What would you even call this?
A breakup gift, maybe? A farewell bomb?
Whatever the term, the Division 4 squad filed out of Makima's office in total silence. Ishigami at the front, the rest trailing behind. Nobody spoke.
The Gun Devil's terror needed no explanation.
Aside from the Angel Devil, who'd been half in love with death for as long as anyone could remember, not a single one of them could keep calm.
"U-um... Violence, are you going?"
Kobeni Higashiyama, who'd already confirmed she was sitting this one out, looked uneasily at her partner.
"Yeah. Don't worry about it, Kobeni-chan. Worst case I die and end up back in Hell. No big deal."
The Violence Fiend said it like he was talking about missing a bus.
"Aki..."
Himeno watched her own partner with the same dread written across her face.
She knew better than anyone. With Aki's current strength, going up against the Gun Devil without Makoto there meant certain death.
But Aki's jaw was set, his eyes allowing no room for argument.
He was going. End of discussion.
Before anyone noticed, the group had reached the front entrance of Public Safety headquarters.
In the instant before they split apart, Himeno felt something brush the back of her hand.
She turned. Ishigami had already passed her, slipping something into her palm without breaking stride.
Catching her gaze, he pressed a finger to his lips.
She glanced down. A small folded note sat in her palm.
She didn't open it until she was home, alone, behind a locked door.
One line of text:
*For the sake of that incident with Yusaku Kudo, I'll say this once: break Aki Hayakawa's legs if you have to, but do not let him go.*
The color drained from Himeno's face.
Her mind was already made up.
---
Several days later. Tokyo's coastal district.
On Makima's orders, Special Divisions 1 through 5 had assembled in full.
Makima stood at the water's edge in a deep crimson dress that traced every curve of her figure, her gaze fixed on the horizon.
She looked nothing like someone about to march into battle.
Footsteps behind her. She turned, letting her eyes drift across Ishigami, the Violence Fiend, and the others before settling into a thin smile. "Fewer people showed up than I expected. The Gun Devil really does weigh on people."
"Where is it?"
Ishigami's voice was flat, offering her nothing.
"Ishigami. You're the person Makoto trusts most, aren't you?"
She ignored his question entirely.
His brow creased. "What are you getting at?"
Still no direct answer. She continued as though speaking to herself. "If I had to choose someone capable of driving Makoto into true despair... without question, it would be you."
The words landed like a blade. Not just on Ishigami. Every hunter behind him felt the same sick premonition crawl up their spine.
"Ishigami. This is an order."
Her presence shifted, something vast and cold flooding outward. "Form a contract with me. Say the words: *I offer everything to Makima.*"
Suffocating pressure crashed over them all. Even the Angel Devil and the Violence Fiend, beings that were part devil themselves, felt ice settle into their marrow.
No human could produce an aura like that.
In that same instant, Ishigami's pupils lost focus as though seized by some invisible force. His head dropped, and he began to murmur. "I offer..."
"Makima! What the hell did you do to him?!"
The Violence Fiend and the others recoiled, faces white. Anyone who still couldn't see that something was catastrophically wrong would have needed their head examined.
Makima stopped pretending. Those signature concentric-ring eyes swept over the assembled hunters, her voice stripped of all warmth. "Say it. *I offer everything to Makima.*"
Every person present went slack, like puppets whose strings had been yanked taut. Their eyes glazed over, heads bowing in unison.
"I offer everything to Makima."
A satisfied smile curved her lips. "Good children."
She turned back to the ocean.
"I'm sorry, everyone. To defeat the Gun Devil, and to push Makoto into despair... this is the only way."
Her voice dropped to a whisper. One hand drifted to her lower abdomen. "Makoto... I still don't understand. Why do humans find something like that... pleasurable?"
---
Across the Pacific. The White House.
Unlike the president who occupied that office in Makoto's original world, the man currently running America in the Chainsaw Man universe was the so-called 'Zipper President,' the one whose name seemed to pop up in every single vice raid.
For once, he wasn't off indulging on some island. He stood at the window of the Oval Office, muttering under his breath. "If we don't kill Makima now, she'll control all of humanity sooner or later. My fellow citizens... forgive me for this foolish decision."
He clenched his teeth and spoke into the empty room. "Gun Devil. In exchange for one year of life from every citizen of the United States, I command you to erase Makima... no, to erase the Control Devil from existence."
---
The Chainsaw Man world. France.
A small foreign language school.
"How many years have we been in this world now?"
Haruno Yukinoshita wiped down the blackboard, the complaint slipping out before she could stop it.
After being separated from Makoto and the other players, Haruno had taken her younger sister Yukino and, together with Shizuka Hiratsuka, settled in France and opened this tutoring school.
Haruno had been groomed as the family heir since birth and spoke multiple languages fluently. Shizuka had been a teacher in their original world, and setting aside her habit of getting physical with the students, she was genuinely excellent at it.
The three had clicked immediately and built a quiet life here.
Quiet, but never without headaches.
"Yukino. How many times have I told you not to be so blunt with children?"
Shizuka pinched the bridge of her nose. "Another parent came in today. You made their kid cry. Again."
"I told the truth. Their child has no aptitude for languages. One month and he can't even memorize the phonetic alphabet. Better to quit early. I offered a full refund."
Yukino's face betrayed nothing. "Or does Ms. Hiratsuka believe a student like that can actually learn?"
"Even if it's true, you can't just say it to their face!"
Shizuka massaged her temples, on the verge of a breakdown. *How much longer until we get back to our world?*
Then, in the same heartbeat, both sisters' expressions changed.
"It's here..."
"The same thing we felt when we first arrived in this world... that terror."
"Much weaker than before, but there's no mistaking it..."
Shizuka looked between the two of them, bewildered. "What's wrong? What's here?"
Yukino, whose abilities leaned toward sensory perception, hugged herself tight and curled inward, her voice barely a tremor. "It's coming..."
"Huh? What's coming? Talk to me." Shizuka's confusion deepened.
Haruno sagged against the wall, her legs giving out, lips quivering.
"The Gun Devil... the Gun Devil is here!"
---
Hours later, every television on the planet carried the same emergency broadcast. The footage was devastating, each frame enough to make viewers' stomachs drop.
*"This just in: at approximately 3:18 PM Japan Standard Time on September 12th, 1997, the Gun Devil surfaced off the coast of Nikaho City, Akita Prefecture, engaging Public Safety's Special Divisions in a large-scale conflict. Within seconds of combat, the northeastern Tohoku region centered on Akita sustained catastrophic damage. The confirmed death toll has reached at least one hundred thousand, with impact zones extending to Tokyo, Osaka, and Okinawa.*
*The Gun Devil has ceased its attack. The full outcome of the battle remains under investigation. Public Safety has not yet released an official report. Citizens are urged to await further updates..."*