She asked herself whether she heard him correctly.

'H-he said he prepared a surprise for that woman?'

'When he said that woman, it could only be Clarissa, right?'

'W-wait! He wants to attack that crazy and immoral girl?'

Ignoring the voice in her head which reminded her that she was also an immoral girl, when Gio's words finally registered in her brain, Sofony's lashes trembled, her eyes showing deep worry. She couldn't stop herself from panicking and before she knew it, she was already checking her List of Partners tab.

How she hated that it only said, 'Gio wanted to teach Clarissa Guzman a lesson, commands given to his a.s.sistant!'

She tried to pry more information out of the system. Infuriatingly, it wanted her to pay 10,000 points for it! Sofony didn't know why, but it seemed the system wanted her to die of suspense and fright. And it was not giving her clues why it was suddenly being like that!

Her watery eyes went to Gio again.

At the thought of this man silently supporting and caring for her, she couldn't contain the emotions that overwhelmed her. Sofony herself couldn't tell what she was currently feeling. It felt nice having someone caring for her, wanting to give her support, love, and security. Yet it also felt suffocating as she was afraid that all of it would just suddenly go away.

'What to do...? I don't want him to get dragged into this... No matter how small the chance is, I don't want him to disappear from my life...'

A long time pa.s.sed before she had thought things through and a bitter smile rose from her lips.

'Really, I'm making things too complicated in my mind,' she thought.

'Actually, everything is just simple. I just have to consider this a mission. A mission where it's okay to hypnotize myself.'

'Right, I can't be afraid anymore. Otherwise, those I care for will be made victims again.'

A second later, she closed her eyes and lowered her head. Words kept getting repeated in her mind.

'It's okay. She's a bad woman. She's a host. She already killed and has destroyed so many lives.'

'She's stronger than you, Sofony. But it's okay. You have him. You have the system.'

'Sofony. You're already weak so you can only strengthen your resolve and remove some mental barriers.'

'But don't worry, it will just be for today.'

'Because to regain your peace, you have to destroy she who wants to destroy you!'

'Sofony, don't hesitate anymore. It's alright to kill her!'

Minutes pa.s.sed before she opened her eyes again. However, when she did, a strong glint could be seen from them. Gio didn't know what got into her. But he was satisfied by the determination he saw on her pretty face.

....

"You are late by thirty minutes, Sofony Mendez!"

The moment the female staff left her and Gio on the doorway of a luxurious and well-decorated room full of armed people, the girl sitting like a queen on the sofa facing the door immediately greeted her. Unfortunately, her tone was far from polite.

"My apologies, but I'm not late," Sofony answered, her eyes already wandering and surveying around. "Look, the grandfather's clock there shows it's exactly 7 pm."

Clarissa's annoyed voice echoed again. "You paid points just to adjust that clock? What for? Sofony Mendez, you made me wait! Am I guessing correctly that you already forgot how my casual move has almost driven you mad?"

This, of course, immediately reminded Sofony of everything that happened last Monday. However, unlike usual, instead of showing anger or anything negative on her face, Sofony just stared at Clarissa.

She thought it was funny how there seemed to be a switched of place between them. The last time they talked, she was the one getting angry and Clarissa was the one with a calm expression.

Actually, if not for the self-hypnosis, Sofony would have acted just as the other expected. She'd probably be biting her lower lip in frustration by now, madly raising her voice to know why Clarissa pulled innocent people into their fight.

"h.e.l.lo, Miss Guzman. It's nice to see you again. It's my pleasure to hold a conversation with the Queen of the Underworld." Sofony's gaze went to the long rows of men standing behind the sofa then eyed the opposite girl again meaningfully. "However, you seem to have mentioned something no random person should know."

She referred to the mention of points. The system did not really prohibit them to tell others about this, but even she, a two-month-old host, knows it was not recommended to share it to people they don't trust.

Clarissa, who has been angered so much by the teleporter, ignored Sofony's subtle questioning and glared daggers at her. "I didn't make you come here to have a chit chat with me."

Sofony laughed, "Fine, then what? To say sorry for almost making my best friend a criminal?"

"Are you forgetting how you sent my girls to the prison?" Clarissa coldly asked.

"I'm not an unreasonable person. Among us, I'm already perhaps the most weak-willed. But even so, are you expecting me to remain silent when you just almost drove my friend crazy?"

