Gamer Of The Multiverse - Book One: Hope & Despair

by DeathlyJazzHands55

Dying a miserable and loathsome death, Jolyne Brooks is given another chance by Loki, God of Mischief, who grants her The System, and sends her to a world in dire need of repair. A world that was once relegated for despair, finds itself in the hands of madness. Now, the world is in the incapable hands of someone with severe imposter syndrome and the powers of a video game.

25. Chpt 23: Cruelty Brings Forth Compassion

Welcome to the climax of Book One. The last two chapters of Hope & Despair. I didn't think we'd be here after 11 months, but here we are. I expected this to take me at least two years, but I guess I surprised myself. Frankly, I'm a little anxious. But, it can fuck right off, because I am not about to get freaked out and walk away for over a month just because I'm a little nervous.

Now, I think that's enough rambling from me. It's time that we finish this shit. Responses to reviews/comments will be at the end of the chapter. Now, let's get into this! This might be my longest chapter yet, or at least a close second or third. So I hope you guys have some free time on your hands. Enjoy!

[-Opening Song: Gambling – By: Syudou-]

"Never in my long time being alive have I ever seen a Vampire like that one before. One that not only was fueled by blood but also used magic—something we only believed The Black Court was capable of. Furthermore, their magic could be cast in the blink of an eye without so much as even a hint of summoning any kind of power behind it. I expected it to be weak. Then the magic that was used blew away an entire building, and all it took was the flick of their wrist. Claimed it was one of their weaker "spells." They called themselves a member of The Emerald Court. I've never heard of them before, but after seeing what I saw back there, I'm glad I hadn't until now, and I don't think I ever want to see them again." – Passage in The Black Staff's Journal.

[Chapter 22: But That Cruelty Brings Forth Compassion]

Seeing cities from a bird's eye view had always been jarring—be it from sitting in a plane and looking out a window to doing vicariously through watching movies and TV shows that displayed such a sight. But to think that she'd experience herself was not something that Jolyne had envisioned ever happening.

Soaring through the sky, the wind blowing through her hair and feeling the sun on her shoulders as she had switched outfits mid-flight into her dress and battle armor in case things got dicey, Jolyne had several thoughts running through her head and all of them had to do with what she was going to say to Makaria.

Jolyne knew full well that there was a good chance that Makaria was going to find out sooner or later about what had happened. That being that Chinatsu had been killed. She also knew it wouldn't have taken very long for Makaria to figure out it was her. Which meant that now she had to try and explain why without making the far stronger System User out of the two them angry.

She knew full well that if the two of them got into a fight, Makaria would kill her instantly. She wasn't stupid enough to believe that just because she had recently gotten a tremendous power boost that she was anywhere on the level of someone who was level 150 and had been in the same world for 2,000 years. That would be 2,000 years worth of power accumulation. 2,000 years of upgrading Requirement Stats and when that was done, using stat tokens to increase the stats of one's regular stats. Powering up without having to level up. There was no telling just how much stronger Makaria actually was.

And that was something that Jolyne wasn't planning on finding out.

It didn't take her that long to finally get to where she needed to be, that being an abandoned hospital in the Osaka region of Japan. The building looked to have been around for easily over 80 years.

When Jolyne landed atop the roof, she did so with Makaria having her back faced to her. The moment her foot grazed the dirty concrete ground underneath her, her wings folding back into her body, Makaria looked over her shoulder, her eyes having an unreadable gleam in them; much like the rest of her face when she turned around with her hands behind her back.

"Would you like to know a fun fact about this building?" Makaria began as Jolyne raised an eyebrow. She wasn't given a chance to speak as Makaria continued. "Back when I was living as Karou Hisakawa, I gave birth to a stillborn child here."

"That's awful…" Jolyne said, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.

"Quite. I was devastated for weeks," Makaria said, her expression twisting into one of a mix of various degrees of shame, anger, and frustration. "As Hisakawa, that was one of the very few times I fell in love with a human. His name was Koichi Hisakawa. I recently visited him in his old folks home—though, I suppose recent for you and for me are two very separate things."

"Why tell me this?" Jolyne asked, confusion lacing her tone as Makaria looked up at Jolyne, her expression returning to that original unreadable one from before.

"Because I was the reason why this Hospital got shutdown," Makaria said a dark aura fluttered around her body. "I am a Soul Raiser. Meaning I can resurrect dead souls and put them to use. One of the spells I acquired through levelling up my Spell Level was called Awaken Spirit. I could resurrect 100 spirits in a surrounding 20 meter radius of me."

"I blamed the staff that the hospital for failing to save my baby, my precious Katsu…" Makaria muttered bitterly as the dark aura around her dissipated as her expression morphed into sadness. "In my grief and my anger, I slaughtered everyone in the building. Doctors, nurses, surgeons, patients, visitors—everyone. To this day, nobody knows why it got shut down, aside from myself, of course."

Makaria's expression then twisted into one of a scowl, frustration dancing in her eyes. "That was when I realized that, despite my disposition, despite my callous disregard and what I thought was maturity and despite my age, I was still a child… That even if I may physically have been older, I hadn't truly aged a day!" Makaria spat, vitriol in her voice as her right hand clenched into a fist. "I died when I was 14—barely into my high school years. My life robbed from me due to petty paranoia. My parents were afraid of me. Thought me too good at their own game, so they had me assassinated. When it happened—when my body hit the floor—the last thing I saw was my father standing over me, smiling. I didn't hear what he said, but it doesn't matter now."

"Why are you telling me this?" Jolyne asked again as Makaria scowled.

"Be quiet. Let me finish," Makaria bit out as Jolyne flinched. After a tense few seconds, Makaria continued. "I felt betrayed. Hestia, the God that offered me a second chance, took pity on me. While I could never get the revenge I so desperately desired against the people I thought finally wanted to see me for the first time in person—tricking me into thinking that we were all going to finally have a dinner together as a family, only for my father to pull a gun on me and kill me—that at least I would be reborn into a family that did care about me."

A small scoff fell out of Makaria as she wiped a tear from her left eye. "I was foolish to believe that…" Makaria then paused, inhaling sharply before exhaling. "But I escaped that family, and with the help of a wonderful lady named Diamond, I was able to leave the world I was reborn into and came here. The rest is history."

That was something that she hadn't been expecting. Makaria wasn't native to this world? That made sense, seeing as she could only reincarnate as a human here, but still…. "Whoever that Diamond person was must've been another member of The Seven, right?" Jolyne asked as Makaria nodded.

"You would be correct. Yes, Diamond was a member of The Seven. Although I don't know what's become of her now, but who knows? Maybe you'll run into her some day," Makaria noted as she put her hands behind her back. "Now, all of that was to say that I know what Chinatsu must've felt. Losing family, no matter how close they are to you, will bring out every kind of negative emotion and it won't let you go. Not until you fill the void that's left behind by that family member's absence."

Makaria's expression shifted once again into cold neutrality. "I also know full well that you did what you had to do in order to survive. While I am disappointed that it ended with Chinatsu being dead, there is nothing that I can do about it now. Besides, as harsh as it may sound, it is more beneficial that you are alive and she is not."

Jolyne raised an eyebrow, tilting her head slightly to the right. "Huh? Wait, what? Why?" Jolyne said as Makaria smirked.

"Well, you're a member of The Seven. I don't think I should have to explain it to you," Makaria said as Jolyne frowned. She knew that, but why would Makaria care? What wasn't she telling her? "Now then, I suppose I should get to the point as to why you're really here."

"You mean that whole spiel wasn't why you called me over here?" Jolyne replied, sarcasm dripping from her words as a faint smile tugged at Makaria's lips.

"You know, you remind me so much of myself when I was younger. Care free, a lot more livelier, too…." Makaria noted before clearing her throat as she pulled her hands back toward her front, before waving them in Jolyne's direction. As soon as she did a pop-up appeared in front of her. It was a direct transfer of funds—at least, a pending one, anyway.

And it was in the billions. 4.5 Billion to be exact, which if she converted into any other form western currency, it would be somewhere in the tens of millions.

"Wha—"

"All of that money is yours, but only if you do one thing for me. It would barely put even a dent in my generational coffers so don't think much of it," Makaria said as Jolyne's mind ran loops around itself trying to register just how much money Makaria would have to have in order for that to not dent her wealth.

Then again, what was she to expect? 2,000 years worth of living wasn't going leave you dirt poor, now was it?

The pop-up disappeared as the transfer of funds was denied from the offering party, as Jolyne's expression hardened. "Alright, I'm listening. Whaddya want?"

"Simple: Thanks to my observations, and thanks to a recent stealth operation that I had done on The Kuzuryu Compound, I have come to the conclusion that it needs to be destroyed. It blooms with Madness like a festering grape, and it needs to be squashed underfoot. The Lord of Frenzied Flame is more than likely planning on using them as some kind of army. So, if we get rid of them…"

"We get rid of her army," Jolyne concluded. "Well, it wasn't like I wasn't already planning on getting rid of them. I just need a couple days to prepare and I should be able to do it. These last few days have been nothing but hell and I need to relax and unwind."

"That is fair. I will give you two days, and I'll contact you in the middle of the night. It would be best to launch an attack when they are at their most vulnerable. After all, no one, not even the mightiest of Yakuza, would expect an attack on their compounds at Midnight. Especially amidst an era of peace like the one this world is currently in," Makaria replied as Jolyne felt a wave of relief wash over her.

"Finally, a break." And by break, she meant it. She wasn't even going to grind. She was gonna sit on her ass and do nothing for two days straight aside from taking Kotoko to school. She was going to enjoy every last second of it, too.

"Got it," Jolyne said as she turned to leave. But, before she did, Makaria suddenly appeared beside her. She didn't even have time to process that she was there when Makaria wrapped an arm around her shoulder, forced her down just a tiny amount, making her stare into her eyes.

