[1st POV]
Violence for the sake of violence.
A war without meaning.
A battle void of the concept of defeat and victory.
Those were the only ways I could describe what happened next. At this point, Central Tokyo was a ruin. And not only in the sense that everything was destroyed. I didn't think life would come to this part even after a million years.
It was like cancer to the earth itself.
Chainsawman was strong, so much so that I felt out of place in the battle that took place. That was a first for me. But still, as the battle progressed and I got an opportunity to consume the pieces of Darkness Devil grinded off by chainsaw, I was rapidly growing.
Makima's knowledge and memories that we now share in the bond also worked to strengthen me. Knowledge was power, after all. And as more time passed, I was processing those knowlege and memories.
It was a fucked up world, that was the only comment I could give.
The Darkness Devil had changed appearance once more. It no longer had a solid form, probably as a way to counter Chainsawman. If it had shape, the chainsaws could efficiently cut through the darkness.
Now the Darkness Devil was a mass of black, like venom. It conjured spears, arms, claws, anything that could help it during the battle. Shadows were a weapon to him, even your own. More often than not, you are completely blind and deaf when fighting against it.
The Darkness Devil was losing slowly, especially after I had reached a threshold of power by consuming the pieces of darkness. I could join in the clash as a proper threat. But even though we were winning the battle, we were doing nothing to the Darkness Devil.
That was why the conflict seemed so meaningless.
The sun was setting, and that would be when the battle would flip around. At this point, we might as well just wait patiently instead of just destroying the city. It was meaningless in the end. The conclusion will only come after darkness. If Chainsawman were reasonable, I would've asked to stop fighting so damn recklessly for futile effort and save his power instead for what was to come.
But the entity that took over Denji's body was beyond reason.
The orange hue in the sky slolwy began turning to the colour of blood. We don't even have an hour anymore, only minutes.
[Jin, you know what you have to do, right?} Makima's voice echoed in my head, but never reached my heart.
Of course, I knew what I had to do.
[One of the slaves is already beside her. Jin, you need to go and eat the Bomb Devil]
Her name's Reze, I can't help but say in my mind.
In truth, that was a choice I had been delaying until now. The Darkness Devil seemed to be weak from the explosions, or should I say light. It didn't make sense that Reze was able to fight against the Darkness Devil, even with all the other things happening. That was the only reason why she stood a chance. And the weakness of the Darkness Devil matched with Makima's knowledge, too.
If I ate her, her powers would be amplified just like I was amplifying Makima's power. Maybe then, with the limited daylight left, we would have sufficient power to fight off the Darkness Devil.
Yes, fight off the Darkness Devil.
Here's the frightening truth. The Darkness Devil was not at its full power at all. Devils were born in Hell, and they needed to be killed to be reborn fully in the human world. Obviously, no one could kill the primordial devil, so the Darkness Devil's existence in the human world was its own doing.
It used its overwhelming power to exist on our plane. A portion of its power was occupied in doing that. So if we could force it or weaken it enough, the Darkness Devil would have no choice but to return to hell to recover its strength.
It was possible. I knew that it was. Ever since this fight started, the mindless slaughter of all Japanese citizens around the world had paused. That meant it was not all-powerful; it couldn't fight us while expanding its power to commit genocide.
The best strategy was not to win the battle but to survive until the Darkness Devil reached its limit. That was why I wanted Chainsawman to reserve hia strength. We can't win this. But victory will be ours if we don't lose.
[Go to Reze]
Shut up. No matter how much I tried not to think about it, Makima kept reminding me of it. I had been pushing those thoughts aside with many excuses. Like saying that I was getting stronger by eating the pieces of the devil so I wouldn't need her power. Or saying that if I ate her, I wouldn't immediately be able to use her powers.
Reze was a hybrid, not a devil like Makima. If I ate her, the true Bomb Devil would appear inside me, and the human Reze would die.
I can't do that. I don't want to. Maybe the choice would be easier if it were assured victory but if the added strength of the Bomb Devil was not enough, it would mean I killed Reze or nothing. And in this case, I concluded that the chance of it working out was barely 20%.
Makima and I were one now, so the alternative was my death along with Denj's. At least if I didn't come up with a smart-ass plan quick.
Lose your left ball or your right ball, that was the choice I was given. Pretty fucked up.
