Annihilation

"Ah, so it's come to this."

Aki Hayakawa heard the nonchalant voice beside him, as if the carnage unfolding before him was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

He turned incredulously towards the speaker. Shoko stood there, her face impassive, observing the massacre.

"Come to this...?" Aki's throat felt parched, a knot of fear tightening in his chest. The truth seemed to hang in the air, heavy and suffocating, yet some part of him refused to acknowledge it.

But he had to ask. He had to know.

"Shoko, the way you're talking… it's like you knew this would happen..."

"Because I did." Shoko replied simply. "After all, I'm the one who set this all in motion."

"..."

Aki was speechless. He couldn't even bring himself to grab her and demand answers, simply staring at her in disbelief. She stood barely a meter away, yet in that instant, she felt impossibly distant.

Shoko had orchestrated this? She'd made Denji do this… made him slaughter everyone?

[Energy +270,000]

"...Why?"

Tears welled in his eyes. Aki didn't know if he was laughing or crying, his voice a distorted whisper, almost a plea. "You… you have no reason to do this… You cared about Denji the most! You were always looking after Power! You… you treated everyone like family…!"

"So you made Denji kill everyone…? That… that doesn't make any sense!"

She couldn't exactly tell him she'd orchestrated a family massacre just to test Denji's emotional limits – that would be a ridiculously Uchiha-esque excuse.

Shoko didn't need to confess. In a few minutes, Aki would be dead, killed by Chainsaw Man. No one could stop it. In this world, Chainsaw Man was invincible.

She'd revealed her hand for two reasons. Partly because she pitied Aki, dying without knowing the truth. Partly because she craved the energy his despair would generate.

A man who'd lost his family, found a new one, only to have it ripped away again, and by the hand of someone he cherished… Denji, without a system, couldn't absorb that energy. It was a waste! And Shoko, ever the environmentalist, hated waste, especially energy waste!

So, she'd redirect Aki's rage towards herself, sparing Denji future resentment.

"Aki Hayakawa."

Turning slowly, Shoko's face now wore Makima's signature smile. "Devils don't have families. Have you forgotten everything you've told yourself?"

"?!"

[Energy +18,000]

Shock, despair, grief… Aki's face was a mask of conflicting emotions, too devastated to even feel anger. His expression was so pathetic that even Shoko felt a twinge of sympathy.

Aki was a good man. He didn't deserve this.

Neither did Power, despite her irrationality, her denseness, and her shamelessness. She was a good kid.

And poor Denji, who'd never known happiness, finally found warmth, only to be plunged into the depths of Hell…

Too bad they'd crossed paths with her.

"You can still run."

Despite Makima's warning to flee, Shoko hadn't moved, finding a nearby bench and calmly watching the bloody battle above – though it was mostly Makima's blood.

"Denji is not himself right now. He won't stop until he's killed everyone he cares about. Makima can't hold him back for long. He'll be coming for us soon."

"I can buy you some time, but you should run."

"..."

"Oh, you're coming towards me? Aki Hayakawa, are you thinking that if you're going to die, you might as well take revenge on the mastermind first?" Shoko raised an eyebrow at Aki's approach but didn't flee. "That's fine. Do what you must, even torture me… but please, spare me for now. I still have things to do."

[Energy +9,000]

"Like ripping Denji's heart out?" Aki clenched his fists. "Like the Future Devil showed me?"

"Something like that—"

[Energy +45,000]

In a flash, Shoko was yanked off the ground by her collar, Aki's bloodshot eyes glaring at her. "Denji loved you! He trusted you! What are you trying to do, you Desire Devil?!"

Still such a good guy, Shoko thought.

Even now, his rage wasn't for himself, but for Denji.

Even now, he hadn't resorted to violence, only grabbing her collar and demanding answers. If it were her, she would have punched the culprit in the face. She believed in gender equality.

But these minor details were irrelevant. The more Aki hated her now, the better. Otherwise, things would be even more painful for him later.

Showing kindness now would only generate more negative emotions later, which she wouldn't be around to collect. So, it was better to reap the rewards now.

Besides, this position…

Shoko's lips curled into a smirk, her eyes filled with disdain. "If I were you, I'd let go."

"What are you talki—"

A black blur flashed. Aki's body, bisected at the waist, crumpled to the ground.

"That's why I told you to let go."

Shoko, also thrown to the ground, picked herself up, dusting off her clothes.

Attacking his primary target right in front of Chainsaw Man was suicide. Of course, she'd intervene.

Now, with Aki dead, a normal human with no devil contracts, bisected at the waist… there was no coming back from that.

And Makima… Shoko glanced towards the battlefield. Aside from the Weapon Devils, now reduced to mincemeat, Makima herself was entangled in thin chainsaw chains, relentlessly tearing at her body but not killing her. She couldn't regenerate due to her contract with the Japanese government, nor could she fight back, simply lying there helplessly.

Ah, so Denji was using a similar tactic to the one he'd used against Makima in the original story, using Power's blood to disrupt Makima's control over her body. As expected of Chainsaw Man, capable of such feats so easily…

But now, with everyone dead, only Shoko remained.

Calmly, she turned to face Chainsaw Man, towering over her.

The initial contract, the final plan… It all ended today.