As she did, Jolyne caught a glimpse of a sight that bore itself into her mind. Makaria's crimson red eyes now glowed vibrantly, and the whites of her eyes turned a chilling shade of blue. From just a glimpse, she saw something that caused a chill to cascade down her spine.

There's a saying that the eyes were a window to the soul. But for Makaria, it wasn't just a window to a soul. It was a window to a million souls. A million, helpless, terrified souls that were seemingly trapped within her.

Jolyne recalled that she too could hold souls within herself, given that she gets strong enough to eventually uses Rivers of Blood. But, if this was what awaited her, then she wanted no part of it.

It was like a sea of death. And what made it even worse was that when Makaria spoke, her voice dripped with malice so intense that it stunned Jolyne in place.

"Just so that we're clear, Brooks, now that I have you here, I want to make sure you understand that just because you are a part of The Seven that doesn't mean that you are not better than I am. You are, and forever will be, lesser than I am. As far as you should be concerned, I own you along with the rest of this world. At the drop of a dime I could turn your life on its head and take away all that you love and cherish. So if I think at any moment you might try and slight me, I will take that as a sign of you wanting to destroy me. So next time, when you do something like, say, kill someone who I want to keep alive, just know that I will destroy you."

When Makaria let go, her expression changed to that of what it was normally—that being a blank, emotionless gaze that displayed nothing of her true self. "I believe that is all for now. Enjoy your break." Then, just like that, Makaria was gone.

Jolyne snapped herself out of the funk that she had gotten herself into, before she narrowed her eyes. "So, that's how it is?" Jolyne thought as a scowl marred her expression. She should've known that something like that was going to happen.

However, there was something that she had said that had bothered her. Something about having been reminded of herself. Obviously, Makaria wasn't always like this. After peering into her eyes like that so intently, Jolyne saw that there were layers and layers of trauma built behind her eyes. The eyes of someone who had seen and done so many horrific things just to get by.

But why? And more importantly what was it that she had done, or, better yet, what was it that had happened to her to make her the way that she was?

The only thing that Jolyne knew for sure was that Makaria was old. She also seemed tired. Tired of something but Jolyne didn't know for sure what she was tired of. Whatever the case was, Jolyne wanted to find out. Wanted to know what it was so that she could help her.

Yes, Makaria threatened her, but there was something in her voice that told Jolyne it was a bluff. At least, that was what she hoped was the case. She had looked on the cynical side of things too much for one evening, so she chose to look on the bright side for once.

"Whatever, I've done too much thinking for one day…" Jolyne thought, but, before she could teleport back to her dorm apartment, another pop-up appeared in front of her. This time, it was a quest. Specifically, it was a story quest.

[Story Quest: Topple The False Emperor]

[Difficulty: Hard]

[Description: The Kuzuryu Clan has become ripe with Madness, and with it, The Lord of Frenzied Flame plans to capitalize on it. One of their top commanders will be there. Snuff both them and The Kuzuryu Clan out before it is too late.]

[Kuzuryu Clan Members Killed: 000/600]

[Mini-Bosses Killed: 0/2]

[Remembrance Boss Killed: 0/1]

[Rewards: 5 Levels, 1.1 Million Yen, 1 Mythical Armor Token]

Jolyne smirked. "Five more levels, more money, and another piece of Mythical Armor. Can't say it's a bad thing, now can I?" Jolyne thought as she dismissed the quest from view. Her mouth felt dry, and she felt thirsty. She looked down off the side of the roof and saw some guy who she cared not put the appearance of to her mind assaulting some woman.

She supposed she could go for a drink, couldn't she?

Jumping down from the roof of the hospital, her wings folding out of her back as they slowed her descent before landing just a few feet away from where the assault was taking place. As she approached closer, neither of them had noticed her coming closer. The woman was fighting for her dignity, scratching and clawing at the man's face.

White hair and light-grey eyes were her most notable features. She looked young, maybe in her early twenties, and she was calling out a name. She couldn't hear what that name was until she got closer.

"CHINATSU! HELP ME! PLEASE—"

"Shut up, ya dumb bitch, ain't no one gonna help ya!" The overpowering brute snarled. Jolyne frowned. That woman knew Chinatsu… Well, that was upsetting. Regardless, she wasn't going to let the poor woman be assaulted, so without saying a word, Jolyne approached the man, who finally cast her a look of confusion, and before he could say or do anything, Jolyne grabbed him by the throat and threw him into the street.

The woman gasped, but Jolyne paid her no mind. She then turned back over to the man, who was slowly getting up, snarling as he did. "Who the fuck do you—"

"Die," Jolyne spat, as she raised her hand toward the sky as blood began to fly out of the man's eyes, nose, ears, and mouth and toward Jolyne. The blood flew into her mouth like a thin facet of water, and before she knew it the man was completely drained of blood and was nothing but a mummified husk.

In the corner of her eye, she got a notification that she gained 1 Physical Strength and 1 Blasphemy, which confirmed her theory about gaining extra power from draining people. Jolyne then looked over her shoulder, as the woman stared at her with wide eyes, before stammering out "Y-you're a vampire…"

"I am. What of it."

"Chinatsu… she said she was going to go kill a Vampire…"

"Yes. Yes she did, didn't she. Yet, I live." Jolyne said before sighing, a saddened expression taking up her visage. "I am sorry for your loss."

"No…" Tears formed in the woman's eyes as she fell to her knees. Jolyne felt awful but there was nothing that could be done about it. Instead, she tried to offer solace.

"I'll have you know I offered her mercy," Jolyne said as the woman continued to cry, her sobs becoming louder with each second. "She rejected that mercy—rejected whatever chance she had to come home and back to you. She wanted revenge more than she wanted anything else. I am not responsible for her stupidity that led to her death."

Maybe she was being too callous, but it was the truth. Sometimes, the truth hurt. The woman's tears grew louder, and that was when Jolyne took her leave. She knew, deep in her bones, that she wanted to comfort the woman. But she also knew that the woman would not have accepted any kind of comfort from the person who murdered their other half.

And on that sour note, Jolyne went home.

Meanwhile, back in Tokyo, specifically Akihabara, within a small maid café in the corner most region of the city, a group of three school-aged students watched as a suit man was seemingly being bullied by a girl with strawberry blond hair done up in twin drills, wearing a tight-fitting black shirt with a push-up bra underneath, and a dangerously short red mini-skirt accompanied by a tie that was far too long for its own good.

The girl kicked the man in the stomach, who had previously got into her face and had been screaming about something being her fault. The three girls didn't know what to do other than to watch. All the while the girl simply laughed at the man's misery.

"Hrk!" Higuchi Kuzuryu grunted as he dropped down to one knee, coughing as saliva splattered to the floor. Why? Why him? Why any of this? He didn't understand, where did it all go wrong? He looked up, and saw the woman behind his problems. He felt a savage rage build in his chest as he glared up at the smug grin that took up the face of one Enoshima Junko. "You… you bitch!"

"Aw, look~! The little baby is crying," Junko taunted, and it was true. Sort of. Higuchi wasn't crying per se, he was simply being overly emotional and that prompted tears to well up in his eyes.

"Shut up! It's your fault that my clan has fallen into disrepair!" Higuchi spat, anger dripping from his every word as Junko suppressed a laugh that came out in short breathes.

"Puh-hu-hu-hu~! Please, it was you who came to my front door, right? So let's be real here, you did this to yourself, loser," Junko retorted, shrugging her shoulder as Higuchi slowly came to his feet, his expression twisting into a sneer. As he did, Junko frowned, rubbing the side of her head as she glanced over her shoulder at Mukuro, who was standing behind her and off to the right, reading something.

"Muki! Deal with this guy, will ya? Something happened and I gotta go figure out what," Junko bemoaned as Mukuro frowned, sitting up straight. Just as she did, she closed the book that she was reading. The Tome of Frenzy.

It was a religious text that The Flame used to indoctrinate people into becoming a devote follower of The Flame of Frenzy. It also had the ritual inscribed within its texts on how to bring The Three Fingers into the world. Or, at least, a Three Fingers.

The Three Fingers were not Frenzy. They were merely messengers, not direct manifestations of them. Beings long-since abandoned by their fickle mothers, according to the notes left behind by one Kamakura Izuru. Summoning them required at least one unfrenzied sacrifice to have The Three Fingers appear.

It wasn't exactly a clean ritual—nothing revolving around The Flame ever was—but Mukuro liked it. She rarely, if ever, got to sate her killing urge. Back on the battlefield with Fenrir it was only ever when they were hired. But when Mukuro got fed up with Fenrir and slaughtered them all, and when she returned home, she felt as if her life had no meaning.

Then Junko returned in her life. She showed her The Flame. Gave her a taste of its power. Now she was entirely devoted.

Just as her and Junko crossed each others paths, Junko placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, stopping her mid stride and whispered. "Listen. I can't keep that stupid charade up for long. Figure your shit out, or accept The Flame. We both know that the bluff ain't gonna work for forever."

"I'll be fine. Our biggest threat is currently locked up in the dungeon back in that abandoned prison we've commandeered. Everything will go according to plan. I don't understand why you of all people are worried about this," Mukuro said as Junko frowned.

"I already nearly lost you once to Fenrir. I'm not having that happen again. I'm serious, Muki. Those people are dangerous. I dunno what they are but they aren't normal," Junko said before letting go of her shoulder. "Kay, I'm off." Without another word, Junko left the café. As soon as she did, Mukuro walked up to Higuchi.

"Stay back! I'll—"

Mukuro moved faster than Higuchi could react, as her fist slammed into his stomach so hard that it caused him to cough up blood this time around. He fell to his knees once more, before full on collapsing from shock and falling into unconsciousness. The girls in the corner of the café screamed, which prompted Mukuro to draw her sidearm from her left pants pocket—A minebea 9mm handgun fully equipped with an illegal silencer and a red dot to help with accuracy, not that she needed it.

