They had served as assessment officers in Tokyo Public Security for a long time and had seen countless candidates.
Those who dared to choose the highest difficulty level were usually either overconfident or reckless. Only a very select few newcomers had ever managed to pass the highest difficulty test.
If someone succeeded, that naturally meant they were truly strong.
But if they failed, they would never be given another assessment opportunity. It was essentially a "blacklist" situation, as it indicated a serious issue with their judgment and attitude.
During actual missions, rash, impulsive, and reckless behavior was highly frowned upon—such actions could easily get teammates killed.
"I have already made up my mind."
At this moment, Chiya responded calmly.
"In that case, let's begin."
The assessment officer didn't waste any more words. He had already said everything that needed to be said.
"I've checked this rookie's record. He has indeed participated in the hunting of a demon that had consumed a Gun Devil flesh fragment. But that was in a team of five, including Aki Hayakawa."
"Hunting demons in a team is much easier than going solo. I don't know where he gets his confidence from."
"Let's just watch first. Don't jump to conclusions too soon. Maybe he really does have the strength. Though, I find that unlikely..."
"..."
The assessment officers murmured amongst themselves in the audience stands.
Aki, standing nearby, could faintly hear some of their discussions. However, he was well aware of Chiya's strength… or rather, he felt that he had yet to truly witness the full extent of Chiya's real power.
Based on what he had seen so far, passing the highest difficulty assessment should not be an issue for him.
At the same time, Chiya's opponent appeared.
It was a Gecko Devil. According to the assessment officer, this devil had also consumed a fragment of the Gun Devil's flesh.
Under normal circumstances, a gecko devil wouldn't be that powerful—after all, not many people were afraid of geckos. However, after being enhanced by the Gun Devil's flesh, it had become something entirely different.
The gecko devil was abnormally large. It was not just significantly bigger than a normal gecko, which was typically only about thirty centimeters long, but even among demons, it was considered huge.
Visually estimating, its body and tail combined stretched nearly ten meters long—a ridiculous size.
Its massive head had a bulging, "intelligent"-looking eye that protruded outward, scanning its surroundings rapidly in all directions.
Its back was lined with numerous spikes, similar to a stegosaurus, with each spike reaching one to two meters in length.
Without any unnecessary talk, the gecko devil immediately launched its "greeting attack." The spikes on its back shot outward, raining down like arrows toward Chiya.
However, just as the spikes left its back, Chiya had already used his left eye's Kamui ability to absorb one of them into his dimensional space.
At the same time, he charged toward the gecko devil. By the time the "arrow rain" of spikes hit the ground, Chiya had already closed the distance, and none of the spikes had struck him.
Running up the gecko devil's foreleg, he swiftly reached its head. His "Speed" attribute was twice that of a normal human, making his movements incredibly fast.
A spatial vortex suddenly appeared in his right eye, and the spike he had just absorbed was now ejected from it. He grabbed the spike mid-air, adjusted its angle, and enhanced its force—then plunged it downward into the gecko demon's massive eye.
"Pop!"
A sound similar to a bursting balloon echoed as the gecko demon's eye exploded, spraying blood in all directions.
Although the demon had already attempted a counterattack before its eye was pierced—its enormous tongue lashed out toward Chiya—it was all seen clearly through his Mangekyō Sharingan.
He lightly leapt onto the tongue, drew his katana, and sliced into the tip before dashing toward the demon's mouth.
The Gecko devil's entire tongue was split in half by his blade.
"Aaargh! Damn you, Devil Hunter!"
Blinded and in excruciating pain, the Gecko devil roared in fury.
But there was nothing it could do against Chiya. In desperation, it tried to trap him by closing its mouth.
However, Chiya had deliberately rushed inside for a reason. Whether the demon closed its mouth or not didn't matter to him.
He drove his katana downward with force, piercing through the devil's lower jaw and slashing all the way up into its brain.
His "Strength" attribute was also twice that of a normal person, allowing his katana to unleash astonishing power.
Yet, he quickly noticed that the gecko demon's injuries were healing at an alarming rate. The tongue he had just sliced apart was already reattaching itself at a speed visible to the naked eye.
It seemed that the Gun Devil's flesh fragment had granted the gecko demon not only an exaggerated body size and various attack methods but also high-speed regeneration—even without consuming human blood.
However, its weakness was also obvious—its defenses were far too weak. Its flesh could be easily cut apart with a blade.
Fighting a demon with powerful regeneration wasn't difficult. The best method was the same as always: chop it into so many pieces that it could never regenerate again.
Before the eyes of the assessment officers, Chiya methodically hacked the massive gecko demon into pieces. Sparks flew from his katana as it struck bone and flesh repeatedly.
Yet, Chiya showed no signs of exhaustion. In fact, his sword swings only became faster and faster, thanks to his "Vitality" attribute being ten times that of a normal human.
To the assessment officers, this was exactly the kind of martial arts genius they had been searching for all these years!
Such ruthless efficiency, such astonishing martial prowess, and an unwavering mindset—it all left them in utter shock!
Even Aki, who was already familiar with Chiya, showed a rare look of surprise. It was the first time he had seen Chiya display such incredible martial arts skills.
Strength, speed, reaction time, endurance, and hand-to-hand combat techniques—these were all essential aspects of martial arts.
The gecko demon's agonized screams gradually weakened until, eventually, it fell completely silent.
Ding!
[Host successfully hunted "Gecko Devil" and earned Attribute Points: 26!]
Although killing this demon was more exhausting than dealing with the toad demon, its abilities weren't as troublesome. The amount of attribute points awarded seemed reasonable.
At that moment, Chiya retrieved the corpse along with the Gun Devil's flesh fragment.
The assessment officers were still in a daze. After a moment of hesitation, one of them finally spoke: "Assessment complete!"
As Chiya stepped out of the combat chamber, his first question was, "Can we keep this Gun Devil flesh fragment?"
"Of course. You are now officially members of Tokyo Public Security. You have the right to possess Gun Devil fragments—just don't lose it."
The assessment officer's voice trembled slightly, clearly still shaken by what he had just witnessed.
Hearing this, Chiya casually handed the fragment to Aki Hayakawa. "I remember you really wanted this."
Aki was momentarily stunned. "Y-yeah..."
Ding!
[Ding! Host has unlocked the achievement "Aki Hayakawa's Affection (Lv2)" and earned Attribute Points: 4!]