Chapter 166: Summoning the Falling Devil
The "action figure" of the Falling Devil was naturally obtained by Otonashi Chiya through his contract with the Famine Devil; this Falling Devil "figure" was fundamentally one of Kiga's methods.
Ever since he formed a contract with Kiga, he had also roughly figured out her devil powers.
First, the ability to control any human, animal, or devil currently in a state of hunger. Second, "unequal exchange."
This second ability was related to the "scales." In the Bible, the Black Horseman representing Famine carried scales, and Kiga's ears also wore scale-like earrings that were constantly out of balance, causing her head to always tilt to one side.
In other words, Kiga was capable of carrying out unequal exchanges.
This had already been demonstrated in the original story, where she used her own student cap to exchange for the War Devil residing inside Mitaka Asa. Mitaka Asa and the War Devil should have been one entity, yet the War Devil was pulled right out of Mitaka Asa's body by Kiga and taken away directly, leaving behind only a single student cap.
The fact that Kiga could make the Falling Devil work for her was presumably achieved through this "unequal exchange" ability.
Otonashi Chiya's understanding of Kiga's devil power was limited to this. Although his contract with Kiga allowed him to use her abilities, it was impossible for him to know everything about her roots.
"Respected guest, what kind of order do you require?"
At that moment, Otonashi Chiya heard a gentle and elegant voice—the voice of the Falling Devil.
Only he could hear this voice; no one else around could perceive it.
"Any diner from Hell will do. Have them consume all the Devil Church members present here. Aside from that, please do not accidentally harm anyone, nor casually alter the gravity anywhere else in the world."
Having a contract with Kiga, Otonashi Chiya could place an order with the Falling Devil through the Falling Devil "figure." An order could also be considered a commission or a task.
The Falling Devil was a Primal Devil with considerable principles, operating strictly according to the terms of the order. Aside from those she already regarded as "ingredients," as long as ordinary humans did not actively attack her, she would not harm them.
Perhaps because she was a humanoid devil whose appearance resembled a human, it was an old cliché that humanoid devils tended to be relatively friendly toward humans.
Of course, one couldn't completely rule out the possibility of the Falling Devil accidentally injuring ordinary people when she got slightly serious about using her abilities, as she could effortlessly uproot entire buildings by their foundations or alter the gravity across various parts of the world, triggering geological disasters like collapses, landslides, and mudslides.
Otonashi Chiya's order had been explicitly stated: do not accidentally harm anyone other than the members of the Devil Church.
In the original work, in order to control the War Devil and instigate large-scale global warfare, Kiga's order was to have the War Devil eaten by a diner from Hell. The War Devil, who couldn't easily die, would grow increasingly hungry inside the Hell diner's stomach, and being in a state of hunger meant she would fall under Kiga's control.
As for triggering large-scale global warfare, that was achieved by using the Falling Devil to invert global gravity, causing frequent geological disasters that would quickly detonate conflicts.
The logic was simple: various countries around the world would suffer moderate losses during the exact same period, and facing geological disasters naturally required funding for disaster relief. Once everyone found themselves strapped for cash, war would break out spontaneously.
The outbreak of large-scale warfare would rapidly spike human fear of war, thereby achieving Kiga's original goal in the story—simultaneously controlling the War Devil and restoring the War Devil's strength, though the step of controlling the War Devil had been disrupted by the Control Devil.
Otonashi Chiya certainly didn't want such a thing to happen, especially ensuring that the children in the shelter wouldn't be accidentally harmed by the Falling Devil, which was why he had specifically stipulated the order parameters with the Falling Devil.
"Very well, I understand. Then, without further ado..."
Just as the Falling Devil's voice trailed off, a corpse of a Devil Church member nearby suddenly came flying toward Otonashi Chiya's direction, its gravitational direction seemingly altered.
While a normal person's gravity pulls them downward, that corpse's gravity "fell" in a completely different direction.
The "action figure" in Otonashi Chiya's hand had already hit the ground, instantly expanding to become the tall body of a human woman. Her arms and legs were exceptionally long, and her figure was remarkably upright and proud, towering over Otonashi Chiya by almost a full head—easily standing over six feet tall.
Aside from her normal arms, there were a few more pairs of distorted hands around her neck, a pair of wing-like appendages on her back, and most bizarrely of all, she had no head.
At that moment, the corpse of the Devil Church member had already flown right in front of the Falling Devil.
She caught it and casually snapped off the head of the corpse, which belonged to a human woman.
The Falling Devil placed this human head atop her neck to serve as her own head, supporting it with one of her pairs of hands.
"Oh my~ oh my~ please forgive me for making such an ugly display in front of you..."
The Falling Devil seemed to be apologizing to Otonashi Chiya.
Because her nude devil body really wasn't much to look at—while her figure was proud and statuesque, those extra pairs of hands looked far too strange.
The Falling Devil extended an index finger, and a chef's uniform instantly materialized on her body, complete with a chef's hat perched on her head.
Since she was using a dead person's head, blood was still trickling from the eyes, nose, and mouth, but her closed-eye, smiling expression inexplicably carried a hint of elegance.
"Though I lack talent, as today's head chef, my name is... the Falling Devil."
The Falling Devil placed her normal pair of hands behind her waist and introduced herself to everyone present with an exceptionally formal standing posture.
"Having received an order from a certain lord, I have manifested..."
Before the Falling Devil could finish speaking, she was interrupted by those Devil Church members.
"The Falling Devil? What kind of thing is that?"
"Who cares what it is! Kill it if you can, stall it if you can't!"
"Another devil selling its services to humans, must be nothing more than some inferior devil!"
That group of Devil Church members completely failed to realize that the Falling Devil was a top-tier Primal Devil, seeing as the Falling Devil was presumably the first Primal Devil to ever descend into the human world.
"Oh my my~ dear ingredients, please don't be anxious, let me finish explaining the rules first."
The Falling Devil was surprisingly patient; after all, possessing absolute strength meant the entire situation was completely under her control.
The Falling Devil's rule was essentially that food must not be wasted; if the diners from Hell left behind any leftovers of the food she prepared, she would kill them directly.
Even if a diner from Hell thought her cooking tasted bad, the Falling Devil—dignified Primal Devil that she was—would completely lose her composure. For some unknown reason, she had an intense, obsessive attachment to the identity of a "chef."
"Since you 'ingredients' are so impatient, then I won't waste any more time. Dear 'diners' and 'ingredients,' let's begin today's cooking segment~"