In the very instant he employed [Field of Threads], each thread within his domain transformed into an extension of his senses: eyes that saw everything, skin that perceived everything.
Being within his range was like moving inside his own body. He didn't need to look at you; he perceived the tension of your muscles before the blow had even begun to form. Trying to take him by surprise at that distance was as pointless as trying to blink without your own eyes catching on.
And this was nothing more than the most rudimentary manifestation of [Field of Threads]
Marcus had just realized that, under its effect, his Arrows transcended the limits that governed them. As long as they stayed within the domain, they could materialize at any point he chose: behind his back, outside his field of vision, at the most unthinkable angle.
That was why, even with his back to Obanai, an instant was all he needed to immobilize him.
Sheathing his sword, Marcus shot a fleeting glance at Obanai, who lay on the ground trying to stem the bleeding with shaking hands. Then he turned to Sanemi, covered in blood.
"Shall we keep going?"
Sanemi gritted his teeth without answering.
His head was spinning and the hand gripping his sword was trembling slightly. But he wasn't afraid; he had simply lost too much blood!
And then, just as Marcus was shifting his attention toward him, a white silhouette, charged with an immeasurable fury, detached itself from Obanai's body and shot like an arrow toward Marcus's back.
"KABURAMARU!!" Obanai screamed, his voice breaking.
He tried to get up, but the wound in his abdomen pinned him to the ground. He could only watch, helpless, as his lifelong companion hurled himself alone against that monster.
Marcus, however, reacted with indifference.
Without even turning his head, he brought his sword back with his right hand and aimed the tip at Kaburamaru's exact trajectory.
The serpent was moving too fast. His momentum was such that he could no longer stop. And when that little head was just about to skewer itself on the steel…
"ENOUGH!!"
With a thunderous roar, a colossal figure dropped from the sky and inserted himself between the edge and the serpent.
Gyōmei Himejima.
With one of his calloused hands he caught Kaburamaru's body, and with the other, he held Marcus's blade by the bare edge.
Blood began to drip onto the dirt. The sword, brought to a dead stop, didn't advance another millimeter, held back by sheer brute strength.
"That's enough?" Marcus turned around with a smile, without the slightest trace of surprise at his appearance.
Any object that brushed against the threads within the domain, even the faintest gust of wind, was as clear to him as if he had it in his own hands.
If it weren't for the fact that the technique required prior preparation, they would never have managed to take him by surprise on Mount Natagumo.
Lifting his gaze toward the enormous shadow that completely covered him, he insisted, without losing his smile, "Are you sure that's enough?"
Gyōmei didn't answer. He lowered his face toward Kaburamaru, still trapped in his fist, and then toward Obanai, knocked down on the ground.
The Serpent Pillar was desperately trying to lift himself up, but the wound in his abdomen was too deep and the blood kept pouring out without letting up.
"It's enough," he finally said, in a deep voice that rumbled like distant thunder.
Then he fixed his blind eyes on Marcus.
"In a single fight, you've maimed two Pillars and wounded a third. And you've done it without taking a single scratch."
He let go of the sword. The hand he had used to grip the edge was a bloodied mass; the cut was so deep it left the bone in plain sight.
"That's something none of us would be capable of pulling off."
Sheathing his swords, Marcus kept his smile on.
"Then, are you willing to listen carefully to what I have to say?"
Gyōmei stayed silent for a few moments. Then he nodded.
"Rest assured, we respect the strong…"
"We respect every strong human being."
Marcus's smile widened. The fortune he needed to reach the life he had been dreaming of seemed to be reaching out its hand to him already.
He turned toward a figure waiting in the distance.
"Shinobu-chan, would you be so kind as to bandage their wounds? I'm a little finicky, but I don't hold grudges… as long as they don't provoke me again."
Shinobu let out a sigh of relief, and the tension that was pinching her smile finally gave way to a more serene expression.
"Marcus-kun, really… you never stop surprising me."
She signaled to several members of her squad to step forward and tend to Sanemi's and Obanai's wounds.
Mitsuri also rushed over to the spot, gazing in distress at the open gash on Obanai's abdomen. And just as he was about to be moved by that show of affection…
"Marcus-san is incredible… even you were no match for him, Iguro."
Obanai's expression changed in an instant.
"Oh, Iguro-sama! How are you doing…? You've turned as pale as a corpse! Are you all right?"
Obanai had no words. With his face ashen, he kept his eyes fixed on Marcus's back.
Rengoku walked over to Gyōmei and looked at his wounded hand.
"Your hand…"
"It's of no consequence." Gyōmei shook his head, letting the blood run its course.
"What matters now…"
His blind eyes turned toward Marcus.
"Is the matter of the experiment true?"
"The one about giving demons their humanity back?"
"Yes."
"It is." Marcus nodded. "Tamayo's research, combined with certain… special materials that I provide her with, is already starting to bear its first fruits."
Gyōmei Himejima closed his eyelids and the tears began to flow with renewed force.
"What immense mercy… If it really came to be achieved, the pain of those who saw their loved ones devoured by demons, that of the slayers who were forced to put their own family to death… how much could be eased?…"
Marcus stayed silent.
He knew well the cruelty of all this. He knew that behind every one of the Pillars hid a past stained with blood.
With the exception, perhaps, of Mitsuri…
Although her situation had its own particular tragedy: being a young woman of noble birth, a true heiress of singular beauty, at every arranged marriage meeting she went to she found nothing but fools, men incapable of appreciating her or one suitor more insufferable than the last.
It was almost cruel that such a beautiful girl had ended up looking for a husband among the ranks of the Demon Slayer Corps, an organization riddled with eccentrics and lunatics.
…That's right! Mitsuri!
…
A little rabbit with pink fur suddenly burst into the corner of Mitsuri's eye, who at that moment was examining Obanai's wounds.
The creature was hopping with a charming spring.
The next instant, her innocent eyes were captivated by that adorable creature.
"How cuuute!"
She turned around delicately and reached out her hand to pet it gently.
And just as her fingers brushed against that warm, fluffy fur…
Puff
The little rabbit burst into a pink cloud!
Mitsuri's eyes filled with tears in an instant.
"Waaah… the little bunny…"
But, as if to console her, the very next second a dozen pink little bunnies came hopping in front of her again.
Mitsuri's crying turned right then and there into laughter, her heart melting completely. This time, however, she didn't dare touch them, and she lifted her gaze to the front.
There stood Marcus, wrapped in a pink mist, holding in his hands two little bunnies cuddled up against each other, watching her with a smile.
"Do you like them?"
"I-I… I like them…"
"I also like your…"
"Huh?!"
"…pink hair."
"Aaaaah!" Mitsuri covered her face with her hands, completely flushed.
Obanai was gritting his teeth with a look capable of killing anyone.
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Poor Obanai, F in the chat 💀
350 PS and the next chapter drops today. You know what to do 💎
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P-a-t-r-e-o-n → Athome790