Su Tang slid back a meter.
Mm—"slid" didn't seem right. More accurately, he "sank."
The concrete floor looked like an excavator had gouged a wide crack in it; Su Tang stood in that crack, his calves buried deep.
His dark-cyan dragon claws were raised, braced against the two massive tusks.
This close, you could even hear the snarling swell of muscle under the fine scales.
Rip—his sleeves tore again.
Strips of cloth fluttered in the air, blown by the breath of the giant like a gale.
"Ah-hah."
Fire surged, flooding Su Tang's brain.
His eyes went red—lustrous with flame and tinged with a beast's bloodthirst.
"Little thing—is that all the strength you've got?!"
The corners of his mouth pulled back in a wild grin.
He stared at the two-story-high monster before him—its charge pinned in place by his hands alone!
Not an inch further!
"You're angry—you're furious?"
Head cocked, he watched the Wild Boar Devil's breath grow heavier, its grunts like a tiger's thunder.
His arms swelled again as he clamped down on the two pillar-like tusks.
Dragon scale rasped on tusk in a harsh scrape.
"Pity—the rage of the weak only invokes sympathy…"
Cackling madly, a flood of fire rushed from his claws.
Like bone-biting venomous snakes, the flames slithered from the tusks the instant they appeared, onto the giant body, spreading fast.
"Ready? Dance in the fire—"
A streak of sword light flashed.
Su Tang instantly raised his head. His fanged maw opened; a gout of dragon's breath blasted out.
"Boom!"
Sparks sprayed.
The heat wave from the blast knifed outward.
He stared at the ground split into two halves in front of him, surprise flickering in his eyes.
The fire left his brain; reason retook the high ground.
He crouched and touched the fissure.
That just now… was sword qi?
It was a bit ridiculous—if he hadn't yanked himself back to his senses and taken a step back in time, he might have bled tonight.
When was the last time his dragon scales had been breached?
Not bullets. Those had only left white marks.
It seemed… it had been a sword too.
It was that damned devil swinging the Angel's greatsword that had cracked his scales.
While he was thinking, a voice came from his side.
"Su Tang-kun, are you all right?"
Makima.
Her leather soles clicked evenly on the concrete, just as steady as always.
"I'm fine."
His head shifted back to human shape. Shaking it, he glanced at the hulking thing still flailing in flames. "It can't have eaten much flesh—its strength's less than the Snake Devil's. It's about on par with that Zombie Devil from our first meeting in a factory."
"But…"
He frowned. "That slash of sword light… 'sword light,' right? The one that fell from above. What was that?"
"I think that should be a second devil."
Makima stood at his side, quietly watching the bonfire feast.
"A second devil?"
Following her gaze, he peered into the flames. Sure enough, on the Wild Boar Devil's back he found a gleam like quicksilver.
A humanoid figure, clad head-to-toe in medieval armor, with a sword at its waist.
It was patting out the fire on the boar's bristles.
As if it had heard their discussion, the devil turned, and from under the helmet its eyes looked down at them with haughty superiority.
"In the name of a knight, I swear—none of you shall leave here today!"
A deep voice—quite imposing.
Su Tang blinked.
"If I didn't hear wrong, he said 'knight'? Er… I mean, is that the Knight Devil?"
"Maybe."
Makima nodded lightly, and for once made a quiet joke: "It could be the boar below is his mount. The Wild Boar Knight?"
Su Tang shrugged.
Compared to the name, he was more struck that Makima could crack a joke so lightly.
Looked like she was in a pretty good mood?
But as the section chief of Special Division 4 in Tokyo, there were two devils in her turf right now—and not the kind of small fry like the Leg Devil you could swat aside.
He shook his head and gave up trying to guess her mind.
"Miss Makima—remember our agreement? I invited you to explore the factory, and you'd tell me which devil you're contracted with," he said. "I've completed my part; now shouldn't you…"
"Of course."
Makima didn't hesitate; she nodded at once.
Her swan-like neck lifted; watching the two devils ahead, she said evenly, "Saying it outright might not be very demonstrative. Perhaps Su Tang-kun can see for yourself."
"Oh?" He blinked. "I'm all ears."
"Very simple—two devils, one for each of us."
The corners of her mouth lifted; in the tone of inviting someone for tea, she said, "Su Tang-kun may choose first."
That confident?
He looked at her. Since joining Public Safety, he'd only ever seen Makima in the office; this was the first time he'd seen her on the front lines.
Even the old-timers in Public Safety didn't seem to know her abilities. He'd asked Aki about it once to confirm; unsurprisingly the answer had been vague memories at best.
The only times she'd shown anything had been exploding the Mouth Devil and the shooter's accomplices.
Honestly, he was quite looking forward to this.
So, after a brief think, he nodded. "Since Miss Makima is interested in showing off, I won't be polite. I'll take the Wild Boar Devil."
Two devils—one big, one small.
But bigger didn't necessarily mean stronger.
If anything, the one on the boar's back who called himself a knight was more dangerous.
Especially the sword at his waist.
If not for Makima's brimming confidence—and his own reluctance to fight a foe with a sword—he'd have chosen the stronger Knight Devil on purpose.
"All right."
Makima nodded.
She swept the hair from her brow and tucked it behind her ear. Then she took something from her overcoat pocket.
He glanced over, puzzled.
He knew that thing.
It had appeared at Division 4's welcome meeting, used as a lie detector—the Lie Devil.
"I'll need a moment. Please, Su Tang-kun."
