Barf, Head, Perv

Puzzling over why the Hokkaido trip with Aki and Power suddenly surfaced, Denji throws up the Bitterness Devil. The foul taste drives him to dive into the nearby lake, and as he drifts downward he recalls the bitter coffee he once drank with Reze at the Crossroads café. When the remembered Reze turns to face him, he aches at how the people he loves keep vanishing. Sinking further, he pictures Nayuta, Meowy, and the dogs, a reminder of the ties he still holds.

Wondering how he ever kept smiling, he spots Pochita gliding toward him and understands the truth: Pochita did not swallow those devils to erase his pain, but to help him recall what makes life worth living. Asa hauls him out of the water and chews him out for the reckless stunt.

Denji concedes that she and Pochita were right that he can rise again after everything he has suffered, even as he accepts that Nayuta and his family are gone. Hopeless or not, he decides that a world holding food and women still offers him a reason to keep going. When Asa pushes him to study their situation, he points to the enormous head of the Bitterness Devil he coughed up. Since something that large could never have fit in his stomach, he reasons his body must be connected to Pochita's back in the real world, meaning his devil powers remain within reach. Armed with a clever idea and fresh resolve, Denji tells Asa that this time he will be the one to free them both.

Denji expels the Bitterness Devil and, sinking through the lake, relives memories of Reze, Nayuta, Meowy, and his dogs. He realizes Pochita fed on the devils to preserve his reasons for living rather than dull his trauma. Asa pulls him from the water. Studying the oversized devil head, Denji deduces that his stomach is linked to Pochita's in reality, restoring access to his powers, and resolves to lead their escape.

Titled Barf, Head, Perv, the chapter is part of Volume 20 and the Aging Devil arc. Aki, Power, Reze, and Nayuta appear within flashbacks, while the Bitterness Devil features as the devil Denji vomits. The chapter marks Denji's emotional turning point in the realm and his deduction about the Denji and Pochita connection.