"Are you two really sure you don't want any? The sizzling grilled squid I make is super delicious!"
Watching Yinzhi busily at work in the barbecue shop, Yaxiu sighed. "Do you really have to eat right now?"
"Of course! Usually I don't even dare step outside, terrified that some stinky man like you will drag me into an alley while I'm walking, leaving me to live a miserable life in pitch darkness, surviving on rats. Now that I finally have a rare chance to walk openly in the street, of course I have to eat something good!" Yinzhi skillfully flipped the squid. "Don't be in such a rush. You have to wait for the other demons to enter before you can take them out anyway. Besides, the later we arrive, the higher our chances of reaping the spoils without lifting a finger. Who knows, by the time we get there, maybe only one heavily injured unlucky guy will be left."
Yaxiu could only resign himself. Although it sounded suspiciously like an excuse to indulge her gluttony, Yinzhi did have a point. Possessing the greatest combat power, they really had no need to rush toward the rainbow pillar of light.
On the contrary, if they arrived first, the other demons might very well join forces against them.
Yinzhi picked up the cumin and chili powder. "Do you eat spicy food?"
"Add extra cumin, no chili," Diya instructed.
Yaxiu glanced at her. Diya blinked. "In reality, it's really hard for me to eat unhealthy fried food. They all treat me like a child."
"Because you really are still a child," Yaxiu smiled.
"Am not!" Diya puffed up her cheeks indignantly. "I can temporarily shift back to my adult form now—it can last up to twenty minutes!"
Yinzhi scooped the squid skewers together with her spatula and said lazily, "Twenty minutes isn't enough, is it?"
"Twenty minutes isn't enough?" Diya stared at Yaxiu in shock.
"Why are you asking me?" Yaxiu wore a look of utter bewilderment.
Yinzhi handed them the skewers. Yaxiu naturally refrained from eating to keep his face concealed, while Diya took them and happily munched through skewer after skewer with relish.
After reuniting with Diya, Yaxiu had decisively accepted Yinzhi's proposal for an alliance.
His previous hesitation had been due to worrying he couldn't defeat Yinzhi alone, but now that he had met up with the Witch, there was no way two legendary sorcerers couldn't take down a single demon, right?
With Yinzhi allied with them, they had three combatants.
Assuming this zone could only be entered by holy grail holders, the total number of participants likely didn't exceed ten. Given their conflicting stances, as long as they didn't provoke the others into uniting against them, they would have virtually no match.
Yinzhi skipped ahead willingly, gazing at the merchandise in shop windows one moment and looting stores on a five-finger discount the next. She was currently less than ten paces from Yaxiu. With just a thought, Yaxiu could pierce her throat with Heart Sword, yet she didn't seem guarded against him at all, as if they were just friends out window-shopping together.
After all, now that Yaxiu had reunited with the Witch, they didn't necessarily need Yinzhi's combat power, and Yaxiu possessed the means to kill Yinzhi in an instant.
Put in her shoes, Yaxiu could never be as relaxed and carefree as Yinzhi.
However, Yaxiu genuinely had no intention of making a move against Yinzhi.
If they could eliminate the other demons, then naturally they would have to exterminate Yinzhi as well.
Before that, though, keeping Yinzhi around meant having an extra way out of Hell. After all, even if they wanted to be someone's dogs, they'd still have to find an owner first.
More importantly, Yinzhi had claimed that she saved Harvey and Igola.
Even if her motive was merely persuasion and recruitment, judging by deeds rather than motives, Yaxiu had to acknowledge the favor.
He wouldn't let Yinzhi off the hook solely because of that, but before Yinzhi took the initiative to break ties, he would never strike first against this temporary teammate.
Yinzhi browsed up ahead, while Yaxiu and Diya followed behind.
Even with a third party present, the two of them hadn't seen each other in so long; even if they didn't share a long-awaited embrace, they ought to have been eager to pour out their longing from all those days apart.
Yet the reality was that although Yaxiu and Diya walked very close together, neither said a word. They didn't even dare look at each other, like the most familiar of strangers.
