Clyde and the others carried out the plan to the letter. The closer they got to the house, the more the young man was sure he’d explode. Clare, Seth, and Kitome gave him no monsters to vent out his frustration. They killed the encounters very quickly like trained marksmen or special forces.

Finally, they came upon the creepy house, with one light on, and an old car in its driveway. For a moment, he thought about just letting Kitome blow the house up. But what if there were others, who had nothing to do with this guy, inside? What if this was some idiot at their school?

“Alright Harumi, just like we’ve planned,” Clyde said. “Chika will remain in stealth-mode right beside you.”

Harumi nodded, determination in her eyes. Halfway down the driveway, the door opened, revealing a man of average height, slightly chubby, with scruff on his face. A condescending smile curled up for all of them to see. An awful anime trope…

“I cannot wait to play with those tits,” he said. “Maybe bite off a nipple.”

Clyde analyzed the sick piece of shit.

Gamen the Pervert.

Level: 37

Type: enemy of the city, ???.

Work under: N/A.

Special: Mind-stripping leer. [Doesn’t work on males. 50% chance to send females into despair. Despair may not attack and lose 5% MP per minute.]

Weakness: water.

Resistances: Your hostile detection isn’t high enough for this, desu.

Secret: Your hostile detection, luck, and will isn’t high enough for this.

He turned around, leaving the door open.

“Come on in. I can almost feel your insides. Leave your clothes outside. We’re going to be at this for a long time.”

Chika finally lurched into action, Clyde could tell by the airflow. The backhand she received startled everyone. The yandere hit the ground hard.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t expect you to try something like this, girl?” Gamen said darkly. Harumi stood, frozen.

[Gamen used Mind-stripping leer.]

[Harumi has been inflicted with despair.]

Alice gave the signal before Clyde could tell her to wait for another second. The pervert caught Clare’s arrow with two fingers. He smacked away Kitome’s heart bomb with his free hand.

Without a care in the world, he whistled, strolling toward Harumi. The poor young woman looked super terrified, partly because of the status alignment. All of her attempts at electrical attacks missed. He stopped by Chika.

“Well, since you’re not going anywhere anytime soon, let me show—”

Not even a finger from the man had the chance to move toward Chika before Clyde’s spirit wave sent him flying backward with a grunt. He crashed into his doorway in a heap, bottles of green goo from a side shelf shattering as they fell to the floor. The man scurried up as quickly as he fell and took off deeper into the house, laughing maniacally.

[Alice activated All calm.]

[All party members restore 20% HP, 20% HP, cure of all status effects, including hunger and thirst.]

Clyde held up a hand before the women had the chance to dive into him.

“It’s too early to celebrate,” Clyde said. “Everyone, ready a weapon and go after that bastard. He’s going for the portal.”

That attack was meant to kill him, the young man thought as the crew rushed into the house and up the stairs. Simply following Gamen’s airflow and lingering mood made tracking him down simple.

What they found on the top floor was the smiling pervert, standing in front of a glowing blue distortion in the air. He fell backward into it. The portal vanished behind him, leaving everyone’s mouths agape.

“Liru!” Harumi cried, dropping to her knees. Hopeless flooded through the room, palpable. They had failed.

Everyone else looked down, feeling powerless except Clyde.

Aura, a lot of aurae, black and red and shining, oozed off the young man like a fiery mist. The fury inside him mirrored it ten times over. Without thinking, he trusted a hand forward.

“We are not done here.”

[Talent activated: Main character stuff. Jump.]

The portal burst back to life, five times larger. No one hesitated to obey the young man’s gesture to follow.

[Let it be known that Jump is a skill that you will learn in your later levels.]

The portal took them outside a medium-sized white house of a quiet neighborhood. Clyde could tell it was early morning, maybe four or five, in this part of the world. The door was wide open.

Abruptly, a shrill scream set the party into motion.

Liru was huddled into a corner, shakily holding up a kitchen knife, while Gamen walked toward her step by step, laughing. That wasn’t all. He had his horn out, stroking, uncaring.

“Your little slut of a sister should’ve listened,” he said. “And now, I hope you’re nice and tig—”

He words were cut off as Clyde slit his throat, cold inside. Gamen fell to the floor with a loud thunk! Before Liru could let out any screams, if she intended to do so, the downed not-man glowed. Then his shaped changed. He leapt up and away from Clyde, large yellow eyes full of fear. He was a lizardman-like creature with grey scales, large wolf-like teeth, and muscles covering every part of his body.

