AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hoo boy, I'll tell you now that the Yakuza fans will be eating good this chapter. Initially, this was supposed to be Part 2 to the previous chapter, but this segment went on a whole lot longer than I anticipated, so we'll have to wait a little longer for the resolution to Part 1.

Enjoy the omake.

PRIDE RING, Pentagram City, Little Japan Hills, Underground Coliseum

"WELCOME BACK, LADIES, GENTLEMEN, AND NON-BINARY SPECIMENS!" called the announcer of the underground coliseum. "You have all witnessed incredible bloody brawls tonight! And we thank you for staying to watch the main event! We apologize sincerely that the event ended quickly in an upset, but you have all been blessed that the event can continue with a new contender! PLEASE! GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE! FOR THE RETURNING NEWCOMER! LINCOLN! ALBERT! LOOOOOUUUUUD!"

Taking that announcement as his cue, the topless Lincoln stepped into the arena with the lights shining on him and the audience cheering for him loudly, some pun intended. Shaking off the slight discomfort of the bright light in his eyes and his ears ringing from the high volume, Lincoln stepped up onto the arena, awaiting his next opponent. While he was waiting, he thought back to what had happened not too long ago before stepping into the arena.

FLASHBACK

"Are you truly ready to complete what you started?" Kazama asked Lincoln simply.

I.M.P., Kazama, Tachibana, and a few of his men were all who remained in the medical ward as Blitzø was recovering from his injuries. The atmosphere was tense, to say the least, for I.M.P. were unofficially prisoners of these demons because of their boss's stupidity and impulsiveness. Furthermore, they were without any kind of answers and context of this situation, which severely limited their feasible options for survival.

Then again, Lincoln had also given into his impulse in a split second decision to intervene and save his boss. Now he was given an ultimatum to complete a so-called main event in this underground coliseum to bargain for his and his team's survival, as well as receive answers behind everything that led up to this moment. To say that he was frustrated with his boss was quite an understatement, but he couldn't think of that right now, as he still had to make his decision.

Feeling he had no real choice in the matter, Lincoln answered simply, "Yes. I am."

His coworkers looked at him in surprise. Once again, Lincoln showed real determination that he had rarely exhibited since he had been trapped down here. Such occasions consisted of desperate situations, such as his choice to help his team from the cannibal family in his first mission, to help Moxxie stop Striker from killing Stolas, and to face Go in a final showdown mano-a-mano.

"Honey, are you sure about this?" Millie asked him, both proud yet worried.

"Yeah," replied Lincoln. "Even if we fight our way out of here, they know where we live. Plus, Blitzø's gonna do something stupid again down here. And I plan on having a long talk with him. And if I can get the answers he's looking for, the less excuse he has to weasel his way out of this."

"Huh… imagine that," remarked Loona with slight amusement. "The newbie intern is the one who's gonna lecture the boss."

"You really seem to be the one who could lead us if Blitzø's not around," Moxxie said to Lincoln.

"Then I certainly hope you succeed in the main event," said Kazama. "Believe me when I say that your efforts and victory will be well worth it."

Lincoln couldn't get a proper read on Kazama due to him being so reasonable than he'd expect of a yakuza boss. Then again, he'd only known Go Kodou as a yakuza boss and no other examples to compare to until now. Even still, the ambience was tense due to their current situation, especially with their opponents having so much leverage over Lincoln and his coworkers. However, Kazama seemed to be offering a large sum of rewards should Lincoln prove to be victorious, which sounded way too good to be true.

"What's the catch?" asked a skeptical Lincoln. "This all sounds too good to be true."

"Hmm… I understand your doubts," said Kazama. "If it'll ease your suspicions, the remaining two opponents are very strong. I highly caution you since these two are even stronger than Nishikiyama. And they have earned their titles as legendary yakuzas in the Kanto and Kansai regions."

'Even stronger than Nishikiyama?' thought Lincoln. 'Well, I agreed to this, so there's no turning back now.'

END OF FLASHBACK

I.M.P. were once again situated on the VIP stand with Kazama and Tachibana to watch the spectacle of the upcoming battle. However, Loona took particular interest in the shirtless Lincoln. He was in his adult incubus form, and despite not putting out any lust aura like before, Loona still couldn't stop herself from leering at his well-toned upper body. Last time she saw him like this was in the epic final showdown against Go, and here he was again, ready to fight another shirtless battle against supposed yakuza legends.

"Really, Loona?!" asked a nonplussed Moxxie, noticing the hellhound's wagging tail.

"Hey, back off, fatty!" retorted Loona with a snarl. "If you can't stop making goo-goo eyes with your bitch, then get off my case!"

"That's still mine and Moxxie's son you're ogling there, bitch!" Millie shouted back.

"Heh, quite the interesting bunch, eh, Kazama?" remarked an amused Tachibana.

"Indeed," Kazama lightly chuckled. "The fact that young Mr. Loud is able to befriend such a dysfunctional group is why I'm particularly interested in this event… and why I hope he wins these fights."

"AND WHO WILL BE LINCOLN LOUD'S OPPONENT, YOU MIGHT ASK?!" proclaimed the announcer. "You all know him well as another one of The Trinity! The former captain of the Nishikiyama Family! The chairman of the Hakuho Clan! A lieutenant of the Tojo Clan! The Safekeeper of the Tojo Clan!" A light shone on the other entrance, revealing Lincoln's opponent, who was also shirtless like him. The demon's head seemed to resemble a horse, but his body was covered in reptilian scales. Just like Nishikiyama, his hair was also slicked back, but wasn't as long as Nishikiyama. However, he also appeared to have a singular horn on his forehead, almost like a unicorn. "Enter… YOSHITAKA MINEEEEEEEEEE!"

As the audience roared their cheers, Lincoln focused on his opponent called Mine. Just like with all Go, Saejima, Kiryu, Kazama, and Nishikiyama, he shared the same kind of glare that told Lincoln that he's not a warrior to be trifled with. Somehow, he felt that this guy was probably stronger than Nishikiyama. Therefore, Lincoln steeled himself and prepared his magical powers to amplify his own physical capabilities.

"So you're the one who managed to defeat Nishikiyama," commented Mine as the crowd's cheer died down enough to speak to Lincoln. "Supposedly, your loyalty to your team is what drives you right now."

Lincoln had probably spent enough time in Hell since he was able to work up a retort without hesitation, "They're not the only ones who motivate me."

"Ah…" said Mine in realization. "You are blessed with a family. It makes sense that you would fight with every fiber of your being for them." Mine took a fighting stance, putting up both of his fists like a boxer. "Now I'm curious to see just how far that loyalty will take you."

With that, Lincoln got into his own fighting stance. However, his previous fighting stance had also been like a boxer's, just as Millie had taught him. Lincoln reflected back on how his fighting style primarily consisted of kicking, as most of his power was in his legs than his fists. Therefore, he had finally adopted a new fighting stance to reflect that; he placed his left hand forward with an open palm, his right hand close to his chest that was also open-palmed but facing upward, and leaned his upper body backwards slightly so that most of his weight was on his right leg to the rear.

The bell rang to signal the start of the fight, which prompted both Lincoln and Mine to run towards each other, just as the former had done with Nishikiyama. However, instead of throwing a punch to each other's faces at the same time, they both leapt into the air and lunged their right knee at each other, clashing midair.

YOSHITAKA MINE
FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE HAKUHO CLAN, A TOJO CLAN SUBSIDIARY

Lincoln and Mine both recoiled from the impact of their kicks as they landed. Taking up their own fighting stances once more, their bout truly began. Lincoln went for a spinning back kick, which Mine dodged and swiftly threw an uppercut that caught Lincoln in the head. Dazed from the sudden counterattack, Lincoln was unable to see or counter Mine taking advantage by throwing a haymaker at him, which sent Lincoln flying back. Getting back up from the heavy blow, Lincoln shook off the dizziness and focused his attention back to Mine.

'This guy really does mean more business than Nishikiyama,' thought Lincoln.

This time, Lincoln threw a quick punch that Mine dodged like before. However, as Mine threw his uppercut counterattack again, Lincoln quickly slid around him, landing just behind Mine and unleashing his own combo of two punches followed by several spinning kicks that caught Mine in the back of his head. Lincoln finished his combo with a straight back kick that sent Mine flying forward. Mine got to his knees, but before he got up, he looked back at Lincoln with an amused smirk.

'Seriously, with how much these guys seem to love fighting, they really would fit well in the Wrath Ring,' thought Lincoln.

Mine got back up, ready to continue this battle once more. Putting up his fists and lowering his upper body, he dashed towards Lincoln. Lincoln was ready to counter whatever punches Mine was going to throw, but was caught by an unpleasant surprise when Mine threw a low kick that knocked Lincoln off-balance, then a spinning back hook kick to Lincoln's head, who was barely able to deflect it, then a straight side kick that knocked Lincoln onto his back. Mine then charged at Lincoln to finish him with an axe kick, but Lincoln was able to get back up and the moment Mine's kick almost made contact with him, Lincoln swiftly countered with a strong back kick that launched Mine back towards the cage wall.

'So it's not just blocking, but also mixed martial arts as well?' wondered Lincoln. He had looked up a few martial arts ever since his first mission in Kamurocho due to the crazy amount of fighting that not only had occurred, but that he had personally partook in.

Lincoln took a moment of reprieve to catch his breath, but what he didn't count on was Mine being engulfed in yellow flames as he got up off the ground. As Mine took up his fighting stance once more, Lincoln saw Mine dash towards him diagonally, but this time, his dashes were much faster than before, in which Lincoln almost lost track of him until he got close enough to deliver several low roundhouse kicks. Lucky for Lincoln, his instincts and reflexes were good enough to start moving backwards to dodge the kicks and block Mine's right cross as a follow-up.

Up on the VIP stand, although Moxxie and Millie were watching with stress and anxiety, they couldn't help but be enthralled by Mine's movements and techniques as much as they were by Lincoln's skills. In fact, as they watched more of Mine's speedy and dexterous strikes and dashes, they suddenly started picturing themselves performing those maneuvers. Perhaps this was something they could practice and develop whenever they returned home to train and hone their fighting skills further.

As Lincoln blocked Mine's last strike, he tried to counter with another kick, but as he raised his leg to strike, the yellow flame that enveloped Mine suddenly turned blue, in which he followed up by grabbing Lincoln's leg, twisting his whole body like a crocodile's death spin to force Lincoln to spin with him and land face down. Lincoln quickly rolled away to recover from his daze as Mine stood back up. However, Lincoln didn't expect Mine to suddenly lean back and spread out his arms, although he seemed to notice Mine's blue flame aura grew slightly as he seemed to be doing something.

Unfortunately, as Mine reverted back into his fighting stance, Lincoln seemed to notice that Mine wasn't as weary as he was a few seconds ago. Did he somehow heal himself with that move that left him wide open? If that was the case, then Lincoln finally started to understand Kazama's warning about his next two opponents being dangerously strong, meaning that he really needed to pull out more stops regarding his demonic powers.

Lincoln focused more of his energy until his eyes started glowing and was also engulfed in a fire-like aura, just like Mine. Mine made his move to attack him with another axe kick, but was surprised when Lincoln suddenly vanished. However, before he had the chance to look around for his opponent, he suddenly felt multiple painful strikes from behind; Lincoln had managed to sidestep around Mine so fast that neither he nor anybody else watching were able to detect his movement until it was too late.

Nevertheless, as Lincoln landed his final strike in his combo with the intent to knock his opponent down, Mine's blue flame suddenly changed to red. The next thing everyone witnessed was Mine tanking Lincoln's powerful kick, surprising everyone, especially Lincoln. Without warning, Mine launched a double spinning backfist, the first which Lincoln quickly blocked, but the second caught him in the face since the first strike was powerful enough to break Lincoln's guard.

Mine then tried to take advantage of Lincoln's faltering, bringing his right fist back to launch a devastating haymaker at him, the same kind that struck Lincoln at the beginning of the match. However, time seemed to slow down for Lincoln as Mine threw his right fist at him. At the last moment, Lincoln managed to block the fist aimed at his face. Although Mine's haymaker was able to break Lincoln's guard, the latter had used his backwards momentum and channeled the kinetic energy into his right leg in order to bounce back and redirect that energy into a back kick that caught Mine in the abdomen, sending him back a few feet as he clutched his stomach in pain with one hand.

Mine got back up, but slowly this time, as he was clearly in enough pain to indicate to Lincoln that he was at the end of his ropes. Wasting no time, Mine charged at Lincoln in a last ditch effort to take him down, starting with two punches aimed at Lincoln's face. Lincoln had managed to block the two punches, as well as two left hooks as Mine's follow-up. Mine then threw a downward punch, which Lincoln swerved under and tried to counter with an upward punch that Mine dodged. Mine then threw a left kick, a right knee, a right kick, and a left uppercut, all of which Lincoln managed to block. Mine then grabbed Lincoln's head with both hands and tried to use him as leverage to knee him once with his left knee, then again with his right knee, but Lincoln had managed to guard against both attacks. Mine let go of Lincoln's head as he tried to hit him with the left knee again, but Lincoln, now no longer confined by Mine's grapple, swerved out of the way of Mine's knee.

