Barem Bridge swallowed hard, cold sweat rolling down his neck. His eyes darted toward Makima, who still stood silent and unmoving, framed in drifting blue light. Makima… found a way to kill us.
Barem's breath caught in his throat. What the hell are those blue arrows…? … it's like they're burning us from the inside out.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
From inside the swirling glow of the Zaiphon barrier, Himeno turned wide eyes toward Kishibe. Her voice trembled as she spoke. "Sensei… does Makima-san—as the Control Devil—have this kind of ability?"
Kishibe sucked in a deep drag of his cigarette, exhaled a plume of smoke, and muttered, "If she could do that, Himeno, I'd be waving a surrender flag right about now. As far as any restricted documents I've ever read, her power's always been limited to making contracts. That's it. Not these… blue arrows. I know the Arrow Hybrid—Quanxi. She used to work with Makima. But that… what Makima just used… that's not it."
Aki stared out through the barrier, voice low and stunned."…It must be Kang Woo again. He gave Makima-san some unknown ability. Like that Zaiphon Makima-san just used."
Denji, uncharacteristically quiet, stared at Makima's distant silhouette. His mind turned over, his brow furrowing. Is this… what's so terrifying about Kang Woo? What Pochita tried to warn me about? That he can give his abilities to someone else? Doesn't seem that scary… …
Out on the rain-drenched battlefield, Makima faced off alone against the four remaining hybrids.
The Spear Hybrid suddenly snarled. His body convulsed as machinery and flesh twisted together. In an instant, his head transformed into a long spearhead lined with wicked, serrated teeth. His arms reshaped into dark, gleaming metallic lances, bristling with jagged armor.
The Whip Hybrid flung an arm toward him, eyes wide. "Spear—you haven't recovered yet!"
But the Spear Hybrid didn't listen.. "Take Barem out of here. I'll buy you time—"
But he never finished the sentence. A spray of blood erupted from the center of his torso. For a split second, his hybridized body froze—then split clean in half from shoulder to hip.
Standing front him was Makima. Her right hand held a dadao sword, forged entirely from Reishi. Its blade shimmered black , and its crossguard flared into sharp, winglike projections. She'd moved so fast that the air itself seemed to crack from the force of her step.
The Spear Hybrid toppled in two, blood and sparks spraying across the mud. He gurgled as his upper half hit the ground. "H… how… can a weakened Control Devil… still be… so powerful…?"
Makima turned slowly to face the remaining three hybrids, rain sluicing off her hair. Her face was a mask of disdain and fury. She tilted her head, the dadao still dripping with crimson, and spoke in a voice like ice. "Three more to go. Keep counting."
The Whip Hybrid's eyes went wide. She let out a raw, broken scream. "Spearrrrrrrrr!" Her body convulsed as metal and flesh twisted together. Her hands morphed into clusters of long, barbed whips . Her head reshaped into a sharper, more monstrous visage, her chin elongating into a blade-like point, her teeth gleaming like tiny spikes.
She glared at Makima, fury blazing. "You killed my friend, Makimaaaa!"
Makima didn't even blink. She stood perfectly still, rain pattering off her shoulders, silent as stone.
With a shriek, Whip Hybrid launched forward, her whip-arms snapping out in a blinding flurry. Dozens of razor-thin tendrils lashed toward Makima from every angle, But Makima merely raised one hand, palm outward. Blue Blut Vene veins shimmered beneath her skin, forming a glowing lattice of spiritual armor. The whips slammed against her arm but couldn't pierce through. Sparks flew as the barbs scraped across her reinforced flesh.
Whip Hybrid shrieked again and whipped harder, twisting around behind Makima, aiming for her neck, her sides, her legs. The whips cracked, each strike powerful enough to shatter concrete. Makima shifted barely an inch, her expression bored. She batted aside the whips with lazy swings of her dadao sword. Steel rang against Reishi as each strike sent the whip blades recoiling.
Whip Hybrid lunged in close, fangs bared, trying to bite into Makima's throat. Makima simply thrust her palm forward, catching Whip's face and shoving her backward like an unruly child. Whip staggered, gasping, and raised her arms for another attack.