His presence carried both human and reptile. A were-reptile of some sort. The creature suddenly bolted through the window. Harumi rushed over to comfort her frightened sister while Clyde and the others pursed Gamen. To his surprise, were-lizard waited for them in the open yard, face contorted with anger. Clyde held a neutral expression, eyes calculating. He planned to systematically destroy this fucker. Harumi lost all but one of her family, yet she still tackled each day with a smile.

Red and black aura oozed more violently from Clyde. Even the others started to look worried.

“Don’t beg for last words,” Clyde said softly.

Gamen hissed.

[Your party has entered combat.]

Gamen charged Clyde, eyes radiating a desire to end the fight instantly and get back to his prey. Clyde took one easy step to the side then grabbed the muscled-freak by the throat.

[Alice activated Wakened Terror.]

[Gamen is paralyzed with fear.]

The lizard squealed and whimpered as black light flowed from the demoness’s direction to cover him. Clyde tightened his hold. His one-handed hold.

“I see,” he said darkly. “You don’t like being on the receiving end of this, do you? But you think it’s okay to terrorize two innocent people. Am I supposed to pity you?”

Chika walked over.

“Lower him to me.”

Clyde did and watched the yandere twist Gamen’s head with ease, smirking a little afterward. The young man tossed the corpse onto the ground. It burst into purple flames before despawning permanently.

[Battle completed. Victory! Reward: 12,000 EXP and $1000.]

A brown chest appeared before the group seconds later. The gamer inside forced Clyde to snap out of his deadly silence and peek inside.

[You have found Dust-stone Armor set. Item class: rare.]

[You have found Whirlwind Blade. Item class: very rare.]

Clyde immediately swapped out the armor using his menu. He was thankful that he didn’t have to dawn on physical armor or life would suck right now. The Whirlwind blade, he stored in the inventory as a mere backup.

He let the others claim their rewards as he headed back inside to check on the Akagi sisters.

He heard Seth mumbled, “He one-shot that level thirty-seven….”

To Clyde’s relief, Harumi explained everything. The woman thanked Clyde multiple times, thanked him for protecting her baby sister, and saving their lives. He forced his mind to not focus on how Liru was even more impressive than Harumi.

Eventually, everyone made their way back inside. Seth offered to repair the window, but Liru nailed a sheet over it. She planned to stay in a hotel for a few nights as well as hire a professional to repair the window. Kitome refused to let Seth live down the rejection.

“Hey, we’ve got to go,” Clare said.

“What’s going on?” Alice said.

“The portal outside is starting to shrink,” Clare answered. “Let’s go.”

Harumi hugged her sister once more then followed Clyde and the others before any objection could be raised.

When they were safely outside of Gamen’s house, Clyde turned to Kitome.

“Burn this son-of-a-bitch down.”

The blue-haired girl grinned.

“With pleasure.”

[Quest completed! Reward: pending… You must meet requirements through Harumi. 10,000 dollars.]

Clyde sighed, too tired to care. The pervert was dead. Plus, his pockets were starting to look pretty amazing. Nearly thirty grand? This felt like a small fortune to the young man. He could get a house and abandon the apartment if he wanted. Too bad he wasn’t as lucky as Dark.

After Kitome set the house ablaze, the crew fled the scene. Distant sirens sounded, but by the time Fire Department arrived, the shithole was good as gone. Everyone went their separate ways, except Clyde, Alice, and Harumi.

Harumi fixed a stern gaze on Clyde and Alice when they arrived at the apartments. He explained Alice’s family situation. The pinked-haired young woman nodded, understanding.

“I was hoping to not be alone tonight,” Harumi said.

“Then I’ll spend the night with you—”

“I know this sounds selfish,” Harumi said, interrupting the demoness. “But I don’t want to be in my apartment tonight.”

Clyde nodded.

“You know you’re always welcome,” he said.

Harumi showered at her own place then returned in a nightgown and simple slippers. Clyde and Alice took turns with his shower. He felt thankful the hot water didn’t run out on him—Alice’s showering felt like hours.

“Are you sure we can take your bed?” Harumi said.

“Yep. I’ll be set on the couch,” he answered.

Hours after the women went to bed and all lights were out, except the TV, Clyde felt someone join him on the couch. Harumi kissed him passionately, nearly taking his breath away.

[Harumi has fallen in love with you. Unknown jealousy for other women; however, demonesses won’t bother her that much.]

[You have met the requirements for the quest. You gain 20 free points and a random ability in Harumi’s tree. You’ve learned Skill Fusion. Combining skills is the true love of a crafter. This is a legendary skill!]

Clyde’s erection quadrupled. Harumi grinned.

“It’s my first time,” she admitted, “but we’re long overdue.”