Chapter 48: Power of Tempestous God of Valor, Susanoo!
Just as Otonashi Chiya expected, a single fragment of Gun Devil flesh caused Hayakawa Aki's mood to improve instantly.
However, this only reinforced Chiya's decision not to reveal the truth about the Gun Devil yet. The secret was that the threat of the Gun Devil had long since vanished; its body had been torn apart years ago. Even though Japan held no part of the primary body, the "Cabinet"—the highest leadership—chose to keep this a secret. The Gun Devil's fragments were still incredibly powerful, and the Cabinet needed a steady stream of "tools" to collect them.
Those "tools" were the Public Safety devil hunters. The Cabinet framed the collection of Gun Devil flesh as a paramount mission, with Tokyo Public Safety placing the highest importance on it.
In other words, the Japanese elite were exploiting the rage and hatred of children whose lives had been destroyed by the Gun Devil, leading them to volunteer as hunters for a completely meaningless revenge. The Gun Devil was already fragmented and mindless. Over 80% of these hunters would end up killed by devils, never knowing the ugly conspiracy of the Cabinet until the day they died.
This cruel, ridiculous tragedy was something the current Hayakawa Aki could not bear.
Nighttime. The Tokyo night market was brightly lit and bustling with activity. An entire street was filled with entertainment venues: restaurants, bars, arcades, cinemas, clubs, and street food stalls. The foot traffic was immense.
But tonight, the peace was shattered.
Chiya and Aki happened to be passing by this street when they heard screams and pleas for help rising above the noise of the crowd. Realizing a devil had likely appeared, Chiya immediately spoke to the driver: "Driver, stop the car. We're getting off here!"
"Oh... okay..." The driver hadn't realized what was happening yet; he simply followed the order.
Aki reacted quickly, helping Himeno-senpai out of the car. His thoughts aligned with Chiya's—there was definitely a devil on that street. He couldn't leave Himeno in the car, as the driver would likely panic and floor the gas the moment he saw a monster.
"Stay here and watch Himeno-senpai. I'll find the devil's location," Chiya told Aki.
Before the words had even finished hanging in the air, his figure vanished. Aki blinked; he couldn't even see which direction Chiya had gone. He followed instructions and stayed put, supporting Himeno and waiting, knowing that moving recklessly would only put his unconscious senior in danger.
Meanwhile, Chiya had already teleported himself to the top of a nearby skyscraper. Standing steadily atop the building, he looked down at the night market. His eyes instantly locked onto the target—directly below him.
And it wasn't just one devil. Two had descended simultaneously!
The crowd below was scattering in a panic, but many who had been injured by falling debris or trampled in the stampede were unable to move. They were about to become devil food.
Chiya naturally wouldn't stand by. Besides, he had been looking for a chance to test Susanoo today—and here it was. He leaned forward and committed to a straight free-fall.
A split second before impact...
Susanoo!
BOOM!
With a massive roar, the ground shattered, sending clouds of dust billowing into the air. Chiya landed completely unscathed. A pale blue Susanoo ribcage encased his body, while the concrete beneath his feet was webbed with deep cracks.
Every pair of Mangekyō Sharingan possesses unique abilities. The "first" and "second" powers of Kamui correspond to two different ocular jutsus—Offensive Kamui and Defensive Kamui. The "third" power, however, is one shared by all Mangekyō: Susanoo, also known as the Power of God!
Right now, he was using only the Initial Form—a two-to-three-meter-tall ribcage of Susanoo. Even at this level, he could already feel a small portion of his physical energy being drained away.
Susanoo is formed by manifesting chakra into a physical state; for Otonashi Chiya, it was his life force being materialized. It was, in every sense, an absolute defense!
The massive commotion immediately drew the attention of the surrounding crowd.
"What is that?! Is it another devil?!"
"Damn it! Why are there three devils appearing here at once? We have to wait for Public Safety backup!"
"Wait, no! There's a human inside. That must be a devil hunter!"
At first, most people mistook him for another monster because the glowing pale-blue ribcage was so eye-catching. Only upon closer inspection did they notice the teenage boy standing within the massive bones. At the same time, the two devils had their attention diverted; fortunately, no one had been killed yet.
While the Initial Form could manifest Susanoo arms, Chiya felt it wasn't enough. He decisively pushed it to the First Form.
Cr-crack—!
With a sound like growing bones, the Susanoo began to expand rapidly around the ribcage. It grew a relatively complete upper body, including a head and two massive arms. Its appearance was skeletal, and its height surged to nearly ten meters, instantly towering over the two devils.
He didn't progress to the Second Form or beyond. The First Form was more than enough for the devils in front of him; anything more would be a severe "overkill."
"This... what on earth is...?!"
The surrounding crowd looked up at the pale-blue giant with vacant expressions and shocked eyes! Among them were private devil hunters who had just rushed to the scene. They had never seen such a devil power before, and the impact on their psyches was immense.
Even the two devils were stunned, unable to tell if the giant before them was a human or one of their own kind.
"What the hell are you?!" one shrieked.
Even with their keen sense of smell, it was useless. There were too many humans around, and Chiya was completely encased within the Susanoo; they couldn't catch a whiff of his scent.
Chiya didn't waste a single word on them. He manipulated the Susanoo's hands to grab the two five-meter-tall devils. In his grasp, they looked like a pair of "midgets."
Then, he squeezed.
Splatt! Splatt!
Both devils were crushed by the Susanoo's hands!
[Ding! Host has successfully hunted the "Coffee Devil." Attribute Points gained: 8!]
[Ding! Host has successfully hunted the "Grill Devil." Attribute Points gained: 10!]
In an instant, flesh, blood, and entrails rained down from the sky. For the ordinary people watching, this was a sight they would never forget as long as they lived. They were so dazed by the shock that they forgot to dodge the flying chunks of devil meat, staring blankly at Chiya's Susanoo.
The private devil hunters present had never witnessed such a method of killing. In their world, the pinnacle of power was the Public Safety hunters' Fox Devil; this boy had just summoned a literal giant!
Chiya then deactivated the Susanoo. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he spoke calmly to the private hunters: "I am Otonashi, Vice Captain of Tokyo Public Safety, Special Division 1. It seems I've stolen your prey?"
Hearing this, the private hunters finally snapped out of their trance and nodded frantically.
"No, not at all!"
"We couldn't have handled two devils at once anyway. Thank you so much for the support!"