[Template: Yuji Itadori (Modulo) is complete! Growth limits on this template have been removed. New Template Obtained - Dragon Sin of Wrath: Meliodas]
[Template Progress: 0%]
Sigh.
"Finally. I've been at this for two whole years, and I've finally completed the template..."
Yuji stood alone in the middle of the street, hands shoved into the pockets of his black hoodie. Beside him, the corpse of a devil had been reduced to a pile of red paste.
His original name wasn't Yuji, but when he first arrived in this world, he had no identity, no family—nothing linking him to anything. It was as if he didn't exist. Because of that, he took upon the name of the template he was given, cutting ties with what little he remembered from his past life. Now, he was seventeen and worked as a freelance devil hunter, earning quite a bit of cash for himself.
"With this kill, I think I have a little over 500 million Yen saved up. Now that the template is maxed, I'll take a break to try having fun before I start on Meliodas' template," he muttered. He collected his bounty and left without another word, heading back to the house he had managed to get for cheap.
He didn't even know what he was saving money for anymore. It didn't matter much to him; over time, the template had been numbing his emotions.
"It's 1997 now. The canon has likely already started, meaning Denji has joined Public Safety, and that bitch Makima is going to get a lot more active soon..."
He had never liked Makima, even before he was reincarnated here. She was a manipulative, grooming, and frankly annoying bitch. Now that she was real, he hated her even more.
"Maybe I should interfere now that I'm probably the strongest human without a devil contract in this world. Only the Primal Fears and Horsemen should be a threat, and that's more so in terms of their unique abilities and hax," he pondered.
As he walked down the street, a voice shouted from behind him. "Hey, you! Are you that private devil hunter going around recently?"
Yuji turned around. He saw a group of men and women in standard Public Safety uniforms, each clutching a weapon. He could hear their hearts beating with tension; some had shaky breath. More importantly, their souls were full of uncertainty—he could tell just by viewing the outlines of their souls without even trying.
"Yeah, I am. What do you want?" he questioned, barely turning his head to look over his shoulder.
"Miss Makima has requested that we bring you in. It would be wise to listen and do as you're told, otherwise, you risk making an enemy of Public Safety!" a serious-looking man said, clutching his katana with tense muscles.
"Who exactly said you can order me around?" Yuji raised an eyebrow, genuinely confused by their gall.
This seemed to startle them. They had never seen someone outright deny the words of Lady Makima, even if she wasn't present. Yuji soon grew bored as they fell silent, torn between their orders and their fear of what he had achieved.
"Chill. I wasn't going to kill you lot or anything. Just take me to Makima, otherwise, she'll keep pestering me," Yuji said. He walked toward them, and they nodded, relaxing their grips as they led him to a black car.
They drove for a few minutes. Yuji remained bored; he wanted to fight strong devils. It was much more fun than mundane life, especially the thrill of unleashing his full might. Yet recently, common devils felt weak. That gap only widened as he unlocked more of the template. Now, it felt like a chore.
Eventually, they pulled into the parking lot of the Public Safety Tokyo Headquarters. Without paying Makima's dogs any attention, he stepped out of the car. One of the agents rushed to lead him to her office. They walked the entire way in silence—Yuji was uninterested in conversation, and the agent was too scared to speak.
"T-this is the door," the devil hunter stuttered before running off. Yuji entered without bothering to knock.
"Ah, I didn't expect them to find you, let alone convince you to come here so fast," Makima said, sitting at her desk. Standing in front of her was Denji, with Aki's arm over his shoulder as the boy struggled to stand.
Looking back to the two of them, Makima maintained her smile. "By the way, do you two think you can get along?"
"Not a chance," Aki snapped.
"This guy is scum," Denji added.
"I'm glad you guys are hitting it off," Makima said. She began to explain that she was putting Denji in Aki's squad as part of an experimental setup.
"Listen, I didn't come here to hear all this bullshit. What do you keep pestering me for?" Yuji interrupted.
"Hey, don't speak to Miss Makima like that!" Denji yelled, while Aki looked similarly aggrieved.
"Shut up. I wasn't talking to you," Yuji said, his eyes locked on Makima with visible boredom.
"How rude..." Makima murmured, sipping some tea before maintaining her calm smile. "Denji, Aki, leave my office for a moment. Remember Denji, should you quit or run away, you'll be executed as a devil."
Once the two had left, she turned back to Yuji. "A private hunter who doesn't use contracts... and yet, you've been quite busy these last two years. I've been watching you. It would be such a waste for a talent like yours to stay in the shadows. Why don't you come work for me? I'll give you anything you want."
"No," Yuji said simply. "I can kill and take what I want just fine, so I have no need for anything, should I really want it."
He was being honest. When you're as strong as he was, material things lost their value. Makima tilted her head, holding her chin. She hadn't been so flatly rejected for as long as she could remember.
