Hayakawa Aki's third attack didn't land on the Toad Devil, so the Curse Devil wouldn't help him complete the third strike.
Most devils are greedy, and the Curse Devil is no exception. It strictly follows the terms of the contract and won't lift a finger more than agreed upon unless additional conditions are met that satisfy the devil.
And the additional conditions that would satisfy the Curse Devil would likely cost Hayakawa Aki his life. After all, the normal contract conditions for this devil are already harsh enough—using its power once deducts a significant portion of one's lifespan.
Chiya had already predicted that Aki wouldn't have the strength to deliver the third strike, so he didn't bother trying to stop him.
As long as the Curse Devil didn't formally activate its curse to kill the Toad Devil, Aki's lifespan wouldn't be reduced.
"What the hell is this?"
At this moment, Nomura Kojirou shouted.
He and Takeda Yusuke, who had just come down the stairs, were also affected.
Takeda Yusuke's expression changed slightly as he realized something was wrong.
"Die, all of you!"
The Toad Devil felt it was about time. Its belly suddenly swelled, and in the next moment, it spat out several green, arrow-like projectiles of concentrated liquid, each aimed at Chiya, Aki, Nomura Kojirou, and Takeda Yusuke. Kinoshita Tsuki, who had fainted earlier, was ignored.
At this point, Aki was on his knees, barely able to lift his head. He could only watch helplessly as the attack came at him, unable to dodge.
Takeda Yusuke reacted quickly. Knowing he couldn't escape in time, he decisively grabbed Nomura Kojirou by the shoulders and used him as a human shield.
"Huh? Ahhh!"
Nomura Kojirou was stunned. Takeda Yusuke's grip was too strong for him to break free, and he could only scream and struggle futilely.
The speed of the green liquid suggested it was highly damaging, and it seemed to have corrosive properties. Chiya knew he couldn't wait any longer. He also realized that he only needed to "intangible" his nose and mouth to block the poison gas.
His dual Kamui activated simultaneously, the whites of his eyes filling with blood vessels.
The right eye formed a spatial vortex, pulling him into the Kamui Dimension. At the same time, the left eye focused on the space beside Nomura Kojirou, where another spatial vortex appeared.
Thanks to the nature of dual Kamui, he achieved near-seamless teleportation, entering the Kamui Dimension and emerging from the other vortex almost instantly.
In his haste, he could only kick Nomura Kojirou aside, preventing Takeda Yusuke from using him as a shield.
Immediately after, he focused his left eye on the green liquid projectile heading toward Aki, pulling it into the Kamui Dimension.
At the same time, a spatial vortex appeared above the Toad Devil's head, and the green liquid shot out from the vortex, striking the Toad Devil's eyes.
"Huh?"
The Toad Devil was confused for a moment, wondering where one of its projectiles had gone.
In the next second, it let out a piercing scream, "Ahhh!! My eyes!!"
In the blink of an eye, all four of its eyes were corroded by its own venom. This wasn't just blindness—its eyeballs were completely gone.
It was like how an electric eel could electrocute itself or a venomous snake could poison itself. The Toad Devil couldn't withstand its own venom.
And the corrosion didn't stop. The venom continued to eat away at its head.
Meanwhile, without his "shield," Takeda Yusuke was directly hit by the green liquid, which pierced through his chest. His internal organs were quickly corroded.
Before dying, he stared wide-eyed at Chiya, unable to believe that he hadn't even seen the boy move. He had just appeared out of nowhere!
On the other side, Aki was equally stunned. Why had the venom suddenly disappeared and then reappeared, even changing direction?!
He hadn't seen clearly, only vaguely noticing something distorting space. When Chiya had vanished earlier, there had also been signs of spatial distortion.
Was this also part of Chiya's demonic power?!
At this moment, Chiya calmly observed the Toad Devil, not even glancing at Takeda Yusuke, who was now just a corpse.
Soon, the Toad Devil's head was half corroded, but it still wasn't dead, continuing to scream in agony.
"This thing is really hard to kill…"
Chiya thought to himself.
Devils that possessed pieces of the Gun Devil's flesh were far stronger and harder to kill than ordinary devils.
This was also why he hadn't immediately used his left eye's Kamui to twist off the Toad Devil's head earlier. He wasn't sure if the head was its weak point or if decapitation would even kill it.
Now he had his answer. Even with its head corroded, it wasn't dead. Using his left eye's Kamui to twist off its head would likely just waste his ocular power and life force. Letting its own venom corrode it was more effective.
Chiya, holding his katana, quickly approached the Toad Devil. With his nose and mouth "intangible," he could completely ignore the green poison gas.
"If it can still live without a head, what if I cut it into pieces?"
Chiya murmured coldly, his expression icy and murderous, perfectly matching the crimson Mangekyō Sharingan.
Aki watched Chiya, feeling as if he had become a completely different person during battle. The cold, killing intent emanating from him was chilling, even to Aki.
...
In less than a minute, the Toad Devil finally stopped screaming—because Chiya had found its heart.
It seemed the heart was the Toad Devil's true weak point. After being sliced in half, it fell silent for good.
Even if the heart hadn't been destroyed, the Toad Devil had already been cut into dozens of pieces by Chiya. There was no escaping death.
The scene was too gruesome to look at, with intestines and blood scattered everywhere, the stench of blood filling the basement.
Since a devil's power disappears after its death, the Toad Devil's green poison gas had completely vanished. Hayakawa Aki was no longer affected by the gas, and his strength returned.
[Ding! Host has successfully hunted "Toad Devil (Gun Devil Flesh Fragment)." Attribute points gained: 30!]
From the attribute points, it was clear that the Toad Devil, possessing a piece of the Gun Devil's flesh, was far stronger than an ordinary devil.
Chiya retrieved the Gun Devil's flesh fragment from the devil's corpse—a small, bullet-like object.
Such a tiny thing could instantly transform an ordinary devil into a powerful one.