“AaaaAaaaaaaAaaaaaaaaAaahhhhhhhhhhHhhh!”
Kroaaaam—!
Inside the Golden Catfish Restaurant that was gradually falling deeper and deeper into chaos, the menacing figure of Kevin crashed through the wall and into the hallway filled with Chaos Angels.
Running away from their now frenzied friend, Boss, Bell, Mr. Handler, Mr. Presenter, Uncle Ten, and the group of about ten people following behind them ignored everything and everyone in their path, breaking through the sea of people fighting.
Because eventually, those people would also have to run away too.
Boom—!
An explosive sound caused everyone to turn their head back. Behind them, a single stomp from Kevin created a shockwave that propelled his body forward!
Panicking, one of the Chaos Angels running along with Boss’s group tried to grab all the plates from a nearby small serving cart that was left in the hallway and threw them at Kevin.
However…
At a speed that shouldn’t even be possible with those massive arms, Kevin proceeded to grab every single one of the plates out of the air and threw it back.
—Precisely.
—All three of them.
Plank! Plank! Plank!
“A-a-Ack!”
“Nihala! NoooOoo…!”
“W-was there a need to be so accurate?”
“As expected of Kevin, such swift vengeance…”
“Do you guys have the time to be impressed!?” yelled Mr. Handler.
For one reason or another, the angels were visibly shaken.
Eventually, the group took a sharp left turn down a small series of steps and arrived at one of the food courts on the third floor, right next to the bar area, overlooking the indoor balcony.
Unsurprisingly, it was also an utterly ransacked place full of broken glasses and messed-up tables, where two groups of Chaos Angels were locked in a tense standoff on either side.
Men, women, all of them holding broken pieces of furniture as weapons, ready to launch forward. Despite the fact that the two groups both consisted of angels who were [parasited] and the completely conscious.
—Perhaps, at this point, they were just fighting because they wanted to.
“““...!”””
Witnessing the scene in front of them, the group led by Boss slowed down, before deciding to just cut right through the Chaos Angels due to the stomping sounds from behind.
After Boss’s group ran by in a flash, the two groups charged at each other!
“““WwaaaaaaAaaH~!”””
Boom—!
But as they were about to clash, the red pillars and the golden fox carving that separated the sections were broken through completely.
Kevin burst through the air, scattering the dust and smoke and bits of wood, before landing firmly in the middle of everyone.
The black cloak he was wearing stretched and ripped, burning at the edges, catching the orange energy that swirled around him, glowing. The row of orange paper lanterns was caught on his neck, creating a makeshift necklace.
Combined with the pupil-less eyes that barely held any semblance of humanity, his presence was now akin to a terrifying demon.
But some of the people who were charging forward were no longer able to stop themselves.
“Taste my [Moon-Splitting Blade]!”
With a confident warcry, a girl with long black hair holding a wooden plank as a sword jumped into the air toward Kevin.
Clank—!
The muscular man grabbed the wooden plank. Stared at his attacker.
“WaaaaAaaaaaaaAhh~!”
—And the girl was sent to god knows where.
“For my brother!”
“For my sister!”
“For my best friend!”
“For my brother/sister/best friend, they’re the same person damn it!”
Both sides charged at him, raising their voices and weapons.
However…
“Weak.”
Boom—!
Kevin grabbed the head of the first Chaos Angel that came into his range and slammed them to the ground, brutally burying the unfortunate person into the wooden flooring!
…And uttered a word.
“Pathetic.”
BOoOOoom—!
Dragging him around to create a circle, sending fractured bits of wood outward—before a single swing of his arm sent three other Chaos Angels flying, tumbling over each other like bowling pins!
“Worthless!”
“Trash!”
“Can’t even deal with this level of attacks!?”
A large man was grabbed and thrown to the side of the bar area, tipping over a table, only for the same table to then tip over multiple times in a row as more and more people got thrown on top of it!
A girl received a heavy kick to the chest, landed on the bar, slid across it, knocking over every bottle and glass that was lined up in their path like dominoes, before flying right into a group of their friends!
