"What is going on here?!"
"In the time it took to just go take a bath, how is my shop gone?!"
A man with a "tiger descending the mountain" tattoo across his back stared dumbfounded at the ruins before him.
He couldn't believe that the rubble in front of him was the hot spring bathhouse he had just recently opened for business.
"Am I dreaming?"
The tiger-tattooed man's eyes were glazed over. He took two steps forward barefoot.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through the sole of his foot.
A wooden splinter had pierced it.
It made him instantly realize that the scene before him was absolutely not a dream.
It was a very real, devastating incident.
This left his mood just as battered and broken as the hot spring bathhouse at this moment.
"Boss, are you alright?"
Behind him, two lackeys hurriedly rushed to the tiger-tattooed man's side.
They had originally been out eating.
When they heard the explosion, they didn't think much of it.
But when they saw the fleeing crowds, they learned that a shop had exploded.
They were even making fun of whatever poor bastard owned it.
Only to return and discover that it was actually their boss's hot spring bathhouse.
They hurriedly set out to find the tiger-tattooed man.
"Boss, what happened here?"
"How the hell should I know what happened!" the boss roared angrily.
"It must be a devil. With this much destructive power, it couldn't be anyone other than a devil."
"Hurry up and call the Devil Hunters."
One lackey hastily pulled out his phone to make the call.
The other lackey vigilantly scanned their surroundings, terrified that the devil which destroyed the bathhouse would suddenly appear.
At that moment, the members of Division 3 were just getting ready to undress and go to sleep.
The sudden phone call forced them to bite the bullet and rush to the crime scene.
Because Tsurugi had drunk too much, his phone went completely unanswered.
Even in his sleep, he kept muttering the name "Kiko" over and over.
Therefore, the only ones who rushed to the scene were Peter and Tenten.
Along with Denji, who volunteered to help.
"Boss, I've finished making the call. Once the Public Safety Devil Hunters issue a devil destruction certificate, we can file a claim for devil accident insurance."
"Thank god I bought that accident insurance back then, otherwise I'd be losing even more." The boss angrily clenched his fists.
He hated that he didn't have the strength.
Otherwise, he would have absolutely beaten the devil that destroyed his hot spring to a pulp.
"Where did the devil that destroyed the shop go?"
"It should be gone by now. Let's look around and see if there's any undamaged furniture to try and minimize the losses."
"Understood, Boss."
The three of them separated and carefully inspected the architectural debris.
A moment later, one of the lackeys let out a scream.
The other two hurriedly ran over.
"What's wrong?"
"Boss, there's a head here! And a pair of legs!!"
The lackey covered his eyes, pointing a trembling finger at the corpse on the ground.
"So gruesome. A devil definitely did this."
"Wait, what's that over there?"
The other lackey spotted a woman lying face-down not far away.
The three of them ran over to check the situation.
"Miss, are you alright?" a lackey asked. Seeing Makima didn't respond, he gave her a light kick. "Boss, she's dead too."
"Roll her over and let's see." With that, he crouched down and flipped Makima over.
Seeing Makima's sleeping face left the three of them stunned.
"She is way too beautiful," the lackey, who was initially terrified by the corpse, couldn't help but praise upon seeing Makima's face and figure.
"What's the use of being beautiful if she's already dead?"
"She must have died recently; her body is still warm."
"Have you got no shame? You'd even do a dead body?"
"Come on Boss, look at her. I'd never be able to find a woman this gorgeous in real life."
"We don't even know if she's really dead yet."
The boss crouched down and placed his finger under Makima's nose. He suddenly looked up at the two with surprise, "She's not dead, she still has a heartbeat."
"Jackpot, Boss! She's a live one!" the lackey said excitedly.
"Don't you guys get any crooked ideas." The boss stood up and surveyed the surroundings.
Noticing that no one was around to see them.
He pointed to a relatively intact room not far away.
"You two, carry her in there." Looking at the direction he pointed, the two lackeys instantly understood.
"Boss, are all three of us going together?"
"Get lost, put away your filthy thoughts. I'm going first. You two keep watch outside. What if the Public Safety Devil Hunters arrive and can't find anyone?" the boss reprimanded.
But as long as they could take advantage of such a beautiful woman, the two didn't mind waiting a bit longer.
They readily agreed.
The three of them carried Makima into the room.
The boss stayed inside with Makima.
