"IGNORANCE IS BLISS."
"SAID THE FIRST DEVIL HUNTER."
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"If love only ends at pain then...
"Why would you still go after it?"
DEVIL's Lullaby
Chapter: 26- Hearts and Dolls
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Denji dashed across the city in order to finish Santa Claus. The dolls controlled by Santa were now all over the city, replicating humans and their emotions. Denji was alone, fighting like his life depended on it. 'Frost... where are you!? This is bad... Aki's down-' He dodged an attack from behind, his chainsaws were out and now he was in his devilman form. He roamed around in horror, avoiding Santa and searching for Frost, 'Where is she!? She can't be dead right-?'
"Murderer..." A doll spoke as Denji looked at it in shock.
"I ain't a murderer!" He shot at it as he crushed it to pieces.
"Murderer..."
"The chainsaw... murderer-"
"I'm not a murderer!" He shouted, and then, suddenly halted. 'If Frost's dead... then... wouldn't it mean that-' He looked around to see even more dolls coming towards him, 'I dragged her into this...' he stared at the dead corpses around him. Many that he couldn't even recognize, their faces were damaged, their limbs were tattered.
'Meaning that because of me she's-'
"Murderer..." A doll said as a huge group of them jumped at Denji, making him immobile, ripping out his flesh, eating him alive.
"Fuck! That hurts!!" Denji cursed as suddenly, some of the dolls started flying out. A sudden burst kicked up, and another devilman emerged from the flock of dolls. A naked woman with her hands and head covered with arrows, radiating anger and vengeance. Anger radiated off of her, as if she couldn't stand behind before killing something.
"W-who are you?"
Denji said as she shot some arrows at the dolls that flocked around her, "Don't listen to them, they're only replicating human beings... that aren't actually humans." She said as Denji stood up, "How do you know!?" He spoke.
"If you think that way, then it's much easier right?" She said while looking at him. She then took a deep breath and prepared to charge into blind massacre, "Saw boy, lend me your strength until I murder her... That bitch went ahead and killed my women..."
Santa walked down the hallways of a dark corridor in the mall, just when shots of arrows opened holes in her. "I didn't think you'd come." She said as Quanxi charged at her Santa smiled, "I didn't expect to see you... it's an honor to see the person said to be the first devil hunter."
Another shot cut her into pieces but she regenerated almost instantly, "I see, I can spread the pain into my dolls." Santa said, "So then, how should I kill an invisible hunter?"
Denji was under attack while Quanxi helped him through, only to be suddenly caught by Santa. "I finally caught you." It said, only to be destroyed again by Quanxi's arrows.
"Not good, night's coming."
Quanxi looked aside as the sun sunk into darkness, Santa grew bigger, creepier and even more powerful, Denji gulped, "Is it just me or did you get creepier?" He shouted as her mouth opened wider, "While you were busy killing me, I took the liberty to make even more dolls." She smiled, as Quanxi stood there in shock, "This shit again...?"
All those who Quanxi ever cared for, ended up meeting the same fate... Death. Those she loved and those who loved her. But the four fiends who always followed her no matter what. Those fiends she loved. 'Long and Pingsti are dead...' And now they had been turned to dolls, holding Tsugihagi hostage. Quanxi couldn't bring herself to kill them, despite knowing that they were dolls. She could cry over her loss, if her face could be seen.
And even as the doll stabbed her, all Quanxi could so was hug the doll of Pingsti, that stabbed her. If only for one last time.
"Bitch-"
Suddenly huge spheres of ice dropped over Santa as she looked above her in shock. "An angel...? No..." She saw a girl floating above, with huge blue wings and beside her a boy sitting on tentacles of an octopus.
"Don't overdo it now, you promised Snow."
"I know... but turning Quanxi's women into dolls and using them against her...?" She grit her teeth and showered down more icebergs at Santa.
"Simply unforgivable."
She said as Quanxi looked at her in shock. Denji on the other hand set himself on fire to attack Santa, beheading with the power of light.
"This is- THE POWER OF LIGHT!"
