"Catch." A ball of flesh was tossed toward Denji.
"Hey!" Denji slapped it back hard with both hands. "We agreed, whoever loses has to treat the other to dinner tonight."
"I'm not gonna lose anyway, so you're definitely paying for dinner tonight."
"Not necessarily. I played catch with Pochita all the time, I definitely won't lose."
The ball of flesh flew back and forth between them. A few people standing not too far away watched them for over ten seconds, unable to find anything particularly unusual.
"Those two must be devils," Himeno spoke up first, relying on her years of experience as a Devil Hunter.
"Are there two Zombie Devils?"
"Devils are unique. It's impossible for two of the exact same devil to exist. One of them has to be a different devil."
Listening to their analysis, Makima calmly said, "The Zombie Devil is already dead. The ball they're throwing around is the Zombie Devil's head."
"The Zombie Devil is dead?" Himeno squinted at the ball of flesh constantly being tossed in the air. Sure enough, it had a nose and eyes.
"So that means they must be the Devil Hunters who killed the Zombie Devil?"
"Regardless, let's go over and take a look," Aki Hayakawa said, his expression cautious. Anyone playing catch in a place littered with corpses probably didn't have a normal state of mind.
"Catch! Take this."
"Ha, almost hit the ground."
"Didn't expect you to actually have some skills."
"Hahaha, Master ain't too bad either."
"Hey, you two!!" Aki took two steps forward and called out. "Are you the ones who killed the zombies in the village?"
"Take my spike!" Arata suddenly jumped up, slamming his palm down. The ball of flesh plummeted in a straight vertical line right to Denji's heels.
"You're cheating! How are you using volleyball moves?!"
"Playing catch is just like real combat. You have to adapt to the ever-changing rhythm. Whether it's honorable or not doesn't matter, as long as you win, you're the victor."
"Hey, did you two not hear me talking to you?!" Aki suddenly raised his voice.
"Oh, so that's how it is. I get it."
"There's still a lot for you to learn in the future. Stick with your master, and I guarantee you'll become a great hero."
"Hey!! Are you two deaf?!"
Aki couldn't stand there anymore and angrily marched over.
"You are?" Arata naturally recognized the man with the topknot standing in front of him. He was the guy who tried to catch him at the hot spring but let him slip away.
"We are Public Safety Devil Hunters. Did you kill all the people in this village?"
"We didn't kill any people. We just killed a horde of man-eating zombies and took care of the Zombie Devil while we were at it."
"Who are you people?"
"Private Devil Hunters." Arata tilted his head, his gaze bypassing Aki to look at Makima from a distance. He smiled. "That woman over there is Miss Makima, right?"
"Hey, Miss Makima." Arata waved his hand and strode confidently toward her.
"Miss Makima, do you know him?" Himeno asked from the side. When she heard that Arata had killed the Zombie Devil as a private Devil Hunter, she had already completely dropped her guard.
"I don't know him," Makima said coldly.
"Hey, why the poker face? Your idol is standing right here, aren't you going to say hello?"
"Idol?" Makima's shifted gaze landed back on Arata's unfamiliar face. "I don't have an idol. Who is your boss?"
"I don't have a boss. I'm self-employed. I wonder if it's possible to bend the rules and let us join the Public Safety Devil Hunters?"
"What are you thinking? Being a Public Safety Devil Hunter isn't just some job you can pick up whenever you want," Himeno chimed in.
"I wasn't asking you, I was asking your boss. I believe she'll definitely let us join."
Arata gave Makima an intriguing look. But Makima spent most of her time looking at Denji. This made Denji, who was standing a short distance away, instantly blush.
"What a cute girl. Is she your companion?" Denji asked Aki.
"She is our superior. You better watch how you speak."
"Oh, she's the boss. She looks really young."
While they were talking, Makima walked past Arata and approached Denji on her own accord. This made Denji hurriedly fix his hair.
"What is your name?"
"I... my name is Denji."
"Oh! Denji. Did you kill the Zombie Devil?"
"Yeah, that's right. I did." Denji rubbed the back of his head and laughed awkwardly, as if waiting for a reward.
"Then you also killed everyone in the village."
"I killed them, but they were all zombies."
"Whether they were zombies or not, massacring an entire village before we arrived is enough for us to treat you as an extremely dangerous devil."
"Ah, is it that serious?" The praise he was expecting had turned into shock. Denji's flushed face instantly went pale.
"No one can say for sure if you killed innocent villagers or not, considering they're all corpses now," Aki added, twisting the knife.
This left Denji completely at a loss for what to do.
"I'll give you two choices right now," Makima held up a single finger. "First, become my dog."
As she said this, Makima stared into Denji's eyes, glaring slightly as if trying to verify something.
But the result was surprisingly calm. Denji maintained his clueless expression, showing absolutely no signs of being controlled. Instead, he asked, "And the second?"
"Second, we treat you as a devil and dispose of you."
"Th-that doesn't really sound like a choice, does it?"
"Hmm?" A chilling aura seeped out of Makima's eyes.
"I'll be a dog!!" Denji yelled immediately.
"Good boy," Makima smiled, looking very satisfied.
"Who is that man?"
"He's my master."
"Did he participate in the killings with you?"
"We didn't kill any people, stop framing us. We were just passing by and playing catch here."
At that moment, Arata stood behind the two of them, resting a hand on both Makima and Aki's shoulders.
Aki looked incredibly annoyed. He threw a backward elbow strike aimed straight at Arata's abdomen.
The strike hit nothing but air.
Simultaneously, Makima spun around with a high sweeping kick.
Arata immediately ducked. "White."
Makima's face remained utterly expressionless as she threw a series of rapid punches aimed at Arata's face. The man and woman coordinated their attacks perfectly, but every single strike was effortlessly deflected by Arata.
Watching the three of them locked in combat, Himeno summoned the Ghost Devil, which directly choked Arata's neck.
Arata extended his bladed claws and viciously stabbed the Ghost Devil's hand.
The Ghost Devil recoiled in pain and quickly let go.
"He can actually attack a ghost?" Himeno looked completely shocked.
"If he can trade blows with the Control Devil, a tiny little ghost is nothing."
The moment he said that, Aki drew his katana and thrust it toward Arata.
"Wait!!"
Makima suddenly stopped moving and called out to stop Aki.
"What is it, Miss Makima?"
"I will handle this man. You two, step back."
"So soon?!" Himeno hadn't expected Makima to get serious this quickly. But she still quickly pulled a black eyepatch from her pocket and covered her eye.
"Denji, cover your eyes too. It's for your own good. Do not open them until I tell you to."
"I don't know what you were just talking about, but right now, you need to die." Makima stared at Arata, her eyes suddenly widening.
But Arata just laughed casually. "You can't control me. Because you were afraid of me back in Hell too."
Makima found that amusing. A second later, her body blurred, appearing directly in front of Arata.
Before Arata could react, she sent his head flying clean off.
As the head hit the ground, Makima was just about to speak.
But a sudden, overwhelming wave of drowsiness flooded her body.
"This..."
Makima recognized this feeling. But for a moment, she couldn't quite place it. Soon after, she dropped to her knees, then slowly collapsed onto her stomach.
Aki and Himeno remained standing in place, their eyes covered. They couldn't see. They could only wait for Makima's orders.
But five minutes passed. Makima still hadn't given a single command. What would normally only take a few seconds felt exceptionally long today.