“You’re like a monster girl magnet,” Clyde said to Toru as the arch imp ripped his shirt off. Toru simply sighed.

“Why is this happening to me?” he said, nonchalance in his voice.

“Well don’t just stand there for him to get raped,” Kitome barked.

“Pssh, as if someone can rape me,” Toru said, but when he tried to get the monster off him, he froze, blushing furiously. And course she ripped his pants off at light speed.

“Big brother, you won’t leave me, right?”

[Your party has entered combat.]

[Alice activated Targeted Raid Ender.]

She glared at Toru with a disgusted look, hands glowing as bright as the sun. With one thrust forward, she unleashed the magic.

“You might want to move, puny human,” was her only warning.

“I can’t you unreasonable demon wench,” Toru said with what looked to be all of his strength. “My high will is the only thing allowing me to speak through the charm. So…Oh god. Yes!”

[Nana activated Tier 3 skill, Hardened Magic shield.]

Nana started a blowjob, in front of all of them while her magic shield snuffed out Alice’s magic like a blown candle. The loud slurping sounds made even Chika’s jaw drop. The arch imp gave an innocent smile to Toru then grinned condescendingly at Alice.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Kitome said, walking over to the scene. She spartan-kicked the girl so hard, Toru released his load. A tiny flick of it landed on Kitome’s nose.

“Oh shit, Seth back away from that,” Clyde said.

“Don’t have to tell me twice, dude,” Seth replied. Even Alice moved away, offering Toru a look of pity.

The intense rage fell off Kitome’s face as she took a deep breath and let it out. She picked up his ripped shirt, wiped her nose then threw it in his face.

“Get up, get dressed,” she said, voice tinged with barely contained fury. “I’m only letting you off because you seem to be a constant rape target. By the way, I never asked this, but are you okay in the head?” She widened her eyes and let go of Toru’s throat, upon realizing she had it. Her voice continued in a calm manner. “I’ve felt bad for taking your monster girl…forced punishments lightly, but you…you’re enjoying them, pervert. And to top it off with a slime girlfri—”

[Nana used Raid Ender.]

[Alice used Raid Canceller. Nana’s attack has been negated!]

[Enemy HP is currently at 180%]

Everyone turned to the snarling arch imp girl. The expression changed quickly.

“All of you ganging up on me,” she said. “Bullying!”

She looked at Clyde and smiled widely. “One on one. Come on. And…extra things are allowed.”

“He’s not doing any extra things, except killing you,” Alice and Chika said simultaneously.

“You could fight Toru again,” Clyde said, soliciting a glare from the half-dressed noble.

“Nope, it must be you, unless you’re scared,” the arch imp taunted. “I already have Toru’s scent.” She smiled. “I’ll be paying him a visit later.”

“Enough,” Yusuke said. “You think this is a game?”

Yusuke, transformed again, started going through a few hand signs.

[Yusuke activated Flash Jump.]

[Yusuke activated Bitter End.]

Clyde saw a teleport and a glowing dagger stab in the arch imp’s back but even that wasn’t enough.

[Critical! Enemy HP has dropped to 77% ATTACK ONCE MORE!]

Nana was crying, crocodile tears no doubt.

“Big brother, how can you do this to me.”

Yusuke didn’t hesitate. With a loud sniff, he attacked again.

[Yusuke activated Ninja art, Shadow Slash.]

[Enemy HP has dropped to 24%]

Yusuke’s slash that oozed with black and white light still didn’t finish off the monster girl. Nana simply laughed. Kitome’s angry brother attempted to go for another attack, but the arch imp easily dodged then spun-kicked him to the ground.

[Nana activated Grand Heal.]

[Enemy HP has increased to 188%]

Clyde shook his head.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Enemies that heal. Biggest pain in the ass.”

He started to move forward to join the fight, but Alice placed a hand in front of him.

“Let them. They need this.”

Clyde didn’t like the idea of not participating in battle, even if it was to observe the strength of his teammates. Did she give the same order to Harumi and Chika too? His answer was confirmed when they glared at Alice. The two young women could probably one-shot the arch imp.

A burst of fire enveloped from Seth’s bat as he swung, nailing a home run.

[Seth used Explosive Swing.]

[Enemy HP has dropped to 150%. Enemy is paralyzed. Weakness exploited.]

“Good work, Seth,” Clyde said. “Go ahead and bring this home.”

Nana gave the most innocent blushing anime girl look to the group. Even Clyde felt unsure if this was right.

“Do we have to hurt her?” Toru said as he walked over to the downed monster girl. He picked her up. She smiled gleefully.

“You fool, don’t!” Alice said. Clyde almost believed Toru was at his end until the lightning came. Harumi shook her head.

