"Are you really going to kill me just because I won't tell you something stupid?"
"You saw the soul contract window, didn't you? That's why you froze. No normal human can see the Abyss interface."
Damon went cold.
'How the hell does she know that?' he thought. 'Can she see my interface?'
"Yeah, yeah... I already know what you're thinking. You think I'm crazy or reading your mind, but that's not it."
Aiwass took a step toward him, invading his personal space despite still being completely naked.
"That ability... the one that lets you see the structure of the world, the ranks, the hidden truth..." she whispered. "It's called the Legislator's Eye, and it was Zero's signature skill."
The revelation hit Damon harder than the explosion back at the apartment.
'I have Zero's skill? But I'm an F Rank. My mana is trash.'
"The real question..." Aiwass leaned close until her face almost touched his "...is why you, of all people, have the ocular ability of the strongest Hunter who ever lived."
Damon was in shock.
It wasn't that Aiwass had mistaken him for Zero. She knew perfectly well he was a fraud.
What kept her curious, and what kept him alive, was the mystery of why he had that cheat skill at all.
"I... I don't know. It just appeared after the explosion."
Aiwass studied him for any sign of a lie, then shrugged and took another bite of her apple.
"Interesting. You have the software of a god installed in the hardware of an insect." She smiled with wicked amusement. "Let's see how long it takes before you collapse or go insane from the overload."
But before Damon could respond, backup finally arrived.
Iris Valen stepped through the smoking hole where the door used to be, leading a tactical squad of Inquisitors.
When Iris saw the gaping hole in the wall and Damon standing there, she jumped to the most obvious conclusion.
"Master!" she yelled, horrified. "Your magic was strictly forbidden during recovery! You could have shattered your mana core!"
'Seriously?' Damon thought. 'They see a massive hole and assume I did it? Aren't I supposed to have mana backlash?'
He didn't say a word. Instead, he discreetly pointed toward the floor.
There was Aiwass, transformed back into a small, adorable black kitten.
Damon held his breath. 'Will they detect her? Will some Unknown Threat alarm go off?'
But the Inquisitors' scanners stayed completely silent.
'All that cutting-edge tech and they can't tell a demon apart from a stray cat?'
The tension finally broke when Iris lowered her guard and noticed the tiny creature.
"Oh, Zero... I didn't know you liked animals," she said with a much softer voice as she crouched down to pet the "harmless" kitten. "Come here, little one..."
"No, wait!" Damon tried to warn her, but it was too late.
CHOMP.
The moment Iris's finger brushed the black fur, Aiwass sank her teeth in mercilessly.
"Captain!" one of the subordinates shouted, raising his weapon toward... well, he wasn't sure if he should aim at the cat or at Damon. "Please be more careful!"
Every Inquisitor turned toward Damon as if he had given the order to attack.
'Perfect,' Damon thought, rolling his eyes. 'Why are you all looking at me? I'm the victim here! That thing almost killed me too!'
Still, Iris regained her composure instantly.
A green light flashed, healing the bite wound in a second.
"It's fine," she said, shaking her hand. "Master Zero, we have more important matters to discuss than your... aggressive pet."
Iris pulled out a holographic tablet and held it directly in front of Damon's face.
"Tomorrow morning you have a meeting with Kate, your PR director. You need to approve the new Action Merchandising line."
"Merchandising?" Damon repeated, confused.
"Yes. Action figures, plushies, lunchboxes. Everyone wants a piece of the Hero who returned from the dead." Iris put the tablet away. "You are the most valuable brand in the world right now, Zero, and Kate will not take no for an answer."
Damon looked at the demonic kitten now sleeping on the couch, then at the giant hole in the wall.
'Action figures?'
'I can barely survive this demon cat and the loan sharks, and now I have to sell toys?'
"As for investors and products..." Iris stepped aside, glancing toward the hallway. "We thought it would be a good idea to bring in an external consultant. He said he was an old acquaintance of yours."
Damon frowned. 'Old acquaintance? Zero didn't have friends.'
"You can come in."
Through the destroyed doorway stepped someone wearing a new leather jacket, brand-name sneakers, and chewing a toothpick with way too much swagger.
Damon felt his heart stop.
He wasn't beaten.
He wasn't bleeding.
He wasn't lying dead in a ditch after Viper's threats.
It was Jude, his childhood friend, who walked into the penthouse, glanced at the armed Inquisitors, then at Damon, and smirked.
"Shut up and play along," Jude whispered. "They traced the call in ten seconds, you idiot. They were coming for me anyway." He winked. "So instead of letting them interrogate me like a criminal, I told them I was your Exclusive Agent."
Jude pulled a crumpled paper from his jacket and slipped it into Damon's hand as discreetly as he could.
"I charged them a Signing Bonus. And guess what I did with the money?"
"I went to your old job. The boss was furious about the package you lost in the explosion. Said he was going to send someone to break your legs."
"I paid him for the merchandise and your resignation fee. You're clean, man. Nobody's coming after you from that side."
"And since the Black Viper gang knows where I live, I packed everything I own into this suitcase. Congrats, bro, you've got a new roommate."
"Oh, and I also paid your landlady so she wouldn't burn your limited edition Berserk volumes. You're welcome."
Damon looked at his friend. The tension in his shoulders melted immediately.
Anyone else might have been offended at being "sold" to the Inquisitors.
But Damon felt nothing but relief.
His best friend had used the money to clean his record and save the only things that mattered: his life and his manga collection.
Damon glanced at Iris, then at Jude.
'That son of a bitch,' he thought, trying not to laugh. 'He's a genius.'