POV Narrator
The idea—much to Isagi's misfortune—was a good one. For the first time in recorded history, Denji had used his brain for something that didn't involve food or boobs.
Even so, Isagi had absolutely no intention of being thrown in like a fish into a lake full of piranhas. Just because his blood was basically an airport beacon for devils didn't mean he wanted to test how many would come running.
"—Hahaha, hell no, asshole," Isagi mocked, elegantly raising his middle finger. "I know I'm an irresistible snack, but like in a museum: you can look, but you can't touch."
He crossed his arms into a big X in front of his chest, flat-out rejecting the idiot's proposal. He didn't want to be eaten, nor used as bait to lure in the big fish.
"How about we tie you up instead and use you as bait? I mean, you're already used to suffering."
"What? Nah, I'm not nearly as tasty as you," Denji replied shamelessly, shrugging. "You look way more appetizing."
Power nodded so fast her horns almost fell off.
"—The scoundrel is right! You're better! Let yourself be eaten, human!" she shouted with a massive grin, her eyes shining with genuine hunger, ready to pounce again.
Isagi raised a hand in warning, like he was trying to calm down a pair of wild animals.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy there. Sit. Stay," he said, starting to move in circles, mimicking Power's steps—both of them circling like predators sizing each other up. "Bad dog. Stay."
"—I am NOT a dog, you damn scoundrel!" Power roared, losing the tiny bit of patience she had left.
Without another warning, she launched herself at full speed toward Isagi, clearly aiming to sink her teeth into him.
"—Ah, you crazy bitch!"
Isagi bolted, running at full speed as Power chased him with a frenzied expression, arms stretched forward like a bloodthirsty zombie… or a kid trying to grab a balloon slipping away.
The screech of Isagi's shoes skidding across the rooftop echoed loudly as he stopped dead in his tracks. He snapped his hand up.
Power couldn't stop in time and slammed into him, bouncing backward as if she'd hit an invisible wall.
"Silence," Isagi commanded with exaggerated solemnity. "My vinyl antennae are detecting enemy presence."
He tilted his head side to side, imitating a human radar as his danger sensor vibrated faintly. Very faintly—which meant it wasn't a serious threat, more like a watch your step warning.
"—Follow me, good people!" he proclaimed theatrically, pointing ahead like he was in an episode of El Chavo del Ocho.
Power, still sprawled on the ground, got up brushing dust off herself. Isagi was already running, jumping from rooftop to rooftop with almost inhuman ease.
"Hey! Don't leave me alone with this crazy bitch!" Denji shouted before taking off after him, abandoning Power without a shred of remorse.
Isagi stopped at the edge of a tall building and raised his hand again, signaling Denji to stop.
"There," he whispered.
He pointed downward.
Danger.
A devil.
The monster had a cylindrical body made of thick, unpleasantly wet flesh, like a poorly cooked block of muscle. Countless human fingers sprouted from all over it, writhing, moving independently, rubbing together with a grating sound.
At the top of its body was a massive dark hole, and just beneath it, a human skull jutted out as if it had been accidentally embedded there. Its skin was a mix of magenta and blue, with bluish fingers that looked like living bruises.
Isagi frowned… and then he heard something. His enhanced hearing picked up a voice coming from a nearby phone booth.
"—Yes! I need help against the sea cucumber devil!" a man said into the phone, completely serious.
There was a pause.
And then…
"—HAHAHAHAHA!" Isagi burst out laughing, doubling over. "A sea cucumber?! Who the hell is afraid of sea cucumbers?!" he mocked between laughs, completely unable to take the devil's name seriously.
Even as he laughed, he genuinely wondered who could possibly be afraid of a sea cucumber.
"What the hell is that thing? It looks like a finger jelly," Denji said with a look of pure disgust, frowning.
The devil's texture was so wet and jiggly it almost felt like, if they touched it, it would bounce like a badly made flan.
The sea cucumber devil advanced at an irritatingly slow pace, dragging its cylindrical body while the fingers covering it twitched one after another, producing an awful sound—like nails scraping glass.
It didn't seem to have any special abilities. No claws, no fangs, no surprise attacks—just awkwardly moving toward the phone booth, where the man kept asking for help as if he were facing a dragon-level threat.
Isagi narrowed his eyes.
"Man… can that guy with the katana really not handle this?" he muttered in disbelief. This devil represented the fear of sea cucumbers.
Sea. Cucumbers.
Isagi didn't even know that was something capable of inspiring terror.
Who was afraid of a creature that basically looked like a living sponge? Three people? Four, if you counted a traumatized fisherman?
"With this thing, even civilian hunters could warm up…" Isagi whispered, already mentally classifying the devil as tutorial trash. Even his daily training was harder than this. "…Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?"
Suddenly, a voice boomed behind them.
"—Hey, damn scoundrels! How dare you leave the Great Power behind?!" Power arrived at their side with an offended expression. Her nose wrinkled, then lit up with excitement. "A devil!" she licked her lips. "The battle calls! I claim that devil as mine!"
Without waiting for a response, Power took a running start and leapt from the building with a wild laugh. Blood burst from her wrist like a red whip, solidifying in midair and forming a massive hammer in that grotesque, unmistakable shape only she could create.
Power crashed down onto the devil like a meteor.
BOOM!
The impact was brutal. Between Power's weight, the force of the blow, and the fall itself, the devil exploded like a bag of blue paint.
Chunks of magenta flesh and fingers flew in every direction, splattering walls, pavement, and especially Power—who ended up completely drenched in blue blood, wearing a manic smile.
"—HAHAHAHAHA! It's mine! This loot is mine!" she shouted proudly, raising her blood-soaked hammer in victory.
Isagi, meanwhile, kept his hands in his pockets, watching the carnage. He had remembered what he'd forgotten.
And he could only say one thing.
"I think we're in trouble…"
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End of the chapter.