The Bat Devil's weird "bzzzz" stopped dead.
The rings of sound waves vanished with it, kicking up a drift of dust in the air.
Denji-ko stared, stunned, at Su Tang suddenly disappearing beside her— then remembered and shouted up at that dark-cyan figure:
"Pectoral mu— no, Power! Power is still inside the Bat Devil's belly!"
Before the words were out, she saw Su Tang's palm already fall.
BOOM!!
Like a missile striking true, the violent impact sent dust fanning in all directions; debris rattled against the surrounding buildings.
Denji-ko rushed over and saw that where the Bat Devil had been, the ground looked like it had been ploughed dozens of times. At the palm's center point, the concrete had even sunk half a finger deep, forming a forced hollow— purple blood pooling there.
Fortunately, it seemed he'd heard her and held back his strength.
Denji-ko let out a breath when she saw the Bat Devil had only its head burst into purple blossoms.
"Without the fire-qi protecting me, it really is a bit gross."
Su Tang looked at the wreckage he'd caused and sighed inwardly.
He jumped onto the Bat Devil's body. Using his fingertip as a blade, he slowly slit its belly.
The first thing that appeared was a still-upright red horn.
Darkness all around suddenly let in light. Power opened her eyes, unaccustomed, and saw the dark-cyan receding from Su Tang's face.
That guy…
Power turned her head weakly and met Su Tang's gaze.
No mistake— normal human pupils.
But…
"Why save me. In your eyes, I'm a devil, right."
Her voice was broken and halting; it seemed she had to rest after every word.
Perhaps because of that state, she felt a certain emotion she could never feel ordinarily— dependence? Hope? Or some other odd noun.
Anyway, it was something the great Power would normally scorn.
"Why save you?" Su Tang tossed the question back, as if puzzled why it even needed asking. Without thinking, he replied, "Because you're mine. Remember? A year. What boss would abandon his own employee…"
He fell silent.
About two seconds.
Then he shook his head, a bit listless, mocking himself. "Oh. I forgot."
"The clinic's gone. I'm not a boss anymore. The contract tied to the clinic dissolves of itself."
"Congrats. From now on… you're free."
Silence.
Only the wind flapped the long coat behind him.
"Oh…"
Unexpectedly, Power didn't seem all that thrilled.
She seemed very tired, just murmured softly, then rolled over and pulled a cat in a cage to her chest.
"Actually…"
She mumbled as if wanting to say something, but in the end said nothing.
Su Tang leaned against a broken wall, his expression a little bleak, arms folded.
This time was different from last time. This was pure devil-caused loss— force majeure.
There might be public aid from Tokyo's officials, but to him that would be a drop in the bucket.
Half a month's labor collapsed in an instant… Who was there to blame? The world was just like this— people lived under the fear devils caused every day.
Either hunt devils, or be hunted by devils.
If blame there must be— blame his bad luck.
What was that classic line again? Unlucky, unlucky, unlucky.
"Tell me— what happened? How did you end up fighting the Bat Devil?"
Su Tang adjusted his mood. He looked at Denji-ko, who wore a worried face but didn't know what to say, and forced a smile at her: "Don't worry, I'm fine. Just a small setback."
No matter what— he was the backbone among the three right now. He couldn't fall apart.
"Mm…" Denji-ko had returned to human form. Her golden pupils looked at Su Tang anxiously as she answered: "Power and I made a deal— I'd help her get Meowy back, that's the cat, and then she'd give me…"
She hesitated and skipped that part, then continued: "Some small accidents happened. Power and Meowy both got eaten by the Bat Devil, and then I chased it all the way here."
A deal? When?
Su Tang remembered the scene three days ago in Himeno's room— the two of them whispering about something secret when he glanced out from the kitchen.
Looked like though they squabbled, they got on pretty well.
That was something to be happy about.
A real smile rose on Su Tang's face— for half a second.
Then it was replaced by shock.
"Denji-ko, move!"
He shouted, his body shifting in an instant from human to half-dragon.
A disgusting thing like a writhing gut whipped with a howl of wind straight at Denji-ko's back!
Thump.
Denji-ko's body hit a broken wall nearby, knocking a few chips loose.
"What was that?!"
Denji-ko scrambled up. Hearing Su Tang, she didn't even think— she moved at once. The collision was from her own dive; she'd just misjudged the force and overdid it.
"You okay?" Su Tang's blood-red eyes flicked to her. He'd seen it clearly, so he wasn't worried— only a little helpless.
This kid— how can her brain be sharp one moment and mush the next.
"Hehe… I'm fine." Denji-ko scratched her head, looked at the lash that had missed, and asked, "Another devil— should I transform?"
"No need. Just watch from the side. Take care of Power and… Meowy."
Su Tang rolled his neck, itching for a fight.
He was in a foul mood and wanted to vent with pure violence.
The Bat Devil looked big earlier, but it was a silver spear on a wax shaft— a far cry from the Zombie Devil from the factory night a few days ago. Maybe it hadn't swallowed the Gun fragments, or maybe all its skill was in the sonic boom at the end. Anyway— it got one-shotted.
Now he really wanted to see how strong he was in this half-dragon shape inheriting half the Holy Lord's physique!
"I'm telling you— you'd better pray you can last a while."
Su Tang looked at the nauseating creature before him— bigger than the Bat Devil, more twisted, like a giant grub— and bared his bestial fangs in a grin.
The next instant, he vanished, leaping skyward!
His robust arms had already swelled by more than half when he transformed; now the sleeves of the black coat simply burst, revealing coiled dark-cyan muscle like crouching dragons.
"Whatever devil you are— eat my fist first!"
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