A Devilishly Evil Kid!

"A devilishly evil kid" Aki's expression revealed he had nothing to say to her.

But Shoko smiled, the system's energy intake was not lying.

[Energy +630]

He's losing it already? Aki needs more experience.

Shoko smiled and held out her hand to Aki. "So, are you going to return Denji now?"

Aki said nothing. He drew his swords, including the long, nail-like one.

"Using the Curse Devil on me? Such a weak Devil for such an overwhelming force of arms is excessive, isn't it Aki-kun?" Shoko shook her head. "Unnecessary, Aki-kun. It's truly unnecessary."

"You know the contract with me is gone." She adopted Makima's posture. "Katana is always hungry."

"I'm a Devil, but you'll lose more than 80 years of your life. Is it really worth all of that for me? We have no feud. Why?"

But Aki only tightened his grip on his weapons. "Not your concern."

"So cold, so hurtful. Don't you remember our fun times?" Shoko pouted. "Guess we'll have to fight. Let's do this with swords."

She snapped her fingers. The Leech and Bat Devil corpses compacted into a club-like weapon. A large pair of bat wings stubbornly labeled it as a sword.

With the increasing fear of wishes, she could do far more than cut a radish.

She'd also unlocked two new techniques.

First, creating items directly was costly. But using existing materials was cheap. Turning a roadside rock into a statue was far cheaper than creating one. That's why she used the Devil corpses.

Second, the wish-granting process was a black box. The world needed to know that the wish had been completed, but the how was irrelevant.

She could use system items to fulfil wishes normally requiring her own essence. If she had enough energy and the shop had good items, she'd be unstoppable.

As long as the energy points are sufficient!

She was no longer afraid of death. It all depended on whether it was worth it or not. She hated wasting her limited energy.

"Come, Aki-kun." Shoko checked her watch. "Show me how much you've grown. This has to be less than five minutes though! I need to catch the bus to work."

Her watch was not for show, she had paid for it. She wasn't that bad of a person.

Aki attacked. Shoko ducked to avoid a sneak attack, a familiar phantom limb reaching out to grab her neck.

"Humans love cheap attacks! Did it last year, doing it now? Ever heard of fairness?"

She cut off the phantom limb, smiling at Himeno. "The Ghost Devil. Trading an eye for use… A better deal than the Fox Devil, you only pay once."

"But with that little power… very weak."

"Sneaky is good. Great with the Curse Devil, but the price is steep."

Clang!

Aki charged, aiming for her throat, but she barely blocked it.

"Such skill with the sword. Where did you learn that?"

Aki pushed, his blade pressing at her vitals, the nail-like weapon a constant threat.

She had advanced hand-to-hand, but she knew nothing of sword skills. She was at a disadvantage.

With Himeno harassing her, Shoko was quickly pushed back.

"Fighting is not for me… I'm done! Watch out, something's gonna explode?"

"?!"

Gas canisters appeared before Aki and Himeno.

Shoko giggled, holding a bomb.

"Bye bye!"

The bomb dropped, the gas canisters exploding. Himeno summoned the Ghost Devil, trying to grab it, but the explosion happened first. Aki's eyes widened, and he pointed forward.

Kon!!!