Chapter 222: Two Fronts
Sanemi turned around slowly.
Revealing a pair of fierce red eyes.
"What did you say?"
Genya kept his neck straight, his gaze on the verge of tears, but he didn’t back down.
"I said you can’t beat Demon Hashira-sama."
Sanemi’s mouth twitched.
Then he started walking back, the floor rumbling with every step.
Genya didn’t retreat.
"Ha! Fine!!" Sanemi stopped in front of him and shot him a piercing glare.
"I didn’t know that demon-eater Marcus had admirers... Much less that one of them would be my own brother."
Genya replied, "What’s wrong with that? As long as it kills demons, it’s a good thing!"
"A good thing!?"
Sanemi’s patience ran out and his voice turned deadly serious.
"Tell me, eating demons until you turn into one yourself—that counts as a good thing?!"
Genya froze. "W-What... did you say?"
Realizing his slip, Sanemi turned his face away and clicked his tongue.
He spun around to leave.
"Aniki!" Genya ran after him and grabbed his arm. "What you just said about the Demon Hash—"
Swish
Before he could finish, a flash of green light materialized.
Blood welled up on the back of Genya’s hand from a clean cut.
He cried out in pain and let go of the arm on instinct.
Sanemi didn’t even look back as he kept walking.
"That’s the last time I’m warning you. Leave the Corps and live a normal life."
"Otherwise, next time I’ll cut off your arm so you can never hold a sword again."
Genya clutched the wound, staring at his brother’s retreating figure.
"Cut it off if you want!"
He gritted his teeth, his voice shaking. "Even if you cut off all my limbs, I’ll crawl to eat demons! I’ll heal, and I’ll go right back to killing them!"
Sanemi’s footsteps came to a halt, and his tone turned even colder.
"Then I’ll cut off your head."
With that, he turned the corner of the hallway and disappeared.
Genya stood motionless as the tears finally fell.
On the other side of the wall, Sanemi pressed a hand over his heart, his face full of pain and guilt.
This was their third encounter since he’d learned his little brother had joined the Corps. And yet his wish—to make him give up—still hadn’t come true.
Why did he have to be so damn stubborn...?
And right beside the hallway where the two of them had been arguing, Tokito was resting against the table, chin propped on one hand, holding a cup in the other.
He blinked, no emotion showing in his eyes.
"It’s really noisy today."
Meanwhile, in the Infinity Castle, Muzan watched Gyokko from his high-backed chair, the demon sprawled on the floor.
"Are you certain Marcus went to the Swordsmith Village?"
Gyokko rubbed his hands together uneasily.
"Yes, Muzan-sama."
Muzan nodded and turned to Douma.
"Where are your people? Why haven’t they reported in?"
Douma kept his carefree smile, though he made an apologetic gesture.
"I don’t know either, Muzan-sama... The cult members haven’t reported anything to me about him leaving Asakusa."
Off to the side, Kokushibo spoke up in Douma’s defense.
"With his speed, so long as he wills it, no human could ever see him."
Hantengu curled up on the floor. "M-Muzan-sama, if Marcus went to the Swordsmith Village too, should we... still launch the surprise attack?"
"I-I feel... like it’s terrifying..."
"Useless."
Hantengu’s body seized up violently before he collapsed to the floor, convulsing.
No one spared him a glance.
Muzan narrowed his eyes, staring off into empty space.
"Has it occurred to any of you that, if he left...," he murmured slowly, "...his lair isn’t empty?"
Douma’s eyes lit up.
"You mean we should go to Asakusa?" He spread his fan wide open, hiding an enormous smile. "Wonderful. It’s been two months, and I haven’t stopped thinking about my little butterfly~"
"I’m afraid that won’t work."
Kokushibo’s voice fell over all of them like a bucket of cold water.
"Muzan-sama, do not forget how he suddenly appeared in front of Douma that time."
"If that teleportation is his Blood Demon Art, he could return the very instant his lair is attacked."
Douma’s smile faded.
Muzan glanced sidelong at Kokushibo.
"How could I forget?"
He looked away, and the corner of his mouth curled slowly. "Which is why the plan doesn’t change."
"The Swordsmith Village will be attacked regardless."
"But we’ll go to Asakusa as well."
Gyokko lifted his head, his hands going still.
"You mean... split into two fronts?"
Muzan rose to his feet.
"Gyokko, Hantengu. You two will go to the Swordsmith Village and begin the attack."
Gyokko’s body shuddered. Hantengu, still convulsing, trembled even harder at the sound of his name.
Muzan continued without looking at them.
"Douma, Kokushibo. You two will go to Asakusa."
Douma snapped his fan shut and bowed slightly.
"Once the fighting starts in the village, you’ll infiltrate Asakusa and capture the vampires."
A faint, imperceptible emotion colored Muzan’s voice. "He is only one man. Even if he can teleport, he can only be in one place. The craftsmen and the Hashira of the Swordsmith Village, or the vampires of Asakusa—whichever side he goes to save, the other side will have to die."
For Douma and Kokushibo, the assignment posed no problem. All they had to do was capture someone without facing Marcus head-on.
Gyokko and Hantengu, however, were stunned.
"M-Muzan-sama...." Gyokko spoke with a slight tremor. "In the Swordsmith Village, counting Marcus, there are... five Hashira."
Send the two of them up against five Hashira—Marcus among them?
Muzan’s gaze turned chilling. "Are you afraid?"
"N-No... we..." Gyokko’s voice trailed off little by little. "We’re only worried about ruining your plan, Muzan-sama."
Muzan could tell whether they were afraid or not. But now wasn’t the time to address it. The purge would wait until the vampire race had been devoured.
"Don’t worry. You won’t need to face all of them." Muzan walked slowly toward Gyokko, looking down at him from above. "When you attack, I will go as well."
"The two of you only need to hold Marcus off."
"Once I’ve killed the other four Hashira, I’ll come back to help you."
Gyokko’s hands clenched all at once, then relaxed.
"Understood, Muzan-sama."
Hantengu, sprawled on the floor, accepted between whimpers.
"Muzan-sama..." Gyokko remembered one more detail. "If Marcus doesn’t fight us and returns to Asakusa instead, what do we do?"
Muzan smiled.
"What do we do?" He turned around, putting his back to them. "In that case, we massacre the Swordsmith Village."
"And while we’re at it... we’ll brand him a coward who fled."
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