Chapter 274: Surveillance Cameras

The breeze, laden with the smell of earth, stirred her long hair, brushing against the tip of her nose.

Nakime’s eyelids trembled as she gazed at the man before her, who held her hand and drew it toward his lips.

From the subtle tremor in Marcus’s hands, she knew she wasn’t the only one who was nervous.

"Are you ready?"

"Mm!"

The instant Nakime nodded, those warm lips pressed against her wrist.

A stabbing pain struck her immediately after as blood stained her skin.

Nakime furrowed her brow, unable to hold back a faint whimper of pain.

The pain in her wrist wasn’t all that intense; what was unbearable was the powerful sensation of being stripped away that arose from the very depths of her being.

Infinity Castle.

That ability she’d relied on to survive for centuries, yet hated more than she loved, was fading away.

Flowing along with her blood into the mouth and body of the man before her.

Nakime’s pupils began to tremble, and an emotion called unease grew wildly in her heart.

N-No!

Don’t take it from me!

Her body fought on instinct.

"M-My L... Lord... I..."

Panic flooded her voice.

Nakime was afraid — a natural reaction of her body.

But at this point, stopping was no longer an option.

As she trembled, trying to pull her hand away, a hand came to rest gently on her head.

"Don’t be afraid. It’ll be over soon."

Tamayo’s voice acted as a sedative.

Nakime’s contracted pupils gradually dilated, and her gaze regained its clarity.

"I-I’m sorry... I don’t know... why...?"

Tamayo leaned toward her ear.

"It’s an instinctive reaction of your body. Don’t blame yourself."

"Th... thank you..."

The brush of breath near her ear brought a faint blush to Nakime’s face.

Tamayo is so kind...

Over those three days, while the others only barked orders at her to ferry them into Infinity Castle, Tamayo had stayed by her side, chatting sincerely. Though at first she barely responded, Tamayo patiently explained the others’ likes and dislikes to help her fit in. Sharing the experience of having defected made Nakime open her heart, and now, in her moment of greatest unease, it was still Tamayo who comforted her.

"Ah~!"

A sudden moan escaped her lips.

The sensation of being stripped away surged drastically, cutting off her thoughts and pulling all her attention back to her wrist.

But the next second, she stopped feeling it.

The blood-covered mouth withdrew from her wrist.

Feeling everything spin around her, Nakime slumped backward, weak and hollowed out, falling into a warm embrace.

"Good work, Nakime..."

Her face pale from the blood loss, she looked up into Tamayo’s eyes.

She did everything she could to force a smile.

Infinity Castle was gone... She was finally free.

"HAHAHAHA, I KNEW IT!!!"

A shrill burst of laughter drew both women’s eyes.

Marcus, standing upright with his arms flung wide, wore a manic grin as he underwent an uncontrollable demonization.

"I don’t need Muzan! I don’t need his genes!!"

The next second, he clenched his fist.

His hair began to grow wildly, snapping the ribbon that held it back and burrowing into the ground like enraged roots.

Immediately after, the earth began to tremble and turn soft.

Just as everyone thought Infinity Castle was about to sprout up from the ground, a small lump of flesh surfaced.

Nezuko, her eyes lighting up, pounced on it in a single leap. She opened a gap between her hands and peered inside.

"Huh...?" Nezuko stood up, bewildered, seeing there was nothing there. "Where’d the little ball go?"

"The little ball’s over there, you silly girl!" Ume pointed ahead with disdain.

Nezuko looked up.

The lump of flesh had reappeared sixteen feet away.

Wrapped in lines of glowing blue, it rose slowly, held up by a single strand of blond hair.

The blue lines spread along the strand, which thickened and branched out until it formed root-like limbs.

With great agility, the little creature tore off the hair connecting it to Marcus.

"What... what is that?" Zenitsu stammered, frightened. "A fruit that grows from hair?"

Inosuke scratched his chin.

"Can you eat this thing?"

"No, Inosuke." Marcus answered with his eyes closed and a slight smile. "These are all my surveillance cameras!"

"Surveillance cameras?" Tanjiro blinked. "What’s that?"

"A surveillance camera is..." Marcus stopped halfway, mouth closing.

The ball of flesh on the ground, the next second, split horizontally down the middle along a thin line.

Immediately after, the layer of flesh suddenly separated upward and downward.

Revealing an enormous eye inside... with green sclera, a golden iris, and a red arrow-shaped pupil!

Zenitsu’s skin crawled.

"A... an eye?!"

"Tsk! Cheap tricks!"

Yushiro, the most familiar with visual perception, pursed his lips, trying to feign composure. "Isn’t that just widening the field of vision a little? Anyone could do that."

Marcus’s smile deepened.

The eye in front of Nezuko vanished and reappeared almost in the same instant, right above Zenitsu’s head.

The red pupil flared.

An arrow shot out, lodging in Yushiro’s abdomen and pinning him against Tanjiro.

"You...!" Yushiro was stunned.

But this was only the beginning!

The balls of flesh sprouted from the earth one after another, spreading like a plague until they covered the ground completely.

They lit up with a fluorescent glow, developed limbs, opened...

They opened their eyes!

Tens of thousands of pupils fixed on Yushiro, who swallowed hard.

"I..."

Yushiro started spinning around like a top!

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Throw your stones, drop them ALL! 💎

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