But deep down, I knew that my indecision would only reduce our chances if I really did eat Reze in the end.
...
...
Darkness came.
The shroud of black, the Darkness Devil, I could see the blood red sun setting behind him. And even though the sun, the source of light, was setting on the western horizon, darkness came from that same direction, swallowing light little by little.
It's gotten too late. Now comes the sunset.
The crude buzzing of chainsaws and the roar of engines filled the air. But no matter the chaos or the noise, it couldn't leave a scratch on the resting night.
Chainsawman swung his hands widely, tearing everything and anything that got in his way, yet never tearing enough. This fight was not two against one, more like one against one and one. Both entities saw no one as a partner.
The moment the darkness swallowed where they fought was when everything changed. From a small portion of black, the Darkness Devil became everything instantly. I couldn't tell from where the attacks came; maybe that was because the attacks came from everywhere at the same time.
And this wasn't just about angle or direction. Literally everywhere was the attack. It was like space itself had rejected the Devil of chainsaws. In less than measurable time, Chainsawman was consumed whole.
His body lost all light and colours, and I could only make out the outlines. Like a shape taking form in a perfectly black canvas. It was so ridiculous that he looked more like a drawing with a white pencil on black paper.
I reacted fast, plunging my hand into the darkness while the rest of my body remained in the light. I pulled out everything, which was only the heart at this point. The rest of the body was no more, consumed, or maybe it had become imperceptible like losing something in the dark.
I ran away from the darkness.
Imagine a setting sun. The whole world was separated into pitch-black darkness and dim light. I looked at the ground and saw that the line between two worlds was slowly moving. The night was consuming the world at sunset. Soon, it would be night everywhere in Japan.
I ran towards the remaining sunlight before it completely set. I left the crawling line of darkness as fast as I could. Looking back, I didn't see the Darkness Devil following me.
It didn't take long for me to realise why.
I was fast, leaving the ruined Central Tokyo in just a minute. I was sure I was moving way beyond that of sound, even with my casual sprint.
Buildings and structures began to appear around me once more. But I never felt that I was far enough. It was extremely difficult to outrun the rotation of the planet. But outrunning night became impossible when I saw darkness in front of me, even though I had left it behind.
Two piercing eyes stared at me while I quickly turned around and ran right back towards where I came from.
Borrowing Makima's authority, I looked at my position from the sky, through a bird's eyes. Then I stopped running, and my body went limp.
"I'm trapped," I said with a tired voice.
Indeed. The light area was circular in shape, maybe a few kilometres in radius. But there was no way out and the area with light was slolwy shrinking, like a battleground that was becoming smaller and smaller.
"I don't want to do this anymore," I said with chuckles that had no relation to humour.
[Why are you still hesitating in this situation? You have to get stronger] Makima said, her tone flat, but I could feel that she was panicking.
I know. But I don't know what to do.
[She betrayed you!! Everything is her fault! Everything!! She is someone who doesn't deserve your love at all!!] Makima's voice sounded like something with feelings now.
You're one to talk. I know everything now. I know you inside and out, Control Devil.
No one in this godforsaken world deserves love, especially women, especially me.
[Then at least!! At least eat the heart you hold in your hand,] Makima said.
I looked at the chainsaw's heart in my hand. There was a small string attached to it and I tugged at it. Immediately, blood and flesh exploded out, forming and shaping until they revealed a young man.
Denji.
I exchanged places with one of Makima's slaves and immediately found myself in a new location. The building was ten stories tall, but it looked like it was ready to fall at any moment. A rough wind might just collapse the whole structure.
And on the footsteps of that building was a naked woman crawling on the ground. Her wounds had healed somewhat, but she was covered in blood. She stopped and looked up at me.
From what I can see, she crashed violently into the building and had crawled outside with great difficulty.
"Reze,"
She did not answer me. Blood covered her face, hiding her features. The only thing visible was the clear emerald green eyes she had that were looking at me. The instant those eyes landed on me, they seemed to shimmer under the sunset.
I placed Denji's naked body on the ground before holding out my hand. I squeezed my hand into a fist, my claws digging into my palm and I let the drop of blood fall on her awaiting mouth.
A few seconds later, Reze sat up. Her body had healed but she was no longer in any condition to fight.
Hopeless was the only way to describe the situation.
