[3rd POV]
The sky above Saitama Prefecture had been torn into something unrecognisable.
The battle between the Pig Devil and the Accident Devil had raged for more than a day now, with no winner between them.
It was a stalemate. The Accident Devil was nigh infinite in power, while the Pig Devil just wouldn't die, constantly feasting on tiny parts of the devil to heal and fight again and again.
The battle had turned into one of attrition. But it was obvious that the Pig Devil would come out as the victor eventually. He was slowly chipping away the Accident Devil, eating it piece by piece. Even a mountain would crumble against a chisel if it was held by hands of persistence.
The Pig Devil was nothing if not persistent. It was not even a fight to him, more like a buffet that he thoroughly enjoyed.
The battle between them had started tame but the longer it went on, the more disastrous it became. It initially began in the Yuzawa section of the Kan-Etsu highway but since then, the destruction had raged further than its origin.
A giant hurricane had descended upon the Saitama Prefecture. It was a rotating cathedral of calamity where metal, flesh and misfortune spiraled endlessly to embody the entire concept of accident.
It stayed where it began for a while, but soon this hurricane began moving like a natural disaster. It left destruction in its wake. Mountains were completely erased, highways were peeled away from the region, and infrastructure crumbled to nothingness.
And that was not all.
....
"Secure the parameters!! We cannot let this fight rage on any longer, the losses are too much. We need to help the Pig Devil deal with the enemy as quickly as possible," a Devil Hunter, a respected squad leader, had said.
Makima had informed the headquarters, and orders came to instruct every personnel to never go beyond a one kilometre radius of the hurricane, where the battle was taking place.
But after hours had passed and as losses and tragedies piled up, the Devil Hunters found it hard to stay still. The squad leader was the first to take action.
"We can't just stand here and do nothing," he said, pulling out his katana and crossing the line and entering beyond the warned one kilometre radius.
"Let's go" the man slipped the moment he crossed the line and he fell.
His katana fell from his hands and somehow, someway, he impaled himself on the fall. It was a gruesome accident that killed him instantly.
...
This was just one example of the accidents that happened to people who got too close to the battle. A freak accident would happen, often taking their lives or leaving them with grievous injury.
The people living nearby were quickly evacuated. Where the battle would take place next and where the hurricane would go was unsure, so the government declared a wide area evacuation to the surrounding areas.
Due to Makima's warning and quick action, the total deaths had not surpassed five hundred. But that was just human lives, the loss of infrastructure and land was massive. Japan was going to take a huge blow in its economy after this disaster.
But there was not much to worry about. If the Accident Devil could be dealt with permanently, this would be a huge achievement. The devil was considered a global threat so Japan was bound to receive rewards and aid from other countries if that was the case.
As the battle continued to rage and showed no sign of stopping soon, only one person was left in the vicinity.
"I told you he was special," Makima said as she walked on the path of destruction the battle had carved.
The region used to be hilly and mountainous. But everything was completely levelled, and the inside of the earth was exposed. She was walking on a plain that almost looked like a desert now, instead of green mountains.
"Do you see it?" she asked. Her eyes looking at the faraway battle. The sky was filled with dark clouds that converged into the hurricane. The blue sky had not been visible for a day now.
She held her hand up, bringing the head she was carrying to her level and letting the dead eyes watch the battle.
Kishibe, he was dead. He was swiftly killed by Makima amid the chaos. But she held on to his head to not lack company.
Kishibe was a fun thing to play with while he was alive. She would love to keep him around but he had seen too much and knew more than he should. So his death was necessary.
"The battle will end soon," she smiled the tiniest smile.
"After all, the Accident Devil is only half now while Jin continues to grow," she said.
Her observations were true. The Pig Devil was gaining advantage with every little piece he consumed. His powers were gaining a boost because the Accident Devil was much stronger than he.
Not only that, he was slowly gaining and adapting to the concept of accidents. Kind of like how his fur had turned into scalpels while he was still in the middle of fighting the Scalpel Devil.
The sky screamed. The shockwaves from the battle could be felt even from a distance. The hurricane began to move again, the battle was changing place once more.
When the Accident Devil moved its domain for the first time, it was to trap and follow the Pig Devil that was trying to escape. Now it was the opposite. The Accident Devil tried to escape and run away but the Pig Devil continued to follow it everywhere.
Makima seeing the shift simply turned to her side and continued to follow the battle.
Another day passed, the battle had been happening for two whole days now. At this point, the world was aware of the battle that took place in the Saitama Prefecture of Japan.
