Chapter 644: Special Division 4! Power! Higashiyama Kobeni! Himeno!
Tokyo Public Safety Devil Hunter Special Division 4 Office.
The air conditioner blew a cold gust of wind, a stark contrast to the thick tension hanging in the room.
There were five people in the office, but each was quieter than the last, making the hum of the air conditioner particularly noticeable. The silence wasn't peaceful; it was the heavy quiet before a storm.
Makima, dressed in a sharp business suit that hugged her figure perfectly, sat at her desk. Her eyes were closed, and she slowly sipped coffee from a mug held in her right hand.
In her left hand, she casually held the end of a black rope.
Two women sat on the sofa in front of a nearby coffee table, their postures rigid.
One was a cool woman with short black hair and an eye patch over her right eye, exuding an air of weary experience.
The other was a petite, nervous girl with black hair tied in a short braid, her hands fidgeting in her lap.
Both wore the unified black uniform of Special Division 4, signifying their roles as Devil Hunters—or perhaps, as expendable pawns in a larger game.
Both of their gazes were directed towards Makima.
The cool woman stared intently at Makima's face, searching for a crack in the perfect facade.
The reserved girl looked towards the side of the desk with a mixture of tension and palpable fear.
The woman with the eye patch was named Himeno.
She was a disciple of the legendary Devil Hunter Kishibe.
And also a contractor with the Ghost Devil, having sacrificed her right eye for its power.
She was a senior Devil Hunter in Special Division 4, a survivor in a field where longevity was rare.
She had already gone through six partners... No, it should be said she was about to get her seventh.
Because her first five partners had all died, and her sixth partner, Aki Hayakawa, had been transferred by Makima, whom she was now intently staring at with a mix of suspicion and resentment.
The reserved girl was named Higashiyama Kobeni.
The Devil she contracted with was not publicly known; she was a newcomer, trembling like a leaf in a gale.
She claimed to be one of nine sisters and came from a very poor family.
She wanted to go to university but her parents didn't support it, and she also needed to contribute to household expenses.
She reluctantly chose to become a Devil Hunter, otherwise, she would have no choice but to enter the adult industry. It was a choice between risking her life or selling her body, and she chose the former, though she often regretted it.
Currently, Higashiyama Kobeni's tense gaze occasionally drifted to the area beneath Makima's desk.
Because a woman was sprawled there.
The woman's blue-purple hair hung loose, covering her face as she lay on the ground with vacant eyes.
A collar was around her neck, and a black rope extended from it... extending to Makima's hand.
Was she treating a person like a dog?! Kobeni thought, her heart pounding in her chest.
Higashiyama Kobeni was very afraid that she too would be turned into a dog by her superior. The thought made her skin crawl.
Fortunately, Makima said that the woman named Reze was an assassin and a Devil contractor—the Bomb Devil, specifically.
Now that Reze was captured, she was likely a prisoner.
It was just that Makima had brought her to the office like a dog, a silent display of dominance that sent chills down everyone's spine.
"Ah, so boring, is there really no mission at all~"
A spoiled and boisterous voice broke the oppressive silence in the room.
The speaker was not these three people and a dog, but the fifth person in the room.
A long-haired blonde girl who had specifically moved the sofa in front of the air conditioner, sitting with her face directly facing the vent to cool off.
Her name was Power.
(Inorin's Note: In the Chainsaw Man anime, she has pink hair, but in the manga, she has blonde hair. Here, the blonde hair from the anime is chosen as the standard to avoid confusion).
She was a Devil Hunter, a Fiend whose main body was the "Blood Devil."
With two bright red horns protruding from her head, she sat cross-legged on the sofa in a loose T-shirt, completely unconcerned about her image or the tension in the room.
She blew into the vent with her mouth wide open, revealing shark-like pointed teeth.
It was clear she was very bored.
The missions of Special Division 4 were nothing more than dealing with Devil incidents.
Recently, they hadn't done anything. It was a lull that felt unnatural.
