Chapter 13: High-Difficulty Commission
Makima—the Control Devil, and one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Setting aside the Primal Fears, the Control Devil is one of the absolute top-tier combatants among devils. Not only is her ability incredibly broken, but her intelligence is also exceptionally high, surpassing the vast majority of humans. In the original manga's first part, everything from beginning to end was orchestrated and controlled by Makima, right up until her final miscalculation regarding Denji and Pochita.
Of course, a major reason Makima was so powerful in the original story was her contract with the Prime Minister of Japan. This effectively gave her infinite resurrections. Without it, she would be a "glass cannon"; her control ability alone wouldn't be quite so terrifyingly overpowered.
Her Control ability allows her to dominate humans, animals, devils, fiends, and hybrids. Those controlled become absolutely obedient, and she can utilize their abilities, though the specific mechanics are quite complex. The prerequisite for her to control a being is that she must perceive them as "inferior" to herself. However, she is extremely rational. For example, she couldn't control Kishibe while he was alive, and she only controlled Reze and Quanxi after killing them, because she didn't view them as inferior until they were defeated.
This is why Otonashi Chiya found Makima's ability so abstract and difficult to gauge.
I hope Makima hasn't descended to Earth yet, otherwise, things will get very troublesome... Chiya thought.
He wasn't certain if Makima had already left Hell for Japan at this point in the timeline. If she was already here, she likely had already signed the contract with the Cabinet, gaining her near-immortality—the thorniest issue of all. Once she discovered Pochita, she would inevitably come looking for trouble.
If she hadn't arrived yet, things would be much easier. Without the immortality contract, and more importantly, without her worldview being twisted by the government, she would be manageable. Devils that look human-like are often friendlier toward humanity. Aside from her eyes, the Control Devil looks completely human; originally, she was actually quite fond of humans.
In the original story, Makima became a cold-blooded "bad woman" because her perspective was warped by the Cabinet. In contrast, Nayuta—the reincarnation of the Control Devil after Makima's death—lost all her previous memories and was quite adorable. Though her fundamental nature was the same, the lack of a twisted upbringing made her entirely different. Both Makima and Nayuta shared a dream: "To have a family." Much like Pochita's dream, it was a simple desire that was incredibly difficult to achieve.
Regardless of whether Makima had descended or not, Chiya still had to go to "work." He hadn't collected his reward for yesterday's commission yet, and he needed to keep hunting devils to gain more attribute points.
Shortly after, Chiya arrived at the civilian base. The female staff member knew exactly why he was there. As soon as he walked in, she handed him the prepared payment.
"In the future, can you deposit the commission rewards directly into my card?" Chiya asked, looking at the cash she held out.
"Of course! Just give us your card number," the waitress replied.
Chiya recited his bank account number. She entered it into the base's system and instantly transferred the 200,000+ yen reward into his account.
"All set. From now on, your rewards will be transferred directly to your card."
"Thanks."
Chiya nodded and shifted his gaze to the large screen.
The display listed available commissions along with their targets, requirements, and rewards. Detailed intelligence was only provided after a commission was officially accepted, preventing rogue hunters from using the info to poach kills secretly.
At the very top, the first listing boasted a staggering reward of 3 million yen. However, the requirement specified at least four veteran devil hunters; in other words, no rookies allowed.
It was clearly a high-difficulty task, but that was exactly what Chiya wanted. The stronger the devil, the more attribute points he would earn.
Just then, Hayakawa Aki arrived.
"Good morning," Chiya greeted him.
"Morning," Aki replied. His tone remained cold, but the fact that he responded at all showed a slight shift in his attitude. Noticing Chiya's focus on the screen, he asked, "I heard you went hunting again yesterday. Don't you need to rest today?"
"No need. My devil is actually quite friendly; the conditions it set are pretty relaxed," Chiya explained.
He couldn't exactly tell people that his god-tier vision and insight were basic abilities with zero side effects, so he had to use the "contract" excuse.
"I see," Aki nodded slightly, not doubting him. In reality, such cases did exist. The price of a contract depended entirely on a devil's whim; one devil might demand half a person's lifespan from one hunter but only a lock of hair from another—essentially, it boiled down to whether the devil liked your face or not.
"Hey, you two over there. Want to team up for that 3-million-yen commission?" a voice called out from behind them.
"I'm in," Aki answered immediately without even turning around.
He had already seen that the target for the 3-million-yen job was a devil in possession of a flesh piece of the Gun Devil. It wasn't the money or the target devil that interested him—it was the fragment of the Gun Devil. Aki had become an orphan and a devil hunter because of that monster; his life's singular goal was revenge.
According to the intel he had, the Gun Devil hadn't appeared in a long time. One had to gather enough flesh fragments to detect the direction of the Gun Devil's main body. While only Public Safety Devil Hunters were legally allowed to hold these fragments, Aki was currently working toward joining the Tokyo Public Safety Bureau. Completing this commission would likely be his ticket in.
"I'll join as well," Chiya agreed.
He didn't care much for the flesh fragment; he just wanted to hunt a powerful devil for the points.
The group inviting them was a trio: a blonde delinquent with a perm, a tall middle-aged man with a buzz cut, and a girl in a JK high school uniform. With five of them total, they met the headcount requirement. After the waitress verified that their past records were up to par, she officially granted them the commission.