The following days were filled with constant fights against monsters all around the fields surrounding Leanbox. At first the situation seemed troubling, but thanks to Alex and Cave, someone he had met along the way, the number of monsters decreased greatly in a short period of time. After a week and half of battles, it seemed like the problem had finally been dealt with. Once done with yet another extermination quest, Alex returned to Vert's mansion, where he was received by her and Chika.

"Alex, good job today" She said with a smile

"Today there were even less of them" He replied after sitting down on the couch with his arms spread over the back

"According to the reports, the number of monsters has greatly decreased and nearly returned to normal already" Explained the oracle while checking a cluster of documents "The cause of the sudden increase is still a mystery, but at least we have secured Leanbox's safety for the time being"

"And it's all thanks to everyone's combined efforts" Said Vert while beaming at Alex.

'You say that, but you didn't do shit, you know…' Thought Alex while looking at her with slight frustration and a popped vein sign on his forehead

Upon looking at the young man, Chika sweat dropped and laughed awkwardly. It was almost as if she knew what was going through his mind at that moment. And to be fair, he had his own reasons to think so.

In the last week and half, Vert hardly moved from the mansion. She dedicated most of her time to gaming rather than to help deal with the current threat. And whenever someone inquired to her about the issue, she said that the problem was already being dealt with by some "reliable" forces. Of course, Chika also tried to vouch for Vert's behavior by saying that she only entrusted this task to Alex and Cave because she wanted the people of Leanbox to develop some trust towards the young boy, and that she didn't go out herself because the threat didn't get close enough to the capital to harm any civilians yet.

To Alex though, this only felt like one big pile of bullshit.

"Oh, I just remembered!" Said the oracle after suddenly recalling something she read while doing paperwork "5pb is having a concert later today, how about we go?"

"I'm sorry Chika, but I have a raid with my guild today, so I won't be able to go"

'Second-placed by her games again...' Thought Chika with a sulking expression

"Who's 5pb?"

"5pb is Leanbox's top idol and one of my supporters...She's not very well known outside of Leanbox though, so I'm not surprised you don't know about her" Explained Vert as she turned her head to look at him and before beaming at him "I know! How about you and Chika go see her concert? I'm sure you two will have fun"

"Eh? Bu-But big sister Vert!"

"Yes?" Said Vert while turning her head again to look at her oracle

"Ah…erm…" Said Chika while struggling to find what to say before she suddenly began coughing and faking sick noises "I-I'm not feeling so good…I think I caught the summer flu…"

'We're still in the middle of spring though…' Thought Alex while sweat dropping

"Don't worry, there's some medicine in the drawers over there, I'm sure they'll help with your flu" Said Vert with complete calm while pointing at some drawers on the other side of the room.

The truth was that Chika was faking an illness to have an excuse to stay with her, and Vert was perfectly aware of this. It would be hard not to, as the oracle had a custom of faking illness whenever she wished for Vert's attention. This was one such a case.

'I'm not giving up so easily!' Thought Chika with more determination "I-I also have some very bad coughing"

At this point, the oracle began getting desperate and coughed as hard as she could, but she ended up pushing hit a bit more than she should have and began feeling lightheaded.

"Ugh…I-I think that was a bad idea…"

She then began coughing once again, but it was for real this time. Something which both Alex and Vert noticed.

"Chika, are you okay!?"

"Whoa, whoa, Take it easy there!"

While Alex got up from the couch and Vert approached her, the oracle tried keeping them from worrying.

"Do-Don't worry, I just overdid it a bit"

"Try taking a seat for now, okay?" Said Vert while leading Chika and sitting her down on the couch where Alex was just a moment ago.

"Thank you…" Replied the oracle before suddenly raising her head to look at her "wait...You could tell I wasn't faking it?"

"Of course I can tell. You're my precious oracle after all" Answered Vert kindly while beaming at her.

