Inner Lot City…

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"Kanako, not now," Clyde said, struggling and failing to get the genie off his waist . The approaching people wouldn't take him seriously .

"That looks fun!"

Clyde's eye twitched in annoyance as the silver-haired girl from the unknown party and the genie twirled around his waist, midair, like a helicopter . How did they even do this? An anime logic question for later . He materialized an energy paper fan and delivered divine punishment .

"Ow! So mean . " They held their heads .

Clyde thought he saw one of the approaching men some time ago, but couldn't put a finger on it . He in return pointed at Melody .

"You're that girl that mind-controlled me with orders to beat the s.h.i.+t out of that guy," he said, finger at Clyde . He then stuck a shaky finger toward Alice . "And you're the girl that f.u.c.king called on the heavens to stop it all . " He eyed the group darkly, his expression reminding the young man of an anime he once watched called…Jojo . Maybe something else… . "Why are you three together?"

A trickle of sweat dripped from the back of the trio's heads . That's when it hit Clyde . The man, who looked to be…maybe thirty or forty or so—anime made it hard to tell—was the level sixty-four ex-military guy . Rodger . The younger man spoke as if representing the entire group . The completely human man held out a hand .

"Long story," Clyde said .

"I'm Hiros.h.i.+, section leader of Unit Eighty-six . Yaponiya military," he said . "We'd—"

"You get to join us! I'm Ayu . Nice to meet you," the girl said, anime-diving into Clyde . Hiros.h.i.+ snarling comically, whacked her . She sat there, teary-eyed, holding her head . She muttered, "I was just trying to help . "

Clyde stifled a laugh .

"Anyway," Hiros.h.i.+ said, continuing as if nothing happened . "We'd like to talk with your group, if you don't mind . We're fighting the same battles and s.h.i.+t, just keeps getting weirder and weirder . "

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"We're a little busy right now," Clyde said . "The sp.a.w.ned monsters aren't going to kill themselves . "

"Fair enough," Hiros.h.i.+ said, "but answer this . Are you this so-called Team Stone?"

"It's pretty obvious that they are," Ayu said, bouncing up from her spot . She dodged three consecutive fists, laughing, then stopped in front of the demonesses . A look of wonder dawned on her face . She saluted . "If you're fighting for the good side, then you're okay in my books . "

"Ayu, don't start pestering anyone," Hiros.h.i.+ said, then spat to the side . "How did I get stuck with s.h.i.+p girls?"

Clyde's anime trope senses tingled, but he let this one go . Questions for later . Seriously, s.h.i.+p girls . What the f.u.c.k? Satovia had everything . He knew this shouldn't surprise him—but come on . They'd better not mention anything about shooting airplanes from a bow, Clyde thought .

Also, to be approached by the military . Yeah, they could f.u.c.k themselves . The young man and his party solved the demon lord issue on their own, without government aid .

For a military officer, Hiros.h.i.+ seemed to get a little surprised at every monster encounter . It downright irritated the young man, but at the same time, it reminded him of his old self . The college boy who foolishly challenged a Meta pumko . One could hardly blame the puny—the human for being startled at horrors that couldn't possibly exist . He also seemed to respect Clyde and his team more .

The ex-marine guy, Rodger fought with brute strength and f.u.c.king lasers . Lasers! A cyborg—and a well-hidden one .

The girls: Ayu and Maho turned out to be gifted—powerful ones, utilizing tier one magic with ease . However, no matter how hard they tried, the s.h.i.+p girls just could not outs.h.i.+ne Clyde's party . Numbers aside, the women found themselves hating the idea of being outdone by military girls . s.h.i.+p girls . Clyde pretended he did not notice the absurd amount of panty-flashes from the skirts of Ayu and Maho . Seth's nose eventually ran out of blood . The group settled into a rhythm, which led to fewer and fewer monster encounters . And each time, the young man hoped for a chest . Sure, they were rare and the thrill of possibly getting an epic or higher forced the man to try harder, but come on! The werewolf girl's chest didn't count . What could he do with breast-enhancing potions… He wiped his nose, trying hard not to look at the genie .

During a break, Clyde noticed something off about Toru's behavior . Instead of being composed, he constantly looked at his phone, checking for a message that he seemed to expect hours ago . Fumi always texted him—even called . Adorable, kind, and caring, the slime girl served as proof that not all monster girls were corrupted by the Supreme demon lord .

Clyde patted his shoulder .

"Do you think she's working late?"

Toru seemed to relax at the optimistic point of view .

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"Maybe…It's just . I can't get rid of this bad feeling . " He folded his arms . "This isn't the first time she worked late, but Fumi always let me know . Earlier, she said she'd stop by, but…"

Nina gave him a comforting look .