Mine then tried one last time and launched a downward punch aimed at Lincoln's face. Lincoln had managed to swerve at the last moment before using the momentum to launch his counter back kick, which he realized had become his signature counterattack. The kick had sent Mine flying back against the cage wall until he fell to the ground. This time, Mine had much difficulty rising back up as he clung to the cage wall to practically climb back onto his feet. When he was able to finally stand up, everyone could see that he was barely able to stand up straight, especially as he staggered towards Lincoln to throw one last punch that was so feeble that Lincoln didn't have the heart to even block or dodge it. In fact, the punch landed straight into Lincoln's face, but had no impact whatsoever that it felt like a piece of paper flying into his face, which was followed by Mine collapsing to the ground, unable to continue the fight.

With that, Lincoln won this round.

"WE HAVE A WINNER!" called the announcer, eliciting a resounding cheer from the audience, especially from I.M.P. in the VIP stand. "GIVE IT UP FOR LINCOLN LOOOOOUUUUUD!"

"YES!" applauded Moxxie, hugging his wife.

"THAT'S MY BOY!" cheered Millie, jumping up and down in excitement, which Moxxie followed suit.

"FUCK YEAH! THAT'S MY MAN!" hailed Loona, pumping her fists.

"Hmhmhm…" chuckled Kazama. "Now that was quite the show."

"Indeed it was," agreed Tachibana, turning to Kazama. "But what do you think of his chances in the final match?"

"Hmm…" Kazama hummed as he closed his eyes in contemplation. Knowing that Lincoln and his coworkers would reconvene for a brief respite to prepare for the final match, Kazama decided to share his thoughts with everyone else in the medical ward. With that, Kazama stood up and started limping his way towards the medical ward, beckoning Tachibana to follow.

"LINCOLN, YOU WERE AMAZING!" exclaimed Millie as she once again had Lincoln in her death grip hug

"*GRK* Choking! Not breathing!" choked Lincoln. "In… so… much… pain… already!"

"I still don't understand how she's so much stronger when she hugs you after everything you've done so far, Linc," remarked a perplexed Loona as Moxxie used a pry bar to pry Millie off of Lincoln.

"Honey, I know you're happy and proud of our baby boy, but he's still very much hurt from his fight, so maybe we should save the hugging and celebration for after he finishes the main event and heals all his injuries?" Moxxie suggested to Millie.

"… Okay…" conceded a saddened Millie.

"It's fine, Millie," reassured Lincoln, stretching his arms and back to recover from Millie's crushing grip. "Still, that Mine guy was really tough. Not just tougher than Nishikiyama, but I think he's a lot tougher than Go."

His coworkers perked up in confusion upon that observation from their young ward.

"You really think so?" asked Moxxie.

"Yeah, I mean, you didn't fly around and start blasting magic at each other," Loona chimed in.

"I know I don't have as much combat experience as any of you guys, but after all the training I've had with you guys and after fighting some really strong guys, I can sort of tell when they're not going all out," said Lincoln. "I think either I got lucky that I beat them before they could unleash their true powers or they weren't motivated enough to unleash them."

"A very astute observation," said the voice of Kazama. The team turned towards the door to see Kazama and Tachibana entering. "They weren't using their true demonic powers for various important reasons I'll gladly divulge to you if you emerge victorious from the final event. However, the final event also connects to the importance of your observation."

"What do you mean?" asked Lincoln.

"Your final opponent…" started Kazama, pausing before finally continuing, "… is truly not one to be taken lightly."

"Even more than the last two?" inquired Millie.

"Especially more than the last two," clarified Tachibana. I.M.P. looked at him in both confusion and unease, then turned to Kazama with the same expressions.

"Both Nishikiyama and Mine were at their strongest when they were motivated by a singular goal," explained Kazama. "Even though they had lost their ultimate bouts, they proved to be near equals to a legend in the gokudō, all because they were driven. Nishikiyama yearned to become the next Chairman of the Tojo Clan while Mine yearned for companionship from the one man who treated him as an equal."

"Huh… doesn't that sound familiar," remarked Lincoln, turning his head towards the still-resting Blitzø.

"Down here, however, they are still searching for their next purpose. Although, that's quite an arduous task when one is trapped in a realm designed to punish souls."

"Yeah… I… I can actually understand that, oddly enough," said Lincoln with melancholy. Moxxie and Millie both placed a hand on his shoulders and looked at him with sympathy.

"That's yet another topic I would like to discuss after you win your final bout," said Kazama. "However, I should warn you that unlike your previous opponents, this one will not hold anything back. Thus, I advise you to do the same."

"What am I up against exactly?" asked Lincoln.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you exactly," said Kazama. "But I can warn you, that unlike Nishikiyama and Mine, your final opponent lives for the fight. He'll want to fight the greatest opponent since his last one while he lived, and he already has a strong feeling that you'll be that opponent."

"Wow, ya'll would fit so well in the Wrath Ring!" remarked an impressed Millie, voicing Lincoln's previous thoughts.

"So we've been told from what we researched," quipped Tachibana, although he still kept a neutral expression and tone. Tachibana then offered Lincoln what looked like some kind of brown glass medicine bottle with a yellow foil around it. On the foil had the words "ROYAL." "Please take this. This will mostly heal you, which you will most definitely need for your fight."

Lincoln took the bottle and looked at it skeptically, a sentiment shared by his team.

"How do we know that isn't some kind of poison for Lincoln?" questioned Moxxie.

"Miss Loona should be able to smell it and find nothing poisonous or toxic in it," answered Kazama.

Both Lincoln and Loona hesitated at first, but the former finally uncapped the bottle and held it up to the latter, who took a few sniffs of the open bottle. Loona then scrunched her nose in slight discomfort before saying, "No poisonous shit in there. But it still smells like those shitty cough syrups."

"Well," said Lincoln, looking at the bottle anxiously. "Bon appétit." Lincoln drank from the bottle while holding his breath. Despite Loona comparing the smell of the drink to cough syrups, Lincoln was still surprised by the taste, which was indeed like a cough syrup he remembered drinking whenever he was sick. Back then, however, he would always hate drinking cough syrup because of how strong it tasted, but now, possibly due to the growth spell and him being in his adult form, he was able to tolerate the drink much better than as a child. After finishing the bottle, he suddenly didn't feel any pain from all the hits he took in the last fight. Not only that, but he was feeling fired up, figuratively and perhaps even literally despite the absence of any visible fire.

"Whoa, this really did the trick!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"It's part of the Staminan brand," explained Tachibana. "If you had visited any convenience or drug stores in Kamurocho, you'll find the same medicines being sold."

"Huh… guess I never had any reasons to get them," noted Lincoln as he realized he never received any major injuries that required immediate healing beyond the hit on Go. "Um… thanks, Kazama."

"You can repay me by winning your final match," replied Kazama. "For we have so much to discuss afterwards."

With a nod, Lincoln stood up and declared, "Then I guess there's no point in waiting. I've got a match to win."

Unable to contain her pride and joy, Millie immediately jumped up to Lincoln and caught him in her loving death grip yet again.

"*GACK* Choking! Not breathing! Seeing stars!" grunted Lincoln as Moxxie moved to pry his wife off of their adopted child once more. However, while hijinx had ensued, nobody, not even Kazama or Tachibana, had noticed Blitzø stirring slightly.

"You have all joined us for a spectacular night of thrilling violence!" shouted the announcer, garnering a deafening round of applause. Lincoln stood at one side of the arena like before as the announcer had announced his name to the crowd before him. "You have witnessed two incredible fights with The Trinity against a fantastic newcomer! But now you all have the awesome privilege to behold the last of The Trinity facing the newcomer! You all know him from the Kansai region! But he is to be called the Dragon! For there is no one else down here worthy of that title! Formerly the second patriarch of the Go-Ryu Clan of the Omi Alliance!" The lights shone down on the other side of the arena opposite to Lincoln.

"Everyone! Give it up! For! RYUJIIIIII GOOOOOODAAAAAA!"

Somehow, the crowd was even louder than before as they welcomed the last of The Trinity. Lincoln took a look at his opponent Ryuji, who appeared as a golden humanoid dragon whose hair was just as golden and slicked back like Nishikiyama and Mine. However, Lincoln felt intimidated by Ryuji's physique, for he looked taller and buffer than Nishikiyama and Mine; in fact, he seemed to be even taller and buffer than Kiryu and Saejima, and Lincoln felt that they were much stronger than Nishikiyama and Mine. Furthermore, not only did he bear the same kind of harsh glare as the others, but he also had a scar across his mouth, indicating to Lincoln that this man has seen far more than his fair share of combat.

"So you're the one who defeated the Koi and the Kirin," commented Ryuji. His deep voice definitely reminded Lincoln of Kiryu and Saejima, yet another reason for Lincoln to be intimidated by the golden dragon.

"If you mean Nishikiyama and Mine, then yeah, I did," replied Lincoln somewhat shakily.

With that answer, Ryuji finally broke his stoic expression with a slight smirk and responded, "And here I thought I wasted my time coming here with that imp of yours knocking on our door. I might admire a man being a little stupid, but that weakling didn't have the real fortitude to accomplish his goals."

"No real fortitude?" asked a perplexed Lincoln. "So what was he thinking to accomplish here then?"

"How about you fight for your answers?" suggested Ryuji with a hint of sarcasm. "Way I hear it, you've been busting top heads to get them."

Sighing, Lincoln got into his fighting stance before rebutting, "Alright, fine. Way I hear it, you want a real fight. I guess I'll have to give you one."

"Then I'd suggest you mean what you say," said Ryuji. "I don't want you half-assing anything. If you and your coworkers want to live, then you'd better truly fight like your life depends on it. Which means you'd better show your true potential with that demonic power of yours."

In an instant, Ryuji braced himself, which caused red flames to engulf him. Immediately after, Ryuji charged at Lincoln, who barely managed to dodge Ryuji's running haymaker by rolling to the side. Lincoln managed to recover as Ryuji turned to face him, in which Lincoln did a spinning jumping back kick. However, Ryuji blocked the kick, not with his arms, but by jutting out his chest and allowing the kick to land squarely on it, which didn't even phase him, as though Lincoln was kicking an immovable object.

RYUJI GODA
OMI ALLIANCE, 2ND PATRIARCH OF THE GO-RYU CLAN

Lincoln bounced off of Ryuji and landed into his fighting stance as Ryuji slowly transitioned into his own. Lincoln felt exhilaration like never before upon realizing that his kick didn't even faze Ryuji one bit. Kazama's warning rang in his ears as he realized this, now having a better understanding of what he was up against. With a gulp, Lincoln steeled himself for what he felt was gonna be the toughest fight of his life.

Taking Lincoln's unease as a signal, Ryuji made the first move by charging at him and throwing a wide hook. Lincoln swerved and dodged the punch just in time, but he didn't count on Ryuji's next punch to be faster than the last. Lincoln was lucky to have been able to dodge the second punch by a hair, but was unfortunately not so lucky for the third punch, in which Ryuji's uppercut struck Lincoln under his chin and sent him flying back. However, unlike the hits Lincoln took from Nishikiyama and Mine, this one punch almost knocked his lights out. Lincoln struggled to even get back up, for he could barely orient himself on whether he was facing up or down in his daze.

Finally, Lincoln stopped seeing triple and was able to get back on his feet, but as he took his fighting stance, he couldn't stop thinking about how incredibly strong Ryuji was by that one punch alone.

"What did I just say about half-assing this?" asked Ryuji spitefully.

Lincoln may not prefer violence as a solution or leisurely activity, but that didn't mean he couldn't get competitive. The demeaning tone in Ryuji's voice had lit a fire in Lincoln, who chose to cut loose and unleash his powers as he did with Go despite the audience before him. Focusing the magical energy from within, Lincoln felt himself growing stronger and lighter as he took his fighting stance once more.

This time, Lincoln made the first move and sped towards Ryuji, whose eyes widened in surprise by how much faster Lincoln had become. Lincoln caught Ryuji with a left knee to the stomach followed by a rising right kick to the face while his upper body was leaning down and then a spinning back kick with the same feet.

Lincoln's kicks had managed to stagger Ryuji, who merely smiled at Lincoln and said, "Good, now we're getting somewhere."

Whether Lincoln acknowledged Ryuji's comment or not, he didn't show it, as he instead struck with a flying knee that Ryuji blocked in time. Ryuji countered with a wide hook that Lincoln was able to duck under and swerve around to get behind Ryuji. Lincoln then unleashed his combo of attacks behind Ryuji, hoping to exploit a weakness as he had with every other opponent. Unfortunately, Ryuji caught on really fast and after taking a kick that pushed him forward, Ryuji rebounded and pushed himself backwards to launch a powerful back kick that caught Lincoln in the face before he could finish his own combo.

Lincoln staggered back, trying to gain distance from Ryuji and recover from the counterattack. However, Lincoln didn't get the chance as Ryuji followed through with a front kick that pushed Lincoln back, then a left hook that Lincoln ducked under, a right uppercut that Lincoln dodged to the side, a back hand that broke through Lincoln's attempt to guard against it, a roundhouse kick that struck Lincoln's temple, and finally a side kick that sent Lincoln back. Lincoln managed to recover and use the backwards momentum to back roll into a standing position, ready to continue the fight once more.

