"He's the son of a Moore Family council member!"
Quanxi was visibly unsettled.
For the usually calm and composed Quanxi to feel anxious was enough to prove just how terrifying a Moore Family council member truly was.
"What a shame, dying so young." Arata picked up Baseball Guy's severed head and tossed it into the Mirror Dimension. "Born with such a great background, yet he insisted on throwing his life away. Now, everything he has belongs to me."
After saying that, he dragged Baseball Guy's headless corpse into the Mirror Dimension as well. Because the deceased had a special status, absorbing the corpse had to be done in secret.
Upon entering the Mirror Dimension, Arata found Himeno, Arai, and Kobeni playing Fight the Landlord.
Seeing Arata dragging a corpse in, Himeno was the first to drop her cards.
"Arata, how did it go?"
"Himeno-senpai, looking at the corpse, you should be able to figure it out, right?"
"I said it from the start: Arata-senpai would never lose!" Arai stood up, clenching his fists and shouting enthusiastically, while Kobeni began picking up the scattered cards.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" Himeno stepped in front of Arata, adjusting his collar and brushing the dust off his clothes. Her expression was filled with unmistakable worry.
"I promised I'd help everyone in Division 4 live long enough to retire. I can't exactly kick the bucket halfway there."
"You fought for quite a while this time, Arata-kun. Usually, it only takes you a few minutes, so it was hard not to worry," Himeno explained her concern.
Arai, on the other hand, treated Arata like an absolute god of war. No matter how long it took, he firmly believed Arata would definitely win.
"Master, are you alright?" Having tidied up the cards, Kobeni handed Arata a bottle of water. Both the cards and the water were items they had scavenged from within the Mirror Dimension.
"Master is fine. But when is our little Kobeni going to grow up?" Arata took the water and patted Kobeni on the head.
As the "big bird" of Division 4, he looked after the "little birds" under his wing. Kobeni was the youngest chick, the one who needed to put in the most effort to grow.
"Master, I'm sorry!" Kobeni burst into tears, snot and tears mixing together. But after crying for a bit, her eyes suddenly filled with resolve. "Master, send me that movie. I don't want to be a coward anymore."
"The best way to eliminate fear is to face it. We'll start building your courage by having you finish that horror movie."
Arata was pleased by Kobeni's sudden burst of bravery.
"Aki-kun, are you alright? Didn't your arm get broken during the fight?"
"I'm fine. It was just dislocated, it's much better now," Aki Hayakawa replied. He had been pacing back and forth inside the Mirror Dimension, desperately wanting to go out and help, but completely unable to leave.
"I've opened the doors leading back to everyone's homes. You guys head back first."
"What about Lady Quanxi?" Quanxi's women asked worriedly.
"She's fine. You guys just wait here."
"By the way, where did Power go?"
"She got too bored, so she went out for a stroll."
"Then the rest of you head back first."
Arata opened the Mirror Gates leading to everyone's respective homes.
Afterward, he dragged Baseball Guy's corpse to a secluded spot.
Once he finished absorbing Baseball Guy's corpse, Arata's strength skyrocketed once again. He now possessed the abilities of both the Wind Devil and the Tragedy Devil.
One allowed him to control the wind for both offense and defense, boasting extreme versatility and pushing his speed up another tier.
The other allowed for physical rewinding, completely ignoring any spatial, mental, or physical control. Even if he was trapped by an overpowering force, he could simply rewind. However, Arata could only rewind 5 times per week.
Such incredibly powerful devils. If anyone else had contracted with even one of them, they could have walked sideways across the globe unchallenged. The fact that Baseball Guy was able to contract two such formidable devils simultaneously was entirely thanks to the backing of the Moore Family.
Having dealt with the corpse, Arata stepped out of the Mirror Gate back into the middle of the street.
Looking around, he noticed the civilians hiding inside the surrounding shops, staring at them with eyes wide in terror.
"Stop staring. Come out and mop the floor!" Arata shouted, before vanishing down the street with Quanxi and Denji.
Meanwhile, in the cafe across the street, the waitress actually had a decent impression of Baseball Guy. She found it a bit hard to stomach the sight of him being decapitated right out in the street.
"Good job!"
The manager's voice snapped the waitress out of her daze.
It turned out the terrified stares of the crowd weren't directed at Arata at all, but at Baseball Guy. Seeing Baseball Guy killed, the crowd couldn't have been happier.
Arata's reputation had already become a household name in Japan. He frequently appeared on the Public Safety news broadcasts. For example: At what time today did which devil appear and cause what damage? And then, Arata killed the devil.
With so many grand achievements, Arata had become a hero in the eyes of the people—the ultimate devil eradicator.
Of course, they only saw his human form as a hero. This didn't diminish the power of Freddy Krueger (the Dream Devil) in the slightest.
As for the people Arata killed, everyone simply assumed they were definitely evil devils who had brought immense harm to society.
