A ripple tore through reality like silk slit by a flaming blade — and in the next breath, Kang Woo and Makima emerged in the heart of Tokyo.
Specifically… inside a 24-hour fried chicken joint. It was completely empty.
The overhead lights buzzed faintly, flickering with unstable voltage. Walls and windows were plastered in yellow tape marked in bold black: DANGER.
Kang Woo took one look around and slipped his hands into his coat pockets.
"Nice decoration," he muttered, stepping over a collapsed chair. "Though I'd prefer it in red."
Makima shot him a glance, her tone laced with dry sarcasm. "Yes. Very tasteful. Like the kind you get when an alien tears open the sky using with whatever power you just used."
Kang Woo only smiled. Outside, the noon sky shimmered faintly — the last remnants of a cosmic rupture still stitched into its surface like a scar. He had sealed it before they left for the Citadel of Ricks.
Kang Woo's eyes shifted to the street. There, standing quietly under the uneasy sunlight, were two familiar silhouettes. Aki Hayakawa. And Denji. They have been waiting in place for hours. Denji's arms were crossed tightly. Aki was standing stiff, gaze never leaving the restaurant door.
Kang Woo gave a soft hum of amusement. "What a pair of loyal dogs you've got, huh?"
Makima stared out through the glass, eyes unreadable. But at the man beside her, still teasing… and still here.
Together, they stepped forward, exiting the ruined chicken joint and approaching the two waiting figures on the sidewalk.
Aki was the first to notice. He straightened immediately and gave a respectful bow toward Makima.
"Welcome back, Makima-san. Denji and I have been waiting for you."
Denji, less formal and far more excitable, waved both arms.
"Woah—heyyy! Kang Woo! You didn't tell me you were some kinda alien or whatever. I mean, with that power, you could be a celebrity or something!"
Kang Woo simply walked past Denji in silence, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
Makima, meanwhile, felt a familiar pull — a thread quietly tightening in her soul.
The contract. It's restored, she realized.
The pact with Japan's Prime Minister — Kentaro himself — had reconnected, snapping back into place now that she was within her own world. The failsafe returned: all harm redirected away from her, pushed onto the bodies of random citizens.
Outside my world, she thought coldly, I'm weaker than I ever imagined. That's a danger I can't afford to forget.
Then aloud, her voice smooth and composed, she asked, "When I was gone… did Japan fall into panic?"
Aki nodded."A bit. Every devil hunter in Tokyo Division was searching for you. Though… there's one acting strange."
Makima's eyes narrowed slightly. "Strange?"
"Barem Bridge," Aki said. "He left the country. Traveled overseas. No one knows why or where to."
Makima's mind clicked. Barem…? Could he be intending to betray me? Aligning with Vought…?
She shook the thought away, filing it for later. "Thank you, Aki."
She turned her gaze to Denji. "And Denji-kun… have you completed your first mission with Aki?"
Denji immediately puffed his chest out, grinning ear to ear. "Yup! I did! Isn't it great, right, Kang Woo? I already killed a fiend!"
Kang Woo didn't respond right away. Instead, with a smooth motion of his hand, a glyph flared at his side—black and crimson runes spiraling outward. From within that dark shimmer emerged a sleek, obsidian-black motorcycle, forged of demonic steel fused with armor plating that pulsed with infernal energy.
[Cavaliere: Motorcycle Form]
A fusion of raw speed and war-forged power, like something torn straight out of hell and sculpted into a vehicle. Jet-black chrome gleamed under the sunlight, and angular sections of Cavaliere Angelo's former armor flexed like muscle beneath the frame.
Denji's jaw dropped. "WOAHHHHH! You have a bike?! What kind?! Can I ride one too?!"
Even Aki raised an eyebrow. "…Is there anything you Don't Have ?"
Kang Woo swung his leg over the seat, gripping the handles as the demonic engine growled awake with a low, spine-rattling purr. "Dunno," he said lazily. "Everything takes steps anyway."