'Kazama wasn't kidding!' thought Lincoln worriedly. 'This guy's tough! There's no way Blitzø would've stood a chance against him!'

One of Tachibana's agents was standing guard outside the medical ward, only entering occasionally to check on Blitzø as he rested to recover from his injuries. A rather simple task for one of Tachibana's best, especially since they had the imp sedated due to him continuing to be rough and rowdy as he was literally dragged to the medical ward to receive medical attention. Ever since Lincoln and his team first entered the medical ward, Blitzø had been very peaceful in his rest, which made the agents' job of overwatching him a lot easier.

However, the guard did his routine check inside the medical ward, only to find, to his horror, the bed that Blitzø occupied was empty. The guard panically looked all over the medical ward to find even a trace of Blitzø or maybe a trail indicating his next location. Unfortunately, the guard didn't notice an imp that was cognizant enough to sneak up behind him, raise a chair over his head, and bring it down with all his might.

Lincoln was sent back towards the cage wall, slamming into it and falling to the ground. Despite unleashing the same power he had used against Go, Lincoln still couldn't get the edge over his opponent. Ryuji was indeed living up to his appearances as a mighty golden dragon, a god above gods, and was proving to be more than a match for Lincoln's growing prowess in the demonic arts.

As Lincoln recovered, he looked up to see that Ryuji was charging at him with a fast and powerful haymaker. With no time to dodge, Lincoln was left with no other choice but to catch the incoming fist with both of his hands. He may have been successful in preventing Ryuji's punch from landing on his face to achieve what would've most likely been a killing blow, but Lincoln felt his hands burning and stinging like they were attacked by a swarm of bees.

Channeling his superior strength in his legs up and forward to his arms, Lincoln pushed away Ryuji's fist and followed up with a jumping knee to his face. The attack had managed to force Ryuji backwards, staggering him enough to almost lose balance and fall, but Ryuji managed to stand his ground and wiped the blood dripping from his mouth and nose with an amused smirk. Lincoln, however, wasn't feeling mutual, for he was gasping for air and struggling to keep his fighting stance and his swelling left eye open.

"You're getting there, boy," complimented Ryuji. "But I can tell that you're still holding back."

Lincoln blinked in surprise at what Ryuji was insinuating. Here was Lincoln, bruised and tired from all the hits he had taken and dished out, yet Ryuji was observing that Lincoln was still holding back?

"It seems I'll have to motivate you some more," said Ryuji as he took his fighting stance, but the red fiery aura around him grew brighter and larger, so much so that Lincoln swore he could feel the heat radiating off of Ryuji.

"Oh no…" said Moxxie worriedly, watching the match from the VIP stand. "I don't know if Lincoln can hold out much longer, let alone win!"

"Ooohhh!" squirmed Millie, grabbing her tail anxiously. She may have expressed pride and confidence in Lincoln's capability as a fighter, but even she was starting to have doubts against a monster like Ryuji.

"Fuck!" exclaimed Loona. "What the fuck are we supposed to do?! Just stand here and watch him lose?!"

Kazama and Tachibana watched with unchanging expressions. If anything, they seemed to be more focused and interested in Lincoln, as if they were seeing something that nobody, not even Lincoln himself, is seeing.

"Do you think Ryuji will be successful?" Tachibana asked Kazama.

"I believe he will be," answered Kazama, closing his eyes in contemplation. "However… it may not hurt to provide extra incentive."

Tachibana looked to Kazama in confusion and curiosity as the latter provided that answer. In the next second, he noticed from the corner of his eyes something, or rather, someone lumbering into the VIP stand. This unknown individual then picked up speed in shuffling towards Kazama and Tachibana with a scalpel in hand. However, this individual clearly underestimated Tachibana, for he easily disarmed this hostile intruder and trapped him into an arm lock. Upon trapping the individual into a compromised position, Tachibana looked to see who the attacker was and saw that it was—

"Blitzø?!" blurted Moxxie, Millie, and Loona after turning to see the source of the commotion.

"~Ooohhh, hey guys~" drawled Blitzø rather positively despite being painfully subdued.

"What the fuck are you doing here out of the hospital bed?!" shouted Loona in both worry and frustration.

"~Saving you guys~" answered Blitzø slurrily. Given his unfocused line of sight, Blitzø appeared to still be under the influence of drugs, most likely what was used to sedate him. "~And getting out of the shitty hospital… that's how they get ya… they'll keep charging you the longer you stay in~"

"Wait, what do you mean 'saving us?'" asked a confused Moxxie.

"Subdue the rest," ordered Kazama. Without warning, the rest of I.M.P. were apprehended and thrown to the ground before being physically compromised and restrained by the guards in the VIP stand.

"What the fuck is this shit?!" growled Loona, struggling to break free from her captors.

"Goddammit, Moxxie!" shouted Blitzø. "You fucked up my master plan!"

"What the fuck are you even talking about?!" retorted Moxxie. Leave it to Blitzø to make even the most level-headed individuals like Moxxie focus on lesser matters than the larger issues, such as their newly-developed hostile situation and Lincoln's safety.

"What are you doing?!" Millie shouted at Kazama as she tried to escape from her captor's grip.

"Giving Mr. Loud an incentive," answered Kazama ominously. "I suggest you all prepare yourself for what you are about to witness."

Ryuji looked up towards the VIP stand and noticed the results of the short struggle. Curious, Lincoln looked up at the VIP stand as well and, to his horror, saw his coworkers apprehended and restrained by the guards, including the now-conscious Blitzø.

"GUYS!" called Lincoln.

"Take a good long look at them," said Ryuji, turning back to his opponent. "Because what I'm about to do to you… I'm gonna do to them as well!"

Lincoln turned his attention back to Ryuji upon his declaration and saw him extending his arms as he appeared to be powering up. In the next instance, Ryuji then charged at Lincoln like a rhino, but with the speed of a cheetah. As such, Lincoln was unable to block or dodge the charge in time, which enabled Ryuji to literally catch Lincoln by surprise and toss him upwards into the cage wall.

With no way to react properly, Lincoln crashed into the cage wall hard enough to bounce off of it, in which Ryuji followed up by jumping up to catch Lincoln midair and then throw down to the ground hard. Lincoln was practically helpless as he hit the ground like a meteorite, the impact hard enough to knock the wind out of him. This was further proven as Ryuji straddled him and brought his fists down like a gorilla onto Lincoln's face with enough force to draw blood. Ryuji repeated this action while alternating his fists as Lincoln was unable to block or dodge any of the hits, even as Ryuji switched from slamming his fists to throwing straight punches.

"Lincoln!" shouted Moxxie and Millie as they were forced to watch the horror show below.

"Linc! Get up!" hollered Loona in desperation.

As the three continued yelling for their losing coworker, frustrated at their helplessness to break free from their situation and interfere to save him, Blitzø watched in silence, unable to utter even a single syllable. The more he saw his intern getting beaten into a mulch by the monstrosity that was Ryuji, the more he was being reminded of a certain event in the past, in which he couldn't do anything but watch in horror despite his pleas for help and his efforts to save his loved ones.

In fact, he wasn't sure if it was from the effects of the drugs still active in his system, but he could've sworn he saw Lincoln transform in a flash to someone he once held dear. Someone who had always given him nothing but her best. Someone who didn't ask for any favors in return. Someone who always worried about him. Someone he had failed because of his own incompetence. Someone he let die because he couldn't man up. Someone he didn't deserve to see again.

He didn't know what even drove him to do this. With tears leaking from his eyes as he couldn't think of anyone else but his treasured intern fighting for his life down below and losing that fight, all Blitzø could do was shout in anguish, just like his employees.

"Linc! LINCOLN! LINCOLN!"

"LINCOLN!"

That was the last thing Lincoln heard as he felt himself losing consciousness. The searing pain he felt from the punches, the bruises, and the ringing in his head due to the impact was actually going away, but that was probably from the fact that he was taking too many hits to the head that he was getting even worse than a concussion. Stuck in a helpless position, Lincoln couldn't do anything else but think of his coworkers to distract himself from the pain that was beginning to numb.

However, as he thought about Moxxie, Millie, Loona, and Blitzø, Ryuji's last words were ringing in his head as well. He began to visualize them in bloody, unrecognizable shambles only made possible by the bare hands of a monster. The pitiful expressions frozen on their faces as they experienced nothing but agony in their last moments was all Lincoln saw through the rest of the mangled mess, and that was going to be their fate because Lincoln bit off more than he could chew. All he wanted to do was get Blitzø out of a mess, but now he was never going to see him, Moxxie, Millie, Loona, Stolas, Octavia, Verosika, and his friends and family up top—

The moment Lincoln thought about them, something suddenly clicked in his mind. The pain he had felt numbing a few seconds ago was returning with a vengeance, but rather than being consumed by the pain, he was instead feeling the pain being channeled into his center. The rest of his body was vibrating as he experienced a burning sensation from within that slowly became warming. As Lincoln started feeling these, his mind was regaining consciousness and he felt the arena floor he was lying down on with Ryuji on top of him.

He was finally able to open his eyes as he saw himself consumed by some kind of blue fire. As he was engulfed in blue flames, his body was undergoing some kind of transformation. Not only were the blood, cuts, and bruises vanishing from his body, but his incubus texture was also changing drastically. He saw Ryuji's bewildered expression, which quickly morphed into determination as he brought down his fist for a mighty punch to Lincoln's face. However, he was caught by surprise yet again when his fist stopped short of Lincoln's face, not by two hands, but with one.

The flame surrounding Lincoln suddenly turned red before diminishing slightly, enough to reveal a rather astonishing transformation. While his skin was white as snow in his incubus form, his skin was now covered in white fur. His forearms and hands had grown wider with his fingers bearing sharp claws, his legs had changed to become digitigrades like many animals, and his tail had grown longer and wider with a cotton fluff at the end. However, the most notable aspects of his new transformation were his ears changing to that of a rabbit that elongated vertically, his head growing sharp antlers like a deer's, and his sclera turning from white to black while his irises turned red and glowed dangerously.

He had attained the form of a jackalope.

Lincoln, however, didn't take the chance to examine his new appearance. Instead, with a hard glare at Ryuji as he held his opponent's fist in a crushing grip, Lincoln swiftly punched Ryuji in the face with his other free hand to push him off of him, then followed up with a powerful kick that sent Ryuji back into the cage wall, thus freeing Lincoln to get up off the ground. As Ryuji was on his knees catching his breath to recover from colliding into the wall, he began chuckling before finally looking up to Lincoln.

"Now that's more like it!" roared Ryuji in excitement, standing up and adopting his fighting stance.

"Whoa! Holy shit!" was all Loona could exclaim as she witnessed this new development. Despite being held down by shady guards, she couldn't stop herself from expressing amazement and excitement at her pseudo-little brother figure (and possible love interest?) recovering from impossible odds and ready to deliver some payback and then some. This sentiment was also shared by Moxxie and Millie.

"THAT'S MY BOY!" cheered Millie for the umpteenth time. Much like Blitzø with his pay deduction joke with Lincoln, Millie would never get tired of expressing her love, pride, and joy with her beloved baby boy.

"FUCK YES! BEAT HIM TO A BLOODY PULP!" hollered Moxxie excitedly. It was indeed a rare moment for Moxxie to lose himself to all the excitement displayed in a sports competition, yet here he was screaming like a maniac just like his wife in support of his adopted son.

Blitzø, on the other hand, watched with a dumbfounded expression as he processed the string of emotions he experienced in quick succession. He had only come here to do business, but somehow it all turned into one big shitshow. He felt humiliated that he was forced into a deal to fight some powerful demons, only to get washed in mere minutes by his first opponent. Then his intern had to butt into his personal matters once more.

'Little prick thinks he can be nosy about his boss's personal life,' thought Blitzø grumpily. 'Not like I ever did it to him!'

And the next thing Blitzø knew when he woke up was that he was so high out of his mind, but thankfully, he'd done this enough in college before dropping out to build up some kind of tolerance in order to have some of his faculties. After making his daring escape from the hospital prison, he made his way to the coliseum so he could enact his awesome rescue plan that got fucked by Moxxie! Leave it to him to keep messing up everything!

Then he gets forced down by a bigger demon, and not in a fun way! How many prudes is he gonna keep running into where these beefcakes are practically gift-wrapped for him, or even vice versa, yet nobody takes the opportunity to have some real fun?! But the cherry on top of this double-layered shit cake was that not only was his intern doing a much better job on this business deal, but he was having all the fun when he was supposed to be the murder virgin whose first taste of blood was only a mere stab at Striker, which didn't even kill the cowboy imp.

But then the intern started getting his shit kicked in by the last opponent. Normally, Blitzø would've been having a laugh at his intern's expense, not unlike how he had with Moxxie getting his shit wrecked by a Hell hog. But then he started thinking about how the intern had been taking care of him, back to when M shit-stomped his ass and then again when he got his ass handed to him by that fish-face. And all he was gonna have of his intern before he died were the shitty things he said to him earlier today. The intern really was ready to die for his sake, and he tried to push him away like everybody else.

