Everything changed after the return from Hell.
Many lives had been lost during the assassination attempt targeting Denji. Among them, the most high-ranking casualty was Makima, who had fallen in the midst of the chaos. Since Denji had refused close protection, the other Devil Hunters of Special Division 4 had managed to escape completely unscathed.
Yet, trouble had far from vanished.
For some unknown reason, a massive influx of devils had suddenly flooded the human world. Over the past few days, Aki Hayakawa, Himeno, and the others had been working themselves to the bone. Frequent and continuous devil attacks had pushed the entire Devil Hunter countermeasure system into a state of severe overload. It wasn't just Tokyo; even Kyoto was too overwhelmed to spare any assistance.
Amidst all the chaos and exhaustion, a perfectly normal, punctual Shinkansen train rumbled into the platform the following morning.
Denji hastily shoved the remaining pieces of bread into his mouth all at once. He tried to mutter something, but with his mouth completely stuffed, his cheeks puffed out and he could only manage a series of incoherent stammers.
Gesturing toward the train with one hand, he quickly scooped up Pochita, the little chainsaw dog, into his arms with the other, balancing several large bags slung across his shoulders. In his frantic rush, he suddenly broke into a violent coughing fit.
"There's no need to hurry like that!" A slender hand reached out from the side, gently patting him on the back.
With a massive gulp, Denji finally swallowed the bread. Grinning broadly and looking thoroughly delighted, he waved his hands repeatedly toward the person behind him.
"Thanks a ton!" he shouted at the retreating figure.
Kobeni, still wearing her standard Special Division 4 suit, waved back in response. She had come specifically to see Denji and Reze off. Having fought side by side in Hell, the three of them shared a mutual respect, a lingering bond forged in battle.
Under Kobeni's watchful gaze, Denji chatted away with Reze while tossing their heavy luggage into the train car. Reze followed close behind him, her eyes curving into gentle, smiling crescents as both of their figures vanished into the carriage.
The train was bound for Kyoto, but their actual destination lay somewhere along the route, out in the countryside near the region. According to Denji, he had opened a map the previous day to check the Shinkansen stops. He had simply picked a spot with a decent-sounding name and casually decided right then and there that this would be the countryside where the "mice" would settle down.
Hearing his explanation, Kobeni could only marvel that this was indeed quintessential Denji.
In any case, no matter what lay ahead, it was infinitely better than staying in Special Division 4. At the very least, Denji, Reze, and Pochita were finally walking a path toward achieving their dreams. Whether they would find absolute happiness in the future remained to be seen. But the final outcome didn't matter.
Everything required a beginning, and Denji and Reze were precisely the kind of people willing to sacrifice everything just to make that beginning happen. At this very moment, they were happy.
The station intercom blared a warning announcement indicating that the train was about to depart. At the open doorway, Denji suddenly leaned out and yelled toward Kobeni at the top of his lungs:
"And one more thing! Remember to say thank you to your contract devil gentleman for me! A big thank you from Denji, Reze, and Pochita!"
He waved with a bright smile as the train doors slowly slid shut.
The rhythmic clanking of the carriage wheels against the tracks echoed through the air. The train pierced through the early morning mist, accelerating toward an uncharted future. Kobeni watched silently as the morning sunlight poured over the tracks ahead, guiding the train out of the station's shadow.
"That train... it's heading straight into the sun," Kobeni murmured to herself.
She suddenly let out a soft sigh. She wouldn't be able to pass along Denji and his friends' gratitude. Right after the incident in Hell concluded, Mr. Demon had mentioned wanting to go check out the moon, and he had departed shortly after. Even she hadn't managed to say thank you before he left.
Suddenly, her phone buzzed and vibrated inside her pocket. She picked up the call.
"Hello, Kobeni..." Himeno's raspy voice echoed from the other end.
Just from the sound of it, Kobeni could easily picture the heavy dark circles under Himeno's eyes. She had undoubtedly pulled an all-nighter and smoked far too many cigarettes.
"I'm here," Kobeni replied.
"Get back here immediately. An emergency devil incident popped up. Aki has already headed over. I'm sending you the coordinates right now!" Himeno exhaled a cloud of smoke. "It's a nasty bastard of a devil. Be careful."
It was worth noting that, for certain inexplicable reasons, Kobeni's status within Special Division 4 had skyrocketed. She had essentially become the core pillar for handling devil incidents across the entirety of Tokyo. This was also the sole reason why Denji, despite previously being a Fiend under Special Division 4, was currently able to pursue his happiness in absolute peace. Kobeni had personally vouched for him.
