“Ahhghh!! What the hell are you doing, you psycho!?”

The hollering hooligan’s outburst was met with a cold, unimpressed glare. “Can’t you see you’re bothering her?” Cassius said evenly, twisting the man’s arm just enough to elicit another high-pitched shriek.

“Who even are you!?”

“Let go of Jacob, freak!” one of his friends yelled, though his voice cracked halfway through.

Cassius turned his gaze to the peanut gallery, who froze like deer in headlights. “Shut up,” he said flatly, his tone as sharp as a knife. The wannabe tough guys visibly shrank, suddenly unsure if they wanted to continue their catcalling careers.

“Cassius…” Grace muttered, a mix of awe and relief flooding her expression. Her knight in slightly worn jeans had come to the rescue. Still, the intensity on his face gave her pause—it was a little too much, like he’d been fighting monsters instead of idiots.

Realizing he might’ve overdone it, Cassius released the blonde guy’s hand and gave him a swift kick to the rear for good measure. The man hit the ground with a yelp.

“Scram,” Cassius ordered, his voice as cold as winter frost. The hooligans exchanged nervous glances before fleeing with bruised egos and possibly a few bruised body parts. One couldn’t resist yelling back, “You’ll regret this!” as he tripped over his own feet.

Cassius sighed and turned back to Grace, his expression softening. “So, what do you wanna eat?” he asked, attempting to shift the mood.

Grace blinked at him, then broke into a dazzling smile. “There’s this sushi place I’ve been dying to try, but my parents wouldn’t let me. Want to go there with me?”

Her bright, hopeful expression was enough to knock the wind out of him. How could he say no to those puppy-dog eyes? “Sure,” he said with a small smile. “Lead the way.”

Grace giggled, the earlier incident already forgotten, and practically skipped ahead of him. She paused a few steps later and turned back, her cheeks pink. “By the way… thanks for helping me back there. You were… really cool.” She stumbled over the last part, turning redder by the second.

Cassius chuckled, jogging to catch up. “I didn’t get the chance earlier, but you look lovely today,” he said. “Though, honestly, you didn’t need to dress up for someone like me.”

Grace nearly tripped over her own feet. “Wha—this? It’s nothing special!” she sputtered, staring at her shoes as if they were suddenly fascinating.

Then her gaze darted to the wooden sword strapped to his back. “Uh… about the sword. Why are you carrying that around? It’s kind of… unique.”

Cassius glanced at it and shrugged, shifting its weight on his shoulder. “I’ve been getting into a new hobby. Hope you don’t mind me bringing it.”

Grace waved her hands frantically. “No, no! It’s cool—really cool! Like… like you’re some kind of modern knight or something…”

Her voice trailed off into an unintelligible mumble, but Cassius caught enough to grin. “Modern knight, huh? I’ll take it,” he said, reaching out to pat her on the head.

Grace froze, her cheeks turning scarlet as steam practically poured from her ears. “Wha—you can’t just—”

“Too late,” Cassius teased, his hand still on her head. “You’re officially knight-approved.”

Behind them, a dark aura loomed as Aya, draped in black like a discount ninja, gripped the metal pole she was hiding behind. ‘Ugh, they’re not even holding hands! What is this, a Hallmark movie?’ Her eyes narrowed, and the pole creaked under her grip. ‘And I was saved by him too! She’s not special! I’ve known him longer, anyway…’

Grace snapped back to reality as they arrived at their destination. Cassius stopped in front of a neon sign that read “Sushi Haven.” It wasn’t fancy enough to be high-end, but it was leagues above the average chain.

“This the place?” he asked, glancing at Grace, whose wide eyes sparkled as she took in the restaurant.

“Yep! I’ve always wanted to come here!” she said, practically bouncing with excitement. Cassius couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. He reached out and ruffled her hair again, earning a muffled squeak.

“Seriously?” Grace muttered while pretending to swat at his hand. “You’re treating me like some fluffy pet…”

“If you hate it, just say so,” Cassius said, laughing as he moved to pull his hand away.

To his surprise, Grace grabbed his wrist and held it in place, her face a shade of red that could rival a fire truck. “I didn’t say I hated it…”

Cassius blinked, then smiled, deciding not to push his luck. “I see,” he said with a playful chuckle, letting her keep his hand where it was as they headed inside.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Aya, meanwhile, growled from her hiding spot. ‘This isn’t over, Grace. Just wait until he sees how much more girly I am!’ She crushed the pole in her grip, startling several bystanders who immediately turned and walked the other way.

“Why did you take your hand off again…? It’s not that I don't like the pets.…” Grace mumbled.

“So you do like it? How much do you like it?” Cassius couldn't stop himself from teasing the adorable girl a bit, both with his words and his hands..

Although embarrassed, Grace answered, “Mhmm… A-A lot…” with a blush seemingly glued to her peachy features. She was unable to look at him as she was, so she pulled him through the last set of spinning doors of the Sushi Haven Restaurant.

Cassius kept his eyes on the perfectly curved back of the beautiful brown-haired girl dragging him around in an unusually forward manner. He enjoyed her presence; it was a breath of fresh air, one that he hadn't known he needed. However, there was a large part of him that didn't believe he deserved something so nice.

His entire life, he lived believing the bare minimum was already too good for him… Yet to suddenly encounter Grace and get to know a new side of Aya… It almost felt too good to be true.

