Chapter 66 - Mastermo Is A Genius Or An Idiot

"Do you want to pick a fight with me?" Demon Kazan was not fond of Taki's reaction. 

Zhihao was mentally crying.

He was not looking for a fight, he really wasn't!

Zhihao side-glared at Alvi who had told him to pick a fight with this scary demon. Just why did he need to save this foolish girl named Hasumi?

Alvi looked away. She had said what she needed to say. She wasn't going to explain herself simply because she didn't need to. 

Zhihao glanced at the moon goddess spellbook that was in her hands, he wanted to slap himself for trusting it with her. This bot should never be trusted!

"What do you mean fight? We are all friends here, I can do it so I want to."

"That doesn't sound right." Demon Kazan was really not having it. 

"..."

What was Zhihao supposed to say?

Kazan, "When were we friends?"

Damn... 

Zhihao instantly regretted saying it. 

Alvi was sitting by the side with the moon goddess spellbook in her hand, clutching onto it loosely, in a way, as if she was threatening to throw it away any moment. 

At this moment, Zhihao understood that this demon in front of him could not see Alvi if she didn't want him to see her. 

Demon Kazan threw the girl over to Taki who caught her and saved her from banging her head on the road, it was a close call. If he was a minute late or clumsy, she would've really become a part of the other world1. 

Hasumi was still unconscious, this time her unconsciousness was not caused by her tiredness but was caused by the demon Kazan who seemed to have that power. 

"Take her. She's your problem. If anything happens, be sure to take all the responsibility." Kazan warned as he took a step forward, outspreading his chest to show his might, it was all for show, but it was indeed a bit intimidating, "And never call us friends."

"Ah..." Zhihao didn't know how to respond. It wasn't like he was actually looking forward to becoming this demon's friend. 

Zhihao took a deep breath in and thought about how the real demon Taki would act. 

"..."

Why should he know how a real demon reacts?!

Zhihao, "Tch- I wouldn't wanna call you a friend even if you begged for it."

"..." Demon Kazan had a really crazy look in his eyes as he moved closer to Taki. The two demons had similar heights so it really didn't seem like his height could intimidate Zhihao, but the two demons were different in terms of muscles and aura. 

When Zhihao and Li Ling entered this world, they were given different characters but their physical appearance remained the same. Zhihao didn't know why this had happened but he felt like it was a temporary thing, maybe in the later levels, he would be given a different appearance. 

As it stands at the moment, Taki had the same appearance as the original Zhihao who had muscles thanks to his mother forcing him to go to the gym every now and then, but the muscles weren't bulky. It was just as he liked them, clear muscles that didn't look too unnatural. 

This demon Kazan in front of him was the opposite, he had bulky muscles that were not too much yet they couldn't be considered little either. Even if his behavior and personality had been kind, Zhihao would have still been afraid of him. This demon really looked like he was a member of a mafia gang and was ready to body slam anyone who messed with him. 

Of course, the demons personality was also fierce so it was only natural that even if he wasn't taller than Zhihao, he was still intimidating. 

"You think I'd beg to be called your friend?!"

The demon was near him, just a few inches away. Their faces were so close that Zhihao was reminded of those WWE fights he had watched as a kid. 

Zhihao was intimidated but he wasn't going to back down now. He had a role to play, he was acting on behalf of the real Taki and if it was the real Taki, he wouldn't have backed down as well.

Zhihao did something even more daring as he took a step forward and met the demon head to head, standing tall and trying to intimidate the demon back.

"Talking so big. If I wanted you to get on your knees and beg, would you be able to resist?"

Zhihao had no idea what nonsense he was spouting but he prayed for himself in his mind. If he was going to die in the hands of this demon, might as well do something to deserve it. 

As the saying went, Fake it till you make it. 

Zhihao was trying his best to fake it but Alvi who was sitting by the side to observe the situation was shocked at Zhihao. She suddenly felt the man was cheating. He had to be cheating. If he wasn't cheating, how could he say exactly what the original Taki would have said in this situation?

Zhihao couldn't judge how right he was or how perfect his role-play was but Alvi could and this made her think highly about the ability of this man. 

"You dare?!" Kazan burst out in a fit of anger. 

Zhihao was sure that he was going to get beat up for this. He was expecting a punch that would directly throw him out of this level but nothing came. 

Demon Kazan closed his eyes and took a step back, retreating back to wherever he had come from. 

Zhihao couldn't believe it. He had actually made the demon retreat from this fight? He had actually been successful in his bluffing? What the hell?!

Zhihao had won the verbal fight that didn't last very long. He didn't know how or why he won it but he wanted to, however, he wouldn't be liking the answer to that. 

Demon Kazan was out of sight and Zhihao sighed in relief. He really didn't know what he would've done if the demon hadn't retreated. 

