Chapter 255: Armies
"Master, the report with the information from the last three days is ready."
Inside the bedroom, Marcus sat at the desk, holding a black pen while he frowned. He gestured to Pearl, who stepped forward and set the folder on the table.
And just as she was about to step back, Marcus gently took her by the waist.
Noticing the exhaustion on Pearl’s face, he felt a pang of pity.
"Contacting informants, analyzing data, and handling the promotion... having you do all of this must be exhausting." He pinched her cheek affectionately. "Thank you for working so hard these past few days."
Hearing those sweet words, Pearl’s eyes filled with tears and her fatigue vanished in an instant.
She held Marcus’s face and shook her head.
"It’s not hard, and I’m not tired! I watched this place grow and I want it to get better. With the letters and the visits, the informants spread Yoshiwara’s reputation. Every traveling merchant will become a promoter. Soon this place will be packed."
Marcus squeezed her nose. "You’re the smartest one~ Combining the promotion with intelligence-gathering deserves a big reward..."
"Hehe~... Master, don’t flatter me so much or I’ll get a big head."
"You’ve earned it." Marcus chuckled softly and pulled her into his lap.
Feeling his arousal, Pearl’s face flushed.
But it was then that she noticed the Kasugai crow on the windowsill, its back to them as it flicked its tail angrily.
"Did news come from the Demon Slayer Corps?"
Marcus toyed with the feather he’d just plucked from the crow’s tail. "Ask him."
The crow replied coldly, "I won’t say it a second time!"
Pearl knew this crow’s quirks perfectly well and, without a word, seized its tail feathers without mercy.
"Spit it out."
"Let go of me!" the bird shrieked, terrified. "The Master only said: Muzan is desperate!"
Hearing this, Pearl tightened her grip and yanked out another feather.
Now, master and servant each held a feather in absolute silence.
The crow, screaming insults, took the chance to flee.
Marcus tossed the feather aside and embraced Pearl, inhaling her intense scent. "How many more people have disappeared?"
"T-Three villages and a township in the last three days; nearly three thousand people."
"So in three months that’s thirteen villages and four townships... nearly twenty thousand people."
"If we count the isolated hamlets, the number tops twenty thousand," Pearl nodded. "Muzan’s abductions are concentrated along the southern border."
Marcus sighed. "Twenty thousand people... That coward wants to build an army. No wonder Kagaya said he was desperate."
"The Demon Slayer Corps must be just as overwhelmed, right?"
"Of course, or Kagaya wouldn’t have sent the crow."
Marcus’s expression turned grim.
What worried him wasn’t just the number.
In the final arc of the series, Muzan had already created an army before dragging the hunters into Infinity Castle.
That time, the place was infested with demons whose physical level was equivalent to a Lower Rank, far above the common spawn Muzan usually left to fend for themselves.
Otherwise, with the physique of a Lower Rank, they would have slaughtered the ordinary hunters long ago. The difference was that these demons—whether because they were force-created, or from a lack of time or potential—had no Blood Demon Arts.
They went from nothing to super soldiers: annoying, but manageable.
What really worried Marcus was the scale.
He opened the report Pearl had brought.
In the first month, two villages and a township disappeared; in the second, four villages and two townships.
This past month, the number skyrocketed.
If left unchecked, in two months Muzan could devour twenty thousand people in a single day!
And since Marcus planned to take control of Japan, what good would it do to rule a nation inhabited only by demons?
Muzan was indeed cornered, and therefore anxious.
He didn’t care about wiping out humanity; sunk in paranoia, he only sought to fatten his army.
At this rate, he’d sweep the whole world clean.
"Looks like it’s time to set the plan in motion."
"Plan?" Pearl looked at him with shining eyes.
Marcus smiled. "The plan to attack the nest."
Turning her around and setting her astride him, Marcus stood up. "But don’t you worry about that—take care of the intelligence network and find someone capable to run it."
He headed to the bed with her in his arms.
"Mmh... I’ll do whatever Master orders~"
"Time to rest. Tonight it’s just you and me."
...
The next morning, Marcus got up early. After washing up with Ivy’s help, he stepped out onto the balcony.
In the back courtyard, a group of girls trained amid shouts of effort, swinging wooden swords under Urokodaki’s supervision.
Enjoying the view, Marcus felt a surge of satisfaction.
Muzan was adding troops, but he wasn’t falling behind either.
Obviously he didn’t intend for these girls to become elite Demon Slayers or to master a Breathing Technique.
He only sought to push their capabilities to the limit.
Checking the system notifications, the bonus from the Second Level of Total Concentration: Constant exceeded a staggering twenty-six hundred points.
Power was growing in his body uncontrollably.
Total Concentration: Constant improved the user’s physique without interruption.
At first he didn’t pay it any mind, because his strength was already growing fast, and the women of Yoshiwara—being so old and their growth already stagnant—couldn’t activate the second level of the system’s rewards.
But when these women with martial arts training entered the mansion, one of them managed it.
That’s when he understood the trick: right now, aside from Transparent World, he had few opportunities for short-term improvement. Training these girls with potential would activate the system’s reward, granting him a massive boost in strength without lifting a finger.
And the facts proved him right.
After three months, nearly all of them had activated the second level, sending their breathing efficiency soaring.
Right now, the boost a single day of Total Concentration gave him was equivalent to a full month’s progress for any other Hashira.
He did the math quickly: in these three months he’d gained the equivalent of five years of uninterrupted training.
The improvement in his stamina and strength was honestly absurd.
"Muzan..."
He gazed at the bluish liquid in the palm of his hand and snorted.
"I wonder if you’ll be able to stop me when I inject this into Nakime... or when I give you another bite!"
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