Chapter
"—Wha—t?! —This is impossible!!! I don't believe it!!!"
Denji's face was flushed red, staring at Kobeni with clenched teeth. Renji was equally bewildered.
"This… how is this possible? You… why would you think that? And Kobeni Senior, she… she…"
Renji didn't know what to say—whether to explain or not. He couldn't be one hundred percent sure Kobeni was the one who had spied on him and Himeno, though the suspicion was strong. But no matter what, Kobeni had never admitted it herself.
Reze produced a water bottle from behind her back. Sparks blew the lid off, and she tossed it away. A large amount of white seed scattered into the air until the cup landed, the remaining contents spreading into a small, viscous puddle on the ground.
Renji recognized it instantly. The bottle was the matching type from the utility room. And this thick white liquid…
That smell…
It was unmistakably his seed.
Reze shook Kobeni, whom she still held aloft.
"Talk. Tell me where all this came from. Or I'll kill you right now."
Kobeni swayed back and forth, her heart churning with fear, shame, and a tangle of complex emotions. They gnawed at her mind, making coherent thought nearly impossible.
Her face burned crimson. Tears brimmed in her eyes. Finally, she couldn't hold back and burst into sobs again.
"W-w-w-w-w-w… Don't kill me… I'll tell you… I'll tell you… It was… It was me… I secretly collected it from the utility room… I'm sorry, Renji… At the time, I overheard the gangsters' conversation—they were setting a trap to ambush you—so I came down to warn you… I never expected… W-w-w-w-w-w…"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… If I survive this time… please forgive me… I don't know why I couldn't control myself… I really didn't mean to spy on you… I'm sorry… W-w-w-w-w…"
Kobeni lowered her head, voice choked with tears, apologizing over and over. She dared not look at Renji's expression, terrified of seeing disappointment or the look of someone who thought she was a pervert.
Though the situation was utterly inappropriate, Renji inexplicably felt a twitch of laughter. He forced it down, suppressing the involuntary movement at the corner of his mouth.
"You heard that, right? Kobeni Senior is just an ordinary peeping tom. Nothing happened between her and me. Reze, are you satisfied? Did you get the answer you wanted? Can you let Kobeni Senior go now?"
Kobeni's heart shattered. Her sobbing grew louder.
Reze shook her head.
"If you want me to let her go, then you come with me. Otherwise, not only will I not release her—I'll kill her right in front of you."
Renji shook his head.
"If you really kill Kobeni Senior, there will be no possibility between us."
Reze still did not release Kobeni, but her expression remained unchanged.
Renji took a deep breath, then shouted with all his might.
"Kobeni Senior! Don't cry! I need your power boost! Please make a peace sign with both hands—and don't move!"
"Eh…? Eh? —EH?!!!"
Kobeni was startled, then let out a series of astonished cries—but instinctively, as Renji requested, she quickly raised both hands in a big "V."
Hayakawa Aki, already prepared in the car, extended her fingers into a fox sign and pointed at Reze.
"Knock."
An impossibly massive Fox Devil head materialized out of nowhere behind Reze without warning. Its blood-red maw gaped wide—and in the blink of an eye, it swallowed Reze whole.
Renji didn't hesitate for a second. He lunged forward, wrapped his arms tightly around the still-panicking Kobeni, rounded the Fox Devil's head, and sprinted away, shouting as he ran.
"Reze's target is me! Disperse! All of you, disperse!"
The Fox Devil's seven circular eyes rolled up and down, sensing something wrong…
"Ugh…! This smell…! It's a bomb!"
Brilliant light began to burst from the crevices of its mouth—followed by a thunderous roar. The Fox Devil's colossal head was instantly engulfed in flames.
It was blown to pieces. Flesh and blood splattered everywhere. The air filled with the acrid stench of gunpowder and the sickening reek of blood.
Denji pulled the ripcord between the jelly-like protrusions on her chest. Chainsaws, like living things, erupted from her head and arms, buzzing with a mechanical roar.
Chainsaws roaring, Denji sliced a gaping hole in the car roof and hauled herself out, planting her feet firmly on the metal as she glared down at Reze.
"Big talkers! Cowards! None of them are Renji's dogs! And yet they're all so far ahead of me! I'm pissed now! I don't care who you are—Bomb Devil, or whoever you work for! I'll stop you! I won't let a third person get ahead of me when it comes to Renji! You're under arrest! Under arrest!!!"
Her slender tongue snaked out, licking the jagged, steel-forest teeth of her chainsaw jaws. The roar of the engines peaked. The chainsaws on her arms clashed together, sparks flying, as she launched herself at Reze.
...
Kobeni's legs were locked tight around Renji's waist, her hands still frozen in that victorious "V." Renji held her steady with both hands, keeping her from falling.
"Kobeni Senior, I'm putting you down now."
"Sa-saved?! Ah?! Good! Okay!"
When Renji set her down on the street, a wave of relief washed over her, mingled with a faint flush of shyness. She watched him leap onto a rooftop, then—summoning every ounce of courage—shouted after him.
"Renji! I'm not a pervert!"
Renji glanced back and waved.
"Got it, Kobeni Senior! I was just kidding! Don't lower your hands! Keep making the V! It's really important to me!"
[Ding~ Detected Kobeni Higashiyama's relieved emotional state. System rewards 10 points.]
Hearing that, Kobeni relaxed—then realized she'd lowered her hands. She quickly raised them again, holding the "V" tight.
At that moment, a series of deafening explosions erupted from the direction they'd come, shaking the entire road. The ground trembled uncontrollably.
Each blast sent colossal pillars of fire into the sky, illuminating the night like day. Mushroom clouds bloomed high above, spreading outward layer by layer.
Reze shot out from one of those clouds, still gripping a blackened object in her hand. Her trajectory was direct—straight toward Renji. She streaked past Kobeni below in an instant.
Kobeni looked up in horror and screamed with all her might.
"—Eh—?!!! Renji! The Bomb Devil is flying toward you! Be careful!"
Reze glanced back at Kobeni on the street below. She snapped her fingers. Sparks drifted down from between them, floating near Kobeni.
—Bang!—
Kobeni screamed as she was blown away.
Renji landed steadily on the ground, facing a towering, hundred-meter office building. Its massive black silhouette loomed indistinctly against the night sky.
Reze slammed down behind him like a meteorite, kicking up a cloud of dust. Renji turned, his gaze meeting hers.
"Can you stop running now, Renji?"
[Ding~ Detected Reze's impatient emotional state. System rewards 20 points.]
Reze hurled the charred, half-dead Denji she'd been holding onto the ground in front of him.
Denji lay limp, smoke curling from her body, mumbling something indistinct. But Renji understood.
"Hit… and blown up… This… this is too… too cheap…"
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