"You like hunting devils, right? I could supply the locations of many strong devils to you. You'd be able to satisfy your desire for combat with all the benefits of a Public Safety hunter under my division." Her smile never wavered, but Yuji's expression didn't change.
"I can find them myself eventually. I've been doing it for two years, after all. I don't need you to spoon-feed me," Yuji said, unmoved.
Makima's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. "Then why even accept my invitation to come here in the first place?" Her voice became colder. "If you know I have nothing to offer you, then why are you here at all?"
"Because there is something I want. I'm not a good person; I'm actually quite greedy. What I want from you is the Blood Fiend."
Yuji didn't hesitate to state his price. In his past life, he had a huge crush on only one girl from this series: Power. Call him weird, but something about her was charming and adorable. Being the selfish bastard he was, he would do whatever it took to have a chance. The world was full of greedy people, and he was no exception.
"The Blood Fiend..." Makima was honestly a bit stunned. It was the last thing she expected. How did he even know of the Blood Fiend, or that she was in her custody?
She scanned him, searching for a label she could use to pin him down. "You ask for much for someone who hasn't even offered a name. How am I to address my new... proxy?"
"You don't," he replied, his voice flat. "I don't have an ID, I don't have a record, and I don't have a name for you to put on a piece of paper. To you, I'm just the guy who does the jobs your dogs can't. But since you're asking that, I suppose you're going to agree to my terms, despite obviously not liking the way things went."
Makima's smile didn't reach her eyes. The lack of a name was a wall she wasn't used to hitting. "A man with no name and no past. You're quite the enigma. But if you're taking the Blood Fiend, you'll need a way to be reached."
"Here. This is my phone number. Call me when you have a job; otherwise, don't bother me." Yuji tossed over a piece of paper.
"Power should be down in the holding area right now. Head there to collect her. She's been quite restless lately," Makima said. Yuji didn't respond, leaving the room without another word.
Once Yuji was gone, Makima sighed. Halfway into their conversation, she had tried to control him multiple times, but every time, her power was shredded by something unseen.
"How interesting..." For the first time in ages, she was genuinely curious.
The elevator ride down to the holding cells was quiet. Yuji watched the floors click by, staring at his reflection in the polished metal doors. He looked like an ordinary seventeen-year-old, but the weight behind his eyes told a different story.
When the doors opened to the basement level, the air turned cold, smelling of copper and unwashed hair.
"HEY! BRING MORE BLOOD! AND MAKE IT TASTY, YOU FILTHY HUMANS!"
The voice echoed down the hall, high-pitched and full of unearned ego. Yuji walked toward the source, his sneakers squeaking on the linoleum. Two guards stood outside a heavy steel door, looking as though they were contemplating quitting their jobs.
"I'm here for the Fiend," Yuji said, not slowing down.
"Wait, you're the proxy? Lady Makima said someone was coming, but—"
"Open the door," Yuji interrupted. He didn't have the patience for the bureaucracy of side characters.
The guards hesitated, then swiped a keycard. The heavy locks hissed open. The moment the door swung wide, a blur of pinkish hair and a makeshift blood-hammer swung toward Yuji's head.
"DIE, FOOLISH MORTAL! YOUR BLOOD SHALL BE MINE!" Power shrieked, her yellow-and-red eyes wide with a mix of hunger and madness.
Yuji didn't flinch. He didn't dodge. He simply raised two fingers, catching the edge of the hardened blood weapon between them. The force of her swing was enough to crack the concrete floor beneath him, but his hand didn't move an inch.
Power froze, her eyes going wide as she looked from her weapon to the bored expression on the teenager's face. She suddenly felt a heavy pressure boiling around him, and honestly, it scared her.
"Eh? My... my grand strike was stopped? By a mere human?" She let go of the weapon, which dissolved into a puddle of blood on the floor. She scrambled back, pointing a shaky finger at him. "Who are you?! Are you a devil in disguise?! Speak, before I decide to feast upon your soul!"
Yuji looked her up and down—the messy hair, the crooked horns, the arrogant stance that barely hid her trembling. She was exactly like the panels he'd read. She still looked cute, though he personally liked the thighs on her devil form a bit more.
"I'm your new roommate," Yuji said, turning his back on her to head toward the exit. "And if you want to eat something that isn't raw cow liver, I suggest you follow me. Now."
Power stood there for a second, stunned that a human would dare turn his back on her. But the promise of food and the sheer, crushing pressure coming off his soul made her choose survival over pride.
"Hmph! I suppose I shall allow you to escort me!" she shouted, sprinting to catch up and walking two paces behind him. "But don't think this means we are equals! I am the Great Power!"
"Yeah, yeah. Just try not to get blood everywhere."
"By the way, what's wrong with raw cow liver?" Power asked, sounding genuinely confused.