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Chapter 188: The Plan to Squeeze Suyan Dry Was Formulated by Lady Takagi
Greed Island.
After tricking Makomo into giving her answers—actually, it shouldn't be called tricking, because Makomo had absolutely no intention of hiding anything and answered almost every question she was asked directly—Tamayo easily extracted a few critical pieces of information.
First, the place she was currently in was no longer the original world that Suyan referred to as the Demon Slayer world. Everything within sight belonged to a small pocket dimension owned by Suyan, known as Greed Island.
Second, she had indeed been killed by Muzan. Her current state was identical to Makomo's. According to Makomo, only while inside Greed Island could they use the world's power to manifest physical bodies that could be seen by others. If they left Greed Island, they would require the Conjuration Type Nen provided by Suyan and the other Nen users to maintain the form they had here. Moreover, if they strayed too far from Suyan and exhausted the aura sustaining their bodies, they would experience exactly what she did when she first opened her eyes—bafflingly respawning back inside Greed Island. This was a phenomenon exclusive to the deceased like her and Makomo.
Finally, there was the method of leaving Greed Island to return to their original world. Within Greed Island, there were portals known as Dimensional Gates that connected to other worlds. By passing through those doors, one could travel to different universes. Currently, besides connecting to their former world, Greed Island also connected to another world, which supposedly belonged to Marikawa Shizuka and the others. However, within Greed Island, only Suyan and his contracted partners had the ability and authority to open the Dimensional Gates. No one else could.
But for Tamayo, it truly made no difference whether she was in Greed Island or the Demon Slayer world. The only motivation that had kept her alive in the past was seeking revenge against Muzan. As long as that goal could be achieved, even life and death didn't matter to her. Other things mattered even less.
The only thing Tamayo couldn't figure out was why her soul hadn't gone to Heaven or Hell after she died, but had instead been absorbed into Suyan's Greed Island.
Could it be? A hypothesis suddenly formed in Tamayo's mind.
Over a month ago, on the night she first met Suyan, she had witnessed him effortlessly defeat the Upper Rank 4, Hantengu, and subsequently struck a deal with him. At the time, her mind was solely focused on the hopeful prospect of killing Muzan and getting her revenge in the future. She had only focused on the trade conditions and hadn't paid much attention to the parchment containing them.
Thinking back on it now, after reaching an agreement with Suyan, a sphere of light had flown out from her body and merged into him. Perhaps the seed was planted right then?
Tamayo couldn't help but shake her head, inwardly marveling at how overwhelmingly domineering his power was. Just because she breached the contract by failing to meet the trade conditions, he had literally snatched her soul away from the clutches of Heaven and Hell the moment she died. She even had a strong intuition that no matter how many times she tried to end her own life within Greed Island, she would never get the chance to reincarnate in Heaven or Hell. She would simply reappear in Greed Island, just like before. She was essentially bound to Greed Island, acting like an Earth-bound Spirit.
Of course, it wasn't completely devoid of benefits. At the very least, when Suyan returned to Greed Island, she could ask him the question she cared about the most: Is Muzan dead?
It was just slightly awkward. She didn't know what kind of mood she should have when facing Suyan upon his return. Originally, she had been prepared to spend her next life serving him as a beast of burden to make up for choosing to mutually destruct with Muzan. But look how things turned out. She didn't even need to wait for her next life. She could serve him as a beast of burden right now...
While Tamayo was contemplating her next move, a thunderous boom echoed from the distance. She looked up toward the source of the sound and was shocked to see a massive Edo-style wooden structure erupting from the ground on the distant plains.
"What is that?"
Astonished by the suddenly appearing building, Tamayo hurriedly turned to Makomo to ask, "Miss Makomo..."
Only then did she realize Makomo's eyes were slightly closed, her breathing long and even, and her head was nodding forward, looking as if she could tip over at any second. Unbeknownst to her, Makomo had already fallen fast asleep.
Hoo Hoo
As the distant architecture quietly finished forming, the only sound reaching Tamayo's ears was the rhythmic breathing coming from Makomo's nose as she slept. Seeing the exquisite, angelic sleeping face of the girl before her, Tamayo couldn't bear to wake her up.
Makomo had been in Greed Island much longer than she had. Perhaps something like this was already a common occurrence for this little angel. After all, if a pocket dimension like Greed Island could exist, what was so strange about a building suddenly popping up?