The two lackeys stood guard outside, waiting for the Public Safety Devil Hunters to arrive.
Inside the room, looking at Makima's curvy figure, the boss excitedly rubbed his hands together.
By this time, Denji and the others had arrived at the crime scene.
The ruins before them made the group prepare for battle with a devil.
"Peter, can you sense the devil?" Tenten asked, drawing her kunai.
"I don't sense any devil, but there are four people over there."
To understand the accident, the three ran over to the boss's lackeys.
"Hey, did you two see a devil?" Denji asked the moment he walked up, letting out a deep yawn right after.
"We didn't see anything."
"Then why are you just standing here?"
"Who are you guys?" one of the lackeys asked with annoyance, thinking they were just nosy bystanders.
"We are Public Safety Devil Hunters." Tenten flashed her badge.
"You're finally here!" Hearing their true identities, the two lackeys, who were previously annoyed, immediately put on smiling faces. "Hurry up and look for the devil. We didn't spot it when we got here."
"What's inside that room?"
Seeing that the two seemed to be guarding the door, Peter pointedly asked.
"There's no devil in there. Go look somewhere else."
"Yeah, yeah, there's absolutely nothing inside."
"Nothing inside? Then I'll go in and take a look." After saying that, Denji stepped forward.
But the two lackeys simultaneously took two steps back, pressing their backs against the door, clearly not wanting the three to enter.
Moreover, they were hoping the boss would finish quickly so they could take their turn.
"No, no, you guys can't go in there."
Seeing the two acting suspiciously, Tenten asked Peter, "Can you sense what's inside?"
"There's a familiar feeling inside. It seems to be someone we know," Peter said.
"Arata wouldn't happen to be in there, would he? When we called earlier, Arata said he was soaking in a newly opened hot spring bathhouse. This place hasn't been open long, and it's not too far from where we had dinner. It's highly likely Arata was inside this very shop," Tenten deduced reasonably.
"That is possible."
Realizing Arata might be deliberately hiding inside and refusing to come out...
Without a second word, Tenten drew her kunai, preparing to storm in and catch him in the act of cheating.
The two lackeys guarding the door didn't dare offend Public Safety Devil Hunters.
They hurriedly dodged to the side.
When the three pushed the door open and rushed in...
The scene before them left them utterly jaw-dropped.
"Miss... Makima!!!" Denji was so shocked he was completely incoherent.
They saw a bare-bottomed man in the middle of unbuttoning Makima's clothes.
"You bastard!!!"
Denji accelerated and charged forward.
He kicked the boss away with a single strike.
He then took off his jacket and draped it over Makima's body.
"Who the hell are you guys?!" the boss yelled at the people who suddenly interrupted his good time.
This only fueled Denji's rage even further.
He rushed over, and without a single word, unleashed punch after punch directly into the boss's face.
He didn't stop until Peter pulled him back.
"Denji, calm down. Let's take Miss Makima back first."
Peter sensed something was wrong.
Any devil capable of knocking Makima unconscious was absolutely not something they could handle.
The best course of action right now was to take Makima and leave quickly.
But Denji wasn't about to just walk away.
He violently tore free of Peter's spider webs and charged at the boss again.
He beat the boss until his face was covered in blood.
He almost even transformed to chainsaw the man to pieces.
The two lackeys at the door didn't dare intervene.
After all, they were just ordinary humans.
Facing them were three Public Safety Devil Hunters.
Coupled with the fact that their boss was in the wrong first, it was even less convenient for them to make a move.
Eventually, Denji picked Makima up in his arms and left the crime scene.
However, none of them noticed Arata's corpse.
This made Arata, who was watching the outside situation from within the dream, very dissatisfied.
"That kid Denji was so focused on finding you, he didn't even notice his master's head."
"But you can rest assured. If that man had actually tried to do anything to your body, I would have stepped in to stop it. After all, I'm not going to let an outsider reap my benefits."
As Arata spoke, he purposefully looked up at Makima suspended in the air.
At this moment, Makima was hanging in the air, her wrists and ankles bound tightly by four iron chains.
Arata stood directly beneath her.
"What did you do?!" Makima demanded.
"Stop struggling. Right now, you have already become my dog."
Just as his words fell.
The iron chains locking Makima's limbs released.
Makima dropped to the ground.
Just as she tried to get up and struggle, a collar suddenly appeared around her neck.
And the leash attached to the collar was already gripped firmly in Arata's hand.