Cael frowned, piecing together the Shark Fiend's words. A temporary worker having a personal bodyguard? Somehow, he was touched.
Since Makima had sent Beam, his strength was reliable.
"Alright, Beam, I'll leave this to you. I'll give you a little speed boost," Cael said, sitting on Beam's back and generating a small wind field around them. He temporarily deactivated Dark Water's Advanced I effect to ensure Beam could move freely.
Half-buried in the ground, Beam rocketed forward, wind at his back. "Ooh! I am the Wind-Flying Shark!"
Boom! Boom! Explosions roared behind them, closing in fast.
Beam was swift, but Reze was faster. Using the thrust from her own explosions, she closed the distance at supersonic speed, leaving Mach rings in her wake.
"Not good!" Cael shouted.
BOOM!
An explosion erupted beneath Beam. He swerved and braked sharply, avoiding the core blast, but the shockwave still battered them.
"Cough, cough…" Their faces were blackened with soot as a dark, graceful silhouette emerged from the smoke.
It was Reze.
"Reze… you really want to fight me, huh?" Cael's tone was serious, his finger on the pull ring. He understood the Typhoon Devil's abilities now and no longer feared losing limbs.
"Not at all," Reze replied, her missile-shaped Devil head tilting slightly. "I'm seriously inviting you to elope, Cael. Who told you to refuse me?"
"Devil, do you expect me to believe you?"
"Cael is so cold… we've even kissed…"
Beam instantly shielded Cael. "Boss! Don't act! Even against the Bomb Devil, I'll bite her to death for you!"
Crack, crack—
Reze stretched, joints popping. She smirked at Beam. "Shark, you're from Public Safety's Special Division 4, right? This is private. Leave now and I might let you go."
"Ho ho ho, Bomb Devil, you think you're scary?" Beam's face twitched. Suddenly, his head transformed into a massive shark Devil head, towering over several people.
"Think you're tough? I'll bite you to death!"
"Gawah!" He lunged, jaws snapping at Reze.
Cael grinned inwardly. The visual was intimidating, no doubt, but he had a plan.
Reze casually pressed her hand against the tip of Beam's shark nose. BOOM! A violent explosion erupted, filling Cael's vision with blinding afterimages. Scorching heat singed his clothes, and Beam lay charred on the ground, smoke rising.
"Huh? One-shot like that?" Cael muttered. He had clearly overestimated Beam's combat ability.
"Beam, get it together," Cael urged, cutting a vein to feed him blood. Fiends were resilient; blood could restore them.
"Worried about him? You should worry more about yourself," Reze said, stepping in front of him, her pitch-black fuse arm resting on his shoulder. "Since we're on a date, can Cael only have eyes for me?"
Boom. Nothing.
"Huh?"
Boom! She tried again, confused.
"Wondering why it didn't explode?" Cael's tone dripped mockery.
"Mm-hmm… Cael is strange. Is your contract really with the Chainsaw Devil?"
Vroom!
Cael pulled the ring, transforming into Chainsaw Man. Slash! His chainsaw ripped through the air, severing Reze's left arm at the shoulder.
"Take a good look at whether I'm Chainsaw Man!"
"It hurts…" Reze backflipped to create distance. Her combat instincts quickly analyzed the encounter. "Touching Cael prevents me from using my abilities. Got it. I'll keep my distance. By the way, I cut your hands, you took my whole arm. Even now, we're even, right?"
Ssh! Chainsaw chain launched from Cael's body. Reze dodged just in time.
"Watch your step, gift for you." She snapped her fingers, and Cael saw her severed arm twitching on the ground.
"Not good! Beam!" Cael abandoned the plan for melee and leaped onto Beam, protecting him. Another hit could kill him.
BOOM! The explosion tore a twenty-meter crater into the mountain road, far louder than before.
Screech—
An off-road vehicle screeched to a stop. Three men emerged: a blonde and bald man with machetes, and a black-haired man holding a walkie-talkie.
"Whoa, the road's destroyed. We were checking the festival…" the blonde said.
"Did this devil do this?" the black-haired man said, serious.
Reze's gaze flicked to them. "Private Devil Hunters?"
The black-haired man commanded, "I secretly contracted a powerful devil behind Public Safety's back. You two, get behind me." The bald and blonde stepped back.
Snap. A-Wen bit down hard on his hand, bleeding. "Germ Devil, I sacrifice my blood. Make this devil's intestines and heart rot!"
Reze shuddered. "Germ Devil?"
Blood gushed from her mouth, her Devil form involuntarily weakening.
"Good! The Germ Devil works!" A-Wen said weakly.
The blonde licked his lips. "She's hot… almost reluctant to strike."
"Move! She's a devil!" the bald man barked.
Reze smirked. "Germs… afraid of heat, right?" Pressing her hand to her neck, she detonated herself. BOOM!
Her head fell to the ground, but moments later, her body regenerated beneath it, ready to fight again.
===
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