"Miss Makima, are there any leads on the Gun Devil's whereabouts?"
At this moment, Aki Hayakawa only cared about the Gun Devil issue.
"Not at present," Makima shook her head. "Therefore, you all need to continue searching for pieces of the Gun Devil's flesh. As long as we gather enough flesh, we will naturally be able to locate the Gun Devil."
"Miss Makima, I'll take down that Gun Devil sooner or later!" Denji roared, brimming with confidence.
The reason he was so proactive was simply because Denji wanted to finally grasp his initial dream in his hands. And then, looking at Miss Makima's face, bid farewell to his virginity.
"Miss Makima, what was the goal of that resistance army?" Himeno asked.
"They wanted Denji's heart, just like the Eternity Devil from last time," Arata explained.
"That Katana Devil guy said the exact same thing back there. Acting like an absolute idiot, insisting I hand over my heart. If I gave him my heart, I'd be a f—"
Denji's rant was cut off as the topic shifted to the next order of business: strengthening everyone in Division 4.
This was to prevent sudden crises like today's from happening again.
"Miss Makima, you should train me!" Denji grinned, wanting to use this opportunity to get closer to Makima.
"I am very busy. Besides, I have already found the person who will be training you."
"Is it a guy or a girl? If it's a guy, I'd rather just train with my master."
"It is a middle-aged man, and he happens to be my own master. In a bit, I will take you and Power to go meet him. He is the strongest Devil Hunter there is. Training under him, you guys will absolutely grow a lot," Himeno laughed.
Himeno had deep, personal experience with Kishibe's strictness.
Once Denji ended up with Kishibe, he was absolutely going to have a rough time.
"I don't want some old man!"
"Denji-kun, listen well. Both you and Power must undergo this training," Makima said softly.
"Well, alright then. In order to kill the Gun Devil, I guess I'll reluctantly accept some old geezer training me."
"As for Aki, I have already requested a Devil Hunter from Kyoto to come guide you, and to help you contract a new devil along the way."
Aki Hayakawa didn't speak, merely nodding his head.
He was well aware that he couldn't keep relying on his current two devils forever.
The Fox Devil was too arrogant and fickle; against truly powerful devils, it was of little use.
The Curse Devil required far too high of a price.
Therefore, it was absolutely necessary to choose a devil whose abilities could be used readily with a relatively small toll.
"Miss Makima, what about me and Kobeni?" Arai asked.
"As for you two, you should just go home."
"Go home? You mean we're getting special treatment and can train at home?"
"Arai, Miss Makima means that you two aren't suited to be Devil Hunters."
Himeno hadn't wanted to spell it out, but today's events had placed everyone in mortal danger. To prevent her comrades from dying right before her eyes again, convincing them to quit was the best choice.
At least they would still be able to see each other in the future, and she wouldn't have to worry about getting slapped by their grieving families.
"Ah... this..." Arai panicked.
He had wanted to use this opportunity to grow stronger, only to end up getting fired instead.
Kobeni, however, let out a massive sigh of relief in her heart. Great, now I don't even have to come up with a reason to resign!
"Don't worry, you two. Miss Makima will issue you an extra three months' salary as severance."
"Thank you, Miss Makima! Thank you, Master! Thank you, Himeno-senpai! Thank you everyone for taking care of me all this time!" Kobeni bowed deeply to everyone as if she were giving an award acceptance speech.
Only Arai was filled with bitter reluctance, entirely unwilling to accept this reality.
The two wildly different emotions formed a stark contrast.
"Kobeni, you are not allowed to go home," Arata suddenly spoke up. "Since you became my apprentice, it is my duty to take responsibility for you."
"But... Miss Makima already said you guys have no use for us anymore!"
"What Makima just said was actually to test your reactions. Even though you guys are bronze-tier players who can't handle high-rank matches right now, I can help you. I'll find a new devil for each of you to contract," Arata declared grandly.
"Really?!! Arata-senpai!" Arai stopped panicking, looking at Arata with overwhelming excitement.
Not only was Arata's strength worthy of admiration, but he also stepped up in critical moments.
Arai felt that simply meeting Arata made this lifetime entirely worth it.
"Of course. Miss Makima has no objections, right? If you do, we can always go back into a dream and have another little chat."
"Then I will give you two one more chance. If your performance remains poor on the next mission, please resign on your own initiative," Makima said.
"Thank you, Miss Makima! I will definitely cherish this opportunity!"
Arai grabbed Kobeni and pulled her down into a deep bow of gratitude.
Kobeni, on the other hand, was incredibly reluctant.
On the way back, she had already submitted resumes to a burger joint and an arcade.
She originally planned to resign today and go interview for waitress jobs tomorrow.
She never expected Arata to forcefully extend her career shelf-life!
"Oh, everyone's here."
At that moment, Power swaggered into the room.
"Power, where did you go?"
"The Great Me just rescued a cat from a tree!"
"Rescued a cat? While I was fighting the Katana Devil, you actually ran off to rescue a cat?!"
"You were the one who told the Great Me to leave! That's why I left!"
"I never said that!!!"
"Alright, stop arguing, you two. We're still in a meeting."
"Then, Himeno, take them to find their respective instructors. Arata, you stay behind."
After Makima spoke, everyone filed out of the office.
Only Denji kept turning his head back to look at the two of them as he left.
First, they left the dinner party together.
Now, after the meeting, they were staying behind alone together again.
Once Arata came out, Denji was absolutely going to interrogate him about what exactly was going on.
Once everyone had left and the office door clicked shut, Makima spoke.
"It would be best if you didn't tell anyone else my secret."
"Sure, but what's in it for me?"
"Your ability seems to be that upon death, you can continuously trap the devil that killed you. But while trapping me, you can't leave either. The moment you leave, I wake up."
"That's right. Relying on this beast-trapping method, I've forcibly contracted two incredibly powerful devils before. If it wasn't to go save Himeno and Arai, I could have kept playing roleplay games with you in that dream forever."
"I have already figured out your ability," Makima stated.
"You've only figured out one of my abilities. But even with just this one, you have absolutely no way to deal with me. However, if I reveal your secret, I believe all those plans you've painstakingly calculated will instantly go up in smoke."
"Then what is it you want?"
"Very simple. You just need to bark like a dog, and I won't expose your secret."
"That's it?" Makima felt it wasn't difficult at all, and subsequently opened her mouth.
"Woof!"
"I thought that would put you in a tough spot. But since you barked, your secret is safe with me."
"Besides, I never actually planned on telling anyone anyway. Even if I told Denji, he probably wouldn't believe it."
With that, Arata pushed open the office door and walked out.
Only Makima was left standing alone in the room.
As the Control Devil, she had actually just been controlled by someone else.
However, she didn't panic.
Because she still had a trump card.
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