Makima placed the Lie Devil on the floor, pressed her palms together, and rested them against each other.
Her face was serene; in the moonlight it even looked gentle.
But the deathly-still aura rising from her made Su Tang narrow his eyes without thinking.
He stepped to the side and nodded. "Okay. I'll hold them."
Silent.
Shadow flowed like water across the factory.
One after another, Shadow Ninjas quickly encircled the place, shuriken and kunai poised.
"Outnumbering the few! You there—do you dare meet me in a one-on-one knight's duel?!" the Knight Devil called from the boar's back, standing to look down on Su Tang below.
He ignored the taunt.
Psychokinesis reinforced his legs; he flashed under the Wild Boar Devil's body.
"You—!"
The Knight Devil yanked out his sword in fury—but all that met him was a downpour of projectiles, dense as rain.
Ding-dang, ding-dang.
Weaving beneath the boar, Su Tang glanced across at Makima.
She was still focused on her "spell," paying zero attention to the battle here.
She'd left the stalling entirely to him.
Good—that was exactly the kind of trust he wanted.
Smiling, Su Tang slipped to the Wild Boar Devil's right hind leg and looked up.
There—the factory's chocolate timekeeper.
A large wall clock.
And at the pendulum's pivot, in a tiny spot, was inlaid an octagonal stone talisman.
—The Pig Talisman!
He spread his hand, and with careful psychokinesis began to pry the talisman out of the pendulum.
Why had he asked Makima to demonstrate her ability?
Partly curiosity—but more importantly… he needed chaos.
He needed Makima distracted!
He'd never forgotten why he'd come tonight.
To seize the talisman!
Watching the talisman floating down through the air on psychokinesis, joy sparked on his face.
Until he heard a sound.
A roar like a tiger's thunder.
The Wild Boar Devil!
It woke from the pain of the flames!
Damn it—why now?
Frowning, he shifted at once into his half-dragon form—just in time to see something like a whip lash toward him with a howl.
The boar's tail!
Blood flashed in his eyes as he crossed his forearms to guard his chest.
"Bang—!!"
Caught off-guard, the massive force knocked him off balance; he flew backward.
He wasn't hurt, but he still rolled several times on the floor before he stood.
Damn it! Right when he was taking the talisman—what timing?!
He didn't know if this was another little stunt from the righteous half.
Ducking the boar's stomping legs, he split his focus to search for the talisman.
Workbench—no; chocolate machines—no; the floor—
The floor!
His gaze locked onto the octagonal stone bouncing across the ground after being swatted; his pupils shrank.
Because that talisman…
After two little spins…
Stopped at Makima's feet!
A small, crisp little plop.
But Makima heard it.
She seemed to have finished the prerequisites for using her ability and could move freely.
So she crouched and picked up the stone talisman.
"Su Tang-kun."
With a smile at the corners of her lips, she quietly watched Su Tang hurry over.
Damn! Still one step late…
Cursing inwardly, Su Tang dispelled his half-dragon form and looked at Makima.
The woman simply stood there, smiling at him.
Even those golden eyes seemed to shimmer with amusement.
He immediately shifted his gaze away.
Though he didn't feel that uncomfortable aura right now, he hadn't forgotten—the Pig Talisman was in Makima's hand!
Meeting her eyes would be like lining up his own eyes with the barrel of a gun?!
One stray discharge and he'd be taking another trip to Hell.
"How's the fight on your side, Su Tang-kun?" Makima asked softly.
"Fine. Got ambushed, but I'm not injured," he replied, doing his best not to look at her hand.
But sometimes, that kind of gaze is hard to hide.
Noticing his eyes, Makima looked down at her own hand.
At the stone talisman carved with a little pig.
She chuckled. "I was wondering why all the chocolate from this factory had little pig designs—turns out they were based on this."
"Hard work to find it, Su Tang-kun."
"Ah-hah… yeah…" he hedged.
"Does Su Tang-kun want it very much?"
"Mm, mm—huh?"
He jerked his head up.
And saw the smile on her face.
"Because you've been staring at it. I assume it isn't my hand you're staring at," Makima teased. "Of course, if you really do like my hand that much, that's not impossible either."
"Heh, you kid—Miss Makima is joking. But I do really need it."
On any other day, he might have bantered with a "mature big sister's lovely hand" gag, but he had no leisure for that now.
"Mm." Hearing his answer, Makima gave a light "mm," then extended her hand and opened her palm. "Then take it, Su Tang-kun."
"Eh?" He stared for a beat at the talisman resting in her palm.
"What's wrong? Don't you need it right now?"
Makima stepped forward this time; she took Su Tang's hand and flipped the talisman into his palm.
Smiling, she said, "Now, whether it's the talisman you like—or my hand—it seems you've gotten both."
The talisman's cool stone lay against his palm.
Over it lay Makima's hand—white and lustrous as warm jade.
He drifted for a moment.
He knew Makima sometimes said lines like this.
But never had they been so… heart-tugging as now.
"Su Tang-kun?"
Her gentle voice brought him back.
He looked deep at her.
He admitted it—he'd just been a little moved.
But thankfully, the Holy Lord's words sounded in his ears again.
This woman was too dangerous.
He kept the warning firmly in mind—especially now, without the Goat Talisman and without the trump card of the Holy Lord's remnant soul.
"Thank you."
His usual smile back on his face, he naturally flipped the talisman into his pocket.
He joked, "Best gift I've received today. To say thanks, when I have time I'll take you to a movie."
"When I have time?"
Who knew when he'd have time.
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