And after finally calling out to his dying intern in despair, Lincoln suddenly changed into something bigger and more monstrous. Even Blitzø felt the atmosphere change when Lincoln shifted his appearance, threw Ryuji off of him, and stood tall and menacingly. Hell, Blitzø could even feel the heat from Lincoln despite being in an elevated position many meters away. And the more he looked at his newly-changed intern, the more he was reminded of his company's fight against those government agents, especially when Lincoln almost lost himself and made his first kill. In fact, thinking back to that moment also reminded Blitzø of when Stolas came to their rescue, which made him see the Prince in a new light.

"Lincoln…" muttered Blitzø, unsure of whether to feel elated, worried, jealous, or relieved.

Ryuji swung his right elbow back towards Lincoln's head, but Lincoln was able to dodge it effortlessly. Without even the slightest shift in his expression, Lincoln blocked Ryuji's left elbow strike with his right elbow, and then Ryuji's right uppercut by slamming his left elbow onto Ryuji's fist. Ryuji tried to follow through with a left uppercut, but Lincoln narrowly dodged it without any concern whatsoever. Frustrated that he wasn't able to land a solid blow, Ryuji charged at Lincoln's midsection in hopes to tackle him to the ground. While Ryuji did catch Lincoln in the tackle, Lincoln held on and planted his feet to the ground, thus keeping himself standing against Ryuji's push.

Ryuji wriggled as much as he could to throw Lincoln off balance and gain any leverage over him, yet Lincoln continued to stand his ground as he refused to budge and give Ryuji any kind of advantage. As the struggle went on, Ryuji realized too late that Lincoln was intentionally stalling to wear him out, in which Lincoln took advantage by grabbing Ryuji in the back of his head and delivered a powerful knee to his face, drawing blood in his mouth.

Ryuji had realized that as he was standing back up to recover from the counterattack… Lincoln had allowed him to recover. Lincoln was merely standing there, waiting for Ryuji's next move, which was a very clear indication of who the strongest warrior is now. Ryuji did in fact demand the best from Lincoln, and it seemed that he finally got the "encouragement" to unleash his true power, so it wouldn't be honorable if Ryuji didn't respond in kind.

Powering up once more, Ryuji's red flame grew to try and match Lincoln's blue flame. Ryuji then charged at Lincoln with a haymaker, the speed in which everyone in the audience couldn't register because it happened within the blink of an eye. Of course, Lincoln wasn't in the audience, thus he was the only one who processed the incoming attack and swerved out of the way, only to deliver a counterattack with a powerful knee aimed at Ryuji's side. Ryuji growled in pain as he not only felt the attack hit the hardest out of anything Lincoln delivered in this fight so far, but that Lincoln had exploited a nigh-unreachable weak point in an instant.

While Ryuji was stunned from the attack, Lincoln followed through with his combo, this time much faster and harder than before due to his new power. He continued his onslaught that started with two punches, one to the face and another to the midsection, then with a flurry of kicks using dynamic movements for the purpose of building up power in each strike while also becoming a mobile target too difficult for Ryuji to land a hit on should he try to counterattack. As Lincoln delivered a kick while positioned behind Ryuji, the latter tried his own counterattack with a back kick, but this time, Lincoln was able to catch it and continue and redirect the momentum to force Ryuji's upper body to follow, resulting in Lincoln slamming Ryuji into the ground. The instant Ryuji got to his knee, Lincoln delivered a powerful front rising kick to Ryuji's face, launching him upwards into a standing position before continuing with a spinning jumping back kick that sent Ryuji back towards the cage wall.

Wiping the blood from his mouth, Ryuji looked up at his opponent while putting up his fists. There was Lincoln, standing still yet again with the air of pure confidence and focus, whereas Ryuji was gasping for air and barely able to stay conscious, almost too similar to his last moments in his mortal life. Knowing that it could only end with one more strike, Ryuji roared his lungs out as he charged once more to throw a haymaker with every power he could muster. This time, however, Lincoln chose not to dodge it and instead ran straight towards Ryuji to clash with him. As Ryuji threw his final punch, Lincoln jumped into the air and delivered a mighty knee to Ryuji's face. Both attacks struck their intended targets, with Ryuji's fist in Lincoln's face and Lincoln's knee in Ryuji's face.

Both stood still for what felt like an eternity before Lincoln descended to the ground from midair, although he was still standing. Ryuji was frozen in place with his arm outstretched and fists clenched for a few seconds before finally collapsing. The audience spectating this brawl couldn't believe their eyes and fell silent at what had just occurred. This newcomer, a complete newbie who did not show nearly the same level of bloodshed that a typical demon possesses, just defeated the Golden Dragon after defeating the Koi and the Kirin, the three mighty warriors who dominated the underground coliseum. Not even a murmur sounded in the audience stand. Nobody broke the silence except for one…

"YEEEAAAHHH! FUCK YEAH! THAT'S MY BOY!" cheered Millie at the top of her lungs despite being held down by an agent. "DON'T NONE OF YOU FUCKERS FORGET IT!"

Whatever the opinions of those in the audience were, it didn't matter, as Millie's loud support was the spark that ignited a raucous round of applause. Soon, Millie, Moxxie, Loona, and even Blitzø's cheers were drowned by the crowd, who started chanting Lincoln's name. Even Kazama and Tachibana couldn't stop themselves from smiling a little at the turnout of the main event.

"Indeed," Kazama said to Millie, turning to her. "I will never forget this." He then looked to Tachibana's men who were restraining I.M.P. "Escort them to the medical ward. And get Mr. Loud there for medical attention. We have much to discuss." With that, Kazama stood up and limped away to the medical bay, followed close behind by Tachibana. After they were out of sight, the guards finally released I.M.P., but still kept them surrounded as they beckoned them to follow Kazama and Tachibana. I.M.P. gave them dirty looks, tempted to gut them and paint the VIP stand with their blood, but they eventually followed the guards, although Millie took a second to look back down at the arena to see her baby boy.

Had Millie stuck around a few seconds longer, she would've witnessed her adopted son being consumed by his red flame before slumping out of exhaustion, and then finally falling backwards to the ground, completely unconscious and transforming back into his child form.

I.M.P. awaited anxiously in the medical ward with Kazama and Tachibana. After waiting for what felt like eons, the door to the medical ward finally opened, but I.M.P. was met with the sight of two guards carrying a stretcher into the ward, which carried an unconscious Lincoln in his child form.

"Lincoln!" exclaimed Moxxie.

"My baby!" cried Millie.

The guards carried the stretcher next to the bed close to where I.M.P. waited, placed the stretcher down, and slid Lincoln onto the bed before taking their leave. In an instant, I.M.P. gathered around Lincoln in his bed, scared and anxious for him. Millie was very tempted to grab him and hold him close into her signature death hug, but had managed to avoid giving into her instincts out of fear of harming him more than he already is. Loona was similarly tempted to hold him close and cuddle with him, but also avoided doing so in fear for his physical well-being.

"What happened to him?!" Millie shouted at Kazama, glaring daggers at him.

"He exerted so much energy with his new transformation," answered Kazama. "After all, did he not faint from exhaustion when he unleashed more of his powers before?"

I.M.P. looked at each other knowingly and uneasily. They knew he was referring to their encounter with D.H.O.R.K.S. where Lincoln had exhibited so much power than before to the point that he didn't need the grimoire. However, what unsettled the team was the fact that Kazama knew all this information.

"And how the fuck do you know that?" Blitzø questioned.

Kazama looked to Tachibana, who then answered to the group, "Our information network is vast and superlative to gather even the slightest details about all the ongoings in Hell. Of course, your company isn't exactly subtle in its practices."

Moxxie, Millie, and Loona begrudgingly murmured their agreements.

"Yeah, really feeling the love here," grumbled Blitzø, crossing his arms and pouting.

"So wait, when you say 'all the ongoings in Hell,' do you also mean the other rings?" asked Moxxie.

"That is correct."

"But how?" asked a befuddled Millie. "Only Hellborns can travel to the other rings while Sinners and Overlords are supposed to be trapped here in the Pride Ring."

"You are correct in that as well," answered Tachibana. "But I'll share the details once Mr. Loud awakens. After all, he's the one who fulfilled the bargain to obtain information that you requested." Tachibana looked to Blitzø as he clarified the last statement, in which Blitzø merely grumbled angrily while looking away and crossing his arms. "Furthermore, we have another important guest we must meet elsewhere once Mr. Loud recovers, in which you all will receive additional answers."

"Hmm… it seems that will be happening sooner than we anticipated," remarked Kazama, gesturing to Lincoln. Everyone turned to him and were bewildered to see him stirring. Slowly but surely, his eyelids opened, then blinked a few times as his sight registered the brightness of the room. With a soft grunt, Lincoln shifted to look around him, only to be relieved to see the faces of his coworkers.

"… Hey, guys…" said Lincoln raspily. Millie was the first to hug him, although he was thankful that her grip was nowhere near as crushing as it usually is.

"Oh, thank Satan, you're okay, baby," whispered Millie as tears rolled down her cheeks while she caressed Lincoln.

"Yeah… I really cut it close there at the end, didn't I?" remarked Lincoln as he hugged Millie back.

"You did, you idiot," quipped Loona, although she was smiling softly as she was petting him on the head.

"But we're glad that you're okay now," Moxxie said to Lincoln, caressing one of his hands. Moxxie's expression dropped in sudden realization, then turned to Kazama, "We are okay now, right?"

"Of course," answered Kazama before turning to Lincoln. "You have fulfilled the bargain made by your boss, and I will answer your questions. But first, we need to wait until you recover enough to be discharged from this ward. We do have another important guest to meet in order to answer all the questions you and your team may have. Besides…" Kazama's eyes slightly shifted towards Blitzø. "I believe there is much to discuss between the boss and the intern."

Just like that, the atmosphere was awkward as Moxxie, Millie, and Loona looked back and forth between Lincoln and Blitzø, who were staring at each other with downcast expressions.

"I believe we should leave these two be," insisted Kazama. "Everyone else, please follow me."

Moxxie, Millie, and Loona were very hesitant to leave Lincoln and Blitzø out of their sight, especially after such a harrowing experience that left both of them bedridden. After a reassuring smile from Lincoln, however, the three finally conceded and reluctantly followed Kazama and Tachibana out of the medical ward. When the door shut, Lincoln and Blitzø looked at one another, still tense and awkward. After all, how does one start a conversation after the boss had vehemently and literally pushed the intern out of the office with the demand to pack up and leave the company?

"So… I guess you'll get the answers you're looking for now, at least," started Lincoln.

"Yeah… just… yeah…" agreed Blitzø stiffly.

The two looked away uncomfortably as they tried to figure out how to break the ice, but with so many thoughts running through their minds, it was even harder to form one coherent line of thought to reach a resolution.

As such, Lincoln took the initiative. "Blitzø… I—"

"Why?" interrupted Blitzø.

"Huh?"

"Why? Why did you come here to bail me out?"

Lincoln raised an eyebrow at the question, baffled and wondering if this was some sort of trick question, or perhaps a rhetorical one. Nevertheless, Lincoln answered, "Because I was worried about you."

"You shouldn't have to," replied Blitzø depressingly. "You got a shit ton more to worry about."

"I know," responded Lincoln. "And your safety is one of them."

"But why? Why are you so worried about me when you should be worried about yourself?"

Lincoln paused for a moment, then thought about how he could word his answer until he realized there was no other way than to be straightforward. Finally, he answered:

"Because I care about you like a family."

Blitzø was definitely taken aback by this answer, evident by his flinching backwards as his eyes widened and his mouth was agape. He could only stand there in dumbstruck silence as Lincoln continued providing his answer.

"I know you're crazy and weird in ways I'm not comfortable with, but it doesn't change the fact that you were still there for me when I lost everything. And you've been there every step of the way with the others."

After Lincoln said the last word, he felt his emotions welling up as tears threatened to leak from his eyes and he could barely stop himself from choking and hyperventilating. Blitzø could barely move a muscle as he watched his intern break down in front of him while trying to process Lincoln's reasoning. Nobody had ever said that to and about him for so many years. In fact, it had been so long that he might've believed that it never happened at any point in his entire life.

"I don't wanna lose you, Blitzø," continued Lincoln, wiping the tears in his eyes. "So why do you keep pushing me away like you're trying to get rid of me? Why do you keep doing these stupid stunts where I might lose you?!"

Blitzø could only slump his shoulders with a defeated expression in response, completely silent and unable to offer any kind of answer to his intern's question. Finally, he stepped closer and took a seat on the bed, hugging his knees close until he finally responded, "Cause you can do way better than me."

"W-what do you mean?" asked Lincoln anxiously.

"… You shouldn't have to look out for some sad, pathetic sack of shit," clarified Blitzø. "Especially one who makes everyone's lives worse."

"But you haven't made mine worse!"

"Bullshit, I didn't! You could've hung out with Stolas and be safer with him! Hell, you could be hanging with Lucifer's spawn in that hotel with her little dead-end project! Anywhere else but with me's gotta be better!"

"But it wouldn't be the same without you in my life!"

"… How the heaven do you keep thinking that I'm like a family to you after all that I put you through?"

