Chapter 289: Sudden Hostility
Hearing Denji's nonchalant remark, Power, still reveling in her victory, quickly chimed in with a response.
"I KNOW! I KNOW! It's dead people!"
Proud of herself, Power placed her hands on her waist and puffed up her chest, her laughter echoing maniacally.
Among the devil hunter group members who had rushed to attack the gunmen, the only one who stood silent was Kobeni, who had arrived at the scene late.
Standing there nervously, Kobeni clutched her knife before her, her hands trembling as her body shook slightly.
"Eeeh? Eeeeh?"
Looking around nervously, Kobeni's eyes scanned the dead bodies before darting in all directions, betraying her unease.
"A-Aki, I-Is it over yet?"
Hearing the question, Denji, who was casually surveying the scene, couldn't help but scan the lifeless bodies strewn about before moving closer to one of them, nonchalantly tapping it with the tip of his boot.
"They're dead alright, I don't think they stand up anytime soon..."
Hearing this, Kobeni couldn't help but relax slightly as she nodded her head in response, a faint sense of relief washing over her.
"Alright..."
"Ah, it's finally over, but, how did they manage to get guns into Japan?" Arai cautiously emerged from behind cover, voicing his perplexity.
In the previous counterattack, Arai had been the only one to make zero contributions, yet, that didn't deter him from attempting to assist the team in understanding the situation.
Indeed, it is as Himeno astutely observed, what Hirokazu lacks in actual ability, he compensates for with sheer determination and drive.
However, at that precise moment, when everyone's vigilance was starting to wane, something unexpected occurred.
'Huh? This is??!!'
Right then and there, while still concealed behind cover, Aki, who had been about to stop harnessing the powers he had gained from the future devil after seeing the counterattack succeed, suddenly froze.
Right there before his eyes, in the final fragments of the future he glimpsed as his ability was about to completely cease, something occurred that caused his eyes to shrink in fright as he couldn't help but shout out loud.
"BECAREFUL!!"
His sudden outburst startled Himeno beside him, as well as Arai, who had cautiously emerged from behind cover still trying to analyze the previous attack, and the trio standing amidst the corpses.
"Wha-" Tried to ask Himeno, just for her to be swiftly interrupted by Aki.
"The attack isn't over yet! There are still some fiends about to appear; Be careful, and watch out for hidden gunmen!"
".."
"Huh?"
Hearing the sudden shout, Arai, who had just stepped out from behind cover, immediately ducked back in.
As for Kobeni, she was so startled that she nearly tossed her knife into the air.
However, thankfully, she managed to clumsily catch it and hold it tightly before her body, her eyes darting around nervously.
"Where are they?"
At this moment, the only truly calm ones were Himeno and Aki, who swiftly adopted a battle-ready stance, prepared to face their opponents.
As for Denji and Power, calling them calm would be inaccurate, instead, indifferent would be a more fitting description as the two of them didn't seem to care much about the imminent danger, rather, they looked somewhat excited.
Of course, of the two, Power was the most unhinged as she swiftly summoned a blood axe and began looking around with a manic gleam in her eyes worthy of a true fiend.
"HAHAHA, where are they?!"
And it appeared that as Power shouted, their opponents weren't going to let them wait long as from the end of the street, two figures emerged.
The figure to the left was that of a tall man with short black hair and prominent sideburns.
Standing tall, the cocky-looking man was clad in a large leather coat, with a dark military uniform visible underneath.
As for the figure on the right, she was a petite young woman with short blonde hair that showed dark brown roots.
Her red eyes possessed slit pupils like a snake's, and she wore a neutral expression, her hands tucked into her hoodie's pocket.
Seeing them, everyone immediately became vigilant as Denji couldn't help but question.
"Are they the enemy?"
To which, Aki responded as he slowly emerged from behind cover, placing his hand on his new katana.
"Yes, they are."
Having dispelled the Curse Devil, the nail-like sword granted by it was, of course, destroyed in the process.
After all, it was the primary item that enabled Aki to summon a portion of the devil and harness its power.
Consequently, Aki urgently needed a new weapon.
However, this wasn't important to the parties involved in the conflict at this moment, as they all stood in tense standoff.
Right now, each group was calling upon their devil's prowess, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
"Who are you? Why did you attack us?" Asked Himeno as she took a few steps forward, positioning herself next to Aki.
"You don't understand your current value do you?" Responded the blond haired woman called Akane Sawatari with a question of her own.
Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but feel slightly confused, unsure of what the woman was getting at.
After all, she had just tried to kill them moments ago, and now she was insinuating that they were very valuable.
Seeing the lack of response from them, Akane maintained her indifferent demeanor, her gaze sweeping over each of them.
"As one of the few people who were present in the events that transpired a week ago, you are very valuable; A hefty price was placed on capturing you," Akane stated matter-of-factly.
However, just as she reached here, the tall man next to her swiftly interrupted her, his voice calm yet bone-chillingly cold.
"Not all of them are to be captured, some are more valuable dead."
Saying this, the man focused his gaze on Denji, who was taken aback by the intense hostility emanating from the man in front of him.
"What's the problem? Wanna fight?" Denji responded, his tone defiant as he met the man's gaze squarely.
To which, the man responded coldly, extending his hand towards the interior of his coat.
"The gun devil wants your heart!"
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