It was as if all the Devils in the world had suddenly disappeared.
Especially the highly publicized Gun Devil's flesh fragments, which had now become quiet.
The Gun Devil was a Devil whose Power source was humanity's fear of firearms.
Thirteen years ago.
Due to frequent terrorist attacks and the circulation of firearms globally.
Humanity's fear of firearms also increased significantly, feeding the devil.
Thus, the Gun Devil appeared and began to operate.
It caused massive destruction within mere seconds, wiping out millions and leaving scars on the world that would never heal.
Afterward, various gangs and Devils also began to contract with the Gun Devil to obtain firearms and Power.
To weaken the Gun Devil, various countries successively legislated strict penalties for gun ownership.
However, the Gun Devil had actually been defeated by someone unknown long ago and was kept secretly by various countries, divided like spoils of war.
The guns circulating among various gangs and Devils were merely artificial creations, produced by the flesh of the Gun Devil itself.
This was all a result of tacit approval from various countries, a cold war fought with pieces of a monster.
The more people feared guns.
The stronger the Gun Devil's Power became.
And the stronger the deterrent Power of countries possessing the Gun Devil would be.
The appearance of the Gun Devil's flesh fragments, however, had recently attracted worldwide attention.
But that attention lasted only for a period before suddenly disappearing, like a flame snuffed out.
Now, the entire world seemed eerily quiet.
There was a feeling of a coming storm, a pressure building in the air that prickled at the senses.
No one answered Power's question.
Himeno and Higashiyama Kobeni both wished there were no missions. Peace was preferable to facing death.
But Himeno was more concerned about Aki Hayakawa. His sudden transfer gnawed at her.
Now that the atmosphere was broken by Power's complaint, she spoke directly to Makima.
"Makima, why did you transfer Aki Hayakawa? Tell me the reason."
Rather than a question.
It sounded more like an interrogation.
"!!!"
Higashiyama Kobeni was restless. She shrank back into the sofa, wishing she could disappear.
Because the atmosphere instantly became heavy, thick enough to choke on.
"..."
Makima slowly put down her coffee as if she hadn't heard anything. The ceramic clinked softly against the desk.
A moment later.
She opened her eyes.
Her pupils, with their orange-yellow concentric circles, met Himeno's single eye.
Calm and composed, yet quite oppressive. There was a weight behind that gaze that made Himeno want to look away, but she held her ground.
Unbeknownst to Himeno, at this moment, beneath Makima's calm expression, Makima was pondering whether to directly dominate Himeno, just as she had dominated Reze. It would be easy. A simple command, a chain of control.
But in an instant, she abandoned that thought.
Himeno and Power were the people the Master had specifically requested.
She was merely a cup doll that the Master could use as she pleased, and also the Master's obedient dog, which he could play with, ravage, command, and tease at will.
A dog had no right to interfere with what the Master desired.
A dog could try to dominate everything in this world.
But it could never wish to dominate the Master or the things the Master desired. That was the hierarchy, absolute and unbreakable.
If everyone in the world who knew of the Control Devil's existence knew Makima's current dog-like thoughts, they would probably be greatly surprised.
That was the Control Devil! The embodiment of conquest and manipulation!
Dominating everything should be her instinct.
But unfortunately.
Above domination, there was an even stronger Dominator.
That was Ren.
Ren had not only dominated Makima, the Control Devil, from the concept of domination.
He had also, through tens of thousands of different methods, made Makima understand what physical domination and training were. He had broken her down and rebuilt her, molding her to his will.
Her current behavior was all a result of Ren's training.
He was confident that just by squeezing Makima's grapes, he could make her body overflow.
The body's memory was already etched into every part of her body, a constant reminder of who she belonged to.
Makima abandoned the idea of controlling Himeno. It wasn't worth risking the Master's displeasure.
She gave a very official reply, her voice smooth and devoid of emotion: "Hayakawa Aki has special arrangements for him, and you do not have the authority to know the reason."
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