Chapter 54

Sam was at Makima's new office, the head of the National Security Council. He didn't bring anything, and she had been giving him "the look." You know, the one where she didn't say a word and just kept staring at him, waiting for him to say something. Sam found it uncomfortable, like dealing with a real human woman in a long-term relationship. But he wasn't there for a heartwarming family reunion.

"Can you stop looking at me like that?" Sam finally said.

"Looking at you like what?" she asked in response.

Sam sighed. "I know you're angry that I didn't think of any gift."

"You think?" she replied.

"I didn't forget. I just got some information that I thought you might find interesting," Sam explained.

She crossed her legs and raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead."

"But first, You're going to make one hell of a classical scary anime wifu," Sam said with a sigh. "Anyway, you know, Denji, the simp who let the Bomb Fiend escape because he took a liking to her?"

"Yes. I thought you took care of that side of him," Makima said.

Sam remembered that night when he offered to take Denji to the Red Light District, only for him to find a message from Makima telling him not to dare to pick a girl for himself.

"Yeah, it's not about that. As you can see, somehow, his identity has been exposed. Many assassins from different parts of the world are heading here to Japan, and they will be targeting him," Sam explained.

Makima narrowed her eyebrows. "Are you certain?"

"I swear on my name, Tony," Sam said. "It was very hard-earned. Believe it."

Makima closed her eyes, and Sam observed her face, trying to see if he could sense anything different when she used her devil's power. Makima had perfect spies around the world, but she couldn't use all of them since she wasn't an omniscient being who could multitask without limits.

"Sounds like the higher-ups from many countries are talking about that," Makima said as she opened her eyes. "We're going to be busy for a while."

He had to admit, that was quite a cool power. To be able to spy on people at any time and anywhere as long as there was an animal next to them. It was no wonder that Japan offered Makima an absurd deal to have her on their side. Too bad they didn't account for him. Now, thanks to him, the security of Japan had fallen into Makima's hands.

"Yes," Sam replied. "I guess we should delay our honeymoon."

"I know," she sighed. Putting her hand on his face, she asked, "There might be some tough assassins among them. Are you going to be all right?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Sam pointed at himself. "I've gotten stronger since my last battle. I don't think so."

"Sounds like you're still cocky," Makima smiled. "Let's make a summoning contract."

"A summoning contract?" Sam questioned.

"You'll be able to summon me out of the blue if you get in danger, that's a deal, all right?" Makima proposed.

Sam raised his eyebrow, surprised by her protectiveness. He knew there were devils that could hurt him, such as Reze, who, despite only being a fiend, had injured him. But when he had defeated her, he received a significant amount of Skill and Affinity Points. If he poured most of them into Strength, he wouldn't have to worry about sneak attacks causing much damage.

Frustrated, Makima said, "Say, deal."

"Okay, deal," Sam agreed.

"Now, whenever you need me, say, 'Hell Chains, descend.'"

"Hell chains?" Sam was quite confused about her choice of words.

Makima smiled. "I'm trying to give my summoning an imposing aura. It would strike terror into your enemies' hearts. You should learn from that."

Somehow, seeing her try to act scary was cute. Don't get him wrong; she could do it without trying. But seeing her attempt gave it a different charm.

Sam's smile grew even bigger. "Well, you are a master of many arts, aren't you?"

"Shut up," she replied.

"Let me use your lips to shut up, then," Sam said as he kissed her.

"We have important matters to discuss," Makima reminded him.

"This could be the last time in a while we'd do this," Sam replied.

Makima's cheeks turned red, but she didn't stop him and wrapped her arm around his neck, hugging him closer. Sam began undressing his fiancée....

-x-X-x-

Sam was scrolling through his system, thinking about the best way to adjust his Affinity Points. The most logical options were to consider increasing his HP or speed, but it was a battle of surprise attacks. He needed a body that was semi-immortal and speed to fight against superior opponents.

Currently, he had 10 Skill Points and 14 Affinity Points.

"What are you thinking of?" a voice interrupted him.

Oh, right. After his meeting with Makima, she assembled a team for him to lead to protect Denji. Currently, he was at some place in the city. In front of him were four people. Aki and Himeno were here, and he didn't need to introduce them since he had worked with them in the past. The other two were a short man and a very tall woman, both with black hair and scars across their noses. The girl was Michiko Tendo, who wore her hair in a ponytail and had a scar on her face, and the guy was Yutaro Kurose.

What these guys had in common was their contract with the Punishment Devil. The Punishment Devil had piqued Sam's curiosity.

"Again, why do we have to protect Denji?" Tendo asked.

Sam shrugged. "Ask Makima."

"She's quite nervous around her, so don't push it," Yutaro added.

Sam resisted the urge to laugh. But when he looked at Aki's expression, and Himeno's, and Yutaro's, he realized that everyone was nervous around the Control Devil. Everyone but him.

'I feel like a hypocrite, like when I said I don't do crazy girls. I remember when I turned to Dom when Makima confronted me. Let's change the topic anyway.'

"Let's forget that," Sam said, shrugging it off. "By the way, what kind of the Punishment Devil is."

Aki answered his question. "One of the strongest devils, stronger than the Curse Devil. But instead of instant kill, it can damage and punish severely, even the strongest devils would beg for death."

"Really?" Sam asked.

Tendo replied, "Punishment is a more believable concept and thus more feared. Its full body can match the size of the Gun Devil, a devil with arms bigger than a skyscraper."

"So you can't summon its full body?" Sam asked her.

She shook her head. "It asks for more than we can afford to give."

"I want to make a contract with him," Sam clapped his hands and failed to hide his smile.

Himeno's eyelid shook. "You're not done playing with your life."

Sam shrugged.

"Dude," Aki interrupted. "How many years do you plan to live?"

Sam waved his hand. "Don't worry. I can get a discount." He then looked at the duo of the girl and the boy. "But after we deal with these four guys."

He turned his head. Four elderly people were reading journals and standing not far from them.

Aki looked at them. "These? They're just old people."

Sam smiled. "Debatable. But they have devilish powers with them."

When he smiled at the old people, one of them grabbed a gun and shot him. Sam grabbed the sheath of his sword, interrupting the trajectory of the bullet.

"For old people, you four are moving very well," Sam said, unsheathing his sword.

"It's useless to fight us, we're immortal," said one of them. Then, all of their faces started shifting, taking the appearance of young men.