Three precise shots, each aimed between the girls eyes, followed suit as they all dropped dead on the floor. Blood splattered against the walls and stained the nearby windows, but it wasn't going to be her mess to clean. She glared in the direction of where they were standing and where their corpses now were as a scowl took up her visage.

They had been muttering, gasping, and annoying her for awhile now and the last thing she needed were eye-witnesses after committing assault. Junko had told her that she needed to keep her inner "murder-hobo" suppressed. All for the sake of the mission.

Frankly, it annoyed the hell out of Mukuro. Ever since she was little, she had always wanted to fight. It was why when she was little she picked fights with kids her age or twice it. Even if she didn't win, it was still something that she enjoyed doing. It made her otherwise miserable and boring life more fun. It was also why her and Junko were able to survive on the streets with minimal help.

It wasn't as if they were homeless. They had a roof over their heads. It was just that neither of them wanted to be anywhere near that home. Not for a prolonged amount of time, anyway. Besides, at the time, it helped alleviate Junko's boredom.

They had a very simple routine. Junko would steal money from people by being, well, Junko, and Mukuro would rob stores to get food and drinks. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't. But it was during those days that she saw Junko smile the most—a real, honest smile. Something that never happened anymore.

Their parents didn't care for them. Simply left them to their own devices. Sure they had beds at home but why go to a home that didn't care for you? So, one day, Mukuro killed their parents. Brutally. She made such a mess that it caught the attention of Fenrir and that was that. They made her make a deal with the Devil to essentially make her a killing machine.

Ironic how it backfired for them in the end.

The rest was history after that.

Mukuro's whole existence was meant to help Junko. Junko was both her sister and her saviour. Junko was her whole world. Even with her God-like power, Junko still needed to be protected. Still needed to be watched out for. Still needed that guiding hand—especially now with her more frantic and often erratic behavior.

Hoisting Higuchi over her shoulder with little to no effort, Mukuro walked out of the café as she holstered her gun. Several people watched her exit the building, but no one said anything, too scared to move as killing intent washed over the crowd of people.

Junko wanted to turn everyone in The Kuzuryu Clan into their little puppets. Mukuro knew exactly how she was going to do that. It would take a couple of days to get it done, of course, but once it was done then things would go exactly as planned.

This world would know The Truth before long. Mukuro would ensure it.

[XXXX]

Jolyne groaned, shifting in her bed as Hajime's arms were wrapped around her waist. After asking, Kotoko had been convinced to sleep on the couch for tonight, which gave Jolyne her bedroom. Prior to that Hajime had been invited over seeing as he had nothing better to do. Apparently, his class had welcomed him pretty instantly, seeing as they had been friendly with one another of the better half of a year.

Class that day had been pretty easy. And by easy he meant it was basically a glorified field trip. Every other hour of the day was usually spent honing their talents. That meant he was in the school's archery/gun range. Some girl named Ibuki dared him to blindfold himself and fire a ricochet shot into a perfect bullseye.

He did it without breaking a sweat, and even hit three bullseye's with the same shot, having lined them up in his head so perfectly, you'd think he was psychic. Something about knowing instinctively where to level the gun, how to read the air in the room, as well as how best to stabilize the muscles in order to prevent too much recoil. Hajime even went as far as to use a Desert Eagle, just to challenge himself.

When he wasn't doing that, he was talking with Chiaki and someone named Nekomaru. Apparently, the person who had been helping Hajime work out was Nekomaru, putting him on a routine that would best suit his body size, height, and even supplying him with a diet. All because he asked.

The prior to that, his class decided to race each other around the building starting from the roof to the first floor. It disrupted the other classes, but no one really bothered to tell them to stop. Hajime got 6th place out of 16 people. He wasn't exactly proud about it, but he wasn't complaining either.

He was beaten by the likes of Akane Owari in first, Kazuichi Soda in second, Gundham Tanaka in third, Sonia Nevermind in fourth, and Nekomaru Nidai in fifth. Though, from how she understood it, Sonia just barely outpaced him.

Although, that last name. Nevermind. That was suspicious. One of Makaria's past names was Nevermind. Jolyne knew nothing about elves, but if their ages worked about the same as they did in fiction, then that could possibly mean that Sonia was her granddaughter.

Regardless, that was neither here nor there. What mattered was what was happening right now. Jolyne snuggled herself closer to Hajime who chuckled. They had just got done doing The Deed to make up for two nights ago when they were interrupted. She still felt all warm and fuzzy and her face was still red and hot with prior feelings of wanton pleasure and desire.

If it wasn't for the fact that she knew in about twenty minutes or so from now that she would be needed to fill out her end of a deal, she would've gladly gone for another round. "How did you get so good at this?" Jolyne whispered, holding one of his hands and pressing it against her stomach.

"Practice," Hajime replied, and she wouldn't doubt him on that. Apparently, "she" and Hajime were very sexually active once "they" got together. It explained the amount condoms that had been in her dresser when she woke up that day. Condoms that she was now starting to run out of—just because she was a Vampire, and just because she was a System User, didn't mean she was going to play it risky. She still had reproductive organs. That meant she had the possibility of getting knocked-up, and she had no desire for that.

Not now, anyway.

"You're such a cornball," Jolyne joked, cracking a small grin as Hajime shrugged as he rested his chin on her shoulder. She was positioned in front of him, and he was holding her close to his body. They were both warm—though on Jolyne's part it was more of a façade to match him. Same with the sweat, but that came as a mandatory. The last thing she needed was for her cover to be completely blown.

The two stayed like this for what felt like forever. She wanted it to stay that way. She was comfortable—happy and content with life. If she woke up every day, and this was what they did, and she didn't have to worry about world-ending threats hellbent on making everyone suffer, then she'd take it in a heartbeat.

But, alas, that wasn't her life.

"Alright," Jolyne groaned as she slowly pried herself from Hajime's grasp, sitting up as Hajime rose around the same time she did, watching her with a raised eyebrow. Jolyne cast a look down on herself, and was decently surprised.

She rarely, if ever, looked at her own body. Due to her nature as a System User she never really needed to shower since her body was kept clean for her. So the typical times that she would notice herself she didn't exactly do. The only ever time that she was completely bare to the world was when her and Hajime were "having fun". And she rarely if ever was in the mindset to be looking at her own body.

She was often too busy having her mind scrambled to do such petty things like "paying attention."

So when she saw the muscles that she had, she was a bit taken aback. They weren't too noticeable, but they were there. Her arms she saw constantly, so she knew that she had some definition. But her waist and her legs were a completely different. Now she knew why she slimmed down as much as she had.

All of the fat that had been around her waist, legs, and thighs had turned into muscle due to her gaining the amount of Physical Strength that she had. A part of her was worried that if she gained too much physical strength that she'd start to look like one of those characters from Baki The Grappler.

"Don't tell Kotoko what I'm doing. But I'm going to go finish what I started with The Kuzuryu Clan," Jolyne said as Hajime's eyes widened.

"Wait, Jolyne," Hajime began as Jolyne looked over her shoulder. As she did, Hajime seemed to look… concerned. "Please, you have to listen to me. They're not—"

"I know. But that's not why I'm doing this," Jolyne interrupted as Hajime frowned.

"Then what other possible reason could you be doing this? Just because?" Hajime asked as Jolyne sighed.

"No. Not "just because." And it's not for revenge either. But according to that woman from the café—you remember the one I'm talking about, the one who saved your life—she has had people on the inside for months now and, aside from Fuyuhiko, the whole clan has been infected with Frenzy. She'd do it herself but she was too busy with her own issues."

As Jolyne finished her explanation, she walked over to a dresser and began to put on a bra and some underwear. Then, she walked over to a mini-closet, grabbed her dress, and slipped it on before grabbing her leather pants and combat boots which were stashed in the corner of the closet. It was all so she didn't expose the whole "infinite storage" thing that she had.

"Wait… How?"

"Dunno. Something to do with the family head having been captured by The Lord of Frenzied Flame—The Flame's leader. Basically a God in human flesh with a quarter of the power of a God because said human flesh can't contain all of it. At least, that was what that lady told me. Supposedly they get stronger every time one gets defeated, so that's fun," Jolyne replied as she finished tying her boots.

She made sure Paimon's Favour was equipped to reduce Madness infliction, and along with a new ring she got from one the Gacha pulls that she did last night.

[Ring of Sanity - Epic]

[Description: A ring forged by a Scholar of The Stars, meant to stave off Madness. The haunting yellow jewel is supposed to be crystalized essence from a Shabriri Grape, concentrated into a Glintstone Gem, and the band is crafted out of the finest Erdsteel. Grants 50% more immunity to Madness affliction. The creator of the ring has been proposed by many Glintstone Sorcerers to be the fabled Count Ymir, teacher of Carian Queen Rennalla The Full Moon.]

Slipping that ring on her index finger she stared at the rings and nodded to herself. Now she had 75% more immunity to Madness. That was good, because that meant she would be safer in case she got hit by a Frenzy-based incantation or spell. She had no idea how effective it would be but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Hajime looked at her, though his expression was unreadable. She could still make out the concern in his eyes but his actual expression was harder to read. "Jolyne… You need to take a break. You can't keep working yourself to the bone like this."

"I know," Jolyne retorted as she adjusted her shoulder straps underneath the dress. "But I can't just not act with the knowledge that I have. I'm not about to stand around and let what could potentially be an army of Frenzy controlled lunatics do what they want."

"I get that, but—"

"Then if you get it, don't bother yourself with it," Jolyne interrupted once again, her tone leaving no room for argument. Hajime stared at her, his expression morphing into a frown, prompting Jolyne to sigh. "Look, Hajime. I get it. You're worried—I can see it in your eyes that you are—but this is what I do. This is my job. Besides, I'm being paid a lot of money to do this. It's not like I'm doing it for free."

