Hey everyone! Unfortunately, I'll be lowering the daily chapter rate because the novel isn't getting the support I was hoping for š...
But let's make a deal: if we surpass 10 reviews, we will automatically go back to 3 chapters a day! š
I'm counting on you guys to get the pace back up!
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"What are youāugh!"
Marcus's hand closed around his neck before he could finish the sentence.
Yahaba kicked in the air, clawing at that hand with his freshly regenerated fingers, but it was like trying to move a steel pillar.
And Marcus watched him calmly, savoring every second.
That twisted face of panic, those eyes that understood nothing, and above all, the fearā¦ He loved it.
A wicked smile slowly spread across his face.
"Thank you."
"And like I said... your ability is quite special." He squeezed his neck a little tighter. "It would've been a shame to let it die with you."
Inside and out, a deathly silence settled.
With his mouth hanging wide open, Tanjiro was petrified, his sword dropped on the ground, forgetting everything.
This went beyond anything he could have possibly imagined. Demons, swords, breathing styles... all of that he understood. But this? Swallowing a demon's eyeā¦ and stealing his ability?!
That made no sense!
Tamayo was another story. On the outside, she stayed still, her hand still covering her mouth. But her mind was rapidly considering various possibilities.
She had heard of themā¦ Demon Devourers. An extremely rare subspecies of humans capable of eating a demon and temporarily absorbing their characteristics. For a brief period, the human would acquire demonic traits and could use the ability of the demon they had consumed.
But it was temporary. The demon didn't lose anything. It was literally copying, not STEALING. And when the effect wore off, everything went back to normal.
But what she had just witnessed was completely differentā¦
Yahaba had lost his Art. Empty palms, power ripped out at the root as if it had never belonged to him.
That wasn't devouringā¦ THAT WAS PLUNDERING!
The hand covering her lips began to tremble, and a chill ran down her spine.
If a being truly capable of doing that existed... if it could truly strip a demon permanently of the only thing that made them specialā¦ What was the point of continuing to exist as a demon?
Yahaba thrashed like an animal, clawing at the hand crushing his neck with everything he had.
"Give it back!! YOU SON OF A BITCH! What did you do to me?! GIVE ME BACK WHAT'S MINE!!!"
"Ooh, I'm so sorry..." Marcus tilted his head with a little smile that had nothing sincere about it. "See, my body works in a kinda weird way, you know? Once something goes in... there are no returns."
"Besides, let's be honest... an ability this good, having it belong to you was a tremendous waste. Don't take it personally, but you weren't even using half its potential."
He gave his neck a little squeezeāaffectionate.
"But don't worry. After you die, I promise I'm going to make your art shine like never before. I'm going to get more out of it than you ever could."
But suddenly his eyes lit up, as if an idea had just struck him, and he added, "Now that I think about it... I'm dying to see the look on Muzan's face when I use it against him. What do you think? Think he'll be surprised?"
He was in such a good mood that his mouth ran away from him.
And every word hit Yahaba like a nail.
'Can't be returnedā¦ a waste on him. After he diesā¦ use it againstā¦ Muzan-sama.'
Especially that last partā¦ that last part was what broke him.
Just the thought that his own ability would be used to help this monster. Imagining the face Muzan would make, he began to trembleānot from rage, but from something far worse.
"Kill me." He stopped struggling. "...Just kill me."
Marcus raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected him to break that fast. But oh well, he didn't care much either. "Relax, I'm going to kill you. But you're still useful to me for something."
Turning his head, he flashed a smile at all the petrified faces staring at him as if he'd grown a second head.
And his new eyes gleamed in the darkness in a way that made your skin crawl.
"Marcus... Mr. Marcus, you justāKya!" Tamayo tried to form a complete sentence, but the next second, she let out a little yelp of surprise.
Something invisible hooked her by the waist and lifted her off the ground, dragging her gently through the air, straight toward Marcus.
"TAMAYO-SAMA!!"
Yushiro, believing Marcus had lost his mind, wanted to lunge, wanted to destroy him, wanted to tear him apart piece by piece. But when he tried to move, he discovered a small detail.
He didn't have legs yet.
Feeling the world spin, by the time Tamayo regained a sense of where she was, her feet were no longer on the ground.
She was wrapped in a warm, comforting embrace, and her nose was suddenly flooded with the irresistible scent Marcus was giving off. That sinful, sweet, warm smell that tickled her in places she didn't want to admit.
And when she looked up, she found those golden eyes centimeters from hers. Unsettling. Strange. But not threatening. She could feel it in the way he held her: there was no hostility there.
And yetāor perhaps precisely because of thatāher heart lurched violently.
Her face burned. Her ears burned. Everything burned.
"Y-You..." Her voice came out trembling, fragileānothing like the serene woman she always was. "What k-kind of person are you exactly?"
"Me?"
Marcus lowered his head and his eyes drifted to those red cheeks, those parted lips, that watery gaze trying to maintain composure and failing miserably.
His smile widened dangerously.
"I'm me." He whispered as his breath came out laced with that rosy current, more intense than ever, brushing Tamayo's lips like a caress. "A man who... fell in love with you the moment he saw you."
"BAKAYAROU!!"
"LET GO OF TAMAYO-SAMA, YOU BASTARD!!"
Yushiro was fuming. He literally looked like his head was about to explode. The problem was that without legs, the only thing he could do was drag himself across the ground with his hands, crawling like a worm.
Marcus glanced at him out of the corner of his eye without giving it any importance, then winked at Tamayo. "Aren't you going to collect this guy's blood? It's getting away from you. Or would you rather stay like this a little longer and let me give you a kiss?"
Only then did Tamayo come back to herself a little from the intoxicating daze, and she looked at Yahaba.
She tried to take a deep breath to calm downā¦ Bad idea. The only thing she managed was to fill her lungs with Marcus's scent, and her face turned an even deeper red than it already was.
Holding back as best she could the strange tingling running through her entire body, she turned and pointed with a trembling finger toward the inside of the house.
A small bag, there by the wall.
Catching the signal instantly, Marcus looked where she was pointing, and the bag came flying, floating through the air until it landed in Tamayo's hands.
Witnessing that ability again, Tamayo stood somewhat spellbound, and she forgot about the blood, forgot about Yahaba, forgot about everything.
Slowly, she raised her free hand, and the tips of her fingers brushed the corner of Marcus's eye, where those golden arrow-shaped pupils gleamed.
"How...?" she whispered, curiosity burning in her gaze. "How did you do it exactly?"
Feeling her delicate touch, Marcus smiled mysteriously. "That's my little secret."
"..."
"But well..." He lowered his voice. "If Miss Tamayo really wants to know... it can be negotiated. Everything has a price."
"What price?" Tamayo asked instantly.
Marcus leaned in even closer, almost touching his lips to hers. "For example... letting me hold you like this for, say... thirty minutes?"
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!"
Having completely lost control, Yushiro slammed both hands against the ground, launched himself, and shot toward Marcus with his teeth bared and claws ready.
Swish
Suddenly, an invisible arrow pierced clean through him and sent him flying in the opposite direction... straight toward Tanjiro, who was running over with a face that said "I'm going to try to calm the situation down."
BAM!
And Tanjiro stumbled back two steps with eyes wide as saucers, looking down at his own chest without understanding what had just happened.
There, pinned against him like a brooch, was half of Yushiro. No legs, hair standing on end, teeth bared and claws spread, trembling with pure rageāstuck to his chest like a butterfly on a corkboard.
Tanjiro looked down at him.
Yushiro looked up at him.
"..."
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