Dennis put his arm around Daisy number five to help her calm down, then he looked up at the seniors in front of him who were completely blocking his path.
"Alright, seniors, my wife and I will be going now. We still have a few more places to visit," Dennis said casually.
"Hey, hey... how about you come with us first? We're going to grab a bite together, come on," Ivan suggested, immediately putting his arm around Dennis.
"Sorry, we can't. I still have work to do," Daisy number five said curtly.
"Like she said, senior," Dennis added.
"Huh... I see. Alright then," Ivan replied, letting go of his shoulder.
"Hey... don't think you can just walk away," Brad said suddenly.
Every eye immediately turned toward Brad, who stepped forward and grabbed Dennis by the collar. Hyunjin instantly moved to grab Brad's hand, staring him down sharply, while Akira placed a hand on Brad's shoulder from behind.
"Hey... don't start trouble here, Brad," Hyunjin said.
"He's right, Brad. Let it go. Nobody got hurt, and it's not right to cause a scene in front of the shop," Akira added.
Brad, his face flushed red, raised his hand and clenched his fist, intending to punch Dennis. Ivan stepped forward to stop him, but suddenly—"blam"—Brad, Hyunjin, and Akira were sent flying backward, out of the store and onto the mall floor. Everyone spun around to look at Dennis and Daisy number five. It turned out Daisy number five had struck Brad's chest with her claws, blasting all three muscular, large men away at once. Not a single person had time to react, not even time to scream.
"Good grief... exactly what I was afraid would happen," Dennis muttered to himself, resigned.
Bella, seeing her husband sent flying, was momentarily stunned. Then she saw Daisy number five's hand, which she hadn't pulled back yet, still in a striking position with her claws out. She immediately grew furious and gripped the handle of the katana on her back.
"He... hey, what the hell is wrong with you, bitch!" Bella screamed, drawing her sword.
But before Bella could move, Daisy number five turned to face her. Her sharp, killer gaze froze Bella in her tracks. Rika quickly pulled Bella away to help their husbands who had been thrown outside, while Ivan, Sasha, and Minji stood there dazed, staring at Dennis and Daisy, unable to say a word. Meanwhile, Dennis could only rub his face after seeing his wife's claws were still extended, even emitting a faint white smoke. He thought quickly and grabbed Daisy number five's hand, then glanced at the three seniors standing there like statues.
"Excuse us, we're leaving," Dennis said.
Without a word and without delaying any further, Dennis bolted, pulling Daisy number five by the wrist as they made their escape. Ivan, Sasha, and Minji watched in a daze as Dennis and Daisy ran away from the store. Once the three of them snapped out of it, they turned to see Hyunjin, Akira, and Brad slowly getting up, aided by Bella and Rika.
"Let's go help them," Ivan urged.
"Right," Sasha and Minji replied, coming to their senses.
The three of them rushed over to their friends, who were still struggling to stand and looked completely shell-shocked. Meanwhile, Dennis, still pulling Daisy number five along, finally reached the mall exit and they bolted out the doors. Once he was certain they were far enough away and that the seniors wouldn't be following them, a winded Dennis let go of Daisy number five's arm.
"Whew... we're safe here," Dennis muttered.
"Yeah... can I use them for my experiments? I need test subjects to see which toxins are most effective against monsters," Daisy number five said.
Dennis, gasping for air with his heart racing, looked at Daisy number five. She seemed perfectly fine, not showing a single sign of fatigue even though they had just sprinted a long distance without stopping. He turned and grabbed both of her shoulders, forcing a smile despite the sweat pouring down his face.
"Don't go looking for more trouble, okay? They aren't the enemy... I'll tell you the story of why Brad acted like that, so please don't be mad," Dennis said, trying to calm his wife down.
"Oh... okay. But did you really slam him?" Daisy number five asked.
"Ah... well, it's like this,"
With no other choice, Dennis told her everything that happened back then—starting from his conversation with Bella, to Brad's misunderstanding when he realized who Dennis was, and finally, Brad pushing him and blocking the exit until Dennis was forced to slam him. After finishing the story, Dennis immediately studied his wife's face, but to his total surprise, Daisy number five just gave him a wide grin. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, tilting her head up to look him in the eye.