As the engine revved, Makima stepped closer, arms crossed in mock amusement. "You're not flying?" she teased. "No dramatic entrance through the sky? No terrifying 'Black Comet' this time?"
Kang Woo smirked, eyes flicking toward her. "Oh? Shouldn't you act more like your usual self? Say something like: 'Kang Woo, I want that bike. Or let me ride it with you.'"
Makima's lips curled, eyes narrowing playfully. "Careful. On the ground… there's nowhere to hide. I'll always find you."
Kang Woo chuckled, twisting the throttle. "Then catch me if you can, Makima."
With that, he kicked off. The bike roared like a beast unleashed, tearing through the Tokyo street in a blur of demonic metal and sound. flaring with dark mana as he accelerated instantly past 600 km/h, vanishing like a bullet into the horizon.
Makima waved a hand through the thick cloud of dust Kang Woo's bike had kicked up,. She didn't even bother hiding the small amused smile tugging at her lips.
Then, without looking, she turned to Aki.
"Aki," she said. "Shouldn't you ask about Kang Woo's Zaiphon power? You might need it for your little revenge goal."
Aki blinked. "Should I…? If you allow it, Makima-san. I should've asked earlier."
Makima tilted her head slightly. "Wait—did you actually wait for my permission?"
"Yes," Aki said simply. "I always have, Makima-san."
For a second, she didn't respond. She just looked at him… then slowly, her lips curved again. Not in malice. Not in control. Just faint amusement. Kang Woo… is your influence lowering my intelligence?
She snorted. Then she laughed. "Kuhahaha…"
Denji jolted. "Wha—Makima-san?! You're laughing?! Are you okay?! Was it that stressful when Kang Woo kidnapped you ?!"
Makima tilted her head upward, staring into the open sky above Tokyo. Her voice, when it came, was distant — and unusually relaxed.
"…I wish he had kidnapped me." She sighed. "But It's more like… he keeps dragging me into a game of tag. And I always end up chasing him."
A small smile touched her lips again. "But… that's what makes it exciting."
Aki let out a rare, quiet chuckle. "…I suppose Kang Woo does ease the tension. Even in this cruel job." He glanced toward her. "He even managed to change you, Makima-san."
After nearly four hours of silent flight across the archipelago, Kang Woo finally pulled the brakes.
His bike skidded slightly before settling on the quiet, neon-splashed corner of Shinjuku Golden Gai — the narrow alleys humming with distant nightlife, though eerily subdued tonight.
Kang Woo exhaled through his nose, leaning forward slightly over the handlebars.
Breathing in satisfaction. Letting the silence wrap around him.
Then, on his left back palm, a crimson slit blinked open — Mikhail's eye flaring softly with life.
"Master," Mikhail's voice echoed within Kang Woo's thoughts, calm but resolute. "You've already traveled through Makai, , and combed across Japan in full. My calculations show you've implanted fragments of your soul into over two million individuals — devils, and demons,. In my opinion…"
The eye narrowed faintly. "…you've done more than enough to begin the Kaisergesang ritual."
Kang Woo didn't respond immediately. He tapped the accelerator lightly with his boot — the engine growled low, idling like a waiting beast.
"I still need more part," he said quietly.
Mikhail stayed silent. "The intelligence matrix," Kang Woo continued. "Something equivalent to a Quantum computer.
Mikhail's voice came gently through the eye on his palm, tone curious but certain.
"Master… I can replace that function. I can act as your quantum core."
Kang Woo shook his head once. "That's not an option. The Kaisergesang ritual will kill the target once the Auswählen activates. It retrieves the soul fragments I've scattered—and returns them to me. You're my gatekeeper, Mikhail, not my offering."
Before Mikhail could speak again, the sky shattered behind them with a thunderous crash.
A hulking blur shot across the skyline and slammed into a nearby building wall—rubble cascading in showers of concrete and steel.
Kang Woo calmly turned his head. From the exposed side of the building, in the crumbled mess of bent rebar and twisted frames…
Two figures tumbled out and landed violently on the asphalt below.
