'Why?!' Aila never understood Daz's words. No, even more than that, she couldn't understand his words. 'I'm happy being your second... I've accepted being behind that woman. Even I understand that I can't replace her. I'm okay with it, even. It's not like I don't have lovers too, but why, why can't you accept me?!'

Aila grit her teeth as she clenched her fists. He was more handsome now. More imposing. More powerful. More independent. He was everything that she wanted, but in his eyes, all he saw when he looked at her was nothing. She wasn't even worth his hate or his malice.

Despite knowing the answers, she still found herself asking two questions. "Why won't you marry me?! Why won't you love me?!"

A heavy sigh escaped Daz's lips. "You are truly pathetic." He brushed back his grey-borderline-white hair and glanced at her with those passive eyes of his.

"Aila. Did you know? I truly intended to marry you at first. I was fine going along with my father's little schemes," Daz confessed. He cared very little for the reactions of Pheldorapod or the crowd to their little 'drama', so he was fine talking about this to her.

"Then why?!" Aila was on the verge of tears. Had she known that Daz was the person with the golden ticket, she never would have accepted the challenge. She'd rather be scolded by Emma for losing the VR capsule than have to go through with this... nonsense.

Daz scowled at her. "You know why." He sighed once again, but softer this time. "I never cared what you did with other guys. It honestly never even registered in my mind since I cared more about the earth beneath my feet than I did about you."

That... that truly stung Aila. To have him so willingly say that he valued her lower than dirt... It cut her deeply. "T-Then wh-"

Daz's eyes turned cold and his aura became very intimidating. "Do you really want me to recount what you did when that man asked you to? Really? To all of the survivors? I want nothing to do with that scum, but if you insist, I don't particularly mind starting a war with him. It's a matter of sooner or later anyway."

"N-No one will believe you..." Aila mumbled.

Daz laughed loudly. "Are you so sure about that? Are you willing to bet on it?" He was met with silence. "It looks like not all cowards are capable of growing spines, huh? You must be special, Dorian. Crusher, give him a good pat on the back for me, please," Daz said playfully as he looked at the crowd.

No one knew what he was going on about, but in a certain private suite, the cries of a young man with a metal arm could be heard within along with the thunderous cackling of a short clown.

"Anyway," Daz's tone returned to its emotionless state. "Draw your weapon, or I will just end this now. I'd rather not kill you when you're unarmed, but I'll do it if you force my hand. Unless you'd rather surrender?"

Once again, Aila grit her teeth and then bit her bottom lip. 'Fuck! I can't surrender! That'll only weaken my position even further than this farce already has... I'll make him pay for this! Maybe not today, but someday! He can't get away with disrespecting Mr Hamilio like this!'

Whatever she was blinded by, it was strong enough to convince the girl to summon her weapon and take a stand against the Archreaper.

Daz took a quick second to check her status, though he doubted that there would be anything particularly special in it. Regardless, it was never good to underestimate your opponent no matter how much weaker than you they were.

Aila Bristle's Status Basic Information Name: Aila Bristle Species: Human Race: Higher Human Age: 23 Sex: Female Class: Lightning Sorceress Affinity: Chaotic Neutral Description

Raised as the second daughter of the Bristle bloodline.

Her future was bright as she was to be wed with the young heir to the Hamilio family, however, this future was crushed when she aligned herself with the boy's father.

She now currently works as the head of scouting for New York's self-defence force.

More than anything, she wishes to gain the recognition of the one she loves. To do this, she has many lovers to help her learn how to best treat a man. Unfortunately, her feelings will most likely never reach their target.

Energies Lifeforce: 3,000/3,000 Stamina: 1,575/1,575 Worldforce: 4,000/4,000 Stats Intelligence: 750(900) Constitution: 1,000(1,200) Wisdom: 500(600) Regeneration: 100 Endurance: 700 Defense: 900 The host currently has 6 empty stat slots.

'Not bad. New York, huh? She said she was coming to Fort Skip, right? It might be smart to turn her to my side and take over New York peacefully,' Daz thought ambitiously.

He held no strong feelings for her, and this included feelings of bitterness or spite. He only felt those for his father, so he was seriously considering converting her when they met in the future.

Aila grabbed the thick magical grimoire that she had summoned from the aether and she opened it up to its centre pages. "I won't go easy on you!" she shouted in the hopes that she might be able to scare Daz a bit. A foolish hope.

"I see that you're defense-focused," he noted as he completely ignored her threat. "Wouldn't it make more sense for you to be magic-focused since you got a sorceress class?"

"H-Huh? You can see my stats?" Aila faltered a bit.

Daz just smiled faintly as he said, "I have Higher Identification. Your description is interesting."

"Higher Identification? But that's a useless skill. It's a waste of points," Aila commented as she began chanting in her mind. She didn't know why Daz was speaking to her now when they were meant to be fighting, but if that gave her a chance to win and keep her three-million merit points, then she wasn't going to let this rare chance slip through her fingers.

"I don't know. It's been pretty useful to me so far." Daz turned to look at the crowd. "If anyone out there has skills or classes that people have told you are useless, they're wrong. Every skill and every class has its purpose. If you feel unappreciated wherever you are, seriously consider coming to Fort Skip in Waterford, America. You'll be treated like an equal."

Aila's eyes clouded over with rage. 'He... He's using this time to advertise his city?! Why is Mr Hamilio worried that he's awakened his emotions?! He's still a heartless bastard!' Despite thinking that, the young woman couldn't help but admit that she found his callousness attractive.

After saying his piece, Daz stood still and shoved his hands into his pockets. This only worsened Aila's mood. She was almost done mentally chanting her most powerful magic spell, but she had a few seconds to spare to ask, "Are you looking down on me?!"

Daz immediately nodded. "I am. It's impossible for you to kill me. I checked all of your items and skills, but you'd be lucky to even hit me if I seriously tried to kill you. Mind you, hitting me wouldn't increase your chances of victory either."

"We'll see about that!" she yelled as her spell was finally completed. "Roaring Heavenly Lightning!"

Daz tilted his head back as he looked up at the dark clouds forming above his head. He whistled in admiration before he returned his gaze to his ex-fiancée.

Her face wore a grin and her eyes were clearly mocking him. "You'll regret letting me cast that spell. Thanks in advance for the points."

He smirked. "Likewise, thanks for the points."

A lightning bolt the width of a car flew out of the clouds. It was pure red and it crackled with some sort of evil energy. Daz didn't even look up at it while it descending towards his head. Just before it made contact with his body, the halo floating above and behind his head glowed faintly.

As if his body was being controlled by some sort of celestial force, Daz moved out of the way, avoiding the massive lightning attack that was moving faster than the speed of sound.

Since it had failed to hit him, it struck the ground and harmlessly fizzled out of existence. A lot of the survivors in the crowd felt cheated. It appeared like Aila's spell was just a flashy move with no actual power behind it, but the more observant people were able to spot that the stage was simply too sturdy.

Normally, Daz should have been blown to smithereens by the might contained within that red bolt of death, but somehow, he had evaded it. Only a handful of people were able to identify that it was his halo that had saved him.

"Nice. That was actually stronger than I'd expected, to be honest," Daz praised. He stood still in his new position with his hands still in his pockets. "That might have actually killed me. Of course, I had all the time in the world to dodge, but hey, if you have someone trapped, that's a hell of a good artillery weapon."

Aila's face was covered in sweat and her worldforce was nearly depleted. "I-I don't need your pity! H-How did you dodge that?!"

Daz sighed. "I'm not pitying you. How'd I dodge it? It was a racial thing, I guess."

He waited for Aila's response, but none came. She had pulled out a small bottle filled with sparkling blue liquid and she was chugging it. Daz looked at her status and saw that her almost-empty worldforce was now refilling. 'Well, at least she's not a quitter.'

Daz looked up at the tiny demon princess who was happily lounging on his halo. "Hey, fuse with Hamson, please. I want to end this."

Aila wiped the residue liquid from her mouth and frowned after she threw the now-empty bottle on the ground. "Who are you talking to?"

Daz shrugged. "My partner."

"Your wha-" Aila's words were cut off when she saw the jagged and blood-red shovel that was floating in front of Daz suddenly gain a deep crimson aura around its blade. She wasn't the strongest person in New York, but she could feel how much of a danger that garden tool was to her now.

Out of fear, she spoke some words that she really didn't mean. "Like that useless weapon can hurt me! I put most of my merit points into my stats and I focused on defensive stuff as well as self-healing! If you're not going to take this seriously, then I'll keep launching more and more of those lightning bolts! I wonder how many more times you can dodge?!"

The way Daz was looking at her made her skin crawl. It was like he was looking at a helpless dog that was barking at a lion. It made her feel sick.

"I'll see you when you arrive at Fort Skip, I suppose," he said nonchalantly.

The next second, Aila's head was removed from its shoulders. Hamson was covered in blood and was now hovering slightly behind Aila's body. With a wet thud, her corpse flopped down onto the ground before it - and all of her blood - scattered into particles of light.

Reika defused from Hamson and returned to her bed while Daz willed Hamson to return to his right hand's brand.

Pheldorapod was shaking with excitement. This was why he loved golden ticket holders! They were always such masters at the theatrical! The way Daz had shown off, bragged, promoted himself and his base... Why it sent chills up the octopus' non-existent spine!

"Ladies! Gentlemen! The genderless and everything else in between! We have our winner!" he exclaimed loudly with gusto in his voice.

Thunderous applause filled the hall. No one had expected something like this to happen during an auction of all things. Even those who were ticket holders themselves, they never would have dreamed that someone like Daz had existed, let alone the story between him and Aila as well as his raw display of strength.

All but one. In his private booth which was filled with many influential people, his youngest son, and his subordinates as well, Davido Hamilio had a big smile on his face even as Aila was begging him for forgiveness.

"L-Lord Hamilio... I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have accepted the challe-"

Davido waved his hand dismissively. "Nonsense. What we gained right now far outweighs the value of a silly machine and a few million merit points. You did well, Aila. I'm very proud of you."

Aila couldn't help but blush as the man's powerful eyes seemed to gaze right into her soul. She bowed her head and thanked him before she moved out of his sight and returned to Emma's side.

Giacomo who was sitting on Davido's lap pulled at his shirt and said, "Papà, I feel like I know that weird angel man..."

Davido chuckled softly and brushed his son's hair with his hand. "That's because he's your older brother. Your amazing and perfect older brother."

Giacomo sulked. "Gia is more perfect. Right, Papà?"

"Of course, my boy. Of course," Davido replied, however, his mind was saying very different things. 'He's fully awakened his Survivor's Instinct to level-two and his Soul Collector power is on the cusp of awakening as well... Gravital Body is still a ways off, but he's perfectly healthy. Not to mention that deal with the bank he has... My son, Darenzo... Truly, you are my most perfect creation. It wasn't a mistake to let you have your way before the system came here...'