Denji? First reaction in the brain was that Denji had already merged with Pochita and turned into Chainsaw Man. But upon turning around, he saw a Devil Hunter holding a chainsaw, swinging it rapidly toward him.
His body reacted instantly. A crouch and a sweeping kick, all in one smooth motion. The Devil Hunter holding the chainsaw crashed to the floor instantly, the chainsaw in his hands slamming heavily onto the ground.
"Got a death wish?" Seeing the chainsaw man trying to get up again, Arata delivered a clean kick right to his chin. The kick sent the chainsaw man flipping backward, completely knocking him out cold.
"Woof woof!!" Pochita suddenly barked. Arata walked over quickly and found Denji hiding under a dining table, clutching his head.
"You alright?"
"Besides feeling dizzy, no other problems."
"Didn't get bitten by a rat?"
"Just got wrapped up by the Rat Devil's tail and thrown."
"Good thing you didn't get bitten, otherwise I'd have to rip your stomach open to dig the rats out of you."
"Don't say scary shit like that, okay?" Denji complained as Arata pulled him up.
The two of them scanned the restaurant. The place had now been redecorated with corpses and blood, the stench of iron completely masking the smell of the food.
"Gross!!" Denji covered his mouth, almost throwing up.
"What a shame."
"Shame about what?"
"If I knew it was gonna be free, I would've eaten more." Saying that, Arata walked straight into the private room.
The two severely traumatized waitresses were huddled together in the corner.
"You can clock out. With the way the restaurant looks now, it's not opening for business anytime soon."
"I want to go home too, but the devil outside..."
"The devil outside was already killed by my apprentice. Remember his name, Denji. He saved you, he is your hero."
"Hero..."
Arata walked over to the dining table. He picked up a stack of cash and tossed it to the waitresses. "Hurry up and leave. The Rat Devil might resurrect any minute now."
"Thank you." The two waitresses quickly got up and fled the private room.
Arata slung the messenger bag full of cash back over his shoulder. Because of the devil incident, most people had already run far away from the area. After shooing away the waitresses and Denji, Arata closed the door, turned off the lights, and drew the curtains.
He stayed inside alone. A few minutes later, the restaurant door opened and Arata walked out.
"What were you doing in there? You didn't go steal money, did you?"
"Yep, stole quite a bit," Arata laughed.
"Are you the Robbery Devil or something?!"
Arata ignored Denji and instead told him to get in the car. This time, Denji sat in the passenger seat.
Half an hour after the two of them drove away, a woman with mid-length pink hair in a hime cut, tied into a braid resting on her shoulder, walked up to the restaurant doors. With ringed eyes, wearing a professional suit, and possessing an excellent figure, she led a group of Public Safety Devil Hunters from behind.
Pushing open the restaurant doors, a thick stench of blood washed over them. The restaurant lights were off, making it obviously very eerie. Aki Hayakawa gripped his special katana, stepping in front of Makima to shield her as they slowly advanced.
Aki had been to this restaurant before. At the time, the restaurant was just closing up, so he had noticed where the light switches were located. After turning on the lights, the corpses in the restaurant were revealed to everyone. But Aki was already used to seeing such things, and his mindset didn't shift much.
"Miss Makima, be careful. The Rat Devil might still be hiding nearby."
"It's already gone." Makima had a face that looked completely harmless, and though her voice was soft, it gave off a domineering feeling. She was Aki Hayakawa's direct superior.
"Ah!! It hurts. That damn devil shattered my jaw." At that moment, the chainsaw man sat up, clutching his chin.
"Who's there!!" Aki vigilantly stepped in front of Makima. But Makima gently pushed him aside, as if to say there was no need for that.
"Do you know what happened here?" she asked, walking up to the chainsaw man.
"Who are you people?"
"We are Public Safety Devil Hunters," Aki said, walking over to join them, positioning his body to guard Makima's flank.
"Public Safety Devil Hunters!! Thank god, you're finally here. There are devils here."
"We know, but we didn't see any when we came in," Aki continued questioning, while Makima stood to the side and listened.
"It's not here? Then it must have run away."
"What's your story? Why are you still here."
"I was knocked out by a devil with bladed claws for hands."
"A devil with bladed claws? Not the Rat Devil?"
"At first it was the Rat Devil. But after that thing was killed, a bunch of little rats suddenly ran out of its body. We didn't pay it much mind, we just never expected the Rat Devil to revive through those little rats. It was way stronger too. We were no match for it and got defeated one by one. I was protecting a little boy holding a chainsaw at the time."
"A little boy holding a chainsaw?" Aki continued asking, feeling there was definitely more to the story here.
"Yeah. Even though he was young, he called himself a Devil Hunter. And he was holding a chainsaw dog named Pochita. That dog was probably a devil."
"Pochita?" Makima murmured. Suddenly taking an interest, she asked in a smooth tone, "Where did that little boy with Pochita go?"
"I don't know, maybe he got killed by that Claw Devil?"
"The other one was a Claw Devil?" Aki rubbed his chin.
"I don't know what kind of devil he was, but his weapons were bladed claws, so he should be the Claw Devil. He killed the Rat Devil. I was preparing to ambush him, but he knocked me out with one kick."
"A devil killing a devil? Are you sure you're telling the truth?"
"Absolutely. I saw him come out from over there, and he was muttering something about a foul stench seriously ruining his appetite. I'm guessing he was in that private room eating people, and thought the Rat Devil was trying to steal his territory, so he killed it."
"If you say the Claw Devil killed the Rat Devil, then where is the Rat Devil's corpse?"
"The corpse isn't here?" The chainsaw man looked around, front and back, trying to find the Rat Devil he had just mentioned. After all, the Rat Devil was 3 meters tall, fat and bloated. It should be easy to find.
But in the end, he only saw human corpses and massive pools of blood on the ground.
"That pool of blood is where the Rat Devil died. As to why the corpse would suddenly disappear, I have no idea."
It was this exact sentence that made Aki suspicious.
"Regardless, take him back to HQ for now. We'll deal with him once we've investigated the situation," Aki told the Public Safety Devil Hunters behind him.
"Yes, sir." Two Public Safety Devil Hunters helped the chainsaw man up, and the group headed out to the police cars first.
"Miss Makima, do you think that man was telling the truth?" Aki turned his head and realized Makima had already walked into the private room.
"Miss Makima, be careful. The Claw Devil might not have left yet." Aki immediately quickened his pace, following closely behind Makima.
The two of them walked into the private room. The moment they pushed open the door, they saw two corpses.
"The Rat Devil killing people outside, and the Claw Devil killing people inside. It really is just like that man said."
"He didn't kill them. The bodies are covered in rat bite marks. It should be two people who were attacked by rats and fled into the private room for their lives."
"Attacked by rats!" Aki carefully observed the two corpses.
One corpse, just as Makima said, showed signs of being attacked by rats while alive, and the body had no knife wounds at all. But the other corpse had five blade marks across its neck. He glanced at the name tag on the corpse. The deceased was the restaurant manager.
"Based on what that man just said, that means the Claw Devil was eating in here, killed the manager to eat him, and because the Rat Devil killing people outside ruined the Claw Devil's appetite, it went out and killed the Rat Devil."
"None of that matters anymore."
Makima couldn't muster even a shred of interest in the massacre at the restaurant. Not until she saw a single strand of pet hair on a chair. She walked over, picked it up, and gave it a sniff.
The corners of her mouth suddenly curled into a slight smile. It seemed she had found the thing that interested her most.