"Shopping?"
"Are you sure?"
Quanxi felt this request was far too simple. After all, they had planned to go shopping in Japan anyway. Rather than saying they were accompanying Arata shopping, it was more like Arata was accompanying them. Plus, he had just wasted a perfect opportunity to order Quanxi around.
"Yes, but this afternoon's shopping trip won't be simple."
"Don't tell me we have to do something else while shopping?" Pingtsi asked.
"A high-end hunter often appears in the guise of prey." Arata smiled. "This morning, Himeno-senpai sent me a message saying that Santa Claus has arrived in Tokyo. In addition, civilian devil hunters from other countries have also reached their destinations. I want you all to accompany Denji and me on a shopping trip to draw them out and catch them in one fell swoop."
"So that's how it is." Hearing that it was a 'serious' shopping trip, Quanxi instantly understood. "Then I agree."
"Let's head out now. I've already had Himeno-senpai spread the word. By this afternoon, everyone will know that Denji is hanging out at Qianda Plaza."
Just as Arata stood up, Denji rushed over holding a piece of paper. "Master, look at the name I wrote!"
"This is my name, and this is Master's name written in Chinese." Denji grinned, pointing at the characters on the paper.
Even though the handwriting was crooked and messy, Arata didn't hold back his applause. "Not bad. You used the exact same 'chicken-scratch' font I used for my homework back in elementary school."
"Master, did I write your name right?"
"You did. I'll consider this your first gift to your Master."
The gift was light, but full of heart. Arata took the paper bearing his name, folded it carefully, and tucked it into his pocket.
"Arata-senpai, can I go with you this afternoon?" Reze suddenly asked.
"It'll be too dangerous there. You should stay at the cafe. Besides, you wouldn't want Denji finding out about your true identity, right?" Arata patted Reze on the shoulder.
He then led the others through the Mirror Gate, arriving directly inside a men's restroom at Qianda Plaza. The sudden appearance of the group terrified everyone inside.
A man who had just rushed into a stall with a severe stomachache suddenly lost the urge entirely. The other men immediately zipped up their 'water guns' and bolted out of the bathroom, some not even bothering to turn off the sinks.
"Where to now?"
"First, the Golden Arches."
No one objected, and they all followed Arata to the fast-food restaurant.
When the crowd queuing inside saw fiends entering the restaurant, they instinctively stepped back. The long line quickly parted, miraculously making way for the group. Arata conveniently cut to the front of the counter and ordered ten portions of fries. Although the restaurant was fully seated, no one dared to refuse giving up their table. Wherever they walked, seats emptied out of pure terror.
Only one table in the corner remained perfectly calm. Arata walked over to the man and woman sitting there, holding a box of fries.
"Would you like some fries?"
"No, thank you," the man said politely.
"How do the burgers taste here?"
"Not bad," the woman replied.
"Please remember that taste, because you'll never eat it again."
As soon as his voice fell, two heads tumbled to the ground.
Instantly, the entire restaurant erupted in chaos. A massive swarm of diners screamed and scrambled for the exits. Once everyone had fled, Arata dragged the two corpses into the restroom.
The two he had just killed were devil hunters sent to assassinate Denji. The woman, known as "Master", was contracted with the Curse Devil—just like Aki Hayakawa. But more importantly, she was the true body of Santa Claus. The real Doll Devil.
The "Santa Claus" from Germany was nothing more than a perfect doll she had created to take her place and accept missions, while the man beside her was her apprentice—his sole purpose being the raw material to craft a second perfect doll.
However, even though the woman was killed, she wasn't completely dead. As long as her other dolls remained alive, she could transfer her consciousness into one of them and resurrect. Unsurprisingly, she had likely already transferred to a perfect doll nearby. If she had transferred to a doll in another country, she wouldn't be able to complete her current mission.
Having dealt with the two, Arata walked out of the restroom.
Just then, the Golden Arches' doors were pushed open again. A man and a woman rushed in.
"Arata, there you are!" Himeno shouted.
"Himeno-senpai, drawn in by the crowd, I presume?"
"We heard screams coming from inside the Golden Arches, so we came to check it out." Aki Hayakawa sheathed the black katana in his hand.
"Aki, nice sword. The Angel Devil made that for you, didn't he?"
"You can tell that too?" Aki asked in confusion. "The Angel Devil thought I was different from the others, so he used 20 years of lifespan to forge me a black katana."
"Only 20 years? He should have at least given you a thousand-year lifespan weapon. That thousand-year spear has incredible destructive power; it's a guaranteed one-hit kill against weapon fiends."
"Arata, do you know the people over there?" Himeno felt a sharp sense of danger just from glancing at Quanxi and her group.
"They are devil hunters from China. But don't worry, they're here to assist me this time."
"I didn't expect you to have other friends, Arata."
"Haven't you heard the saying? The stronger you are, the more friends you have."
"Still, be careful. I heard Santa Claus has already arrived in Tokyo. Combined with the news you had us spread, they're highly likely to be nearby."
"Santa Claus... even Makima finds them troublesome, so they definitely aren't weak," Aki said.
"It's fine. I've prepared a 'Halloween' gift for Santa Claus." Arata deliberately glanced at the Halloween girl, Cosmo.
He knew full well that Santa Claus's true goal wasn't Denji, but dragging Makima into Hell to let the Darkness Devil finish her off. Capturing Denji was just bait to lure Makima in. Arata was thoroughly familiar with their plan, which was why he had preemptively killed that man and woman just now, directly severing the possibility of being dragged into Hell by the Darkness Devil. Santa Claus probably never dreamed her plan would be so abruptly derailed.
"Himeno-senpai." At that moment, other Public Safety devil hunters arrived at the restaurant.
"It's fine, no devils here. It's just Arata from our Division 4," Himeno hurriedly explained.
Upon seeing Arata, the arriving Public Safety devil hunters all revealed expressions of absolute awe.
"You're Arata-senpai!!"
"Arata-senpai? I joined Public Safety less than half a year ago, and now everyone is calling me senpai," Arata chuckled.
"That doesn't matter! After all, the name Arata-senpai is known to every single devil hunter in Japan!"
"That's right! The Captain of Division 5 already reported your slaying of the Gluttony Devil to the higher-ups. We all know about it now."
"Division 5? Arata killed the Gluttony Devil? What are you guys talking about?" Because Makima wasn't around, news from the higher-ups hadn't trickled down to Division 4. Consequently, Division 4 was completely unaware of Arata's feat of killing the Gluttony Devil and saving a city in Osaka.
"Himeno-senpai, you didn't know?"
"Exactly, I have no idea what you're talking about! Arata-kun, hurry up and tell me what happened!" Himeno quickly hugged Arata's arm, pressing it snugly between her cleavage.
"Let them tell you."
After listening to the devil hunters recount Arata's exploits in Osaka, Himeno's jaw dropped in sheer astonishment.
Aki Hayakawa's expression remained stoic, but he was profoundly shocked inside. From this moment on, Aki began to gradually shift his loyalty toward Arata. If Arata could defeat a hundred-meter-tall devil... then the Gun Devil shouldn't be a problem either.
The hope for revenge had been reignited.
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