Aging Devil

Gaunt and towering, the Aging Devil resembles a shriveled heap of flesh riddled with cavities, the largest of them gaping dead-center on its chest in the spot a heart would occupy. Its true face is a near-blank surface bearing only a mouth, pushing out from the cloven skull of a long-haired elder, with cords tying it back to the two halves of that older visage. Raised heels lift its feet in a way that recalls stiletto footwear. The devil rests upon a throne built from bone and meat, its backrest studded with human fingers, its lower section sprouting teeth, tongues, and open mouths. Two naked men, each robbed of his hands, carry the seat upon their backs.

Indifference colors its view of life, its own included, a trait Fumiko Mifune points out bluntly. It reserves particular contempt for the young, who feel no fear of it, yet it keeps a surprisingly cordial rapport with Public Safety and even praises Yoshida for subduing the Chainsaw Devil. That loathing of youth drives its grotesque demand that thousands of children be slain as the price of letting Pochita devour it. The creature reads as lazy and quick to irritation, grumbling at the effort of attacking and growing exasperated whenever an assault fails. Even so, it professes a wish for humanity to last longer, so that human minds might climb to new heights of thought and stumble onto fresh ideas. It also betrays awareness of how Denji bested Makima, needling Pochita by calling a similar offer of being eaten romantic.

During its arc, Public Safety invokes a standing contract to slow Pochita after he erases the Ear Devil, and the devil reaches through one of its floating mirrors to hammer him with an enormous fist. The blow only stalls him, and he shears off two of its fingers before Yoshida forces the Ear Devil back out. Fumiko then exposes the bargain on offer: in return for being eaten and erased, the devil wants ten thousand young Japanese children killed in front of mirrors. A second strike with two colossal hands, joined by Yoru and Katana Man, ends with the devil losing both arms. Once Yoru mortally wounds Pochita, the Aging Devil offers its own blood and pleads to be consumed piece by piece, each bite costing more children their lives. Pochita refuses and attempts to bolt, only to be held fast. When Yoru fires a bullet, the devil freezes time, studies the round, and crumbles it to dust before banishing Yoru, Asa, and Denji into a deathless world. There it taunts its captives while its near-absolute immortality heals away every chainsaw strike, and it even attempts to age Pochita into a tree. The scheme unravels when Fumiko turns on it, giving up her own heart so that Yoshida can order the Octopus Devil to swallow the devil whole. One of its long-trapped victims then hauls it through Pochita's mouth into its own realm, where its powers go dead. Cornered and unable to kill anyone, it concedes defeat and sends the group home.