Lincoln propped himself up in order to position himself into an upright sitting position before responding, "Blitzø, I don't know if you actually paid attention to anything I've ever told you about my life topside, but as much as I love my friends and family back home, I still have problems with them." Blitzø turned his head slightly to look at Lincoln as he continued, "But no matter what problems I have with them, I still love them because they're my family who did a lot of good to me. You? Honestly, you're like all the problems I have with my sisters rolled up into one guy and dialed up to eleven."

"Heh… well, I never did half-ass being an asshole," quipped Blitzø softly.

"Even still, all of that never changed how much you looked after me and tried to help me grow," said Lincoln. "I wouldn't even be here without you. You may not see it right now, but you've done a whole lot for me, not just by protecting me. You always tried to help me belong here… well, belong in I.M.P. I may not be some hardcore, cold-blooded killer, but you still gave me a place to stay. But more than that, you gave me a family."

Now it was Blitzø's turn for his mouth to start quivering as he struggled to hold back all the emotions welling up from within. Just as with Lincoln, Blitzø was shedding his own tears, no matter how hard he tried to hide his feelings and stay tough. He may have thought highly of himself so often and demanded nothing but compliments and praises, but it was very clear, even to Lincoln, that he hid a lot of insecurities and self-hatred. And here was some 12-year-old naive human child who has yet to hit puberty and be fully exposed to the horrors of reality telling him that he always thought highly of him despite any misgivings he expressed before.

"Nobody down here can ever replace my friends and family up top," stated Lincoln. "But that doesn't mean I can't have more friends and family. You and the others are my family. And I'll never trade away any of you for someone else. That's… that's why I got so mad at you back at the office. All these stunts to push us away feels more like you're just doing all this to hurt yourself… and I hate seeing that, whether it's you or anyone else I care about." Lincoln crawled over to sit right next to Blitzø, "You say I could do better, but I don't know what's better without you in my life."

Just like that, Blitzø could no longer hold in his tears as he started quietly sobbing into his knees. As Blitzø was pouring out his emotions, all Lincoln could do for any semblance of reassurance is place a hand on Blitzø's back and softly stroke it. Although Blitzø slightly flinched upon initial contact, he did nothing to push Lincoln away this time. For once in his life since that horrible day, someone had fully expressed real gratitude for Blitzø's existence.

Right outside the medical ward stood the rest of I.M.P. with Kazama and Tachibana. Needless to say, Loona was the one who heard the whole conversation clearly due to her enhanced senses, and she was doing everything she could to not show any kind of emotion towards that. Millie, on the other hand, was shedding tears upon learning just how highly her baby boy thought of her, her husband, and her best friend, and how much he was willing to fight for all of them. Moxxie wasn't shedding any tears, but was feeling extremely grateful that a boon like Lincoln was a part of his life and had asserted from the bottom of his heart how he wouldn't have it any other way.

"It seems the boy is truly a gift from above for all of you, wouldn't you say?" commented Kazama.

"More than you fucking know," answered Millie proudly, sniffling as she wiped her tears of pride and joy.

PRIDE RING, Pentagram City, Little Japan Hills, Ground Floor Bar

It didn't take long for Lincoln to heal up and be discharged from the medical ward. Apparently, all the injuries he took from his fight against Ryuji had somehow been mostly healed when he transformed into his new demonic jackalope form, and the worst he got from the end of the fight was a few light bruises and very little energy that he almost had a hard time staying awake. But now, here he was sitting in a rather lavish bar with his team, along with their escorts Kazama and Tachibana. There were even a few more demons around them consisting of both customers and employees. Some of the employees appeared to be hostesses, not unlike what Lincoln had heard about up at Kamurocho.

I.M.P. was sitting at a table close to the bar, which was being tended by two female Sinners. Furthermore, they were joined by Kazama and Tachibana, and later on, they were joined by, to their surprise…

"Rikiya?!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"The hell are you doing here, bitch snitch?!" growled Millie, as she, Moxxie, and Loona slouched slightly, preparing to fight.

"He works for me," Tachibana answered for Rikiya.

"Wait, so you're the one who put him up to bait-trapping me?!" shouted Blitzø.

"And us?!" added Moxxie.

"It was all necessary to bring everyone together," justified Tachibana. "Now, we can finally conduct business." He nodded towards a direction, which everyone turned their heads to.

I.M.P. saw a pinkish purple demon wearing a white kimono, which completely stood out compared to every other demon either wearing a suit or a dress. Perhaps being an outlier while wearing something that looked very traditional was what made this man a very important figure. The demon had slicked-back hair like Kazama and Tachibana, but also sported a goatee. I.M.P. also noticed that the bar had hushed noticeably, as well as everyone else turning to see the purple demon as he made his way towards the table I.M.P. occupied until finally taking a seat at the back end of the table.

"Thank you all for coming," the demon said to I.M.P. with a bow. "I am the owner of this district, Masaru Sera."

MASARU SERA
FORMER THIRD CHAIRMAN OF THE TOJO CLAN

The demon called Sera then directed his attention to Lincoln, "You have done very well. You provided the best entertainment in the underground coliseum thus far. And you have managed to defeat the Trinity."

"Oh, um… thanks, Mr. Sera," said Lincoln bashfully, wanting to be polite in a business-like setting.

"Please, call me Masaru," said Masaru with a smile.

"So now that we're here, do we get down to business?" asked Lincoln.

"Actually, Lincoln, no," said Moxxie knowingly. "It's actually customary that we talk business after eating." He then turned to Masaru and asked, "We are eating, right?"

"Of course," answered Masaru. "You've all come a long way and have endured a harrowing ordeal. Especially you two, Lincoln and Blitzø. Nothing better than a fulfilling dinner, especially with a special occasion today."

"Special occasion?" inquired Lincoln with a raised eyebrow.

"We have some more honored guests who will be joining us. Not only that, but they provide the best specials in this establishment on occasion, which many of us look forward to."

"Who's providing them?"

"That would be me," answered a deep, booming, and very familiar voice. Lincoln felt his stomach drop upon hearing that voice and his heart skip several beats that he wondered how he didn't just keel over right then and there. Slowly, Lincoln turned towards the source of the voice, the direction that Masaru had entered, and saw none other than Ryuji Goda himself.

"Ryuji…" whispered Lincoln shakily. In an instant, the rest of I.M.P. huddled together in front of him, guarding him.

Lincoln, on the other hand, noticed a very odd picture before him. Despite feeling that fear from hearing and seeing Ryuji again so soon, he couldn't help but be perplexed by the sight of Ryuji wearing a hachimaki, an apron, and cooking gloves while carrying in two large stacking food carriers filled with what looked like takoyaki. Ryuji ignored the hostile reactions from Lincoln's teammates and started passing out each food carrier across the table, prompting Masaru, Kazama, Tachibana, and Rikiya to take a few onto their plates. Ryuji, noticing that I.M.P. hadn't reached out for any takoyaki, gestured to them to help themselves, even passing one food tray specifically to Blitzø.

"I heard about how much you enjoy the cheese and spicy fish roe takoyaki," Ryuji said to Blitzø.

"Okay, seriously, how the fuck do you all know this much about me?!" yelled Blitzø indignantly.

"Patience," advised Masaru. "We still haven't even gotten the drinks."

"Oi! Sorry for the holdup!" called another familiar voice. Once again, everyone turned to the source of the voice, only to see that it was from a very familiar fish-like demon, this time wearing an all-white business suit. It was Nishikiyama, much to the shock of I.M.P. However, Nishikiyama was accompanied by Mine, both who were carrying a large box. Upon approaching the table, both of them had placed their boxes down, with Nishikiyama opening his to retrieve its contents while Mine took a seat close to the back end where Masaru sat. Nishikiyama pulled out a few bottles that he placed on the table that were dispersed evenly as all but I.M.P. start pouring drinks for themselves. Like Ryuji, Nishikiyama noticed I.M.P. not helping themselves to the takoyaki and beverages.

"Please, help yourselves," implored Nishikiyama. He pulled out a bottle that he placed in front of Lincoln specifically. "It's soda. We may be demons, but even we have standards."

Though hesitant at first, Lincoln finally reached out and took one of the takoyaki and ate it one bite. He was pleasantly surprised when the flavor practically burst in his mouth and started chewing and savoring the taste before washing it down with the bottled soda, which he was happy to find that it was exactly as promised.

"This takoyaki's really good!" Lincoln blurted out, unable to stop himself. "Is this the special you were talking about, Masaru?"

"Indeed," affirmed Masaru with a nod. "Ryuji is known both in this district and across the river to make the best takoyaki. Many of us look forward to his cooking." Speaking of whom, after Ryuji and Nishikiyama finished passing out the takoyaki and drinks, they both joined Mine to the back side of the table, though Ryuji took off his apron and hachimaki and put on a long white coat before taking a seat.

"Now that all the pleasantries are out of the way, we can finally discuss business," stated Masaru. "And believe me, we all looked forward to this day more than you."

Just like that, I.M.P. found themselves sitting with the bigwigs of this particular district in Pentagram City with a relatively amicable atmosphere. It wasn't even that long ago that their three best fighters had challenged Blitzø and Lincoln to a death match, yet here they were, sitting at the table having dinner with them like a weekend gathering, which almost made the intense event feel like it was many years ago.

"Now, what question would you like to start with first?" initiated Masaru.

There were a boatload of questions I.M.P. had to ask that it was actually difficult to decide which question to start with. Even Lincoln with all his planning couldn't figure out right away what question to ask first after everything he and his team had endured today. The only thing he could think of was to start at the beginning, which meant that they needed answers to how this all even started to begin with.

Lincoln turned to Blitzø and asked, "Hey, Blitzø. You're the one who came here first for a reason. You should start."

Blitzø looked at Lincoln in surprise, feeling that Lincoln deserved to start since it was he who won the fights and fulfilled the bargain instead of the boss man who took the offer in the first place. Blitzø then turned to Masaru and asked, "Okay, so I just came here for a really simple deal. You all know my business. We settle unfinished business up top for any bitches and assholes looking for a little payback. And after the shit I've seen up in Kabu-cunt-cho, I'm left wondering: why the fuck have we not been getting any clients from that shithole?!"

Lincoln could only cringe as he heard Blitzø's very blunt and rude demand contradicting the formal and respectful behavior of the opposite party in this negotiation. If any of the Little Japan leaders felt any kind of anger at Blitzø's disrespect, they hid it very well, for none of them even twitched an eyebrow.

"Yes, I suppose we can start with that question," said Masaru. "Simply put, we've been working to prevent anyone who comes from Kamurocho, Sotenbori, and other areas where the gokudō have the strongest control over to approach you for business."

"What?!" exclaimed Blitzø in outrage. "What the fuck for?! Why?!"

"Many reasons, actually," said Masaru. "But know that it isn't to sabotage any of your efforts. It may sound hard to believe, but our reasons concern the safety of all of Hell, including yours, your employees, and especially Mr. Loud's."

"… WHAT?!" exclaimed I.M.P.

"No need to shout," complained Rikiya, holding his hands to his ears.

"Wait, so what do you mean your reasons concern everyone's safety?" asked a puzzled Lincoln.

"I'll tell you, but you must promise us that anything we tell you here cannot spread to the rest of Hell," Masaru bargained. "Not yet."

"Of course, we'll know if you do tell anyone else," said Mine.

"But we'd rather offer you the choice first," said Kazama. "Are you all truly ready to cross that point of no return?"

I.M.P. looked at each other nervously and unsurely. Blitzø would normally throw caution to the wind and accept the bargain simply to get some answers, especially now that his interests were piqued by the prospect of the answer pertaining to everyone's life being in danger, especially his and his employees. However, knowing how his most recent stunt with that same mindset and choice hand turned out for him, Blitzø was hesitant to answer the question.

Everyone looked at Lincoln, as if silently asking him if he was ready to obtain the answers. While Lincoln had quite the hefty past few days, he had endured and accomplished so much to get to this point. Feeling that he shouldn't leave empty-handed, he nodded to his coworkers with a reassuring smile, which they returned, before turning to Masaru and Kazama and answering, "Yes, we're ready. We'll keep your information to ourselves until you feel the time is right."

Ryuji smirked and let out a brief chuckle, then said, "Who'da thunk? The kid has more brass balls than so many gokudō I've seen."

"I can think of another child," remarked Mine, thinking back to a little girl who glared at him defiantly.

"Very well, then," said Masaru. "But it's better we start at the beginning. Little Japan had a foundation starting back in 1990. And it was actually thanks to Tachibana starting that foundation."

"After my death in 1988, I used the knowledge and skills I had as the top real estate business back when I was still alive. I used to have a large network of resources, especially in information gathering. That largely contributed to why I ran the largest real estate business to challenge even the Tojo Clan itself."

"Whoa… you went up against one of the largest yakuza groups?" asked an amazed Lincoln.

"Not alone. The man I have to thank for educating me so much in the real estate business is none other than Shintaro Kazama here," explained Tachibana, gesturing to Kazama. Lincoln could already feel a rather extensive and gripping tale with these cast of characters and did his best to restrain himself from any outbursts of amazement until he had a very pressing question to ask. "Our true purpose wasn't to challenge the Tojo Clan in its entirety, but rather one of the largest families that was making a major power play for the Chairman seat."

