The Battle Begins!

"The gun devil wants your heart!"

Following this declaration, the tall man swiftly drew a gun from his coat, took aim, and fired at the scattered devil hunters before him.

First, he aimed at Denji, *Bang*, Then, at Power, *Bang*, Then, at Aki and Himeno in quick succession, *Bang*, *Bang*, only then did his attention turn to Kobeni and Arai, *Bang*, *Bang*.

However, unlike the original timeline where the group was attacked when their guards were down and at a close range, this time they were fully prepared and ready for any and all attacks.

So, the moment the tall man showed signs of attacking, the group swiftly sprang into action, ensuring they didn't become easy targets.

*Swish*

Among the targets, the first to react was Aki, who, after being shot at took a quick step forward swinging his sword twice in rapid succession to deflect the attack away from himself and Himeno.

Then, without delay, Aki swiftly rushed forward, however, instead of targeting the tall man, he aimed for the girl next to him, whom he deemed more dangerous.

As for the tall man, Aki reasoned that the rest of the team could handle him or at the very least hold him off until he finished dealing with the girl.

*Bzzz*

Sword in hand, Aki rushed forward at breakneck speed, swiftly activating the curse devil's power causing dark rune-like markings to appear on the glossy blade.

Seeing this, Akane, who had appeared nonchalant with her hands hidden in her hoodie's pockets, quickly turned serious as she realized what was happening.

'So he's after me...'

'This is a good opportunity to determine the true power of the new system; We don't have much information about it, so this should be valuable.'

Thinking this through, Akane withdrew her right hand from her pocket and aimed it at Aki, preparing to use her power, however, before doing so, she couldn't help but speak to the man next to her, issuing a warning.

"Don't underestimate them, even though they are rookies, it's still unknown what kind of power they've gained."

Then, without further delay, Akane began to invoke the power of the snake devil, causing one of her fingernails to disappear like dust in the wind.

*Swish*

*Swish*

Instantly from two directions, white and bluish snake tails that looked more like tentacles sprung into existence rushing towards Aki following Akane's command [Tail].

However, Aki didn't seem fazed by this sudden turn of events as he swiftly moved his body to the side, dodging one of the snake tails while using his sword to cut through the other one that tried to flank him.

Then, without delay, Aki jumped on top of one of the snake tails as he accelerated forward, closing the distance.

After all, as far as he could tell, his enemy this time was more like a mage with limited close combat capability, so, it was better to take advantage of this to end the battle as quickly as possible.

However, it's a pity that things are never this simple as before Aki could reach her, Akane moved her hand once more, making another gesture that caused another one of her fingernails to disappear, [Swallow it whole].

*Swish*

The moment this command was given, Aki, who was advancing toward Akane, suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and jumped into the air, seemingly without reason.

However, what happened moments later disproved this notion as a huge snake suddenly appeared out of nowhere, rushing through the position where Aki had been, swallowing everything in a straight line.

Were it not for Aki's use of the Future Devil's prowess, escaping such an attack would have been nigh impossible, considering the speed of its appearance and the instantaneous nature of the assault.

However, sadly for Akane, there were no "ifs", moreover, to make things worse for her, the previous attack had given Aki a rare opportunity.

With his natural descent from his jump and the appearance of the Snake Devil's real body below him, he now had a tangible target on which to fully exert his power.

*Bzzez*

Raising his sword high above his head, the dark curse-like runes on the blade sprang to life as dark energy began diffusing from them, surrounding the sword with a dark and mysterious aura.

Then, without hesitation, he swiftly slashed downward, cutting through whatever portion of the devil's body was in front of him.

*Swish*

Not pausing for a moment, Aki then quickly located the devil's head and subsequently began rushing toward it, slashing with each step and inflicting more damage as he advanced.

Watching this unfold, worry finally began to creep onto Akane's indifferent face; Visible to the naked eye, her body shook lightly, and sweat drops started to accumulate on her forehead as she took a step back.

However, there was little she could do now except use her power once again, sacrificing a couple more of her fingernails in hopes that this would stop Aki's rampage, [Tail], [Tail]!

'Damn it, his power is far beyond what our intel suggested; He's grown this strong so quickly after switching power systems; If we'd known, we could have been better prepared.' Akane muttered in frustration as she began feeling somewhat regretful.

However, sadly for her, regret was of no use at this moment as even after being attacked again by these tails, Aki simply dodged or slashed them down, showing no signs of struggle.

Moreover, unnoticed at this moment was that each time Aki slashed, the dark aura surrounding his blade would decrease slightly, only to be filled back up before anyone could notice.

Instead of aiming directly for a kill, what Aki was doing now with his curse power was reminiscent of how he previously used the nail-like sword.

However, instead of a set number of attacks before summoning the Curse Devil, Aki now infused this curse-like energy into his enemy's body, allowing it to accumulate until he triggered it.

This approach, while slower, offered numerous advantages as it allowed Aki to operate covertly, accumulating near-infinite energy within his enemies.

This accumulation provided Aki with the potential to deliver a decisive blow and end his enemies with a single strike.

*Swish*

'It's close. A few more attacks and the accumulated energy should be enough to finish off this devil.' Aki thought as he waved his sword around.

*Swish*

*Swish*

Taking a couple more swings, Aki couldn't help but briefly glance to the side to see how the rest were faring.

'Hmm?'

--Note--

You can read the next chapter '291' for free on - P a t r e o n - Go check it out there!

---Author---

P a t r e o n . c o m /AuthorHoussem (Support me there and get to read up to 15 advanced chapters or more) - You can finish reading the 3rd volume now~

You can also find me now by simply typing: 'Houssem'