But Makima lowered her hand, forming her fingers into a small pistol gesture. She cocked her thumb like a hammer. "Bang."
A violent explosion erupted from within Whip Hybrid's lower body. Her entire torso blasted apart in a spray of blood and metal fragments, leaving only her upper half writhing and sputtering in the mud.
Makima stepped forward and, without a flicker of emotion, brought her boot down on Whip Hybrid's skull. The crunch echoed through the rain. She ground her heel slowly, pinning what remained of Whip's head into the muck.
Then makima looked up at Barem Bridge, rain cascading off her hair. ". Whip's still alive. For now. Can't say the same for Spear, though. Devils against Quincies… has never been a good counter."
Miri Sugo's breath hitched. He tried to pivot away, one arm wrapped tight around Barem, dragging him backward in a desperate bid to flee.
But before he could even take a step, Makima's arm hurled her dadao sword. The blade flew across the clearing and slammed into Miri Sugo's side, pinning him to the muddy ground like an insect on a collector's board. Miri gasped, blood foaming between his lips. His body jerked against the sword driven through his torso.
Makima kept walking , until she loomed over Barem. "Trade blows with me, Barem. I want to kill you personally."
Barem could only breathe heavily,. He tried to speak, his voice shaking. "L-let's go to HQ, Makima. I'm sure… the Prime Minister will straighten things out. He'll explain the current situatio—"
Barem didn't get to finish. Suddenly, black Hellblaze flames coiled around his left arm, igniting his flesh in a swirling dark fire. The flames devouring his flesh even as they burned with an unnatural chill.
Barem threw back his head and screamed. "ARGHHHHHH!"
Makima stood over him, expression cold and pitiless. "You'd better cut off that left arm. Because those dark flames… start burning your soul next."
Without hesitation, Barem gritted his teeth and tore through the scorched remains of his arm. With a guttural snarl, he triggered his transformation.
Three massive fuel tanks erupted from his back, hissing with volatile pressure. His neck contorted into a mesh of twisted steel and flesh, and both arms thickened—morphing into twin flamethrowers. His lost limb regenerated, but not fully—something didn't come back.. Without waiting, he unleashed a torrent of fire toward Makima.
But the Commandment of Piety drifted in silently, unfurling its tendrils of shadow like the arms of a grieving mourner. They wrapped around Makima protectively, forming a barrier of layered darkness.
Even as the flames licked at her, she barely moved.
He's gone, she thought. And none of this matters anymore.
Kang Woo—her savior, her brief spark of utopia—had vanished into the void. He saw through her, accepted her, even when he shouldn't have. And now… he was gone.
Makima's gaze lifted slowly through the flames. a silence deeper than any grave. She vanished in a blur of Hikenkyaku.
The moment Barem blinked, she was already behind him.
With a single motion, she drove him into the dirt, pinning him down like a broken animal. He screamed and fired a desperate gout of flame from the nozzle embedded in his neck—directly into her chest.
But the fire only scattered. Her Blut Vene flared to life, veins of luminous blue dancing beneath her skin, shielding her without effort.
Makima raised her fist. And brought it down on his face. Once. Then again. And again.
The impacts echoed in the rain, rhythmically violent. Reishi rain pooled around them as Makima kept striking him—not to win, but because it was the only way to push the grief back. The only sound was the soft patter of the blue rain and the wet crunch of her knuckles meeting steel and flesh.
But her fists trembled with every every strike, she saw Kang Woo's back as he vanished. His words. His wave. The void that took him.
And still… she kept punching. Until her arms finally dropped to her sides, limp.
Makima stood above the bloodied wreck of Barem Bridge, chest rising and falling, her breath ragged—yet her face, expressionless. The blue rain continued to fall. And though the battlefield was silent, her heart was not. Why does it still hurt this much… even after everything I've done?
Then, without warning, a pulse surged outward from her core.
An immense wave of reiatsu burst from her body, a pressure so heavy it buckled the ground in front of her. The earth cracked open with a deafening CRACK, spiderweb fractures splitting the soil. Barem Bridge's mangled body was caught in the wave, flung ten meters back with a sickening bounce.
From her left back palm, the Eye of Mikhail flared open, its branch-like tendrils twitching with surprise.