"No amount of money is worth endangering yourself like this," Hajime replied curtly as Jolyne glanced at the floor, breaking eye contact. "We're both kids still, Jolyne. It's not our job to endanger ourselves like this—it shouldn't be your job to endanger yourself like this! You could get yourself killed!"

"I won't, though."

"And how do you know that?" Hajime demanded.

"Because I'm strong, that's how," Jolyne replied, an edge her tone that indicated that she wanted the conversation to end. But, Hajime either didn't interpret it that way or he ignored it.

"I saw you get launched into a wall at speeds no one should be able to survive! You painted the wall behind you in your own blood! I know you're not human, but you can't just risk your life like that! For the greater good or not, I don't want you to die!" Hajime argued as Jolyne faltered for a split second, but before she could say anything, he continued.

"When you got, I don't know, transported to wherever it is you went I was terrified. I had no idea what was going to happen and I was freaking out. I thought you were going to die!"

"So you didn't think I could handle myself?" Jolyne accused as Hajime frowned.

"I—"

"Because that's what it sounds like to me," Jolyne pressed as Hajime scowled.

"Jolyne—"

"Enough," Jolyne cut him off again. "Just, enough. Stop it."

"But I—"

"What part of enough do you not understand, Hajime," Jolyne stated firmly, which finally got him to back down. "I get it. Truly, I do. But I'm not weak. I know what you saw back in the café scared you, and I know that I've been thrown through the ringer more times than I can count in less time than anyone should. Believe me, I get it that it's frustrating. To someone like you, it's terrifying because you don't know what's going to happen. But when I tell you that I'll be fine, I mean it."

Hajime lowered his head, clearly still not convinced. Regardless of that, though, he raised his head then nodded. "Alright."

"Good. I'll be back shortly," Jolyne said as she stepped out of her bedroom, out of her dorm apartment, then into the hallway where she then instantly teleported to The Kuzuryu Compound. Staring down the thick black gates and the large concrete fence walls with barbed-iron tips gave the compound a sense of fortitude that most places lacked.

Unlike the gate at The Utsugi Estate, this one looked more durable. It wasn't for design nor was it to make a statement. It was practical. It was meant to keep those who were unwanted out and those who were invited protected.

The quest pop-up regarding it classified it as a Legacy Dungeon. Now that she thought about it, The Utsugi Estate was dubbed a minor Legacy Dungeon. There was also a tracker above the Quest that noted how she had completed two of the seven Legacy Dungeons. Did that mean that Hope's Peaks Reserve Course turned into a Legacy Dungeon when DICE attacked?

"Whatever, it's all just semantics anyway," Jolyne thought as she dismissed the quest from view. As soon as she did, another one popped up.

[Notice: Blood Manipulation's Blood Drain aspect does not affect Bosses and Mini-Bosses.]

"Why would Mono tell me that? I could've figured that out on my own," Jolyne thought before huffing and kicking the black gates of The Kuzuryu Compound in. The moment she did, loud sirens began to blare across the compound as red flashing lights shone brightly around the surrounding area.

"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! DETAIN OR KILL THEM! WE CANNOT ALLOW THEM TO STOP THE RITUAL!"

"Ritual?" Jolyne thought as confusion painted her expression. It was also at that moment that she gained another notification.

[Notice: Contract Holder: Ikusaba Mukuro is in the area.]

"Weird…" Jolyne thought as she noticed a bunch of thugs come running out of a large house-like structure. There were several of these dotted around the area, and there was a massive one off in the distance. They looked to be from contemporary Japan in terms of structure. Something like an Emperor's castle back in the day.

It was ironic, given the name of the quest. But she shouldn't have been shocked. These people were wealthy, and it showed in how they portrayed themselves. They were all dressed in suits. Not good, quality suits, but not cheap ones either. These guys must've been the top class. Not the random thugs that they send out into the streets.

Each of the thugs had guns, swords, and metal bats. Not that it particularly mattered. A smug smirk took up her expression. She wasn't even going to both actually fighting these people. Instead, what she was going to do was drain their blood. Activating Blood Control, just as they charged her, Jolyne began to siphon out the blood from their bodies.

Elegant streams of crimson flowed into the air like water being sucked into a vacuum. Screams of pain and agony were drowned out by the sound of ever-drying skin as each individual who had made the foolish mistake of rushing out to defend their compound became nothing more than dried husks.

Weapons clattered to the floor, followed by the hollow thumps of each corpse as they came crashing down like dominos. In less than ten seconds, the Kuzuryu thugs had died. All of their blood then funneled into Jolyne as she gained 60 extra points into her Physical Strength and Blasphemy.

She licked her lips, a sadistic gleam taking up her visage as she strode through the compound. Any hapless fool who happened upon her path were drained the moment she made eye contact with them.

Compared to when she raided the Utsugi Estate, this was almost… boring. She didn't need to fight. All she had to do was walk past them and drain them till nothing was left. Even the bigger men and women who came to stop her. They couldn't even reach for their weapons before they found themselves dead on the floor.

It would certainly make Dungeon Runs easier, that much was for certain—assuming this would even work in there. For all she knew it wouldn't. There had to be some kind of limit, right? Otherwise, this was just broken. Though, she supposed being a Vampire in a sea of humans made life just that much easier, didn't it?

She marched through smaller houses, draining people as she went without a care in the world. Anyone who was actually able to get in close found their entrails slashed out of their stomach by her claws—she didn't even bother bringing out 3F because, frankly, why on earth would she waste such a wonderful weapon on a bunch of wretches?

She also noticed that their levels were lower. Save for a few brutes, almost everyone here was level 30 or lower. The brutes she encountered were level 42 but, once again, they would simply get drained by her before they could do anything.

As she continued her massacre, she noticed how a lot of the thugs had the suffix "Frenzied" which implied that they were infected with Frenzy. While it gave her another excuse to not discriminate on killing them, it did make her wonder just how long they were left to fester, or if the leadership was aware.

When she stepped into a large garden-like area, Jolyne paused to look around. Vibrant green grass, a wooden bridge connecting this part of the compound to the next, and a gentle stream flowing through under the wooden bridge. A cherry blossom tree was off in the left though it had yet to bloom.

And two more thugs found themselves drained of blood as they ran across the bridge to try and get to her. A bored yet amused gleam took up her visage as she funneled the blood into mouth. If it hadn't been for the literal counter of how many people she had killed, she would've lost count. Right now, she was already at 300 people.

Only a few minutes had passed—about twelve to be exact. She rounded one more corner into the building proper, and before she could move onto the next room, she was met face to face with an angered Fuyuhiko. "Oh, hello there, Kuzuryu."

"YOU!" Fuyuhiko shouted as a health bar appeared at the bottom of her peripheral vision, accompanied by a statement from Mono saying that weapons are not usable during this Boss Fight. Not that she had intended on using 3F but regardless. "I should've known you'd pull this shit!"

"I'm only doing you a favor," Jolyne replied as she fanned out her claws, her eyes gaining a predatory gleam to them, making Fuyuhiko take a step back in recoil. A sneer engulfed his expression, as he drew his hands up into fists and raised them.

"Killing my people is doing me a favor?!" Fuyuhiko roared as Jolyne sighed, tilting her head to the side as her eyes began to glow.

"The way I see it, I'm a doctor called to treat an infection, and my diagnosis? Termination." As soon as she said that, she rushed forward in a burst of speed that Fuyuhiko could barely react to. He threw up a block as Jolyne delivered a full powered punch. The force of the blow was enough to send him flying through the wall behind him, shattering concrete, drywall, and wood in the process.

He landed, hard, on his back as Jolyne frowned. That one punch alone had chipped his health bar from 100% down to 75%. How was he supposed to be a Boss Fight—even a Mini-Boss if he was only going to go down in four hits?

"Then again, I suppose I am a little over-leveled. At least in the stats department. If I hadn't done what was essentially a side-quest and had come here earlier, this might've actually been a challenge," Jolyne thought as she stared out at the downed form of Fuyuhiko.

At the end of the day, he was just a human. No magic, no particular skills. The only thing he had going for him was that he might have been a good fighter. But that only applied to regular humans.

And Jolyne was decidedly not a human.

As Fuyuhiko pulled himself up from the ground, he looked at his utterly shredded sleeves and scowled. "You bitch! This suit cost me 20 Million!"

"Don't care," Jolyne dismissed, as she stepped out of the hole in the wall. Fuyuhiko rushed her, slamming his fist into her stomach. He had expected her to flinch, but she simply stood there, as if unfazed by it—which she was. It had only done a measly 150 damage. Her Endurance and Defence were far too high for a regular punch from a regular human to do much of anything.

"The fuck—"

Before he could finish that sentence, Jolyne grabbed him by the face and threw him like a ragdoll. He was sent flying into yet another wall from one of the adjacent buildings on the compound, before Jolyne appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye, and landed another devastating blow to his stomach.

The combined damage done to him had dropped his HP down from 75% to 35%. Blood spewed out of Fuyuhiko's mouth as Jolyne grabbed his face, slammed the back of his head into the wall, before tossing him over her shoulder as he tumbled to the floor.

10% HP remained, as he pulled himself to his feet, holding his stomach as blood drippled out of his mouth. He stumbled forward, breathing heavily as Jolyne frowned. Did she really want to kill him? Was it going to be worth it in the end? This was one of Hajime's classmates. If they found out that another one of their classmates had died, what would happen?

She looked over to her quest, then over to Fuyuhiko.

He was beaten.

He didn't need to die.

"Surrender?" Jolyne questioned, as Fuyuhiko glared at her.

"N-Never…"

"Think about your classmates. They already lost that Peko girl, right? How do ya think their gonna feel if they lost another one of their classmates? And in the same week, no less?" Jolyne asked as Fuyuhiko spat a glob of blood to the side, straightening his posture as he got in control of his breathing.