Chika couldn't help but blush with a shy smile after being called precious by the person she adored the most.

"Big sister Vert"

While Kenji watched the oracle and the goddess having some sisterly bonding, he felt like the extra person on the picture and decided to give them some privacy by walking out of the room.

With no more hunting quest for the moment and no desire to laze around the mansion either, the young boy decided to go out and take a walk around town. But this walk didn't prove to be very relaxing, mainly because of the people around him.

Ever since the match between him and the goddesses ended, Alex gained quite a reputation among the citizens of the continent. But wherever it was a good or bad reputation depended more on each individual. On the most part it merely meant people would usually stare at him for a few seconds if they saw him on the street, and for someone that wasn't used to crowds or being the center of attention like Alex, it would be quite an uncomfortable feeling. But people eventually stopped as they got more used to him and the unwanted attention slowly died out. It didn't stop the casual folk from turning their head to look at him every now and then, but a casual folk was much better than a casual crowd.

In all honesty, he was more surprised that the people of Leanbox were so accepting of him at first. After all, he did beat their beloved goddess. But then again, he did beat her, and not many sane people would want to mess with a guy that won against two and almost three of the supposedly most powerful beings on the world. There were some people that gave him a nasty look at first. Even Chika acted slightly awkward with him at first, but she tried her best to not let it be seen, probably because of her position as an oracle.

"Oh, it's Alex. How unusual to see you around town by yourself"

The young boy's train of thought was suddenly cut short by a female voice. After raising his head to look forward, he saw Cave standing in front of him.

"Yeah, I didn't really feel like staying locked up in Vert's extra-sized home" He replied before raising an eyebrow "What are you doing here?"

"I was heading to the basilicom to request for some extra reinforcements for tonight's concert"

"Concert? You mean 5pb's concert?"

"That's right..." She replied before looking at him with certain curiosity "Are you going to attend to it?"

"I'm not really one for idols"

"I see..." Said Cave while lowering her head slightly and closing her "Well, I should be on my way then"

For a moment it seemed like Cave would leave, but she then took a ticket from her pocket and gave it to Alex.

"Here, you can have this...just in case you change your mind"

Alex took the ticket and analyzed it for a moment; it was an entrance for the concert.

"Well then, have a good day"

After giving the ticket to Alex, Cave walked past him and left for the basilicom. All while the young boy looked at the entrance ticket for a bit longer before putting it in his pocket and keep walking.

Later

The stage for the concert was set up in a large plaza in the open air, and the climate was looking favorable too, so there surely wouldn't be any inconveniences regarding rain.

The large crowds of people attending were mostly made of people among Alex's age range, some probably a year or two of difference, and all of them excited for the concert to start. Fortunately for the young boy, who worried about feeling sickly among the usually massive crowds attending concerts, the place was quite wide and allowed just about enough room to move without being tightly packed. It didn't stop the slight feeling of nausea from lingering around, though.

'Urgh...maybe I should've stayed home...' He thought with an ill expression

Although he wasn't interested in it at first, and he knew the sickly feeling from being among large crowds would hit him the moment he set foot into the place, he attended because of Cave. Even if she didn't say it, his gut told him that the gesture of gifting him an entrance ticket was more than just a show of friendship or her way of rewarding his help so far. It felt as though it was her way of hinting him that something was bound to happen here.

"All right everyone! Are you ready!?"

This train of thought didn't last too long, though. as it was suddenly cut short by a cheerful shout. Upon looking at the stage, he saw a girl with long blue hair holdig a guitar as she called out to the entire crowd.

The second they spotted her, the crowd went wild cheering for her.

"So that's 5pb…"

Alex looked at her while she was preparing to start. She was a young girl with fair-pale skin, bright pink eyes and a mole below the left one. Her blue hair was slightly lighter in color than White Heart. It was about elbow in length and worn straight, with bangs that stuck up from the center and spiked downward to frame her face. Worn over her hair is was a pair of black headphones with silver and pink accents and a small black microphone attached to the left ear piece. She also had black painted nails and a black treble clef with a heart piece tattoo on the left side of her stomach. Her outfit was rather showy, but he already knew it was common for an idol to appeal to the audience.

