Nine years ago, due to frequent gun-related terrorist attacks around the world, people's fear of firearms skyrocketed in a short period of time, leading to the Gun Devil's descent into the human world.
In just a few minutes of its appearance, it caused catastrophic destruction worldwide, killing over a million people!
In Japan alone, it landed for only 26 seconds but caused 57,912 deaths.
Aki's family died in that disaster.
Since then, to reduce people's fear of firearms, strict gun control measures were implemented, aiming to limit and weaken the Gun Devil's power.
Except for one country, which remained the land of the free, where gunfights happened every day.
But the Gun Devil was still the Gun Devil. No matter how much it was weakened, it remained terrifyingly powerful. Even a tiny fragment of its flesh could transform an ordinary devil.
These fragments came from the Gun Devil's body burning and breaking off during its high-speed movements.
During those few minutes it descended into the human world, it landed in many countries, scattering countless fragments across the globe.
At this moment, Aki had regained some of his strength and slowly walked over to Chiya.
He looked at the Gun Devil's flesh fragment in Chiya's hand, his pupils contracting sharply. His emotions became visibly agitated. "So this is the Gun Devil's flesh fragment!"
"I can tell you really want this thing."
Chiya handed the fragment to Aki.
"..."
Aki couldn't deny it.
He stared at the fragment as if it were a sworn enemy, the tragic memories of that day resurfacing in his mind.
He clenched the fragment tightly but managed to control his emotions. "This fragment has to be handed over to the client. They'll sell it to Public Safety. It's illegal for civilian devil hunters to possess Gun Devil fragments privately."
The client was willing to pay 3 million yen for the fragment because they could resell it to Public Safety for a hefty profit.
Chiya had no objections. He wasn't interested in the fragment.
"By the way, it's clear now that everything just now was your demonic power."
Aki looked at Chiya's eyes, noticing the thin streaks of blood flowing from them. He couldn't help but express concern. "Are your eyes okay? You should rest well after this. Try not to take on any more commissions for the next few days."
"It's nothing serious. I'll recover after a couple of days of rest."
Chiya smiled.
This was the most frequent use of his "Kamui" eye technique during the hunt for the Toad Devil, and his body and ocular power were already overstrained.
Though it wasn't visible on the surface, he was actually very weak, his eyes stinging and his vision blurry.
[Ding! Distribution complete. Vitality +30!]
[Vitality: 83]
Given the special circumstances, Chiya allocated all his attribute points to "Vitality" to recover quickly.
After the distribution, he felt much better. The stinging in his eyes almost disappeared, and his vision was no longer blurry. With a bit more rest, he would fully recover.
If "Vitality" were compared to a "health bar," his original health bar was "10/53." After adding 30 points, it became "40/83," naturally improving his physical condition significantly.
"Huh? I'm still alive?!"
At this moment, Kinoshita Tsuki, who had been unconscious, woke up due to the strong smell of blood.
She had thought she was doomed—either dead from the fall or eaten by the devil in the basement.
To her surprise, aside from some bruises and swelling from the fall, she was unharmed.
However, the pungent smell of blood in the air quickly brought her to full awareness. As she looked around, she saw the scattered pieces of the devil's corpse.
The sight made her nauseous, and she almost vomited on the spot.
She also noticed Chiya and Aki standing near the corpse, especially Chiya, who was covered in blood. It was clear that he was the one who had killed the devil.
Kinoshita Tsuki saw that Nomura Kojirou was also alive and closer to her, lying on the ground and taking deep breaths. She walked over and asked, "Nomura, what happened just now?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she noticed Takeda Yusuke's corpse, which she hadn't seen earlier due to her limited field of vision.
Takeda Yusuke's body was now a gruesome sight. His chest and abdomen were mostly corroded, his eyes bulging wide open, as if he had died with unresolved grievances.
She instinctively screamed, "Mr. Takeda… he's dead?!"
Nomura Kojirou was still lying on the ground, his nerves still rattled after nearly losing his life.
In a cold tone, he said, "Good riddance. He almost got me killed just now."
Hearing this, Kinoshita Tsuki fell silent.
After all, Mr. Takeda had also kicked her down the stairs. Someone must have saved her, or she would have been dead by now.
"That bastard used me as a human shield. If it weren't for Otonashi saving me, you'd be looking at my corpse right now."
Nomura Kojirou recounted his ordeal with a complex tone.
"Otonashi saved you? Could he have saved me too?"
Kinoshita Tsuki speculated.
"Very likely. His strength is on a completely different level from ours. Saving you would've been effortless for him."
Nomura Kojirou seemed to be questioning his life choices, still lying on the ground, unwilling to get up.
Back then, he thought it was so cool to be a devil hunter, making contracts with devils to gain power. He had dropped out of school on a whim to become a civilian devil hunter.
At first, things went smoothly. Dealing with weaker devils was easy, and while the price for using demonic power was painful, a bit of rest was all it took to recover.
But today, after foolishly taking on this commission, he realized how powerless he was against stronger devils.
If it weren't for Chiya, the Toad Devil could have easily wiped out their entire team.
Chiya, who was around the same age as him, was stronger than any devil hunter he had ever seen…
Thinking about this, Nomura Kojirou couldn't help but laugh at himself. He had actually dared to act so arrogantly in front of Chiya when they first formed the team. Thankfully, Chiya had a good temper and didn't hold it against him.
"It seems you're all fine. Let's go. I've already called the truck company and the police. They'll be here soon to handle the scene."
At this moment, Chiya walked over, speaking as he headed toward the stairs, with Aki by his side.
"Okay!"
Kinoshita Tsuki quickly followed, not wanting to stay in the basement for another second.
Nomura Kojirou also got up quickly, glancing at Takeda Yusuke's corpse before leaving.
That bastard got what he deserved, but it also made Nomura realize how treacherous human nature could be.
Kinoshita Tsuki caught up to Chiya, feeling a bit awkward as she thanked him.
"Um, can I call you Otonashi-kun? Thank you so much for saving me!"