Early the next Morning, Tokyo Public Security Bureau
"Extermination Division 1, move out!"
At this moment, Chiya had already assembled his team.
Two sedans departed from the Tokyo Public Security Bureau, heading toward the mission site. Many public security devil hunters had already bought cars and houses, and these two sedans belonged to two of the hunters.
Chiya was, of course, in one of the cars. He instructed the four others inside, "You all will stand guard outside to prevent the devil from escaping."
He had already reviewed the mission details. Last night, a powerful devil appeared in an apartment building on the outskirts. It was considered powerful because it had consumed a piece of the Gun Devil's flesh.
Initially, civilian devil hunters were the first to respond. Unfortunately, one of them was killed, while the others suffered varying degrees of injuries.
Tokyo Public Security had anticipated that the civilians would not be able to handle the devil. So, the moment it appeared last night, they had already notified Extermination Division 1 to prepare for deployment.
By early morning, the official extermination order was issued. Vice-Captain Chiya Otonashi of Exorcism Division 1 was assigned to lead the operation, serving as a special test from Public Security.
"Understood!"
The four responded in unison.
[Available Attribute Points: 44]
At this moment, Chiya checked his system panel and realized he had accumulated a considerable number of attribute points without allocating them.
He immediately allocated them, aiming for a swift and decisive battle in this mission.
[Ding! Allocation complete: Vitality +24, Strength +10, Speed +10!]
[Strength: 30]
[Speed: 30]
[Vitality: 124]
After about ten minutes, they arrived at the mission site.
Before them stood a three-story rectangular apartment building—the location where the devil had appeared.
The surrounding area had been cordoned off by police to prevent unaware civilians from approaching.
As soon as Chiya stepped out of the car, he showed his identification to the officers present. "We are devil hunters from Tokyo Public Security's Extermination Division 1, here to exterminate the devil."
The two police officers immediately bowed to him—a common gesture of respect in Japan.
One of the officers reported, "All survivors inside the apartment building have already been evacuated to a safe location. The devil is currently inside, most likely feasting on the victims' corpses."
"Understood," Chiya nodded. He then turned to his nine subordinates and ordered, "As I instructed earlier, four of you will stand guard outside. If the devil tries to escape, stop it immediately. The rest will follow me inside."
After giving his command, he strode into the apartment, wielding an ordinary katana in his left hand while keeping his right hand ready to summon the "Blade of Wrath" at any moment.
"Yes, sir!"
The nine hunters responded in unison.
Four of them took positions at the four corners outside the building, standing by. The remaining five followed closely behind Chiya as they entered the apartment.
"So, the Extermination Division 1 hunters are on the job this time. And they even sent a vice-captain! That devil is as good as dead."
"But that vice-captain looks really young—like a high school student. I can't believe someone so young has already become a vice-captain..."
The two officers whispered among themselves.
Within Tokyo Public Security, Extermination Division 1 was widely known to be stronger than the other divisions.
Although the apartment building had only three floors, each floor contained ten units, totaling thirty small apartments. Chiya and his team needed to search them one by one.
"Stay together; do not split up. We will clear each unit systematically," Chiya reminded his team.
While splitting into pairs would increase search efficiency, it would also mean he couldn't ensure everyone's safety. If they encountered the devil, casualties could occur.
The five hunters obeyed without question, completely trusting his command.
However, as soon as they opened the first apartment door, they spotted the devil.
It was a giant, three-meter-long Worm Devil, covered in countless human fingers. Its massive mouth had several large, razor-sharp backward-facing spikes, and its eyes were so small they were barely visible.
Chiya reacted instantly. In a single breath, he lunged forward and slashed vertically at the Worm Devil's head with his katana.
Since worms typically die only when their brain is destroyed, simply decapitating it wouldn't guarantee death. He suspected the Worm Devil shared this trait.
[Ding! Host has successfully exterminated "Worm Devil Clone." Attribute Points Earned: +5!]
Chiya's gaze sharpened slightly.
No wonder it died so easily—it was merely a clone. Its body contained no Gun Devil flesh.
The other five hunters stood frozen, their weapons still warm in their hands.
"Huh? It's over already?"
"As expected of the vice-captain! He cut that bastard down in one strike!"
"Wait… this isn't right. A devil with Gun Devil flesh shouldn't go down so easily."
"..."
Without sparing another glance at the corpse, Chiya turned and walked out of the room.
"That wasn't the main body of the Worm Devil—it was just a clone. Keep searching the other rooms."
His voice was calm but firm.
A bad feeling crept up his spine. He suspected there were more clones inside this apartment.
"Clones? Given that it's a Worm Devil, that does make sense."
"Damn… what if there are a lot of them?"
Their expressions grew serious.
If the number of clones exceeded a certain threshold, they would be outnumbered, making this mission extremely difficult.
"Incoming!"
Just as Chiya stepped out of the room, he spotted several Worm Devil clones crawling rapidly down the hallway toward them.
Seeing their sheer numbers, his teammates' faces twisted with anxiety. They had just been worrying about clones, and now their fears had come true!
However, unlike them, Chiya rushed forward without hesitation. He dodged the Worm Devils' attacks with high-level agility and countered with precision.
One clone lunged at his face, but he effortlessly leaned back to avoid it. Even while bending so far backward that his head nearly touched the floor, he still swung his katana in a perfect strike, destroying the devil's brain.
[Ding! Host has successfully exterminated "Worm Devil Clone." Attribute Points Earned: +5!]
[Ding! Host has successfully exterminated "Worm Devil Clone." Attribute Points Earned: +5!]
[...]
As he moved forward, Chiya continued his flawless counterattacks, cutting down each clone with overwhelming efficiency—without taking a single scratch.
The five hunters behind him stood in stunned silence, their eyes wide in disbelief.
They knew their vice-captain was skilled, but seeing him single-handedly mow down devils with nothing but physical prowess and a basic katana was an entirely different level of shock.
For a moment, they had no idea what they were supposed to do.
Chiya was fighting this battle alone—a true one-man army!