"My clan… is more important to me… then a couple of strangers!" Fuyuhiko yelled, before charging at Jolyne.

To him, he probably saw this as his last stand. Bloodied, beaten, in pain but still standing up for the ones he cared about. In his head, he was probably thinking that if he died here, that it would be a worthy death.

But to Jolyne?

She only saw it as pathetic. Noble, yes. But pathetic all the same.

So just as he closed in on her, and just as he reared back a punch, Jolyne stepped into him, wrapped one arm around his shoulder and pulled him into her. And just as that happened—just as their bodies touched one another—Jolyne made it so that where he landed he did so on the tips of her claws.

A beam of pressurized blood in the shape of a sword blade punctured through his abdomen as he gasped. She leaned into his ear, her lips just barely touching his earlobe, as she whispered into his ear. "You were brave, Fuyuhiko. To your very last." And then, she deactivated Blood Control, and threw him off of her as he fell to the floor.

The quest marked him off as killed, and she moved on, barely even paying attention to his body. As she walked away, she felt a tinge of regret. He could've lived. Should've lived. But there was nothing to be done about it. Nothing that she could do now.

What was done was done.

Her massacre continued as it had. No fights. No having to try. All she had to do was walk into a room, activate Blood Control, rinse and repeat. Boredom quickly overcame her once again. She supposed it made sense. She just wished it was a little more… fun? No, not fun. Involved was a better word.

"What a waste of time…" Jolyne thought to herself as she finished draining some of the last Kuzuryu Thugs. It was disappointing, because as soon as that counter ticked over from 595 to 600, she felt cheapened.

This was supposed to be a huge moment for her. Yet it didn't feel like it. She had marched through the compound, waltzed into every building, and had killed everyone there. Sure, it was free Physical Strength and Blasphemy, but that was all it was. It wasn't some "difficult challenge" and it certainly wasn't fun.

It was like running through all of the side quests before tackling the first the first dungeon of a video game. The game expects you to just rush to the first dungeon and doesn't adjust accordingly. So when you walk in with an over-leveled character, you end up steam-rolling.

That was her current mood on the situation, anyway. She wanted this to be fun. But instead she was stood there, bored out of her mind, she finally noticed someone standing in the doorway of the building that she had entered—said building being what appeared to be some kind of recreational room if the couches, billiard tables and dart boards were anything to go by.

It was a figure dressed in an orange, withered looking cloak. Around his neck was a golden necklace with a bizarre flame symbol dangling from the chain. His face looked sunken, as if all the fat in his body had been removed. And… his eyes. Jolyne had stop herself from puking. His eyes… they were gone. All that remained were empty eye sockets and bloodied streaks going down his cheeks.

"What the fuck…?" Jolyne murmured as she steeled herself. Whatever the hell this guy was, he must've been the end product of someone who had fully succumbed to Madness. He looked like a zombie—dead but alive. His skin looked ashy beyond belief, and she could swear that orange drool as leaking from the sides of his mouth.

The cloaked man raised his pointer finger, as if to say "intruder". Without a word, and as another health bar appeared, Jolyne realized this must've been the second Mini-Boss.

[-Herald Of The Flame-]

[Boss – Lvl 42]

[HP – 100%]

Jolyne immediately had to side step a massive deluge of orangish-yellow flames that came spilling out of the empty eye-sockets of the man. The flames destroyed everything in their path, shattering furniture and burning everything it touched to ashes almost immediately. The man grabbed his face, clearly in pain, and Jolyne used that as her chance to step in and summoned forth 3F.

She slammed the blade of her axe into the chest area of the robed man. But as she did, when the blade made contact, and when it cut through the orange robes and into the man's skin, barely any blood came from the wound. As if he had already been drained of it.

The man staggered back, howling in pain and anguish. Even his howls were tainted by Frenzy, as Jolyne had to leap back when she noticed that her Madness meter had been filling up. Slowly, mind you, but still filling.

It was also at that point that she realized that she had only done 5% of his HP in a single strike. He still had 95% HP. Compared to Fuyuhiko, this was going to be a real fight.

As the man in the cloak stopped shrieking, he hunched over, which gave Jolyne a window to try something. Using her free hand, she ran up to the man and slashed at him with her claws, aiming to claw at his face. She managed to land the blow, but it only did 1% of his HP in damage. That confirmed to her that it would be better to use 3F.

Before he had a chance to retaliate, Jolyne slammed the blade end of the halberd form of 3F in an upward arc. The blade wrenched itself in his shoulder blade, but the man seemed entirely unbothered. Instead, he reached out to grab her face, which she responded with by jumping back and manifesting blood spears behind her and firing them at the man.

He dodged most of them, with only one of them hitting him in his stomach. That, combined with the damage that she had done with the halberd, had knocked another 7% of his HP, dropping him down to 87% HP.

The man rushed forward, his hands glowing with the Flame of Frenzy. She wanted no part of what it was he was trying to do, so she side-stepped his grab, which left her open to a swiping attack. Claws made of Frenzy Flame lashed out in her direction as he spun with the motion, revealing that all he was wearing underneath the cloak was a loincloth. He also had a marking on his chest. That marking was the same marking as the one as the necklace he was adorned in.

Not that she particularly cared, mind you. What she did care about was that when the Frenzied Claws scratched her, was that her Madness meter went up to half and it cleaved off 1,800 of her HP.

"Shit!" The HP damage wasn't what she was cursing about. It was the fact that she had gotten hit for that much Madness build up. If she didn't have both Paimon's Favour or The Ring of Sanity, she'd probably be stricken by Madness.

She needed to play this safe. Jolyne cleared the distance between herself and The Herald before generating more blood spears behind her. Twice as many as she had before. She fired them all at the same time, and yet The Herald was able to weave through each of them. He let out a shrieking cry of agony that stunned her briefly while dragging her Madness meter up even more.

In the brief window that she was stunned, The Herald grabbed her by the face, forced her down onto her knees, and stared her in the eyes. The flames in the back of his eye sockets began to well and grow larger, and Jolyne had no choice but to do something reckless. She reeled her head back, and slammed her forehead into his face, which caused him to stagger. It did damage to her as well, 1,000 damage to be exact, but it would heal with time.

If she hadn't done what she had, he would've blasted her with a direct beam of Frenzied Flame, and that would've been it. She would've been done for. She hadn't come this far just to get turned into some Madness infected freak of nature.

Lunging forward, Jolyne transformed 3F into its battle axe form and wedged the blade into The Herald's chest, splitting open his flesh and bringing his HP down to 75%. A critical hit, she reasoned, before kicking the man to the ground. It was at that point that, as he got up, the man got to his knees, before slamming both palms of his hands into the ground.

When he did that, massive pools of Frenzied Flame appeared all around the interior of the building. Jolyne's eyes widened, as she sprouted her wings and flew backward, trying to escape the attack. She flew through the roof of the building and high enough to where she could see most of the compound, and as she did, twenty pillars of Frenzied Flame burst out from the building she was in with The Herald as it collapsed into a pile of burning remains.

Yet, The Herald still lived.

Sneering, Jolyne dived down to meet the freak, arching 3F back in a 180 vertical swing as she swooped in for the attack. Still in its battle axe form, 3F slammed into The Herald's right side, cutting into his empty husk of a body. Not that it particularly mattered, as The Herald seemed completely unfazed, even if his HP bar had dipped from 75% to 68% from that one swing.

The Herald's eyes began to glow bright with Frenzy, but before he could launch a direct attack on her with it, she was able to leap back and avoid the literal wave of flames that came out of his face.

Her Madness meter was still 25% full, and it was taking its sweet time to disappear. Although, now that they were out in the open, it would be easier to dodge his attacks. She readied 3F, transforming it into its Bardiche form as she began to strafe alongside The Herald. The more she stared at the man's face, the more she began to realize that there was something even more off about him then even Kokichi.

Internally, she had been comparing this fight to Kokichi, and while they had similar attacks with The Frenzied Flame being incorporated with them, this guy was freely using The Frenzied Flame. It made Jolyne wonder just what could've happened to him to have made him this powerful with it.

After what felt like forever, The Herald was the one who made the first blow. In the blink of an eye, he appeared before her, Frenzied Flame claws out and ready to slash as she responded by slammed 3F into the ground and activating Void Shriek. The wave of darkness slammed into The Herald, sending him flying back as his HP dropped from 68% down to 60%.

Jolyne followed it up by transforming 3F into its axe form, rushing down The Herald, and once again wedging the axe blade into his shoulder. Although, she had noticed, that the prior wound had stitched itself back together. Granted, she was now re-opening it, but that made Jolyne wonder just what it was that had happened to this guy?

Not even Kokichi, who had fully embraced The Flame, wasn't granted regenerative capabilities. "Doesn't matter. Not right now, anyway. As long as his HP doesn't replenish, I don't care." Jolyne thought as she palmed his stomach and sprouted three blood spears from the palm of her hand using Blood Manipulation. Then, she tore her axe out of his shoulder, ripped out the blood spears, and kicked him away from her before he could let out another wave of Frenzied Flame.

As she leapt out of the way of the wave, she hadn't expected the secondary wave that crashed into her like an oncoming semi-truck, bringing her Madness meter back to 50%-just as it had completely depleted, too!

His HP was now down to 52%, and it had already been at least a minute since the beginning of the battle. How was this guy a Mini-Boss? What did that mean for The Remembrance Boss? Was she still under-leveled for even that?

She didn't want a repeat of Kokichi.

Just as she was about to rush in for another attack, The Herald raised his hands toward his face as the flames in the back of his sockets grew brighter and brighter. As they did, what appeared to be hilts made of flame came out of his eyes. She watched in disgust as two massive curved swords were pulled out of his eyes, each coated with Frenzied Flame.

