Chapter 271: Rat or Predator

"Flee?" Marcus smiled wryly. "Where to? Abroad? Spend the rest of his life in a sewer without ever seeing sunlight?"

Marcus shook his head, utterly certain.

"He won’t. Muzan can be as much of a coward as you like, and his instinct is to hide, but he has his pride as the progenitor of demons."

"He’s going to dress up his cowardice with cheap excuses. Waiting for Yoriichi to rot away with old age — he called that ’avoiding the enemy’s blade.’ Hiding like a rat in Infinity Castle was ’biding his time.’ But he’d never go running off with his tail between his legs from the country he used as his own backyard for a thousand years. Especially..." The corner of his mouth lifted. "...because I’m carrying with me the very thing he craves most. He’ll never leave."

"Then he might react like a cornered animal," Kagaya put in.

"That’s exactly what I want!" Marcus rubbed his hands together. "How good do you think our odds are of actually finding Muzan by throwing a swarm of people out to look for him?"

Kagaya thought for a moment.

"Less than thirty percent. After all, if he really wants to hide, all he has to do is dig a hole in some deep forest."

"Exactly — so finding him isn’t the point! The point is to pressure him!" Marcus exclaimed. "We have to show him: this time we mean business. If he wants to hide, we’ll prove to him he’ll have to do it forever. His space will keep shrinking, and he’ll live like a rat."

"And will he settle for that, when all he needs to do is devour me to overcome the sun and become the perfect being?"

At those words from Marcus, the room fell into absolute stillness.

Kagaya was processing it all.

It was a broad-daylight strategy: corner Muzan and force him to choose between living as a rat or fighting back for all eternity.

Given his arrogance, he’d choose to fight.

This... this would be the final battle.

The agitation in his chest settled.

"...I understand. The Demon Slayer Corps will cooperate with all its strength. Even if it costs us our lives, I won’t let him escape."

Marcus nodded and stood up.

"I’m off. In three days, whatever the outcome, I’ll send word through a Kasugai Crow."

He walked to the door and opened it.

Outside, Makomo was playing with a cat, and Nakime remained seated with her biwa. At the sound of the door, both looked up.

"Are you two done talking?" Makomo asked.

"Just one minor matter left to take care of, then we head home," Marcus said with a smile.

Twenty minutes later, a bundle of chains dropped heavily inside Infinity Castle.

Marcus, carrying Nakime, landed softly beside the chains.

"Pick the ten strongest demons and let them out one at a time."

"Understood."

TWANG!

Thirty feet away, an enormous wooden door swung wide open.

A giant demon, covered in dark red protrusions, came barreling out.

It had no reason left; it possessed only the most basic instinct to kill and feed.

The instant it saw Marcus, it charged, making everything rumble.

Marcus stood motionless.

Thud!

Just as its claws were about to reach him, he drove a kick into its abdomen.

A shockwave burst through the air.

The enormous demon was sent hurtling backward at full speed, slamming into a wall.

And before it could get back up, Marcus appeared on top of it, chains in hand, and stomped down hard.

Crack!

The demon’s spine snapped, and its body bent grotesquely.

Using the Koketsu Arrows, he bound its limbs behind its back, wrapping it over and over into a knot.

All in less than five seconds.

TWANG!

The second door opened, and the next demon came out roaring.

Marcus didn’t even turn; he grabbed the chain and used the first bound demon like a hammer, smashing it into the newcomer.

A tearing crunch rang out after the impact.

Marcus walked over and bound it exactly the same way.

The third... fourth... fifth.

The capture process was clean.

Nakime maintained absolute obedience: she didn’t try to flee or let out any extra demons.

Ten minutes later, ten enormous demons lay lined up on the platform, reduced to bundles of iron that writhed and growled in vain.

Brushing the dust off his hands, Marcus looked at Nakime.

"Good work."

She bowed her head humbly.

"It’s my duty."

He loved this woman’s submissiveness.

"Let’s go — time to head back."

TWANG!

The space shifted.

Marcus, Nakime, and the ten demons appeared in the vacant lot behind the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters.

Stars glittered in the night sky.

A tall figure stood waiting: Gyōmei Himejima, who had rushed back after receiving the Oyakata-sama’s emergency summons.

At the sound of a door, Gyōmei turned around.

Though blind, he clearly sensed the presence of those ten beings before him.

A dense demonic aura, an unbridled bloodlust, and a muscular density that far surpassed that of a common demon.

Gyōmei felt a jolt deep inside.

So these were the newly created demons?

The strength housed within them was terrifying; any single one was enough to give a Kinoe-rank slayer serious trouble.

He stepped forward and gripped a chain with one hand.

With a single tug, he hoisted a creature weighing hundreds of pounds into the air without the slightest effort.

Gyōmei watched it as tears slid down his cheeks.

"Namu Amida Butsu... What a pitiful creature."

"Indeed — and on top of that, they’re about to be used as training dummies." Marcus kicked the still-writhing demon on the ground. "I’m leaving them to you. Don’t waste them."

Gyōmei nodded.

"I’ll make the preparations."

Dragging the ten enormous demons, he turned toward the depths of the mountain.

The chains screeched against the ground as the demons rolled and roared, powerless to disturb the stride of that imposing man.

Watching the scene, Marcus couldn’t help but think that, in the canon, right around this time the Hashira Training arc would have begun.

Except that, with him present, this had turned into... the training of the Hashira.

With the matter settled, he turned to call Nakime. He still had to get back to Asakusa tonight...

"Marcus-sama! Please, wait!"

Hurried footsteps sounded behind him.

Marcus stopped and looked back.

Amane came running, clutching the hem of her kimono, her breathing ragged, a few strands of hair stuck to her cheek from the night wind.

Marcus watched her in silence.

Amane stopped two steps away, gripping the cloth tightly in her hands.

Her mouth was slightly open, hesitating to speak... but her eyes reflected an absolute resolve!

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