In the room, the lights were already out.
Three girls rested on a large shared futon, their breathing steady and even.
Tanjiro waited hidden in the shadows of a corner of the courtyard, holding his breath and pushing his concentration to the limit.
For his part, Marcus remained crouching on the wall that divided the central courtyard from the back one, keeping his senses on constant alert.
From that strategic position he covered both fronts, ready to intervene if the demon committed the colossal stupidity of going after the dozens of girls gathered in the main hall.
Time passed minute by minute.
When the moon reached its highest point, the atmosphere underwent a drastic shift. A stench of rotting mud flooded the air, so revolting that even Marcus wrinkled his nose.
And with that reek, Tanjiro pinpointed the source instantly and shot toward the inside of the bedroom.
A battle cry exploded, followed by shrieks of terror and a disturbing sound of teeth grinding violently…
The wooden door blew apart.
From the cloud of dust emerged three identical demons. They sported horns on their foreheads, blurry red eyes, and martial arts garb.
Tanjiro planted his feet firmly on the broken threshold, serving as a shield for the three young women trembling in each other's arms in a corner.
The demons curled their lips in a synchronized, spine-crawling smile.
The first broke the silence with an extremely cavernous voice. "We've been waiting a good while... what a nuisance."
The second, sporting an expression of complete mental instability, let out a sickly giggle.
"Three... heh heh... one for each of us."
The third ground his teeth with pure fury. "Quit yapping and kill this pest of a brat first!"
"Done!"
The other two responded in unison.
Cutting the chatter short, the trio lunged at Tanjiro like a rabid pack.
Clearly, making them wait outside for so long had annihilated whatever little patience they had left.
In the main hall, Nezuko's eyes snapped open. Marcus had settled her there earlier, leaving her surrounded by a group of girls who took turns hugging her and showering her with affection.
'Brother?'
She had clearly sensed something. She stretched out her hands and gently pushed away the young woman pressing her against her chest.
With a little hop, she dropped to the floor.
Weaving through the outstretched arms and the girls lined up waiting to pet her, she broke into a full sprint toward the back courtyard, guided by her brother's scent...
From his lookout post on the wall, Marcus caught her approach. He descended quickly and, in a mere fraction of a second, reappeared atop the wall holding her firmly against his chest.
Resting his chin on top of Nezuko's head, he breathed in that sweet floral fragrance that had soaked into her after spending hours among so many beautiful women. Marcus narrowed his eyes, savoring the scent with total shamelessness.
"Let your brother handle this one. He's finally got a real chance to stretch his muscles."
"Mmm?"
Nezuko blinked, not entirely sure whether she understood or not, but wrapped in the breathing Marcus used to conceal his presence, she relaxed her shoulders and went completely docile in his arms.
Down below, the fight blazed with intensity.
The demons based their entire offense on formidable, elusive agility, relegating brute force to a distant second.
Each and every one of Tanjiro's attacks was lethal—whether a slash to the waist or the amputation of a limb—but he simply couldn't manage to cut their necks.
On top of that, the trio operated with perfect coordination and plunged into their "swamp" at the slightest hint of danger, repositioning underground only to emerge attacking from new angles.
That tactic kept Tanjiro on the ropes.
But his main disadvantage lay in his need to stay fixed in one spot, since the three girls were trembling and clinging to each other behind him, forcing him to anchor his feet to the ground.
His range of action was reduced exclusively to the small space in front of the destroyed door.
Every time a clone managed to flank him and attack from behind, Tanjiro spun on his heels at full speed, repelling the claws amid the terrified screams of the young women.
But precisely because of that crushing pressure, Tanjiro's movements grew more precise, sharpening his technique to the maximum. Operating like a true sponge for combat, he wrung every lesson from the battle, absorbing experience at a monstrous rate.
That was exactly why Marcus preferred to stay and watch.
After all, the two of them would take different paths in the future, and the level of Tanjiro's enemies would scale absurdly.
If he played eternal babysitter and hogged all the action, he'd be stealing vital training from him.
The day would come when Tanjiro faced a solo mission against a real heavyweight. If he hit a wall like that without having awakened his true potential, he'd end up as demon food the moment he slipped up.
One minute... three minutes... five minutes...
Marcus remained motionless, holding Nezuko while he watched the fight unfold.
Finally, the three demons grasped the urgency of the situation.
How was it possible that this runt was getting stronger with every passing second?!
At the start, they had controlled the pace, handling the fight with total ease. Now, dodging the strikes of that sword demanded absolute concentration.
The trio exchanged a glance loaded with malice, devising their new plan in a fraction of a second.
Take hostages!
The very next instant, a brutal pressure bore down on Tanjiro. He gasped for air, though his body was assimilating the rhythm of battle with astonishing fluidity. The demons' strategy took a radical turn, focusing every attack on breaking his guard to capture the girls.
That dirty tactic forced Tanjiro to entrench himself in a purely defensive stance. Having the three young women trembling at his back limited his movements, forcing him to fight while dragging heavy invisible chains.
Marcus noticed it too and frowned slightly.
Playing along under those conditions completely defeated the purpose of the training.
Tanjiro launched a horizontal slash, forcing the trio to fall back a couple of meters.
Seizing that tiny window of time, Marcus set Nezuko on the edge of the wall and, like a bolt of lightning cutting through the darkness, slipped into the wrecked bedroom.
The three girls were about to let out a scream of sheer terror at the sight of a silhouette bursting in front of them, but Marcus acted faster.
He grabbed one with his left arm, the second with his right, and caught the third in the center against his chest.
Swish
With a gentle push off the tip of his boot, his body blurred into a shadow, reappearing safely at the base of the wall.
Once they caught their breath and focused their eyes, the girls instantly recognized their savior's features.
"Mr. Marcus!"
Under the moonlight, Marcus flashed them a smile brimming with absolute reassurance. He set them gently on their feet and stroked their hair.
"Easy now—it's over."
"I-I almost died of fright..." murmured one of the girls, still pale and clinging to the collar of Marcus's haori with trembling hands.
"Thank you for getting us out of there..." sighed the second, catching her breath little by little.
Marcus widened his smile, radiating pure charm.
"Head inside with the others. I'll take care of cleaning up that ugly thing."
"Please be very careful, Mr. Marcus!"
"You're incredibly brave!"
The third young woman, considerably bolder than the rest, stood on her tiptoes and planted a quick kiss right on his cheek.
"Thank you for everything!"
!!!
At that gesture, Marcus felt an electric jolt shoot down his spine, recharging his energy bar to maximum.
"Get back quick. I'll turn that ugly trio into mush and come join you."
"Yes~!"
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