The edges around his cloak began to catch fire along with the hood, as they levitated around him, revealing more of his disfigured and mummified body. Frenzied Flame burst from the carving around his chest and hugged his body like a chest plate that stopped below his waist, resembling what appeared to be Three Fingers grasping his upper body. Finally, his legs burst to life with Frenzied Flame, and that was when Jolyne realized something.

This wasn't a Mini Boss.

This was The Remembrance Boss.

And it was further signified by the boss title changing.

[-Promised Knight of The Flame, Higuchi Kuzuryu-]

[-Boss – Level 50-]

[HP – 52%]

"This is Fuyuhiko's Dad, isn't it?" Jolyne thought, her eyes narrowing as Higuchi didn't rush, but seemingly flowed over to her, like some kind of pixie in the wind, before bringing both of his curved swords down upon her. She was able to dodge out of the way of the initial attack, but had to leap into the air with her wings to avoid the wave of flames that resulted from the impact of the two blades onto the ground.

Higuchi fired more flames out of his eyes up at her in a concentrated beam, which Jolyne was able to dodge. Landing, Jolyne went to close the gap between herself and Higuchi, only for Higuchi to lazily swing his sword in her direction, resulting in a fan of Frenzied Flame to jet out in her direction.

She had to dodge the incoming wave of flames, only made worse by the fact that he followed it up with another sweeping attack that did the same thing. This kept happening for another two more times before he slammed his blades down to create another shockwave of flames that she had to fly up to avoid.

She dived down again, only this time she was able to actually land an attack, slamming the blade of her axe into his face. This caused him to fall down to one knee, giving her the chance to repost him. She dug her blade out of his face, before slamming it into his flaming chest. When she removed the blade, she then followed it up by creating orbs of blood behind her that pooled out from her back, and fired off six spears at his prone form, knocking him to the ground.

The combined amount of damage dealt had brought his health from 52% down to 45%. Not as much as she would have liked, but still enough to where she wasn't going to complain. When Higuchi stood up, he rose his foot into the air, and stomped, creating a small crater in the floor as another shockwave of flames rushed out to greet her.

Jolyne jumped over the flames, as Higuchi wound up for another combo attack. But Jolyne wasn't having it. She rushed in, transforming 3F into its halberd mode and pierced him in the neck, before pulling it out and slashing upward in a clean arc. It made Higuchi lurch backward, but it didn't stop him from slashing at her with his curved sword.

The blade made contact with her, cleaving through her skin like butter as flames burst from the wound. Her Madness meter had previously been down by 25%, but one single contact with the blade had jettisoned it up to 75%, and had she not leapt back, putting at least twenty feet of distance between herself and Higuchi, the second oncoming attack would have sent her into Madness.

It also didn't help that the attack had done 3,000 damage to her. But seeing as she had recovered most of her HP from when she was hit the first time by the flame wave, still having a nice buffer of 10,000-ish HP was good. That wasn't what she was concerned about, though. It was that pesky Madness meter that she really needed to keep an eye on.

On the bright side, Higuchi's HP was now 40%, but that still meant that she needed to hit him at least eight more times with 3F in its halberd form. She could spam projectile Blood Spears in his direction, but even then, her Mana had been below half. It was recovering, but it was still below half. She didn't believe she'd have enough mana to do that without completely running out.

Frowning, she tried to gauge her options as Higuchi stalked toward her. Each of his movements were wobbly, and he clearly looked completely out of it. She wondered if he was even in control of his actions? Whatever his state of being was, it didn't matter. He was completely lost to The Flame. There was nothing left of himself other than the husk that was attacking her.

Higuchi leapt at her, jumping into the air as the flames around his feet began to glow brighter and brighter. Jolyne took this as her chance to fly into the air, and just as she stook off, a massive wave of flames erupted throughout the area. Any buildings that were surrounding the one that had already been destroyed, aside from the one in the far right corner of the compound, were completely destroyed, leaving nothing but rubble behind.

The compound was easily as large was three football fields.

That was nearly 1,080 yards of property destroyed in a single instance.

With a single leap, it had destroyed 95% of the compound, which mortified Jolyne.

She chose not to linger on what she just saw, and instead used her speed with her flight to blind side Higuchi and slam her feet into the man's face in a sideways flying kick. The power of the blow was enough to shatter the ground beneath the two of them in a twenty foot radius. The blow sent Higuchi flying into one of the concrete walls that were still standing, shattering it under the pressure of the attack.

Clapping her hands together, Jolyne narrowed her eyes, activated Blood Manipulation she fired a continuous pressurized beam of boiling blood in his direction. His HP began to chip away from 35%-which it had been after he slammed into the wall and after the kick—by 1% each second. By the time Jolyne had dropped back down to below half of her Mana, Higuchi was down by 29% HP.

Then, Jolyne went to punish his continued daze by slammed the business end of 3F's Halberd form into his chest once again, ripping out and slamming it down on his head before doing the same thing and hitting him in the stomach. Before she could get a fourth attack off, she leapt back as Higuchi lifted his foot up to send another stomping wave of Maddening flames.

Jolyne scowled. His HP had been dropped down to 14%, which meant all she needed to do was wait until she got the chance to hit him three more times. However, the problem was that she needed to wait for an opening. She could dive bomb him again, but he was putting his flaming swords up into a block, meaning that he was expecting her to do that.

Jolyne raised her left hand into the air as several orbs of blood appeared behind her—two dozen, to be exact. They were all armed with Blood Spears, except this time, she planned to rain them down until she was out of Mana. In response, Higuchi did the same thing. He summoned multiple flaming portals of Frenzy—which shocked Jolyne.

Was he…

Was he learning?

Was he learning her tricks?

It didn't matter, because the moment flaming spears of his own poked out of the portals, Jolyne knew exactly what was about to happen. At the same time, both of them thrust out their palms toward one another as flurries of spears met flurries of spears.

Each spear that impacted one another exploded into their own essence, orangish yellow clashing with crimson red. A hailstorm of magic that would blasted about in a spectacle that only few would have the courtesy to enjoy.

The two spells were evenly matched—neither letting up on the other. However, Jolyne had a limit that she could use. Higuchi very likely did not. So she had to be careful. With each spear that clashed, and with each spear that was destroyed, two more took their place.

Jolyne's Mana had dropped below 25%, and neither of the two casters had moved. Facial expressions hadn't changed, only calculated stares of equal measure. A droplet of sweat trailed down the side of Jolyne's face as she could feel herself start to get fatigued. She was down to her last bursts of Mana, but Higuchi seemed completely unbothered. Which frustrated her, considering he was using her spell. Or, at least, a part of her spell.

Finally, she saw an opening, if only barely, when his shoulders relaxed and he took a more comfortable stance. In the blink of an eye, she appeared before him, wound 3F back with both hands, and struck him upside the head with the blade of its axe form. It sent him staggering to the left, showing his back to her, which she used to thrust her spear end of 3F's Halberd form into.

Upon pulling the blade out of his back, he staggered forward, before swiftly turning around and swiping out her with a fan of Frenzied Flame launched from his right curved sword. She leapt back, dodging the wave, and just as it dissipated, she went in for the kill, hauling the Bardiche form of 3F over her head, and swinging it vertically at his neck.

The resulting blow knocked his HP down to 0%, and sent him falling to the ground. He let out one last wail of agonizing pain—notably without the power of Frenzied Flame behind it—before his body began to turn into ash, disappearing before her very eyes. The hail of Frenzied Flame spears stopped abruptly, and the battle ended.

The words Great Enemy Slain appeared before her eyes just as they had when she beat Kokichi, and in return she gained The Remembrance of The Herald.

[-Remembrance of The Herald-]

[Description: Remembrance of Higuchi Kuzuryu, Herald of The Frenzied Flame, hewn into The Core of Creation.

The power of its namesake can be unlocked by the Finger Reader at The Roundtable Hold. Alternatively, it can be used to gain 10 extra levels.

Higuchi had never desired to be caught up in the clutches of The Lord of the Frenzied Flame. All he ever wanted was to protect what he loved most. That, however, became his undoing. In the end, all he wound up doing was spelling the end of his beloved clan and what little remained of his sanity.]

.

[For beating your second Remembrance Boss, you've been rewarded 280 to every Requirement Stat]

[Physical Strength: 905 – 1,185]

[Arcane Wisdom: 305 – 585]

[Faith: Cannot Be Upgraded]

[Blasphemy: 915 – 1,195]

.

[You Can Now Use – Summon: Demonic Hell Hounds!]

Jolyne stared at the remembrance in the palm of her hand, before stashing it into her inventory. It was sad. Yet another victim to that awful, awful person. It made her want to cry, but she refused to on principle. He had done this to himself. While he might not've known better, he should've realized the mistake he had made the moment he saw the first person in the compound go insane.

Though, she supposed, that even if he did, once there was one it never stopped. That was just how much of a threat The Flame of Frenzy was. The moment it showed up, it was game over for whatever group that it infested. Like a plague upon mankind. A disease that needed to be destroyed at its source.

Then there was the note about her being able to use one of her new Vampire abilities now that she had the stats for it. It was a Mythic Spell, but she also didn't want to swap out either Blood Manipulation or Blackened Domain.

Though, now that she thought about it….

"Why didn't I just use Blackened Domain on Higuchi?! The fight wouldn't have been nearly as hard!" Jolyne thought as she cursed herself internally. She was too caught up in the moment that she had completely forgotten that she had slotted Blackened Domain for The Remembrance Boss! "Oh well, I guess I'll use it the next time…."

Looking at the destruction around her, all Jolyne could think about was the pity she felt. The countless dead, the countless burned. Anybody whose corpses remained would've been burnt to ash, save for Maybe Fuyuhiko, but she doubted that it was still around.

Although, there was one more building she had yet to explore. It was the one at the far back. It had been a part of the property that was sparred from the wave of Frenzied Flame. So, with nothing else better to do, and with one more Mini-Boss she needed to look for, that was exactly what she did. She flew over to the building, and pushed the front door open with a lazy, half-hearted shove. The moment she did, she was met with quite the sight.

