Almost at the same time Makima activated her ability and the thirty death row inmates spoke Sukuna's name and died one after another—
Inside a quiet private room of a high-end restaurant in Tokyo, Sukuna, who was using his four new arms to simultaneously taste different dishes and praise modern culinary skills, suddenly paused his movements very slightly.
Four lowered scarlet pupils, which had been admiring the delicacies on the plates, narrowed slightly at the same time.
"Hmm?"
A barely audible sound of surprise escaped his throat.
In that instant, he felt thirty extremely weak but clearly targeted and malicious forces attempting to act upon his existence across space through the medium of his name.
"Heh..."
The corners of Sukuna's lips curled into a subtle, cruelly playful arc.
He didn't even need to consciously defend or counterattack.
Because those thirty forces, the moment they touched his existence, were like tiny ice needles thrown into roaring lava—without stirring even a single ripple, they were completely annihilated and absorbed by his massive Cursed Energy and his tempered soul essence.
In fact, because the contract concepts of fear, despair, control, and termination contained within that power were quite pure, they were instead passively captured by his Soul Consumption talent, turning into a negligible wisp of nourishment that made his soul's flavor a bit richer.
"Interesting..."
The giant mouth on Sukuna's abdomen opened and closed silently, as if savoring the taste.
"In this era, there are still little bugs playing tricks with 'names' and 'contracts'?"
He recalled the information he had seen on the forums about devils and contracts. This kind of attack launched through true names and prices was very much like the tricks some high-ranking devils liked to play.
Who was it? Remnants of the Gun Devil? Or an incarnation of some other concept?
Sukuna wasn't worried.
This level of probing didn't even count as an itch. Instead, it exposed some information about the prober themselves—at least, the other party now knew that the name "Sukuna" had little effect on him, or required a price far beyond imagination.
He continued to put a piece of fresh sea bream sashimi into his mouth, savoring it, while his four scarlet eyes turned slightly, as if piercing through the restaurant walls and the Tokyo night sky to look in a certain direction.
"It seems my reputation has not only drawn awe and fear but also some self-righteous 'hunters'."
He laughed softly, the sound echoing gently in the private room, carrying a delight like discovering a new toy, along with a chilling cruelty belonging to a top predator.
"Fine."
"An appetizer game between main courses..."
"The more, the better."
After a while.
The tranquility within the private room of the High-end Restaurant was shattered by the sudden surge of murderous intent and metallic roars from outside the window.
Almost at the same moment the piercing roars entered his ears, Sukuna's four downcast, crimson vertical pupils, which had been appreciating the delicacies, slightly narrowed, flashing a hint of displeasure at being disturbed mixed with interest at discovering a new "toy."
"Tsk, an after-dinner entertainment, then? They arrived quickly." His giant mouth on his abdomen opened and closed, uttering an ambiguous whisper.
He casually put the delicate pastry he was holding into his mouth, chewing it slowly, as if savoring the "taste" of his attackers.
"Sukuna-sama, it's the Public Safety Devil Extermination Special Division people, and… the aura of Weapon Humans, very strong."
Uraume instantly entered a state of alert, their icy blue eyes sharply scanning outside the window, coldness permeating around them.
"No matter."
Sukuna swallowed the pastry, elegantly picking up a pristine white napkin to wipe his mouth.
He looked at Utaha, Eriri, Megumi, and Sayuri, who had instantly tensed up and looked startled by the sudden turn of events, and calmly instructed, "Stay put, don't come out."
Before his voice even faded, he didn't even stand up.
The next instant, only a wisp of slowly dissipating dark red Cursed Energy residue remained in his original spot.
Sukuna's true form, with four arms, four eyes, a giant mouth on his abdomen, and the phantom of a wheel above his head, had appeared as if out of thin air, quietly hovering above the restaurant's courtyard, atop the high platform and flying eaves.
"They're here." He murmured, his voice filled with joyful anticipation.