Diya had envisioned their reunion countless times: perhaps Yaxiu waking up in bed with her straddling him to bid him good morning; perhaps Yaxiu stepping out of a room, their eyes meeting across a staircase in a single glance that felt like ten thousand years; or perhaps Yaxiu lying in her embrace as she leaned down to gently kiss him, after which he slowly opened his eyes...
As for why she would be straddling Yaxiu or why Yaxiu would be in her arms, those were trivial details that required no deep scrutiny.
Yet none of those scenarios resembled the current situation!
Why was it awkward? Why was she at a loss for words? Why? Deep down, she knew why.
Because this was their first time being "alone" together after Diya revealed her true identity.
Back when the Sword Princess was around, Diya had been preoccupied with bickering and competing against her, so back then, her relationship with Yaxiu remained that of the "Witch" and the "Watcher," rather than "Lisdia" and "Yaxiu." Thus, they could still interact normally.
The Sword Princess had essentially postponed their awkward confrontation. Yaxiu hadn't mentally prepared himself at all for "the Witch is Lisdia," nor had Diya figured out how she should interact with Yaxiu.
Now that the Sword Princess wasn't here, even with Yinzhi tagging along, they had both become acutely aware of the shift in their identities.
The Watcher and the Witch were comrades-in-arms, and could even be lovers—but what about Yaxiu and Diya?
At that thought, Diya instantly found that the grilled squid had lost all its flavor.
The White Queen consoled: "You two just need time. Yaxiu loves us."
The Black Butler: "Can't you just lean in and kiss him? I bet the Sword Princess definitely did that last time."
The Red Apostle: "Remember to wipe your mouth first. Otherwise, having your first kiss taste like grilled squid would be far too bizarre."
The White Queen: "Stop making trouble, you two. Lisi is still here!"
Lisi: "Why can't you say it just because I'm here? I also—Sister White, don't come over! I won't say it, I won't say another word!"
Diya quickly pulled herself together. She was Her Majesty the Empress who had dared to cross nations alone to find Yaxiu; she naturally wouldn't lose heart over such a minor setback.
Never mind that Yaxiu was merely embarrassed—even if he didn't like her, she would bind him with mind threads and haul him back to be her prince consort!
If the atmosphere was awkward, she would take the initiative to break it. Diya repeatedly recalled Yaxiu's posture in bed to bolster her courage, but at the thought of the living, breathing Yaxiu right beside her, her train of thought inevitably began to drift in other directions...
Tap.
Feeling a kick land on her butt, Diya turned in shock to look at Yaxiu beside her. But Yaxiu was gazing serenely at the roadside shops, looking entirely innocent, as if it had nothing to do with him.
Diya bit her lower lip and kicked right back, but Yaxiu dodged in the nick of time. However, as Yaxiu raised an eyebrow and turned his head, he saw Diya spinning 180 degrees in midair.
Thwack!
The kick knocked Yaxiu forward a few steps. Rubbing his backside, he chuckled and chided, "That's a foul! You kicked twice in a row! Let me kick you back!"
"A spinning kick only counts as one!" Diya stuck out her tongue, keeping her body facing Yaxiu the entire time, firmly guarding her little butt.
In the past, whenever Yaxiu and Lisi went out walking together, Lisi loved playing this game of kicking back and forth. It was like their little secret.
The two exchanged a look, their eyes and brows filled with smiles. Yaxiu gestured to the Witch and wiped the grease from the corners of her mouth with his sleeve. The earlier awkwardness vanished without a trace as they smoothly adjusted to their brand-new dynamic.
"Hey, Watcher, wipe mine too! My hands are full."
Yinzhi, both hands laden with food, leaned over eagerly, but Diya beat him to it. "I'll do it!"
"Thank you, Witch!" Yinzhi smiled sweetly, stuffing food into her own mouth without forgetting to pop a french fry into Diya's—it seemed she was determined to eat her way along the entire journey.
Watching Yinzhi's retreating figure, Diya whispered, "Is she my projection in All Stars?"
Chapter 921