Location: Naruse Residence - Dining Room
Time: 7:30 PM
The atmosphere was tense. Yuki Nonaka sat at the dinner table, stiff as a board. In front of her was a bowl of Mio's curry.
Across from her, Raiden was currently eating a literal mountain of pork cutlets.
"Why is the Hero eating with us?" Mio Naruse whispered to Basara. "This is weird."
"She's... observing," Basara whispered back. "Better she's here where we can see her than hiding in the bushes."
Raiden swallowed three cutlets at once.
"Yuki," Raiden spoke.
The silver-haired girl flinched. "Y-Yes?"
"Pass the soy sauce."
Yuki grabbed the bottle. Her hands touched Raiden's for a split second.
[Passive Skill - Charm of the Sovereign]
A jolt of electricity went up her arm. Her face flushed bright red.
"H-Here!"
Raiden poured the sauce.
"You're stiff. Your muscles are tense. It spoils the meat."
He looked at her with glowing golden eyes.
"Relax. If I wanted to eat you, I wouldn't wait for dessert."
Maria, sitting next to Raiden, giggled. "Mio-sama, look! The Heroine is falling for the Big Bad Dragon! It's a classic trope!"
"I am not!" Yuki stood up, slamming her hands on the table. "I am merely assessing the threat level of—"
ZAP.
The lights went out.
A heavy, magical silence descended on the house.
Space warped.
"Barrier!" Basara shouted, summoning Brynhildr. "Mio, get behind me!"
A black void opened beneath Maria's chair.
Mechanical arms shot out, grabbing the succubus.
"Eek! Mio-sama! Raiden-san!" Maria screamed as she was dragged down.
Raiden moved instantly. He clawed at the void.
RIP.
He tore a chunk of the shadow portal, but it was already closing. He was left holding a piece of Maria's ribbon.
The lights flickered back on.
Maria was gone. The chair was empty.
A holographic projection appeared in the center of the curry pot.
Zolgia's twisted face grinned.
"Greetings, Demon Lord's Daughter. And you, the Gluttonous Anomaly. I have taken the Succubus. Her core is the key to unlocking Mio's power... once I dissect her."
Raiden stared at the hologram.
He slowly picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth.
"Dissect?" Raiden asked softly.
"Indeed!" Zolgia cackled. "Come to the abandoned industrial district if you wish to save her. But be warned, my Gigas unit is—"
Raiden didn't let him finish.
He reached into the hologram.
[Gluttony - Signal Trace]
He grabbed the magical signal itself.
CRUNCH.
He crushed the projection mechanism from inside the magic.
"Basara," Raiden stood up. His voice had no emotion. It was the flat, cold tone of a predator.
"Finish your curry."
"Raiden? We have to go!" Basara yelled.
"I know," Raiden walked to the window. "He took the maid. She hasn't finished the laundry yet."
Raiden's back muscles expanded. The Black Maw tattoo pulsed.
"And he interrupted my dinner."
Location: Warehouse District 4 - Zolgia's Secret Base
Time: 8:00 PM
The warehouse was surrounded by hundreds of Stray Devils and Low-Level Chimeras. Zolgia had emptied his entire stock to create a defensive wall.
"Hold the line!" a Stray Devil shouted. "Zolgia-sama said the Dragon is coming!"
BOOM.
There was no "coming." There was just an arrival.
Raiden dropped from the sky like a meteor, landing in the center of the army. The impact shockwave vaporized the first fifty demons instantly.
He stood up from the crater.
Yuki and Basara landed behind him.
"There are so many..." Yuki drew Sakuya. "This will take time."
"No," Raiden walked forward. "It won't."
He opened his mouth.
[Heavenly Dragon Art: Gluttony - Area Drain]
He inhaled.
The demons screamed as their magical energy, their stamina, and their physical forms were ripped away from their bones.
Hundreds of enemies turned into motes of purple light and flowed into Raiden's mouth.
Slurp.
"Appetizers," Raiden grunted.
He pointed at the main warehouse doors—massive steel reinforced gates.
"Knock knock."
He punched the air.
The air pressure blast blew the steel doors off their hinges and sent them flying through the entire length of the building.
Inside, the warehouse was a house of horrors. Tubes, vats, and surgical equipment.
Maria was strapped to a vertical table, unconscious. Several needles were inching toward her chest.
Zolgia stood on a catwalk above.
"You... you ate my army in ten seconds?!"
"I skipped lunch," Raiden looked up. "Give me the girl."
"Never!" Zolgia pulled a lever. "Witness the ultimate fusion of Magic and Science! Gigas Machina!"
The floor split open.
