Naomi's apartment…

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Forcing herself to stay awake, Naomi pushed through the production of her next news article . Thanks to her friend, whom she considered precious due to having very few, she had a plethora of content . All of it was aimed toward boosting the popularity of Team Stone . They literally saved her life, multiple times, and she…didn't know how to thank them, except by the only means she knew . Counter as much bad press as possible, replace it with good things .

The green-haired girl yawned, the dark circles around her eyes seeming to expand . As the sole member of the newspaper club, especially of the best college in the nation, she had to triple and re-triple her efforts to producing the most impressive papers ever . Fortunately, Sazuki was a little friendlier these days, ever since the old dean vanished . She hoped the new one won't turn her back into the ice queen or else getting anything approved would become a ch.o.r.e .

Abruptly, a feeling of dread filled the hardworking girl until her heart pounded fast and she trembled a little . A voice that echoed everywhere and nowhere, made up of h.e.l.l itself .

"You left the band, an old life, but what have you actually accomplished? Journalism? How laughable . "

Naomi frowned .

"The voice again, after all of this time . Leave me alone—get out of my head! Maki has lost and changed . Not even she will—"

"That woman was just a mere distraction . A black Ki test . " A dark laugh filled the room . "You, who was once called the Silent Sword…Why do you not open up your second compartment within that chest . Why not use the real cursed blade? Are you doubting yourself?"

"Silent Sword…yeah I was going through a phase," Naomi said in a deadpan voice . Clyde would totally call her an edge lord . "Remember when I told you to f.u.c.k off, stupid voice . My disposition toward you still hasn't changed . " She sighed . She must be going crazy . Lack of sleep while trying to keep her club alive, catch as many scoops as possible, take pictures, write articles, and work a part-time job .

Just then, images of a smug Maki flooded through her mind .

"You hate her . Let that hate be your strength . Open your heart to the blade again . Entertain me, Silent Sword . "

Naomi rolled her eyes, cringing . She clasped her hands together .

"Great G.o.ddess Venus, if you're watching over me, please cleanse me of the evil that speaks in my head . "

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The voice actually gasped—which Naomi didn't expect . She only mentioned Venus offhandedly, because Clare used to wors.h.i.+p her .

"Calling on another deity when you have me? It doesn't matter, I no longer need your vessel . I can taste… pandemonium in the air . " The evil voice chuckled . "Pandemonium, cousin to black Ki . This pathetic city surprises me twice . Farewell, failure who calls herself a child of Venus . One day, I may take the time out of my busy schedule to make you regret filling my heart s.p.a.ce with that wench of a G.o.ddess . "

And just like that, the presence vanished . Naomi collapsed to her knees, tears streaming from her face . What did she do to deserve this? She gave up the sword to be a better person, and she still gets punished after many years? She wiped away her tears .

Stay strong, Naomi, she thought . Stay strong . She would not let that…thing win . He was gone now and could no longer return . Venus…Was she protecting her? If that evil thing hated the G.o.ddess, then she had to be for the good .

Maybe she should attend one of her churches . That thought made her think of an old pain in the a.s.s enemy some years back…the old days . The crusaders . And the evil within: crusader researchers . If they were gone, the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds would possibly be a non-bullying force for the right cause . Probably .

She shook away the thoughts . She didn't want those f.u.c.kers fresh in her mind again . A long life…Lives…

Naomi sighed . She was no longer the old her . Just a normal human . And no evil voice would tell her otherwise . What's pandemonium? She thought .

That early evening…

Clyde's house…

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The dinner table was still lively, despite the cold-hard fact that Matsuko got away . No one on the planet had the ability to track a Jump . The young man contacted Detective Tetra and convinced the beautiful dark elf to keep a police surveillance on the fallen angel's hotel . Somehow for openly relying on her, the relations.h.i.+p level increased .

[Your relations.h.i.+p with Tetra has jumped to endearment, friend level 5 . ]

The prompt stood as a reminder that relations.h.i.+p levels silently auto-increased in the background . And for this case, it was because the woman protected him from the authorities, unwarranted investigations, surveillance of his friends' homes (as they had no idea where Clyde lived), door-to-door searches for him, so on . He looked at her with a new respect .

While the women were lively and impressed with Melody, the young man couldn't help but notice Toru's disturbing silence . Normally he'd be either a part of the conversation, on the phone with Fumi, or even teasing some of the others right into his blank stare trap . He didn't know what to say to him, deciding to just give the man his s.p.a.ce . Alice stole a few glances too .

Unable to take the dark vibe from his friend anymore, Clyde decided to go to Harumi's room for positivity . He made sure to knock first, just in case Sazuki somehow teleported in the room, not that he developed a habit of barging in on people . The pink-haired young woman had an open-door policy, mainly in the case of someone needing healing .