With this thought, Tamayo reached out and pulled Makomo into her arms, letting the girl lean against her body. She then slowly sat down, resting her back against the large boulder Makomo had just been using as a makeshift bed. She carefully adjusted her angle so Makomo could sleep peacefully.
Tamayo gently stroked Makomo's short black hair. In this moment, Tamayo—who should have lost all purpose in existence after taking her revenge on Muzan—looked at the angelic girl and a soft smile graced her face. She couldn't help but feel that perhaps, this wasn't so bad after all.
Meanwhile, in the Infinity Castle.
The moment Tamayo saw the building rise in Greed Island, Suyan felt it too. A violent tremor shuddered through the Infinity Castle beneath his feet. Indeed, the building that had risen in Greed Island was the Blood Demon Art he had acquired after finalizing the trade with Nakime.
He had initially worried that after acquiring this Blood Demon Art, the Infinity Castle would be tethered to the Demon Slayer world due to its inherent nature, preventing him from using it properly in other universes. He never expected this Blood Demon Art to manifest in such a way, directly embedding the entire Infinity Castle into his Greed Island.
Because of this, no matter what world he traveled to in the future, he could rely on Greed Island to freely use the newly acquired Infinity Castle. However, although the Infinity Castle had become a structure within Greed Island, it was different from normal buildings. Its architectural nature leaned more towards a prison.
Aside from the portals generated on the floor or walls when manipulating the Infinity Castle to enter and exit, the structure itself lacked any physical doors or windows. Or rather, it was in a completely sealed state. For an ordinary person, it was impossible to use as a normal living space. It was more accurate to say that no one would willingly live in a house where not a single ray of light could pierce through from the outside.
This was easy enough to understand. After all, the Infinity Castle was created specifically for demons like Muzan who couldn't stand the sun. Similarly, even though Suyan could use the Infinity Castle as a prison to lock people inside in the future, strictly speaking, the Infinity Castle was attached to Greed Island. People inside couldn't use it to access Greed Island itself. Greed Island's exclusivity remained unchanged.
Suyan turned his head to glance at Nakime, who had become somewhat timid and submissive after being stripped of her Blood Demon Art. She was huddled in the corner, acting like a frail, bullied woman. However, Suyan knew this was mostly a facade meant to deceive him. Nakime was no pushover.
When Nakime was human, she was a biwa player who made a living performing. There was a reason she had been turned into a demon by Muzan. Just like Tsuyuri Kanao, who was abused and sold by her parents, or Inosuke's mother, Kotoha, who fled after nearly being beaten to death by her abusive husband, Nakime also had a gambling-addicted, abusive husband.
It was just that Nakime's resistance was far more violent than the others. Once, after her husband pawned the dress she wore for her biwa performances to fund his gambling, Nakime snapped. She bludgeoned her husband to death with a hammer. However, after killing her husband, Nakime didn't go on to live a normal, happy life. Instead, she went from a pitiable victim to a hateful monster.
She developed an outright addiction to murder, needing to kill someone before every performance. The reason she was turned into a demon was simply because, before one of her performances, she had locked onto Muzan and targeted him as her next victim. Instead of being killed in retaliation, Muzan took a liking to her and turned her into a demon.
At this moment, the hair on Nakime's forehead had fallen back over her single eye, adding a touch of frailty to her aura. She looked up at Suyan and asked, "Can I leave now?"
"I will let you leave, but not right now. Until then, you'll stay right here," Suyan replied flatly.
Because he knew Nakime's past and exactly what kind of person she was, he naturally couldn't just let her go. He would at least wait until Marikawa Shizuka replicated a batch of the Humanizing Drug to turn her back into a human, or find a way to recycle her. By adding zombies to the demons' diet, he could send her and the other demons to the Highschool of the Dead world to strengthen themselves by consuming zombies, potentially providing him with new Blood Demon Arts that never appeared in the original story, much like Kaigaku.
Regardless of the scenario, he wouldn't let her leave easily. Releasing a demon with an intense urge to kill was undeniably irresponsible. In fact, if Suyan ever ran into Kaigaku again, he'd seriously consider doing the exact same thing to him.
After speaking, Suyan used his Conjuration Type ability to materialize a biwa identical to Nakime's.
Twang!
He plucked the strings. Instantly, a portal manifested in front of him. Suyan stepped right through it, returning to the Butterfly Mansion.
Watching Suyan's retreating back and the open portal, Nakime reached out, trying to make him stay. But it was useless. She could only watch his back disappear as he left the Infinity Castle.