A short-haired man tried to swing a chair at him, only to be punched to the wall and pinned by his own chair! A blonde woman was thrown across the room! The others didn’t fare any better.
One by one, the angels were simply swatted away like flies.
“All of you are just…
“—A WASTE OF SPACE!”
“I-I’m sorry?”
Towering over a shivering soft-looking angel clutching a broom, Kevin lifted his right foot high while gritting his teeth…
And then…
BooooOOoooOOOooOoM—!
…..
In that brief moment of time when Kevin was being ganged up on, Boss’s group was able to get away.
She, Bell, Mr. Handler, Mr. Presenter, Uncle Ten, and the Chaos Angels following them were now hiding behind a corner, looking back at the destroyed bar. All of them were panting in exhaustion from all the running.
“How… how is your friend so strong?” Mr. Presenter asked while readjusting his mechanical rabbit head.
“As an angel of Camilo, his rage usually gives him strength,” Boss said, touching her chin while sitting on the ground.
—Combined with the [Parasite], he was way more frenzied than usual.
“But, I don’t know exactly where it came from this time. I wonder. Does he actually have a lot of suppressed anger, maybe?”
“““...””” Everyone just stared at her.
In the distance, another sound of explosion; a scream preceding a loud warcry.
The current state of the Golden Catfish Restaurant was like a boiling pot that was already beginning to spill out its content, waiting to explode at any moment.
Perhaps, it was already exploding.
“But… this is really bad, isn’t it?”
Suddenly, in the group, the voice of one of the Chaos Angels rang out.
—It was Bell.
Hearing him, Boss crossed her arms and nodded, making a semi-serious frown.
“You’re right, Bell. Judging by the look of it, even the way to the top floor is full of drunk people, so we have to find—”
“No, I’m talking about Kevin.”
“Eh?”
“If this keeps going… he might end up seriously hurting someone again.”
“...”
At those words, there was a sudden pause.
Slowly, Boss turned her head to look at Bell—only to find the man wearing a red beanie touching his chin and looking down at the floor silently, seemingly lost in thoughts.
From the hallways outside: the screams and sounds of fighting only continued to grow louder.
Back inside: the expressions of the Chaos Angels were getting more and more concerned.
Boss’s expression turned solemn.
She bit her lips.
“Haaaa~”
—A sigh.
“Haaaaaaa~”
—Then another.
“Haaaaaaaaa~”
—Grabbing her hair, another sigh.
“Boss?”
Ignoring the questioning faces of Bell and the people around her, Boss simply stood up.
Back in the center of the third floor’s bar area, the Chaos Angels were still throwing themselves and everything else they could get their hands on at Kevin.
But regardless of how many there were or whatever they tried, there was no sign of him slowing down.
Rather, under the broken orange lights of Golden Catfish Restaurant, Kevin was getting more and more powerful. His figure grew larger. The aura surrounding him became more intense.
With a deep inhale, Kevin once again stepped forward and raised his hands above the cowering crowd.
Clank—!
—A flying silver plate hit the back of his head and bounced off.
“Kevin!”
On the other side of the indoor balcony, Boss retracted her outstretched hand under the gaze of everyone.
And at her words…
“If you don’t get over here right now…”
Everyone stopped.
…..
“I will tell everyone about that time you had a secret crush on a 900-year-old elf—”
“AaaaaAHhhh!”
Instantly, the figure of Kevin shot across from the other side of the indoor balcony, breaking through the railing!
Every angel in the vicinity immediately turned around and ran.
So did Boss.
Boom!
“Hey, it wasn’t that embarrassing, she was nice!”
“AaaaaAaaaaAH!”
Boss grabbed onto what was left of a broken pillar after running down a series of steps in order to help her turn a corner, as the people in front of her hurriedly scurried out of the way.
Kevin followed right behind her. But instead of turning the same corner, he ran through the nearby wall, cutting through it.
—Destroying entirely everything in his path.
“Okay, she did have several grandchildren though, so I guess it was kind of weird?”
“AaaAaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”
“...Nothing I say will actually matter anyway, right?”
Boss rested her hand on the railing briefly when she arrived at the flight of stairs and continued to run.
