Early the next morning.
Arata returned home from outside, carrying a fresh, clean scent.
At this time, the living room was completely empty.
The food Aki Hayakawa had cooked last night was still sitting on the dining table, alongside an ashtray absolutely overflowing with cigarette butts.
Arata took off his shoes and called out, "Denji, Aki."
Met with silence, Arata pushed open the door to Denji's room first.
The blanket on the bed was neatly made, but Denji was long gone.
He turned and went to Aki's room, only to find that neither of them was home this early in the morning.
"That's weird. Aren't we supposed to be at work by 8:30? What are those two doing up so early?"
Ring ring ring!!!
Suddenly, his phone rang in his pocket.
"Hello? Himeno-senpai, calling me this early?"
"Where are you?"
"I'm at home. Have you seen Denji and Aki around?"
"They're both here at the Public Safety Bureau." Himeno's tone sounded extremely anxious. "Hurry over here. Power is missing."
"Power is missing?!" Arata immediately hung up the phone and bolted out the door.
On the road, he slammed the gas pedal to the floor, speeding straight to the Public Safety Headquarters.
He bypassed Himeno's office entirely and ran straight for the Bureau's holding cells.
At this moment, Himeno and the others were standing in front of Power's cell.
Seeing Arata appear, Himeno quickly approached him. "Where did you go last night?"
"I killed the Poppy Devil last night, then found a place to take a bath."
"You killed the Poppy Devil?!" Himeno exclaimed in shock. "Are you sure it was the Poppy Devil?"
"Positive. Why would I lie to you guys?"
"The Poppy Devil is dead, so does that mean Power has recovered?" Denji asked.
"That's exactly what I needed to tell you. Actually, Power wasn't being controlled by the Poppy Devil at all."
"Not the Poppy Devil? Then who could it be?" Aki Hayakawa asked. Since the Poppy Devil wasn't the culprit behind the apple incidents, it meant they had to start their manhunt all over again.
"That much is still unclear. But when did Power go missing?"
"When I came over a little past 6:00 this morning, I found the cell door wide open. The Spider Devil's webs were scattered all over the floor."
"I asked the other inmates, but they all said they didn't know."
"They don't know? Power was right next to them, how could they not know?"
"Regardless, we asked everyone, and they all said they didn't know," Aki added.
Arata turned to look at the inmates in the various cells.
He noticed that every single one of them was supposedly asleep.
"It's almost 7:00, why aren't they up yet?"
"Maybe they've had insomnia lately. It's a rare moment of peace since Power left," Himeno reasoned. Right now, with Power missing, they could only assume she had somehow escaped on her own.
Because Miss Makima hadn't even arrived for work yet, she couldn't have sneaked over just to kill Power. After all, Makima was incredibly powerful; there was no need for her to pull such petty, covert tricks. Besides, just yesterday she had wanted to make Denji do the killing himself.
This made them even more certain that Power's disappearance had nothing to do with Makima trying to murder her.
"Hey, wake up."
Arata forcefully slapped the cell door.
But the inmates inside showed absolutely no reaction. They kept their eyes shut tight, remaining completely motionless.
"Himeno, open the door," Arata commanded.
Himeno immediately took out the keys and unlocked the cell door, allowing Arata to stride right in.
He bent down and hoisted a 'sleeping' man up by his collar. "As long as I want to, I can easily tell whether you're actually sleeping or not."
The hoisted man snapped his eyes open and began struggling violently.
"Wh-what are you doing!!"
"Spill it. Where did Power go?"
"I don't know! I was sleeping the whole time! Go ask someone else!"
"You think I'd believe that?"
Saying that, Arata extended a bladed claw from his free hand and pressed it directly against the man's crotch.
"I'll ask you one more time. If your answer doesn't satisfy me, you won't be a man anymore."
"Help!!" the inmate screamed at Himeno.
The group outside the cell didn't know what Arata was trying to pull, but none of them stepped forward to stop him; they all just shrank back to the side.
"Where did Power go?" Arata asked again, pressing the claw a fraction of an inch deeper.
The inmate could distinctly feel a sudden draft through a newly formed slit in his pants.
"Don't force me! I'm too scared to say it!"
Hearing the inmate cry out like this, the group outside was startled. This was completely different from his initial denial.
"Just say it, it's fine. I can protect you."
"You protect me?! How could you possibly be a match for Makima?!"
The inmate cried out, but suddenly realizing his massive slip-up, he immediately clamped both hands over his mouth.
"So it really was Makima who took Power."
Everything suddenly making sense, Arata tossed the inmate onto the floor.
"Please... don't tell Makima that I was the one who told you," the inmate begged, scrambling to hug Arata's thigh.
"Relax. You'll never see Makima again."
With a swift kick, Arata shoved the inmate away.
He turned and walked out of the cell. The three people outside were all staring at him with panicked eyes.
"Power really was taken by Miss Makima!!" Himeno said. "It's over. Power is definitely dead."
"Dammit!!" Denji fiercely clenched his fists.
"What are you guys doing here?"
Just then, Peter from Special Division 3 walked into the cell block. Seeing him suddenly appear startled the group.
"Peter, why... are you here?"
"Miss Makima asked for our Captain, so we all came along with him."
As he spoke, Tsurugi and Tenten also entered the cell block.
"Himeno, why did you run all the way down to the cells?"
"We came here looking for Power. Have you guys seen Miss Makima?" Himeno asked urgently.
"Miss Makima is in her office. Did you guys not know?"
Someone from an outside division who had just arrived knew exactly where Makima was, yet the Division 4 members who were practically always by Makima's side had no clue. This abnormality completely surprised the members of Division 3.
"Hurry, to the office!" Denji immediately bolted toward Makima's office, and the rest hurriedly followed.
Leaving the three members of Division 3 standing in place, completely bewildered.
It felt as if Division 4 hadn't seen Makima in ages.
"Tsurugi, what's wrong with them?" Tenten asked curiously.
"I have no idea, but it is indeed very strange."
"Could it be that the Division 4 members we brought out the day before yesterday really are just devil puppets?"
"Don't overthink it, Tenten. My spider sense is very accurate. They aren't being controlled by devils. Only the one named Power was actually under control."
"Whatever, let's follow them and see."
Tsurugi led his team as they ran all the way to Makima's office.
Bang!!!
The door to Makima's office was suddenly slammed open by Denji.
Denji stumbled into the room. Before he could even get a clear look at the situation inside the office, his voice rang out the moment the door opened.
"Power!!"
The gazes of the two people inside the office were quickly drawn to Denji.
Both of them sized Denji up with strange looks in their eyes.
Soon after, Arata and the rest also burst into the office.
"Miss Makima, your employees certainly seem very spirited," a haggard-looking woman wearing a hospital gown inside the office remarked.
"Yes, they are the most interesting Devil Hunters I've ever seen."
Denji paid absolutely no attention to their conversation.
His eyes rapidly scanned the entire room. Finally, his gaze landed on the chair behind Makima.
And Power was sitting in that chair, her eyes closed, looking exactly like a corpse.