"Let the experiment begin!"
With that declaration, Marcus plunged the syringe into the demon's body and injected the liquid.
Immediately, the little one began convulsing violently for a few seconds. But he soon stopped reacting and went still again.
The demon looked at his hands and feet, terrified, not feeling any change.
Then Tamayo gave Marcus a solemn nod.
Everyone's eyes locked onto that demon.
Marcus, Nezuko, Ivy, Pearl, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke. Even Yushiro, holed up in the guard post, was peering tensely through the window.
Lifting the cage with the Arrows, Marcus took a deep breath and began walking slowly toward the sunlight.
He stepped out from under the eaves and into the courtyard. And, in an instant, the sun fell squarely on the demon.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH—!!"
The demon's skin began to smoke, char, and blister. No different from any other demon exposed to the sun.
Tanjiro immediately covered Nezuko's eyes. Zenitsu clenched his teeth. Inosuke adjusted his mask with two taps.
Ivy and Pearl held each other tightly.
Tamayo frowned deeply.
One second... Two... Three...
The agonized screams continued, but...
Little by little, everyone began to notice something.
Because even though the demon was still screaming, and even though his skin kept blistering under the sun... he wasn't disintegrating.
As his body burned, it was also regenerating. The speed was very slow, but it was indeed regenerating.
Five seconds... Ten... Fifteen...
The screams gradually died down, and the festering sores began to close up completely.
The demon lowered his gaze to his own hands.
The sunlight fell upon them. His bluish skin had taken on a slightly reddish tone... But it was no longer burning.
He raised his head.
He looked at the blinding sun in the sky, that sun on the other side of the bars, that sun that had been his death sentence for his entire existence. And he noticed something new.
Warmth... Just warmth.
"... I-I can see the sun..." His eyes flooded with immense gratitude. "I survived!"
"IT WORKED!!" Zenitsu was the first to react. "DID IT ACTUALLY WORK!?"
Tanjiro's eyes welled up as he tightly hugged Nezuko, whose little mouth hung open in surprise.
Inosuke took off his mask, revealing a completely dumbfounded expression.
Ivy and Pearl, still embracing, were crying through their laughter.
In the guard post, Yushiro's legs gave out and he collapsed straight into his chair.
Marcus turned to look at Tamayo.
She was already looking at him.
A faint smile formed on her lips as her eyes turned red. "It worked..."
Marcus stepped closer and pulled her against his chest in relief.
"Yeah..." he murmured into her hair. "It worked."
Riding the momentum of their success, Tamayo immediately coordinated the trio to bring up the last demon remaining in the basement.
This time, however, the experiment included an additional step. Which consisted of first injecting the demon with the "Resignation Letter".
Once his constitution had been transformed until it was equivalent to that of Nezuko, Ivy, and Pearl, they repeated the previous steps to the letter.
Injection. Sun exposure.
The same screams...
The same burning...
And the same... healing.
The fifth subject was also a success.
Which proved two things at once! One: the medicine was effective. And two: it also worked on the girls.
This time, the cheers were even louder.
...
That same night, a small celebration was held.
Glasses clinked amid laughter and conversation. The inner courtyard glowed beneath the lit lamps, and for once, no one seemed to be carrying the weight of anything.
Only Marcus remained seated in a corner, silently taking it all in.
Three years had passed since he arrived in this world. And finally... he had finally taken a giant step toward that utopia he'd been dreaming of from the very beginning.
Demons would no longer have to fear the sun.
And he could finally... carry out his glorious evolution.
"Are you happy?"
Tamayo approached him with a glass in hand.
A small smile appeared on Marcus's face, and he raised his own in response.
"Of course."
Tamayo returned the smile with a calm sweetness. "I'm so very glad."
Marcus turned his head and looked over at Yushiro, who, unusually, had agreed to share the same space with him that night.
"Yushiro! Are you happy?!"
Hearing Marcus's voice, he was bewildered at first, then walked over to the table, poured himself a full glass of red wine, raised the glass toward Marcus, and downed it in one gulp, without uttering a single word.
He didn't want to talk to Marcus, but that didn't mean he wasn't grateful to him.
He knew very well that if it weren't for Marcus, he and Tamayo would never have had the chance to stand under the sun in their entire lives.
That glass was his way of saying thank you.
"Hahaha!"
Marcus laughed heartily, completely unfazed by the other's distant attitude. Or rather, at this exact moment, even if Muzan himself walked right past him, he would greet him with a beaming smile.
Once the celebration was over, everyone retired to their rooms.
Marcus took Tamayo by the hand and led her, without a word, toward the back courtyard.
Under the moonlight, the two sat down side by side.
And after a long silence, Marcus spoke.
"Stop the experiments to turn demons back into humans."
"... What?"
Looking her straight in the eyes, Marcus repeated once more, with the same calm. "I said stop the reversion experiment."
Tamayo frowned, deep incomprehension showing in her gaze.
"...Why? You know that now that the sunlight experiment was a success, the next step is—"
"Is turning demons back into humans," Marcus interrupted her, without raising his voice. "Right?"
Tamayo nodded.
"That is my ultimate goal. For demons to become fully human again. For Muzan's victims to be able to reclaim their lives and walk under the sun once more as people. That is the dream I've been chasing for hundreds of years."
Marcus remained silent.
The moonlight lit his face from behind, making it impossible to clearly see the expression he wore.
It took him a good while to speak.
"Demons can now live under the sunlight too, can't they?"
Tamayo was dumbfounded.
"It's not the same! A demon is still a demon at the end of the day!"
"Oh, really?" Marcus turned his head to look at her. "Then tell me. What exactly is the difference between a demon and a human?"
Tamayo frowned hard. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
"I mean that demons have to eat humans, but you don't anymore. Demons fear the sunlight, but you don't anymore. Demons are subject to Muzan's control, but you no longer are. Haven't we, at this point, eliminated every single one of the drawbacks that came with the demonic condition?"
"That's..." Tamayo was left speechless.
"With the disadvantages eliminated," Marcus continued, serene, "the only thing left is something entirely different. Advantages. Demons enjoy flawless health—they suffer no illnesses or ailments. Demons are powerful, with combat capabilities no human can match. Demons don't die. They enjoy a practically eternal lifespan. All of these are advantages that a normal human being will never, ever be able to attain."
"M-Marcus..." Completely bewildered, Tamayo clung to his arm with both hands. "Why all of a sudden...?"
"It's not sudden, Tamayo. I've been thinking about this for a long time... A very long time." Taking her hands gently, he looked at her with absolute seriousness. "Tamayo, I want... to become a demon."
!!!
Tamayo's face changed completely, and she shot to her feet in one abrupt motion.
"Y-You... What did you just say?!"
__________
Throw your stones, drop them ALL! 💎
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