"Rookies shouldn't go off alone! It's too dangerous! Stop right there!!"
Arai strode after Denji, shouting.
But Denji ignored him and kept charging ahead.
He seemed to be walking, but he was moving as fast as someone running.
"Hey, can't you hear me?"
"Damn it! Stop!"
Seeing that words weren't working, Arai lunged forward and tackled Denji to the floor.
Then he pinned Denji beneath his body.
"Get off!! What the hell are you doing?!" Denji struggled fiercely, roaring.
"I told you not to go so fast."
"What business is it of yours how fast I go?!"
Arai was momentarily speechless, but quickly replied, "Rookies should stay behind their seniors. Don't try to show off. We're not here to play."
"I'm way stronger than you! Get out of my way."
"You little punk, how dare you ignore your senior?"
Arai fought to restrain the struggling Denji.
No matter what, he couldn't let Denji steal the reward that belonged to him.
"Hey, what are you two doing? You haven't even met the devil yet, and you're already fighting each other."
Since the two kept wrestling on the floor,
Aki Hayakawa, Himeno, and the others soon caught up.
"Himeno, this punk won't listen to his seniors. He keeps charging ahead alone."
Arai hurried to explain, not wanting Himeno to realize he had stopped Denji just to get the reward.
"He should be taking point. What else would we bring him for?" Aki Hayakawa said irritably.
"But..."
"Don't worry, Arai. Denji can turn into a devil. Compared to us, he's practically impossible to kill."
"Oh, I see."
Hearing that, Arai instantly lost his excuse for stopping Denji.
"Get off!!" Denji shoved Arai aside and sprang to his feet, demanding, "You keep stopping me because you want to steal Himeno's kiss, don't you?"
"What are you talking about? I'm only looking out for you." Arai panicked. As an honest, straitlaced man, if his motives were exposed, the label of closet pervert would haunt him for life.
"I don't need your concern. I just want to kill the devil so I can share a sloppy kiss with Himeno."
"Damn it!! Don't say things like that!"
Arai charged at Denji, swinging his fists.
Clearly, Himeno held quite a place in Arai's heart.
"Fucking stop, both of you!"
At some point, Meng Fan had suddenly appeared between them.
He caught a fist from each of them.
"I can see what you're both after, but this devil won't be easy to deal with. I'd suggest saving your strength."
Meng Fan flung their raised hands aside.
The two stopped squaring off.
Creak!!
Just then, the door directly ahead suddenly opened.
Everyone's gaze snapped toward the sound.
A human head with a pair of large feet slowly walked into the hallway.
"So many people."
The big-footed head grinned, completely unperturbed.
Though it looked strange, it didn't seem capable of fighting at all.
So no one rushed to attack.
"Aki, anything?"
"The Gun Devil's flesh isn't reacting. This probably isn't the one."
Just as everyone let their guard down,
the Big-Foot Devil suddenly leaped straight at Kobeni.
Whoosh!!
"Aah!!"
Kobeni leaned backward and screamed where she stood.
"Stop right there!!" Himeno suddenly raised her arm beside her, reaching toward the big-footed head from a distance.
That single motion froze the big-footed head in midair.
"Die!"
Power shouted and sprang out of the group.
With one swift downward slash, she split the big-footed head in two and claimed first blood.
"Tch. Not even a challenge." Power planted a foot on half the head and sneered.
None of them thought much of the big-footed head.
Only Kobeni clutched her pounding chest, scared out of her mind.
"Don't let your guard down. A devil could jump out of a room at any moment."
"Himeno." Kobeni immediately moved to Himeno's side, seeking help.
"Don't be scared, Kobeni. We brought you along this time to help build your courage."
"Why become a Devil Hunter if you're such a coward?" Power put away her blood blade and followed the others upstairs.
They climbed the steps to the ninth floor.
But Arai noticed the sign by the stairs.
He had seen an eighth-floor sign when they passed it earlier.
Now, after climbing another floor, the sign still read eight.
"What's wrong, Arai?" Himeno suddenly asked when she saw him standing frozen at the top of the stairs.
"We were clearly climbing the stairs from the eighth floor to the ninth. Why are we still on the eighth?"
"Were we? I wasn't paying attention."
"Wait here. I'll go up and take a look myself."
"Wait for me." Seeing Arai run off, Denji hurried after him.
In the blink of an eye, the two appeared before everyone again.
They had clearly gone upstairs, yet they had ended up coming downstairs.
Refusing to believe it, Arai tried going down instead.
But he still appeared in the same place.
Finding it strange, Himeno also joined them in going up and down the stairs.
But the result was always the same.
They looped endlessly on the stairs between the eighth and ninth floors.
"Wh... what's going on?"
"We're trapped on the eighth floor."
"Where I'm from, we call this being trapped in a ghost maze."
"A ghost maze?" Himeno looked at Meng Fan. "You know what's going on?"
"It's the Eternity Devil's doing. He can trap his prey inside a designated space forever, and within that space, he's almost impossible to kill."
"The Eternity Devil!! How do you know that, Meng Fan?"
"Never mind how I know. Go look for food in the rooms. You're going to be trapped here for days."
"Himeno, the phone won't connect. There's no signal at all, either."
"This place cuts off all contact with the outside. Even the Fox Devil can't get in," Meng Fan reminded them again.
"Then how do we get out?" Kobeni asked.
"Wait. You'll find the answer sooner or later."
With that, Meng Fan entered one of the rooms.
The others followed him inside.
"Let's see if we can escape through a window."
Himeno strode over to the window.
But beyond it was another room, not the outside.
"Don't waste your effort. Hurry up and look for food. Every room should have things left behind by guests."
"There's a backpack here." Denji quickly spotted a backpack on the floor.
When he opened it, he found nothing but women's clothes that could make anyone blush.
"Wait here for now. Aki and I will check the other rooms."
With that, Himeno left the room with Aki.
They first stood outside the door and each lit a cigarette.
Then Arai and Kobeni came out after them. "Himeno, we'll help look for a way out, too."
The four then conducted a thorough search of the eighth floor.
The elevator no longer worked.
The windows in the other rooms didn't lead outside, either.
Even climbing through the skylight only brought them back to the eighth floor.
Just as Meng Fan had said, there was no way out.
They gathered in the hallway, at a loss.
"Looks like we really can't get out." Himeno lit another cigarette.
Unlike the others, Kobeni had already collapsed onto the floor, her eyes red and swollen. "Does that mean we're stuck here waiting to die?"
"Kobeni, pull yourself together. Didn't you become a Devil Hunter so your brother could go to college?"
"That was part of it, but I didn't have a choice. My parents only wanted to send my talented brother to college, so they made me work. I was going to become a sex worker, but a bald man thought I was too small and skinny to make a living at it, so I had no choice but to make a contract with a devil and become a Devil Hunter."
"Hahaha! That's hilarious!" Power, who had just walked over, burst out laughing when she heard Kobeni's reason.
"You bastard, don't laugh! Kobeni has her impressive moments, too!" Arai roared.
While everyone was talking,
Denji came running over in a panic. "Something's wrong!!"
"What happened?"
"M-my Master... he's dead!!"
Before you continue