"Tie him up…?"
Makomo raised an eyebrow.
Marcus nodded. "Tie him up."
"Are you thinking about... stealing this dream ability of his?"
"No." Marcus shook his head as the world around them began to crumble. "For now, I can't steal it from him."
"Then..."
"Whether I can steal it or not, it's too useful of an ability, better to hang on to it and figure out what to do with him later."
Makomo wanted to say something more, but the words died in her throat when she saw that Marcus had made a Nichirin Sword appear out of thin air, and the blade was already pressed against his own neck.
"M-Marcus... WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
"Getting out."
"W-Wai—"
Swish
There was no time. The sword sliced through flesh with a clean whistle.
Marcus's head went flying and blood sprayed from his neck like a crimson geyser, bathing the world.
Frozen in place, Makomo watched the decapitated body still standing upright. She saw the head spinning through the air and the red rain that stained everything. And then... the color fled from the world.
Everything went black.
…
Inside the train car, a violent gasp rang out.
Marcus's eyes snapped open and he grabbed his neck.
THAT REALLY FUCKING HURT!
The sensation had been so absurdly real that he could still feel the cold of the steel splitting his flesh.
But he didn't get a single second to recover. The Makomo sword, which was resting on his chest, suddenly sprang up like it was loaded on a spring.
Pof!
The hilt slammed him with a sharp blow right in the middle of his forehead. Caught off guard, he fell on his ass back onto the train seat.
The sword hovered in front of him, vibrating with a contained fury that made the blade rattle violently.
'YOU IDIOT! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO WATCH YOU DO THAT!?'
Marcus just sat there, one hand on his neck and the other on his forehead, not really sure which of the two pains to deal with first.
With an embarrassed laugh and feeling like the clumsiest guy in the world, he reached out his hand to gently stroke the sword's hilt, trying to calm her down.
'My bad, my bad... I swear next time I'll be more careful.'
'THERE WON'T BE A NEXT TIME!'
'Yeah, you're right, there won't be a next time, I promise…'
The sword trembled a little more under his touch, but the gleam of fury seemed to soften into a mental whisper.
'Dummy…'
Letting out a small chuckle, Marcus tied the sword back at his waist.
Only then, with his feet on the ground and his neck still aching, did he take a moment to look around at what was happening.
The walls of the train car were completely upholstered with a thick layer of fleshy, dark pink membrane that pulsed.
Marcus's mouth twisted.
This was a hell of a lot more disgusting than he remembered.
But the important thing was… 'Where the hell are my bodyguards!? How are they gonna leave me alone in this nest of guts?!'
Swish
Right as he finished griping, a blast of fire shot down the aisle from end to end. In its wake, the tentacles and protrusions that were starting to sprout from the walls were instantly turned to ashes.
The fire shot past Marcus and suddenly stopped.
Rengoku's beaming face peeked out from within the flames. "You're awake!"
Marcus was about to complain, but Rengoku had already transformed back into a blazing whirlwind, disappearing at the far end of the car.
"..."
Two seconds later, the fire materialized in front of him again, and Rengoku's face popped up once more.
"Sorry, I'm a little busy!"
And before Marcus could even say "hi," he was gone again.
"Doesn't matter..." Shaking his head, Marcus decided to see for himself how things were going.
But the moment he stood up, the line of fire reappeared at his side.
"The train is made up of eight cars!" Rengoku spoke at full speed. "I'll handle the last five! The boar-headed kid and the yellow kid are taking care of the first three! Marcus, if you're not busy, go help young Kamado!"
With that said, he vanished once again.
Marcus stayed still, completely alone in the empty car, staring at the spot where a flaming Pillar had been a second ago. "...All right."
He didn't waste any more time.
Gripping the hilt of his sword with both hands, he crouched down slightly.
Swish!
With a brutal leap, he tore through the roof of the car and landed on top of the train.
The night wind howled furiously around him, carrying a metallic smell of rust and that fetid stench of demon blood he already knew all too well.
Standing on the roof, with the train roaring at full speed beneath his feet, he fixed his eyes ahead.
At the front of the train.
Just a second ago, Tanjiro, holding his sword, had been swaying like he was about to pass out. But the next instant, he snapped awake with a shout and unleashed a furious slash on the enormous monster in front of him.
The "monster" was an abomination roughly five meters tall. It looked like a mass of viscous slime completely covered in human eyes.
It had a reddish-purple color and a soft texture that piled up on top of the train car, with countless pupils tracking Tanjiro's every movement without blinking.
Every time those eyes shut in a synchronized blink, Tanjiro's body wobbled.
That deformed mass was precisely Lower Moon One: Enmu, now fully fused with the train.
Marcus narrowed his eyes.
Before falling asleep, he'd made sure to warn them that Enmu's ability consisted of dragging people into his fantasies, and that the only way to escape was by killing yourself inside the dream.
Obviously, Tanjiro remembered.
But knowing the trick didn't make the fight any easier.
On one hand they were dragging him into the dream, on the other he had to slit his own throat to wake up, and on top of all that, he had to try to fight a regenerating monster.
Fighting like that, he knew Tanjiro would be lucky if he could even use thirty percent of his real capacity.
In the distance, Enmu also detected him.
"YOU!"
His shout was a screech of pure hatred that made the whole train shake. "YOU SABOTAGED MY ENTIRE PLAN! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Crack
Along with his roar, the roof of the car under Marcus's feet split open with a snap.
Countless tentacles of pink flesh shot out from the cracks, lunging at him from every direction like hungry serpents.
"Senpai!!"
With Tanjiro's shout, the tentacles slammed into each other brutally.
Bam!
There came the sound of intense muscular compression. The tentacles tangled and squeezed against each other, twisting until they formed a gigantic, compact ball of flesh.
Enmu was already licking his lips with victory, but suddenly, all of his eyes opened wide.
…Empty. The guy wasn't there.
"You looking for me?"
The eyeballs on the back of Enmu's body spun frantically and snapped open.
Only then did he see that Marcus was standing barely a meter behind him, while on his neck and wrists, a faint blue light flowed over his skin like electricity.