One, a grotesque devil with leathery wings and fanged jaws. Its right arm was missing — sliced off entirely.
The other: Denji.
Chainsaw roaring from his head and arms, his entire body soaked in blood and sewer filth, sparks flying every time his chains grated against concrete. His breathing was heavy but determined.
The Bat Devil hissed,. "You're a devil… yet you let that human girl go," the Bat Devil growled. "What is it you want,?"
Denji steadied himself, raising one chainsaw-bladed arm, his teeth bared in that stupid, stubborn grin.
"I'm gonna slash open your stomach…" he growled, chest heaving. "Until I'm satisfied—"
He took a single step forward, blades revving. "—and free Power from your guts."
And with a sudden, reckless lunge, he shoved the Bat Devil.
The creature reeled backward, crashing through the crumbling wall behind them. The fight spilled out onto the open Tokyo street — cars screeched to a halt, civilians screamed and scattered in all directions, fleeing the chaos.
Denji charged after the devil without hesitation, chainsaws spinning, tearing through pavement as he ran.
The Bat Devil, now wounded and furious, beat its ruined wings and scrambled to recover. Its jagged teeth curled into a cruel snarl. Desperation crept into its voice as it opened its massive mouth unnaturally wide—flesh stretching, bones reshaping into a hideous cannon.
"You're just another devil pretending to be human!" the Bat Devil shrieked.
A deep hum began to build.
Then— BOOOOOM.
A concentrated blast of sonic pressure erupted from the devil's mouth, rippling across the street like a hurricane made of sound.
Denji braced himself. He'd been hit by worse, but this was no joke.
Except—
The blast wasn't just aimed at Denji.
It traveled further. Right toward Kang Woo.
Still seated on his black motorcycle, Cavaliere, parked quietly down the street, Kang Woo barely moved.
But in an instant—he reacted.
A ripple of black flame and shadow curled around his hand as he raised one arm. Dark sigils flared across his wrist.
And then—he formed a weapon.
A massive bident spear,. Its twin points pulsed with infernal heat, forged from two of his Authorities: Authority of Dark Spears ,Authority of Hellfire
He threw it sheer force. The weapon tore through the air with a deep, subsonic boom, leaving a shockwave of warped heat and crushed asphalt in its path.
The Bat Devil's eyes went wide.
It turned—too late. CRACK-THOOM.
The bident slammed into its left shoulder, ripping straight through flesh and bone, severing its entire left arm in one hit.
The devil shrieked, black ichor splattering across nearby buildings. It tumbled back, crashing through the wreckage of a parked truck. One remaining wing flailed uselessly as it scrambled, shivering in pain.
And then… it saw him.
Kang Woo. Still standing at the end of the street. His coat fluttering in the wind. His expression unreadable—save for the clear, ice-cold disdain in his eyes.
The Bat Devil's breath hitched. It trembled.
Kang Woo took a slow step forward and spoke with venomous calm. "Throughout my life," he said, voice echoing with quiet judgment, "the lower lifeforms always tried to make a spectacle. But an ant has no quarrel with a boot.."
The Bat Devil screeched, wounded but not finished. Its one remaining arm clawed into the ground, mouth forming again into that grotesque cannon. The sonar hum began to rise.
But before it could fire— SHLKT.
Darkness exploded from the cracks beneath it, tendrils of living shadow bursting upward and slamming the devil into the pavement like a meteor strike. The ground cracked and warped beneath the weight of Kang Woo's command.
The Bat Devil writhed, trapped. A dozen tendrils pierced through its wings and shoulders like cruel restraints, holding it down.
From behind, Denji shouted out in a panic. "Wait, wait—Kang Woo! Power's still in its stomach!"
Kang Woo raised one hand lazily, and with a silent command, the shadows recoiled. The Bat Devil gasped as it was released, but it was already too late to flee. Its massive body was broken, leaking ichor from half a dozen wounds.
Kang Woo turned to Denji. His eyes had were pitch-black. And within that darkness, his pupils glowed a sharp, unnatural crimson .
"…Make it fast," Kang Woo said coldly.