"Instant noodles," I muttered, clutching my stomach. "Spicy seafood flavor. With an egg."
It was a mantra. A prayer.
We were walking back to my apartment through the backstreets of Shinjuku. The sun had set, and the neon lights were flickering on, casting long, jagged shadows across the pavement.
"Master," Runa whispered, her hand hovering near her sword case. "We are being followed."
"I know," I lied.
(I didn't know. I was too busy thinking about carbohydrates.)
I glanced at a shop window reflection. Two black sedans were crawling behind us, their headlights off. They moved with the silent, predatory grace of sharks in a tank.
"Ayaka Saionji doesn't take rejection well," I said, suppressing a shudder.
"She is a demon," Runa hissed. "To treat a Sovereign like a pet... it is blasphemy."
SCREECH.
The sedans suddenly accelerated, cutting us off. Two more vans peeled out of an alleyway in front of us, blocking the path.
We were boxed in.
Doors slid open. Twelve men in matching black suits stepped out. They weren't normal thugs. They moved with military precision. High-grade mana shields hummed faintly around their bodies.
The leader, a man with a scar running through his eyebrow, stepped forward. He bowed politely, which somehow made it more terrifying.
"Mr. Amagiri," he said, his voice flat. "Miss Saionji insists on dinner. She does not like to wait."
(Dinner sounds nice. Being kidnapped to a torture dungeon does not.)
"I already gave my answer," I said, putting my hands in my pockets to hide the trembling. "I am busy."
"It wasn't a request," the leader replied. He snapped his fingers.
The twelve men moved instantly.
"Back!" Runa screamed.
She drew her blade—a flash of silver in the neon night. She moved fast, parrying the first guard's stun baton.
CLANG.
But these were elite corporate mercenaries. Two of them flanked her, using gravity-magic binders to weigh down her sword arm.
"Master! Run!" Runa grunted, struggling against the magical pressure. "I will hold them off!"
She was going to lose. She was tired from the dungeon, and these guys were coordinated.
If I ran, they'd catch me in three seconds. My cardio is non-existent.
I watched Runa get kicked in the stomach. She stumbled but didn't fall, her eyes burning with desperate loyalty.
(They are hurting my disciple. My income source.)
Something cold settled in my chest. It wasn't the Void. It was anger.
I opened the System interface.
[Current Desire Points: 2,120.] [Shop Search: Intimidation.] [Item: Skill Scroll - 'Voice of the Dominator' (Tier 1).] [Cost: 2,000 DP.] [Effect: Forces targets with lower Willpower to obey a single-word command.]
It was expensive. It drained almost everything I had earned from the arena.
(Worth it.)
"Enough," I said.
I didn't shout. I didn't scream. I spoke the word with the casual indifference of a man bored by ants.
The leader ignored me, reaching for my shoulder. "Come quietly, sir, or we will—"
[Skill Activated: Voice of the Dominator.] [Command: KNEEL.]
I looked him in the eye. My pupils dilated into the violet abyss of the Incubus.
"Kneel."
The word didn't just travel through the air. It slammed into their brains like a physical hammer. It bypassed their logic centers and hit the primitive part of the reptile brain that fears thunder and predators.
THUD.
The leader dropped.
He didn't crouch. His legs simply stopped working. He hit the pavement hard, his knees cracking against the asphalt.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Behind him, the other eleven guards collapsed in unison. The gravity magic binding Runa vanished as the casters lost their focus, overwhelmed by the compulsion to submit.
Silence filled the alleyway.
Twelve elite mercenaries were on the ground, heads bowed, trembling. They looked terrified. They tried to stand, but their bodies refused to disobey the Alpha.
Runa stood panting, her sword lowered. She looked at me with wide, worshipful eyes.
"Master..." she whispered. "You commanded their souls..."
I stood there, fighting the urge to vomit. The skill usage hit my stamina bar like a truck. My vision blurred.
(I need to sit down. I need to sit down now.)
"Disappointing," I wheezed, masking it as a scoff. "Is this the best the Saionji Group can offer? I barely raised my voice."
The leader looked up at me, sweat pouring down his face. "What... what are you?"
"I am the one you do not touch," I said, turning my back on them.
I took a step, praying my legs would hold.
WEE-WOO-WEE-WOO.
Red and blue lights flooded the alleyway.
Police cruisers screeched to a halt at both ends of the blockade. Armored officers poured out, weapons drawn.
"Police! Drop your weapons!"
Standing by the lead cruiser, holding a megaphone, was Detective Sae Kirishima.
She looked at the kneeling mercenaries. She looked at Runa.
Then she looked at me.
Her [Truth Sight] must have been going haywire again, seeing twelve men submitting to a dying man.
She walked over, flashing her badge at the mercenaries. "Unlawful abduction. Use of restricted magic in a public zone. You're all coming with me."
The leader groaned. "We have immunity! Saionji—"
"I don't care who signed your checks," Sae snapped. She looked at me, her eyes narrowing behind her glasses.
She walked up to me, invading my personal space again. She smelled of coffee and gunpowder.
"You," she said, pointing a finger at my chest.
(Please don't arrest me. I just saved myself.)
"You're lucky I was tracking your phone," she whispered, her voice low so Runa couldn't hear.
"Stalking," I corrected weakly.
Sae ignored the jab. She turned to the mercenaries, her voice authoritative and sharp.
"Release Mr. Amagiri," she commanded the paralyzed men. "He isn't going with you."
She grabbed my arm. Her grip was tight, possessive.
"He's my suspect."