Fearsome

The Nail Fiend stalls Quanxi with flattering questions while Katana Man winds up an attack and Yoru braces herself. The Fiend's nails are deflected, and Katana Man is decapitated the instant his strike lands. Haruka fumbles and drops Denji as Yoru grabs a scalpel to serve as a blade, only to be hurled aside by Quanxi. The Nail Fiend takes a devastating wound to the stomach, and Nobana shrieks in fear while clutching Denji's severed head as a shield. Quanxi moves to finish him but freezes the moment she glimpses Denji's face.

Pressed to keep fighting, Quanxi reveals an old friend, Kishibe, cautioned her never to harm Denji. Takagi rages that no division of Public Safety can be trusted and threatens to dump the corpses of Quanxi's lovers rather than return them, but his Fire Devil-transformed wife strikes him down mid-threat and begins eating his body. The Nail Fiend notes that Katana Man's earlier blow freed the wife from her cell. Quanxi surrenders and asks to be killed, confident she will regenerate like Chainsaw Man. As the surgeons feign deafness to the chaos, Yoru asks whether Chainsaw Man surpasses Quanxi, and Quanxi answers that he is weaker yet far more terrifying. Whether Yoru kills her is left unseen.

Quanxi dismantles the group, decapitating Katana Man and gravely wounding the Nail Fiend, but she stops cold when she sees Denji's face, citing Kishibe's warning. Takagi threatens her and is killed by his transformed wife, who devours his remains.

Quanxi concedes the fight and requests death, trusting in her regeneration. She tells Yoru that Chainsaw Man, though physically weaker than her, is the more fearsome of the two.

Issued April 10, 2024 and collected in Volume 18, this chapter carries the Aging Devil arc from Chapter 161 toward Chapter 163. Its Japanese title romanizes as Osoroshī Yatsu. Takagi dies here, and Kishibe, along with Quanxi's partners Cosmo, Tsugihagi, Long, and Pingtsi, are referenced.