"Master!!!" Denji immediately grabbed Arata's arm.
"Good apprentice, I know you're worried about me. Don't worry, I won't lose," Arata said, gently patting Denji's arm to comfort him.
But Denji leaned in close and whispered into Arata's ear, "That's not what I meant. I was asking if, after you win, you could give one of them to me."
"Get lost!!" Arata scolded. He had thought Denji was actually concerned about him winning, but it turned out he was only thinking about that.
However, it also showed that Denji completely trusted Arata's strength. He had already started sizing up the five women. If he really had to choose one, Denji would absolutely pick Quanxi. Even though she radiated an intense "boss-lady" aura, at least she looked entirely human. Long legs, beautiful hair, and no breast pads. The other four women were all fiends, their bodies still bearing distinctly non-human traits.
"Lady Quanxi." The four women looked at Quanxi simultaneously. They clearly had no desire to serve a man.
"What? You don't believe in me?" Quanxi questioned. Winning two rounds might be slightly difficult, but she was one hundred percent confident she could win at least one.
"I believe in Lady Quanxi! You almost won last time, and this time you only need to win one round!" Pingtsi cried out shyly, hugging one of Quanxi's arms.
"Blood," shouted a dark-red-haired woman in the back, who had red horns on her head similar to Power's and constantly wore handcuffs.
Hearing her harem cheer for her, Quanxi's gaze grew even more resolute. "Are we going outside, or doing this right here?"
"Let's go outside. After all, wrecking the cafe might attract the Bomb Devil."
Reze froze. Arata's words carried a very obvious underlying meaning. It confirmed to Reze that Arata definitely knew her hidden identity. What confused her was why he hadn't made a move after seeing through her disguise, and instead frequently brought Denji around to hang out in front of her.
For now, Reze was in no rush to attack. She decided it wouldn't be too late to make a move after watching the battle between the two. If the timing was right, she could reveal her true identity and ambush Arata. As long as Arata was out of the picture, dealing with Denji would be easy. But as she looked at the little souvenir trinket in her hand, her resolve began to waver.
"Come on out. I'm taking Denji's heart this time for sure." Quanxi led her four beauties out of the cafe.
Standing outside, she paused for a moment and handed the three swords on her back to Pingtsi. She rolled her neck and then suddenly began throwing rapid punches at thin air. When one strike was seemingly blocked, the next punch immediately followed. In just a few seconds, Quanxi had thrown dozens of punches.
"Go, Lady Quanxi!!"
"Quanxi!!!"
Her harem cheered enthusiastically from behind.
"Reze, don't just stand there, go prepare some coffee. I want to enjoy the show while drinking it."
"The Great Me wants a pork cutlet bowl—just the pork cutlet, hold the rice!"
Arata wasn't standing outside. Instead, he had chosen a window seat, sitting down to wait for his coffee. Outside the door, Quanxi was relentlessly punching the air, her fluid movements showing absolutely no hesitation.
"Arata-senpai, what is going on out there?" Reze placed the coffee in front of Arata, her eyes fixed on Quanxi. She appeared to be fighting an invisible opponent.
But soon, Quanxi collapsed to the ground. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and said, "I lost."
"Now for the second round." Quanxi took the three swords handed to her by Pingtsi. Wielding dual blades, she charged forward with incredible speed. Once again, she began slashing wildly at the empty air. Her blazing hand speed made Pingtsi blush bright red. But before long, the three swords clattered to the ground. Numerous cuts had appeared all over Quanxi's body.
"I'll give you that one. Now for round three. I'm getting serious." With that, Quanxi pulled off her eyepatch and drew an arrow from her right eye socket. In the next second, she transformed into the Arrow Devil. Because the Arrow Devil's power was too destructive, Arata didn't let her simulate the movements of her dream fight. Instead, she just stood there blankly, frozen in place.
"Reze, did you forget the sugar this time?" Denji spat out the coffee the moment it hit his tongue.
