The pungent smell of blood spread through the air, thick and metallic.
Everyone nearby fell silent.
Cael looked down at the body of Mr. Ang. The man's stomach had been crushed flat, as if his body had been pressed into paper.
Cael clicked his tongue and shook his head.
There was no saving him. The man was dead.
Which meant more work.
Five corpses now required disposal.
The real problem was the situation itself. One of their own had technically caused it, and assigning responsibility for something like this was not going to be easy.
Hayakawa Aki stared at Power in the driver's seat, completely stunned.
For a moment she could not even speak.
Aki had a contract with the Future Devil. With its power she could briefly glimpse the future.
But she obviously did not keep that ability active all the time.
Who could possibly predict that Power would take Akai's car and run over Mr. Ang, a senior member of the Kyoto Public Safety Division?
At that moment, Asa Mitaka happened to be returning from school.
From a distance she noticed a crowd gathered outside the funeral home and walked closer, curiosity written on her face.
"What are you all looking at?"
Before she could see anything, Reze stepped forward and covered Asa's eyes.
"Don't look, Asa. It's too brutal. Just go home first. This has nothing to do with us."
"Huh?"
Before Asa could protest, Reze quickly guided her away and dragged her back into the shop.
Inside the car, things were even more chaotic.
Power's words had completely stunned Akai.
Akai's body trembled.
"This is my car... b-but you were the one who hit him..."
Bang.
Power flashed a crooked grin and slammed the car door shut.
"Ohoho!"
She pointed dramatically at Kobeni Higashiyama in the passenger seat.
"You were the one driving and you killed someone! And now you want to push the blame onto others? You executioner!"
Kobeni froze.
Her face was already covered in tears, and she could barely form words.
Power then turned toward Hayakawa Aki, still pointing at Kobeni.
"This has nothing to do with me. It's not my car, and I wasn't driving. It's all this shorty's fault."
Aki's patience was about to snap.
Before she could say anything, Cael suddenly called out.
"Hold on, Aki. Look at this."
"What?"
Aki turned around.
Cael pointed at the corpse.
"This guy's face changed."
Aki frowned and stepped closer.
The mangled body no longer resembled Mr. Ang.
Instead, the corpse belonged to a white man with long bangs covering half of his eyes.
It was clearly someone else.
"What the hell?"
Aki immediately pulled out a handheld scanner and analyzed the corpse's face before uploading the data.
Thanks to her clearance, the system quickly returned a result.
Aki studied the information and pieced the situation together.
"His name is Richard. He's a Devil Hunter from the United States."
She continued calmly.
"He also works as a bounty hunter. Richard usually takes assassination jobs with his two younger brothers, Joey and Aldo."
"The three of them have contracts with the Skin Devil."
"They can transform into the appearance of the dead."
Aki's expression hardened.
"Which means Mr. Ang is already dead. Richard was impersonating him the entire time."
She paused briefly.
"We were probably targeted."
Cael exhaled slowly.
"So basically, they're enemies."
"Exactly."
"Good."
Cael immediately grabbed the corpse.
A sharp grinding sound echoed through the air.
Flesh and bone twisted and compressed in Cael's hands as a miniature black hole formed, crushing the body into dust.
There was no reason to increase the workload.
Turning it into fertilizer was far more efficient.
Aki let out a small sigh of relief.
Despite the ridiculous situation, at least Power would not end up locked in solitary confinement.
Power snapped out of her daze.
A smug grin spread across her face.
"See? Just like I said!"
She puffed out her chest proudly.
"I was the only one who noticed that bastard's real identity!"
"Ohohoho! All the credit belongs to me!"
Aki completely ignored her nonsense.
Instead she turned to Cael.
"You need to be careful."
"This operation was probably aimed at you."
"Even though Richard is dead, he still has two brothers."
Cael stretched lazily.
"It doesn't matter."
"If they show up, I'll just kill them too."
Aki knew better than to doubt Cael's combat strength.
After all, he was someone capable of defeating Reze.
Still, she spoke seriously.
"Be careful anyway. Joey and Aldo can change appearances."
"That makes them difficult to guard against."
"In short, stay cautious around strangers. Even acquaintances could be dangerous."
"If possible, verify their Devil contracts. That's the one thing they can't fake."
Cael rolled up his sleeves.
"Alright."
"If there's nothing else, you should head back. I've got work to do."
Meanwhile, Akai remained seated in the passenger seat.
She stared at the dent in the hood of her car.
Tears streamed down her face.
Other people's happiness and suffering meant nothing to her right now.
All she could hear was noise.
Far away, in a dark and filthy alley filled with rats and cockroaches...
Aldo suddenly collapsed to his knees.
"Bleeegh!"
He vomited violently.
Through surveillance cameras, he and his second brother Joey had watched everything.
They had seen their eldest brother Richard get crushed by a car.
His body smashed apart.
His intestines spilled across the pavement.
Aldo's already fragile mental state completely shattered.
"That was... our brother..."
Nearby, Joey stood rigidly.
His afro trembled slightly as rage filled his eyes.
Blood vessels bulged across his face.
"Bastard..."
"Calm down."
"Calm down..."
He suddenly exploded.
"F***!"
Bang!
Joey slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a bloody mark.
"That horned freak! That damn monster!"
"How the hell am I supposed to calm down?!"
His chest rose and fell violently.
His fists clenched so hard they creaked.
"Forget the twenty million dollar mission!"
"I don't care anymore!"
"I'm going to avenge my brother!"
"I'll kill that monster with my own hands!"
Joey stormed out of the alley.
The moment he turned the corner, someone blocked his path.
A young girl stood there quietly.
Short light purple hair.
A black military cap.
Her head tilted slightly to the side.
It was Fami.
Joey glared at her furiously.
"Woman, get lost."
"I don't have time to kill you right now."
Fami calmly removed her hat and dusted it off.
"This is boring."
She looked at him with clear disinterest.
"Can't you make things more interesting?"
Joey's face twisted with anger.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Fami spoke calmly.
"You want to kill my brother in law."
"That could have been interesting."
"But you are too weak."
She sighed slightly.
"Something that should have been entertaining has become dull because of you."
"If you can't raise the intensity properly..."
"I'll just kill you myself."
Joey's mouth twitched.
"F*** you."
Without hesitation he drew a gun.
His mind was filled with nothing but rage and revenge.
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots echoed through the street.
Fami looked unimpressed.
"Boring."
Before the bullets could even reach her, a small wooden carving fell to the ground.
Clack.
A blinding white light burst from it.
In an instant, a massive Devil appeared.
Nearly four meters tall.
Its head resembled a parrot with empty, foolish eyes. Its neck leaned sideways at the same angle as Fami's.
A cloak made of black feathers covered its body.
Inside its torso there were no organs, only a massive guillotine blade and a white skeleton.
The Guillotine Devil.
Every bullet fired at Fami was shredded the moment it entered its range.
Fami spoke calmly.
"Little Guillotine. Kill him."
"Chuni!"
The Guillotine Devil spread its right wing.
Slash. Slash.
Joey's gun instantly shattered into dozens of fragments.
At the same time, his clothes were sliced apart.
In an instant he stood completely naked.
Joey stared at the Devil in horror.
Fami covered her eyes.
"Oh dear."
"Silly child. I told you to kill him, not strip him naked."
"Chu?"
The Guillotine Devil froze.
Then it nodded vigorously.
"Chuni!"
This time it spread its left wing.
A sharp flash cut through the air.
Blood sprayed across the alley walls.
Joey's body was instantly sliced into more than a hundred perfectly even pieces.