For humans, there is essentially only one way to reach Hell—at least, as far as Chiya knew, there was only one.
That was to sign a contract with a Hellborn Devil and be sent to Hell by it.
He also knew who had such contracts with Hellborn Devils. Kishibe was one of them, as well as the German bounty hunter known as "Santa Claus" or, more accurately, the most beautiful girl, "Master."
However, the price of a contract with a Hellborn Devil was steep, often costing three or four human lives.
For Chiya, the biggest issue was strength. Hell was the stronghold, the birthplace of all devils—it was even home to Primal Devils.
If he wanted to venture into Hell, he first needed the strength to survive there. Otherwise, he would perish before he even found Makima.
"With my current strength, I'm still far from being able to roam around Hell. I should stay in Tokyo and develop for a while. Once the time is right, I'll decide whether to seek Kishibe's help or Master's assistance…"
Chiya mused to himself.
Unless he could establish a good relationship with Kishibe, he felt that seeking out "Master" would be more reliable. After all, "Master" was a bounty hunter—so long as the money was right, she could be commissioned for a job.
Considering that "Master" had even accepted a contract to kill Makima, getting her to send him to Hell should be a trivial matter.
Chiya's obsession with Makima ran deep because she had caused too many tragedies. Those tragedies could have been avoided—including Makima's own tragic fate.
She should have been like Nayuta, but instead… she ended up as a plate of "stir-fried ginger pork."
...
Afterward, Chiya went to the second floor to collect his work ID. His position was listed as the vice-captain of Public Safety Extermination Division 1.
At that moment, he happened to run into Himeno and Aki.
"Otonashi-kun, how was it? You've already spoken with Mr. Yoshimura, right?" Himeno asked curiously.
"Yeah, he just talked to me about work. Other than that, nothing much." Chiya replied.
Himeno then turned to Aki with a knowing smile. "See, Aki-kun? I told you! Mr. Yoshimura is easy to talk to—he wouldn't make things difficult for Otonashi-kun."
"Yeah." Aki responded indifferently, realizing he had been overthinking things.
"So, that means Otonashi-kun is officially the vice-captain of Special Division 1 now."
Himeno gave him a thumbs-up. "That's great! These days, there's not much difference between the vice-captain and the captain of Special Division 1. It looks like the higher-ups have already decided that you'll be Kishibe's successor."
The vice-captain position in Special Division 1 was special. In terms of rank, it was even higher than the captains of other divisions.
Before Chiya, this position had remained vacant—it was reserved for Kishibe's successor.
"Successor…?" Chiya couldn't help but ask.
"That's right. But don't worry, they're not asking you to be Kishibe's disciple. It just means that you'll eventually take over his position."
Himeno explained, "This position refers to the title of Japan's strongest Devil Hunter."
In the original timeline, Kishibe had called himself the strongest Devil Hunter. If one didn't take other species into account, it wasn't much of an exaggeration. While many devils, fiends, and hybrids also worked as Devil Hunters, in terms of pure humans, there was no doubt about it.
Not to mention the global scene—at least in Japan, he was unquestionably the strongest. The rising star "Octopus Bro" Hirofumi Yoshida hadn't even grown to prominence at this point.
As for Chiya, he didn't really care about being called the strongest.
"I see." Chiya nodded slightly.
"Well then, let's head out on patrol today. The three of us were assigned to the same area, after all."
Himeno suggested. "Oh, and if you want to meet more teammates, you can visit the training base after work. Many people like to practice hand-to-hand combat there after hours."
Each division of Public Safety had its own designated training base in different locations—it wasn't attached to the Public Safety headquarters.
Public Safety Devil Hunters either trained at their respective bases or patrolled the streets. Ironically, they didn't spend much time in the headquarters itself.
And so, Chiya went on patrol with Aki and Himeno.
Patrolling was mostly dull—unless a devil appeared nearby and hadn't been taken care of by civilian Devil Hunters yet, it was basically just aimlessly wandering around.
"Your name is Otonashi Chiya, right?"
Just as Chiya was growing bored, he suddenly heard the voice of the Wrath Devil.
Yet neither Aki nor Himeno seemed to hear it. It was as if only he and the Wrath Devil could communicate telepathically—no one else could perceive their conversation.
"Yes. Is there something you need?" Chiya asked, a bit curious.
This was the first time the Wrath Devil had spoken since it had taken residence in the palm of his right hand.
"I don't understand… I can barely sense any anger in you, yet your eyes burn with an extreme rage."
Since it had bonded with Chiya, the Wrath Devil had been observing him, unable to resolve this contradiction.
"I don't know how to answer you. I can only say that's just the way it is." Chiya refused to reveal the truth.
Seeing that it couldn't make sense of the contradiction, the Wrath Devil momentarily shifted its attention away from him.
It had been "imprisoned" by Kyoto Public Safety for so many years, and very few Devil Hunters had ever made contracts with it. It had been a long time since it had seen human society.
Things seemed more advanced than the last time it had looked upon the world.
"Human society has become more developed. Logically, life should be better, but the anger in people hasn't changed much compared to what I saw years ago."
The Wrath Devil suddenly sighed. "If only everyone could suppress their anger like you do, then the world would be a happier, safer place."
"…"
Hearing this, Chiya was struck by a sudden realization.
Was the Wrath Devil's dream just as contradictory as the Control Devil's?
The Control Devil, who embodied "domination," had longed for equal familial relationships.
And now, the Wrath Devil, who embodied "anger," wished for a world without anger?
"You are the Wrath Devil, yet you don't want humans to feel anger?" Chiya couldn't help but ask.
"Something like that. Ideally, anger itself wouldn't exist at all." The Wrath Devil stated plainly.
"If that were the case, you would disappear too. It is precisely because humans feel anger that you, the Wrath Devil, exist. Are you truly fine with that?" Chiya asked sharply.