The Gun Devil was a catastrophic entity born from humanity's collective terror of firearms.
It held a real, horrifying record of slaughtering a total of 1.2 million people across various nations within a mere five minutes of making landfall.
At present, its true body was completely untraceable. The only way to pinpoint its location was by gathering the bullet-shaped flesh fragments it left behind; once a cluster of these pieces grew large enough, it would naturally begin migrating toward the main body.
The current objective of Public Safety Special Division 4 was precisely to amass a sufficient quantity of these fragments, track down the Gun Devil, and launch a crusade to exterminate it.
As several figures filed out of the building, the briefing hall, which had just been filled with personnel, fell completely vacant.
Makima stood with her hands clasped elegantly behind her back, her calm, calculating gaze sweeping over the short expanse of the room.
A moment later, Zoran materialized directly before her.
"To think an unknown devil could infiltrate the headquarters of Special Division 4 completely undetected is rather surprising," Makima spoke smoothly, though her voice carried absolutely none of the surprise she claimed to feel.
"Is that so? I believe I am merely the second one, am I not?" Zoran responded, shrugging his shoulders with an air of total indifference.
The corners of his lips curved upward slightly, as if an incredibly amusing thought had just crossed his mind.
It was time for his absolute favorite pastime: unmasking someone directly to their face.
"The first one should be you, the Control Devil, Makima," he stated, his delivery unhurried and precise.
The remarkably composed, beautifully proportioned woman standing before him was none other than one of the Four Horsemen: the Control Devil, a notoriously wicked woman.
"Who told you that?" Makima's brow furrowed slightly.
An instantaneous wave of volatile crisis and suffocating pressure erupted in the room, causing an anxious, unsettling vibration to ripple across the hall.
"Don't be so tense." Zoran casually raised a hand, and with that single movement, absolute tranquility returned to the space. "I am merely here to strike a business transaction with you. Nothing more, nothing less."
"A transaction?" Makima echoed the word.
A rare flicker of unease darted through her consciousness, an emotion she practically never experienced.
Zoran's casual gesture a moment ago had effortlessly suppressed her aura. The devil standing before her was indisputably more powerful than she was.
For the Control Devil, this was exceptionally bad news.
Every devil possessed distinct capabilities and traits, and Makima's authority as the Control Devil was highly specific. She was capable of controlling any target whom she subjectively deemed to be lesser or weaker than herself.
Furthermore, she possessed a pseudo-immortality. Thanks to a specialized contract she had forged with the Prime Minister of Japan, any fatal blow dealt to her with malicious intent would automatically have its death toll redirected to an ordinary citizen.
Just as Zoran had deduced, the devils of this world operated entirely on specific mechanisms, which was precisely what had drawn him to manifest here.
But the exact source of Makima's growing unease lay right there.
Whether subjectively or objectively, she currently perceived Zoran as a being far superior to herself. The foresight inherent to the Control Devil made her realize instantly that this suddenly manifested entity was incredibly powerful.
"What sort of transaction?" she probed cautiously.
"Now that is more like it. Your ultimate ambition is to systematically slaughter every devil in existence to forge a peaceful, flawless, and beautiful utopia. Yet, there is a monumental hurdle blocking your path, a hurdle that, with your fragile strength, you have absolutely no hope of bypassing."
Zoran elegantly smoothed his long sleeve, stating in a level tone, "The Darkness Devil."
Makima's expression turned thoroughly frigid. In this entire world, there were scarcely any beings who possessed the authority to look her in the eye and brand her strength as fragile.
Following a brief, heavy silence, a sudden smile played on her lips. Her eyes traveled up and down Zoran's form, as if she had finally verified a critical detail.
"You aren't a devil native to this world, are you?" she asserted decisively.
"Remarkably astute," Zoran praised, his tone completely unhurried.
"Then, what is your price?" Makima asked, her eyes downcast as she analyzed the situation. The Darkness Devil had never once experienced death; attempting to slay such a being utilizing the conventional forces of this world was a mechanical impossibility.
But if this entity was a demon who had made landfall from an entirely separate dimension, there might actually be a viable window of opportunity.
She only wondered if she could actually afford to pay the contractual price demanded by a foreign demon.
The moment her question landed, Zoran's demeanor suddenly grew incredibly solemn.
Beholding his serious expression, Makima instinctively straightened her posture, bracing herself to hear whatever astronomical price he was about to demand. If the cost proved to be entirely catastrophic, she would refuse.
Amidst her absolute concentration, Zoran finally spoke.
