Chapter 18
Makima ultimately couldn't hold back the curse word—but the price for it was truly brutal.
She now fully understood the consequences of swearing. From today onward, every word she spoke for the rest of her life would likely be far more cautious and careful than this moment~ (Amitābha! Amitābha!)
Things had reached this point—both sides had played their trump cards.
Makima had revealed her true nature as the Control Devil and exposed her obsession with and desire for the Chainsaw Devil.
Yet not only did she fail to eliminate the "person in the know," she herself was killed seven times and ended up completely pinned down in the strangest way.
Unless she kept dominating more devils afterward to boost her power, revenge against Denji would be difficult. Right now, only defeating Denji would let her reclaim the highest initiative.
Denji, meanwhile, had relied on Pochita's power for this round. The special contract he formed with Pochita perfectly fused and enhanced his essence without ever truly erasing Pochita's core existence.
So the trump card he just used was still fundamentally the power of "Black Chainsaw · Hell Hero."
Only now—with deep familiarity and understanding—he could wield it while retaining full self-awareness, and even amplify it to a degree.
For intimidating the current Makima, this level of power was sufficient… for now. The future was another story.
Besides, so many troubles still awaited him ahead, and the ideals he carried were so grand—this amount of strength and ability was far from enough.
He still needed to grow. And right now, his single biggest obstacle was essentially just Makima.
But the affection he currently felt wasn't yet strong enough to justify devouring her outright.
Even the slightest killing intent would trigger the contracts on her body—automatically transferring any damage to the citizens of Japan.
If it only hit bad people, maybe fine—but if it struck innocents, that would be a shame.
And the deeper moral calculus didn't need much elaboration: if Denji ever chose to kill the Control Devil at the cost of an entire nation's lives, sooner or later he'd make an enemy of the whole world—and the world would perish under his hand…
That was not what Denji wanted.
Destroying the Earth to become its sole terrifying overlord? Or using ultimate power to protect his Earth?
Clearly the latter—so he would never cripple himself like that.
Fighting and killing wasn't suitable right now. So the only option left was to sit down and talk properly~
If they were going to make deals and contracts, both sides needed to know at least something of each other's roots.
Information asymmetry was total. If they were laying cards on the table, might as well make Makima lay hers completely.
Fuck—without spelling it out, who could've guessed that Makima's future mass murders, her ruthless acts, her desperate creation of a "new world"… all stemmed from nothing more than "wanting someone to treat her like family"?!
Put more precisely and painfully: "wanting equal, genuine relationships with others."
In short: "she's starved for love," "she wants the ideal love she's never had."
What the hell?
Obito from another world much?!
She really played dirty.
Changing someone's entire worldview with a few simple sentences? Impossible.
The best move right now was "wait at ease while the enemy exhausts themselves."
"…"
And so—after an extremely complicated exchange—the utterly exhausted, body-limp Makima finally agreed to form a contract with Denji.
Contract terms: "Denji will eliminate Makima's sisters. Until the contract ends, Makima may not take any attacking or harming actions against Denji, and to a certain degree, must cooperate with his actions."
Afterward.
Makima—who had always relied heavily on scent to identify people—voluntarily blocked her own sense of smell for once.
The moment she caught even a whiff of that scent on herself, uncontrollable shame flooded her.
And those eyes—usually so aloof and superior—now carried the color of someone else for the first time.
Never thought I'd end up the protagonist of my own little "theater"… what a shitty story! (Note: Makima distinguishes people almost solely by scent, and devils the same way. Only when she actually wants to see does she truly use her eyes. Most of the time her face looks expressionless because her eyes remain in the same state—open or closed makes no difference.)
Denji was slowly untying the ropes binding Makima.
He'd originally planned to just slash them off in a few quick cuts, but Makima refused.
Her stated reason: these were custom ropes made from special materials—she'd originally intended them as a dog leash.
Hearing that, Denji remembered Makima really did seem to like dogs.
The thought made certain earlier scenes replay automatically in his mind.
As the saying goes: dogs are humanity's best friends. Dogs can become family that accompanies people.
And Makima's dream was also…
Right as the connection clicked, Makima lifted her gaze and met his eyes.
Denji guiltily averted his look.
Then he rallied himself and continued untying the knots.
Makima—puzzled—instinctively unblocked her sense of smell. After suppressing the deep shame inside, she leaned straight into Denji's neck, sniffed lightly, and gave a soft lick.
Her tongue rolled in her mouth as if tasting something. Then she asked uncertainly:
"Were you just cursing me in your head? Hm… or praising me?"
Fuck, that nose is too sharp.
Denji panicked, afraid she'd sniff out exactly what he was thinking.
Reflexively he reached out and pinched her small nose shut.
Everything that just happened had been necessity—he still wasn't ready to fully accept that his tastes had suddenly expanded this far…
So he pressed down the thought, then reflexively pushed back against the wicked idea bubbling underneath.
"Mmm~"
Makima squirmed in discomfort and dissatisfaction. Seeing he still wouldn't let go, she tried bluffing:
"I know what you were just thinking."
Denji released her—then switched to pointing a finger, cheeks faintly flushed, and said:
"Don't say it."
Seeing that reaction, Makima held back a laugh—couldn't speak—so she just nodded in agreement.
Once his emotions settled, Denji finally realized how stupid he must have looked just now.
Damn it!
Still too inexperienced from his last life. Even though he'd already made up his mind, he still let an evil big-sister type toy with him over something so small… unacceptable!
He snuck a sideways glance at Makima.
She still wore a faint, lingering, amused smile.
Fine. Since you're not playing nice, don't blame me for playing dirty.
Little move~
Finally—it was Makima's turn to blush…
Watching her struggle to contain herself, Denji showed his "plan succeeded" expression.
Easy to handle~
"Ah~? Don't…"
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