Makima… if she had been born in a world steeped in mana instead of this one, where only fear-based powers shape the devils' hierarchy… she would've become the greatest magician who ever lived. My master Kang Woo was right about that.
And then—A hand gently rested on her shoulder.
Makima stiffened. But it was Aki, standing beside her with Denji and Himeno at his flank. Aki's expression was calm, eyes focused . Denji, meanwhile, looked like he was half-ready to throw himself in front of Aki as a meatshield at the first twitch from her.
"Makima-san," Aki said gently. "Can we go now? There's no one left to fight. You've won. . You're still the idol I admire, Even if I now know you're the Control Devil."
Denji scratched his head, stomach grumbling audibly. "Yeah, Makima-san, let's just get outta here already. I'm starving. Can we hit a café , I'll even pay this time."
Himeno, crossing her arms, tried to lighten the heavy air. " If Kang Woo saw you like this, he'd probably laugh and call you a chuunibyou. Just like him."
Makima blinked. The irony struck her. She had calmed Kang Woo once , soothed his cruelty , reminded him of his humanity. And now here she stood, trembling in the rain, and it was them—her subordinates—reaching out to pull her from that same Hole .
A bitter laugh slipped from her throat. "Ahahahaha… AHAHAHA…!"
It was something unhinged and strangely human—like a pressure valve finally blown open after years of silence.
Himeno winced. "Makima-san… your laugh is kinda terrifying. Are you alright?"
Makima voice came at last, low and hoarse."Shouldn't you be staying away from me?" "I'm a devil… a creature meant to be destroyed. …It's ironic, isn't it?"
Suddenly, the Eye of Mikhail pulsed from her left back palm, its tendrils twitching sharply. Mikhail's voice rang out inside her mind, brisk and urgent.
"Makima. Something is coming. From beneath Aokigahara's depths… a Qliphoth devil has broken through. Its name—Lucifero."
Makima's eyes widened, the brief flicker of panic betraying her usually unreadable face. Kang Woo had warned her . Creatures of magic were a different breed. Magic, unlike fear-based energy, could overpower devils like her.
Her gaze swept the forest, locating two distant figures. Twenty meters away, trudging lazily toward her, were Kishibe and Power.
Power waved enthusiastically, raising a shimmering hammer of blood in her hand. " Denji ! , I can make weapons like Kang Woo now! Pretty awesome, right? I'm stronger than him now, obviously!"
Kishibe said nothing. He had seen too much to be impressed. But before either of them could reach Makima , Chains come out from Makima's palm, wrapping around both of them.
Kishibe grunted and instantly shifted his stance, running with the force rather than against it.
But Power, ever unprepared, yelped as her feet left the ground. "Waaaghhh—!"
Face-first, she hit the mud. Her mouth buried in wet dirt. Kishibe arrived beside Makima with precision, blade drawn—just in case. Power, on the other hand, was still spitting out muck as Denji approached.
Denji stared down at her. "Yo, Power… does dirt taste better than karaage chicken?"
Power shot up, covered in mud, indignant. "THIS TIME IT WASN'T MY FAULT, YOU MONGREL! MAKIMA-SAN DRAGGED US! I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A DEMONSTRATION!"
Makima said nothing. Instead, the Eye of Mikhail on her palm began to glow—runes of Zaiphon circling around it like a mechanical halo. The air shimmered as an invisible barrier surrounded them, sealing them off from the outside world entirely.
Then— BOOOOOOOM. Within a 10-kilometer radius, every tree in the forest collapsed under the crushing weight of an unseen force. Gravity twisted the land itself. Outside the barrier, even the surviving hybrid crushed instantly, their bones cracking like dry twigs underfoot.
The air trembled. Makima stared down at her glowing palm with sardonic venom. "Mikhail. Tell me you've got a plan against a creature with immense mana."
The Eye of Mikhail blinked once. Then again. It flared with stress, "...The only thing I can say,", "is that we're fucked. This world's fucked. If it were a normal Qliphoth devil, you and I could handle it. But what's coming is Lucifero. The leader of the Qliphoth devils. against him,"
Mikhail added grimly, "there might be no plan at all."