"Were you aiming to get a shot at that Chairman seat?" Lincoln asked.

"No, not me," said Tachibana. "I may have been some two-bit gangster who rose to be a ruthless real estate businessman, but I never was gokudō. I had been collaborating not only with Kazama, but Masaru, as well."

"Kazama trusted me to become the Third Chairman against the family we aimed to sabotage," clarified Masaru. "They were the Dojima Family. As for why, I'm sure you've met your fair share of people consumed by their greed, gluttonous for all the power in the world. But when small men have the influence that far exceeds the bounds of their intelligence and judgment, there's no stopping the rampage of people like them, drunk on disproportionately large power."

"Unfortunately, I had lost my life before I saw the fruition of my efforts," said Tachibana. "Kazama and Masaru were successful in toppling that large family's efforts to take the Chairman seat, but I couldn't survive long enough to reap the rewards."

Lincoln noticed the tone in Tachibana's voice. After having seen men like him recently, men with strong convictions and fortitude, Lincoln realized that it didn't sound like Tachibana was particularly interested in money or power, especially when the tone of his voice shifted to be a lot more melancholic. "I'm guessing money wasn't the reward?"

"No… my efforts in establishing my real estate business and helping Kazama and Masaru to fight the patriarch of the Dojima Family… was to find my sister."

Both Lincoln and Blitzø did a double take upon hearing that.

"So… so you didn't even get to find her?"

"… I missed her by mere minutes," said Tachibana, looking down and slightly more solemn. "She had spent years searching for me. Me, who abandoned her and committed countless atrocities to survive in the criminal underworld. And the next time she saw me… was my lifeless corpse."

Blitzø looked at Lincoln after hearing that from Tachibana. It was funny in a cosmic sense just how much he could relate to this situation and how strong the possibilities are that things might turn out the same way for him. 'I'd deserve a lot worse,' thought Blitzø.

"After my demise, I woke up down here," said Tachibana. "Things were definitely far more chaotic and violent than the criminal underworld I had grown accustomed to. But starting a new life down here didn't mean I'd lost all that I had learned up above. In a few years, I had managed to build a similar information network that would continue to grow as the years went by. And all of you learned today that I can obtain even the most minute yet crucial details that can be used against my targets."

"How's that even possible?" asked Moxxie. "I mean, I get learning about information we'd post on social media, but how do you accomplish feats like frisking our belongings without us knowing?"

"There's a lot even a mere human can accomplish. Down here, where Sinners and Overlords can accomplish even more due to their demonic powers and abilities, taking your belongings without detection can be as simple as breathing."

"Speaking of which," piped up Mine, who gestured to the box he had brought to the table, "your belongings are in that box. You're welcome to retrieve your equipment when we finish our business here and you all take your leave."

"In any case," continued Tachibana, "now you understand the first part of the overall answer to your question. The information network I had set up and developed throughout the years is crucial to your answers."

"So it has something to do with what you learned?" asked Lincoln.

"Correct. You were told that the reason behind us withholding potential clients pertained to the fate of all of Hell. That's because I happened upon a vital piece of intel… that involves Heaven."

"What?!" gasped a flabbergasted Lincoln, an attitude shared by his team. "What do they have to do with all this?"

"… We've received information that Heaven is conspiring to have all of Hell exterminated in one of their annual Exterminations."

"Okay, okay, you're gonna have to back it up a step or five," said Blitzø, his hands up to motion Tachibana to stop. "How the fuck did you even get intel like that? Last I checked, Sinners and Overlords are trapped here in the Pride Ring, so they can't even get into any other rings in Hell, let alone Heaven itself."

"You are correct. We Sinners and Overlords are confined to the Pride Ring. That is why we employ hellborns who have the capabilities to travel not only to the other rings, but also to Earth."

"Okay… how?"

"The demons we employ undergo a very scrutinizing screening process to ensure we can trust their capabilities and trust to provide us the necessary information without compromising us. But the primary informants we hire… are the homeless."

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" hollered an outraged Blitzø. "They're half the happiness in my life to rub in their faces how successful my team and I are! You're telling me that they're actually making it good too?!"

"They are the perfect candidates to retrieve information without suspicion while also being easily bribed not just with money, but the means to facilitate their efforts in survival, such as food and medicine."

"Fan-fucking-tastic!" shouted Blitzø, slouching in his seat while crossing his arms and pouting.

"Wait, so how do they get information about Heaven, especially information like that?" asked Moxxie.

"You know that some demons have the luxury to be in a profession that allows them to traverse Earth," said Tachibana. "As it turns out, even angels can walk the Earth, some of which involve fallen angels, not unlike Lucifer himself."

"Fallen angels?" asked Lincoln.

"Yes. I'm sure you're aware of the fate of the cherubs your company encountered on your mission to kill Lyle Lipton," said Tachibana, unsettling the team by how much they've been keeping tabs on them.

"Yeah? Wait, so you're saying…?" asked Lincoln, eyes widening in surprise.

"Yes. They have become fallen angels. They aren't the first or even second. Many angels have fallen due to Heaven's strict standards, from letting their person of interest die to even simply speaking against their standards." Lincoln's perception and opinion of Heaven had already been soured greatly by the end of the encounter with the cherubs, but hearing this had made Lincoln even more frustrated with Heaven, as shown by him furrowing his brows and clenching his fists. "Some of the fallen angels our informants encountered on Earth had become disillusioned by Heaven's practices. As such, it wasn't too difficult to coax information from them."

"By coax, you mean…?"

"We didn't torture them, if that's what you're afraid of," said Ryuji. "They gladly came to us with that information, and they gave us plenty to learn about most of Heaven's operations."

"And this relates to the fate of all Hell?"

"Correct," verified Tachibana. "But I couldn't obtain this information all by myself. When it was just me down here, I didn't have the means to obtain information from those fallen angels. Not only that, but even if I were to develop a network that was capable of such a feat, I couldn't do it without compromising my position. I simply didn't have the resources to ensure my operation remained anonymous. Additionally, the little information I could obtain uncovered a conspiracy that was too large for me to handle. That information… involved the fact that Lucifer is allowing these Exterminations."

"So Lucifer does actually let this happen?" Lincoln asked, horrified.

"Yes, but as I said, I didn't have the means to pursue my growth of knowledge in that particular matter. It seemed hopeless for me, but then over a decade later, Masaru, Kazama, and Nishikiyama joined me down here."

With a nod to validate Tachibana's explanation, Kazama explained, "Once we reunited with Tachibana, we contributed our skills and efforts to assist him in growing his network, which would turn into this district you see today. We also ensured that our growth would've been substantial, but not too much that would draw the attention of the highest powers, especially Heaven."

"Two years after Kazama came down here, I showed up," Ryuji added. "I ended up meeting Kazama and Masaru, and they brought me into the loop. With their help, I established that district you saw on the other side of the river."

"Wait, you're in charge of that other district?" asked Lincoln. He then turned to Rikiya and said, "Hang on, you said that these districts are based on the ones controlled by rivaling yakuza groups. Why are they working together if they hate each other?"

"Ah! The point is to create an additional smokescreen," explained Rikiya. "By having two districts that rival each other, whether we duke it out with our fists or with our businesses, we put up a more effective front that the higher powers wouldn't suspect us."

"Of course, in order to create a more feasible illusion, we needed to sustain the businesses in both districts," said Mine. "That's where I came in. Before I came down here, I was the Tojo Clan's treasurer, and all the knowledge and skills I had obtained in finance served me well up above and down below. Two years after Ryuji's arrival, Rikiya and I showed up. We met with Masaru and Kazama, who also found and brought us into their operations. With my knowledge in financing and Rikiya's capability to blend in with the crowd, we enhanced our network even further. Now we could sustain some of the more luxurious establishments to better pass off as attractive tourist locales while having enough demons under us to start random conflicts."

"Wait, so you're using the rivalry between the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance here as a masquerade?" asked a flummoxed Moxxie.

"Half and half, really," answered Ryuji. "Half of it is what we explained. In order to pass off as any other districts with demons none the wiser about Heaven's operations, having a lot of fights between demons on the streets is a great part of that objective. The other half… well, we are gokudō. We just can't resist the challenge to test our might."

"I can respect that," said Millie with a slight smile.

"On top of that, it's also my personal screening process to look for worthy fighters for the underground coliseum."

"Wait, really?" asked Lincoln. "So then those fighters and the crowd…?"

"The fighters are the ones I personally handpicked," said Ryuji. "The crowd, though? They're actually our informants and benefactors."

"Holy…" uttered Lincoln, slumping back in his seat in pure astonishment.

"Yup. If none of you noticed them at any point in your lives, then our informants are doing their jobs well. For any of the richer demons down there, you probably noticed them before but didn't give two shits about 'em. That means they've also been doing their jobs well."

"This is way bigger than I thought," commented Moxxie, placing a hand to his head.

"That's the gist of our foundation," said Mine. "At best, our districts look like tourist attractions. At worst, they're tourist traps filled to the brim with establishments to drain demons of their money and violent hotspots that promise great harm to anyone caught in the crossfire. And we all play a role to fulfill those objectives. You already know Tachibana handles the real estate. I'm the treasurer of both districts. Kazama runs the entire gambling ring of both districts. Nishikiyama runs the entertainment industry outside of the casinos. Rikiya is our top scout in both districts. And Masaru and Ryuji are the leaders and top enforcers of both districts."

"That's our role on the surface," added Nishikiyama. "However, we all play our part in serving the information network. In addition to every information that the homeless learns, with Mine's expertise in the finance world, Tachibana's outreach in his real estate business, the words that reach mine and Kazama's ears from our employees and clients, everything Rikiya learns from the people he meets on the streets, and all that Masaru and Ryuji learns from their connections, we all obtain, correlate, and coordinate information."

"Okay, so what does any of this have to do with holding back potential clients from us?" asked Blitzø impatiently.

The Little Japan leaders stayed silent for a moment before Masaru finally broke the ice. "There are a hefty amount of demons in Little Japan who would want to hire you for revenge on those they have unsettled business with on Earth. However, if there was a huge influx of them hiring your company, that would draw a lot of attention to us. As you all know, we're trying to avoid unnecessary attention from the highest demons and Heaven itself. Furthermore, if your company grew because of us, then those demons and angels will connect us and your company, which would put all of you in danger, especially you, Mr. Loud."

Lincoln felt his heart drop after hearing this admission. Bad enough that these guys actually kept tabs on him and his company almost every second, but now they had the suspicion that he was in danger not just from the highest class of demons in Hell, but also the angels in Heaven? His team turned to him in worry, with Millie and Loona even getting closer to try and console him, and even Blitzø suddenly felt that he didn't need any clients from Little Japan.

"So, what… are you all looking out for him?" Loona asked.

"Our interest in Mr. Loud is for several reasons," said Masaru. "But the main reason is because we believe he has a vital role to play in the future regarding the safety of Hell and Heaven."

"And you're trying to rope him into this bullshit?!" questioned Millie, hugging Lincoln close to her.

"Believe me, if we had any control over this situation, we would've made sure you or Mr. Loud never heard of us and got involved with any of this," said Tachibana. "But certain events are setting the stage for the incoming storm."

"And what would they be?" asked Lincoln.

"One event that started all of this… is the Princess of Hell starting her project in that hotel," answered Kazama.

"Wait, so Princess Charlie's project to rehabilitate Sinners is what's causing Heaven to try and kill everyone?"

"Not directly. And not entirely. But since she is the Princess of Hell, she'll be taking the brunt of the storm, especially since her project is focusing on enabling demons to rise to Heaven. There's another major event that has happened recently that started this: the death of an Exorcist."

"WHAT?!" shouted I.M.P., once again to Rikiya's displeasure.

"Can you please keep it down?!" begged Rikiya, his hands in his ears.

"Sorry!" whispered an apologetic Lincoln, who then turned to Kazama. "But wait, an Exorcist died?!"

"I thought they were supposed to be invincible!" added Millie.

"We all thought that," said Tachibana. "But one of our informants witnessed the death of an Exorcist by the hands of an Overlord: Carmilla Carmine."

"Haaaaaa…?" exhaled a speechless Moxxie.

"How…?" inquired a bewildered Millie.

"Think," ordered Kazama. "Can you not think of any kind of specialized weapon that is feared by many?"

Almost as if the gears in all of I.M.P.'s heads were turning in complete synchronization, they all turned to each other and exclaimed at the same time, "Blessed weapons?!"

"Yes…" confirmed Kazama. "Carmilla always carries her own blessed weapon. And now she has proven that they can fell angels in addition to Sinners and Overlords."

"But what made her do that?" asked Lincoln.

"A very simple reason," said Kazama, who then turned to Millie. "One I'm sure you could fully understand." Millie raised an eyebrow and tilted her head in confusion before Kazama continued, "Her children were in danger… and she was the only one who could step in to save them. Surely you understand a mother's desire to protect her child?"

Millie's eyes widened in surprise at that response before she turned to Lincoln with a saddened expression. She then pulled him into a hug, although thankfully not the kind that left Lincoln gasping for air. As such, Lincoln leaned into her embrace, knowing full well how much she sympathized with the sentiment that Kazama described.