Yoshida slowly held Frost as she came down to the ground. Santa shouted in pain as she stuttered and fell, "Even after deepening my wisdom with the power of darkness... I still can't comprehend the actions of fools!" Those words made both Denji and Frost shout back at her.
"How dare you call him a fool!?" Frost said.
"I watch educational TV everyday!" Denji shouted and set a few dolls around him on fire too, pulling the monster in along with him as he burnt Santa along with it's dolls. "This is my shining power AAaah!" Denji blew up a car to fully burn Santa.
Frost ran towards Quanxi as Santa lay down, her regeneration was slowed but soon she could get up if not finished. "Quanxi!" Frost said as Quanxi came back to her human form, tired and lost. The two dolls of Long and Pingsti were gone, fallen to the ground as the other two fiends approached Quanxi.
"Y/n..." Quanxi said while stroking Frost's cheek. "Are you alright...?" She lightly spoke while Quanxi sat up with the help of her fiends. They gave her clothes and then sat beside her.
"Thank you for saving me and my girls... Y/n." She spoke, words that left Frost in awe. Yoshida looked at her from behind, on guard if anything happened. Quanxi spoke off her heart then, "My life... it's been too long y/n. All of it has been a game of chase and betrayal. But still I dared love those fiends who confided in me, their trust and lives. Only to end up in pain and death..." She placed her hands over Frost's shoulders.
"I've always dreamt of having a house... a home where the five of us could live together... away from all blood and sorrow... for all our lives... together. But now... that home is something distant..." She said as Frost took a deep breath upon hearing her words.
"Why'd you help me? I tried to kill you..." Quanxi said as Frost took a deep breath, "I know you love those four fiends... and... I... just couldn't bear to see you lose... something you love." Frost said while clenching her heart. "Though... two of them are already..."
"It's alright..." Quanxi said taking Cosmo and Tsugihagi's hands. "Lady Quanxi... promise me, you'll keep your girls safe after this. Run away, hide... flee, I don't care... just... just show me what love means to someone like you..." She painfully looked at her, "Live..."
"Come with me Y/n... I'll always cherish you... let's run away. You, me, Cosmo and Tsugihagi... let's mend each other's wounds..."
Quanxi extended an arm towards her as she smiled. Smiled for the first time. "When you saved me, it was the first time I actually felt cherished... so, come with me... let's run away." Quanxi took a deep breath, "Not just my girl but..." She looked right up at you as you stared at her wide eyed.
"I'll cherish you like my queen..."
"...A corpse is talking..."
A familiar voice cut her short, Makima stood behind them as the heads of Quanxi and her fiends fell off. Sudden shock took over Frost as she stared in horror, blood spattered on her face as she watched Quanxi die.
'Ah... so this is how it is...' Quanxi's dying thoughts spoke to her, as she slowly closed her eyes. 'I'm... finally dying...' All she thought of were her loved women. Death was where her home was, where they all could be together, without any fights or tragedy.
'I see... all of us... we're going to hell aren't we?'
'But if it's all of us then... I guess that's where our home is right...?'
'Home is where we all go together...'
She smiled as her head hit the ground and their souls crossed to the other side, hand in hand, together.
"I'm home girls..."
Farewell, to the human who dared love her fiends. All she wanted was for them to live a normal life.
'Give my girls basic human rights and education.'
'I do care.'
HELL DEVIL ARC- END.
TO BE CONTINUED---
Next Time:
- Frost's rage befalls Makima. But there's just something different about her now.
- "Won't you take off your blindfold?" Yoshida says to Kishibe.
"I don't wanna see a thing."
- What's left of life... is to only cherish those you have.
- "I'll take Frost with me until she fully recovers." Yoshida says when Frost passed out, he gently picked her up, "You public safety devil hunters never took care of her..." He said to Kishibe and left off as Kisibe stared into darkness with his blindfold, doing nothing.
Control devil arc- Up next.
Chapter secrets:
- Yoshida was actually going to stop Quanxi himself when she proposed to run away with Frost, but he stopped when Kishibe told him to.
- Quanxi realized her love and pain at the moment of death.
- Quanxi was author's favorite female character in Chainsaw man, author cried many times thinking of Quanxi's death...