Almost simultaneously with his words, an ominous hum echoed from the distant sky.
It wasn't airplane engines, nor Cursed Energy fluctuations, but a noise full of industrial violence, a mixture of metal tearing through the air, engines roaring wildly, and the bloodthirsty growl of some non-human entity.
First to appear were seven figures, trailing various colored exhaust flames, breaking through the air at astonishing speed.
One figure was wrapped in constantly expanding and contracting metal spheres and fuses. The air around it vibrated slightly as it passed—the Bomb Devil.
One figure's hands transformed into long katanas, their blades gleaming coldly, making a sharp whistling sound as they cut through the air—the Katana Devil.
One figure had a huge nozzle on its shoulder, with blazing white flames trailing a long path behind it—the Flamethrower Devil.
One figure held an exaggerated mechanical longbow, its string vibrating without wind, condensing a dangerous, faint glow—the Bow Devil.
One figure wielded a broad-bladed longsword like a door panel. Where its edge pointed, the air rippled—the Longsword Devil.
One figure dragged a long metal chain, at the end of which was a grotesque spearhead, writhing like a living thing—the Spear Devil.
One figure brandished several metal whips covered in barbs, their numerous shadows making piercing sounds as they cut through the air—the Whip Devil.
The Seven Weapon Humans, in their fully transformed devil hybrid states, charged ferociously from different directions towards Sukuna on the high platform, like seven falling meteors, carrying the ferocity and destructive aura of the weapon concepts themselves.
Weapon Humans are similar to Devil Hybrids, but they don't belong to humans, devils, or Devil Hybrids. Instead, they are fusion entities of certain humans and their corresponding Weapon Devils.
Weapon Humans are almost immortal in their normal state. They have various ways to transform from human to Weapon Human state. Even killing them only puts them into a severe coma. As long as an outsider helps them repeat the transformation method, the Weapon Human can be "restarted."
Their eyes were hollow, yet their movements were precise and ruthless, clearly completely dominated and transformed into pure killing machines.
And behind the seven, an even more violent, more chaotic figure roared as it charged.
It was a bizarre entity wearing a simple suit, with an open shirt, a pull cord extending from its chest, and its head replaced by a chainsaw-like dog head with a serrated mouth. Its hands had also transformed into high-speed rotating chainsaws, their teeth cutting through the air with an incredibly harsh noise, and the chains still had remnants of undried flesh and blood.
Chainsaw Man—Denji!
"Kill him! For Makima-san!"
Denji let out a muffled and frantic roar, his eyes filled only with loyalty to Makima. Taking the lead, he even surpassed the other Weapon Humans, raising his chainsaw hands high and savagely slashing down towards Sukuna's head.
The roar of the chainsaws even drowned out the noise from the other Weapon Humans.
"Chainsaws, huh… These toys of this era are certainly livelier than the swords of a thousand years ago." Sukuna didn't dodge, even commenting.
Just as Denji's chainsaws were about to touch his forehead, he casually raised his upper left arm, fingers spread, palm forward.
Clang!
The shockwave burst outwards in a ring, flattening the already fragile ruins around them once more.
Denji's determined strike was actually parried steadily by Sukuna with a single hand, using his palm. The high-speed rotating chainsaw teeth furiously cut at the skin of Sukuna's palm, sparking dazzling flames, yet unable to cut in even an inch.
His skin was unimaginably tough, as if it wasn't flesh and blood, but divine metal forged through a thousand refinements.
"What?!" Denji was stunned, and the roar of the chainsaw momentarily faltered.
"The strength is decent, but this saw is too dull." Sukuna sneered, his palm exerting a slight force.
Crack!
A teeth-grinding sound of shattering echoed. The outermost teeth on Denji's right chainsaw were actually crushed and deformed by Sukuna's bare hand.
"Ugh!" Denji roared in pain, flung backward by the immense recoil.