Denji's body was beautiful—so much so that it didn't evoke any impure thoughts.
That was Renji Kuroda's first impression upon seeing her.
Though not voluptuous, her figure carried a soft, natural elegance. Her chest, a modest C-cup, and her slightly perky, rounded hips gave her a delicate balance. If one could ignore the thick smears of blood across her skin and her wild, unrestrained laughter, she radiated the kind of maidenly charm only youthful girls possess.
Hayakawa Aki was different. Though she and Denji were around the same age, their life experiences had diverged significantly. Aki's demeanor had already begun evolving into that of a mature woman—steady, composed, and quietly intense.
In contrast, Renji Kuroda's reaction to Denji was simple and instinctive: girlish, beautiful, youthful, and full of vitality. Only then did the more standard reactions follow.
[Ding~ Detected Hayakawa Aki's jealous emotion. System rewards 20 points.]
Just as Renji was silently observing Denji's body, that familiar sound echoed again in his mind, startling him.
This "ding"—and the earlier one,[Ding~ Detected Hayakawa Aki's doubtful emotion. System rewards 20 points.]—both had come through slightly louder than usual.
Renji turned to glance at Hayakawa Aki standing beside him. She was quietly watching him, her clear eyes betraying no emotion. Calm. Composed. As if nothing unusual had just occurred.
Her stillness, however, planted a small seed of doubt in Renji's heart. Had he really heard it right?
Was that truly… jealousy?
"Hm? What's wrong?" Hayakawa Aki asked gently.
"You've got a little blood on your face. It must've splashed on you during the fight," she said, reaching out to lightly wipe the bloodstain from Renji's cheek with her fingertip.
"There. That looks much better now."
She smiled faintly.
While they were still lingering on the second floor of the abandoned factory, something unexpected happened with Denji.
From the shadows deeper within the building, a fleshy whip of intestine suddenly lashed out, slamming directly into Denji.
Caught in the high of her slaughter spree, Denji had no warning and was sent flying, crashing violently into the railing just in front of Renji and Aki. A deafening clang rang out, followed by the heavy thud of her body hitting the ground, raising a thick cloud of dust. Blood poured from her mouth in great gulps.
Renji reacted immediately, leaping down. Hayakawa Aki followed without hesitation.
From the darkness ahead, a grotesque, deformed figure slowly emerged. It had no lower body, only a massive upper torso, and its neck lacked a head. Instead, atop the shoulders was a grotesquely exposed, still-steaming brain—fleshy, wet, and pulsing faintly as if it held sentience.
And embedded in the monster's right chest was a giant human head—its eyeballs bulging unnaturally, its expression twisted into a grotesque snarl. It was bald, save for hair on either side of the scalp; the top shone like polished glass.
Beneath its torso, there was no skin. Raw, exposed organs spilled out. Thick ropes of intestine coiled on the filthy factory floor, writhing slightly.
Renji rushed to Denji's side. She was in terrible shape.
Her orange, lightbulb-like eyes flickered weakly. Tears streamed from them, dripping silently to the ground—evidence of pain that no scream could express.
[Ding~ Detected the host's first encounter with a major plot character, Denji. System rewards 3 points.][Ding~ Detected Denji's painful emotions. System rewards 10 points.][Ding~ Detected Denji's sad emotions. System rewards 10 points.]
Seeing her like this tugged at Renji's heart. He knelt down beside her, hesitating for a long moment as he prepared to cut his wrist to feed her his blood.
But then he paused.
After all, he was the only man in this world. That fact alone made him wonder—was there something inherently special or dangerous about his blood?
Even Hayakawa Aki had reacted instinctively just from the scent of his hormones. If Denji were to actually drink his blood…
Who knew what might happen?
After some thought, he decided it was best to err on the side of caution. He turned to Aki.
"Hayakawa Aki, take care of her. She's not a Devil—she's a fiend. I know her. She's a good person, and she can still be saved."
Hayakawa Aki nodded. She took off Renji's coat and gently draped it over Denji's battered body.
As she did, her eyes locked onto the monstrous creature before them, finally seeing its full form clearly.
"Zombie Devil. So its true form really was here."
Renji stood up slowly, staring at the creature. His eyelid twitched as his mind processed the horror in front of him.
"So disgusting," Renji muttered under his breath.
"When I watched the anime back in the real world, this scene didn't seem like much—the 3D looked way too fake. But now, seeing it with my own eyes… it's genuinely sickening."
Hayakawa Aki drew his katana from his back again, preparing to assist Renji Kuroda.
"Aki, don't push yourself. Your injury hasn't healed yet, has it? I noticed earlier. I'll handle the rest alone. I'm the one getting paid for this job, after all—I have to earn it properly."
Hayakawa Aki frowned slightly, clearly reluctant.
"Please, Aki," Renji said, turning to look at him with a serious expression.
Aki sighed, then silently obeyed, retreating a few steps.
The Zombie Devil's bulging eyeballs swiveled, locking onto Renji's face with a ferocious glare.
"You… you're the one who slaughtered the zombies on the other side. Are you with Public Safety? How did you find this place?!"
Renji didn't respond. He calmly adjusted his breathing, gripped his laundry pole tighter, and began walking steadily toward the grotesque monster.
"What is that thing? A two-meter sword? Can you even hold it straight? What, you here to perform some circus act?"
The Zombie Devil lashed its thick intestines, which were sprawled across the ground, snapping them toward Renji with a sharp whoosh.
"Tch. Looks terrifying on the outside, but it's so damn slow. Got me nervous for nothing."
Just as the intestine was about to reach him, Renji's figure flickered, gracefully dodging the strike. A clean swish followed.
The writhing intestine was severed in an instant, the limp remains thudding heavily to the ground.
On the distorted human face embedded in the Zombie Devil's chest, veins bulged grotesquely. It snarled, whipping out three more intestines like serpentine lashes, slicing the air with howling force.
But Renji was already ahead of it. His movements were precise, fluid—he slipped through the gaps with ghostlike ease. A moment later, a flurry of sword flashes cleaved the three intestines cleanly, and the severed lengths dropped one after another with wet splat-splat sounds, kicking up gritty dust.
The Zombie Devil's face froze.
It sensed something was wrong. It should've hit him.
Yet Renji moved like he'd already seen every attack before it even came. And each time, he reacted perfectly, almost lazily.
Roaring, the Zombie Devil struck again—this time with everything it had. Every intestine, every possible angle, all flung at Renji in a desperate barrage.
But its movements were no longer calculated. They were wild. Panicked.
In its blind frenzy, it lost track of Renji's position—only to realize a second too late that he had slipped beneath it, already poised to strike.
It had just one intestine left, twitching weakly to support its bloated form.
Renji's blade flashed again.
Shing.
That final support was cleanly sliced away.
The Zombie Devil let out a guttural scream as its massive, misshapen body collapsed to the ground with a thunderous crash, sending a tremor through the abandoned factory.
"The acrobat's here to perform just for you," Renji muttered coldly.
In one swift motion, he retracted the laundry pole, gripping it with both hands—and then lunged.
With an explosive thrust, he drove it forward, piercing one of the Zombie Devil's massive eyeballs.
Squelch!
The eyeball burst like a rotten fruit. A spray of blood plasma erupted in all directions, and the creature screamed again, thrashing violently as if it were being tortured from within.