5pb not only had a good voice, but also sang with passion and enthusiasm. It was no wonder the people of Leanbox chose her as their number one idol. Even Alex, whose only interest was that something Cave hinted at, ended up liking her singing more than he expected.

After five songs and, the concert was over.

"Everyone, thank you for coming today!" Said 5pb while waving at the crowd before heading backstage

And with that, the people began leaving one after the other, many still hyped and excited about how much fun they had. Even Alex had to admit it. Although nothing really happened, at least he enjoyed the show. He then suddenly felt a pressure against his back. Upon turning around, he saw someone bumped into him quite abruptly and fell down to the floor.

"Ow!" "Hey, watch it you dumb-" Yelled Linda before raising her head and noticing who she was yelling "Oh damn, it's the damn twerp!" "TWERP!? ARE YOU INSULTING MY HEIGHT!?" "Ah! E-Erm!"

Alex was ready to snap at Linda for calling him a twerp while she panicked and tried to figure out how to escape from this situation without being caught.

"So-Sorry, didn't see where I was going!" Said the underling while quickly getting up and forcing a weak laugh with one hand placed behind her head

"YOU BETTER BE! CALL ME TWERP AGAIN AND I'M BREAKING YOUR ARMS OFF!"

It seemed as though the young boy accepted her excuse. This caused Linda to sigh with relief.

'I'm saved. He doesn't know who I am'

While she felt relieved about her identity still being a secret, Alex looked at her and calmed down.

'I'm not sure why, but something about this girl gives me a really bad vibe.'

"Hey! What are you waiting for!? We have to beat it from this gig-Chu!"

Linda suddenly turned her head sideways and looked down at Warechu, who was standing next to her. Out of curiosity, Alex looked down as well and saw Warechu, then made a nauseous expression.

'Wha-!?' He thought while taking a step back 'A rat!? And it's huge!'

"I know that already, damn it!"

Without another word, Linda and Warechu ran past Alex and merged into the crowds, getting away from Alex's sight, who simply stood there watching the direction they ran towards with widened eyes.

'Man, Leanbox has a serious rat problem.' He thought while sweat dropping

"Alex!"

Alex then turned his head again and saw Cave running towards him.

"We have a problem!"

"Yeah, you need some serious pest control around here"

"The culprits have…!" She said with a stern tone before making a confused expression "wait...what?"

"I just saw a huge rat the size of a kid" He replied while measuring Warechu's size with his hands "I mean, I know pest control can be tedious and all, but having rats that size running around can't be healthy"

At first Cave was confused, but soon realized something about Alex's words.

"Wait! Was that rat you saw grey and had a heart-shaped tail?"

"Huh? Erm...Yeah, it did"

"That's him!" Said Cave while taking a step closer to Alex. "Quick! where did it go!?"

Although confused, he simply pointed at the direction they ran towards.

"Quick, follow me. I might need your help!" She replied while turning around and chasing after the rat without even giving the young man a chance to ask

As he saw Cave maneuvering among the already thinned out crowds, Alex simply shrugged his shoulders and followed her. Along the chase, Alex tried asking her for more detail.

"Hey Cave, do you know that rat?"

"Yes, I do... His name is Warechu, a member of ASIC"

"ASIC?"

Alex couldn't help but sweat drop, as the name sounded to him like an antacid medicine

"I'll explain it properly to you later...For now we need to catch him!"

"Okay"

Both of them squeezed through the clusters of people when the crowd got thicker and maneuvered when it got thinner. Alex mainly used the environment to parkour while Cave moved as swiftly as the wind.

After getting through dozens of people, they finally managed to get outside the plaza and into the streets, but it was already too late.