A fifty-foot-tall robot rose up. But it wasn't just metal. It was covered in pulsing demon flesh. It wielded a massive axe made of Cursed Spirit Iron.
"This unit possesses the strength of a High-Class Devil and the durability of a divine tank!" Zolgia gloated. "Destroy him!"
The Gigas raised its axe.
Basara stepped forward. "I'll handle the -"
"Sit down, kid," Raiden put a hand on Basara's shoulder. "This one looks crunchy."
The Gigas swung the axe.
Raiden caught the blade with one hand.
The ground shattered beneath him, but Raiden didn't budge.
"Composite material," Raiden analyzed. "Cursed Iron mixed with Demon Bone."
He looked at the robot.
[Lust: Override]
He tried to dominate it.
The demon flesh part of the robot twitched. It hesitated. The biological part recognized Raiden as a Superior.
But the machine part forced it to move.
"Conflicted," Raiden smirked. "Half of you wants to kill me. Half of you wants to serve me."
Raiden jumped. He landed on the robot's chest.
He ripped a metal plate off with his bare hands.
"Let's simplify things."
[Gluttony: Selective Consumption]
Raiden bit into the robot's core wiring.
SPARK. CRUNCH.
He ate the control unit.
The machine eyes of the Gigas went dark. The demon flesh eyes remained wide open in terror.
"Now," Raiden whispered to the massive heap of flesh and metal. "Who is your Master?"
The Gigas fell to its knees. It bowed its massive head.
"R-R... Raiden... sama..." the synthesized voice groaned.
Zolgia watched from the catwalk, his jaw hitting the floor. "You... you brainwashed a robot?!"
"I seduced the biological half," Raiden wiped oil from his mouth. "And I ate the firewall."
Raiden leaped from the robot to the catwalk.
Zolgia stumbled back, tripping over cables. "Stay back! I have hostages! I have... I have money!"
Raiden grabbed Zolgia by the head. He lifted the old demon off the ground.
"You targeted my property," Raiden said calmly. "You interrupted my meal. And you made the succubus cry."
Raiden's eyes turned into vertical slits.
"I wonder... does a twisted soul taste bitter?"
"Wait! Mercy!" Zolgia shrieked. "I can give you power! I know secrets about the Village! About Mio's father!"
"I don't need secrets," Raiden opened his mouth. The void behind him expanded, darkening the entire warehouse.
"I need calories."
[Unique Skill: Soul Devour]
Raiden bit down. Not on Zolgia's head, but on his existence.
Zolgia screamed as his life force, his magic, and his consciousness were siphoned out. His body turned to ash and crumbled in Raiden's grip.
[System Alert]
[Consumed: Zolgia (Necromancer)]
[Skill Acquired: Bio-Fusion (Basic)]
[Intelligence Increased]
Raiden dusted his hands off.
"Dry. Like eating old parchment."
Raiden jumped down to Maria. He ripped the restraints off.
Maria fell into his arms. She blinked her eyes open weakly.
"M-Master...?"
"You're late for chores," Raiden said, though his tone was surprisingly gentle.
Maria looked at him, then at the destroyed lab, the bowing giant robot, and the pile of ash that used to be Zolgia.
Tears formed in her eyes.
"You came for me..."
"Mio would be annoying if you died," Raiden deflected.
Basara and Yuki ran over.
"Is she okay?" Mio asked, running in after them (she had been waiting outside with a barrier).
"She's fine," Raiden tossed Maria to Basara. "Just drained of mana."
Raiden looked at the massive Gigas Machina kneeling in the corner.
"What do we do with that?" Yuki asked, terrified of the thing.
Raiden patted the robot's toe.
"He's the new butler. We'll park him in the backyard. He can water the garden."
"The neighbors will call the police!" Basara yelled.
"Let them call," Raiden grinned, his golden eyes shining. "I'm still hungry. Maybe the police have donuts."
Location: The Hidden Village of Heroes
Time: Midnight
The Council of Elders sat in a dark room.
"Zolgia has fallen," an Elder announced. "Eaten by the Abyssal Dragon."
"Takigawa failed. Yuki Nonaka has been compromised by the Dragon's charm."
A figure stepped out of the shadows. A woman with short dark hair and a massive battle-axe on her back.
Kurumi Nonaka. Yuki's sister. And the Village's top executioner.
"I will handle it," Kurumi said, her voice devoid of warmth. "Yuki is soft. I am not."
"Be careful, Kurumi," the Elder warned. "He possesses the power of Asmodeus and a hunger that devours space."
Kurumi spun her axe.
"If he eats space... I will just cut him faster than he can chew."