Kang Woo shrugged, as if amused. "Maybe you didn't search enough. Most of your time is spent on Earth now… and not in Hell.". "You're looking through a keyhole and calling it the whole world."
Makima stiffened slightly. A thin line of blood trickled from her nose. She wiped it quickly, retrieving a tissue from the nearby holder , as if trying to act like nothing happened.
But Kang Woo saw it. He didn't speak right away. His eyes lowered, watching the exact way her fingers moved — slightly slower than usual, her breathing faintly off rhythm.
He already knew. Just like before. Makima's body wasn't made for interdimensional travel. Not like his. And Evil Morty's. And certainly not like the countless chaotic, residents of the Citadel — beings who didn't fear devils or even acknowledge their existence as anything more than trivia.
And even though Kang Woo had embedded a shard of his soul — part of his own vitality — into her form through their link, the effect was limited. It kept her stable. Not whole. Something was off. Then it hit him. Her Gaia support…
His eyes narrowed slightly, . Shit. It wasn't just a symbolic warning —. Makima's body was actually tethered to Gaia — to the lifeforce of her world.. Functionally. Like a system plug. Pull her away from her world , and… it was like tearing roots out of soil. She's cut off from her primary lifeforce.
A subtle dread slipped into his mind — not fear, but irritation. He hated when things slipped by.
Kang Woo's lips tightened slightly as he glanced at her again.
Makima's nose bled a bit more now, dribbling down before she wiped it away again. Her breath came slightly heavier, her posture losing its usual steel. But she waved it off.
"I'm fine," she said, voice low but steady. "Just give me a moment to rest. I'll recover fully."
Kang Woo didn't respond at first. Then, he muttered under his breath, a word laced with ancient weight.
"Jikkai."
A dark orb shimmered into existence —. The Commandment of Piety. It hovered beside Makima briefly, then without prompting, sank near her chest and flared.
A strange warmth surged over her. The dizziness vanished. Her skin regained color. The strain evaporated like smoke. it was a full restoration,.
Makima blinked. She sat straighter. "That… stabilized me," she murmured. "How?"
Kang Woo crossed one leg over the other. "Your contract with the Prime Minister — it's severed when you're not in your world, right?"
Makima sighed s . "I guess I couldn't even hide that from you."
Kang Woo tapped two fingers against his temple. "Kuhito."
Makima raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Kuhito," Kang Woo repeated. "The binding phrase. It'll anchor the commandment to you. Temporarily."
Makima paused, then spoke the word aloud. "Kuhito."
The Commandment of Piety quivered — then vanished into her shadow. A silent flicker of presence. It didn't disappear… only moved. Shifted into a subspace beneath her being, bound now to her authority.
Makima slowly lowered her hands. "…You gave me a Commandment," she said, a bit wary. "But Kang Woo, they have fickle rules. If this were the Commandment of Love… I'd lose control of my emotions."
Kang Woo only smirked. "That's not Love. It's Piety. It doesn't restrict you. It only binds others. Anyone who turns their back on you will be forced to submit. Slaves to your will.."
Makima's eyes narrowed as she stared into Kang Woo's — but she couldn't deny what she saw there. Not mockery. Not manipulation. Genuine concern. Quiet and real.
"…Aren't those Commandments your precious orbs?" she asked at last, voice low. "It's like you'd never part with them. Like the one you took from Estarossa… you earned by killing him."
Kang Woo didn't deny it. His smirk faded into a more neutral calm.
"Makima," he said slowly, "I need you to be honest with me. I'm not forcing you, just… tell me. When you return to your world — which I will too — that contract you made… is it one-way? Or mutual?"
Makima didn't answer immediately. Then, after a beat, she responded, carefully measured.
"One-way. I hold the control. If I wished, I could sever it at any time…" she hesitated, "...but that would be a foolish move."
Kang Woo nodded lightly. But his next words cut deeper.
"Let me rephrase then. It's written like this, right?"
He recited it plainly, without flourish — just fact.
"Makima made a contract with the Prime Minister of Japan in return for working for the Japanese government. As a result of this contract, any fatal attacks inflicted on Makima are transferred into an appropriate illness or ailment affecting a random citizen of Japan."
Makima's expression didn't change. But her silence did.
Kang Woo tilted his head slightly. "You sure it's one-way?"
Still, no answer. A quiet hum settled between them , but pointed. And Kang Woo's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
"Do you have any backup plan if your source gets severed?" he asked.
Makima keep silent . But something shifted in her gaze. He saw it. The subtle crack beneath the persona. A flicker of something hollow. Just the faint truth of a woman long mistaken as invincible — when in reality, she was nothing more than a dog on a leash.
Not the Control Devil everyone feared. Just a government tool. Branded with a contract she never truly ruled.