"It seems they got away" Said Cave while lowering her head and closing her eyes

"Should've known there was something fishy about those two" Said Alex in before clicking his tongue

Cave raised her head to look at Alex and gave a small smile.

"Don't worry. It was my fault for not explaining the situation in more detail when I could" She said before turning around to face the stage again "For now, I should return at once. I still need to escort 5pb to her home"

Alex looked at her walking away before raising his head and looking at the night sky.

"I should be heading back too"

Although there were quite a few questions in Alex's mind, the only thing he wanted at the moment was to go back and sleep.

Next Day

The next day, Alex had received a call from Cave asking him to meet with her in some underground caves called the Underverse. the young boy had already been around that place a few days ago, so getting there didn't take too much trouble.

"Good day Alex, sorry for calling you all of a sudden" Said Cave, who was already on the entrance and waiting for him, after greeting him

"Don't worry; I had free time anyway..." He replied while walking closer to her "So, what happened?"

"After last night's concert, I asked around for information regarding that mouse's whereabouts, and there have been multiple sightings of him around this area..." She explained before turning around to look at the dungeon's entrance "I have come to the conclusion that this might be where he's hiding at the moment"

Alex looked at Cave for a moment before turning his head and looking at the dungeon's entrance as well.

"Alright then, let's go find that rat" Said Kenji while drawing his sword

"Technically, it's a mouse" Corrected Cave

"Same thing"

Without anything else to make them wait, both of them entered the dungeon to search for Warechu. Cave took advantage of the calm before the storm and gave Alex an explanation about Warechu and about ASIC (Arfoire's Syndicate of International Crime) in general. Mostly about how it was led by four powerful individuals known as the 'four felons' or 'the hard' and how they wished to resurrect Arfoire, the deity of Sin and the one they considered as their goddess. Cave also mentioned how she suspected that they could be connected to the sudden increase of viral monsters that took place last week.

"Okay, I think I got most of it...Except for one thing"

"What is it?"

"If this Arfoire really wants to destroy Gamindustry, then why do they want to revive her?"

"I'm not certain. All I know is that they must be stopped at all cost"

Alex didn't really feel like that answered his question, but he preferred to leave it at that.

While focusing his mind once again on the search, the young man noticed a heart shaped tail wigling about on a corner. And once he got closer, the mouse they were searching for was on sight.

"There he is!"

Warechu quickly turned around after hearing Alex's voice and panicked upon seeing them.

"Damn it! They found me-Chu!" Said the mouse before turning tail and running deeper into the dungeon.

"Quick, don't let him escape!" Said Cave while running after him

The two then chased down Warechu all the way to the deepest area of the dungeon, where Linda was waiting for him.

"Underling! We have trouble-Chu!"

"Huh?"

Linda turned around and saw both Alex and Cave running after Warechu, straight towards her.

"Wha-? You dumbass! The hell you brought them here for!?"

"Just shut up and help me-Chu!"

"Nowhere to run now little rat!"

"Who are you calling rat!? I'm a mouse-Chu!" Snarled Warechu at Alex while turning around

Alex then looked behind Warechu and noticed Linda.

"Ah, it's the girl from last night..."

"Have you seen her before?" Asked Cave while turning her head to look at Alex.

"Yeah, she was at last night's concert with the rat"

"I see" She said before looking at both members of ASIC and walking towards them "Now then; we have a few questions that need answering...Surrender peacefully and we won't hurt you"

"Surrender? I ain't going down just yet!" Yelled Linda while pulling out an iron pipe

"Are you crazy? They'll rip you apart-Chu!"

"The hell am I supposed to do then!?" Snraled the underling while looking at him

When faced with this question, Warechu looked around him before looking at Alex and Cave once again.

"Guess there's no other choice. Let's use that-Chu"

Linda turned her head and looked at Warechu with a confused expression.

"That? What'cha mean?"

