We did it! đ We reached the goal of 300 Power Stones in just 24 hours. A massive thank you for pushing it from 200, your energy is incredible! đ Let's go for more! New goal: 400 Power Stones.
_____
At that delicate question, Marcus's smile didn't change, but his eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
"You've got a sharp eye, Miss Tamayo."
"Fufu~ After all, my Blood Demon Art also has a lot to do with 'scent,'" Tamayo said without beating around the bush.
"Since you walked through that door, you haven't stopped using your Breathing Technique to wrap your entire body and mask your presence. But the blood soaked into the hilt of your sword... has a very particular scent. No matter how faint it is, it doesn't slip past me."
"...I seeâŠ" Marcus understood instantly.
And the moment Tanjiro heard the word "blood," he jumped: "Marcus, are you hurt?! Where did you get injured?!"
He threw himself on him immediately, clumsily patting him down all over.
"Tch, get off me." Marcus swatted his hands away. "When I cut Muzan, I squeezed too hard and the skin between my thumb and index finger cracked a little. It's nothing serious."
The slash he'd thrown at Muzan just moments ago had nearly exceeded the limit of what his body could withstand.
He had layered Makomo's basic amplification with Nezuko's, and on top of that, carrying her on his back doubled his power.
To top it off, seeking to deal the most damage possible, he forcefully compressed the bladeâwhich could have easily extended much fartherâto less than twenty meters.
That full-power slash, at nearly triple the intensity, hadn't only wounded Muzan.
The recoil force had split the skin between his own thumb and index finger.
"However, I must say that Mr. Marcus's technique for masking his presence is magnificent," Tamayo continued, not hiding how impressed she was.
"If I hadn't already been 'acquainted' with your blood beforehand, even sitting this close, I most likely wouldn't have noticed at all."
But Marcus shook his head. "If I were that good at it, Muzan wouldn't have spotted me earlier."
Tamayo blinked, taken aback. "Earlier... you were nearby that entire time?"
"It's a little embarrassing to admitâŠ" Marcus said, pointing upward. "But yeah, I was crouched up on the roof the whole time, watching."
Hearing that, Tanjiro went blank for a second... and then lunged at him with eyes already watering.
"Senpai...! S-So you were secretly watching over me this whole time!"
And through snot and tears, he blurted out: "You diverted him on purpose to lead him away from me... because you were worried Muzan would hurt me, right?"
The question caught Marcus off guard, and his expression turned a little strange.
He didn't want to claim such a "noble" motive, but he also couldn't say: "Actually, you were the one who scared Muzan off; he caught me purely by accident and took it out on me."
So he just shook his head without saying anything.
But since the topic had come up, and taking the opportunity to show some sincerityâand earn some points with Tamayo while he was at itâŠ
He undid the "cloak" he kept wrapped around his body at all times.
The next secondâ
"UGH!"
A choked grunt escaped from Yushiro, whose eyes instantly flooded with black veins.
He could have sworn he'd left that primitive bloodlust behind long ago, but upon catching the scent of Marcus's bloodâespecially with fresh woundsâthat craving was still a difficult thing to control.
As for Tamayo... it was a different story.
A soft blush crept up her cheeks in the blink of an eye, all the way to the tips of her ears.
Without realizing it, she bit her lips, and her eyes locked onto Marcus's face with a faint glow that burned.
Marcus had already expected this.
He'd realized a while ago that his blood, from coexisting with his Breath of Desire for so long, had become a little⊠how to put it⊠somewhat "provocative."
For male demons, it was like the finest delicacy in the world.
But for female demons⊠that attraction... came tangled up with a different kind of "appetite."
And even more so when he deliberately activated his Breathing Technique, releasing his warm, rosy current along with the scent of his peculiar bloodâŠ
"I-It's... that's enoughâŠ"
Tamayo's voice came out several tones lower than normal, a light pant slipping between her words: "M-Mr. Marcus... mmh~, you'd better hide your presence again..."
Her cheeks were on fire and her heart was racing out of control.
But Marcus not only didn't stopâa thoroughly wicked smile spread across his face.
"A thousand apologies, I thought... you two could handle the urge to go after blood by now without any trouble."
Tamayo glared at him with glassy eyes, and out came a tiny voice that barely concealed how worked up she was.