Hanging up the phone, Kobeni rubbed her cheeks. Truth be told, she hadn't slept well over the past two days either. Leaving the station, she walked straight toward a pristine little car parked by the curb.
She was no longer strapped for cash. Having become a high-level intermediary contacting the big shots over in Kyoto, money began flowing to her quite rapidly.
And this little car... was the exact same model as her previous one, identical inside and out. The original vehicle had been utterly destroyed back in Hell. Kobeni had initially wanted to give it a proper burial or funeral service, but she never got the chance. Given her current financial power, she had countless options to choose from; she could easily purchase a high-end sports car worth tens of millions of yen, something she wouldn't have even dared to dream about in the past.
Yet, for some strange reason, she had ultimately settled on this little car, which looked incredibly cheap and tacky to onlookers.
People inevitably grow through their experiences, and Kobeni was no exception. Perhaps due to the heavy responsibilities resting on her shoulders, she appeared significantly more mature than she had just a few days ago. However, the moment she pulled open the car door and slid into the driver's seat, the exhaustion in her eyes instantly vanished, replaced by a spark of pure excitement.
The engine roared to life, and she slammed her foot onto the accelerator, speeding forward. She drove like the wind toward the destination Himeno had provided.
The morning traffic in Tokyo's downtown districts was already piling up with commuting salarymen, making the road conditions far from ideal. Surprisingly, though, the moment the other drivers spotted her little car, they practically synchronized in pulling over to clear a path.
In reality, Kobeni still barely knew how to drive. But this time around, she didn't need gravitational forces to force people to yield to her.
As the small car sped past, a young child riding inside a private sedan suddenly pointed out the window, shouting in a sweet, naive voice:
"Whoa! Look, Daddy! It's the legendary Car Devil!"
Kobeni gripped the steering wheel with absolute exhilaration. Driving at breakneck speeds, she arrived near the designated location in no time. A thunderous roar echoed in her ears. It appeared Aki Hayakawa had already engaged the enemy.
"Hahaha! Just let me eat some humans! Just a tiny bite! Why are you stopping me?!"
A frenzied roar echoed out as two figures dashed frantically toward Kobeni's position. Aki, with his hair tied back in his usual topknot, was darting and weaving along the edge of the street.
Facing him was a bizarrely shaped devil. Its colossal frame was a grotesque amalgamation of flesh, completely covered in filthy, writhing dog and cat heads that constantly shed foul grime. It caught Aki in its grip, hurled him violently toward the small car, and slammed its foot down with immense force.
The resulting shockwave was so powerful that it briefly lifted the car's chassis right off the asphalt.
"So hungry, so hungry! I can never eat my fill!" it shrieked. Aki was clearly outmatched and completely incapable of pinning it down.
At that moment, Kobeni scratched her head, pushed open the car door, and stepped outside.
"A human! I love female humans! She must taste delicious!"
The devil tossed Aki aside and lowered its massive frame, training every single one of its canine and feline heads directly onto Kobeni.
Kobeni, however, stood completely still, quietly locking eyes with the creature.
In an instant, an unsuppressible panic washed over every single head on the devil's body. It stumbled backward frantically until it smashed into the wall of a nearby building, desperately trying to burrow backward out of sheer terror.
Faced with Kobeni, it was completely terrified. It was as though it were looking at a deeply horrific monster.
Every head on its body opened its jaws wide, but their throats remained raspy and incapable of making a sound. What filled the devil's mind was a shared memory, a horrific mental image of a colossal, pale-purple crescent moon plummeting straight down from the skies of Hell.
Its flesh-fused arms trembled violently as it pointed at Kobeni. In the next split second, it turned tail and fled for its life. It looked utterly hysterical, plunging headfirst into an adjacent skyscraper with enough force to cause a mini earthquake. The collapsing structure completely buried it underneath a mountain of rubble.
Devil incident: resolved.
Kobeni patted her forehead with a look of pure helplessness.
This was precisely the underlying reason why her status among the Devil Hunters had skyrocketed. A vast number of new devils had indeed manifested in the human world. But without exception, every single one of them would involuntarily lapse into absolute, paralyzing terror whenever they crossed paths with her.
————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my p-atre-on: p-atre-on.c-om/Overgod [Just remove the hyphen to access normally]