"S."
"b."
"Not bad. Denji actually knows some English letters?"
"Only a few. But what does it mean?"
"Sweet baby."
"I don't get it."
"When Ino wakes up, he'll tell you what it means."
Arata tossed the knife aside and got back into the car. "Get in. We're driving over."
"Ino said not to drive his car. If it gets damaged, he'll blame me. And if he finds out I took it, he'll come after me for sure."
"Suit yourself."
He hit the gas. The car shot forward, leaving Denji standing alone in the dust.
"This Honda's not bad. Maybe I'll just drive it away after we kill the devil."
It took less than a minute for the car to reach the vegetable farm's fence.
"Woof!"
"Oh, you're in here too? Perfect. I didn't bring a weapon. Mind if I borrow you?"
Arata opened the back door and reached for Pochita. But the dog hadn't forgotten about the bread incident. He was still in full hostile mode.
The moment Arata's hand got close, Pochita snapped at him.
"Hey! Don't touch my Pochita."
Denji came running up, completely out of breath.
"You wasted all your energy running here. How are you going to fight the devil now?"
"Because you wouldn't give me a ride!"
He pulled Pochita tight against his chest.
"Hey, are you two Devil Hunters?"
A man in his thirties came rushing over.
"Yeah. Top-tier Devil Hunters."
"Thank god. Please, save my wife."
The farmer's face crumpled as he begged.
"No problem."
"She's stuck inside the Cucumber Devil right now. If you don't save her soon, she'll die."
The man looked like he was about to cry. The countryside was different from the city. Devils out here were usually weak, so they always called unaffiliated Devil Hunters. Only when a really tough devil showed up did Public Safety get involved.
"Denji, go take care of that cucumber."
"You don't have to tell me twice. Pochita, let's go."
Denji yanked the pull cord hanging from Pochita's rear end.
A blonde boy in an eyepatch came sprinting forward, holding a chainsaw. The Cucumber Devil was seven meters tall and three meters thick, like a massive tree trunk. It was tearing through the vegetable farm, not even noticing the humans nearby.
Denji wasn't scared. He treated it like cutting vegetables—or cutting trees. He swung the chainsaw and charged straight at the devil's back.
The blade sank in. Green juice sprayed from the wound. He planned to drag the cut all the way through and slice the devil in half.
But then the farmer shouted urgently, "Stop! My wife is inside its body. Don't hurt my wife!"
Denji froze mid-swing. Having a person inside the devil made things way harder.
"Ow, that hurts! You little brat, you're not even scared of me?"
The Cucumber Devil couldn't believe some human had actually attacked it. It spun around and slapped Denji across the field.
He would have hit the ground hard, but Arata caught him.
"You can't get distracted in a fight. Even if someone's inside, you keep cutting."
"Are you trying to kill my wife?!" The farmer screamed.
"We don't want to kill your wife. But we also don't want to die. And I'm not throwing my life away for a corpse—dead or alive."
"No! You have to save my wife and kill the devil."
"Fine. But that'll cost extra. You just made this harder for us."
"I already agreed on a price with that guy."
"I hate when middlemen take a cut. Pay us directly."
"I..."
"Take your time. But your wife and your farm don't have much left."
The man looked at the Cucumber Devil charging toward them, then said quickly, "Okay, okay. I agree."
"Pleasure doing business."
The moment those words left his mouth, Arata moved.
His fingernails stretched and sharpened into blades. The white claws gleamed in the sunlight.
Shing!
His body blurred. He sprinted toward the Cucumber Devil like the wind, bent his knees, and launched himself six meters into the air. He appeared right in front of the devil's face.
Before it could react, he drove his claws into the soft flesh below its mouth. The blades sliced down through muscle and tissue as he fell, ripping open the devil's entire front torso. A wound over six meters long.
Splash!!
Intestines spilled out. Along with the farmer's wife. Green blood flooded the ground.
"So strong!"
Denji couldn't believe what he just saw. Jumping six meters in the air. Ripping a devil open with one claw strike. He thought Arata was just good at hand-to-hand. But this was beyond human limits. He had to be a Devilman—someone with a devil contract.
But instead of walking back, Arata crouched down next to the woman and reached into her collar.
"What are you doing?!" The farmer ran over, yelling.
"Checking if she still has a pulse." Arata said it completely seriously.
"Does she? Does she have a pulse?"
"I can't tell. I'll need to put my face against her chest and listen."
"Stop right there!"
Before the farmer could say anything, Denji was already storming over. But his first words weren't what anyone expected.
"Listening for heartbeats is my specialty. Let me do it."
"What... what are you two doing?"
The woman's eyes fluttered open. The first thing she saw was two strangers arguing over something.
"Thank god, you're alive!"
The farmer threw himself onto his wife, sobbing. She just looked confused, having no idea what was going on.
"Thank you. Thank you both for your help." The farmer grabbed Arata's hand, emotional.
"Don't mention it. We are top-tier Hunters, after all."
"Hey. All of you, turn around."
Arata said this suddenly.
"Me too?" The farmer pointed at himself.
"Everyone. Turn around."
"Why?" Denji asked.
"If you don't want to turn around, I don't mind plucking out your remaining eyeball. And I'm not joking."
His words made all three of them and the dog freeze for a moment. Then, one by one, they turned their backs.
"Don't try to peek. If I catch you, those eyeballs are gone too."
"Got it. We won't turn around, I swear." The farmer was terrified, his arm wrapped tightly around his wife's shoulder.
"Alright. You can turn back now."
Arata patted Denji on the shoulder.
The three of them turned around in perfect sync.
And what they saw behind them left Denji speechless.
He couldn't believe his eyes.