Battler finishes with Lucifer and moves on after round two.

Battler looked into Lucifer's pleading eyes, deeply...

Finally, he slapped the sides of his face, and shook his head. "Uwoah! Steady, Battler, steady! I almost did something really ungentlemanly to this cute Sister. Demons are demons, but humans are humans. There's... uh, a moral code..." In spite of himself, it sounded like he was still having to talk himself out of it.

Lucifer... actually looked just a surprised as he did. Her jaw hung open for just a moment, before she corrected it with a pleased smile. "Yes, that's right! For a human, you have shown wisdom and restraint. And... your lines were kind of cool," she muttered under her breath, wrapping her long hair around one of her fingers while looking uncharacteristically bashful.

Beatrice hurriedly shooed Lucifer off, allowing her form to become translucent and vanish. Once she was gone, however, the witch actually seemed to be in a good mood. "Excellent! That furniture of mine is enough to bring any man to his knees, but you have shown admirable magic resistance. And, after all, I knew she wasn't your type. A couple of her sisters, maybe, but Lucifer... Nope, nope, nope!" With her eyes squinted into crescents, Beatrice beamed at her opponent. "Now, once you've acknowledged my magic, you can join Lucifer and all six of her sexy sisters in my Golden Land... Wouldn't that be truly entertaining? I know they're looking forward to playing with you!"

"Heh! Good one. An amazing woman like that couldn't exist, never mind seven of them. That... was a figment of my imagination!"

The room went silent.

Battler... could have a point. Sure, he'd witnessed something amazing, but... Lucifer's clothes had vanished along with her. There was no evidence a young woman by that name had been here. When he gave an answer like that, it was easy to think all of Lucifer's efforts had been for nothing. I was sure Beatrice would be furious...

... Instead, an even wider grin split her face, now too wide to be anything but vulgar. "Ho? Imagination? You still refuse to believe in magic...? You find it easier to obstinately cling to the idea that anything you can't explain is a hallucination or a trick?"

I couldn't believe it. Battler's grin said... he actually did think that. "If I start accepting that fine-assed young ladies can disappear into thin air, people are gonna call me nuts. If you want to show me real magic, you'll have to do better than that!"

That wasn't just tough talk. He actually believed it! Was I the crazy one, so used to seeing magic creatures appear before me that I no longer found it strange?!

"Very well, Battler. If my furniture is not enough to convince you... I will take a more hands-on approach." Beatrice licked her lips in excitement. Was she hungry for a challenge? Hungry for the chance to earn her power? Or just hungry for a handsome man who looked about the same age as her? Hard to say, but the second game would be starting immediately. We'd learn her true intentions...