"Whatever. Guess I just have to rely on myself." Glancing at the tightly shut door, Denji shook out his hands and stood his ground. For every zombie that came, he'd kill one. For every two that came, he'd kill two.
The zombies rushing at the very front were killed on the spot. But as the horde grew denser, quite a few had already lunged right in front of Denji. One, two, three... relying on their overwhelming numbers, they pinned Denji straight to the ground. Immediately after, their jaws began frantically tearing and biting into his body.
Stung by the pain, Denji twisted his body violently. But zombies were just zombies after all. They only had base appetites and not a shred of brains. The situation quickly reversed.
A massive number of zombies had their brains sawed off by Denji one after another. The corpses gradually piled up into a small mountain. Standing atop the pile of corpses, Denji let out a long sigh, "Phew~ Never enjoyed a fight this thrilling before."
Just then, the door behind him slowly opened. Arata walked out with a Mona Lisa-like smile. "Not bad, Denji. You adapted to the Chainsaw Man body pretty fast."
"It's alright, all thanks to the power Pochita gave me." Denji looked down at the pull cord on his chest.
His mind once again drifted to Pochita, who used to always run circles around his feet. Even though Pochita was no longer around, his barks and his laughs would always exist in Denji's dreams, in his heart, and deep in his mind.
This sudden wave of nostalgia didn't make Denji depressed. Instead, it fired him up. He had made a contract with Pochita. He was going to let Pochita witness the moment he truly made his dreams come true.
"I thought he was just a kid, didn't expect him to actually have some skills. Chopped down all those zombies all by himself."
"And he's just your apprentice, so you must be even stronger." Nanako said excitedly, turning her head to shoot Arata a completely infatuated look.
Having just witnessed a horde of zombies, Nanako was now even more reliant on Arata. The woman who used to call the shots had become incredibly docile. Her hands quickly wrapped around Arata's arm.
But a second later, Arata pulled his arm away. "Madam, please have some self-respect. Your husband just died, the first seven days of mourning haven't even passed yet. I'm worried he'll turn into the Cuckold Devil and come back to get revenge on me."
"Tch, acting all prudish. Back in the room, you weren't paying attention to your apprentice's fight at all, you were just peeking at my clothes."
"Even if he knew, a guy like him could never find a devil to make a contract with anyway." Nanako looked completely disdainful, seemingly looking down on the yakuza boss from the bottom of her heart. It goes to show that marital life really does affect a relationship.
"What should we do now?" Denji asked.
"Look closely at the clothes on those zombies, they're probably nearby villagers. That means the Zombie Devil has already attacked the village. Why don't we head over there and save the survivors? That way, you get to add another heroic deed to your resume."
"Hell yeah, I can't wait." Denji clenched his fists, eager to go. Transforming for the first time felt just like driving after getting your license for the first time. His heart was racing with excitement and thrill. He wanted to keep experiencing it until he was fully satisfied.
"Go to the village to kill zombies? Is being alive not good enough for you guys?" Nanako suddenly asked.
"They're just zombies. Killing a hundred or a thousand of them is a piece of cake. Besides, it's rare beginner village EXP, might as well take it." Arata wasn't the least bit panicked. He walked over to Denji and said, "Let's go, big hero. There are still plenty of girls in the village waiting for you to save them."
"There are girls!! I'm gonna go save the girls." The mention of saving girls instantly shot Denji's excitement levels up to 200%. In his mind, he was already imagining the kind of treatment he'd get after rescuing them.
Seeing that the two of them were actually going to kill zombies, Nanako couldn't sit still. "Wait, can't one of you stay behind to protect me?"
"Sorry, we need to fight side-by-side. If you need help, call the cops." Dropping that single sentence, the two left without looking back.
Nanako immediately went back into the house and shut the door. Without the two of them guarding her, her sense of danger instantly doubled. She hurriedly pulled out her phone and called the Public Safety Devil Hunters. While making the call, she deliberately lowered her voice, her eyes darting around the room.
.....
Not long after, the Public Safety Devil Hunters in the city received a report about the Zombie Devil. The assignment fell to Tokyo Special Division 4, where Aki Hayakawa belonged.
"Himeno-senpai, we got another assignment." Aki Hayakawa, carrying the orders handed down by Makima, found Himeno, who had been standing outside smoking.
"What assignment?" Himeno casually blew a smoke ring.
"Head to the countryside and kill the Zombie Devil."
"Zombie Devil? Doesn't sound too strong."
"Strong or not, we need to head out now."
"Let's roll then." Himeno took one last hard drag, crushed the cigarette butt, and tossed it into the trash can.
Just as the two of them walked up to the police car, they realized a familiar face was already sitting inside.
"Miss Makima, you're coming too?" Aki asked in surprise.
"Yeah." Makima sat perfectly straight in the back seat, staring straight ahead.
"What's there to be surprised about? With Miss Makima here, the risk of this operation just dropped significantly." Himeno's mood suddenly brightened as she gave Aki a hard pat on the back. Then she got into the passenger seat.
Aki, pretending to be calm, sat in the seat next to Makima. It was his first time sitting this close to her, and he didn't even dare glance in her direction. He awkwardly tugged at his collar to let himself breathe, keeping his head turned to stare out the window on the opposite side.
Along the way, the three of them didn't talk much. It wasn't until they left the city and drove onto the country roads that Himeno broke the ice. "Aki, look at the scenery outside."
"The scenery?" Aki had been watching the view the whole time, but felt absolutely nothing inside.
"Isn't it way better than the noise of the city? I heard a lot of private Devil Hunters live out here."
"Oh, really?" Aki replied dismissively. "It seems Himeno-senpai really looks forward to country life."
"Yeah. Once I retire, I'm definitely settling down in the countryside. When that time comes, you've gotta come with me."
"Me and Himeno-senpai?" Aki froze for a second, then smiled. "No problem. If I can live long enough to retire, I'll definitely go live in the countryside with you."
Beside them, Makima's expression remained perfectly calm. Her gaze was fixed out the window, as if she was anticipating something.
For a while, the car fell silent again. Until they pulled up to the village entrance.
Piles of decapitated villagers lay scattered on the ground right in front of them. Aside from Makima, the others hurriedly got out of the car.
"Aki, be careful. The dead villagers might turn into zombies and attack us. Try to stay away from the corpses."
"Thanks for the warning, Himeno-senpai." Aki gripped his katana tightly, cautiously stepping past the bodies.
But just then, a zombie with only half a head lunged at the group.
"Aki, cut off its head. That's the only way to kill a zombie."
"Understood, Himeno-senpai."
"You don't need to remind him, Aki knows what to do." Makima stood behind them. As she spoke, Aki had already sent the zombie's head rolling to the ground.
Vrrr!!!
Right then, the roar of a chainsaw echoed from not too far away. The familiar sound caused the corner of Makima's eyes to twitch slightly.
"Let's go take a look."
The group followed the sound of the chainsaw to a clearing. What they saw instantly shocked everyone. Even Makima couldn't help but freeze.
Two blood-soaked devils were currently playing catch with a severed head.