Chapter 44
The formation was like this: Denji and Power at the very front. One step behind on the sides were Hayakawa Aki and Himeno. Higashiyama Koharu lagged another half-step back, but directly in line behind Denji.
Arai Hirokazu brought up the rear—likely due to his height and build, he was used to covering the back.
Damn… looking at it this way, the group had basically paired up—except for Higashiyama Koharu and Arai Hirokazu.
This difference left Arai stunned.
He didn't have any particular expectations—he just glanced back and forth between the two couples a few times.
While feeling a pang of envy in his heart, he couldn't help stealing one more look at Higashiyama Koharu.
Koharu didn't notice anything. With everyone clustered ahead, no one was paying attention to her anymore.
No eyes on her = no pressure.
Her slightly anxious mood had finally calmed—until she sensed Arai's movement and gaze.
Extremely sensitive to being watched, she instinctively shrank her neck, then unconsciously dodged sideways to avoid him.
Feeling the gaze behind her, Koharu sidestepped forward.
Normally this wouldn't be a big deal—at most a slight blow to Arai's self-esteem.
But somehow, Koharu's left foot tripped over her right. She stumbled forward two frantic steps, arms flailing wildly in the air, unable to regain balance. Finally, hands raised in surrender pose, she pitched forward.
Her mind went completely blank.
Wuwuwu… why am I so unlucky… about to fall again… it's gonna hurt…
She squeezed her eyes shut tight, as if hoping that not seeing it meant it wasn't happening.
Sensing the commotion behind him, Denji glanced back.
Huh? What the hell is this?
Throwing herself at me? Way too polite~
Denji turned and stretched out both arms, ready to catch Higashiyama Koharu.
But for some reason—vision, strength, movement—all three experienced tiny, different deviations.
Combined, it caused his open hands to spread too wide. At that exact moment her body came in at just the right (wrong) distance—and her hand accidentally grabbed his pants.
Fuck—I don't remember being this unlucky?
Denji instantly mobilized the power in his body, adjusting angles to disperse force and keep his pants from being pulled down.
The angle was interesting—he was pulling backward.
Using opposing directional force against the downward pull—the pants were saved.
But the problem was—he had no idea how her hand got stuck there. When he jerked back, Koharu's whole body lurched forward with him.
Holy sh—
No way…
Ya~ Ah——
Denji suddenly went calm.
A sharp, rising pain shot upward. Visible red heat spread from his neck, filling his entire face.
His expression collapsed instantly.
"Ooh→ roooar↗ roooar↗ roooar↗"
Eyes rolled back to the sky, tears splashing, nose sniffling, tongue lolling out helplessly.
Thanks to this buffer, Koharu didn't fall. She ended up kneeling in front of Denji—frozen, not daring to move.
So her head was still pressed there.
Her mouth kept wailing in broken sobs:
"Ah↗ ah↘ ah↗ ah→, wuu↘ wuu→, s-sor↗ ry→!"
Teeth chattering, apology voice hysterical, snot and tears streaming together.
Knees on the ground, head pressing forward, hands clutching, voice shaking with every cry—!!!
Denji hurriedly pressed her head down with one hand to prevent further injury.
Gritting through the pain, his other hand rested on Koharu's shoulder. Slowly he knelt to the ground.
He patted her shoulder gently. Koharu—tears streaming—slowly raised her head to look.
She saw Denji's miserable face still forcing out a "sunny" pained smile, then giving her a big thumbs-up.
"You… you are the only person in my life so far… who has ever hurt me this badly…
I, Denji… willingly crown you the strongest high-level troll killer…"
Before anyone could react, the scene froze.
By now the others had finally snapped back.
Power's reaction needed no explanation—her emotions surged violently.
Unlike the earlier subtle threat of showing a blood blade,
This time she openly condensed a blood spear—ready to nail this filthy insect that dared hurt Denji right in front of her!
No time for persuasion. Seeing Power's intense killing intent, Himeno's first reaction was to suppress the most unstable fiend on the field.
She quickly summoned Ghost Devil arms.
Seeing her move, Arai instinctively followed—starting his hand signs to summon Fox.
Aki, watching the whole scene, only wanted everyone to calm down first—no fighting, talk it out.
But there was no time to speak—and no one would listen anyway.
Power saw these inferior creatures daring to resist together?!
Her heart hardened. A faint red mist suddenly appeared in the air.
At some point the ground had sprouted countless crisscrossing blood-red "little bamboo shoots."
Blood Thorns. Judging by how densely they covered the area, it was easy to imagine everyone present about to be skewered into a pincushion…
At this critical instant—
Exhausted in both body and mind, Denji activated a split-second full-body "Royal Blood Handle · True Blood Devil Form" Manifestation.
The hand that had given the thumbs-up instantly changed gesture—snapping his fingers.
In that moment, space froze into absolute stillness. All sound vanished. Heaven and earth went silent.
Not time-stop—just extreme speed.
Every attack disappeared. Everyone snapped into perfect standing posture—including Power.
And Denji finally managed to adjust his facial expression.
He stood straight. One hand straightened his tie; the other rested on the narrow shoulders of Higashiyama Koharu—who had somehow ended up standing in his arms.
The placement looked like he was resting on her shoulders… or lightly gripping her neck.
Koharu's expression was dazed. After coming to her senses, she trembled slightly—soft sobs escaping.
"Alright—let's pretend none of that happened. None of you saw anything.
I've said my piece. Who agrees? Who disagrees?"
"…"
No one spoke.
Forget not knowing what to say—even if they wanted to, who would dare open their mouth after witnessing that display?
Power dared!
"Wuu wuu Denji, are you okay?"
She genuinely felt heartbroken for him. She rushed close, hand instinctively reaching to check if he was hurt.
Fortunately Denji stopped her in time—otherwise this book might've been in danger.
Denji gave her a small smile.
It's fine—you know my body, right?
This time Power actually understood, but still couldn't help saying:
"Of course this great one knows you're tough… but that still hurts~"
Then she spread her arms wide—displaying her "great包容" majestic chest.
Like inviting Denji into her embrace so she could comfort him properly~
In front of everyone? No way Denji would do that.
But when Power saw he didn't immediately agree, her face took on a heartbroken, about-to-cry expression.
Sigh… no helping it…
He pulled Power closer, then kissed her forehead.
Instead of letting her comfort him—he comforted her first.
Finally—after soothing Power completely—the farce more or less ended.
Except for Higashiyama Koharu, who was still quietly sobbing and whispering endless apologies.
Everyone else seemed to return—more or less—to mission mode.
Slowly, leisurely.
The group finally stepped into the hotel.
The devil inside the hotel keenly sensed Denji's presence.
It was a very special one. It remembered "Chainsaw"…
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