"Everything will be okay . And hey, maybe she's waiting beneath your covers—"

Toru's blank stare silenced her .

"Points for trying," Natalia said, pulling away her pouting friend .

Melody shared the same gut feeling with Toru . Something just wasn't right . Fumi sometimes over-contacted the brown-haired boy to the point that the redhead felt jealous . She too was in love…but just didn't know how to pursue it . Clyde stripped away her confident illusion like chipped paint .

The full moon seemed darker, the stars dimmer, the autumn wind, colder .

They needed to be active, not reactive . Clyde knew that, but Melody felt in her heart that…he didn't have the bloodthirst for it . She needed to find a way to help in the overall game . Ugh, calling the stone-viper games a game…No . It's a replay of a fairy tale: hero go slay the villain . She wasn't sure if the Watchers actually had a hand in selecting the Stone, but for the Viper, their eyes dropped to someone who'd become a problem for the entire universe . Maybe even the multiverse .

Melody almost slipped in a daydream, tuning out a cake conversation between Alice, Kitome, and the s.h.i.+p girls, but a familiar presence caught her attention . In fact, they heard her barking orders at the Blood hand .

She looked up in time to see a flash of white light in the distant sky . Matsuko left, probably to drink, while the others did the work . Typical Matsuko . Drunk and angry, friendless because of it . No one liked babysitting drunks . And not even the most perverted men had enough courage to tempt fate with a fallen angel . She was strong and mean . The party would need their guards up .

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"Clyde," she said . "I can feel them ahead . "

"You mean—"

"The Blood Hand," Melody finished . "They could be organized . "

"Did you rush out here without a plan?" Hiros.h.i.+ said to Clyde, eyes hard .

"We have a plan," Clyde said . "Ashard, you know Natalia's orders . Get to the skies now . I want a good estimation . And nuke as many as possible . "

"The Blood Hand aren't push—"

"You can do it!" Ayu interrupted Melody, rudely poking Ashard . She seemed way too cheerful . "And what's this about flying?"

Ashard ignored her as he launched into the sky, surrounded by dark-blue magic, vanis.h.i.+ng seconds later .

Melody just knew that wasn't enough . She needed to breakthrough her sh.e.l.l . She…

"Are you well, Melody?" Ruri said . "You smell…conflicting . "

"Don't…don't sniff me," Melody said, blus.h.i.+ng . "It's weird . "

Ruri fixed the redhead with a blank stare, one which made her think of Yuki .

"It's time to drop the indecision, strawberry head," Ruri said then placed hands on small hips . "We h.e.l.lhounds can't stand it . Nice perfume by the way . "

Melody almost fell backward . She chuckled .

"You have a strange way of motivating people," Melody said .

"Not really," Ruri said, poking the redhead's cheek . "No need to be uptight, especially if these Blood Hand guys are no pushovers . Top form or you'll get pummeled . "

Melody nodded .

"You're right . "

Feeling motivated, Melody took a deep breath and exhaled, focusing on the reserves within . Ashard returned .

"There are fifty of them . One man, I think a general, detected my preemptive strike . They're very strong . And I'm not liking our odds . "

"Alright then f.u.c.k this," Clyde said . "Let's turn back, Team Stone . Dismissed . "

That's when the illusion faded . The real Ashard fell from the sky, bloodied, and groaning . The new man that stood before them, grinned . Thirty, maybe forty Blood Hand emerged from gateways—orange fire-like s.h.i.+mmers of energy swirled in midair—and surrounded the team .

"Princess Melody, daughter of our G.o.d Platus, you have orders to return home," he said . "No need to make this difficult for us, we're only doing our jobs, your highness . And you may want to comply before Matsuko comes back . So many things she wants to do to you . " He held up a hand to forestall Melody's protest . "Do it for your friends . And trust me, we've dealt with all kinds of gifted, so don't try anything . "

Airi was already restrained and facedown . For some reason, Clyde laughed .

"Welcome to my trap," Clyde said, causing everyone's eyes to widened . "As if I didn't prepare for the bulls.h.i.+t cliché, enemy surrounding the party members out of thin air . Melody's important to me, to us, so yeah, f.u.c.k off . "

Melody felt a tear or two slip . In her realm, everyone took care of themselves . There was no real love, just cold calculation and completing task after task . The days blended, people mostly plotted against each other, with enough hate to make living in general miserable . She loved the party for being her first real family .

And she'd be d.a.m.ned if she let anything happen to them . She decided she'd make the soul-oaths with Clyde .

She reached for her reserves and yanked with all of her worth . And at last, the steel brick shattered . The earth shook .

She'd end this without her prince revealing his trump card .

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