“AaaAaaaAaaAAaaaaaaaAh!”
Kevin slammed into the wall, before kicking off of it and bouncing up, as the sheer force of his roar created a shockwave, blasting the walls, sending bits of wood flying forward like a tide, breaking through the stars, the railings, the walls, the windows, chasing after Boss directly to the fourth floor!
…..
Finally arriving at the railing that guarded the indoor balcony on the top floor… Boss turned around to face Kevin.
As the floor shook with every single one of his footsteps, the large man exuding a terrifying presence suddenly slowed down as he approached closer, as though some parts of him were still in control of his body.
A little further away, some Chaos Angels were peeking at the situation while hiding behind a corner.
Back in the center of the room, Boss took one last deep breath.
“Can’t you go easy on me, Kevin?” She asked in a tired voice, almost pleadingly. “Haven't we been friends for a long time? Didn’t we go to high school together?”
At those words from Boss, the large figure towering over her stopped moving.
“You made that up… That’s not even… True.”
A low, breathy voice leaked out of his lips. A glimpse of his personality that hadn’t gone anywhere.
The corners of Boss’s lips raised slightly.
“Okay. You leave me no choice.”
She reached her hand into her cloak, before pulling it out to reveal something.
A pair of ornate, six-sided dice, carved in gold.
Despite being around two cubic centimeters in size each. They permeated an aura of Chaos that distorted light and space around them.
As though reality itself were being warped simply due to the pull of their existence.
—[Divine Artifacts: Dice of Fortune].
“This one is yours.” Boss placed the two dice between her fingers, holding one closer in. “This one is mine.”
She rolled them into her palm.
The lights spread out, bleeding, blending, warping all the colors of the environment until eventually forming into a shape.
Weng~!
In an instant, a faint image of an angelic wheel was projected onto the ground, creating a field of divine energy that was as beautiful as it was suffocatingly bright.
With those lights reflecting in her brown eyes, Boss pointed at the balcony behind her, and continued to speak.
“When we hit the floor, if your die rolls higher, I’ll receive all the damage. If mine does—you will.”
—For an opponent of this caliber, that wasn’t enough.
—That was why, the conditions needed to be more binding.
“The modification of the pay-out will be: [multiplication by one million folds].
“Until the result is known, both of us will be immune to external influences. It can not be interrupted.
“Until the result is known, each of our actions will be limited to what is allowed within the agreements. ”
The ‘conditions’ were set.
“Do you accept this [bet]?”
“Grrrr…”
The angelic wheel turned.
"I’ll take that as a ‘yes’."
As the final words fell, immediately, the last sliver of sanity disappeared from the eyes of Kevin. The large figure shot forward!
Bang—!
The guardrail broke, and the bodies of the two flew out from the topmost floor of the Golden Catfish Restaurant, accompanied by the sounds of rushing wind and small pieces of dark wood.
The gigantic rectangular monitor hung on the wall like a tapestry flickered in black and white, highlighting their silhouettes.
The pair of gold-carved dice spun in the air, in the process of determining the fate of their contractor.
How would she know if the dice rolls would favor her?
…..
—She wouldn’t.
It was truly a gamble.
BoOOooooOOoooooooOoommM—!
…..
After all the dust and debris had cleared.
The dice bounced on the ground before revealing their faces.
5 to 6…
Down below, the unmoving body of Kevin twitched.
Underneath him, the red-haired woman used her hands to push his muscular body from the top of her.
Lying flat on the ground beside her now unconscious friend, Boss absentmindedly looked up, and breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Later, I should probably pay a certain greedy goddess a visit…"
She brought up her right hand—somehow, the pair of dice had reappeared there, reflecting the lights from the surroundings. She took them back into her cloak.
Suddenly…
The sound of applause and cheering began resounding from the above floors.
“OOoooooOoooooHHH~! Go Boss!” the voice of Bell rang out.
“Boss girl, you actually did something good for once!” Mr. Handler shouted.
“Shut the hell up all of you and come help me!”
The broken wooden floor. All the destroyed tables and chairs.
The struggles of the Chaos Angels inside the Golden Catfish continued.
—————……….