She originally thought Suyan meant he wanted to use her Blood Demon Art, much like Muzan did. She never imagined he could literally steal it. She sat on her knees in the spot she was most familiar with in the Infinity Castle, yet she no longer felt the intimate, unified connection to the space she once had.
Right now, the Infinity Castle only filled her with unease. She didn't try to run because she knew it was impossible. No one knew the structure of the Infinity Castle better than her. Without her Blood Demon Art to manipulate it, this Infinity Castle had absolutely no exits.
Twang!
Shortly after Suyan left, the sound of a biwa echoed within the Infinity Castle once more.
"Lord Muzan!"
A hint of joy graced Nakime's face. She was about to step forward to welcome him. However, what appeared before her wasn't Suyan, who had just stolen her Blood Demon Art. Instead, it was a series of giant glass tanks. Inside these tanks were Muzan, Lower Rank 1 Enmu, Lower Rank 5 Rui, as well as the other Lower Ranks and various unnamed demons.
"L-Lord Muzan? I knew it!"
Nakime had an epiphany. The moment she realized she couldn't close the portal she controlled, she knew things were looking grim. The invincible Lord Muzan had actually had his escape route cut off; it was highly likely he was going to lose. And now, the appearance of Muzan and the others proved her guess was spot on.
But compared to Muzan and the rest, at least she, despite having lost her Blood Demon Art, was still alive and not trapped inside a glass tank. She still had some degree of freedom.
Back at the Butterfly Mansion.
After tossing Muzan and the others into the Infinity Castle, Suyan's arms were immediately latched onto by Takagi Yuriko and Takagi Saya. He couldn't help but sigh, "I mean, is this really necessary?"
"Of course it's necessary," Yuriko replied with a beaming smile. "We agreed before the battle that we were going to squeeze you dry once it was over. We can't let you run away."
Saya chimed in, "Yeah, exactly."
Although having his arms squeezed by their softness wasn't uncomfortable—in fact, it was almost too comfortable—it made it a bit hard for Suyan to move.
He spoke up again, "There's no need for this. I won't back out of a promise I made, so can you let me go first?"
"Little Suyan!" At this moment, Marikawa Shizuka, having learned about the squeeze-dry plan from her best friend Rika, jumped onto his back. Pressing her entire weight against him, Shizuka brought her luscious red lips close to his ear and cheered, "Let's hurry back to Greed Island! GO GO GO!!"
Great. Now Suyan had even less room to move.
Originally, after dealing with Muzan, he had planned to go find Ubuyashiki Kagaya. But given the current situation, it clearly wasn't the right time. Besides, who was Ubuyashiki Kagaya anyway? How could he be more important than his contracted partners?
Suyan shrugged and conceded helplessly, "Alright, alright, let's head back to Greed Island." He then looked toward Kocho Kanae and Kocho Shinobu in the distance and asked, "Kanae, Shinobu, do you want to come along?"
At this point, he was already drowning in debt; adding more wouldn't make a difference. Aside from the six women from the Highschool of the Dead world present, there were also Mitsuri Kanroji and Nezuko, whom he had sent to Greed Island before the battle began. Adding Shinobu and Kanae wouldn't be a big deal.
To be completely honest, Suyan also wanted to test his limits. Before crossing over to the Demon Slayer world, Saeko and the others frequently teamed up to challenge him. So far, his record was zero losses.
"Come along for what?" Kanae blinked, not quite understanding.
"Ah!!!" Shinobu, on the other hand, knew exactly what was going on since she had just received Yuriko's invitation. She couldn't unhear it even if she wanted to. Gripping Kanae's arm, her face slightly flushed, she said to her sister, "Sister, look at how badly the Butterfly Mansion has been damaged. I think we should stay and clean things up."
"?" Kanae placed an index finger lightly on her chin and replied curiously, "But I'm really curious about what Suyan's talking about. Aren't you curious? Besides, you still haven't been to Greed Island, right?"
"I'm not curious. Not curious at all," Shinobu replied decisively.
"Then how about you stay here by yourself?" Kanae suggested weakly. "It's not like I'd be much help anyway."
In Kanae's eyes, the Butterfly Mansion was indeed full of their memories. But now that it had been completely devastated in the battle against the demons, it had fulfilled its historical purpose. Rather than wasting time rebuilding on these ruins, it would be better to replicate a brand-new Butterfly Mansion inside Greed Island. After all, they would eventually move into Greed Island to live with Suyan, their husband. There was no point in wasting time here.