"Haha, good thing the Great Me didn't drink it! Look at that color, it looks just like my poop in the toilet!"
"Shut up!!!" Denji already thought it tasted bad, but hearing Power say that made it incredibly disgusting.
"I'm sorry, Denji-kun. I'll go make you another cup."
"Never mind, I'm never drinking coffee again! It's all Power's fault!!" Denji waved his fist at Power. Now, whenever he looked at the color of coffee, he would think of the toilet clogged by Power's feces. Saying it looked exactly the same was an understatement; it had at least an 80% resemblance.
"Reze, do you want to know why Quanxi suddenly stopped moving?" Arata asked.
"Yes," Reze replied immediately. As a Soviet assassin, it was imperative she fully grasped Arata's capabilities.
"Then let me show you a certain scene."
As soon as he spoke, a speeding train materialized before Reze's eyes. She found herself staring at a small flower in her hand, her mind racing with thoughts. The moment the train stopped and the doors opened, Reze suddenly found her answer. She sprinted swiftly toward the Erdao Cafe, solely to fulfill a promise she made to a certain someone.
But just then, a massive swarm of rats surged out from behind her. The rats gradually gathered together, forming a human silhouette. Makima stepped out from the swarm. Realizing something was wrong, Reze reached to pull the pin on her neck. But her hand abruptly exploded. In the next second, she gripped a dagger and flashed behind Makima with blinding speed. However, a spear plunged down from the heavens, skewering Reze's body and completely stripping her of the ability to fight back. In the end, carrying a heart full of deep unwillingness, she collapsed into Makima's embrace.
Gasp!
Waking from the grand dream, Reze panted heavily and collapsed onto the floor. She shook her head and looked around. Seeing that she was back in the cafe, she realized that everything just now had been a dream. Yet, the deep sense of unwillingness still lingered in her heart, as if everything that happened in the dream had actually occurred in reality.
"You... what did you do to me?"
"I just let you see your alternate ending."
"Reze, are you okay?" Seeing Reze sitting stunned on the floor, Denji quickly stood up to help her.
"I'm fine."
Meanwhile, a victor had been decided outside. Quanxi had fallen to the ground. Her four beauties shielded her, shouting at the empty air, "You've already won! Stop attacking!"
"The five of us will accompany you tonight!"
Upon hearing a satisfactory response, Arata walked out of the cafe and stood before the four of them. Once again, he snapped his fingers to end the Third-Level Dream Realm, seamlessly bridging the dream with reality. Looking at the real Arata, Quanxi's group of five didn't sense anything out of the ordinary. Instead, they maintained their terrified expressions.
"Don't worry, I won't kill Quanxi. After all, she is a devil hunter I look upon quite favorably."
"Lady Quanxi doesn't like men," one of them defended.
"You misunderstand, I didn't mean it like that," Arata replied.
"Halloween!!"
"Anyway, let's go inside and have a cup of coffee first."
With that, Arata headed back inside. Pingtsi cut her finger and placed it into Quanxi's mouth. After drinking the blood, Quanxi quickly recovered to peak condition. She led her four beauties into the cafe. This time, Quanxi sat directly across from Arata, while her four women sat at the table behind them.
"Are you satisfied with the outcome of this bet?" Arata slid a freshly brewed cup of coffee over to Quanxi.
Suppressing a yawn, Quanxi took the cup and took a sip. For some reason, her body felt incredibly drowsy. "Your strength has improved significantly. Last time we fought, I underestimated my enemy, which is why you barely beat me. But this time... our powers aren't even on the same level anymore."
"Of course. The river flows thirty years to the east, and thirty years to the west. Never look down on a young man's potential."
"However, even if I had beaten you, I wouldn't have taken Denji's heart anyway," Quanxi said, setting down her empty cup.
Pingtsi, standing behind her, immediately took the empty cup and went to pour another, placing it back on the table for Quanxi.
Arata coughed lightly, hoping Denji would catch the hint. But Denji's attention was clearly entirely focused on the women.
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