Angel Devil slowly moved her steps to the side again, her gaze falling on the piles of wood chips scattered in the sand.
These wood chips had been hardened by countless years of repeated washing and erosion by the seawater, sinking into the sand and appearing in a peculiar solidified state.
"These fragments…" Angel Devil murmured softly, her thoughts gradually drifting back to the past.
"This spot… I remember there should have been a small boat here originally…"
Angel Devil slowly turned around again, pointing her finger at a distant, abandoned spot where faint traces of wood chips could still be discerned.
"There… I remember an old woman helped me build a home… I clearly said it wasn't necessary… I'm a devil, I don't need your human things…" A soft, bittersweet smile crossed her face. "Heh… Always so meddlesome…"
A notification chimed in Renji's mind, but he ignored it.
After saying this, Angel Devil did not stop but continued to point her hand at various abandoned places around her.
"There… is the home of another old woman who taught me human language. And there, is where I learned to dive. And there, is the little girl's home. And there…"
As Angel Devil spoke incessantly, she suddenly seemed to be struck by something. Her words came to an abrupt halt.
Her arms dropped weakly, and she stood motionless on the spot, stunned.
"These memories… what's going on…" Her voice trembled. "I feel… I feel like everything has become so strange…"
Angel Devil lowered her head. No one knew what she was thinking now.
"Do you want to go back to your old life?" Renji asked quietly.
"My old… life?" She looked up, confused.
"Yes."
Renji began to look around, asking as he spoke. "Angel, you've been working since you joined Public Safety. How many years have you worked?"
"It should… it should be about a year, right?" She hesitated. "Two years…? No… I think it was only ten months…"
Before Angel Devil could finish her words, she suddenly noticed something unusual.
Her lifeless eyes instantly widened, then quickly scanned her surroundings.
Seeing Angel Devil's reaction, Renji continued. "Worked for a year… or ten months? But it's all the same. You certainly haven't worked for hundreds of years. So the question is, if it hasn't been hundreds of years here, how could it be so dilapidated? That's too absurd."
He paused, gathering his thoughts.
"So, I think… apart from Tokyo and Kyoto, everyone and every place has been deleted, or rather, eliminated. It's like… well… separating and isolating the cities outside of Tokyo and Kyoto, mixing in some conceptual rules, and stretching the concept of time. This kind of thing is hard to explain, so I believe it's highly probable that this place can return to normal."
After Renji finished speaking, he looked at Angel Devil, who had a puzzled expression. She scratched her cheek and looked around.
"Huh? What are you saying? I don't understand."
Renji clicked his tongue, stroked his chin to organize his thoughts, and began to explain again.
Angel Devil still didn't fully understand, only grasping the general idea. She sorted out Renji's words herself and said, "You mean, since it's such a vague and unclear ability like a conceptual rule, then whatever happens in the future won't be strange, and so there's a possibility of it returning to normal?"
She tilted her head. "Like time reversal or something. After all, the state of dilapidation here looks as if time has accelerated."
Renji gave a thumbs up. "Exactly! That's what I wanted to express! It's good that you understand!"
Angel Devil let out a sigh of relief. Her tense body finally relaxed, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly into a faint smile.
"Thank you, Renji," she said softly.
"Thank me for what?"
"Nothing."
Deep within Angel Devil's mind, amidst the fragmented memories of Hell, some indistinct voices began to echo continuously.
These voices seemed to come from the distant past, spreading various rumors centered around the concept of males.
One particular notion was especially jarring.
Males were beings even more evil and terrifying than devils. Once he descended into this world, he would use his abilities to mercilessly enslave all devils, forcing them to transform, to be swords, to be killed, ultimately leading the entire world into the abyss of destruction.
But now, it didn't seem to be that way.
Renji was thoughtful, and after a moment of silence, he spoke again. "Actually, I have another question I want to ask you."
"What? Although I don't know what exactly you want to ask, it's best not to have too much expectation of me. Because I'm highly unlikely to be able to answer."
"It's okay if you can't answer." Renji's voice was gentle. "It's just about your memories. When this place wasn't like this, before you met Makima, what was the last moment or scene your memory stopped at?"
"Before meeting Makima… Hmm…"
Angel Devil's face suddenly turned pale. It felt as if countless steel needles were simultaneously piercing her head. The intense pain made her unable to help but let out a painful groan.
She tightly clutched her head with both hands. Her legs went weak, and she squatted down onto the ground.
Renji reacted immediately. "Alright, alright! Don't think about it! I won't ask anymore! I'll sing to you!"
Seeing that it had no effect, Renji, on a whim, started singing to Angel Devil to distract her.
"Under the bridge in front of the door! A flock of ducks swam by! Come quickly, count them! Two, four, six, seven, eight! Quack, quack! So many, oh so many! Can't count how many ducks! Can't count how many ducks!"
Renji didn't know why he subconsciously sang this, but it seemed to work.
Angel Devil finally recovered. She looked up, speaking tremblingly. "Golden…"
"What?"
"It's… golden… a golden light…" Her voice was barely a whisper. "It's… it's the dazzling golden light your body emits when you transform…"
Renji was stunned by the words. Then, with a thought, golden light appeared on his body.
"Is this the golden color?" he asked.
Angel Devil nodded.
The golden light appeared again, and Renji changed back, his heart pounding like thunder.
"I see… golden…"
For a moment, various pieces of information began to converge and bombard Renji's mind.
Golden. The same color as the light emitted when he transforms. Could it be an ability from the same source as the system?
But the system's ability was given to him by the goddess Eris. So does that mean the goddess turned this place into this?
Or… another goddess…?
That's… that's not right either… something's off…
With a thought, Renji's body began to emit a faint purple light. He transformed again.
"Have you seen this color of light?" he asked.
Angel Devil shook her head.
Renji's body then glowed with blue light as he shifted into another form.
"What about this one?"
Angel Devil still shook her head, indicating she had no impression.
Golden light appeared once more, and Renji transformed back.
"Have you really only seen this golden color?"
Angel Devil nodded, then thought for a moment and added, "Only seen this one. But calling it golden light isn't quite right. It's more like an energy body."
Renji smiled. "That's right. That energy body is called mana. It's something that only exists in a certain worldview."
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