"Everyone, move aside!!"
Power shoved the two women aside, planting herself firmly in front of Arata.
"Arata belongs to the Great Me! Stop laying your hands on him."
"You're a fiend!"
"Yeah, scared?" Power sneered, reveling in their discomfort.
"With Arata-senpai here, we aren't scared of anything," one of them retorted. "Himeno-senpai once mentioned an experimental fiend in Division 4—that must be you."
"Don't call me an experimental fiend! I am an official hunter now!!!" Power shrieked.
"Enough of that. The Gluttony Devil has appeared in Osaka. Gather every member of Division 5 and follow me."
"The Gluttony Devil!!" The Division 5 members looked at one another, completely clueless as to what that was.
"Move out! I just got a call from the Captain—an 80-meter-tall monster is attacking a hotel nearby," the squad leader rushed over, shouting. "And Arata-senpai, since you're here, please help us!"
"That's why I'm here. To take him down."
"Great! My car is outside, I'll drive you."
"No need. We're taking the mirror path." Arata stepped into the mirror leaning against the wall, leaving the Division 5 team stunned.
"Hicks. Never seen that before?" Power taunted before slipping into the glass.
"Follow him. It's my Master's ability," Denji shouted to the rest.
"Your Master? You're Arata's apprentice?" the women asked as they followed.
When they emerged in the mirror dimension, Arata was busy fiddling with countless shards, each showing a different location: bedrooms, living rooms, KTV rooms, bathrooms, hotel TVs, and so on.
"This is the one." He discarded the other shards, which vanished, while the selected one expanded into a doorway.
The group stepped through into a residence near St. Mary's Cathedral. They emerged from a wall mirror in the living room, but the master bedroom was currently occupied by a couple in the middle of a very private moment. Since the mirror didn't block sound or vision, the entire Division 5 team witnessed the spectacle. When Arata opened the bedroom door to let them out, he found Denji pressed against the frame, eavesdropping and trying to peek through a crack—he had seen drawings in books, but never the real thing.
"Denji, let's go!" Arata dragged him away by the collar.
They rushed from the third floor toward the exit.
THUD!!!
The building groaned and swayed. Everyone froze, grabbing walls and each other for balance.
"It must be the Gluttony Devil. Hurry!"
They burst onto the open ground. It was just past 6:00 AM, and the scene was horrific: a colossal, humanoid-fly monster was tearing into a 30-story hotel. It had the head of a man and the body of a fly; its skin was pitch black, except for its neck and head, which were ivory white. Thousands of hands and hundreds of maws sprouted all over its body. Those hands were stretching, piercing into the hotel windows, dragging out screaming people and shoving them directly into the maws. The sight was sickening.
"Master, the Gluttony Devil is still alive! You didn't kill him in the dream!"
"The dream realm doesn't work on Source Devils, and it's ineffective against this kind of entity too."
"It's so strong. It looks much tougher than Makima-san," Denji remarked.
"IT'S HUGE!! Is this even fightable?" The squad leader stammered. He was 1.6 meters tall; he wasn't even a snack to this thing.
"What devils have you contracted?" Arata asked.
"I'm the Hair-Loss Devil. I can extend my hair," the long-haired man said.
"I'm the Fox Devil. I can use the tail."
"I'm the Delinquent Devil. I can turn into a delinquent."
"I'm the Axe Devil," the squad leader added.
"We're nothing," the last two said sadly.
"Only the Axe Devil is useful here. You come with us; the rest of you go evacuate the civilians."
"Got it." They split up.
"Arata-senpai, how do we fight him?" The squad leader no longer held any authority, acting more like an intern looking for guidance.
"Simple: punch a hole through him and get inside."
"Punch through? How?"
"Just make an opening, and we'll crawl in."
"That's easy," the leader boasted.
"It's up to you. Aim for his neck. Only the white part is his weak point."
The leader pulled his starter cord, transforming into the Axe Devil. He focused his eyes on the target. The axes in his hands fused into one massive blade, and the horn-like axe on his head vanished, channeling all its power into the hand-held weapon. He began to spin, screaming, "SPLIT APART!"
SWISH!!!
The massive axe soared through the air, vibrating with confidence.
CLANG!!!
It struck the monster's neck and bounced off like it had hit solid steel. It left nothing but a surface scratch.
The Gluttony Devil roared in fury, finally noticing Arata's group. Thousands of hands tore the hotel apart, grabbing massive slabs of concrete and hurling them like a meteor shower.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!!!
Debris rained down; one direct hit would be lethal.
"Get inside the building!"
"You really didn't die! Give me Denji's heart!"
The Gluttony Devil smelled Arata's scent and marched forward, each step shaking the earth.
"Arata-senpai, I've done all I can!"
"Take your team and evacuate the civilians!"
"No problem!" The leader scrambled to get as far away as possible.
"Master, what now?"
"Keep him busy. We keep attacking the spot the leader hit—if we keep chopping, we'll break through eventually."
"Got it! I'll use my chainsaws to fly onto his back!"
"Good. I'll distract him. You deepen the wound. When the timing is right, I'll deliver the final blow."
They split up. Denji and Power circled to the rear, while Arata held the front. Even if he got eaten, Arata knew he could escape through the Gluttony Devil's internal space.
BOOM!!!
The building Arata was hiding in was leveled by the devil. The couple who hadn't escaped in time were crushed beneath the ruins. As the building collapsed, a figure launched off the roof, flying toward the monster. A condensed sonic wave blasted the Gluttony Devil's face, but the wave that could level a skyscraper didn't move the monster an inch.
"Are you scratching an itch?"
"You said you'd finish me off?"
Suddenly, thousands of arms stretched out, lunging for him. Arata fired a sonic blast downward, propelling himself toward the street.
"You can't escape."
Facing the thousand-handed onslaught, Arata didn't run. He played for time, letting Denji attack the wound and preventing the devil from eating more people. Arata darted between the buildings, using the narrow gaps to render the devil's thousand arms useless. Denji, noticing the distraction, had already begun climbing up the monster's back.
[Patreon Just got updated dropped chapters till 150 there]
Want to read more??
Checkout my patreon https://www.patreon.com/cw/AfrikaanPolarBear Here you can read 50 chapters ahead everyone and also support this fic. Consider subscribing as it'll motivate me and also help this fic.
: )
Thanks you!!!