Unfortunately, she wasn't alone . Her h.e.l.lhound room guests smiled and before he could back up, so that they could continue their girl-time conversation, Ruri anime-dove into him . He playfully reached for Harumi . She smiled .

"Help," he said, petting the adorable white-haired girl . Airi tiredly walked into the room, but stopped to stare blankly at the two .

"There are plenty of unoccupied rooms for that, you know," she said then sat on the pink-haired girl's bed . "Is there any way we can help Toru?"

The mood in the room dropped . Ruri's ears sagged . So much for gathering the positivity needed to come up with a new solution for the situation .

"I don't know," Clyde said as he took a seat . "From my world, slimes were a myth, but also immortal, except by the hero's magic . "

"That's true," Matsume said . "Most slimes are impervious to non-magic attacks . But really, they aren't that hard to deal with . Had you not taken any down yourselves?"

Clyde nodded .

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"But from what you told me, Hideo said he killed her by blade . Was it some kind of holy sword, like in the books?"

"He called it the Fading blade, a sword for monster-killing," Matsume said, "but really, the only thing special about it is the ability to make it appear and disappear at will . "

Clyde froze .

"How long does it take for a slime to regenerate?"

"In a matter of seconds," Ruri said . "But if the damage was magic-infused, it could take longer . "

"This is irrelevant," Matsume said . "He mentioned the purple flames . She's gone . "

"Purple flames doesn't always mean death," Clyde said . "It didn't for Gamen, not for Nezerath . " He sighed . "Never mind, no use of digging for the impossible . "

That night, Clyde found himself rolling around in his own thoughts . Chika studied at the desk, Alice wrapped up the evaluation of her father's . . . well, her businesses . All three of them abruptly let out a collective sigh .

"I just want to snap that man's throat in two," Chika said . "Toru's uncle's a jerk!" She folded her arms and harrumphed liked a tsundere or anime girl style .

"I want to disable all of his powers, break every bone in his body then toss him to the futas . I'll make sure they'd be plenty angry that day," Alice said . "Maybe they'll make him explode into a million pieces . "

Clyde let out another sigh, but didn't add to the gruesome declarations . Sure, he'd obliterate Hideo down to the molecule then send his soul to…

The young man's eyes widened . Why did he have these thoughts? As if…He…Clyde gulped, realizing something . His mind flashed back to what the Genie said earlier .

An angelic being could probably get away with it once, if lucky .

That was just an angel . But what about him? Hmm, what if he made a command? Before the young man could resonate any further thoughts, Melody burst into the room, tears in her eyes .

"Toru…Toru ran off . Something isn't right about him . "

Toru's room before Melody walked in on him… .

"Toru, the caller of Zang, the man whom I've been looking for . You are in an impossible situation, but I can help you . Zang is incredible, but you're unable to increase enough of it in time . Hideo, the one who took away your soul mate, gave her an unfair death, will be leaving soon . And once he does, you will never find him, at least not until you're in chains and on your way to being converted into a filthy crusader . Is that what you want? Of course it isn't . But today is your lucky day . You see, I like to watch events, give boons just to see what happens, and then take notes . Let me give you the Zang to avenge your love . And I will be direct with you, the amount I give you will probably burn you out if you don't finish him off fast enough . Not that you care . You are still recovering from losing the one who you spent day after day with . You were about to propose to the Suraimu girl, were you not? And he took it all away using a blade that had an enchantment which disabled her ability to regenerate . He killed such a beautiful woman and force of nature in the most…dishonorable way . "

The video-like image of Hideo answering the door and killing Fumi in cold blood, flashed through Toru's mind . He could feel the semi-cool autumn air that night, smell the charcoal-like odor of the purple flames—even felt the heat . The young man, eyes wide, fell to his knees, trembling…shocked . Tears streamed from his eyes . Why couldn't he be there for her? He would have given everything, used all of his power to defend her . "So let me ask you this . Do you want the power to avenge her? You've already heard my upfront honesty about this much power . You already know that it may kill you . Yet…you still desire revenge . After seeing that, can you live with yourself without doing anything about that filthy crusader?"

"I don't care what happens to me," Toru said as he stood, eyes glowing yellow . "Give me the power to kill him . "

"You've opened up your heart to me and so I will grant you the power . Kill that crusader—it will make the world a better place . Of course, the price you're paying becomes two . Your possible burnout . . Or no longer recognizing friends as allies . "

Toru didn't hear the words as the ecstasy of power infused within him . And Zang took over his soul .

Melody walked in to check on the young man after feeling a presence that shouldn't be there, but it was too late . A fully dressed Toru dashed past her, armed, surrounded in crimson aura . She followed, but then he Jumped . An ability that the young man didn't previously have… .

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