"You mean… I'm the one who summoned it? That's impossible."
Yuuki Asuna stared at Hōjō Yoru in disbelief. Her first instinct was to reject the idea outright—but in the end, she took a deep breath, steadied her emotions, and countered in a calm, rational way.
"But every time it appears, it tries to make a contract with me. If I'm the one summoning it, then it should obey my commands unconditionally."
"Yeah. That is a valid point."
Yoru acknowledged her reasoning, then met her eyes and spoke softly.
"But what we can be sure of is this: Yuuki, you're special. Even without a contract, you can summon something similar to a Devil purely through emotional fluctuation."
That was the most reasonable conclusion Yoru could reach from the evidence—and it wasn't baseless conjecture.
After all, didn't his "Ouroboros" fit that exact description?
The difference was: Yoru didn't need emotional turbulence. A single thought was enough to call out Ouroboros.
But for Asuna, only when her emotions spiked to an extreme would that metal monstrosity appear—an entity forged from hundreds of long blades melted together, like an iron throne given form.
And she didn't seem able to control it.
At least, not yet.
Asuna fell silent for a while, then asked cautiously:
"If I get skilled enough to use this… does that mean I can fight Devils with it?"
Yoru shot her a sidelong glance and answered bluntly.
"You really don't let go of the original goal, huh. You seriously think Devil Hunter is a casual job? Trying to steal the Chiyoda 'Demon-Slaying King's' rice bowl, are you?"
Asuna couldn't help rolling her eyes. She was exasperated—but at the same time, his absurd phrasing made her smile.
"Aren't we 'partners'? How did it turn into stealing someone's job? And 'Demon-Slaying King'… pfft—how chunni is that nickname?"
"You laughed?"
Seeing the smile return to her face, Yoru teased her.
"By the way, when you were shaking just now, teary-eyed and barely holding it together… it was kind of lewd."
"You—"
"Do you live alone?"
"Hah?"
The moment Yoru asked, Asuna instinctively scooted a little to the side, staring at him with full alertness. A blush rose to her cheeks as she stammered:
"W-why are you asking that? Don't tell me you're planning to move in with me?!"
Yoru looked speechless. He let out a small sigh.
"You're way too repressed. I mean I'm going to bring you along when I act—but the timing will be late at night. If you don't live alone and your family has a curfew, you'll need some excuse to slip past it. That's just… pathetic."
"O-oh… I see…"
Asuna's pale cheeks flushed with embarrassed heat. She turned her face away so Yoru wouldn't see how mortified she was. Only after a long pause did she speak in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.
"My family bought a small apartment near the school. I just moved out… so yeah, I really do live alone…"
Asuna's father was the CEO of a major electronics manufacturing company, and her mother was a working university professor—she was, in every sense, a wealthy young lady.
And this was central Tokyo—Chiyoda Ward. For an average household, even renting a tiny unit nearby could be a burden.
But for Asuna's convenience in high school—so she'd ride a few fewer train stops—her parents simply bought an apartment outright.
A literal money-is-no-object solution.
Yoru took out his phone, voice steady.
"Alright. Let's exchange contact info."
Asuna blinked, then nodded quickly.
"Okay."
After they traded contacts, Asuna looked at him with a complicated expression, but in the end she couldn't stop herself from asking:
"Hōjō… you asked for my contact info so casually. You didn't seem embarrassed or nervous at all. So you're pretty experienced talking to girls?"
"What are you even saying?"
Yoru looked at her with blatant disdain, then declared righteously:
"This is for work. Professional ethics as a Devil Hunter—understand? You've still got a lot to learn."
...
When they left the rooftop and returned to the classroom, Yoru sat back down in the corner—upon the "king's throne" that was his seat—and stared out at the early-spring scenery of April, planning for the night.
He was a Devil Hunter in the Anti-Devil Special Operations Division.
But the things he had killed weren't limited to Devils.
While gathering intelligence, he'd also run into ghouls hunting for food—he'd "snack-eaten" a few without thinking.
That was why he knew: as long as Ouroboros devoured supernatural beings, it could raise his physical stats.
The deeper he investigated, the more abnormal this world felt.
So many unknown supernatural threats.
Even if, for now, both ghouls and Devils caused only minor casualties in the big picture—and the odds of being attacked were lower than dying in a traffic accident—
Probability didn't matter when it landed on you.
Once it happened to you, it was a hundred percent misfortune.
More importantly, with this many supernatural elements fused into one world, Yoru couldn't predict what kind of catastrophe might appear next.
A ghoul contracted with a Devil?
A Devil possessing a ghoul's body?
Even the authorities' direction was unpredictable.
No rule said Devil Hunters couldn't go after ghouls.
And nothing said the ghoul countermeasures bureau couldn't use their specially developed weapons on Devils.
As Yoru thought, the girl seated to his right—Yukinoshita Yukino—appeared to be reading a novel.
But in truth, she was secretly observing him.
Normally, Yukino wasn't the type to care about other people.
But Yoru was an exception—because he was the freshman representative.
Which meant that among this year's incoming class at Sōbu High…
Yukinoshita Yukino was not the most outstanding one.
She couldn't accept it. She wasn't used to it.
From childhood to now, she had always been the best among her peers—so outstanding that it often turned into isolation and targeted hostility.
And beyond her competitive pride, there was another reason she paid attention to Yoru:
That hard-to-pin-down personality.
That relaxed smile, like he had already seen through everything.
His social skill.
His attention-grabbing looks.
And the powerful aura of confidence that made people unconsciously adjust themselves around him.
Those traits made Yukino think of someone.
Someone she loved most, hated most, felt closest to—
And could never truly agree with.
"He's like Haruno…"
Yukino knew the thought was strange.
But she couldn't stop it.
If Hōjō was so similar to her sister—even sharing the same "freshman representative" status—
Then if Yukino could surpass him…
Wouldn't that mean—
She had finally beaten Haruno, even just once?
Join here to read ahead.
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Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 80)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 80)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 80)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter50)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter50)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter50)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter50)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 10
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 10
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