[Harumi used Targeted lightning destruction bolt.]

[Weakness exploited. SUPER CRITICAL. TECHNICAL.]

[Enemy HP has dropped to 0%]

[[Battle completed. Victory! Reward: 15000 EXP and $2000.]

The arch imp burst into purple flames right in Toru’s arms. Clyde expected to see him scream but the despawn ended as quickly as it came. Alice stormed over to Toru, catching him with the force.

“Just because it has a vagina doesn’t make them safe,” she snarled. “Arch imps are dangerous. She could’ve imprisoned your soul, bonded to you forever, taken you off to who knows where to be a slave. Don’t look at a pretty face and let your guard down.”

She dropped Toru to the ground with a sniff then stormed forward.

The group returned to the bus stop in silence. Toru looked as if he was about to apologize to them, but Clyde interjected. He spoke to the other young man privately.

“We all know your worth man,” he said. “Every time we come out here and fight, to hopefully take back this city and move on, we risk our lives. Let’s not throw them away.” He sighed. “But it’s not your fault. Alice has a personal vendetta against virtually any monster girl. And she’s not a man. Monster girl charm and magic affects us unfairly, you know what I mean?”

Toru chuckled.

“I may be especially potent to it.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t fight it, not even shift into Zen mode.”

“It’s okay,” Clyde said. “It’s not the first and last mistake we’ll make as a team.”

“We? But I—”

“This sounds cheesy, but if one falls, the team falls. We go in as a team, we go out as a team. When you declared me leader, I didn’t take it seriously at first, but you know, people’s lives on the line and all. My point is Toru, we all make mistakes. But tonight, just wasn’t on you, regardless of what anyone says.”

Toru nodded.

[Your relationship with Toru as increased to Friend, full respect.]

“I will take responsibility for my actions, train harder,” Toru said. “Tonight was just an embarrassment.”

“At least you were allowed to do something,” Clyde said. “I had a skill fusion waiting for… Never mind.”

The group said their goodbyes then parted ways. Chika tried and failed to go home with Clyde, blocked by Alice’s logical words. A pout and a harrumph later, she actually gave in.

It felt a little awkward, not going into his apartment by himself. Harumi looked as if she didn’t approve, but Alice gave her no chance to object. She politely refused the pink-haired girl’s invite too.

While Alice showered, Clyde checked his stats, hoping to keep his mind out of the gutters for once. He specifically checked his quest log. There wasn’t a need to worry about stats until either he underwent a major change or hit level forty or fifty.

[Quest log:

Main story.

DESTROY THE ASHFALL FAMILY. (Urgent MS).

Locate the whereabouts of Kiko the vampire. (MS.)

Gather materials and craft three items.

Go to the Libado Grasslands.

Defeat one person in either a non-real card. (Stone-Tokken quest.)

Defeat Dark in a Real game (Stone-Token quest.)]

Call Chika in the late hours. (MS.)

He was sure the Stone-Tokken quests weren’t there before and hoped that Dark drilled him enough to be the next king of games. They couldn’t do anything about the Kiko quest without sending the letter, so that was on hold. In fact, the top quest, which involved crushing Alice’s enemies, flashed.

Alice eventually came out of the shower, eyes relaxed. Clyde took in the clinging silk robe before proceeding to get clean himself. All of his worries and troubles seemed to fall into the drain with the hot water.

When Clyde returned to his room, clean, refreshed and in his sleepwear of boxers and tank top, he noticed Alice in his bed, reading a book under the lamplight. She closed the book, smiling at him.

The demoness had him in a passionate kiss before his bottom so much as touched the bed.

“Finally have you to myself,” she said softly. Clyde felt the pulse, he suspected he shared with Alice. Clyde pulled her in close as they wildly kissed, their clothing seeming to strip themselves.

Ashfall Estates…

Nezerath attacked his maids, again and again, to burn off his stress. What kind of an Ashfall demon was he to let some Hades brat get the best of him? He was to be feared, to be the ruler of everything.

There had to be someone the Hades woman held dear to her. How could it be possible for her to hide so easily from them? He shouldn’t have to send his best nor Yuki out to deal with minor pests. It seemed like Alice had more allies than he believed.

He forcefully entered a demoness maid while choking her. She gagged and begged. He only smiled and thrusted as hard as possible, repeatedly. When the maid’s face was blue enough, he removed his hands, allowing her to take a desperate inhale of breath, tossing her to the ground.

“If you want to blame someone, blame Yuki. Blame Alice,” he said. “If Yuki succeeds, your pain could stop. But if she fails, her pain will be unimaginable. She has until I get there on Saturday.”