Shinobu loudly protested, "Absolutely not! In short, Sister, you have to stay with me the entire night. You can't leave my side for even a single step."
She'd have to be crazy to let her sister, Kanae, go off and party while leaving her alone in the ruined Butterfly Mansion. If she suddenly started receiving waves of sensations of that kind of activity through their sensory link later on, how was she supposed to live with herself?
Shinobu tried her best to calm her racing heart, turned her head, and firmly rejected Suyan's invitation, "Mr. Scumbag, I don't care what you all are doing tonight, but in any case, my sister and I are absolutely not joining you."
"Is that so? Then forget it." Since Shinobu wasn't willing, Suyan didn't force the issue. He simply instructed her, "In that case, please inform Ubuyashiki Kagaya later. Tell him that Muzan has been dealt with. There won't be any new demons appearing in this world ever again. So, tell him to send over the ore we agreed upon for forging Nichirin Swords."
He paused, choosing not to elaborate further. Shizuka bore a lot of responsibility for the Butterfly Mansion being wrecked this badly. Among everyone present, the wooden dragon she summoned had caused the most destructive collateral damage.
Suyan thought for a moment and added, "From now on, you and Kanae can live with us in Greed Island."
"What exactly is Greed Island?" Having heard Suyan and the others mention the name Greed Island multiple times, Shinobu finally couldn't help but ask.
"As for Greed Island, I'll let your sister Kanae explain it to you." Suyan didn't answer directly, instead gesturing for her to ask Kanae. Explaining it in detail would be quite tedious, and Shizuka and the other contracted partners were already getting impatient.
"Alright, alright, we're heading back to Greed Island now." Suyan patted Shizuka on his back to soothe her, then materialized a Dimensional Gate right in front of Shinobu. Under Shinobu's astonished gaze, he led Shizuka and the others back into Greed Island.
Simultaneously.
Makomo, who had been resting against Tamayo, abruptly opened her eyes.
"Little Angel? What's wrong?" Tamayo asked immediately upon noticing Makomo's movement.
Makomo didn't reject the 'Little Angel' nickname and replied airily, "Master Brother has returned."
She hadn't forgotten what Tamayo told her about wanting to make amends to Suyan right before she fell asleep. So, the moment Suyan returned to Greed Island, she woke up immediately.
Taking Tamayo's hand, Makomo said, "I'll take you to Master Brother."
"Ah, this!" Only then did Tamayo fully process the situation.
But truthfully, she didn't really care about that issue anymore. If Suyan had returned, it undoubtedly meant they had won the battle against the demons. Which meant Muzan was highly likely finished. Of course, the main reason was that she still didn't quite know how to face Suyan.
However, before she could explain this to Makomo, the girl stubbornly pulled her by the hand toward Suyan's location.
Soon, the two arrived at the Dimensional Gate.
Makomo called out sweetly, "Master Brother."
"Little Sister Makomo? You're just in time. We're counting you in tonight," Takagi Yuriko greeted Makomo with a smile. She then looked at the woman holding Makomo's hand and asked in confusion, "And she is?"
"Miss Tamayo! That's wonderful, you're still alive!" Marikawa Shizuka bounded off Suyan's back with a look of sheer joy, hurried over to Tamayo, grabbed her hands, and exclaimed happily.
"Miss Marikawa..." Tamayo lowered her head, deeply moved. She felt a twinge of guilt, never expecting that after only spending a little over a month together, Shizuka would care about her so much. For someone who had lived for over four hundred years, a month was barely a blip in time.
But she felt even more guilty toward Suyan. Tamayo didn't even dare to meet his eyes. "And... Lord Suyan..."
However, before Suyan could speak, Shizuka continued, "It's so great that Miss Tamayo is still alive! This means I won't have to work hard researching the Humanizing Drug and Immortality Elixir for Little Suyan anymore."
Tamayo: "..."
Hearing Shizuka's follow-up sentence, the guilt Tamayo felt toward her dissipated by more than half. Suyan also stared at Shizuka with dark lines running down his forehead. This lazy woman... was truly hopeless.
Shizuka didn't seem to notice anything wrong with what she said. In fact, she felt that since Tamayo could appear in Greed Island, it meant she was one of their own. And there was no need to be overly polite with their own people.
So, she grabbed Tamayo's hand and proposed, "Miss Tamayo, do you want to join us?"
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