Clarissa stared at her for a while. Sofony also met her eyes, but inwardly, she was chanting, 'Yeah, Sofony, be brave! You can do this! You have to!'

Beside her, the quiet man was still roaming his eyes around and was extra attentive to the people standing at the back of the room. He busily scanned the weapons on their bodies and also a.n.a.lyzed their strength based on their physique and aura. His attention was only called back when he heard Sofony describing herself as the most weak-willed.

After a long while, Clarissa finally opened her mouth again, "I won't say sorry since what's done is already done. But I'm after a truce."

Sofony momentarily doubted whether she heard the other girl correctly.

'She said what again?'

She dumbfounded said, "Truce?"

"I know it sounds like my words just came out of nowhere. But yes! Work with me! We're both low-leveled hosts. However, the city is suddenly visited by a higher leveled host. And he's hostile to all other hosts!"

Sofony intently listened to Clarissa's speech while processing the information given. However, she was also reading Clarissa's expression. And she doesn't like the masked but belittling gaze given to her. She also didn't forget how the other glared at her even though she was mentioning a truce.

'I may be a fool, but not blind as to not see your insincerity. Also, what kind of topic-changing is this?'

In reality, Sofony's intelligence had already been upgraded. Only, her emotions sometimes get in the way, thus, limiting her intellectual processes. Now that she somehow hypnotized herself to focus on incapacitating the enemy, her mind remained calm hence she could easily a.n.a.lyze what was hidden between the lines. Somehow, she saw the her who confronted Floyd Cruz at the corridor of their academy. Unfortunately, she had to be driven to a corner to force out the witty b*tch within her.

'All along, I've been wondering why she didn't show herself and make a move against me after the Monday incident. Now I see, so it's this new host that preoccupied Clarissa...'

'And she's probably losing if the other is higher in level.'

A hint of gloating showed in her eyes. And when she answered, it was not about her proposal, but something different.

"Miss Guzman, you did it again," she giggled. "You said a term not allowed to be mentioned to others."

She wondered why the system hasn't punished Clarissa yet, but later realized that those guys behind her were probably under mind control. Probably the other girl shut down their senses. Who knows? And about Gio, she hasn't forgotten yet that Floyd Cruz mentioned the term to him before.

"Aljur Dawson is not here?" suddenly said by Gio.

Sofony glanced at him. Clarissa also did. The latter warily glancing at the cold-faced man famous in the Underworld for his ruthlessness.

'He really did come. I don't know if he's been hypnotized deeply. But surely, he's still an intelligent man so my message should get through him. Anyway, I only spoke the truth,' Clarissa thought.

"Vice-mayor too is not here. It seems you're not that important for them," said Gio nonchalantly. "You're the one that sent me that message, right? I liked your style. It's stupid but eye-catchy."

Clarissa ignored the rage rising within her and stared back to Sofony. She stood up and walked to her, then when she was about a meter away from the other, she extended a hand forward.

"We're in for an alliance, right?" Clarissa asked with a smile.

Sofony only looked at it. In her mind, she still couldn't believe that Clarissa really wanted a truce. And actually, even if the other was really serious about it, Sofony just couldn't find any reason to accept. Also, her self-hypnosis was still perfectly working.

Therefore, she asked, "Why should I?"

Sofony clearly saw the murderous flicker in Clarissa's eyes so she was kind of surprise that the reply she received was still said in a polite tone, "Because he's going to target you next! And if even someone like me is finding it hard to defend myself, it'll be worse for you! Don't you think so?"

This reply made Sofony laugh. She found it funny because the girl was clearly looking down on her yet still wanted to team up with her.

"You said I'm even weaker than you. So why are you stupidly asking for an alliance with someone like me?"

What Sofony said made sense. But the Violent G.o.ddess answered, "We should be able to fend him off if we team up. In the end, he's still alone while we can do four things at the same time. For sure, we will be able to corner him, and once we did, the truce will remain. How's that?"

"But I'm not targeted. If possible, I even want to team up with your enemy!"

"But his level is higher, think about it. Why should he consider you?"

"Are you referring to how he will also look down just like you do?"

When Sofony asked this, Clarissa did not deny it and only smilingly said. "But aren't I already open for peaceful coexistence?"