"The Gun Devil??!!"
Neither Power nor Denji had heard of it.
But Arata knew it crystal clear.
He even knew more about it than Makima did.
"That's right. I'd like to ask you all to help me defeat the Gun Devil," Makima said meaningfully, sitting in her chair.
"Is the Gun Devil really that strong?" Denji asked.
Seeing that she had piqued their interest, Makima began to explain.
"The Gun Devil appeared in the United States thirteen years ago, but its current whereabouts are unknown. It is the ultra-powerful devil that all Devil Hunters want to kill."
"Ultra-powerful devil!!" Denji was shocked.
"Ultra-powerful devil!!!" Power, on the other hand, was thrilled.
Their expressions were complete opposites. As for the others, their expressions were unusually calm.
"Exactly. The Gun Devil is much stronger than any devil you've encountered so far."
"Just how strong is it? Can even Miss Makima not handle it?" Denji had no real concept of what an ultra-powerful devil was.
Power was comparing the Gun Devil to the Mosquito Devil. In her eyes, the Gun Devil might only be slightly stronger than the mosquito.
"Thirteen years ago, in order to combat devils, the global trade of firearms became extremely prevalent. After all, firearms are much more reliable than any other weapon. Not only are they highly destructive, but they also allow you to maintain a safe distance."
"However, every advantage has its drawback. The proliferation of guns sparked wars big and small. Coupled with the media worldwide constantly reporting news about gun violence, the global fear of firearms deepened. It even triggered large-scale terrorist attacks in the United States."
"And on that same day, the Gun Devil appeared."
Makima told it like a ghost story, keeping everyone highly focused and engrossed. Denji, especially, was listening with the utmost seriousness.
"And then? What did the Gun Devil do?" Power asked.
"It landed in the United States for 124 seconds, and 548,012 people died. It landed in Canada for 7 seconds, and 84,810 people died. Hawaii for 0.4 seconds, 1,780 deaths. India for 15 seconds, 209,950 deaths..."
"It can kill over a million people in just a few seconds!!!"
Power and Denji exclaimed simultaneously. Deep down, they no longer dared to underestimate the Gun Devil.
"What happened to such a strong devil in the end?" Denji couldn't wait to ask.
"After killing over a million people in five minutes, the Gun Devil vanished. To this day, its whereabouts remain unknown."
"After it disappeared, in order to weaken the Gun Devil's power, nations worldwide unanimously banned firearms."
"So you're saying the Gun Devil right now isn't as strong as it used to be?"
"Exactly. As long as the fear of guns is removed from the hearts of humanity, the Gun Devil will grow weaker and weaker."
"That's good, then." Denji and Power both let out long sighs of relief at the same time.
"Miss Makima, are you really planning to let these rookies go hunt the Gun Devil?"
Himeno didn't believe a few rookies who had just joined the team had the ability to fight the Gun Devil. She had assumed Makima was just telling them a story.
However, Makima's expression was dead serious.
"I have high hopes for these rookies. Especially Denji."
Makima's validation made Denji instantly stick his tongue out. Fired up as if injected with adrenaline, he yelled, "I absolutely won't let Miss Makima down!"
"Furthermore, if any of you can kill the Gun Devil, I will grant them any wish."
"Grant us any wish!!!"
Denji panted, his mind instantly flashing with images of "sparring" intimately with Makima.
"Any wish at all is fine?" Power asked.
"Yes, absolutely any wish."
"Awesome! The great me is definitely going to kill the Gun Devil and then become the President of the country."
"Miss Makima, are you sure about what you just said?" Arata walked toward Makima with a smile.
"Yes. What is it that you want?"
"I haven't decided yet. But shake my hand on it, let's consider it a promise."
Arata extended his right hand. Makima didn't move, instead asking, "Why should I shake your hand?"
"Because out of everyone here, I'm the most promising. After all, you've seen a glimpse of my strength. If I went all out, it would absolutely shock you. So, shake my hand to seal the deal between us."
Makima couldn't see why Arata was so insistent on shaking her hand. But what Arata said wasn't wrong. From the very beginning, she had underestimated his strength. At the same time, he was the guy Makima found the hardest to see through.
"Alright. As long as you can kill the Gun Devil, I can grant you any wish."
Makima reached out and shook Arata's hand.
The moment their hands clasped together, Denji's jealousy instantly skyrocketed.
"I want to shake Miss Makima's hand to make a promise too!"
Watching the rookies clamoring over each other to kill the Gun Devil, Himeno shook her head helplessly.
Sure enough, rookies were the easiest to trick. A single blank check was enough to make them risk their lives.
If the Gun Devil were actually easy to deal with, it wouldn't be their turn to handle it. After all, there were countless elite Devil Hunters all over the world.
"Don't celebrate too early. We need to find the Gun Devil's whereabouts first."
Saying that, Makima pulled a delicate box from under her desk. Opening the box revealed pieces of flesh that looked like bullet casings.
"What are these?"
"These are pieces of flesh that fell off the Gun Devil's body. If other devils eat these, their power will be greatly enhanced."
"Like special grade cursed objects," Arata added. No one understood what he meant, so they paid his comment no mind. Instead, they kept looking at Makima, waiting for her to explain further.
But Arata's next sentence drew their attention back. "Because the Gun Devil is so strong, once these flesh pieces gather to a certain size, they will start moving toward the main body. So, as long as we collect enough pieces of flesh, we can find the Gun Devil."
"Exactly." Makima snapped her fingers in confirmation.
Knock knock knock!!
At that moment, someone knocked on the office door.
Aki Hayakawa pushed the door open, his expression grave.
"Aki, you're back!" Himeno immediately went up to greet him and check on him. "Are your wounds healed?"
"Thanks to Himeno-senpai finding someone to heal my injuries. Otherwise, I would have been stuck in that hospital with no one to care for me and no dinner." Aki glared viciously at Arata and the others as he spoke. The look in his eyes, completely screaming that he wanted to murder the three of them, couldn't be hidden at all.
Arata could tell Aki was very dissatisfied with how they had "taken care" of him, so he quickly changed the subject. "Aki, we just accepted the mission to hunt down the Gun Devil."
"Yeah! Miss Makima also said that if we kill the Gun Devil, she'll grant everyone's wishes!"
"Miss Makima said she would grant the wish of *whoever* kills the Gun Devil, not everyone's wishes," Himeno quickly clarified on Makima's behalf.
"Whatever, I'm definitely killing the Gun Devil! It's all so I can do *that* with Miss Makima..."
Halfway through his sentence, Denji suddenly stopped. He figured it wasn't a good idea to say it out loud right now.
"What do you want to do with Miss Makima?" Himeno suddenly leaned in close to Denji and asked.
"Nothing, I haven't decided yet." Denji's face turned bright red as he rubbed the back of his head, forcibly changing the subject.
Aside from Arata, no one in the room understood what Denji actually wanted to do. If they knew his wish, they would probably collectively despise him.
"With just you? I'm afraid you won't even live to see the day we encounter the Gun Devil." Aki looked at him with disdain. Rather than making a wish to Makima, he was far more focused on killing the Gun Devil to avenge his family.
While the group was chatting, the office door was knocked open again.
An officer who manned the emergency dispatch lines rushed in frantically. "Miss Makima! A devil has appeared at the Morino Hotel! The hotel guests are missing, and many Private Devil Hunters who went in to rescue them are already dead."
"We've learned from other Public Safety Devil Hunters that the devil in the Morino Hotel has highly likely eaten a piece of the Gun Devil's flesh."