"Hell?"
Tolka sounded a bit confused: "Master, what are you talking about?"
"You have always been diligently at my beck and call, and I am truly moved," the woman said with a strange calmness on her face, speaking to herself, "Although sometimes I have to reprimand you strictly, it's all for your own good."
"Huh?"
Tolka was even more puzzled after hearing this. Although he indeed admired his master, he found this speech rather bewildering.
The Angel Devil on the opposite side was already preparing to throw weapons this way, and that terrifying Bomb Devil had also turned around, likely to charge over soon. Shouldn't they be running away first in such a situation? Why suddenly say something that sounds like a farewell?
Could it be that his master thought they could no longer escape?
"Master, you..."
Tolka frowned, opening his mouth to say something, but the woman across from him suddenly interrupted him: "Tolka, now you are also my family."
"What?"
Tolka was slightly startled.
For some reason, memories of his time with his master surfaced in his mind, the way she cared for him like a mother, taught him hunting skills, and her gentle and beautiful demeanor.
"Tolka."
The woman across came closer and closer, finally leaning in to whisper in Tolka's ear: "Let me teach you the secret of making exquisite dolls."
Tolka didn't speak. He could feel his master's breath on his face, which made him blush.
But at that moment, the woman spoke again.
However, this time, her words gave Tolka an ominous feeling.
"To infuse the humans into dolls with emotions only humans should possess," the woman revealed with a cold smile: "Respect, adoration, pity... and a sense of guilt."
As she spoke, the woman suddenly placed her hand on Tolka's shoulder.
By the time Tolka realized what was happening, it was too late. Immense pain swept through his body, causing uncontrollable convulsions, but a few seconds later, he returned to normal.
However, his demeanor had completely changed.
He became cold, indifferent, almost identical to Santa Claus not far away.
"What's going on?"
This sudden turn of events also left everyone stunned. The Violence Devil scratched his head in confusion, asking, "Could it be they are fighting amongst themselves? Dividing the loot unevenly?"
"I can't be bothered with that, just finish it off quickly."
The Angel Devil didn't care so much, with a powerful throw, the lifespan spear in her hand flew out like lightning.
However, faster than her was Reze. Just as Himeno saw Hayakawa Aki being tortured and became enraged, Reze also became furious upon seeing Denji being killed in an underhanded manner. With a series of explosive sounds, Reze instantly appeared in front of Tolka, swinging a fist wrapped with a gunpowder fuse forward with great force.
With a loud boom, Tolka's body exploded instantly, splitting him in half at the waist. A large amount of intestines, chunks of flesh, and blood plasma sprayed everywhere.
In the next instant, the attack of the Angel Devil arrived as scheduled, transforming into a long spear that pierced through countless puppets along its path, ultimately striking Tolka's master directly in the right chest. The immense kinetic energy sent her flying, nailing her firmly to the wall behind, where a huge splatter of blood explode upon impact.
"Denji-kun, are you alright?"
After dealing with Tolka, Reze bent down and extended her hand towards the pull ring on Denji's chest, intending to restart him.
Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, a voice suddenly sounded from the other side of the street.
"Offer my heart and my beloved children to you... O devil of hell, please drag everything but that woman into hell."
"What... what!?"
Hearing this, the members of the Fourth Special Division suddenly became alert.
Turning their heads, they found that Santa Claus, who had been hiding behind a puppet, suddenly stabbed his own chest with his right hand and turned into a knife, muttering to himself.
"This is bad!"
Seeing this scene, Yoshida, who had fallen to the ground, suddenly panicked. Yes, the Public Security Division had also harnessed some of the power of hell's Devils, so they knew what would happen next and hurriedly shouted, "Stop him! He's trying to send us to hell!"
But before anyone could react, a huge hand had already descended from the sky.
Suddenly, everything around turned pitch black, followed by a strong sensation of weightlessness. When everyone regained their senses, the scenery nearby had completely changed.
To their surprise, they found themselves in a strange meadow, surrounded by unknown flowers and scattered with bizarre objects such as bathtubs, shoes, severed fingers, and ants crawling everywhere, giving off a very strange feeling.
Looking up at the sky, the sight was even more baffling.
Yes, the previously clear and sunny sky had vanished, replaced by a dense array of doors floating in mid-air. These doors overlapped and extended to the ends of the sky, with some faint light casting down from an unknown source, illuminating this bizarre land.
This sudden spatial shift was indeed very inexplicable, and everyone instinctively stopped fighting.