The international news covered the events, although no media or any other organisation could get close enough to gain information. Helicopters simply malfunctioned and crashed, eyewitnesses close enough to see the battle died, and the only images available were taken by a camera with zooming lenses that took blurry pictures.
But even then, the real battle was taking place inside the hurricane.
The best image that was available was the scene of the hurricane lighting up due to an electricity outburst. It showed the shadow of a monstrous Pig Devil roaring in pain, or maybe laughing with pleasure, on the wall clouds.
And finally, on the third day of battle, the hurricane disappeared.
The clash between the Pig Devil and the Accident Devil came to an end.
..
..
////////////////////
[1st POV]
When I finally came back to my normal senses, I was in the middle of a razed land.
It was once a beautiful green forest but now a wasteland.
It was dead land with no life in sight.
The vending machine I was eating disintegrated and left a fingernail size piece of devil's flesh. I grabbed that with a handful of dirt and shoved it up my mouth.
After I swallowed, I looked around, searching for more.
But there was no more food to eat.
My third eye slowly disappeared, my hunger was lessened by a large margin. It was not torturing me anymore.
My hybrid transformation also melted away, leaving a naked human body.
But the fight was still not over.
The wailing sound of an infant filled the air. The cry was haunting, but it was so much better for the ear than the annoying sirens.
I turned towards the source and found a baby wailing its tiny limbs amid the dirt. That was the last solid piece of the Accident Devil.
"A baby? Really?" I asked, a little dumbfounded. So babies could be considered an accident. It was hilarious but also dark.
I stood up slowly. I was not in pain nor fatigue. I felt good actually, better than I've ever felt, stronger than I ever was.
But the weight of the battle was pulling me down now. My soul was tired.
I made my way to finish my meal once and for all. But after just taking a few steps, I slipped and fell on the ground, somehow breaking my neck in the process.
But I healed almost instantly and got back up again.
Not for long though because I fell again after taking a few steps. I healed and got up again. But then I fell again.
Again and again, I continued the process before I decided to just crawl towards the baby. The infant tried its best to get away but it could barely move.
When I caught it by its little leg, I lulled it towards me. The cry intensified as its skin was scraped bloody by the dirt and tiny rocks.
I sat on my legs in a kneeling position and held the baby in my hands. It looked like a normal baby, its appearance instinctively making me sympathise its existence.
"Falling huh," I asked the crying baby, "Is that the first accident that happened to humanity? Slipping and falling,"
The baby did not answer and just continued to cry.
So I lowered my head and bit off one of its legs. The cry of an infant turned into something demonic, a devil screamed.
"Oh, so this is what babies taste like," I said while chewing, my saliva leaking from my mouth, "They taste good. No wonder monsters like eating kids,"
But the flesh of the baby quickly turned corrupted and became a devil's flesh.
"You... you bastard. Let me go!!!" the baby devil yelled. Its appearance was not so cute anymore. The face was wrinkled, like I was holding a tiny old man instead of a newborn baby.
"Oh now you can speak," I said. The Accident Devil did not utter a single word while we fought. This was the first time I heard its voice.
"Let me go!! Let me go!! LeT mE gOoOo!!!" it struggled but I held it tight.
"I won't do that," I said.
"Then kill me!! Just kill me!! I will do whatever you want! I will make a contract and never return to the human world. Just kill me and send me to hell!!" it said.
"Can't do that either," I said with a chuckle. I didn't want to eat just yet. Everyone knows you should enjoy and savour the last bite.
The baby devil stopped and stared at me with unnerving eyes when it heard me chuckle. I couldn't tell if it was afraid or angry.
I stopped and stared at it too.
...
"What are you?" it suddenly asked.
I was completely caught off guard by the sudden question but I answered all the same.
"I am your hell," I said with a playful grin. "At least that's what I think after fighting you for so long,"
"The hell in this world is kind of lame. It's just a realm where devils are born, it's your home basically. But where I'm from, hell is supposed to be an eternal prison that traps the demons and the devils," I said.
"You know, the devils I ate never appeared again, even the common ones. The stronger devils retain their consciousness inside of me but they can never escape from my stomach," I said.
"Maybe that's my purpose for being here. Not that I don't like it, I quite enjoy eating you,"
"So welcome to hell,"
I brought the Accident Devil closer and closer to my mouth. It spread its limbs, making itself big so that I wouldn't be able to eat it.
But my mouth just opened wider and wider and wider until I could fit the baby effortlessly.
It screamed and wailed all the way through.
I chomped it down and savoured it. I chewed again and again and again and again, not wanting to swallow it.
The taste was delightful.
...
...
[IMAGE]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------