Chapter 167: Whose Side Are You On?
Tengen’s face didn’t make it clear whether it was utter seriousness or something else, but he definitely wasn’t joking.
Marcus looked at him, in no hurry to answer.
The night wind blew, heavy with the smell of dust and blood. The heads peeking out in the distance drew back a little, though most stayed glued to their windowsills.
"Fight?" Marcus laughed. "Why should we fight?"
"You’re a demon." As he said it, Tengen’s voice came out a little dry.
"First..." Marcus held up one finger. "I’m a vampire. Not a demon."
He raised a second finger.
"Second..."
"You’re still a demon." Tengen cut him off. "What difference does changing the name make?"
"I don’t devour humans."
"But you drink blood!"
Marcus chuckled under his breath.
"Tsk. You’re so stubborn, Mr. Flamboyant."
He sheathed his swords.
"Although, if you insist so much on fighting..."
Before he could finish, someone made a move.
Hakuji shot Tengen a look and, without a word, stepped forward to plant himself right in front of Marcus. There he stayed, like a wall, blocking almost all of Tengen’s view.
Taking advantage of how close she was, Daki was even quicker.
She latched onto Marcus’s arm with a tug, pressed herself completely against him, and looked at Tengen provocatively.
Gyutaro sighed.
A long, deep sigh, full of all the helplessness of someone watching his sister grow fond of another man.
He picked up his scythes and walked over slowly until he stopped in front of Daki, facing Tengen.
None of this surprised Tengen.
What truly stunned him was... Tanjiro.
With the sword Hakuji had given him in his hand, the boy walked over and took his place at Marcus’s side.
"Why?" Tengen asked, very serious.
Tanjiro shook his head. "He’s my Senpai. And whatever he turns into, he’ll still be that."
"Besides, he hasn’t hurt anyone!"
Tengen: "..."
Inosuke was the second.
He adjusted his mask, gave a flourish with his two swords, and went to stand beside Tanjiro.
From under the mask came a muffled "Hmph," with no telling who it was aimed at.
Hunters? Vampires? He couldn’t have cared less! He sided with whoever he liked, and that was that.
That left only Zenitsu.
He looked at Tanjiro, then Inosuke, then Marcus and Tengen, his face changing by the second.
Daki turned toward Marcus and found that he was keeping his eyes fixed on Zenitsu, making it clear that the boy’s choice mattered to him.
With an amused smile, she looked over at the blond too.
"Hey, little pervert."
’Little pervert?!’
Zenitsu went stiff, looked from side to side, and finally pointed at himself, incredulous.
"Me?"
"Yes, you. Don’t look away."
"I am NOT any little pervert!!"
"Oh~" Daki smiled scornfully. "Funny, because I don’t know whose stare it was that stayed stuck to my body half the time, you know?"
Tanjiro and Inosuke nodded.
True! That’s such a Zenitsu thing!
Even Tengen’s eye twitched, and he looked at him reproachfully.
Feeling all those strange looks on him, Zenitsu’s face went red and he blew up.
"Liar! I didn’t do that! You’re making it up!"
"Oh, really?"
A sash shot out from Daki’s back, wrapping around something and tracing an arc through the air.
Zenitsu threw his hands out in a hurry and almost dropped it.
The bundle landed in his arms, soft and plush, with a... feminine scent.
He looked down.
It was a girl... a beautiful girl.
A beautiful girl of flesh and blood, in courtesan’s robes, unconscious, with traces of tears still on her face.
Zenitsu turned red as a tomato.
"I’ve got a dozen more of them here, and I don’t need them anymore." Daki’s voice reached him. "If you behave, I might consider letting you play the great hero~ who rescues them."
"And by then, who knows how they’ll thank you for saving their lives~"
Zenitsu’s breathing stopped.
And that’s not a figure of speech—it really did catch in his throat.
In a second, an image formed in his head.
He was in a warm, perfumed, cozy room.
More than ten gorgeous girls speaking to him in sweet voices, surrounding him, fighting over the chance to wait on him.
"Zenitsu-sama~ you’re our hero~"
"Zenitsu-sama, I’d marry you right this second~!"
"Zenitsu-sama, have just a little more and stay the night, won’t you?~~~"
The flush rose from the base of his neck, traveling all the way up to his forehead, the tips of his ears, and the crown of his head.
Zenitsu looked like a lit candle, burning from the inside out.
And then he heard the beating of his own heart.
Tump! Tump! Tump!
Stronger than Marcus’s when he activated the crimson blade.
He took a deep breath.
"Thunder Breathing!"
His voice trembled—not from fear, but...
"First Form!"
He gathered strength into his legs.
"Thunderclap and Flash!!"
A golden flash burst from where he stood, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared at the front of Marcus’s side.
There stood Zenitsu, the girl still in his arms, his face blazing and steam shooting from his nose.
He looked at Tengen again, his eyes as resolute as if he were about to sacrifice himself.
"HASHIRA-SAMA! I’ve decided to use my own body as bait to save these beau...! Ladies!"
Tengen: "..."
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