"However," started Masaru, "Carmilla had stirred the hornet's nest with that attack. Our intel afterwards said that Heaven wasn't going to allow this to go unpunished, which confirmed our suspicions of Heaven intending to genocide Hell. Or rather, specifically, the leader of the Exorcists who intends to genocide Hell: Adam."

"Wait, Adam?!" asked a shocked Lincoln. "As in the First Man Adam? That Adam?"

"That is correct," said Kazama.

If Lincoln didn't hate Heaven already, he was practically fuming at the mere thought of them now. So much so, he couldn't stop himself from voicing that frustration. "Then why is Princess Charlie even trying to rehabilitate Sinners?! At this point, I'd say Hell is better than Heaven!"

Lincoln was almost panting and seething through his teeth as he finished his last exclamation. In fact, Lincoln's anger was noticeable enough that his sclera was starting to turn black before he realized the words he yelled, causing him to drop his angered expression to be horrified for a brief moment before slumping with a depressed expression. Once again, Millie brought him in for a comforting hug, followed by Moxxie and Loona placing a comforting hand on Lincoln while Blitzø looked at Lincoln in actual pity. The hellborns may not view Heaven favorably, but they also felt that Lincoln didn't deserve to live in a place like Hell with all its horrors and dangers, and hearing Lincoln express disgusted outrage towards a realm that supposedly housed good souls like his made his coworkers feel very uneasy that he was embracing more of the darker nature as opposed to the kind-hearted nature that they've come to love about him.

"Heheh," chuckled Ryuji, taking a swig of his alcoholic beverage. "So the innocent boy has truly cursed Heaven's name… what a world we live in…"

"Then I suppose we should offer him consolation with another intel we retrieved about Heaven," suggested Kazama.

"And what would that be?" asked Moxxie, almost with a challenging tone.

Masaru stared intently for a moment before saying, "Not all of Heaven is even aware of the Extermination, let alone the conspiracy."

"Wait, so only the bigwigs in Heaven know about that?" asked Blitzø.

"Perhaps even less, according to our intel," said Masaru. "Some of the fallen angels who ended up serving as our informants were actually unaware of the Exterminations. Those who do know, however, provided us some crucial information. There is one prominent figure in Heaven besides Adam who is not only aware of the Extermination, but is also permitting it. She is the High Seraphim of Heaven. Her name is Sera."

"Wait, Sera?!" Lincoln blurted out. "As in—?!"

"Yes," said Masaru, closing his eyes. "Just like my name. It's only pure coincidence we share the same name. It's also why I asked you to call me Masaru. Ever since I learned the name of the angel who would allow such a decree, I had to change how everyone would refer to me to disassociate from her."

"Yeah, I can't even imagine," said Lincoln. "I mean, my parents named me after a politician, but that's only because the President and the First Lady at the time helped deliver me when my parents couldn't make it to the hospital."

"Wait, really?!" exclaimed a surprised Moxxie.

"Yeah… Clyde and I spent the whole day trying to figure out how I was born when my parents couldn't get their stories straight and my older sisters told me a bunch of weird details that made no sense until I finally got context from my parents. Aaaannnd that's all I'm gonna say on that cause my parents swore under oath to not tell anyone else about that and I have to honor that."

'Oh, I'm so gonna grill him for the details,' thought Lincoln's coworkers amusedly at the same time.

"But anyways," said Lincoln, turning back to Masaru. "You said that the High Seraphim named Sera is the one approving the Extermination?"

"Yes," confirmed Masaru. "We also learned that the reason behind the Extermination wasn't just for overpopulation control."

"Oh Satan, what's the reason?" asked an exasperated Moxxie, feeling that he's had ten too many bombshells today.

"… Sera actually fears an uprising from Hell," informed Masaru.

"An uprising?" questioned Millie.

"That's right. If all of Hell were to find out that angels can be slain by demons, then an uprising and invasion into Heaven is not a possibility, but a certainty. Think about it. Hell has been plagued by the Exterminations for several millennia. And now Hell has the chance to take revenge for all that."

"Honestly," added Nishikiyama, "I can understand Sera's fears."

"Not just her either," said Mine. "Even Lucifer himself fears that uprising, which is part of why he agreed to the Exterminations."

"Wait, so what does Lucifer have to fear about an uprising?" asked Lincoln. "I mean, wouldn't he be all for it?"

"You would think that," said Kazama, "if you believe the stories you're told on Earth."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You need to understand who Lucifer truly is to understand the reason behind this deal." Kazama took a drink from his glass before continuing, "I'm sure you're aware of the beginning when God had created Adam and Eve. However, Eve was not the first woman. It was actually Lilith, who you might have learned was the mother of Princess Charlie and current wife of Lucifer."

"Oh… I mean, I heard about her, but didn't know or look into that detail," said Lincoln, scratching his head. "Then again, I'm still learning a lot about Hell, and I always prioritized the information that'll help me survive."

"Understandable. Lilith was intended to be Adam's first wife, but she didn't like how he kept treating her as lesser. She escaped from Adam and came across Lucifer. Lucifer was once an angel, but unlike his fellow angels, he had radical ideas that they disapproved of. However, his last idea was to spread free will to humanity. Do you recall the story when the serpent tempted Adam and Eve to eat the Fruit of Knowledge?" Lincoln nodded quietly at that in slow realization. "Lucifer only wanted to share the gift of free will, but in doing so, the very concept of evil came into existence. As punishment, the angels banished Lucifer and Lilith into Hell, where they were in charge of housing the worst that humanity had to offer."

"Wow… there's always two sides to a story, huh?" asked Lincoln contemplatively.

With a nod, Kazama continued, "As time went on, Lucifer eventually lost hope in his dreams. He continued seeing the worst of humanity and how they abused his gift of free will, which is partly the reason why he accepted the deal with the angels to make the Extermination an annual tradition. To get rid of the humans he once put faith in that had betrayed his trust."

"That's horrible…" whispered Lincoln, trying to comprehend the truth he was being presented.

"It's the unfortunate reality," said Ryuji. However, he furrowed his brows in irritation before saying, "If you ask me, though… I'd say he's being a sad, pathetic sack of shit."

"What?!"

"Yeah… Heaven did him really dirty there and crushed his dreams. I'd be a little sympathetic to that. Hell, I sympathize with how he feels about us humans who abused his gift of free will. But now his daughter is trying to do right by him and us, and he can't even get his shit together for his own daughter."

"Wait, he's not even helping his daughter?"

"Hell, no!" grunted Ryuji. "He's supposed to be the ruler of Hell, yet he's holed up in his palace, wallowing away, making rubber ducks, and feeling sorry for himself! Meanwhile, his daughter is trying to pursue her dreams to help her fellow demons and all she has are a bunch of crazy misfits as company! At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up calling them family more than her own father. And that's not to mention that her mother hasn't been seen for seven years."

"Wait, Lilith isn't even in Hell?"

"We don't know if she's in or out of Hell," said Tachibana. "Our informants are also on the lookout for her, but they've yet to uncover even a whisper of her last sighting."

"Still, that doesn't change the fact that her father is practically a deadbeat," said Ryuji.

"Christ on a stick, does everyone have daddy issues?" asked Blitzø, to which Moxxie shuffled slightly and uncomfortably.

After taking some time to process all that was told to him, Lincoln continued the conversation, "You said that Sera fears an uprising from Hell and thus approved the annual Extermination that Adam is in charge of."

"Correct," affirmed Kazama. "And Lucifer agreed to this deal as long as the only targets are the Sinners and Overlords while the hellborns are left alone."

"Oh… so we were actually safe from the Exorcists the whole time?" asked Millie.

"By definition, yes, but I'm sure all of you were wise enough to not test that theory."

"Yeah, fair enough," agreed Moxxie.

"However, as I said before, our intel shows that Carmilla's actions have pushed Adam and Sera to try and exterminate all of Hell. Unfortunately," said Kazama as he leaned on his cane he held in front of him, eyes closed in deep thought, "based on all that I've heard from fallen angels and their reports about Heaven's operations, I've come to believe that they may even create some kind of justification to begin the Extermination earlier than scheduled."

"What?! But that's so unfair!" shouted an outraged Lincoln, but then thought about all his exposure to Heaven's malpractice. "What am I saying?! Of course they'd do that! After everything I heard so far?!" With a frustrated exhale, Lincoln leaned his elbows on the table while hanging his head slightly as Moxxie, Millie, and Loona offered a comforting hand on his back and shoulders. After a few seconds, he turned his attention back to Kazama and Masaru and asked, "So then what's the plan now that you have all this knowledge? I mean, besides getting more information…"

"I'm afraid this is where things get complicated," said Kazama.

"What do you mean?" asked an abashed Lincoln, who was not liking where this conversation might be going. "Aren't you going to try and help her after all that?"

"I'm afraid we can't," said Masaru.

"What?! Why not?!" shouted Lincoln, standing up suddenly and slamming his hands on the table, not caring about the attention he was drawing. The other patrons of the bar and the bartenders turned to the source of the immediate commotion. Lincoln's coworkers flinched back in surprise at his sudden outrage, but the leaders of Little Japan didn't even move so much as a muscle. In fact, all that changed from them is that they closed their eyes in resignation.

"Believe me when I say that we support her goals. However, getting involved with her project right now would do her more harm than good," stated Masaru, placing his elbows on the table and interlocking his fingers while resting his chin on them.

"What do you mean?!"

"If we were to approach her and offer her our support," started Masaru, "she, the Princess of Hell, who has no idea if her goal to redeem Sinners is truly possible, would gladly accept our help. And we, with our power, influence, and resources, would unintentionally hijack her project and hotel as a base for our operations that would be legitimized by her."

"… I'm sorry, but I don't get it," said Lincoln, both at a loss and impatient.

"Princess Charlie has no respect or support from her subjects," said Kazama. "Even those who are with her in that hotel have little faith in her outside of her closest friend. If we came out into the open to support her, then the best case scenario is that we would be the ones who gain that respect and support from the other demons, not her. I mentioned before that a clash with Heaven is most likely inevitable. Now that we know that angels can be killed, we're the ones with the resources and the willingness to fight them. If we lose, then all of Hell is in danger. If we win, then the demons have their eyes on us instead of her."

"So, you're saying that she needs to prove herself?" asked Lincoln incredulously.

"Is it that hard to believe?" asked Ryuji. "Look at what you've accomplished just now. You proved your worth with your fists. And now you got our respect and all the answers you were looking for. The Princess? She has an unwavering belief in her noble goals, even after her embarrassing interview, which I respect. But she needs to prove her convictions with her power."

"It's not just our way either," Tachibana chimed in, who then turned to Blitzø. "This is also how it is almost everywhere else in Hell. After all, was it not your show of power and convictions that won over Millie when you hired her?"

"Okay, seriously, how long have you been stalking us?!" asked Blitzø, feeling very uncomfortable at how they continuously show just how much they know about him and his employees.

"The moment you rented out that office space that is now your headquarters," answered Tachibana. "After all, we keep an eye on any person of interest, and what could be more interesting than those of the lowest dregs breaking that glass ceiling?"

"Um… okay, actually kinda flattered, but still fucking creeped out."

"From that point on, it was a simple matter of digging for details of all your pasts."

"But back to the topic at hand," said Ryuji. "Lincoln Loud… you've seen enough of Hell to know that this realm is full of thick-headed demons."

"… More than I'd like to admit," conceded Lincoln, drooping back into his seat.

"And you've been in enough assassination missions and a few fights to know that some people are unreasonable."

"… Yeah…"

"Words alone are not gonna win those minds. Action will. And the Exorcists may be the opponents that Princess Charlie needs to gain the right support for her project. And to give hope to those who desperately need and want it."

"Without that power," interjected Nishikiyama, contemplating something in deep thought, "those below you would take advantage of you. If that goes on for too long, you'll end up crossing the line and losing sight of what's important to you."

"You'll keep digging your heels," said Mine, "even to the point of sacrificing the ones you love. At that point, you need someone stronger both morally and physically to beat the shit out of you to show how wrong you are."

"And until Princess Charlie understands that and proves herself," continued Ryuji, "we can't offer her any kind of help."

Lincoln felt nothing but despair upon hearing everything just now. A great calamity is most likely upon them and some of the strongest and influential demons he met won't offer any kind of support to Princess Charlie due to reasons that are pragmatically sound but almost morally bankrupt. As much as Lincoln wanted to vocally oppose this plan, he knew that the leaders of Little Japan had a very valid point. Demons are too selfish and obstinate to listen to reason unless they're put in their place by someone stronger, and even then, that's not always a guarantee. Heck, he'd seen that be the same case on Earth with the few fights he got into in Kamurocho.

With no other argument to support his case, Lincoln slumped back and defeatedly asked, "So then why tell me all this?"

"Because," Masaru began, "I believe you are crucial to helping Princess Charlie rise."

"… Pardon?"

"We cannot help her because of our power and influence. You, on the other hand, are an unknown variable who shares the same compassion and love as Princess Charlie. We know you can't look the other way to her plight, especially if the approaching storm involves the death of all of Hell, which includes your beloved coworkers you've come to call family, as well as the other friends you've made."

"Wait… so you're saying it's not gonna be a bad thing if I get involved with her?"