And then there were the continuous improvements to his strength, which although acquired because of the system’s sadism, still left him joyous beyond belief.

Yet, that once again made him think that something was amiss…

‘A ploy…?’ Cassius’s overly cautious side got the better of him as he thought useless things.

Why would anyone out there be plotting against someone as inconsequential as he was?

—--------------------

— Outside an Airport Runway in Hoshito —

BAM!

A small explosion occurred around the body of Adam Steele. His eruption of rage startled the flight attendant females lined up on the side. They all kept their heads down, afraid to offend Adam and the classy woman walking next to him.

“You must calm yourself, Malakar,” said the woman, her gaze cold and calculative. “I know you have been patiently waiting for ‘it’ to return to her son. But you and I both know we can't rush things.”

Adam’s face further scrunched in anger as his brows deeply furrowed. “I know that as much as you do, but I secretly checked the incompetent son of that bitch, and although his physique has miraculously improved, he’s still as useless as ever! Awakened humans are already inferior creatures as it is, and yet that one is even more useless!! If I were his mother, I would never come back to save him, so what’s even the point of keeping him around as bait!??”

‘He’s still as short-tempered as always… I really can't understand why the Mothership decided him to be the one most fit for this assignment…’ The classy woman sighed heavily before ascending the stairs of a golden-plated private jet. ‘Well, at least he is a decent enough actor… that Sasha character we meticulously selected in hopes of activating ‘its’ maternal jealousy should also be bringing forth some results. Yet we have no idea how close ‘it’ is to coming out of hiding… Hah…’

The classy woman, whose name was Selena, rubbed her temples before finding herself a seat on the jet.

The livid Adam (Malakar) came in a second later and sat down in the row of seats next to hers. His body seemed to rapidly expand and protrude in a few areas as a purplish shell-like material took the place of his skin. Yet, before he could revert to his original form and take up all the seats, Selena glared at him.

“Don't do anything rash while we’re still blending in among the humans,” she said. “Though the strongest of the humans are still ants to the weakest of us, you should know as well as anybody of those anomalies. That is how you got that scar, isn't it?”

Following her eyes, Malakar ground his sharp teeth in anger upon seeing the large, gnarly scar strewn out from the top of his chest down to his waist. He could still faintly recall the ethereal human with his sword-like eyebrows and his long, flowing black hair. He had stood domineeringly atop a massive greatsword while looking down on him as if he were mere trash.

“I am the Guardian of this Floor, Outsider. You and your friends up there may continue coming down here, but you will simply keep on losing. Your life; your choice. But if I see you again… I’ll kill you.”

The man’s icy sharp eyes then flashed as he somehow flicked the giant greatsword around like a blur and left Malakar with his scar.

Malakar ground his teeth to the verge of turning them to dust just remembering the sheer level of disdain that puny human had held for him.

“Damn it all!!” Malakar bellowed as he was about to disregard everything and morph into his Kaiju form. Yet, before he could do something so foolish, Selena dispersed his aura and commanded, “Sit.”

“S-Selena, you!!!” Malakar’s eyes lit up in anger, yet he knew that it would be unbelievably stupid to go against the one who held the title of ‘Intergalactic Sorcerer.’

“Do not get ahead of yourself, Malakar,” Selena said as she calmly sipped on a cup of tea. Her neutral face suddenly frosted over, with her swirling frigid gaze boring into the monstrous Malakar like the coldest of tundras.

“You may be the one leading the mission of getting ‘it’ to come out of hiding, but I am the one tasked with making sure you do your job properly. You are to get ‘it’ out of hiding without angering ‘it’ enough to prevent us from ascending to the next floor. With that Floor Guardian being abnormally powerful for those of a Tower like this one, we must take this backdoor method and ascend the Tower without encountering that man. To do that…”

Selena pierced through all of Malakar’s defenses with just her gaze.

“To do that, you need to get yourself together and strike at a different angle. We need to let down ‘its’ guard, and the only real method we have is holding her son hostage, which means that we can't kill him. Find a different way to force ‘it’ out. You know the deadline before a replacement for you is found and sent down.”

“A different way!?” Malakar roared, concealing the fear he felt because of this unearthly beauty before him. “What other way is there!??”

Selena’s irises frosted over at his tone. “I don't know; that's not my job to figure out. It’s yours.” She returned to ignoring the fuming man’s presence, not caring a single bit about his grievances.

The private jet started moving before ascending to the skies like a bird in a gust of wind. Their destination was a skull-shaped island to the far east—an island that would not show up on any conventional map in the world. In that island lived several extraterrestrial existences that did not belong to this Realm—mysterious beings capable of crushing S-Rank, city-destroying level humans like bugs.

Yet, even though they were so powerful, they seemed to be constantly stepping on eggshells, afraid to so much as stick their heads out too far.

All because of a single man…

Atop the zenith point of a mountain that touched upon the clouds, a refined middle-aged man with a piece of horsetail whisk in his mouth tipped his ragged traveler’s hat to the east.

With his entire face shrouded by blackened shadow lines, he spoke in an antiquated voice that didn't match his handsome, youthful visage. “It seems like things are finally getting interesting.” He then vanished from his spot, with slight traces of a wistful smirk flowing through the speed stream.