The last rat let out a series of squeaks before quickly disappearing into the darkness of the street corner.
"Hey! Renji?! Is that you?!"
A shout came from above. Renji looked up toward the sound. On the rooftop of a tall building beside him, a figure was waving—it was the Angel Devil.
"Just in case, I'll still ask: you haven't been kidnapped by that Bomb Devil next to you, have you? If so, give me some kind of hint."
A completely black spear dropped from the halo above the Angel Devil's head. She reached out and caught it firmly.
"No. I brought her here myself."
The Angel Devil scrutinized Renji. After a moment, seeing no abnormality or suggestive movement from him, she finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"Anyway, it's good that you weren't kidnapped. But regarding what might happen next, I personally think it would be safer for you to stay away from her."
After speaking, she thought of something else and sighed.
"No, never mind. I'll just be blunt. Makima brought me here to kill the Bomb Devil. So, Renji… can you stay away from her? She is our enemy."
The Angel Devil reminded him kindly, but Renji had no intention of following her advice. He remained motionless where he stood.
"Perhaps before. But definitely not now."
The Angel Devil frowned, holding her forehead.
"Sigh… men are such a headache. What should I do now… If I pretend to have a stomach ache… can I fool Makima…?"
Renji ignored the complaining Angel Devil and looked toward Makima.
"What are you planning to do here, Kishibe? Or… Hunger Devil?"
Kishibe tilted her head.
"Isn't it obvious? And how rude of you. According to our birth order, you should address me as Big Sister, shouldn't you?"
Makima's calm, circular eyes suddenly glinted with cold light. Her icy gaze revealed an undisguised, intense killing intent directed at Kishibe.
"It's fine to say it. Renji knows a lot about us—about our true identities. I've also told him some secrets."
[Ding~ Detected Makima's shocked emotional state. System rewards 20 points.]
Hearing the system prompt, Renji silently cursed his loose tongue when chatting with Kishibe earlier.
"So that's how it is… Then, Big Sister, as your younger sister, out of good intentions, I must remind you: do not attempt things that Big Sister's abilities cannot achieve."
"For example?"
"For example, taking Renji away."
Kishibe touched her hat, showing no expression. She simply continued looking at Makima.
"If Big Sister can turn and leave now, I, your younger sister, can pretend nothing happened. But if Big Sister insists on doing this, then from this moment on, our Public Safety Department will have no choice but to treat Big Sister as an extremely vicious devil."
Makima continued speaking, but Kishibe still showed no movement or change in expression.
"That would be very troublesome, wouldn't it? Because if that's the case, Big Sister might not have the chance to sit down and properly enjoy her favorite food anymore."
Kishibe finally moved, nodding her head.
"You're right. There's nothing to be done. Fortunately, there's still time. I'll look for an opportunity later."
Kishibe's gaze passed over Makima and landed on Renji.
"Renji, the mission explicitly states to kill you. But personally, I don't really want to do that. Because if you help, it would save a lot of trouble dealing with the King of Terror."
"After all, Man's Religion and I are just using each other. There's no superior-subordinate relationship. Everything I said before still stands. You can still consider it."
The hat Kishibe wore fell to the ground. By the time it landed, Kishibe herself had already vanished.
Reze's heart was still extremely tense. On one side stood the Public Safety organization; on the other, Kishibe. Though Kishibe's departure meant Reze had been let go for now, Public Safety had not. And Makima was right in front of her.
Moreover, Reze was well aware of Makima's true identity: the Witch. The Control Devil.
Makima slowly turned around, looking at Renji with soft eyes and a supremely gentle smile.
Then she extended her fair, slender hand toward him.
"Renji, we are safe now. So… can you hand over the bomber beside you to me? She is the instigator of this terrorist attack. I need to take her away to completely resolve this matter."
Toward Renji, Makima had completely changed her attitude.
Renji spoke.
"Um… Miss Makima, although Reze did initiate this terrorist attack, fortunately, no innocent civilians lost their lives."
"So… instead of forcibly taking her away, why don't we recruit her instead?"
Hearing Renji's unexpected words, Makima's outstretched hand slowly lowered.
She gazed at him, her tone calm but carrying an undercurrent of something unfathomable.
"Renji, do you understand what saying these words truly means?"
"Yes. I know everything. So, if Reze ever loses control within Public Safety and goes berserk again, Public Safety can cut her into pieces and preserve her. I will actively cooperate. And after the matter is over, I will also commit seppuku in apology."
The system reacted immediately. Prompt after prompt rang out about Makima's emotions.
[Ding~ Detected Makima's disgusted emotional state. System rewards 20 points.]
[Ding~ Detected Makima's disgusted emotional state. System rewards 20 points.]
[Ding~ Detected Makima's disgusted emotional state. System rewards 20 points.]
...
...
Renji felt a bad premonition creeping up on him. To be honest, he had always found Makima unfathomable.
Her attitude toward him was truly bizarre. To say there was some ambiguous affection between them wasn't entirely baseless.
After all, Makima had shown certain "strange" behaviors toward him—grabbing his hand to feel her chest, or gently caressing him. Could one say there was a relationship between them? Not exactly.
Because at certain moments, Makima would be deeply disgusted by his actions. The system made that clear.
It was as if Renji had done something that displeased her, and from the depths of her heart, an exceptionally strong wave of revulsion would surge forth.