"Not necessarily. Because your kindness is as strong on the outside as it is the inside, demons would automatically dismiss you, just as they do with the Princess. That makes you the perfect candidate to approach her in support of her goal."

"Both of you are kindred spirits," stated Kazama. "She may have the support of her closest friend, but she could use another. And after all the power you've displayed in the coliseum, you will be more than capable of helping her emerge victorious in the fight against the angels. When she wins that fight, some demons will finally start respecting her. We can finally show ourselves to her… and we can finally give some of our own the chance at redemption… the chance they deserve."

"So there are demons here who want a shot at redemption, huh?" asked Lincoln, looking around the bar at the other patrons and employees.

"Yes, but as I said before, Princess Charlie needs to prove herself," said Kazama. "There's no purpose in sending some of our demons who need redemption, only to ultimately learn that redemption was nothing but false hope. There are only a few things worse than failing those who counted on you."

"Take Rikiya here," Ryuji pointed out. "Guy's down here cause he was gokudō. But the man died by sacrificing himself for his aniki and some kids. If anyone deserves a chance at redemption, it's him."

"Yeah, I can definitely believe that," remarked Lincoln.

"So if you all can finally come out in the open, then can I expect more clients?" asked Blitzø.

"… I'm afraid that's a very complicated matter," answered Masaru. "But to put it simply, the answer would be no."

"Oh, come on! Why the fuck not?!" shouted an irate Blitzø.

"Because that ain't how it works in the gokudō," argued Ryuji. "A bunch of demons here in Little Japan are gokudō. We take matters into our own hands. And if one sad sack of shit of ours even dared to try and hire you… we'd be taking our sweet time reminding him that he's gokudō."

"Of course, the exception ended up being the one yakuza who hired you to take out an imposter mascot," said Tachibana.

"Oh yeah," said Lincoln, remembering that mission. "Now that you bring that up, how did that even happen under your watch?"

"Initially, we were going to apprehend him and his wife. However, Kazama stopped us and allowed that yakuza to meet with you."

"Really? Why him specifically?"

"Given the circumstances at the time," said Masaru, "we figured it was time to bring you into the fold."

"Wait a minute… are you saying that you turned that moment into an opportunity to meet with Lincoln?" asked a perturbed Moxxie.

"It was actually Kazama's idea," affirmed Masaru, turning to the red demon. "Kazama realized that moment could start the chain of events that would enable your company, and especially Mr. Loud, to come seek us out."

"Okay, I call bullshit on that," interjected Loona. "No way you could've known everything would turn out this way."

"You don't run one of the largest organized criminal empires deep-rooted into a country's culture without having foresight like this. You all know that we have been keeping an eye on you since your rise to a legitimate company. This especially became more vital when Mr. Loud entered your lives." Masaru turned to Blitzø before continuing, "Your ability as a manager is very erratic and almost unpredictable, but Kazama knew that you wouldn't resist the chance for additional profit. We also knew about your ventures up to Kamurocho since the popstar Verosika Mayday hired you. And after your second visit for leisurely purposes, Kazama knew it was only a matter of time before you started to get curious about the lack of clients from that part of the Earth. One thing led to another and you all know the rest."

"Jesus, Linc, you got some real competition as The Man With The Plan," Loona said to the boy.

"After hearing all that, I doubt I even come close to being competition," said a very impressed Lincoln.

"You're still young, Mr. Loud," said Kazama kindly. "You have a lot of growing up to do. But I have no doubt your skills will grow immensely."

"That's nice of you to say," said Lincoln, moved by Kazama's words. "Wait…" Lincoln then turned to Ryuji. "You said you dealt with any yakuza that made a deal with us. So then… that yakuza who hired our company to take out that imposter mascot…

"Don't worry, we're not gonna kill him," answered Ryuji. "But he is still gokudō, and we have to remind him what he signed up for. Being gokudō means you gotta deal with shit on your terms or accept your loss, not be some pussy who gets others to fight your battles."

'Oh, that poor guy,' thought a disturbed Lincoln.

"Of course, there are some parasites who don't deserve such luxury," said Mine.

"W-w-what do you mean?" asked Lincoln, dreading the answer.

"Do you recall the kind of parasites Masaru described earlier? The kind whose greed knows no bounds?"

"Yeah…?" said Lincoln hesitantly with a nod. "Hold on, you're not saying you—"

"Yes. You can imagine how people like them would worsen this precarious situation we are currently in regarding Heaven. We had to swiftly deal with them before their greed had the chance to endanger everyone else."

"I… I guess…" said Lincoln, very unsure how to feel.

"And that's not accounting for the parasites that already exist in Hell, such as the Vees," chimed in Tachibana. "Opportunists who might lunge at their chance that would benefit them, completely disregarding the well-being of everyone else. Perhaps even the likes of, let's say… mafia bosses, especially when there are plenty of those in the Greed Ring."

Moxxie could've sworn that he saw Tachibana's pupils slightly shift in his direction despite keeping his face pointed straight at Lincoln. Even more unsettling was Tachibana's example, especially when combined with the fact that he and the others supposedly know almost everything about him and his team, which meant he probably knew about a certain someone in the Greed Ring he hoped to never see again. Moxxie was grateful that Tachibana spared him from the spotlight by not naming anyone and kept his suggestion vague so that the others only got the general picture.

"I heard about the Vees and they already don't sound like good news," said Lincoln. "You're saying that things will get even worse because of them?"

"Yes," verified Kazama. "Do you remember when I told you about Sera fearing an uprising?" Lincoln nodded again, prompting Kazama to continue, "We've been keeping an eye on the Vees. Miraculously, we've managed without Vox growing wise to our presence despite his power and presence over all electronics and Velvette's social media influence."

"It's also why we confiscated your belongings," said Tachibana. "We couldn't risk Vox listening in on us."

"However," Kazama carried on, "after analyzing their personalities and behaviors, we have speculated that they want to take the fight directly to Heaven and conquer everything."

"Fucking hell, and people call me crazy," commented a stunned Blitzø, though he couldn't help but respect that kind of ambition.

"You know, I thought the same way when I still lived on Earth," asserted Ryuji. "That I would conquer all of the criminal underworld with my own power. But the Vees? They're all talk. They may have some power, but they're too busy bullying the weak. They only got to the top with backstabbing tactics, figuratively and literally. But scheming fucks like them will never stay on top."

"In any case," continued Mine, "when it came to those kind of opportunists from our side on Earth, we took extra measures to ensure they weren't a problem for anyone, especially you and your team, Mr. Loud. People like Sohei Dojima, Shimano, Jingu, Takashima, Kanda, Katsuragi, Munakata, and plenty more. We had to make sure they didn't become a problem for your company and for Princess Charlie."

"Geez… that still seems too extreme," said Lincoln, unable to be comfortable with the heavy implications.

"Well, we are gokudō," noted Nishikiyama with mirth.

"Right… I keep forgetting that's the correct word… 'extreme path,' indeed," commented Lincoln with a sigh.

"Yes, but aside from keeping your company and Princess Charlie safe on our end," continued Kazama, "in the end, we're only delaying the inevitable. It's only a matter of time before they discover the Exorcist's corpse."

"And then they're really gonna shake things up for the worst," Lincoln finished for Kazama.

"Yes," said Masaru. "That was another reason we held back any demons from meeting your company until the time was right. We had to remain anonymous for as long as possible, otherwise the other Overlords would grow wise to our presence and influence. If that happened, they would've forced us to play our hand too early, which was to turn to Princess Charlie. As I said before, approaching the Princess to help her would've been detrimental to her in the long term, which would've also been detrimental to us in the end. By orchestrating a few events to ensure that we met you first, Mr. Loud, and offer you the incentive to assist Princess Charlie accomplish her dreams, our plan can finally come to fruition."

"So now you know everything on our end," Kazama said to all of I.M.P. "I hope this answered most of your questions."

To say that I.M.P. felt overwhelmed by the treasure trove of information they discovered, as well as the content of that treasure, would be one of, if not the biggest understatement of the century. With Blitzø massaging his head, Loona downing a bottle, Moxxie and Millie hugging and silently consoling each other, and Lincoln laying his head on his right hand and leaning on the table, no one could even utter a word about the bombshell they'd received.

Of course, Blitzø was the first to break the uncomfortable silence after a few minutes, although all he could say was, "Fucking Christ on a stick… all I wanted was a simple business deal, but we got roped into the biggest shit storm instead."

Even Moxxie couldn't muster any willpower to snap at his boss with a criticism about how it was his fault for getting into this mess in the first place while Lincoln had to take the initiative to clean it up. Upon hearing the explanation that Blitzø's actions were all anticipated to be part of the chain of events that would lead Lincoln to this Japanese underworld, Moxxie couldn't put any blame on Blitzø since this group would most definitely have founded a way or another to set up a meeting with them.

"Did you all really have to do all this just to see Lincoln?" groaned a mentally exhausted Loona.

"Believe me as I said before," answered Tachibana, "we'd rather we didn't involve someone like Mr. Loud in the first place."

"But you did anyway because you needed his strength?" asked Millie.

"Not just his strength," said Kazama. "His power may grow to unseen heights, but we needed him specifically… because of his kindhearted soul."

"Really?" asked a surprised Lincoln. "I mean, you said before that Princess Charlie and I are kindred souls, but… you needed me for that?"

"When we kept you and your coworkers under surveillance, we had also been observing how you interacted with other demons. Despite how hard it was for you to adjust in the beginning, you're learning and adapting to the ways of Hell. You're slowly but surely shedding your pacifistic nature and embracing the power within you. But most of all, you've not lost yourself in how you form emotional connections with others." Kazama looked to the rest of I.M.P., then continued, "You can all attest to how you made room for Mr. Loud in your hearts, despite your rough exteriors."

"Yes," agreed Moxxie as he and Millie pulled Lincoln into a hug. "He really is the gift that keeps giving."

"That kindness combined with your newfound powers may be the key to saving both Heaven and Hell," said Kazama. "You've proven your convictions in your first mission in Kamurocho, and you've proven it once again today in the coliseum. I believe it's safe to assume you would use your power to assist the Princess and her fellow demons in the upcoming battle against the angels?"

"Yeah, it is," said Lincoln before adorning a determined expression. "I've been interested in that hotel for a while since I saw that commercial. And now that I know my friends and family are in danger, I can't turn a blind eye."

"I'm glad to hear that," said Kazama with a smile, which was supported by everyone else flashing approving smiles. "That time is still far from now, which leaves you plenty of time to spend with your friends and family. After all, I believe you're still developing plans to reconcile with them after last night's debacle?"

"Oh, shoot, I almost forgot about that!" exclaimed Lincoln, double-taking upon realization.

"Seriously, it's fucking scary how you all know that shit! Stop that!" griped Blitzø.

"Well, today was very eventful for you, Lincoln," advocated Moxxie.

"If you're still making plans," Masaru spoke up, "then feel free to use our districts if needed. However, just know that we cannot allow you to invite Prince Stolas, Princess Octavia, and Verosika Mayday into this building without our permission, much less the coliseum."

"In fact, there is more we all would like to discuss further, but I believe our meeting has gone on long enough," said Kazama. "And I know you all need to process everything you learned today and recuperate."

"Yeah, that's an understatement," quipped Lincoln as he and I.M.P. got up to take their leave. "Thanks for everything!"

"You're welcome!" replied Rikiya with a bow, followed by the others bowing their farewells.

Kazama was the first of the leaders of Little Japan to leave the table, then accompanied by Masaru and Tachibana. Kazama then left the bar and entered the elevator to one of the top floors. Afterwards, he exited the elevator and made his way to his office, in which Tachibana closed the door after Masaru entered the office. Kazama then sat at a sofa that was perpendicular to the main desk, which Masaru then took a seat followed by Tachibana taking a seat opposite to Kazama. Kazama sighed as he closed his eyes with his cane in front of him and his hands resting on top of it, as if waiting for something.

Finally got his answer as he heard a caw and felt something land on his hands. Opening his eyes, he saw a black crow perched on his hands, gazing at him with its three red eyes. However, Kazama was not the least bit surprised.

Instead, he said to it, "Mr. Loud is going to be involved, exactly as you hoped." The crow nodded in acknowledgement as its eyes glowed.

-THE END-

Wow, that was a doozy! I had so much fun writing this because of the Yakuza content. However, I couldn't help but notice that by adhering more to the Yakuza-style storytelling with its expository scenes, I ended up making the same mistake Vivziepop did in her comic "Zoophobia," in which there was a segment that was just huge blocks of expository text that was so counterintuitive to her fantastic visual storytelling beforehand.

On a sad note, we are not gonna be seeing an actual crossover with Hazbin Hotel in this specific fic. This is mainly because, just like what TvFan2244 is doing, I'd rather wait until we see more of both Hazbin Hotel and the content of TvFan2244's fic A Loud Among Demons. The most you'll see of Hazbin Hotel are easter eggs and references, but I.M.P. will not be meeting the hotel crew entirely.

Hope you all enjoyed this omake. Once again, please give your support to Akito the Boxer, TvFan2244, Epic-Writer0.1, and last but not least, Chris Savino for The Loud House and Vivziepop for both Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss.