In the blink of an eye, nine years had passed.
Pochita's recovery speed was astonishingly fast. The original work didn't specify how many years it took for it to et and fuse with Denji, but judging from Denji's changing appearance, it was at least around five years.
In other words, it took Pochita a full five years to recover from a near-death state to the level of a low-tier Devil.
The main reason was that during those five years, it didn't eat anything good. Most days, it barely shared half a slice of bread with Denji and survived by sucking the blood of rats and low-tier Devils.
But after coming with Makoto, the four won of the Nakiri Family took turns making it nutritious als.
If Devils could get fat, it probably would have turned into a massive orange tabby by now.
Makoto also wasn't in a hurry to appear publicly. He planned to follow the style of those behind-the-scenes novel protagonists… stay hidden and develop quietly first, then go find Makima after fully mastering Pochita's power.
…
Japan, Osaka.
Vroom—!
A sudden roar of a chainsaw exploded. A giant chainsaw over thirty ters long sliced through the air, splitting the Devil whose hands had turned into flathrowers cleanly in two.
"Cough, cough!"
The Flathrower Devil, bisected on the spot, stared in disbelief at the figure slowly walking toward him.
Having been in this world for three years, Makoto was now twenty-five years old. He looked down at the Flathrower Devil at his feet and sneered, "So this is all the Flathrower Devil, one of the weapon Devils, amounts to."
"What do you think, Pochita?"
With that, Makoto glanced to his side.
Pochita had already retracted the thirty-ter chainsaw. Makoto held the handle on its back as it squinted its eyes and responded with two 'Woofs'.
The Flathrower Devil, Barem, coughed painfully and gritted out, "The Chainsaw Devil... has finally revived, huh... and even ford a partnership with a human... B-But don't get too cocky. All Devils won't tolerate the Chainsaw Devil's existence. They'll all co to take the Chainsaw Devil's heart. You won't last long!"
"No matter how many co, they'll just die."
Makoto smirked disdainfully. A gray-black skeletal hand from his Susanoo suddenly shot out, plunging into the Flathrower Devil's chest with a 'squelch'. Monts later, it pulled out a heart bearing a Devil's face.
Compared to the Susanoo's hand, the thing was as small as a lon seed.
Makoto took the heart from the skeletal hand and turned to Pochita. "Let's go ho, Pochita."
"Woof woof!"
Pochita barked excitedly.
Not long ago, Makoto and Pochita had started operating as civilian Devil Hunters, targeting exclusively high-tier Devils like the Flathrower Devil.
However, the Flathrower Devil was nothing special among high-tier Devils.
"Ah! Makoto, you're back!"
As soon as Makoto and Pochita got ho, Alice, now also twenty-five, her short hair having grown long past her waist, greeted him.
Coupled with the increasingly mature and sexy figure she'd developed under Makoto's influence over the years, if she had previously resembled her mother, Nakiri Leonora by eighty percent, now it was ninety-nine percent.
Erina beside her had also matured considerably, though her physical changes were far less dramatic than Alice's.
Every slight movent Alice made seed effortlessly graceful and alluring.
Then, under Erina's almost frantic gaze, Alice stood on her tiptoes and gave Makoto a kiss on each cheek.
After kissing him, she turned to Erina with a smile and said, "Don't misunderstand, Erina. This is just how we greet people in Europe. But soone who's only ever read romance manga probably wouldn't understand that, right? Oh, sorry, I forgot. Erina, you're also twenty-five in this world now. You're not a young girl anymore."
"Alice! Do you want to fight?!"
Erina shouted in anger.
Nine years had passed, and she still hadn't given herself to Makoto.
Erina really couldn't figure it out. Could Makoto hold back this much?
Was it really true that once a man passed twenty-five, it was like he was fifty-two?
Leonora and Mana, who had witnessed the whole scene from inside, looked utterly exasperated.
"Your daughter is a bit too dense, isn't she?"
Leonora said to her sister-in-law beside her.
They had long since discovered Makoto and Alice's relationship years ago, yet Erina remained completely oblivious.
Leonora even began to wonder if the girl might not be too bright.
Mana also looked helpless.
Honestly, she had wanted to tell her daughter the truth several tis, but she was afraid of shocking her. After much hesitation, she ultimately chose to remain silent.
It had to be said, the mothers in the ani world were not simple.
Over the nine years, both won were now approaching fifty, yet their appearances had barely changed.
Nor had they been the only ones. Yukiko, who had maintained a relationship with Makoto for nine years, was the sa.
"Erina, take care of this."
Makoto handed the freshly acquired Flathrower Devil's heart to Erina.
Erina nodded and took it to be washed and prepared.
Ever since Makoto and Pochita had started working as civilian Devil Hunters a while back, he would bring back offal like this periodically, and she would cook it for Pochita.
Of course, Erina didn't know this was a Devil's heart. She just thought it was an ordinary pig or sheep heart.
While Erina was cooking, Makoto went to the record player beside him and put on a track of Freue.
Before long, accompanied by the BGM, a dish of pan-fried creamy mashed potatoes with Devil heart sauce was freshly prepared.
As Pochita took a bite, the concept of 'flathrower' vanished from the world forever.
Watching Pochita devour its al, a thought suddenly occurred to Makoto: 'If I let Pochita eat a certain person, would that person, like a Devil, disappear completely from existence?'
Just then, Alice ca over, linked her arm through Makoto's, and said softly, "Makoto-kun, Father contacted us."
"Oh?"
Makoto raised an eyebrow slightly.
The players had been separated for nine years. To avoid Makima, they had hardly t, but Makoto hadn't forbidden phone contact.
After all, that woman's surveillance range was basically limited to Tokyo, and her thods were just controlling small animals like rats and sparrows. Phone calls should be relatively safe.
Alice continued explaining, "Father said it's been too long since he's seen us, he really misses us, and asked if we could find a chance to get together?"
Makoto thought for a mont and nodded. "Alright."
Although in the real world they were used to living apart from their husbands, nine years was a really long ti.
Makoto added, "Using the Flying Thunder God Technique to get there shouldn't be detected by the Control Devil. Besides, my Chakra Reserves are enough to handle it now."
When the players had dispersed nine years ago, Makoto had said not to et again until after dealing with the Control Devil.
But over the years, as his body matured and he trained with Pochita, his Chakra Reserves had grown rapidly.
Crossing the Pacific with the Flying Thunder God Technique was no longer difficult. Sotis before sleeping, Makoto would fly across the ocean to places like China or Russia to help gumi, the Aizono sisters, and others relieve their loneliness, then quietly return afterward.
This was also why Makoto hadn't pursued Erina in recent years.
The inventory of that stuff was limited… even his partners couldn't all get a share every day, so naturally Erina wasn't a priority.
If he could travel to another world in the future and further enhance his physique, things would be different.
Ideally, he could get a Saiyan's physique.
Receiving Makoto's affirmative answer, no one was happier than Leonora and her daughter Alice.
Though in the real world they were used to being apart from Soe, nine years was just too long.
"Mwah!"
Overco with excitent, Alice directly grabbed Makoto's face and planted a firm kiss on it.
This ti, it was clearly beyond the bounds of an ordinary greeting.
"Alice! Y-You-You!"
Erina pointed at her cousin, her finger trembling.
Alice also snapped back to reality.
'Oh dear, that was careless.'
All these years, she had been hiding it from her cousin, secretly doing it with Makoto.
Honestly, Alice had wanted to co clean several tis, wanting to see Erina jealous and lose her mind.
But she was afraid that would provoke Erina into giving up and offering herself up.
After thinking it over, Alice decided to keep Erina hanging and enjoy watching her agonize every day. It was incredibly amusing.
"Oh my, I was just so happy. I wanted to thank Makoto. There's no other aning."
Alice said with a smile. "What? Do you want to too, Erina? Then don't be shy, co and give him a kiss."
With that, Alice pointed to Makoto's other cheek.
"I-I'm not kissing him!"
Erina's face turned red, and she stomped her foot hard.
Seeing her daughter like this, even Mana couldn't help but shake her head.
'Sigh, you really can't bla Alice for ssing with you. You're the one who can't hold your nerve.'
Elsewhere, inside a rental room sowhere in Tokyo.
Calling it a rental room was generous… it was more like a converted underground parking garage.
The door opened. Inside, a man with extrely long hair, a slovenly appearance, but not a trace of stubble looked up dejectedly at the woman walking in.
"Sekai, you're back! What's for dinner tonight?"
If anyone else were present, they'd be startled by the unnaturally shrill, piercing quality of his voice.
Sekai, who had returned, looked expressionlessly at Ito Makotou, her voice devoid of any emotion:
"Makotou, I've supported you for ten years. I've protected you for ten years. Don't you think it's ti you repaid ?"
"Wh-What do you an?"
A sudden sense of foreboding rose in Ito Makotou.
Sekai, standing in the doorway, shifted slightly. Several muscular n walked in from outside.
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