For starters, the building itself was empty—save for a couple hanging bodies in body bags in the air dangling on strings. Underneath those body bags, there was an insignia; the same as the one that was burned into Higuchi's chest.

Then, in the center of that circle, there was a woman. Bound, gagged, and unconscious. She was removed of all clothing, and looked to be in her mid 30s. She had long ash-blonde hair just like Natsumi. Her eyes were closed so she couldn't see what her eye colour was. All she could see was that her skin looked sickeningly pale.

Then, on the outskirts of the ensigna, there was a girl of average height with broad shoulders, pale skin, and short ear-length black hair. She was dressed in a white short-sleeve shirt and what appeared to be a black skirt. She also wore a pair of knee-high black stockings, and one leg there was a strap that held several miniature pouches.

Jolyne could also make out gun holsters close to her boots, and there was a particular lump on the left side of the skirt. Then, of course, there was her name of which Mono had hovering over her head.

Mukuro Ikusaba.

Mukuro was chanting some kind of ritual out of a book. Jolyne's mana had recovered just enough to where she could reliably cast some spells before she ran out of Mana, but just to be safe, she swapped out Blackened Domain with Void Snatch, and as soon as she did, she activated it to grab the book out of Mukuro's hands.

Mukuro gasped in shock before swiftly turning to face Jolyne, who held the book in her hand. The Tome of Frenzy so read the title, and that in and of itself was repulsive. Several blood pools appeared around it, and promptly tore it to bits with several miniature spears, rendering it unreadable.

"Disgusting. Though I expect no less from a zealot," Jolyne spat as Mukuro seethed with anger. In the corner of her vision, Jolyne was notified that this was, in fact, the last Mini-Boss—also what with it being the person she needed to kill for her contract that also popped up with it—prompting her to scoff.

"Well, aren't you oh-so threatening," Jolyne mocked as Mukuro scowled.

"You will learn to regret even so much as looking in my direction, you faithless pissant," Mukuro growled as a notification appeared in front of Jolyne, describing to her what her stats were.

And….

[Mukuro Ikusaba, Messenger of The Flame]

[Level: 400]

[HP: ?]

[Mana: ?]

[Opinion of you: Heretic]

"THE FUCK?!"

[Calm yourself. This is merely a decoy. If it wasn't a decoy, it would've shown you her health and Mana. Someone put an illusion over her real stats. Honestly, how pathetic. To have to lie about one's own abilities to seem threatening. A lesser System could never figure it out, though. Props to them, I suppose. But a sentient one like myself can see through the trickery. Knowing Loki for as long as I have, this is paltry.]

There was a hint of pride in Mono's otherwise robotic tone as the illusion dissipated, and when it did, Jolyne was less afraid. Because it was considerably less powerful than she was expecting.

[Mukuro Ikusaba, Messenger of The Flame]

[Level: 50]

[HP: 10,000]

[Mana: 3,500]

[Opinion of you: Heretic]

The fear that had taken over Jolyne's eyes disappeared as Mukuro faltered slightly. "You're not afraid? You're clearly like that Jackson guy, correct? So you should be afraid. Do you know how many people I've killed? I was behind the Giboura Massacre. I worked with Fenrir. Nobody has ever fought me and lived to tell the tale. What makes you think you'll be any different?"

"Does it matter?" Jolyne dismissed sarcastically, her tone of voice dripping with venom. "You're still weaker than me."

"You wanna bet?" Mukuro questioned as she scowled whilst Jolyne smirked.

"I don't need to bet with someone whose already lost," Jolyne answered as she dismissed 3F. "To prove my point, I won't even need my weapon. That's how weak you are. I don't know why Lucifer said you'd be a challenge. The only thing you are is a weak, squishy human."

"Enough of this," Mukuro spat as she drew a knife from the pouch under her thigh. It was serrated, but Mono only classified it as a rare weapon. It's attack potency could barely break through her dress's defences. "I'll kill you and bring your head to Junko as a gift."

Before Mukuro could lunge forward to start her assault, Jolyne was already in front of her, her right hand cocked back into a fist. Just as it got close to her face, however, Mukuro suddenly vanished and was five feet away from where the punch should've landed. However, that still didn't stop the force of the punch from travelling and slamming into her like a shockwave.

Mukuro slammed into the wall behind her, the wall cracking under pressure as Mukuro gasped in shock. She didn't take a lot of damage, only 600. But if the punch had landed, it would've probably popped her like a human flesh balloon.

Though, Jolyne had to admit, even she was shocked. Then again, she did have over 1,000 points in her Physical Strength stat. It wasn't just a requirement stat. It also boosted physical damage and the effects her attacks had on the outside world. It was also the stat that made her look physically buff, so it had to do something.

That was when she got an idea.

"Oy, Mukuro. Your contract made you immune to being dealt with by regular attacks, right?" Jolyne taunted as a devilish smile took up her visage. Mukuro glared at her, and prepared to rush in with her military grade knife. She was fast—really fast. But she wasn't nearly as fast as what Jolyne was about to do.

She swapped out Void Snatch with Summon: Demonic Hell Hounds and as soon as she did, she snapped her fingers as her expression twisted into a sadistic smile. "How about you say hi to my two new puppies."

A mass of shadow appeared behind her, dripping in crimson blood as two Kodiak bear-sized wolves sauntered out from the shadows. Their fur was as black as the night, and they had three glowing red eyes on each side of their faces with fangs twice the size of a regular wolf. Not only were they as tall as a Kodiak bear, but they were as bulky as one, too.

Their claws were hooked, and around their necks were rings of fire that burned a gorgeous pale blue. The one on the right had a massive X scar on the middle of its face, and the other had a chip in its ear.

Mukuro stopped dead in her tracks, faltering the moment she saw them. Fear painted on her face as Jolyne pointed at her. The two Hell Hounds looked in the direction of where Jolyne had pointed, and snarled.

Mukuro felt her heart slam against her chest faster than she had ever felt it beat before. Panic filled her soul as she scrambled to move away. But it didn't matter.

Because the moment Jolyne snapped her fingers and uttered the words "Snack time"…

Mukuro stood no chance.

Jolyne didn't bother to watch. All she had to know was that, by her screams, Mukuro was being mauled to death. And the screams… by Lucifer they were awful. The kinds of screams you'd hear in those bear attack videos that occasionally popped up followed by pleading. Pleading to animal who only saw you for what you were to it.

Food.

The screams only lasted for a few more seconds. They were drowned out by the sound of gurgling blood and the chomping of jaws mixed with the splashes of ichor that oozed toward Jolyne's feet. Whilst her two new pets dealt with that, Jolyne tended to the unconscious naked woman in the center of the ritual.

She cut loose her bindings, had Mono give her something to drape over the woman—a white full-body cloak that buttoned up around the front—and carried her out of the building and toward the entrance of the compound.

Once she sat her out front of the compound, her two Hell Hounds came prancing out the front gates as they licked their maws clean of their blood, panting and waging their massive tails. "Awe, aren't you two just the best little guys around~!" Jolyne cooed as she scratched behind each of their ears. She hadn't even known them for more than a few seconds and she was already head over heels for them.

They tilted their heads as she scratched behind their ears, and when she was done she turned to face each of them. She pointed to the right one and smiled. "You'll be Buddy," and then pointed to the one on the left, "And you'll be King!"

Both Hell Hounds barked, and their barks were powerful enough to shake the ground around them. Jolyne found it adorable, and petted their snouts. As soon as she did, King rolled over on his back which prompted Jolyne to give him belly rubs. Buddy simply sat down in front of the gate of the building and watched over the unconscious woman.

A pop-up appeared, this one being the one regarding her completion of her Contract Hunt. Instead of giving her the rewards right away, it told her to approach Lucifer when ready. That gave her a tinge of concern, but she wasn't scared. Maybe Lucifer wanted to speak to her in person? That was a possibility.

Another pop-up appeared. This one being her completion of The Legacy Dungeon. The rewards were immediately dropped into her inventory, and the levels were added not even a second later, followed by another pop-up.

[Level Up X5! (45 – 50!)]

Stats:

Health Points: 13,300 – 13,800 [S]

Mana: 13,050 – 13,550 [S]

Stamina: 13,550 – 14,050 [S]

Endurance: 6,660 – 6,910 [A]

Attack: 838 – 863 [C]

Defence: 838 – 863 [C]

Magic Attack: 1,380 – 1,430 [C]

Magic Defence: 1,430 [C]

Critical Chance: 4.5% - 5%

Critical Damage: 55%

Exp Till Next Level: [Complete Mastery Dungeon!]

Money: 1.1 Million

.

[You Have Now Reached The First Soft Cap. To Continue Leveling Up, You Must Complete The First Mastery Dungeon! To Complete The Mastery Dungeon, Simply Request The Gate To Appear From Your Patron, And They Will Oblige]

Jolyne dismissed the pop-ups and frowned. She knew she had to do the Mastery Dungeon soon, but she wasn't particularly in the mood to do it right now. After all, she had just finished dealing with a Remembrance Boss and a whole dungeon worth of people. That in and of itself was tiring. To then have to deal with another bout of enemies and another major boss right after that wouldn't be something she'd be completely willing to do. At least, not back to back.

She glanced over to the unconscious form of what she assumed was the Kuzuryu Matriarch and sighed. If she left her alive, she knew deep down that this was going to be a shit show. No doubt she'd want to seek revenge against the people who destroyed her Clan and killed her family.

Jolyne fanned out her claws, as she stared the unconscious woman down. All she had to do was slice her throat and it would be done. She'd die in less than five seconds, and any and all issues that she'd have with The Kuzuryu Clan would be gone. No more needing to worry about revenge and no more needing to look over her shoulder. At least, regarding them.

