Okay... okay... I ADMIT I was wrong
I told you you'd NEVER hit 520 PS and you guys, just to spite me, actually did it. Are you really that petty?
Fine, fine, here's your chapter, you stubborn bunch.
But now let's see what you're REALLY made of... New goal: 750 PS đź’Ž
Will you shut me up again or do I win this time?
________
"The Master has arrived."
In an instant, the garden fell completely silent.
Kagaya made his entrance, advancing with measured steps, supported by his two daughters.
The Pillars immediately formed a line and, all at once, dropped to one knee.
Sanemi struggled to get up, but his body refused to respond. Gritting his teeth, he resorted to his Breathing Technique to force himself up, going from his sprawled position to a prostrate one, his forehead resting against the flagstones.
Tanjiro, held by the scruff of the neck by Giyū, ended up kneeling as well.
"How glad I am to see you all in such high spirits…" Kagaya's soft voice rang out, reaching the souls of all those present, "My dear children."
"It is a true joy to see your faces at this biannual gathering."
"Knowing that our Lord enjoys good health fills our hearts with joy," Mitsuri hurried to say. "May the days ahead bring you peace and serenity beyond measure!"
Tilting his head slightly, Kagaya turned his face toward the voice.
"Thank you, Mitsuri."
Her cheeks flushed and, on the inside, she gave free rein to her elation.
Pinned against the ground, Sanemi was grinding his teeth in frustration.
He had wanted to greet him too, but the wounds had made him lose precious time, and by the time he managed to get a word out, it was too late!
But what infuriated him most was something else: Marcus was standing, smiling, right next to the Master himself. And by his side, on top of that, there was a demon.
"Pardon my forwardness, my Lord." Lifting his face, he showed the utmost respect. "Before we begin the meeting, I beg you to provide us with an explanation regarding that slayer, who is harboring demons."
TanjirĹŤ followed his gaze and stood petrified.
"Nezuko?!"
How was it possible that Marcus had brought Nezuko out into broad daylight? It was high noon… ah, there was a roof in the way, so everything was in order then…
OF COURSE IT WASN'T IN ORDER!
This was the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps! He was surrounded by Pillars whose sanity, on top of that, left a lot to be desired!
Indeed: a glance around was enough to confirm that every single one of the Pillars present had their eyes locked on Nezuko.
Hearing him, Kagaya, supported by his daughters, stepped slightly off to the side.
"Marcus-kun, if it's all right with you, why don't you be the one to explain it to them yourself?"
"It would be my pleasure, Kagaya-san."
That "Kagaya-san" caused at least half a dozen veins to swell up out of pure outrage. But the most thunderous reaction was, of course, Sanemi's.
"YOU INSOLENT BASTARD! What kind of manners are those?!"
Marcus contemplated him from his height with an insulting calm.
"Losers have no right to speak."
"AAAHHH!!" Sanemi exploded with fury. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!"
And then…
Splat
He flopped face-first against the ground, biting the dust with all the weight of his wounded dignity. There wasn't much to be done about it: his arms and legs were giving out, he was wrapped up like a parcel of merchandise, and he was facedown on the floor.
It was already plenty of an achievement, in those conditions, to manage to wriggle even a hand's breadth.
An awkward silence stretched across the courtyard.
Mitsuri had to cover her mouth with both hands to smother another laugh. Rengoku, on the other hand, didn't hold back: he let out a guffaw that bounced off the garden walls before swallowing it back down under Shinobu's withering glare.
Without deigning to pay him any more attention, Marcus swept his gaze across the rest of the Pillars, and his smile had vanished.
"I have met Muzan Kibutsuji."
With those words the expression of every one of those present transformed in the blink of an eye.
"Kibutsuji?!" Tengen was the first to break the silence, his voice cracked with astonishment. "You've seen Muzan Kibutsuji with your own eyes?!"
Nodding with the utmost casualness, Marcus continued, "That's right. Not only did I see him, I also fought against him."
"You fought against HIM?!"
This time, Rengoku couldn't hold back either. His eyes burned like two flames and he stepped forward, driven by pure excitement.
Tengen, not wanting to be left behind, advanced from the opposite side with identical force.
And between the two colossi, caught like a flower between two boulders on the move… poor Mitsuri.
"Ouchh!"
A faint whimper was all she managed to let out before being sent flying and landing on the floor in a most ungraceful manner.
Sanemi, meanwhile, was wriggling to lift himself off the ground like a worm. "Talk, you brat! What's his technique?! What does he look like?! How does he fight?!"
"Marcus…" Gyōmei, on the other hand, maintained his unshakable, mountainous serenity. "Would you have the kindness to tell us about the fight?"
"Ah… the fight…"
Recalling for an instant his greatest humiliation, and without a single muscle in his face giving him away, Marcus declared. "I lost by a narrow margin."
"You're amazing!"
Mitsuri, who had barely just gotten back on her feet with Kanao's help, brought her hands together over her chest while her pupils turned into two gleaming stars.
The idea that someone could be capable of standing up to Muzan and coming out alive struck her as worthy of a novel.
The expression that appeared on Kagaya's face, however, was of an exquisite subtlety. Because, unlike the others, he knew absolutely everything: his crows didn't leave a single loose end.
Marcus… in that encounter, you threw exactly one attack. One.
"Narrow margin"…
"Cough, cough…"
Suddenly feeling stripped bare under those blind eyes that nonetheless seemed to see right through him, Marcus cleared his throat discreetly and hurried to change course.
"In any case, I have already given Kagaya all the relevant information about Muzan, so I won't dwell on the details. I've actually come here for a different matter."
"Is it about the experiments?!" Mitsuri proclaimed herself, right then and there, Marcus's number one fan.
He shot her a knowing wink.
Mitsuri's cheeks lit up immediately, and on reflex she covered them with her little hands.
'Mitsuri, sweetheart… you're a delight. And too easy to win over!'
Ahem. Let's focus. To the point.
He cleared his throat again and was about to pick up the thread when…
"Don't say one more word! I'll never believe that a demon can turn back into a human!"
Being challenged once again, and by Sanemi at that, Marcus should have answered right away.
But this time, the words died in his throat.
Beneath the sweat-soaked bandage wrapped around his forehead, Sanemi's face was trembling. And those eyes… were filled with fear.
It wasn't the fear of facing a powerful enemy, but rather… the dread of someone who is on the verge of seeing the only thing he has managed to preserve through blood and silence shattered to pieces.
The idea that a demon could go back to being a human was, for him, more unbearable than death itself.
Because if demons could turn back into humans…
…then, the mother he himself had murdered, what had she been?
And all those years. All the guilt. All the blood. Every sleepless night, every tear, every scar… had they all been for nothing?
Sanemi's life suddenly crossed Marcus's mind: a father who unloaded his rage with his fists on him; a sweet mother, transformed into the very thing he swore to exterminate; a younger brother who hated him… and, at the center of it all, a broken boy who had promised himself never to cry again.
In that instant of revelation, he understood something he had never gotten around to thinking when watching the anime.
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And if PS aren't your thing but you still want more chapters...
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