Kang Woo's voice came gently — but with weight. Like the slow turning of a key inside a locked door.
"Jikkai," he said. "That will be the phrase that lets you control my Commandment."
"In fact," he continued, "Commandment of Piety is probably the one everyone wants. No penalty to the user. It only affects those who turn their backs on you… and makes them kneel. And the reason it stabilized your body, repaired you… is because it contains mana. A lot of mana. The raw source of magic. The power where I truly reign."
He tapped the table beside the now-dormant flame.
"In your world's terms? That Commandment alone could power half the Earth's electricity grid if someone converted it with human tech. If used correctly…". "It could empower a Continent ."
Makima said nothing. Her eyes shimmered, . Tears. She wasn't looking at Kang Woo anymore. She was staring through the space between stars, between identities, between what she was supposed to be… and what she had become.
Everything she'd built. Everything she thought she was—layered control, untouchable fear, the Control Devil—cracked against the monstrous, foreign truth now seated casually in front of her. Kang Woo. A being she had tried to dominate from the first meeting. A being who instead gave her his power.
Her lips trembled.
"…Why… are you helping your enemy?" she asked, voice breaking for the first time since she'd stepped onto a battlefield. "I'm practically your enemy…"
Her hands clenched in her lap, her shoulders hunched forward as her composure cracked completely.
"You and Evil Morty—you don't need me. You're more than enough to achieve anything. The Citadel—. The Rick with that hundred number. … that alone can make you gods."
Her voice climbed in pitch, rising with the weight she could no longer carry.
"So why—why do you still help me?! Is it because you see my world as primitive? As lesser?" She gritted her teeth and screamed, her tears falling freely now. "DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND?! I TRIED TO CONTROL YOU—FROM THE MOMENT I MET YOU—TO CONTROL YOU!"
She repeated it, again and again, like it hurt to let go of the lie she'd worn like armor.
"I tried to control you… I tried to control you… I… I…"
Then her words failed. She broke. "…Why are you so kind toward your enemy?" Her voice trembled as her sobs overtook her. "Why do you still want to invite me with you… through your adventures…? Why do you still… still… still—"
Makima couldn't finish. But Kang Woo didn't need her to. He stepped forward without a word and wrapped his arms around her, firm but steady. His cloak rustled gently as it fell over her like a dark curtain, hiding the trembling, sobbing figure within. He pulled her in against his chest.
.Makima let herself be held—pressed against the chest of the only man she could
And Kang Woo, without flinching, whispered: "You know… when I came to your world, and I saw you for the first time… I didn't see the Control Devil. I saw a girl who gives people hope—. A girl who could inspire courage in the face of death itself… something I lost long ago, since my power is despair."
His hand gently moved up to cradle the back of her head as he leaned his cheek against her hair.
"Even if you're not the Control Devil. Even if all the world turns against you, Makima… if your soul, your existence, is still you—then I'll support you. If the world says you have to die…"
He paused. "…Then the world needs to be eradicated."
Makima. had never been hugged before. Not by anyone who wasn't trembling in fear or wrapped in her domination. Yet now, in Kang Woo's arms. This was something she never had.
And yet… he had already carried her like a princess. Once, when he took her to the stars and gave her the Ring of Narya, burning with a warmth she'd buried for centuries.
And now… he gave her something more terrifying than all that. A hug. She trembled again—but not from grief. This time, she moved her arms up… and hugged him back. Slowly. Carefully. Her fingers curled into the fabric of his coat like a child clutching a lifeline.
Her voice never left her throat. But her thoughts whispered clearly within her.
Maybe my utopia is already here. Maybe… that's why I followed him here.
My century of solitude is ending… And it's being filled by the days of his chaotic, maddening, infuriating nature.
Then, all at once—awkwardness.
Makima tensed. "…Kang Woo… can you let me go?" she mumbled, her face slightly flushed. "I… can't breathe."
Kang Woo blinked, then released her instantly, taking a step back. His expression cracked into a grin.
"Pfffft—HAHAHAHA! You just loveblocked yourself!" he pointed at her dramatically. "Woooo! The Great Control Devil, Makima, makes her first awkward confession and chokes on air! Incredible!"
Makima, cheeks puffed and pink, wiped her tears with forced composure, then lightly thumped him on the shoulder. "Don't ruin the moment…"
Kang Woo leaned back with a teasing smirk. "I think you ruined the moment, princess. I was delivering peak romantic tragedy energy. You turned it into a sitcom."
Makima gave him another light shove, grumbling under her breath like a tsundere caught in the act. "…I hate you."
Kang Woo chuckled, arms behind his head.
"Yeah, yeah. Say that after hugging me like your favorite pillow, Control Devil-chan."