"Rookies shouldn't go off on their own! It's too dangerous, stop right there!!" Arai shouted, taking massive strides as he chased after Denji.
But Denji wasn't listening at all, continuing his rapid advance. It looked like he was walking, but his speed was practically a full sprint.
"Hey, can't you hear me?"
"Dammit! I said stop!"
Seeing that words weren't working, Arai leapt forward and tackled Denji to the ground. He quickly pinned Denji down with his body weight.
"Get off me!! What are you doing?!" Denji roared, struggling fiercely.
"I told you not to walk so fast."
"I walk fast, what's it to you?!"
Arai was speechless for a moment, but quickly retorted, "Rookies are supposed to stay behind the veterans! Don't try to show off. We aren't here to play around."
"I'm way stronger than you, get the hell off me!"
"You little punk, you actually dare to disobey a senior?"
Arai struggled to keep the thrashing Denji pinned down. He was absolutely determined not to let Denji steal his reward.
"Hey, what are you guys doing? Fighting each other before we've even met a devil?"
Because the two had been rolling around on the floor, Aki Hayakawa, Himeno, and the others quickly caught up to them.
"Himeno-senpai, this kid won't listen to his seniors. He kept charging forward all by himself," Arai hurriedly explained, not wanting Himeno to realize he had only stopped Denji to secure the kiss for himself.
"Letting him take the vanguard is exactly what we should do. Otherwise, what's he here for?" Aki Hayakawa said crossly.
"But..."
"Arai, you don't need to worry about him. Denji can transform into a devil. Compared to us, he's basically immortal."
"Oh, is that so."
Hearing that, Arai instantly lost all his reasons to stop Denji.
"Get off!!" Denji shoved Arai aside with a violent shove, quickly getting to his feet. He demanded, "You just wanted to steal Himeno-senpai's kiss, that's why you kept trying to stop me, right?"
"What the hell are you talking about, kid? I did it entirely for your own good!" Arai panicked. As an honest and upstanding guy, if his true intentions were exposed, the label of "closet pervert" would definitely stick with him for the rest of his life.
"I don't need your kindness. I just want to kill the devil quickly, and then swap spit with Himeno-senpai."
"You bastard!! You're not allowed to say things like that!"
Arai swung his fists and charged at Denji. It was clear Himeno held a lot of weight in his heart.
"F***ing stop it, both of you."
Arata appeared between the two of them seemingly out of nowhere. He grabbed each of their fists with one hand.
"I can see right through your little schemes, but the devil this time won't be that easy to deal with. I highly suggest you save your energy."
Arata tossed their hands aside. The two finally stopped glaring daggers at each other.
Creak!!
Right then, the door directly in front of them suddenly opened. Everyone's gaze instantly locked onto the sound.
A human head with two massive feet slowly waddled out into the hallway.
"So many people."
The big-footed head didn't look panicked at all, grinning from ear to ear. Though its appearance was bizarre, it looked completely devoid of combat power. So the group didn't rush to attack.
"Aki, what do you think?"
"The Gun Devil's flesh isn't reacting at all. It's probably not this guy."
Just as everyone lowered their guard, the big-footed devil suddenly leaped into the air, lunging straight for Kobeni.
Whoosh!!
"Ah!!"
Kobeni shrieked, leaning backward but frozen in place.
"Stop right there!!" Himeno, standing to the side, suddenly raised her arm and made a grasping motion toward the big-footed head from afar.
With a single gesture, the big-footed head froze mid-air.
"Die for the great me!"
Just then, Power yelled and darted out from the group. With a clean swing of her blade, she cleaved the big-footed head in half, scoring the first blood.
"Tch. No challenge at all," Power scoffed, stepping on half of the severed head.
No one in the group took the big-footed head seriously. Only Kobeni clutched her racing heart, scared completely out of her wits.
"Don't drop your guard. Devils could pop out of these rooms at any second."
