Chapter 27

Sam opened a bottle of beer as he picked up his phone. "Stressful" was the least he could say about tonight.

Recently, he had escaped from the Snake Devil, leaving the blonde girl free. That wouldn't go without consequences, he believed. After all, the Snake Devil was a devil that could appear from nowhere and devour you. The only thing Sam had to counter that was his Devil Sense, which required him to stay awake and ready for danger at any given moment.

The first one who met him when he got home was Meowy. She came to him and meowed, asking for some food. Sam opened the fridge and put out some cat food for her before going to the living room and lying on the ground.

"One day, I swear I'll cut that snake in half. For that, I need a training arc. I'll see if there is a skill in the system worth cultivating."

"Other than that, I think Makima can deal with that Snake Devil. But if I use Makima, I'll lose a good deal of XP points," Sam thought as he dialed Makima's number. "Still, that blonde girl is dangerous. It's better to report her."

Makima picked up.

"Hey, boss. Your favorite devil hunter is calling," Sam said, hearing a few dogs barking in the background.

"Didn't expect you to call me at this time," she replied, her voice showing displeasure.

"Yes. I have an urgent report to make," Sam began. "You may or may not know, but tonight I was quite active."

"In your casual clothes, looking for the Samurai Sword," Makima said. "I'll have you know, we're against killing normal civilians."

"Oh, please. He's anything but a civilian. In fact, I dare to say that I'd feel safer around a devil than around them," Sam said. "You know my sixth sense rarely gets wrong, Makima, don't you?"

"Go ahead," she said. "You better not waste my time."

"Anyway, I have fought the Samurai Sword. He was a fiend… No. He was a human who got the power of the Katana Devil. I fought in a brave battle against him. To give him credit, he's the one who has given me most of my injuries in my career," Sam bragged. "It was a true honorable samurai fight, a battle of life and death, but he was no match for me when I used my power boost, second phase..."

"Just cut the bragging. It's not the time to brag about childish samurai fantasies," Makima said.

Sam felt a few daggers piercing his heart. "That hurt my feelings. Ouch. The battle was fought with real swords, I swear there was nothing childish about it."

"It is childish to brag when you escaped at the sight of the Snake Devil," she said.

Oh, shit. She's really been watching. Sam's hunch had been right.

"Oh. So you watched. You see, that snake is damn too big," Sam rubbed his chin. "You know what they say. Live today, fight another day. But that's not what worries me the most. There is something about the girl who summoned the Snake Devil. I suspect that she's after one of our devil hunters, and she's willing to attack us at some point."

"Did you get her name?" Makima asked.

Sam shook his head. "No."

"That's bad. Otherwise, I would have gotten rid of her," Makima said. "By the way, why did you start attacking the yakuza out of the blue?"

"You see, after our last mission where we retrieved Denji, you know, the mob leader who made a deal with the Zombie Devil?"

"I know him."

"I suspected that his son or grandson had made some deals with the devils, so I hired a private investigator. I had a hunch that they might want revenge on you for killing their..." Sam nodded. "I think I've got a big fish this time. Taking down a strong fiend and finding out about someone who is after us. So, what do you say?"

"I'll put someone to investigate them. You come to the office in the morning and write a report."

"So, you're saying that telling you was a waste of time," Sam exhaled a long sigh. No human in existence loved paperwork, especially the long kind.

"No," Makima said. "But I'm busy playing with my dogs. You do the work."

"Aye, aye, captain." Sam was on the verge of tearing up. But at least Himeno and Power would stay alive.

"And I think you need to make a few contracts with some devils," Makima said.

"That reminds me," Sam said. "Can I make a contract with the Curse Devil?"

"The curse devil?" Makima said. "I was thinking about the Fox Devil. Or Spider Devil, at least."

"Well, I'll offer him some of my lifespan to get a weapon from him," Sam said. "I heard that Aki can kill anyone with three strikes, is that right?"

"He can. But it's no guarantee that the curse devil can kill the Snake Devil. Both are very strong, but you'll have a chance on the expenses of your life." Makima said, thinking.

"It's okay. We'll make deals with as many devils as we can," Sam lifted his hand up. "I have a lifespan to spare."

"See you tomorrow then," Makima yawned. "I'll play with my boys now."

"Boys?" Before he could ask her, she hung up the call.

Sam stretched his arms up. The sun was starting to rise, and he appreciated the light.

"Man, all I need is some PlayStation, and my life is set. Too bad to be stuck in the 2000s." He held his phone. The only entertaining thing one could get was a snake game, but because of his high reaction speed, he could barely enjoy it. He exhaled a long sigh, threw his phone, and went to sleep.

Tomorrow, he would look for devils and make deals with them. But for now, he wanted to sleep.