He stated with utmost sincerity, "I require a car. It doesn't need to be exceptionally extravagant, just a standard, brand-new automobile with completely legitimate, first-hand paperwork."
"…"
A suffocating, unspeakable silence bloomed in the room.
Even with Makima's legendary psychological fortitude, she couldn't resist raising a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose.
She felt entirely convinced that the devil before her was pulling her leg.
The transactional cost to eliminate one of the three Primal Fears was... a standard automobile?
If values could be converted in such a bizarre fashion, what would the cost to assassinate her be? A steering wheel?
"Are you dreaming? Or am I?" she asked with a strained smile.
Zoran let out a silent, weary sigh.
"Striking bargains with intelligent individuals is typically quite simple. But conducting business with someone who is too clever invariably turns into a massive chore."
He casually extended a hand toward Makima.
In a fraction of a second, the very fabric of space warped within the palm of his hand.
A localized, infinite gravitational pull instantly enveloped the entire facility.
As if waking from a surreal trance, Makima suddenly snapped back to reality.
The ticking hand of the clock in her mind had only advanced a single increment, indicating that a mere second had elapsed in the physical world.
Yet, a layer of uncontrollable horror surfaced within the depths of her eyes.
In that single, passing second, she had already died exactly one hundred and twenty-seven times.
"You ought to be deeply grateful that I deliberately channeled a microscopic shred of malice into that demonstration," Zoran remarked smoothly. "Otherwise, your consciousness would currently be undergoing reincarnation down in Hell."
Makima stood frozen, her breath caught in her throat.
The underlying implication of his words was painfully clear: Zoran was fully capable of slaughtering her without harboring a single drop of malice.
And within her understanding of the world, there was only one scenario where a slaughter could be entirely devoid of malice.
When the disparity in sheer power between two entities became overwhelmingly vast, the very concept of malicious slaughter lost all functional meaning.
It was exactly like a human walking down a path and inadvertently stepping on a cluster of ants.
Would a human consciously harbor malice toward the ants they accidentally crushed beneath their boots?
It was an entirely meaningless notion.
"I concede," Makima murmured, her voice a low whisper. "You truly possess that caliber of strength."
"Excellent," Zoran replied, waving his hand dismissively.
"This afternoon, ensure the new vehicle is driven directly to the main entrance of this building. Arrange a few bouquets of fresh flowers on it, and prepare a beautiful gift card with a name written clearly inside. After all, it is a promise I made, so let's try to make the presentation as visually pleasing as possible."
"Whose name should be on the card?"
"Kobeni Higashiyama."
Makima's expression completely locked up.
This entity had just unleashed a display of absolute, apocalyptic authority right before her eyes, and the grand finale of that terrifying demonstration was... ensuring a shy, easily frightened girl received a surprise automobile?
The psychological wiring of this interdimensional devil was far too bizarre for her to fathom.
This particular state of mental erraticism wasn't even a stone's throw away from Denji's own lunacy.
"That child has, after all, forged a sacred contract with me," Zoran explained, adjusting his long sleeves as he smiled and began floating away into the distance. "And I have never been one to withhold generosity from a well-behaved, youthful subordinate."
Regarding the upcoming crusade against the Darkness Devil, he harbored absolutely no need for Makima's assistance. If they were to truly negotiate a real price, she wouldn't possess the capital to pay it anyway.
As long as she successfully engineered the delivery of the automobile he had promised, it would be more than sufficient.
If he recalled correctly, the specific devil nested inside the Morino Hotel possessed a rather troublesome mechanism.
He wondered if little Kobeni would be able to handle it properly on her own.
I suppose I'll still need to give her a little nudge from behind, he thought.
Within Makima's field of vision, Zoran's silhouette suddenly began to warp and distort.
In virtually the next microsecond, he vanished from her presence entirely.
Makima stood entirely motionless, her gaze staring blankly into the vacant hall.
As the Control Devil, from the beginning of their conversation until its absolute conclusion, she had just experienced an unprecedented, suffocating sensation of being entirely controlled by another entity.
The absolute authority to dictate the flow of their communication had never once resided in her hands.
For a supreme sovereign of her caliber, this was an entirely alien sensation, and it wouldn't be an understatement to brand it an absolute humiliation.
Yet, Makima merely allowed her lips to curve into a deeply enigmatic smile.
"What a truly fascinating sensation..." she murmured softly to the empty room. "I wonder if a being of your caliber... is truly capable of slaughtering every single devil in this world."
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