"Himeno-senpai." Kobeni immediately huddled close to Himeno for protection.
"Kobeni, don't be scared. Bringing you along this time is exactly to help you build some courage."
"If you're this much of a coward, why even be a Devil Hunter?" Power put away her blood sword and followed the group up the stairs.
The group climbed the steps up to the 9th floor. But Arai noticed the floor sign in the stairwell.
He had seen the 8th-floor sign when they passed it earlier. They had just walked up another flight, yet the sign still read "8."
"What's wrong, Arai?" Himeno asked, seeing Arai frozen on the landing above.
"We were clearly just climbing the stairs from the 8th floor to the 9th floor. Why are we still on the 8th floor?"
"Are we? I wasn't paying attention."
"Wait here, I'm going to go up and check myself."
"Wait for me." Seeing Arai run up, Denji hurried after him.
In the blink of an eye, the two of them appeared back in front of the group. What was supposed to be going upstairs had turned into going downstairs.
Refusing to believe it, Arai chose to walk downstairs this time. Yet he ended up in the exact same spot.
Feeling weirded out, Himeno also joined in running up and down the stairs. But the result was exactly the same every time.
The group was trapped in an infinite loop on the stairs between the 8th and 9th floors.
"This... what's going on here?"
"We're permanently trapped on the 8th floor."
"Where I'm from, we call this phenomenon a ghost wall," Arata said.
"A ghost wall?" Himeno looked at Arata. "Do you know what's causing this?"
"It's the Eternity Devil's doing. It can seal its prey inside a designated space, making it so they can never leave. Furthermore, inside this space, it's practically immortal."
"The Eternity Devil!! Arata, how do you know that?"
"Don't worry about how I know. Start looking through the rooms for food. Because you guys are going to be trapped in here for days."
"Himeno-senpai, I can't make any calls. There's zero signal."
"This place has completely cut off all contact with the outside world. Even the Fox Devil can't get in here," Arata warned them again.
"Then how are we supposed to get out?" Kobeni asked.
"Just wait. You'll run into the answer eventually."
Saying that, Arata walked into one of the hotel rooms. The others followed him inside.
"Let's see if we can escape through the window." Himeno took large strides toward the window.
But looking outside, all she saw was another hotel room, not the outside world.
"Stop wasting your energy and start looking for food. Every room should have items left behind by the guests."
"Here's a backpack." Denji quickly spotted a bag on the floor. When he opened it, it was full of women's clothing that would make anyone blush.
"You guys wait here for a bit. Aki and I will check the other rooms."
Himeno and Aki left the room.
Standing in the hallway, the two of them each lit a cigarette.
Just then, Arai and Kobeni also stepped out. "Himeno-senpai, we'll help look for an exit too."
The four of them conducted a thorough sweep of the 8th floor. The elevators were dead. The windows in the other rooms also didn't lead outside. Even climbing into the ceiling only led them back to the 8th floor.
The outcome was exactly as Arata had said—there was absolutely no way out.
The group reconvened in the hallway, completely out of options.
"Looks like we really are stuck." Himeno lit another cigarette.
Compared to the others, Kobeni was already slumped on the floor, her eyes red and puffy. "So you're saying we're just trapped here waiting to die?"
"Kobeni, pull yourself together. Didn't you become a Devil Hunter to put your brother through college?"
"Half of the reason was because I didn't have a choice. My parents only wanted my smart older brother to go to college, so they made me get a job. I was originally going to do sex work, but a bald guy said I was too skinny and wouldn't be able to cut it in that industry. So my only option was to contract a devil and become a Devil Hunter."
"Hahaha! That's hilarious!" Power, who had just walked over, burst into laughter upon hearing Kobeni's reasoning.
"Don't laugh, you bastard! Kobeni has moments where she's really strong too!" Arai roared.
While the group was arguing, Denji came running out of the room looking incredibly frantic.
"This is bad!!"
"What's wrong?"
"My... my master, he's dead!!"