The Choice

"G-great."

"Himeno, we can get out now."

A strange smile appeared on Kobeni's face as she excitedly clutched Himeno's arm.

"Kobeni, what are you talking about?"

"Himeno, didn't you hear? If we kill Denji and hand over his heart, we can get out."

"Kobeni, you're crazy! Denji's our teammate," Arai snapped first.

"What's wrong with sacrificing one person to save everyone?" Kobeni felt no guilt at all. Instead, she thought her suggestion was perfectly reasonable.

In truth, Kobeni wasn't the only one who thought that.

The others had considered it too.

It simply wasn't time yet.

Unless they had absolutely no other choice.

Otherwise, no one would agree to the devil's demands.

"If it really comes down to killing Denji, I'll draw my sword and save everyone," Aki Hayakawa said calmly.

Although he looked down on Denji deep inside.

If someone truly had to pay the price.

Aki Hayakawa would rather lose a few years of his life than watch another teammate fall before his eyes.

"Aki, don't draw your sword. You don't have much time left as it is."

Himeno felt her heart clench.

"I won't use that move unless there's absolutely no other choice."

"If it really comes to that, let's just hand Denji over."

"Huh?" Denji froze. "Weren't we going to wait for my master to come back? If he comes back and finds out you killed me, he'll never let you get away with it."

"Denji, I was only joking. We still have food, so we can hold out for now."

While they were talking, Kobeni had already disappeared.

Creak!!

Just then, one of the doors opened.

Kobeni walked out with her hands behind her back.

Her face tense, she inched toward Denji.

"Kobeni, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, Himeno. He's only a rookie. We'll be out of here soon."

Kobeni drew steadily closer to Denji.

When she was five steps away, she suddenly surged forward.

She revealed the kitchen knife in her hand and swung it at Denji.

"Stop!!!"

Himeno quickly raised her hand, commanding the Ghost Devil to punch Kobeni in the face.

Thud!!

The back of Kobeni's head hit the floor, knocking her out cold.

"Hurry up and hand over Denji's heart, or none of you will get out alive."

Nearby, the Eternity Devil began slowly writhing.

Realizing things were going wrong, everyone dragged Kobeni away and took shelter in a room.

A long time passed.

Even the usually calm Arai could no longer sit still. "Himeno, how long do we have to wait?"

"Once Meng Fan comes back, we'll be saved." Himeno glanced up at Meng Fan, who lay motionless on the bed, placing all her hopes in him.

"Wait for him to come back?!" Arai stood, walked over to Meng Fan, and shook him hard. "He's already dead! Instead of waiting for a dead man to come back to life, we should hand Denji over. Once we escape, we can figure out how to get his heart back."

"Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to live without my heart?" Denji argued.

"Then do you have a better idea? Do you want all of us to die with you?"

Denji had no answer.

He really didn't have a better idea.

But now, he no longer wanted to die.

Because he had a master who always looked after him.

And Miss Makima, whom he loved, along with the job and teammates he'd worked so hard to find.

With so many bonds, Denji treasured his life all the more now.

"Enough. Stop arguing." Seeing Denji at a loss for words, Aki Hayakawa called out, "We're Devil Hunters. We only kill devils, not our own teammates. Remember that, Arai."

After the argument ended.

Arai could only sit on the floor and sulk.

Grrr~

Just then, Denji's stomach let out an embarrassing growl.

"Forget it. Let's eat first," Himeno said.

"Don't let Denji eat," Arai said, still determined to give him a hard time.

"Fine, I won't eat. Go ahead and eat it all yourselves."

"Everyone has to eat." Himeno turned to grab the backpack, only to find nothing behind her. "Where's the backpack?"

"The backpack? I think I just saw Power holding it."

"Where's Power?"

"I saw her go into the bathroom while we were talking."

"Oh no." Himeno immediately got up and rushed toward the bathroom.

She kicked the bathroom door open, revealing Power with chocolate smeared around her mouth and half a block of instant noodles in her hand.

"Power, you..."

"I didn't do anything!!" Power hurriedly hid the noodles behind her back.

"Hand it over!!" Himeno snatched the backpack and opened it, only to find nothing left inside. The only food remaining was the half block of noodles in Power's hand.

"That was food for all six of us."

"Denji told me to do it." Seeing everyone's expressions, Power immediately shifted the blame.

That infuriated Denji, who waved his fist in warning. "Don't frame me!!!"

"Now we're done for! All the food's gone too!" Arai clutched his head with both hands and screamed.

"What are you doing?!!!"

Suddenly, sounds of a struggle came from the other side of the room.

The first thing Kobeni did after waking up was attack Denji again.

"Kobeni, stop!!!"

Himeno hurriedly restrained Kobeni.

"It's all your fault! If you'd just die, we'd all be saved."

Kobeni struggled relentlessly, trying to break free.

Looking at the hysterical Kobeni and panicking Arai, Denji felt utterly helpless. "I'll go get myself killed, but not now."

Boom!!!

Just then, the Eternity Devil smashed its way into the room.

Its bloated, bulky limbs slowly crawled inside.

"Feel fear. Be afraid. Because you can't get out."

"Run!" Himeno shouted, and the others quickly opened the window and jumped into another room.

"Oh no, my master's still on the bed." Just as Denji was about to jump through the window, he remembered Meng Fan was still lying there.

Without another thought, he turned and ran toward Meng Fan.

He scooped Meng Fan up and returned to the windowsill.

But just then, Arai, standing on the other side, hurried to the window with a trace of guilt on his face. "I'm sorry, Denji. Everyone else can only survive if you die."

With that, he shut the window and braced his body against it.

"Bang, bang, bang!! Open up!!"

Denji pounded hard on the window, and the noise caught Aki Hayakawa's attention.

"Arai, what are you doing?!!"

"If Denji dies, we can get out!!"

"Move." Aki Hayakawa quickly drew his sword, and Arai scrambled aside in panic.

Swish!!

The window was sliced in two with a single slash.

A figure flew into the room from the other side.

"It's Meng Fan!" Himeno said when she saw who had landed. "Where's Denji?"

"Denji!!" Aki Hayakawa shouted out the window.

By then, the Eternity Devil's tentacles had already wrapped tightly around Denji.

But he still remembered to shout, "Take my master and get out of here! I'll stay behind."