"What... what kind of place is this?"
Kobeni was once again scared silly, crouching and holding her head like a timid mushroom, "Why am I involved in such a terrifying situation again..."
However, this time was somewhat different.
This time, Kobeni was not shivering alone.
In fact, aside from the human faction, all the remaining Devils began to act strangely.
"I feel so bad, so terrible..." Even the usually optimistic and upbeat Violence Devil collapsed on the ground, as if he was having trouble breathing, covering his chest and whispering.
Apart from him, Power and the Shark Devil also fell to the ground with faces full of terror. As for the Devils on Quanxi's side, they were in an even worse state; the Dragon Devil clutched her hair and let out a horrified scream, even beginning to cry anxiously.
"What... what's happening?"
Hayakawa Aki, lying on the ground, seemed a bit stunned by this scene, biting his teeth trying to get up from the ground. However, at that moment, Quanxi suddenly appeared ghost-like in front of him.
"..."
Hayakawa Aki didn't speak, but struggled to lift the great sword in his hands.
But in the next second, the armored warrior also rushed over, but since Quanxi was now too close to Hayakawa Aki, she dared not attack, only silently staring at her.
"You... seem to care a lot about this man."
Quanxi, still in her Devil form, turned to the armored warrior and said, "How about we call a temporary truce? Something's not right here; maybe we've all been played by Santa Claus. Now is not the time for infighting... You don't want him to die, right?"
"..."
The armored warrior didn't speak, but after a moment of silence, she slowly put down her long sword.
Seeing the other's action, Quanxi also took a few steps back, leaving the space beside Hayakawa Aki, and the armored warrior immediately rushed over, firmly guarding in front of Hayakawa Aki.
As for Quanxi, she hurried to the side of her subordinate Devils: "What's wrong with you two?"
"Being... watched..."
The Dragon Devil panickedly hugged his head: "I'm going to die..."
"Their state seems a bit off."
At that moment, the previously hiding Kishibe and Yoshida Hirofumi also slowly came over: "I've already asked, this place should be hell."
"Is there a way to leave?"
Quanxi asked.
"Not really." Kishibe shook his head: "Our Devils are also delirious, can't really ask them anything."
"Isn't that Devil still quite lucid?"
Quanxi raised her hand and pointed, prompting the others to look in the direction she indicated. They discovered it was the Angel Devil, who indeed seemed to be in a better mental state than the other Devil, but still visibly sweating profusely.
"Angel, what's going on here?" someone asked after a moment of thought.
"We might be doomed," the Angel Devil replied, although slightly disoriented, began to explain, "There's no doubt this is hell. We've all been tricked. Santa Claus is not the old man we thought he was; it's that woman who is the real Santa Claus. She's thrown us all into hell."
"Is that all? Can't we just find a way back?" Yoshida Hirofumi couldn't help but ask.
"It's not possible," the Angel Devil said, looking blankly ahead. "We... have been targeted by something terrifying. Even I am paralyzed with fear..."
"What is it?" Quanxi asked. "Can't we just deal with it?"
"It's a monster far more terrifying than the Gun Devil, a transcendent being that has never experienced death, known as a demon of primal fear," the angel-demon explained. "Once they become hostile towards us, everyone will die."
As if to prove the Angel Devil's words, the Dragon Devil began to scream madly, and Quanxi could only hold her tightly, comforting her, "Don't worry, I'll find a way..."
"It's coming! It's here!" Pingtsi exclaimed, clutching his head and collapsing to the ground, "It's over!"
Almost all the Devil started screaming, and a sense of indescribable despair slowly emerged. Soon, a wooden door opened in the sky not far away, and a small blob of pitch-black liquid fell out.
The liquid hit the ground, and the area in front of it quickly darkened. With the puddle of liquid as the center, a thick shadow rapidly expanded outward, and with the expanding darkness, a terrible pressure overwhelmed everyone, sending shivers down their spines.
In their daze, the distant puddle of liquid had also transformed into a vague figure. It was something hidden in the darkness, and though its exact nature was unclear, suddenly in front of this silhouette, two rows of astronauts appeared, bisected at the waist. Their upper bodies were placed to the left, and their lower bodies to the right, neatly arranged in two rows, paving the way for this demon. They were supposed to be heroes bravely exploring the unknown darkness, but now they were cruelly bisected, their hands clasped together in a fearful prayer.
This sacrilegious ceremony, intertwining religion and science, symbolized the eternal horror of darkness.
The Darkness Devil has arrived.