"[Four Gay Bros]."
Makoto's tone was calm.
"F*ck him."
The moment the words were spoken, the four members of the Four Gay Bros simultaneously revealed their signature smiles.
The exact same expressions they had when they went after Shinichi before… the excitement of a predator locking onto its prey, the pleasure of a cat toying with a mouse, the eagerness of a pervert finding a new toy.
"All right!"
The Teddy Devil let out a strange cry and charged out first.
The Dolphin Devil, Gorilla Devil, and Rabbit Devil followed closely behind. The four moved so fast that they left four afterimages streaking across the night sky.
However—
Imu was not someone like that Shinichi who had just recently transformed into an Anomaly.
He didn't even glance at the charging Four Gay Bros.
He merely waved the staff in his hand lightly.
The staff was shaped like a scythe, its pitch-black body engraved with dark red patterns. The curved blade at its tip reflected a cold, chilling light in the firelight.
Whoosh—
The sound of the scythe cutting through the air was very soft.
So soft it was almost inaudible.
But its power—
The Dolphin Devil's smile froze on his face.
His body was split in half down the middle, the cut as clean as if it had been laser-cut. In the moment his upper and lower halves separated, he hadn't even realized what happened... the smile was still on his face.
The Gorilla Devil's four limbs were severed simultaneously, and he fell straight to the ground like a chopped-off wooden stake.
The Rabbit Devil's head flew into the air. His eyes blinked twice before his expression turned to one of disbelief.
Three Devils, slain in an instant.
They didn't even have time to scream.
Only the Teddy Devil, whose strength had already reached the level of a Demon-level Anomaly, sensed the fatal danger the moment the scythe swung. He instinctively raised his arms and crossed them in front of his chest.
Ding—
The scythe struck the Teddy Devil's arms, producing the sound of metal clashing.
He blocked it.
But the Teddy Devil's expression changed.
Because a bone-chilling cold was spreading from the scythe's blade, spread rampantly up his arms.
Crack, crack, crack, crack—
'Ice!'
The Teddy Devil's arms were frozen in the blink of an eye, and the ice was still spreading towards his shoulders and chest.
"..."
Yu's pupils contracted.
He recognized this.
This was Nusjuro's Bakotsu Fruit ability… earlier when fighting Nusjuro, the latter had used a similar technique, freezing the ground to seal off the Four Gay Bros' revival.
Why could Imu use this technique?
And its power far exceeded Nusjuro's.
Beam reacted the fastest. He jerked his head towards the ruins where Nusjuro lay.
That bald old man was kneeling on the ground, his hands supporting him, constantly coughing up blood.
A clear footprint indentation marked the spot on his steel heart where Makoto had kicked him. Cracks spread from the indentation in all directions, and metal fragments fell rustling from the fissures.
Not dead yet, but close.
"Ishigami."
Makoto's voice rang out.
He only called his surname.
But Yu instantly understood Makoto's meaning.
He raised his right arm, the heavy machine gun's muzzle aimed at Nusjuro, who was kneeling in the ruins.
Bang.
A gunshot rang out.
The armor-piercing bullet precisely penetrated Nusjuro's chest.
Not a graze.
Not a miss.
It went straight, without deviation… straight through his steel heart.
Crack—
The sound of metal shattering was exceptionally clear in the night sky.
Nusjuro's face turned pale in that instant.
His eyes opened wide, his mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Fragments of his steel heart broke off from his chest, sparkling with a final glint in the firelight, then turned to black ash and dissipated in the night wind.
"Imu-sama..."
Nusjuro reached out with difficulty, towards Imu's direction.
"Save... please save me..."
His voice was as faint as a candle flickering in the wind.
Imu couldn't be bothered to look at him.
He didn't even move.
Nusjuro's hand froze in mid-air, and finally—
Thud.
His body fell to the ground.
There was no sign of life.
…
On the other side.
The chill emanating from Imu's scythe dissipated at the same moment.
The Teddy Devil seized the opportunity and shook his arms vigorously.
Crack—
The ice attached to his body shattered into countless fragments, pattering to the ground.
He stepped back two paces, shaking his fur and shivering.
"Whew—"
The Teddy Devil rubbed his arms, complaining.
"So cold."
But he wasn't injured.
Because the ice had lost its power source before it could completely freeze him.
The onlookers also saw the pattern.
"He just used the ability of that dead human," Beam shouted, "But after that person died, he couldn't use it anymore."
Beam paused, thoughtful.
"It's very similar to the Control Devil's ability."
Now that Beam mentioned it, Makoto felt the same way.
Imu's ability was indeed very similar to Nayuta's.
Both could sign contracts with others and use the special abilities of the contractors.
But—
Imu was at best a low-rent version of Nayuta.
Because for Nayuta to dominate someone, her own subjective belief that the other party was an inferior being was enough… she didn't need their consent. As long as she wanted to, she could basically succeed one hundred percent of the time.
As for the conditions Imu needed to sign a contract with someone, Makoto didn't know, but they were definitely not as convenient as Nayuta's.
Imu's second attack followed immediately.
He swung his scythe again. This time, dark red flames ignited on the blade.
This was the ability of Mars, one of the Five Elders.
The Teddy Devil tried to block again, crossing his arms in front of him, preparing to endure it.
But before he could muster his strength—
A wall of grey-black bone claws appeared before him out of thin air.
Boom!!!
The dark red flames slammed into the energy wall, unable to breakthrough for a long time.
Susanoo!
"Boss?" The Teddy Devil turned his head to look at Makoto.
"Foreign Teacher, step back." Makoto's voice was very calm.
"You can't handle this guy yet."
The Teddy Devil was stunned for a moment, then obediently stepped back.
The other three members of the Four Gay Bros, after absorbing the blood on the ground, had already recovered their bodies.
The four stood behind Makoto, eyeing Imu menacingly, but none of them rashly charged forward again.