"Manager, someone died outside! Why are you so happy?!" The waitress, who worked overtime every single day and had zero time to watch TV, thought the manager was just gloating over someone's misfortune. She already harbored a deep grudge against the manager, and now she found him even more disgusting.
"I'm happy, what's it to you? Why don't you be the manager, and I'll serve you?!"
"I... I didn't mean it like that."
"I don't care what you meant! Now go wash those glasses! What are we going to serve the customers with tonight if you don't?!" Instead of explaining, the manager just roared at her.
The waitress was furious, but as a lowly employee, she could only swallow her anger. After all, she didn't want to lose her job and go home only to suffer the verbal abuse of her alcoholic husband.
"Kill him!"
Suddenly, a bizarre voice echoed inside her head.
"Who's there?"
The waitress looked around, but saw no one.
"Kill your manager, and I'll give you power."
"Who are you?" The waitress frantically searched her surroundings.
"I am the Reality Devil. People fear the pressure of reality, so they escape it. They fear not having enough money to live. In short, I am incredibly powerful. As long as you kill the manager, I will give you power."
"A... a devil!!"
"Yes. Your alcoholic, unemployed husband takes all his resentment out on you. Your manager, who tried to sexually assault you and was rejected, singles you out and makes your life hell. Do you really want to live like this forever?"
"Stay away from me!" The waitress clamped her hands over her ears and screamed.
"Contract with me, and you will become the strong one in life."
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!" Seeing the waitress squatting on the floor slacking off instead of washing the glasses, the manager instantly flared up.
He had previously tried to grope her butt and was slapped in the face for it. To this day, he still held a grudge, constantly making things difficult for her in hopes of forcing her to quit.
But the waitress's husband at home wouldn't allow it. If she quit and went home, she would definitely be beaten, so she had chosen to endure and keep working.
In a fit of anger, the manager kicked the waitress to the ground and cursed, "Kana Okura, if you don't want to work, then get the hell out! Don't disturb the customers!"
Seeing Kana Okura's miserable state, her other colleagues in the shop showed no sympathy. Instead, they whispered and laughed at her. In an instant, she became the center of the crowd's mockery.
"G-give it to me! I'll contract with you!" Kana Okura screamed as her breaking point snapped.
"Hahahaha..." the devil burst into maniacal laughter. "The price is to kill everyone you hate."
"No problem."
Kana Okura suddenly stood up, leaned close to the manager's ear, and whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm willing to use my body to compensate you, Manager."
"You... you've finally figured it out! Haha!" The manager's previous fury vanished instantly, replaced by raucous laughter. "If only you had done this sooner! Let me play with you for a month, and I'll promote you to supervisor."
"You can play as long as you want," Kana forced out a smile.
"Excellent, excellent. Come with me."
With that, the manager dragged Kana into his office.
The other staff in the cafe shot her looks of absolute disgust and disdain. As adults, they naturally knew exactly what the two of them were planning.
Upon entering the office, the manager immediately stripped off his shirt. He turned around to embrace Kana, but was blocked by her hands.
"What are you doing?!" the manager demanded angrily.
"The floor is cold, Manager. Let's do it on the desk."
Kana then sat on the edge of the desk, while the manager sat in a chair facing her. One high, one low.
"Manager, close your eyes."
"Why?"
"I'm shy." Kana placed her hands on her buttons.
"Alright, alright." Completely blinded by lust, the manager had become an obedient dog.
"Open them."
The exact moment the manager opened his eyes, two fountain pens were jammed brutally straight into his eyeballs.
"AHHH!!"
A bloodcurdling scream tore through the room.
Kana yanked one of the pens out of his eye and viciously stabbed it straight through his tongue. She then began frantically stabbing him in the neck and chest, unleashing a chaotic flurry of strikes until she had fully vented her rage.
BAM!!
The office door was suddenly thrown open. Kana's colleagues rushed in.
When they saw the manager's gruesome death, they screamed and scrambled toward the exit.
SPLAT!!
SPLAT!!
The first two who ran out were instantly crushed into meat paste.
The customers in the cafe fled in sheer terror. The remaining colleagues were paralyzed with fear.
Covered in blood, Kana Okura slowly and leisurely walked out of the office.
Wherever her gaze landed, people either exploded or were crushed into meat paste. The colleagues who had previously targeted and mocked her could not escape death.
At that moment, the TV hanging over the counter was broadcasting the news. Footage of Arata finishing off the Doll Devil was playing on screen.
"It's him!" Kana Okura instantly recognized Arata on the TV as the same man who had decapitated Baseball Guy earlier.
"His name is Arata. Now, I want you to kill him."
"He seems really strong." Staring at the massive devil being slaughtered on the screen, Kana couldn't help but feel afraid—because she was now technically a devil herself.
"It's fine. I have a way to counter him. Someone wants him dead, and he has no choice but to die."
Want to read more??
Checkout my P@treon: AfrikaanPolarBear Here you can read 50 chapters ahead everyone and also support this fic. Consider subscribing as it'll motivate me and also help this fic.
: )
Thanks you!!!