"..I'm sorry," was the only thing she had to say.
I had gained Makima's memories, so I knew exactly what she was admitting. Operation kill Makima. The main goal of the plan was to throw me out of the picture and summon the Darkness Devil for a contract. At the cost of killing Makima, they'd sacrifice Chainsaw's heart to the Darkness Devil.
From the looks of things, Reze wasn't trying to kill Denji. Power was substituted for Denji's heart, and with a new Devil Contract or a careful heart transplant, he would've lived.
Reze didn't know the whole context; she was only a pawn to a bigger plan. She didn't know the fact that taking me out of the picture was literally sending me to hell. She probably thought they would send me into another dimension and seal me for a time. There were Devils who could do that; the Ageing Devil, for example, could do that.
From her perspective, she probably thought she was going to save me from the clutches of the Control Devil by killing her. Makima was infamous around the world. It was why even the Superpowers of the world wouldn't mess with a small island like Japan.
The thing she was sorry for was for failing her mission. If only she were able to kill Makima, everything would be fine.
I mean, no one expected Makima to be eaten by me, and in the process, one would need to kill me first in order to kill Makima. Even I didn't expect this. It was a mindless piece of me that ate Makima.
The Control Devil had perfectly exploited my contract with Aki to assure her survival.
I couldn't even be mad because I would be mad at everyone. This whole thing was so unnecessarily long and complicated that it made me want to vomit.
"I know," was my only reply to Reze.
I have a few choices in front of me. Firstly, I can give Chainsaw's heart and hope that everything will end with everyone surviving.
The problem was that the possibility of that happening was very unlikely. Normal contracts involved both parties to sacrifice something of their own. But in the case of making contracts that required doing something or wagering something that did not belong to you, things get much more complicated.
The case of Santa Claus' contract with the Darkness Devil was of both these types.
The Chainsaw Heart belonged to Pochita. But when the contract was made, it was deemed that Santa Calus was in possession of said heart. So it wouldn't matter if I gave it to it now. The contracts deemed that I have no right, so the Darkness Devil would still need to fulfil his contract with Santa Calus to not suffer the consequence of breaking a contract.
The small hope lies in the fact that maybe the Darkness Devil was strong enough to be beyond the consequences of breaking a contract. I mean, it literally descended to the human world without dying, so maybe it could do that.
But again, that was unlikely. This was why Santa Claus didn't try to do anything to hold onto the Chainsaw's heart. The contract had already been made and as far as that promise was concerned, it was, and alwasy will belong to her. Even if I literally hold the heart in my hands, the contract views it as hers.
Secondly, I could eat Reze's heart to gain the Bomb Devil powers. The Bomb Devil was powerful and a counter to the Darkness Devil. There was a small glimmer of hope that I would be able to at least force the Darkness Devil out of the human world if I had her abilities with my growing power.
Thirdly, I could eat Chainsaw's heart. Chainsawman, from Makima's memories, was one of the most powerful Devils in the world, rivalling the likes of a primordial Devil. I would definitely be able to beat the Darkness Devil out of this world with that.
But the risk was that I didn't know what would happen to me if I ate the being that was capable of erasing existence itself. Eating a small piece of the Darkness Devil made me feel like I was going to die. I might just be deleted from existence if I tried to eat the Chainsaw's heart. Eating it piece by piece, little by little, might work, but that would take a very long time.
And it might also kill Denji in the process. Although Reze didn't want to kill Denji, she didn't know what would happen if Chainsaw's heart was truly lost. Even I didn't know. What type of contract did Pochita and Denji have?
As I pondered these thoughts, the night was rapidly swallowing the remaining light, and it was upon me.
A few minutes at most was all I had.
As my mind felt like 100 tons upon my neck, the sound of flesh tearing away brought me out of my predicament. Followed by the plop sound of something that was ripped out from a vacuum that was holding it.
I stared with wide eyes as Reze pulled out her heart and held it out to me. Blood was pouring out like a faucet from her chest. Her face was cleaner now, and I saw a gentle smile on her face. The curve of her smile bled out.
"Here," Reze said, casually offering me her heart like it wasn't even hers to begin with and alwasy belonged to me.
"Take it," she said, gently, clearly, but the choking did not help her.
[Take it] Makima's voice echoed.
...
...
[IMAGE]
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