Chapter 125: Kobeni Higashiyama's True Strength
Soviet Union, Slums.
Denji, Pochita, and Kobeni Higashiyama had adapted to their new surroundings without much trouble. Kobeni continued her habit of reading books while snacking on fruits and treats, and the television provided allowed Denji and Pochita to pass the time with video games.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Suddenly, a violent pounding erupted at the door. Denji, Pochita, and Kobeni all jumped in fright.
"...Someone's outside. It probably isn't Chiya-gege, right?" Denji whispered, her voice trembling with panic.
Kobeni shook her head at Denji, her face pale with fear as she motioned for silence. Knowing Otonashi-kun as she did, the gentle youth would never bang on a door so aggressively; besides, he had been using his spatial teleportation for everything lately.
"Open the damn door! Hic—I'm going home to sleep!"
Moments later, a voice shouted from outside, accompanied by even more violent pounding and kicking. It sounded like a drunkard—likely more than one. In the slums, people often used flimsy excuses to pick fights, scaring residents into opening their doors so they could barge in to rob or assault them.
Although the drunks were speaking Russian and neither Kobeni nor Denji could understand the words, the aggressive tone and the sheer hostility were unmistakable.
"Call him... I have to call him..."
Kobeni's mind raced with the thought of calling Otonashi-kun, but her legs had turned to jelly from terror. Even though her phone was on the table just a few steps away, it felt like an unreachable distance.
Denji was in even worse shape, curling into a ball as she clutched Pochita. The sound of the door being battered triggered a traumatic memory of her drunken father. Before he died, he would return home drunk every day, smashing against the door before subjecting her to domestic violence. Even though he was long dead, the experience remained a deep psychological scar.
The "door" sealed deep within Denji's mind began to creak and loosen. Behind that door lay the buried truth of her father's death: he hadn't committed suicide; Denji had killed him in self-defense. Even if it was to save her own life, the act had become her inner demon—a memory so painful she had buried it away.
"Kobeni-sister... I'm scared..." Denji's voice shook with pure dread. "Don't... don't open the door..."
Sensing Denji's breakdown, Pochita looked on with a worried expression and let out a soft, concerned "Woof."
Kobeni had been terrified just moments ago, but seeing Denji on the verge of a total collapse, her expression suddenly and without warning turned calm—becoming almost chillingly cold. Her legs no longer felt weak. Keeping her head slightly lowered, she began to walk slowly toward the door.
In reality, Reze had reinforced this door specifically; no matter how hard those drunks kicked, they wouldn't be able to break in. All Kobeni or Denji had to do was call Chiya, and he would have appeared instantly to deal with them.
Yet, for some reason, Kobeni didn't pick up the phone. Instead, she walked right up to the door and pulled it open.
"I'm sorry, but you have the wrong place. This isn't your home."
Kobeni's voice sounded delicate, yet it carried a sharp, frigid edge. There wasn't a trace of cowardice left in her tone; instead, her melancholic expression now carried a hint of something distinctly morbid.
"What gibberish is she spouting? Huh? Looks like an East Asian girl, and she's actually quite a looker."
"Doesn't seem like she understands a word we're saying. Whatever—let's just head in, grab the valuables, and have some fun before we leave."
"Quit the yapping and just knock her out already. If she starts screaming, it'll be trouble for us!"
"..."
Among the group, there weren't just drunks; there were also thugs and vagrants who looked perfectly sober. To be precise, they were likely all hoodlums, with only two or three actually being intoxicated.
The men babbled a string of Russian that Kobeni couldn't understand and began to move in on her. One of the drunks, particularly ruthless, swung a glass bottle directly at her head. He intended to knock her out cold—or kill her—without a second thought.
However, Kobeni's speed was staggering. With a swift sidestep, she effortlessly dodged the bottle and delivered a ferocious middle-kick to the man's abdomen.
"Gah—!"
The man doubled over in agony, vomiting up the alcohol he had just consumed. The pain was so intense he lost his grip on the bottle, letting it plummet toward the ground.
But Kobeni was faster. While completing her kick, she snatched the falling bottle out of mid-air and, in one fluid motion, slammed it down onto the crown of the man's head.
Smash!
A crisp, violent crack echoed as the bottle shattered against the man's skull. He collapsed instantly, his body stiffening and twitching as he foamed at the mouth, knocked into a state of near-death.
Kobeni looked down at the man with an expressionless face. Her eyes were ice-cold, devoid of even a shred of pity. Her brutality made her look like a completely different person!
Because it happened so fast, the other thugs were frozen in shock. The strength and speed Kobeni had just displayed were far beyond the capabilities of an ordinary person; her hand-to-hand combat skills were superior even to the majority of Public Safety Devil Hunters. There wasn't a trace of her usual weak and timid self left.
In reality, the original story was much the same. Usually, Higashiyama Kobeni was soft and cowardly, looking nothing like a Public Safety hunter, but in critical moments, she could explode with terrifying power. What devil she was contracted with remained an unsolved mystery; all that was known was that her power required a specific trigger—like money or the threat of death to her companions.
"What's wrong with this woman? How is she this strong?!"
"Don't just stand there! All of you, grab her!"
"Watch the bottle! This woman has the strength of a monster!"
The remaining thugs rushed her simultaneously, hoping to overpower her through sheer numbers. Although the bottle had shattered when she broke the first man's head, the jagged, broken edges made it even more lethal.
Yet, numbers meant nothing in the face of absolute power.
Kobeni systematically smashed the heads of the remaining men. They didn't even have the chance to struggle or scream before their vision went black.
Kobeni, meanwhile, was completely unharmed. The only blood on her was the crimson spray that had splattered onto her when the men's heads were split open. Several blood-stained glass shards now littered the floor.
"Hehe... hehehehe..."
Staring at the bloody carnage at her feet, Kobeni suddenly broke into a manic laugh. Her expression had turned morbid and bloodthirsty.
"Hehe... I can't... I'm going crazy. I can't kill anymore... hehehe—"
AN-
I've uploaded a new fanfic on my account.Its called Percy Jackson:The Names of Leo Valdez.Would be really grateful if you can give it a shot.Only 3 chapters but I'll upload more today.
🥲
Enjoyyyyyy!