that same Gyūtarō.
Marcus was silent for a moment.
"What... are you all doing here?"
"My Lord!"
Turning immediately, Hakuji dropped to one knee and bowed his head.
"Your subordinate has finished his personal affairs and has returned to place himself at your command."
Marcus arched an eyebrow. "And Koyuki?"
"She’s gone." Hakuji said it calmly, but a faint smile crept onto his lips. "She asked me to serve you well, my Lord. I plan to go find her in ten years!"
’Ten years?!’
Marcus gave him a strange look.
"Life sentence!"
Hakuji: "..."
Behind them, Daki watched the kneeling man with her eyes wide open.
That face... that build... that aura... those techniques...
She hadn’t seen him in over a hundred years, and his clothes, his hair, even his whole appearance had changed completely.
But even so... she recognized him!
Upper Rank Three!
Akaza!
The demon Muzan believed was dead!
’Why... why is he still alive?’
’And why is he kneeling before Marcus? Why is he calling him "my Lord"?!’
Gyūtarō also came crawling out of the rubble. His head had already reattached itself to his body, and his clouded eyes fixed on Hakuji’s kneeling back.
"Destructive Death... weren’t you dead?!"
Hakuji didn’t turn around.
He didn’t even bother to look at him.
He simply held that position, kneeling in silence before Marcus.
As if they didn’t exist.
Daki’s hands began to tremble.
She looked at Hakuji, then at Marcus, and that vague idea in her mind suddenly became clear.
"Y-You... you helped him break free from Muzan?"
Turning toward her, Marcus saw the astonishment on her face and couldn’t help smiling.
"Well, well—the silly girl finally figured it out."
Veins instantly bulged on Daki’s forehead.
"You’re not allowed to call me silly! Only my onii-chan gets to call me that!"
Marcus was thrown for a moment, then ended up laughing.
"All right, I won’t say it."
He glanced at the sashes behind her that she hadn’t had time to pull back in yet... with a faint glint in his eyes.
A moment ago, when Gyūtarō attacked, he had braced himself to respond, so his control over the Red Arrows had naturally come undone.
And that mass of sashes had indeed come flying at him.
They hadn’t attacked him, though—it was more like they’d wrapped around him...
And the instant Hakuji intercepted the blow, Daki pulled them back.
He was a little surprised that Daki had thought to protect him in that moment. Of course, it was also possible she’d wanted to seize the chance to tie him up. But either way, her aim had been to save his life.
Good thing Gyūtarō hadn’t seen it, or he’d have lost his mind.
’Tsundere.’
Marcus decided to stop needling her.
...At least for today.
Motioning for Hakuji to rise, he turned to Tengen.
"And what are you doing here? With them, no less..."
Tengen lifted his chin. "Wasn’t that a flashy entrance?"
Marcus’s mouth twitched in resignation.
"Can’t you give me a straight answer?"
"I’m being completely serious." Tengen tilted his head. "I was planning to go on ahead and scout out Yoshiwara, but I ran into the kids on the way, and Hakuji too. When we heard the sounds of the fight, we came running."
He gestured at the ruins. "I didn’t expect you’d finally make your move against Upper Moon Six."
Finally make his move? Upper Moon Six?
Daki’s and Gyūtarō’s expressions changed at the same time.
To get close to Marcus they had hidden the engravings in their eyes, and until that moment they’d believed their identities were still safe.
This man’s words made one thing clear... Marcus had known all along exactly who he was dealing with.
Biting her lip, Daki glared at him fiercely.
So buying the Kyogoku House had had nothing to do with her reputation as a beauty spreading far and wide.
It was to deal with them!
’You goddamn pervert!!!’
’You slept with me first, and you were going to kill me on top of it!!!’
’Shameless bastard!’
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Throw your stones, drop them ALL! 💎
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