He didn't want to go through a rebirth this soon but if the other fierce demon was ready to kill him, how could he stop it? Of course if there was really a full-fledged fight, Mastermo would have won but the chances of him winning weren't that great and so naturally, Zhihao wouldn't want to challenge it and try out his luck. 

Alvi stood up from her seat which was basically just a speed limit indicator on the side of the tracks. It looked a lot like a headstone. 

"You were great! I was fooled into thinking Taki had really returned!"

"Huh?" Zhihao suddenly felt like he should celebrate for receiving compliments from a bot. Alvi was really stingy with compliments so her saying something like this meant he really did do a good job. 

Zhihao had questions and he wanted clarity, "Why did you want me to save Hasumi?"

[I like her. She's fun.]

[I don't want to get bored by walking around you both. She is much more entertaining.]

"..."

Could a bot be choked to death? If so, Zhihao would definitely want to try. 

This stupid bot actually made him put his life on the line because of something like this?! Zhihao took a deep breath in and let it out with all the anger that was ready to burst out. 

Fighting with a bot was stupid and Zhihao wasn't stupid so he could only calm himself down by repeating this in his mind. 

Zhihao calmed himself down and asked his next question, "What is the relationship between Taki and Kazan?"

[They are enemies?]

"You already told me that." Zhihao sighed as he rephrased his question, "Why are they enemies?"

[You want to know?]

"Isn't that why I asked?"

[You really want to know?]

"Yeah."

[Are you sure?]

Zhihao subdued his anger that was ready to burst out "Tell me already."

[Okay then]

[Demon Taki and Demon Kazan used to be lovers but Taki dumped him.]

"..."

Zhihao was not sure if he wanted to learn the truth of the relationship between the two, but Alvi was now adamant about telling him. 

[Demon Kazan was in love with Taki and the two dated for a month because Taki thought it would be fun. Taki had a cold personality that was hard to please, but he was very much interested in humans.]

[Demon Kazan hates humans and this caused a fight between the two. Kazan was dumped without any further thoughts and their relationship started going south from there.]

[Kazan wanted to win Taki back so he did a lot of things to catch his attention but everything failed and instead of gaining back Taki's favor, he further ruined his chances with the man.]

[Taki was no longer dating him so he had no reason to be kind to the demon so he seemed not to hold back in their fights. On one day when Kazan hurt the human, Taki was interested in, the two got into a bloody fight in which Kazan didn't go all out because of his feelings for the demon, but Taki didn't care and he was as cold as ever. Even as a demon, it took Kazan months to recover from the physical injuries he received]

Zhihao didn't know if he should laugh or cry. 

He suddenly took back his words when he had said the hatred between the two was like the hatred between him and Aunt Su. It was definitely not the same! It was far from the same! The two relationships weren't even eligible to be compared!

Zhihao, "Say, what did I just tell him?"

[Huh?]

"Didn't I just challenge him?"

[Yeah, you did.]

"What was I spouting?"

[...]

[Pfft-]

Zhihao wanted the ground to swallow himself up. He was really stupid! So stupid!

["Talking so big. If I wanted you to get on your knees and beg, would you be able to resist?"]

[You really said this.]

[Oh my god, hahahaha... You are really courageous.]

Alvi kept on repeating Zhihao's proud statement that he had spouted in the heat of the moment without any thought on what he was saying. 

He was either a genius or the biggest idiot in this world. 

Now Zhihao fully understood why demon Kazan had retreated without any further words. 

The moon goddess spellbook was deactivated and Li Ling was thrown out of it. 

"Hahahaha... A-Zhi is so smart!"

Zhihao was being laughed at by two people, one was a bot and the other was his partner whom he trusted not to laugh at him. 

Zhihao couldn't blame the two, if he was in their position, he would have laughed at himself too. 

If Hasumi was awake, she would have laughed at him too. 

Zhihao took a deep breath and let it out as he practiced anger control in his mind. 

Zhihao, "Let's keep moving."

Zhihao dragged Hasumi behind him and the other two followed him, still snickering as they did. 

This demon Kazan was certainly not just a side character, and Zhihao expected to see him again. Instead of focusing on the past relationship of the two demons, Zhihao focused his attention on what Kazan had warned him. 

He refused to believe that the demon had just retreated without any plans on retaliating. Kazan was up to something and Zhihao was looking forward to knowing what that was. 

'Take her. She's your problem. If anything happens, be sure to take all the responsibility.'

These words couldn't have been said for nothing. 

Zhihao was alert of his surroundings as he walked. Alvi stopped and decided to point out a certain fact he had forgotten to take into account. 

[Where are we going?]

"Huh?"

Oh...

They were now out of the tunnel but had no idea where their next destination was. It might have been better if he followed Kazan.

Damn...