"Okay, I get it. If that's the story, he was trying to use his friends to jump you, but now his friends definitely think he's a loser, hehe," Daisy number five said.
"Yeah, that's why he isn't the enemy, right? He's not even on our level; it'd be embarrassing for us to even consider him a rival," Dennis said, intentionally framing it that way so Daisy number five wouldn't view the eight people inside as targets.
"Yep, you're right. Alright, let's get moving, hon," Daisy number five suggested.
"Sure, honey. Do you want to pick up some food before we head back?" Dennis asked.
"Nah, after what just happened... I'm actually feeling a bit turned on. So instead of buying food, how about we just go to a hotel," Daisy number five answered, pointing to the hotel across the street.
"Oh... okay," Dennis replied. "Huff... thank god nothing else went wrong... but if there are six more just like her... stop, stop... don't even think about it," Dennis muttered to himself, trying to stay in denial and refusing to admit just how terrifying his seven wives really were.
Finally, they walked hand in hand, crossing the street toward a hotel located within the mall complex to enjoy a pleasant rest.
***
Meanwhile, a short while later at the mall's food court, Ivan, Sasha, Hyunjin, Minji, Akira, Rika, Brad, and Bella sat at a round table, picking at their food. The mood was heavy, their faces still dark from the recent incident. Finally, Ivan turned to Brad.
"Hey Brad, next time don't be so reckless. You saw the footage from Mr. Steve, right? That survival training turned into a total massacre of the four-way crawlers gathering in the south. Even we might not be able to pull that off," Ivan muttered, breaking the silence.
"Ugh... you total short-circuit moron. It makes perfect sense why you got slammed by that Dennis guy, and because of you, we looked like a bunch of losers in front of them. Idiot," Hyunjin said irritably.
"You're embarrassing us, you know that?" Sasha added.
"Enough, let it go. It's already happened; just don't do it again," Akira said, trying to keep the peace.
"But honestly, I never expected that Daisy girl to be able to blast you guys back like that. I didn't even see her strike," Minji mused, deep in thought.
"Yeah, it's a good thing her husband didn't step in. She clearly listens to him, so it's obvious he's way stronger than she is, right Brad?" Hyunjin said.
"Stop blaming me," Brad snapped.
"Well, it was your fault, so what do you expect?" Minji shot back heatedly, shoving Brad's shoulder.
"Come on, stop it. Don't fight. What's done is done, there's no point in this," Akira said, trying to mediate again.
Silence fell over them for a moment as they went back to their food. Bella glanced at Brad, who looked furious, and she shook her head with a look of pure contempt that seemed to say, "ugh, you useless man, just go die already, I regret being your wife." But in the middle of the quiet, Ivan suddenly spoke up.
"Still... I'm actually getting curious. What if we set up a sparring match with them? Six on six," Ivan proposed.
Everyone immediately turned to look at Ivan, including Bella and Rika, who were technically their juniors.
"Whoa... you want to take them on, Ivan?" Brad asked.
"Yeah, I want to test them. When the time comes, if you want to beat Dennis half to death, I'll allow it. But don't let a mess like today happen again, you got that, Brad?" Ivan asked firmly.
"Of course I get it. Sorry for being a burden today. Don't worry, I'll make that guy suffer until he begs me to kill him," Brad said.
"Well... true, but thanks to you, I'm curious too. Just how strong are our replacements? We can't really prove anything just from a video, can we?" Hyunjin muttered.
"Okay, I'm in. I'll try talking to Mr. Steve tomorrow," Akira said.
"Perfect. Do that, Akira. I'm also curious about that Daisy girl," Sasha added.
"Exactly. The others seem strong too. This is getting really interesting," Minji added enthusiastically.
They went back to chatting with renewed energy, putting the incident behind them. Brad seemed revitalized, while Bella secretly smiled, hoping her husband and the team would manage to crush Dennis and Daisy. Meanwhile, Rika furrowed her brow, watching Bella with an expression that was hard to read.