Anti-Devil Special Division 3

"Kobeni really was the one who killed the devil!!"

Arai and Aki Hayakawa stared in astonishment.

Power looked indignant, clearly unwilling to accept that fact.

But Denji had the hardest time accepting it.

Because his hot, nimble tongue was about to have nowhere to go.

"It's absolutely true. This is the piece of the Gun Devil's flesh I found inside the Eternity Devil's heart."

Meng Fan tossed the piece of the Gun Devil's flesh to Aki Hayakawa.

Aki Hayakawa examined it, then asked, "Kobeni, how did you kill the Eternity Devil?"

"I told you, the Eternity Devil came to me with his heart and insisted that I kill him."

"That's so bizarre! I didn't believe you when you first said it," Himeno said. "If you really killed the Eternity Devil, though, that explanation makes perfect sense. After all, you don't have the strength to kill him yourself."

"Why did the Eternity Devil insist on having Kobeni kill him? Did they make some kind of deal?" Arai voiced all his questions.

The two of them had spent the most time together.

Arai understood Kobeni's abilities better than anyone else did.

Other than a deal, Arai couldn't think of any reason the Eternity Devil would beg to die.

And now that Kobeni had killed the Eternity Devil,

Arai looked like the weakest member of the team.

"Because the Eternity Devil was afraid of pain," Meng Fan explained. "I had Denji practice on him without killing him, which left him in constant agony. He knocked on our door because he wanted a way out."

"Meng Fan, you knew all along that the one knocking earlier was the Eternity Devil?"

"That's right. I deliberately had Kobeni answer the door, too. I wanted her to find the courage to take that first step."

When Kobeni heard how Meng Fan had arranged everything,

Kobeni's eyes widened instantly.

She had hated Meng Fan's rough approach.

But now she felt grateful to Meng Fan.

After killing a devil, Kobeni had clearly grown much stronger mentally.

She was no longer a rookie who could only seek protection at every turn.

"I never would've guessed you'd be looking out for Kobeni, Meng Fan."

Himeno had taken care of Kobeni

because Kobeni's circumstances bore some resemblance to her own experiences.

After all, very few girls became Devil Hunters.

Once they became Devil Hunters, they were bound to encounter plenty of things they found impossible to accept.

Himeno had once been almost exactly like Kobeni was now.

On her first mission, she had been timid and hesitant, hiding behind Kishibe the whole time.

Until Kishibe locked Himeno in a little dark room with a devil.

To stay alive, Himeno had fought with everything she had and killed the devil.

The moment she walked out of that room, Himeno had grown much stronger mentally, just as Kobeni had after killing the Eternity Devil.

"We're all teammates. Besides, Kobeni has some secrets even I don't know about, so I gave her a little extra attention."

"Thank you, Meng Fan. Can I call you Master?" Kobeni had realized that if she stayed stuck in place instead of moving forward, she would soon be fired.

Then her only options would be sex work or a job at a burger joint.

Compared with those two jobs, the Public Safety Devil Hunters offered more benefits and better pay.

Aside from having to deal with devils sometimes, the rest of the time was fairly relaxed.

"Sure," Meng Fan readily agreed. "Denji, you've got a junior apprentice now."

"The fact that Kobeni volunteered to become your apprentice really shows how much she's changed." Himeno nodded approvingly, happy that Kobeni had taken a step forward.

"All right, it's time you rewarded Kobeni, too. Don't try to wriggle out of it."

"Um... there's no need. We're both girls." Kobeni's face instantly flushed.

"Right, we're both girls, so let's pick a different reward." Himeno walked over and patted Kobeni on the shoulder. "I know you're short on money, sweetie, so you can have the biggest share of this mission's bonus."

"R-really?" Kobeni asked excitedly.

"Wait, we get bonuses for killing devils?" Meng Fan suddenly asked.

"Of course. Aki bought his place with his bonuses."

"And the stronger the devil, the bigger the bonus. Risk and reward go hand in hand."

"In that case, my dream of making movies just got a lot easier to achieve."

For the past year and a half, Meng Fan had dreamed of becoming a director and making movies.

The movies of this era were all romances, art films, comedies, and porn.

Genres like science fiction, mystery, and horror were sorely lacking.

Since Meng Fan had seen plenty of movies from the new century,

his inspiration for films would practically never run dry.

He could make movies like Inception, Knives Out, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Wrong Turn ahead of their time.

"Oh, so you want to be a director, Meng Fan? Make sure you cast me as the female lead."

"No problem. When I start shooting Young Mother, I'll definitely cast you as the female lead, Himeno."

"Hey, you lot!!"

While everyone was discussing Meng Fan's dream of making movies,

several members of Anti-Devil Special Division 3 had already come upstairs.

The man in front carried a greatsword on his back.

In his hand, he held a piece of the Gun Devil's flesh dangling from a string.

A man and a woman followed behind him.

The woman was dressed like a ninja, with plenty of kunai tucked into her waist pouch.

The man had six arms and a devil's face with six vertical eyes. Like Power, he was a fiend.

"Well, if it isn't Sword, Tenten, and Peter from Anti-Devil Special Division 3. What brings you here?"

Himeno had spent years among the Public Safety Devil Hunters.

And because her master was Kishibe, the strongest Devil Hunter,

she knew everyone in the other Anti-Devil Special Divisions.

"You're Himeno?" Sword's expression showed no warmth whatsoever.

"That's right. It's only been a few months, and you don't even recognize me anymore?"

Himeno teased him. She had spent some time in Anti-Devil Special Division 3 before.

Himeno had long since figured out exactly what kind of person Sword was.

"Of course I recognize Himeno. But the officers downstairs said you were dead. You'd been missing for four days, then suddenly appeared again. So they think you're not real people, but puppets controlled by a devil."

"Are you kidding? We're not devils."

"How can you prove it?"

"Prove it? Sword, do you remember when you played strip rock-paper-scissors with me?"

"Shut up!!" Sword suddenly shouted.

He still couldn't forget the moment everyone had mocked his toothpick.

"I think a single leaf was enough to cover it."

"Stop talking. I believe you. You're definitely not devils."

"That's more like it. If you still didn't believe me, I could tell you plenty more."

Himeno had Sword completely under her thumb.

All she had to do was mention the strip rock-paper-scissors incident, and Sword would immediately beg for mercy.

"Did you just say we've been missing for four days?" Aki Hayakawa asked.

"That's right. Since you'd been missing for four days without any word, the higher-ups sent us to investigate why you disappeared."

"Four days have already passed!!"

Everyone was startled and quickly pulled out their phones to check.

Rows of conspicuous missed calls appeared at the top of their screens.

"Himeno, I need to call my family first."

"Me too."

Kobeni and Arai had families.

They immediately called to let them know they were safe.

The others had no need to take out their phones.

Because they had lost so much.