[1st POV]
Things were going way too fast.
One moment, I was hanging out with strangers in a ramen stall, having a good time. But the very next moment, I was told to kill a national-level threat entity.
The Accident Devil. It was an entity I wasn't familiar with. Perhaps it appeared later in the manga, but I was only an anime watcher of the Chainsaw Man series.
A dangerous devil that assured massive deaths whenever it appeared. Without a doubt, this would be my most significant mission yet.
"Are you okay, Jin?" Makima asked after a long silence in the car.
"I'm fine," I said, not turning to her but instead looking out of the car window.
"You seem bothered," she said.
I turned to her. We both sat at opposite ends of the backseat, but she was leaning towards me, crossing the distance and putting her face close to mine. I also noticed her hanging boobs that were in a perfect position to milk her like a cow.
But my thoughts didn't linger on that for long. For what it's worth, that should tell you about my current state of mind.
"I can say the same thing about you. You seem bothered," I said.
"That's because I am," she admitted to my face before pulling back a bit. "I'm not fine Jin. The Accident Devil concerns me in more ways than you will know,"
"I'm scared," she said, and just for a moment, I think I saw a vulnerable girl.
I didn't know much about her other than the fact that she was a villain hated by most fans and also the real Control Devil. Not a fiend, not a hybrid, but the devil.
The enemy was the Accident Devil. If I thought about it, I could kind of guess how it would be her greatest enemy. Accidents were the complete opposite of control.
And I feel like she was trying to use me to permanently deal with this living threat of hers. That would explain why she seemed so desperate.
If the Accident Devil was sealed inside me, she wouldn't have to worry about it ever again.
"Whose idea was it to send me on this mission?" I asked.
She stayed silent and simply looked at me. I could tell that my question concerned her, and already told her that I was suspicious of her. She was having a mental war on how to answer.
"It was mine," she said at last.
I thought so. Although I was called the weapon of the Public Safety Commission, this was no situation to use me. Their priority should be to minimise damage and casualties, not invite the person who literally just demolished a whole town a week ago.
I didn't know what powers the devil had, but I could guess from the name accident. What if I went on a rampage again and every little rubble killed everyone by accident? That was a recipe for disaster.
But Makima didn't care about the people. She only cared about permanently dealing with the Accident Devil.
Devils cannot die. They are in a permanent cycle of death and rebirth. But I could stop that if I ate the devil and sealed it inside me. They are not dead, but no longer alive. I could hold them inside me for all eternity.
And she wanted to use me for that ability.
I have you all figured out bitch.
"Okay," I said, folding my arms and turning away from her.
"..."
"....listen, Jin," she began, her hand reaching out and grabbing my hand, which was tucked away under my armpits.
She held my hand. Hers was softer, smaller, thinner, and seemingly weaker than my hand, but her hand remained on top of mine.
"We need to deal with the Accident Devil today, no matter the cost. This will save lots of lives in the future," she said. "You'll be a hero,"
As if I give a shit. If she wanted to have the hero talk, she should do that to Denji, that gullible boy who never knew love.
"I know you can defeat the Accident Devil, but it wouldn't be so easy that you can do it without really trying," she said.
I turned to her and was taken aback by the face she was making.
It was a real face, not the stoic mask I was familiar with. Her face told different stories, eyes that were needy, brows that were determined, lips that would do anything, say anything.
Her hypnotic eyes began to glow. The swirl in them seemed to move. Then, in a voice that was completely different from the commanding tone I expected, she said.
"Please, Jin. I trust you,"
Maybe it was the tone. Maybe it was the difference between when she commanded me in the past and the way she pleaded now. I wasn't sure but....
Something happened.
I don't know what.
But I don't want to know.
Goddamn it.
"Fine," I said in the end. "I'll kill it,"
She tilted her head, waiting for more.
"Eat it," I said, and she nodded with a wide smile.
I was planning to just kill it or do my own thing, which was opposite to what she wanted from me. But she seemed earnest, and when she asked like that, it was hard to deny her.
Also, could you imagine how powerful I would be if I ate the Accident Devil? Perhaps I would finally be able to greet Denji without worry when he finally arrived, and the canon starts.
At that point, I would be strong enough to not worry.
"Am I the only one they sent?" I asked, her hand still held mine, but I noticed that mine lay on top of hers.
She shook her head, "The first Division of Tokyo, almost all of them were deployed."
"Is there something I need to know before I get there? You said bringing me was your idea, right?" I asked.
"It was. But if you manage to eat the Accident Devil, that achievement would be enough to make all the consequences void. Even if you destroyed the whole prefecture, the sacrifice would be worth it," she said.
Good to know.
Although things were happening so fast, the two-hour drive towards the incident gave me ample time to process everything.
She didn't let go of my hands all throughout the journey.
But now my hand was on top of hers.
..
..
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[3rd POV]
Control.
What is control?
Most people confuse control with the idea of domination. They think of control as a force that should be inflicted on the soul of man, making him do what he doesn't want to do.
They think of kings controlling their people, they think of leaders controlling their subordinates, they think of a bigger man who intimidates a weaker man to do as he likes.
But control through domination was only a fraction of control as a whole.
There was another side to it. A softer, more subtle way of controlling someone. Not through dominance, but through submission. It doesn't make you do what you don't want to do, it doesn't have to, because it already controls what you want to do and what you don't want to do.
In truth, this was a much more terrifying form of control. It could not be seen, it could not be fought, and it thrives in your sense of security and fake control.
The Control Devil embodied this terrifying side, not the side of domination. Makima's true form was not that of a powerful creature, but that of a woman.
She was beautiful, soft, and gentle.
You'd think the Control Devil would embody a man. After all, men, as it currently stands, control everything. They control the planet, they control the animals they live with, they control the environment, and the literal life and death of the world lies in their hand.
But women controlled men.
It could be in any form, a daughter, a wife, or a mother. They could let the men dance in the palm of their hands like a monkey in a circus. All the while being weaker, smaller, and more submissive.
The Control Devil embodied this; it was a woman in every reincarnation.
It was just that Makima had gotten used to the ease with which she could control others by means of domination. Controlling someone by force leads to rebellion, but their little rebellion never meant anything to her.
But Jin Nakahara changed the game and he flipped the board. His rebellion fought her off; the more she tried to force him, the further he was from her grasp. The more she tried to dominate him, the harder he resisted.
So Makima had to change her strategy completely. She needed to be the form of control she embodied.
Obey me. I command you. This is an order.
If those didn't work, then what about this?
Help me. Please. I trust you.
Sometimes, you need not shackle those that cannot be shackled. Instead, give them trust, give them love, give them purpose. And the unshackled man would hold onto his purpose more tightly than any shackle could hold him.
Power is not control, but control is power.
It enters without invading.
It manipulates without forcing.
And it conquers without attacking.
She was going to remove the Accident Devil from the equation completely today, kind of like what she always dreamed of doing with the Chainsaw Devil, who could erase from existence whatever it ate.
And she was going to do it without taking any action. She'll only ask. That is control, and it is power.
The only trouble that would arise from this was Jin getting stronger. He was already strong enough to give her trouble in case of conflict; the fact that he could potentially negate her immortality was already a risk. If he got even stronger, then it was bad news for her.
Was she not just trading one problem with another?
Well, Makima didn't see it that way.
Because she'll have him.
At any cost, at all costs. Even at the cost of herself.
She'll make him stronger, no, the strongest. He can have power, he can have strength, he can have what he wants, and he can have the whole world.
But she'll have him.
Someday. Maybe not today. Maybe not so soon.
But one day.
'He will be mine'
..
..
[IMAGE]
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