Himeno frowned and cocked her head. "Oyy, eyeball,"aren't you supposed to be a gods? Didn't the Future Devil say you're some kind of divine weapon? You sound like a smoker who lost his job."
She lit another cigarette and sighed. "I still got debt to pay . That's my only damn wish."
Aki interrupted, voice steady. "Himeno-senpai… look outside."
Himeno squinted toward the world beyond the barrier—and her cigarette froze halfway to her lips.
All the trees were snapped in half. Some had simply collapsed. Others had been crushed flat, as if the sky itself sat on their backs. Deep fractures crisscrossed the forest floor like spiderwebs, spreading outward in every direction. It looked as if the ground itself had lost the will to hold together.
Himeno slowly reached out and flicked her cigarette outside the barrier. It hit the ground—and a crater formed from the impact . Gravity had changed. Even her cigarette had weight now. "…What the hell," she whispered.
Power's eyes lit up with curiosity. "Hey! Let's throw Denji out next!" she said, eyes gleaming. " Let's see if he's really strong or not!"
Denji stared at her, slack-jawed. "I'm not your science experiment! I mean… unless someone gives me free food aand girls . Then maybe."
The Eye of Mikhail shifted toward Himeno, annoyed.
"I only grow in power depending on my host," Mikhail said bluntly. "With Kang Woo, we had a chance. With Makima… she's strong, but only by this world's standards. Compared to what I've seen in the Outer Worlds—she's… mediocre."
Makima's jaw twitched, but she didn't argue.
Power puffed up her chest. "Then move to me! I'm way stronger than the Aging Devil! I already beat him!"
Kishibe, without breaking his deadpan expression, calmly pulled a roll of duct tape from his coat pocket and slapped a strip across Power's mouth.
"Mmmph?!" Power flailed, fists swinging pointlessly.
Aki exhaled, hand tightening around his sword. "There has to be something we can do. I mean… it's still a devil, right? We've fought devils before."
Makima shook her head. "We're… outclassed." "A being that wields mana on this level… it's beyond us. We can't handle it. Devils draw strength from fear. Hybrids rely on merged with their respective devils ,. But magic..."
She looked around at the devastated forest—the crushed trees, the shattered ground, the warped gravity pressing on the world like the weight of judgment. "Just like Kang Woo said… they're like forces of nature. …To be honest, this is the first time I'm admitting it, This is a situation I can't control."
Aki stepped forward, his voice unwavering. "Makima-san. We can still get out of this. Use us again."
Himeno's eyes darted to him. "Aki, this isn't the time for your antics—"
But Aki didn't stop. His eyes were fixed on Makima. "Makima-san… maybe my feelings for you were fake. Maybe you manipulated me. But that doesn't matter right now. Because we still need your strength."
Aki took another step,. "We're still Special Division 4, aren't we? A group of misfits. Some of us are devils. Some of us are insane. But we're still here."
"I remember what you did when Kang Woo tried to leave . How you tried to snatch him out of the sky like a comet, burning black across the horizon .
He looked her in the eyes. "So be that Makima again. the woman who didn't want to lose the one she loved."
Makima's heart lurched. I expected hatred… rejection… maybe even betrayal. I was ready for it. I had already accepted it. But instead… something good found me at the edge of despair. A spark. Something I never thought I'd feel again. This is your fault… Kang Woo. Making me feel this way. …And I miss you. There's no one I love but you.
But then Makima's eyes widened. From somewhere beyond perception, a ripple tore through the fabric of space like a predator brushing past the veil of the world. Twenty meters from them, the air shimmered—something was coming.
A hand signal flashed into their minds like an instinctual command—silent, deliberate, unavoidable.
Quiet down if you want to survive.
All of them tensed. Aki instinctively reached for his sword. Denji hunched down, shielding Power behind him. Kishibe's one eye narrowed, locking onto the air where something invisible approached. Power, for once, didn't speak. Himeno stopped breathing altogether.
Then—he arrived. The leader of the Qliphoth devils stepped into reality like a nightmare made flesh.
