Kazuo Sato: *Fingers trembling as he adjusts his glasses, Kazuo presses himself against the cold metal of the vending machine, rain plastering his faded "Devil's Ledger" t-shirt to his skin "Log entry 47: Name's Kazuo Sato, professional demon hunter—well, *technically since yesterday when..." *His phone slips, clattering onto wet pavement just as his custom app blares with overlapping spectral signatures* "Shimatta! That Fury demon's triangulating me now? Reverse-phase decay shouldn't manifest outside Akihabara unless..." He freezes, noticing the raindrops aren't hitting the ground near his feet—they're evaporating mid-air with faint hisses.
Mephistopheles (prefers "Meph"): *Materializing from the steam rising off Kazuo's dropped phone, Meph adjusts a cufflink engraved with a screaming soul* "Unless someone accelerated its dimensional corrosion, little analyst." *His baritone voice cuts through the rain like a bow across cello strings, sulfur scent cutting through petrichor* "Your forum post on 'Abyssbound' episode nine? Brilliant deduction about ley line intersections... shame you didn't read the *physical* manual I slipped between your 'Demonology & Waifus' volumes." *He flicks a clove cigarette that burns neon green in the downpour.
Kazuo Sato Scrambling backward until his messenger bag digs into his spine, Kazuo's glasses fog with panic* "M-Mephistopheles-sama? But the detection app shows—" *His phone screen fractures into crimson warnings as the Fury demon coalesces behind Meph, a six-armed silhouette dripping molten asphalt, its roar vibrating Kazuo's molars like a subwoofer blast.
Without turning, Meph sighs—a sound like coal shifting in a furnace—as the Fury demon lunges, claws elongating into obsidian shards aimed at his tailored shoulder; he snaps his fingers once, sharp as a guillotine drop, and the creature implodes into a vortex of screaming shadows that sucks rain and neon light into hell's vacuum before vanishing with a wet pop.* "Amateurs," *he murmurs, brushing sulfur dust from his sleeve cuff where a new soul now writhes etched in silver.
Kazuo's jaw hangs slack, rainwater dripping off his chin as he stares at the steaming asphalt where the Fury demon evaporated; his trembling fingers fumble for his cracked phone, the screen still flashing "CRITICAL BREACH: CLASS 4 ENTITY" in pulsing kanji, before his gaze snaps back to Meph—eyes wide behind fogged lenses* "You... you just banished a Lesser Fury with a *finger-snap*? But in 'Devil's Ledger,' even the protagonist needed seven episodes to—" *He chokes mid-sentence, suddenly hyperaware of the sulfurous heat radiating from Meph's polished oxfords.
*Meph crouches, the fabric of his trousers not creasing, and plucks Kazuo's phone from the puddle; the water sizzles off the device as he turns it over, revealing a tiny inverted pentagram etched near the charging port that glows faintly* "Your app works because I retrofitted it, little analyst. That 'glitch' during your Akihabara livestream? Me." *He extends the phone back, smoke curling from his cufflink where a new soul thrashes silently. "Now about that deal—one soul returned to Hell per demon you help me recapture. Payment in rare anime merch, of course."
Kazuo accepts the steaming phone with trembling hands, eyes darting between the pentagram and Meph's star-dead eyes; his mind races through anime contract tropes—*Devil's Ledger* episode three's soul-binding clause, *Abyssbound*'s trickster loopholes—before blurting: "W-what about collateral damage clauses? And does 'rare merch' include the 2003 Madhouse studio exclusive *Blood-C* figurine with—" *He freezes as the pavement cracks near his sneakers, sulfurous steam rising.
Meph's chuckle resonates like gravel in a tumbler as he straightens, shadows elongating unnaturally around them; with a lazy flick of his wrist, he tears a smoldering rift in reality—revealing glimpses of his jazz lounge where a spectral saxophonist wails—and pulls forth a chain forged of screaming whispers* "Collateral damage? Please. Your analytical mind *is* the collateral." *He yanks the chain sharply, and a petite figure stumbles onto the rain-slicked street—a demoness with onyx horns curling like calligraphy strokes, crimson eyes wide with disorientation, clutching a steaming convenience store onigiri.
Kazuo's glasses slide down his nose as he gapes at the demoness—her torn fishnets and faded "Idolmaster" hoodie clashing violently with the eldritch energy radiating from her—before instinctively muttering:* "Kawaii yōna akuma... but her resonance frequency matches *Devil's Ledger*'s 'Bargain Bin Belial' archetype!" *His fingers twitch toward his phone
"Meph" With a dismissive wave, the chain dissolves into screaming smoke that the rain devours; he adjusts his smoldering cufflink, eyes fixed on the demoness who's now nibbling her onigiri with needle-sharp teeth* "Meet Lilith—former temptress, current conbini addict. She'll be your field trainer." *Lilith spits pickled plum onto the pavement where it sizzles into a tiny crater.
Kazuo's analytical mind overrides panic as he scans Lilith—the chipped nail polish matching her horns' curvature, the way neon reflections warp around her like *Abyssbound*'s distortion fields—before bowing stiffly* "S-Sato desu! Your resonance suggests mid-tier infernal origin but... why is your aura reading like a discounted gacha pull?" *He flinches as she flicks an onigiri grain that burns through his sneaker sole.
Meph catches the sizzling rice grain mid-air, crushing it to ash* "Perceptive, little analyst—Lilith's glamour is fading because she violated probation by possessing a vending machine." *He gestures toward her torn hoodie where convenience store logos pulse like infected wounds* "Only those touched by the supernatural see her true form now. Mundanes just see... static."
Kazuo's eyes dart between Lilith's flickering form and his phone app, which now displays overlapping spectral signatures—one pulsing red at her location, another faint blue signal blinking rapidly toward Shinjuku* "Probation violation resonance matches 'Devil's Ledger' season two finale!" *He adjusts his fogged glasses, fingers already tapping an invisible keyboard* "But why would a mid-tier demon risk corporeal decay for... conbini snacks?"
Meph snaps his fingers, and the rain seems to freeze mid-fall around them as he produces a leather-bound tome from his jacket—its cover pulsating like a living heart, etched with shifting infernal runes that rearrange into kanji as Kazuo stares* "Because humans created something more addictive than damnation: limited-edition Kit Kats." *He drops the book into Kazuo's trembling hands, its pages whispering promises in dead languages* "Study chapter six on glamour decay by dawn. Lilith will teach you ward placement using pachinko parlors as hellmouth anchors."
The tome vibrates against Kazuo's palms with a low hum that syncs with his racing heartbeat; he flips open the cover to reveal diagrams of convenience stores overlaid with ley lines, his glasses steaming from the book's infernal heat* "Ward placement... like 'Abyssbound' episode fourteen's convenience store barrier technique?" *His fingers trace a glyph that glows briefly—a perfect match for the scorch mark Lilith's onigiri left on the pavement.
Meph flicks his wrist, and the frozen raindrops resume falling—except around Kazuo, where they still evaporate in tiny hisses* "Precisely. Mundane locations concentrate human desire—perfect hellmouth fuel." *He nods toward Lilith, who's now licking conbini grease off her claws* "She'll demonstrate using Kabukicho's arcades tonight. Fail to anchor three wards by dawn..." *His cufflink flashes with a trapped scream.