Chapter 266: Nakime’s Betrayal

A violent roar was approaching from the distance, resounding without cease.

Rows of sliding doors were being smashed apart, sending splinters flying through the air.

Turned into a beast, Muzan tore through the last barrier before bursting onto the central platform.

And he stopped short.

A few yards away, Marcus stood calmly, the Butterfly Sword in his hand pressed firmly against Nakime’s carotid artery.

"Hold it right there, Muzan. Don’t take another step."

The blade pressed into her skin, showing a red line.

A fraction of an inch more and it would sever the artery.

Muzan’s chest began to heave violently.

His gaze darted back and forth between Marcus and Nakime, overflowing with intense killing intent.

He wanted to lunge at this very instant and tear him to pieces, but he forced himself to endure it.

He couldn’t move.

If Nakime died, the Infinity Castle would collapse... He couldn’t take that risk!

"M-Marcus..."

Muzan spoke with a tremor that betrayed how much he was holding back. "Lower the sword and let’s talk."

Marcus arched an eyebrow.

Instead of easing the blade off, he pressed it a little harder, drawing blood.

Nakime didn’t utter a single word.

"Talk?" Marcus laughed mockingly. "Didn’t you want to tear me apart a moment ago?"

"I can take another step back." Muzan gritted his teeth, the veins on his forehead about to burst.

Never had he suffered such humiliation.

"Let’s take Kyoto as the border. The south will be mine and the north yours. From now on, your race of Vampires and my Demons won’t interfere with each other."

!

Hearing this, Marcus sneered coldly to himself.

’Divide the territory and rule? Does this coward of over a thousand years take me for a fool?’

If he actually accepted, the first thing this bastard would do upon returning would be to raise troops without restraint and massacre the north the moment Marcus’s guard slipped.

A control freak who had to oversee the life and death of every demon he created—would he tolerate anyone sharing the world with him?

Besides, he knew Muzan far too well; leaving him alive would only mean having to sleep with one eye open every night.

Marcus idly turned the sword’s hilt.

"If I don’t die, could you sleep soundly? Or do you think that if you don’t die, I’ll be able to sleep soundly?" He leaned slightly forward, looking down at him. "So let’s cut the nonsense between us."

Muzan’s features contorted.

He had already bowed his head and made the greatest of concessions, and this brat wouldn’t even accept!

"Then what the hell do you want?!"

Marcus shrugged.

"Nothing in particular—just buying some time."

Swish

The moment he finished speaking, a sharp whistle tore through the air in the distance.

A long sword of purplish-pink rose toward the sky, tracing a brilliant flash that flew toward Marcus.

He raised his hand and caught it.

"Good work."

Amid a thick white mist that rose up, Makomo’s figure became visible. She nestled at his side, turned her head, and set her gaze on the woman beside them.

She looked her up and down.

"Is she Nakime?"

Marcus nodded with a smile. Then he fixed his gaze on Muzan.

"I was waiting for my wife—what are you waiting for?"

Boom!

Two figures surged from the ruins simultaneously.

Kokushibo held his now-repaired demonic sword, landing to Muzan’s left. His eyes immediately locked onto Marcus and Nakime, assessing the situation: the castle’s controller was captive and his lord couldn’t act freely.

As long as he could sever Marcus’s arm, he could break the deadlock.

The aura of Moon Breathing condensed subtly along his blade.

To the right, Douma swept his fans, bringing with him a gust of icy air as he landed with ease.

The three most powerful demons surrounded him in a triangular formation.

Marcus regarded the lineup and, far from panicking, laughed.

"So you were buying time for reinforcements to arrive too."

Then he pulled the blade away from Nakime’s neck and sheathed it.

"Unfortunately, I wasn’t planning on fighting you either."

Nakime, who had stayed silent, plucked a string of her biwa.

TWANG!

With that note, the platform beneath Marcus, Makomo, and Nakime’s feet tore free from the floor.

Defying gravity, the structure shot upward at a brutal speed.

!

Muzan jerked his head up.

Panic overwhelmed him completely.

"NAKIME! STOP!!!"

His whips hurled themselves frantically into the air to try to drag the platform back, but the distance was already too great.

Nakime didn’t even glance at the enraged Demon King. She merely tilted her head slightly, gazing longingly at the door thrown wide open high above.

Beyond the opening stretched the night sky and the stars.

The outside world she hadn’t seen in centuries.

The cold wind slipped through Marcus’s clothes as they ascended; looking down, Muzan resembled a toad trapped at the bottom of a well.

His whips drove furiously into the walls, seeking purchase to launch himself upward.

Yet the moment he gained a few yards, the structure of the Infinity Castle would shift and cut off his path.

Nakime had altered the space on purpose, layering floors like barriers.

"YOU’RE A TRAITOR, NAKIME!!"

Looking at the deranged, hysterical Muzan, Marcus smiled mockingly.

"Enjoy what’s left of your life down there, Muzan."

His face purple with sheer rage, Muzan leaped frantically in vain; the speed of the ascent exceeded his limits.

"You think you can trap me here?! Marcus, you’re far too naive!!"

Marcus narrowed his eyes.

But before he could process his words, the surroundings changed.

The wooden pavilions vanished.

In their place came the salty breeze, the sand beneath his feet, and a clear night sky where the waves broke against the rocks.

The coast... the southernmost tip of the country.

He inhaled deeply.

Leaving behind the suffocating atmosphere of the Infinity Castle made even breathing feel different.

He turned his head toward Nakime to ask what Muzan had meant by those last words, but Makomo tugged hard on his sleeve.

"Marcus, look."

A few yards above the beach, space warped violently.

An enormous sliding door emerged from nowhere over the sand and slammed open.

Amid the sand spilling inside, the stench of blood and the roars of demons burst onto the coast.

At once, dozens of dark figures poured out from the door in a chain. And at the front of them all was Muzan!

Marcus whipped his head toward the woman with the biwa.

"Nakime, are you messing with me?!"

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