ALL NOVEL Chapter 287: Ambush – 1
"Hey Aki, are we going to proceed as usual with hunting gun devil fragments, or did the higher-ups change the plan?" Asked Himeno as she walked alongside Aki, leading the group.
Hearing this, Aki paused for a moment before shaking his head and responding.
"I heard there were some changes to the plan due to the Dream Path's appearance; However, I wasn't given the details, so for now, everything proceeds as usual," Aki replied.
"Changes??!" Denji suddenly shouted, startling everyone around him.
"Hey! Why are you shouting?" Aki snapped, glaring at Denji.
"No, no, tell me! Are we not going to hunt it down anymore?!" Denji questioned, looking somewhat worried.
After all, one of the main reasons Denji became a 'professional devil hunter' was to *Cough* climb the ladder of cultural manhood and become the ultimate 'man of culture'.
So, the one wish Makima promised him was like a one-way ticket to achieving his dreams — At least, in his perception, that is.
Therefore, when he heard there was a possibility of this mission being canceled, it felt worse to him than having to face Lorien head-on.
It's just that, thankfully for him, and to his great relief, Aki quickly denied this as he resolutely responded.
"The mission isn't canceled, and it never will be, and If it were, I'd do it myself..."
Reaffirming his resolve, Aki lowered his head and clenched his fists tightly, feeling the power and life coursing through his body.
Ever since joining the Dream Path, Aki's condition has been improving rapidly.
Not only had he awakened his own power, but he had also struck back at the Curse Devil, swallowing it and restoring his life force.
Right now, despite needing more conditions to use some of his powers, Aki's strength has improved tremendously.
However, it was clear as day that the enhancement in physical strength and the plethora of abilities caused by his change of power systems more than balanced out and even far exceeded the constraints imposed by the newfound limitations.
All in all, as the only Dream Path user in the group at the moment, Aki could now be considered the strongest among them.
'With this power, I should be able to...'
However, just as Aki was immersed in deep thought, dreaming about getting his revenge, Denji, having finally received the response he wanted, didn't care about any of this, nor about Aki's reaction as he jumped happily in response.
After all, to him, such things didn't matter at all.
"Hhaahha, as long as we kill it!"
Observing this celebration, Power, who had been walking alongside them in rare silence, immediately joined Denji without any hesitation, not really caring about the reason.
After all, she is... Power.
"Aha, I'll make it tremble in fear!"
'Ahaahaha!"
It's just that watching all of this unfold, Aki had the urge to facepalm; However, he was finally able to suppress it after exhaling a long sigh of exhaustion.
"Alright, we don't have time for this, let's go!" He ordered, attempting to quickly take control of the situation.
"We still have to recover the gun devil's fragment, It's a matter of-"
However, just as he reached here, Aki's raised right hand froze mid-air and his speech stopped mid-sentence as his eyes flashed with a golden hue.
'Huh?'
'This is...'
His eyes widening in shock, Aki immediately sprang into action as he turned towards Himeno, who had her guard down, and swiftly tackled her down.
"Ah!"
Startled by this, Himeno fell to the ground and let out a slight scream of pain upon hitting the ground as she looked at Aki in a somewhat puzzled manner.
'What is he doing...'
'Did he finally...'
Looking at Aki who was on top of her, Himeno's mind started to wander into somewhat "unhealthy" territory as she couldn't help but feel the urge to tease him a bit.
It's just that before she could say anything, a sudden noise swiftly brought her back to reality.
*BANG*
There, right where she was previously standing, a hole suddenly ripped through the wall as the sound of a gunshot reverberated through the air.
"Everyone, they have guns! Look for cover, it's an ambush!" shouted Aki as he swiftly hugged Himeno and rolled with her on the ground, seeking shelter from the open view.
Quickly reacting to the sound and heeding Aki's shout, everyone swiftly found cover nearby, vigilantly scanning their surroundings for the perpetrators.
Even Denji and Power, who had been dancing happily just moments before, quickly found cover as each of them began to harness their respective powers, ready to defend themselves at a moment's notice.
Seeing this, Aki, who was quickly assessing his surroundings, couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief.
'That was a gun, right? How did they get it?!'
'Thankfully, I got the future devil's powers after switching to the Dream Path system, otherwise, It would have been bad.'
'However, we aren't out of danger yet, we have to locate the enemy and quickly eliminate them...'
'Damn it, who are they? and what are they after?'
However, just as Aki was attempting to analyze the situation rationally, the dumb duo, composed of Denji and Power, began shouting out loud, taunting the hidden assassins.
"Who's there?!"
"Come out bastards!"
"Chicken, Chicken, Chicken!"
It's just that all they got was an increased rate of gunshots, causing the wall behind which Denji and Power were hidden to almost crumble.
*Bang*
*Bang*
*Bang*
*Bang*
However, this did nothing to intimidate the duo, who continued to shout taunts at the shooters.
"What? You guys too afraid to fight?"
"Hey! your mamas called, they want their spines back!"
"Power, what do we call people like them?"
"Food!"
"..."
Seeing this, Aki's mouth couldn't help but twitch in exasperation at the absurdity of what he was witnessing.
'Those guys...'
However, he quickly restored his calmness as he shook his head and turned his attention to Himeno.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, thanks for saving me," Himeno responded gently.
"Don't worry about it; Get ready for battle," Aki responded, maintaining his cold demeanor.
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