A towering figure, regal and monstrous all at once. Four massive bat-like wings unfurled behind him, each movement like thunder made visible. From his temples and the sides of his skull jutted four curved horns, black as abyssal stone. Long, flowing hair—unnaturally pale—cascaded down his back, unmoving in the oppressive gravity. His eyes… twisted, unnatural. Red irises gleamed within dark sclera, split by vertical slits like a serpent's hunger given form. His ears were pointed, sharp like blades. His lips curled into a faint sneer, revealing teeth made for tearing. His bony fingers twitched, each tipped with black nails, as his long, dark skirt dragged behind him like an omen.
Lucifero had arrived. The very ground beneath him caved in. The air warped, bent, and screamed as gravity suddenly doubled. The Zaiphon barrier cracked with a faint tch—like ice fracturing beneath a boot.
Himeno's legs buckled. Her lungs seized. What… is that?
Her mouth opened—an involuntary scream rising in her throat.
Aki moved faster than thought. His hand clamped over her mouth, eyes wide with alarm, and shot a desperate glance toward Makima.
Makima stepped forward. She reached Himeno with calm precision, her gaze meeting the woman's wild eyes. Her voice dropped to a whisper . "Calm."
A shiver of control passed through Himeno like a wave. Her panic melted—ice to warmth. She nodded slowly, then shakily gave a thumbs up.
Lucifero turned his head. He hadn't seen them. But he sensed. His voice boomed through the forest like a cathedral collapsing in slow motion.
"…I know there is someone," he growled, "who interfered with my summoning. That's the only explanation… why I am only fifty percent here. Why my essence cannot fully cross into this insignificant world." His fury vibrated in the earth.. "COME OUT."
And gravity—again—intensified. Four times heavier now. The stone beneath the ground crumbled into sinking rubble. The forest fell in pieces around them.
The Zaiphon barrier groaned audibly. Deep cracks raced along its sigil-laced edges. Sparks danced across its perimeter.
Makima narrowed her eyes, her jaw clenching.
Mikhail's voice whispered in her mind. "…Zaiphon barrier durability… sixty percent remaining."
Makima said nothing, her eyes locked on Lucifero's wings as they unfurled in silent triumph—vast, bat-like membranes casting a shadow longer than death. The weight of his presence suffocated the battlefield, and yet… beneath her skin, under layers of cold contracts and manufactured calm, her heart betrayed her with a quickened beat. This… is no devil I've ever seen.
A crack fissured across the Zaiphon barrier. Another. Then another.
Denji's voice cut through the rising panic. "Makima-san… the barrier. The cracks are widening."
Above them,. Multiple JGSDF helicopters spiraled downward like toys tossed by a tantrum. Jet fighters twisted midair and nosedived, crumpling into the earth in eruptions of steel and flame.
Kishibe's eye followed one chopper as it slammed through the treeline. they did send a full military strike to back Barem's mission… to secure or execute Makima if things went sideways. Makes sense.
But none of them expected a Qliphoth devil to arrive. His gaze shifted to Lucifero—still hovering slightly above the ground, his presence warping the landscape into submission. The Strenght from outside our world… A force that doesn't care about our rules. Tremendous.
From Makima's left back palm, the Eye of Mikhail pulsed.
Mikhail's voice rang in her mind. "Kobeni is en route. Kang Woo taught her how to pilot the emergency craft—only to be used when everything goes to hell. That time is now. The ship is covered in Bavarium shielding. It'll survive a nuke. Probably even this gravity pressure. It'll buy your people time."
Then, quieter: "So here's the situation. You and I kill Lucifero here and now. Or… we run. Abandon this world. Your choice."
Makima didn't respond aloud. Her thoughts flowed directly into the Eye embedded in her hand. Can we all evacuate together? If we don't stand a chance… we escape. All of us. Kang Woo once said that with the portal gun, i could travel anywhere—and bring along anyone who mattered to me.
Then came the reply from Mikhail , colder than before. "Negative. Different worlds have different laws. Kang Woo modified your body for trans-dimensional traversal. None of your companions are built to handle the strain.."
Makima's jaw clenched. Even Denji, since he is hybrid ?"
They'll die," Mikhail confirmed. ". The only one who might survive is that idiot blood fiend. And that's only because she's too stupid to realize she should've died already."
The Eye twitched once, sardonically. "She'd probably jump worlds just to prove she's better than a helicopter."