"Just wait and see-Chu" Said the mouse while looking for something in his pockets

After shuffling around in it for a bit, he pulled out something that seemed like a controller, albeit a very simple one

"Okay...Killachine ON-Chu" He said while pushing one of the buttons

Suddenly, the area began to rumble as if there was an earthquake happening. And the next second, a huge robot abruptly emerged from within the lava and floated into solid ground. Once the lava cleared off, the Killachine's appearance became clearer. It was a massive robot with the lower body like that of a snake and a humanoid upper body, with two large arms and even larger axes on each hand, each one no smaller than a car.

"What's that?"

"It's a Killachine. An ancient war robot created by the deity of sin" Answered Cave while preparing for battle

"Whatever it is, it sure knows how to make an entrance" Said Alex, who felt impressed with the videogame boss-like entrance the Killachine just managed to pull off

"Killachine, kill those two-Chu!"

As Warechu gave the order, the Killachine gave a few beeping sounds before its eyes lightened up. The robot then quickly moved forward and launched a dual chopping attack against Alex and Cave, forcing the two of them to jump backwards to avoid the large axes falling down on them.

"Whoa!"

The moment Alex touched the ground; he dashed forward along with Cave. The two attacked the Killmachine constantly, but the robot didn't go down easily. Despite its size, it could move quite fast and had strong attacks, but as destructive as they were, they hardly compared to White Heart's relentless onslaught.

As the fight went on, the Killmachine's attacks became slower every moment, making them even easier to dodge. After a few more minutes, the Killmachine began beeping uncontrollably and releasing sparks.

"Eat this!" Yelled Alex dashed towards the malfunctioning Killmachine and jumped, heading right towards the upper body with his sword coated in electricity. "Chidori Blade!"

His electrified sword sliced through the robot's damaged, cutting it in half. He then jumped backwards a few seconds before the Killmachine split in half and violently exploded.

"Guess you could say...He went out with bang" Said Alex while getting up from his knees

Cave simply turned her head to look at him with a neutral expression. Alex noticed it and turned his head away to hide the slight embarrassment he felt from saying that out loud.

"...OH COME ON! It sounded cool and you know it!"

To Alex's remark, Cave simply turned around and closed her eyes.

"I have said nothing…" She replied calmly before opening her eyes again and looking around them "…Now then, where did those two go?"

While she looked around for the two ASIC members, Warechu was hidden behind some rocks, away from their sight.

"Oh man. The Killachine got busted up...I better get out of here before they find me-Chu"

"Too late…"

"Chu?"

Warechu suddenly felt something grabbing his tail and lifting him up. As he dangled around like a pendulum, he saw Alex was the one holding him by the tail.

"You!? Ho-How did you find me so fast-Chu!?" He said as he noticed Alex's Sharingan eyes active.

"Call it a gut feeling"

"Well done Alex…" Said Cave while walking towards him

"I think the other one got away, though"

"We can deal with her later, at least we captured one…" she said before looking at the mouse hanging by the tail "…Well then. Are you ready to talk?"

"Yo-You're not getting a word outta this mouse-Chu!"

"I see…" She said as she raised her hand and created a sphere of fire "Maybe I should use some persuasion, then?"

'More like incineration.' Though Alex while sweat dropping.

When Cave was about to turn Warechu into a fried mouse, her phone began ringing.

"Oh...Hold on for a second"

She then dispelled her flame and searched for her phone.

"I-I'm saved-Chu" Said Warechu with relief while Cave took out her phone and answered it.

"Hello? Ah, Chika, what's wrong?" After hearing Chika over the phone for a moment or two, Cave's expression turned more stern than usual "I see….I'll send him right away"

After ending the call, she stored her phone back in her pockets and quickly turned to look at Alex.

"Alex, we need to head back to Leanbox right now!"

"Why? What's wrong?"

"The city is under attack!"

Next Time: Out From The Shadows(Leanbox III)