She already knew that she had painted a target on her back. The Lord of Frenzied Flame was now no doubt going to be hunting her down. After all, Jolyne had directly interfered in her plans. Junko didn't seem like the type of person to take things lying down—given the lengths she went to corrupt The Kuzuryu Clan, that sort of thing was to be expected.

But now, faced with the option in front of her, staring down the poor woman, Jolyne couldn't bring herself to do it. She was innocent in all of this. She had no trace of Madness from what she could tell—Mono would've told her if she had, anyway—so unless she saw her face, then there was no need to kill her.

The distant echo of police sirens rang out. They weren't all that far away. "Someone must've called the cops after seeing or hearing that massive explosion that The Herald had caused… Fuck." She should've known that would happen, but still. She looked over to King and Buddy and, with a wave of her hand, created the portals to send them back. They obliged, but not before Buddy licked the side of her face.

Jolyne couldn't help but smile at the action, watching as the portals closed. Once they did, Jolyne teleported herself back to the entrance of her dorm building. As soon as she did, her clothes changed back to what they were before she had gotten in bed with Hajime—her black hoodie and grey sweat pants; because why wouldn't she be wearing her favourite set of clothes?

Jolyne turned and looked toward the sky. While the stars weren't visible due to all the light pollution, it was the moon that gave her comfort. Tonight was a Full Moon—something that she had known she had overhead Kotoko talking about earlier today. She basked in the cold rays, feeling it reverberate over every inch of her body as she felt a relaxing chill waft around her.

"Ah, you must be the new Ultimate Student," a voice broke her out of her trance as she looked over her shoulder. When she did, she was met with a boy with starch white hair, pale skin, and greyish green coloured eyes. He was dressed in what appeared to be some kind of lucky clover motif covered black pyjamas, and he appeared to have either just woken up or had been up for a while.

"I am. Who're you?" Jolyne questioned as the boy smiled.

"Komaeda Nagito. I believe your boyfriend is in our class—Hinata-kun? Correct?" Komaeda said as Jolyne turned to fully face him, stuffing her hands into her hoodie pockets.

"Yup, that's him. You friends?"

"I'm friends with all Ultimate's. Someone like me has to be if I'm to succeed in life, after all," Komaeda responded cryptically, causing Jolyne to frown. So… he was a social leech? No, if he was in the main course campus then that meant he was also an Ultimate.

"Okay… Um, if you don't mind me asking, what's your talent?" Jolyne asked as Komaeda frowned, seemingly… upset. No, not upset, just… annoyed. No, not that either—he was hard to read, but he looked to be a mix of both of those emotions. She couldn't quite tell, all things considered.

"It's nothing special. I'm just Lucky, that's all!" Komaeda answered as his eyes seemed to gleam with an unnatural, bordering on starry-eyed gleam. "What's your talent, ma'am?"

"Promise you won't laugh?"

"Why would I laugh? Anyone with talent is bound to be amazing!" Komaeda replied almost fanatically, which gave Jolyne an off vibe when it came to him. She'd definitely need to keep an eye on him.

To make sure she didn't do something too destructive, she slotted in Void Snatch and momentarily replaced Blood Control with it before activating it, revealing the tendril of darkness to Komaeda. His eyes widened as Jolyne sighed. "My name's Brooks Jolyne. I'm… The Ultimate Magical Girl…"

"Magic…?"

"Yup. Ya know, flashy lights, big explosions, the classic fireball from Dungeons and Dragons? Yeah, that. It's real, and I'm the best at it," "As far as everyone is concerned. Makaria's too old to be in school and doesn't even look the part." As Jolyne thought that last bit to herself, Komaeda's eyes seemed to double in size, as if completely starstruck.

"That is by far one of the most unique Talents I have ever seen since coming here! And I thought being The Ultimate Princess was something to be blessed by! You, you've been blessed by something else! This goes beyond talent and straight into being a heightened level of existence!" Komaeda said, his voice filled with enthusiasm as Jolyne had to repress the urge to not recoil back in a mix of confusion and also slight disgust with how borderline on the verge of climax his voice sounded.

"To be so gifted with this kind of power that you not only meet the standards to be a part of Hope's Peak Academy's Main Course, but to have also been the one to save those lowly Reserve Course Students—you should be a God! Or, Goddess in your case!" Komaeda continued as Jolyne felt a bead of sweat trail down the side of her face.

"That's… uh… nice of you to say, Komaeda-kun—"

"Please, call me Nagito—"

"…Nagito… But, just because I have this power doesn't make me a God. If I thought that way, I'd probably be, uh… Not exactly a nice person."

"So, you're benevolent?"

"I wouldn't say that. I just… see everyone as equal," Jolyne corrected as Nagito blinked.

"Equal? But there's a clear line between those with talent and those without. How could they possibly be equal?" Nagito questioned as Jolyne scowled.

"We're all human, at the end of the day—"

"Even if you can sprout wings from you back?" Nagito interrupted as Jolyne hissed. He saw that?

"Okay, so some of us are human," Jolyne corrected Nagito's eyes widened.

"You're not—"

"I'm not getting into this right now," Jolyne interrupted as Nagito backed down. She was already getting the feeling that she wasn't going to like him all that much. "Look, Nagito, whatever it is you feel toward those who you deem lesser, just know this. If I thought that you were lesser, being a human and all, do you really think I would even so much as entertain the idea of talking to you?"

"No… I don't suppose you would."

"Then if it is truly as black and white as you deem it, then that would make this interaction impossible, correct?"

"Yes… I don't understand, what are you trying to say?" Nagito asked as Jolyne frowned.

"I'm saying that you can't split those with Talent and those seemingly without Talent apart. Everyone—and I mean everyone—has varying degrees of Talent. Some better than others. They might hone their skills into something niche so no one really notices them, but as along as that is what makes them happy, then so be it," Jolyne answered as she walked past Nagito. "Broaden your worldview before it's too late. You don't want to get stuck in your ways and end up becoming something a younger version of yourself would grow to loathe."

As Jolyne walked into the building, allowing Nagito to think over her words, she made her way up to her apartment. As soon as she entered, Jolyne walked in on Hajime unfurling a plastic bag full of take out. It was KFC—and wasn't that something she had never expected to be in Japan? Though, she supposed it made sense. KFC was an international food brand.

Hajime looked over his shoulder, saw Jolyne, and smiled. "You're back."

"I told you I would be," Jolyne said as Hajime walked over to her and brought her into a tight embrace. Jolyne reciprocated it before following it up with a quick kiss. As they pulled apart from one another, Jolyne made sure to close the apartment door behind her as a yawn reverberated throughout the apartment.

It was Kotoko, of course, having just woken up. She sniffed the air a couple of times of before groaning out the word "Food" like a zombie. Jolyne had to repress a laugh as Hajime cracked a grin.

"Did the smell wake you up?" Hajime asked as Kotoko nodded, stumbling over as she knocked herself into Jolyne, lazily wrapping her arms around her in a hug before promptly resting her head under her chest and sighing.

"Someone's more clingy than… ever. What gives?" Jolyne questioned to which Kotoko simply grunted, squeezing tighter. Jolyne took the hint and hugged back, which promptly earned her a delighted little huff of acceptance. Frankly, Jolyne had no idea what was going on but it didn't matter.

That was when she noticed that she had, at some point, completed Kotoko's Side-Quest. 45 of those thugs that she killed must've been left over from the people who were apart of the those who worked with her mother. That would be another five levels she'd get after completing the Mastery Dungeon, on top of the ten she'd get from the Remembrance because, frankly, she wasn't even going to bother with looking at what it had in store.

But, as she looked at the little scene before her, she figured that could wait till tomorrow. Besides, the day after that she'd be starting her new life as a member of Class 78, whoever those people were going to be.

All in all, she'd have to say, that despite all of the ups and downs that she had to deal with for the better half of a month, Jolyne wouldn't trade it for the world. Hajime placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling at her and… she didn't know what it was about that smile, but… She felt tears well up in her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" Jolyne murmured, wiping at her eyes. "These are happy tears…" In some sense, she finally got what she wanted.

She had a family.

[-To Be Continued-]

[Outro Song: Paradisus Paradoxum – By: Myth & Roid]

Now, if this was the actual finale, I'd say that'd be rather conclusive. Ya know, minus everything else. But, there's a chapter and an epilogue left so, ya know. We've still got more to deal with. Also, for those who thought that Mukuro was going to be given a real fight, I apologize for being misleading, but Mukuro is not a threat. Much like how she was done away with in the original games, so to is her fate here. Except, ya know, more being mauled to death than being skewered six-ways from Sunday.

Anyway, time for my response to reviews/comments!

(Qoutev) Sunky Addict: You know I can't promise that lol. Also, we shall see. We shall see…

(FF) AidenJacksonSmithDSBB: Thank you for pointing out that error I would've never fixed it if you hadn't lol.

(Ao3) Void_boi1: Don't lose hope for Monaca! Or do. I won't judge.

(Ao3) WilburDrake: Just wanted to correct that it isn't locked behind fighting Malenia. That's just one of the people she'd have to deal with when she gets there. Thank you for the kind words, have a wonderful day!

(Ao3) Kolt: Don't stress yourself out. Just go at your own pace. God knows I do that all the time. I used to want to keep up with stuff, but I find binge reading to be more enjoyable so I'm not left with annoying cliffhangers. Those suck major dong (says the guy who actively writes cliffhangers). Also, I hope you can handle more character death. 'Cause, well, ya know. Hehe Hehe… Anyway, have a wonderful day Kolt. See ya next time!

And that's about it from me. Join the discord server: Pva9PNxAzh for when the next update will be dropping, as well as interacting with like-minded fans of this story. Till next time folks. We've still got one more chapter to do and an epilogue and then, Book One will be done. Can't wait to see you all there. Peace out!