The Darkness Devil had retreated.
The crisis in Hell was over.
Both Cael and Makima valued efficiency. Without wasting time, they shared everything they knew and combined their information.
"So that is the situation with Santa Claus..." Cael nodded.
"The longer we stall, the worse this gets. We need to return as soon as possible and support Asa and Reze."
After hearing Makima's explanation, Cael felt a growing sense of urgency. Their enemy was not just hard to kill, but dangerously intelligent. Earlier, even with overwhelming strength on paper, Cael had still been caught off guard and taken down once.
Now, with the Darkness Devil's power granting immunity to darkness, combined with her doll abilities, she could become far more troublesome.
Makima's eyes showed a trace of regret. She glanced at Princi, who stood quietly at her side.
"I am afraid we cannot move quickly. Opening a passage drains Princi heavily. She just used it, and she needs time to recover before doing it again."
"I get it..." Cael muttered, thinking.
Then he suddenly slapped his forehead.
Of course.
He had planned to bring everyone into the Klein Cage and summon Fami to teleport them. That plan had been interrupted earlier by the Darkness Devil. Now, it made perfect sense to try again.
Inside the Klein Cage, time was frozen. Whether it was summoning Fami, letting Princi recover, or avoiding threats in Hell, it was the safest option.
Cael acted immediately.
After a brief stillness, the world seemed to freeze for a moment.
Then, with a faint distortion and a wave of dizziness, Makima and Princi were pulled into Cael's inner space.
He also made sure to collect the scattered remains of the fiends nearby.
Makima looked around.
The grassland remained unchanged, but the massive door above was gone. The presence of Hell still lingered, though much weaker now.
Strictly speaking, this place no longer fully belonged to Hell.
"Darling, is this where you usually sneak off to spend time with Fami?" Makima asked, her gaze steady.
Cael scratched his cheek.
"Now is not the time for that. Once this is over, we can stay here as long as you want."
Makima nodded. "Fine. I will remember that."
Cael exhaled, then called out softly.
"Fami."
No response.
"Fami?"
Still nothing.
That was strange. She usually answered immediately.
Then, a weak voice came from within him.
"Um... I am here..."
Cael froze for a second.
Right. They were still inside his body.
Now that it was safe, there was no reason to keep them there.
He released them.
"Are we... safe now?" Akai asked weakly.
"Yeah, you are safe." Cael gently patted her head.
Kobeni was still missing her limbs, but she remained conscious. Cael had stabilized her condition using controlled gravitational forces to maintain blood circulation at the severed points. Her limbs were preserved well enough that reattachment might still be possible later.
Fami also returned to normal. She lowered her head, clearly uneasy.
"Um... I am sorry... To recover, I absorbed some life energy from the microorganisms in your body... and drank a little of your blood..."
"That is nothing," Cael said dismissively.
He then pulled her forward.
"Makima, take a look. Is this your sister, the Hunger Devil?"
Makima studied her carefully.
From the moment Fami appeared, something felt off.
The ringed eyes and her presence confirmed she was one of the Horsemen. That much was undeniable. But something did not match.
Every time Makima tried to recall the Hunger Devil, a faint buzzing filled her mind. Instead, a completely different image surfaced.
A girl with short, light purple hair.
After a moment of thought, Makima spoke.
"You look familiar... but I think you are my eldest sister, the Death Devil."
Fami immediately burst into tears.
"Sister... how can you say that... even you got it wrong... we used to get along so well... you must have been misled... it is okay... it will all be fine once you die once..."
Cael rubbed his temple.
"Even you cannot tell?"
He shrugged.
"If she were the Death Devil, she would not be this weak. Also, Pingtsi, one of Quanxi's people, identified her as the Hunger Devil."
Makima gave a small nod.
"I am not certain. But given her condition, her identity is not urgent. Getting back is more important."
"Agreed."
Silence followed.
Without Fami's teleportation, they had no choice but to wait for Princi to recover.
After a moment, Makima pointed at a charred pile nearby.
"Darling, you mentioned Quanxi earlier. Is that what remains of her?"
Cael slapped his forehead again.
"Right. Almost forgot."
He walked over to the remains.
With precise movements, he reconstructed her body as best as possible. Then he cut his vein and let his blood drip onto her heart.
With a sharp metallic sound, he pulled the arrow from her eye socket.
In an instant, light flickered.
Quanxi's body regenerated, and she returned to life.
Her memories were still stuck at the moment of her death.
The moment she opened her eyes, she glared at Cael with fury.
If she had the strength, she would have shot him immediately.
Instead, she shouted,
"What the hell did you do to me?! Why did you kill me?!"
"Put some clothes on first," Cael said, turning his head away and handing her an outfit.