"...I-I highly doubt... that any demon exists... who could f-fully resist... y-your 'blood.'"
"But of course there is, how could there not be?"
Raising his eyebrows, Marcus looked down at Nezuko, who was now in his arms, and waved a finger still smeared with traces of blood in front of her face. "Our little Nezuko-chan can handle it, right?"
Nezuko's big eyes blinked, locked on that finger mere inches away, giving off a scent that was driving her crazy.
And thenâ
"Aum!"
Nezuko chomped down on his finger without a second thought.
Marcus's smile froze solid.
"NEZUKO!!" Tanjiro shouted.
Tamayo, on the other hand, burst out laughing.
She found it hilarious to see how Marcus's little stunt had backfired on him.
But in reality, Nezuko wasn't biting down hard or anything like that.
She was just holding it with her little teeth, eyes sparkling bright, as if she'd found a new toy.
But that was more than enough for Tanjiroâdramatic as alwaysâto panic and lunge in to separate them.
Except before his hand could even touch Nezuko, a bigger hand swatted it away.
???
Tanjiro stared at Marcus without understanding a thing.
And there was Marcus, with not a trace of his clowning from before, staring intently at the finger Nezuko was "holding" between her teeth, wearing a face of absolute revelationâas if he'd just discovered the meaning of life.
"Don't worry, Tanjiro," he said in a voice that betrayed his excitement. "Nezuko isn't biting me, she's just holding it with her teeth."
"Even if she's just holding it, that's disgusting!" Tanjiro shouted at him, a nervous wreck, going for Nezuko again. "She's going to get blood all over her!"
But Marcus at that moment couldn't have given less of a shit, and planted his other hand square on Tanjiro's face, not letting him get a single inch closer.
Because right there, before his eyes, Nezuko's analysis panelâwhich hadn't appeared in agesâlit up again:
[Special contact with target Nezuko Kamado!]
[Conditions for final analysis have been met!]
[Analysis progress: 90%... 91%...]
The very instant Nezuko had grabbed his finger with her teeth, the last ten percent of the Fourth Level analysis had kicked into gear!
AND IT WAS FLYING!
"Skin to Skin"... this counted too?!
His heart was pounding like it wanted to burst out of his chest.
Did that mean he was on the verge of being able to have a Blood Demon Art?
"YOU'RE GOING TO SPOIL HER ROTTEN!!"
Tanjiro was still struggling like a madman whenâ
BOOOOOM!
Out of nowhere, a ball in garish colors, wrapped in brutal speed and force, blew through the wall and punched a clean hole right through it.
The lights inside shattered to pieces instantly.
The ball started bouncing like it had lost its mindâwalls, floor, ceilingâkicking up gusts of cutting wind that whistled with a sickening violence.
And from the hole, like an accompaniment, came voices that reeked of arrogance.
"Hahahaha!"
"Have you decided how we kill them?"
"No need to even think about itâthe worst way possible!"
Hearing those voices, Marcus's pupils shrank in an instant.
'I knew it, damn it, I knew it!'
Susamaru and Yahaba.
Those were the demons Muzan had sent like dogs to test Tanjiro.
He'd seen it comingâmentally, he was ready.
But did they really have to show up right now, the sons of bitches?! Right when the analysis was running!
Out of the entire goddamn night, they had to drop in at the worst possible moment.
As the room descended into chaos, Yushiro planted himself in front of Tamayo, and Tanjiro drew his sword in one swift pull, eyes glued to the ball bouncing around like crazy in every direction.
Only Marcus was still sitting there, perfectly still, with Nezuko in his arms.
And right then, while his brain was going a mile a minute, something clicked.
His expression shifted: first the fury of being interrupted, then surprise... and finally a smile of pure ecstasy.
His original plan was to wait for these two dumbasses to show up, step out, beat the shit out of them in a flash, and look good in front of Tamayo.
But nowâŠ
Nezuko's analysis was advancing at one percent per minute!
Ten minutes! In ten goddamn minutes he was going to have what he'd wanted for so long!
____
Thank you for reading! đ Marcus needs exactly 10 minutes to get his new power. How will he handle Susamaru and Yahaba until then? Let me know in the comments and drop your Power Stones! â±ïž
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