Redmont, Serisis.

8:29 p.m. 21st Banem 1092.

CRACK!

The ballroom descended into abject silence as the Maggots stared at Kashi in shock and disbelief. A horrendous smile curled up the edge of the daeben's lips as he looked at the limp Lunette, whose hands dangled lifelessly by her side.

Kashi... er no, Suzuki broke the stunned silence, "You got what you deserved."

"KASHI!" Shadow's crazed roar drew Kashi's attention to the young man trapped by his left hand. "I'll Kill You!" The assassin screamed as stabbed his daggers into Kashi's arm.

Suzuki, however, did not flinch as he looked at the daggers. "That's fair," he said, and then nodded, "I'll give you that one."

"You!" Shadow shouted and pulled on the daggers, intending to pierce a nerve with the next strike. However, to his shock, Shadow found he could not pull out the daggers no matter how hard he tried. His expression turned violent with rage and despair when he saw scales growing along Kashi's arm.

Whoosh! Clang!

Suzuki's gaze turned harsh as he turned to glare at Shokō. The swordswoman's gaze grew heavy as she looked at the dragonified arm. Even her sword couldn't cut it off. Just how powerful was this freak's defense?

"Are you crazy?" Suzuki chided as he glared at Shokō. "You could have cut his arm off!"

"You're the crazy one!" shouted Shokō with rage. "You killed her!"

"She deserved it," retorted Suzuki, but then added before anyone could speak, "[Resuscitate]"

The Maggots once again looked on in disbelief as a bright light burst out of Kashi's hands, and then enveloped Lunette. Within seconds, her expression brightened as her neck snapped back in place.

The songstress's eyes fluttered open, and then she violently coughed as she awoke from her brief slumber. Lunette looked at Suzuki with panic, fear and confusion, as he relaxed his grip around her neck. With her first breath, she asked, "Why?"

"Why?" muttered Suzuki with a raised brow. "You don't want to live? I can oblige you that," he said, even as he released the siblings. The daeben's cold eyes held a hint of amusement as he regarded Shadow, who had run over to Lunette to protect her as he glared at the daeben. "So... you're supposed to be Suzuki's replacement?" A smile tugged the edge of his lips as he acknowledged, "Now, I see the resemblance." The smile, however, dried up as he turned his attention to Lunette.

"You are supposed to be Ruri? Was Ryumaki really this daft?" Suzuki questioned as he squatted in front of the siblings. "I suppose that's why you are so perfect at everything. Up till the end, he only saw her good side." His glare grew hard and threatening as he spat, "He never noticed Suzuki's hell." He paused, as a thought struck him. "Or, who knows? Maybe he did, and chose to push it to his subconscious. Either way, it's impossible to know the truth now that he's dead."

Suzuki silently examined the terror and guilt in Lunette's eyes, and then, as if satisfied, rose to his feet. "It doesn't matter now." He looked around at the Maggots, a peculiar shade in his eyes as he took in their confused and hesitant expressions. Turning back to Lunette, he said, "To answer your question, It was never my intent to kill. I may be many things, but I'm not stupid enough not to understand cause and effect. You have no more blame in Suzuki's death, than a rope shop has in a suicide."

"Then why!?" roared Shadow as he helped his sister to her feet. "And who the hell is this Suzuki?"

Suzuki ignored Shadow's second question, but answered the first. "Because you both needed to feel Suzuki's pain, even if for a brief moment. You might not be responsible, but that kind of logic does not stop the rage I'm feeling right now." Flames burned in the daeben's eyes as he declared, "I really want to tear you both apart, find whatever server you're stored in, and burn it to the ground, but..." He tapped his head and then said, "There's someone in here who cares a lot about the both of you." Glancing at Lunette, he said, "Especially you. You have potential. One day, you might become his reason to live. I cannot destroy that. No. I will never destroy anything that makes Kashi happy."

"Now, if there are no further questions..."

"The hell there are no questions!" shouted Shadow. "I have a tho—!"

Shadow's protest choked in his throat as Suzuki glared at him with an expression colder than a frozen hell. "I said, if there are no further questions..." When no one interrupted, he turned to look at the hovering Adjudicators, "Hey... bird-brain. What exactly is your goal here? I do not believe you're so bored that you're chasing us all over this game."

Vanzuela snorted, gaze turning hostile as he looked at Lunette. "You are Genaco's intellectual property. Every second you waste among this rabble is millions you are costing the company."

"So, that's what this is about?" Suzuki asked with ridicule in his eyes. "You wanted to break them up so she'll willingly work with you?"

"There are less savory methods we could have used," defended Vanzuela. "I believed it best it comes willingly."

Suzuki and Shadow's brows lifted at the same time as they muttered, "It?"

"It." Vanzuela repeated with a lofty, prideful expression. "It is state-of-the-art entertainment A.I developed using Genaco's research talents and resources. Contractually, it belongs to Genaco, and should fulfill its role." Glaring at Lunette, he added, "Or else, it should be treated as useless software and deleted."

"You!" Shadow screamed and made to attack, but Suzuki suddenly stood in front of him, effectively blocking his path.

"Keep your head, Shortstuff," cautioned Suzuki while keeping his eyes on Vanzuela. "He wants you to attack. Once you do, he'll be justified to take you in. Severe violations also grant Adjudicators with access rights to personal information." A hollow smile spread on Suzuki's lips as he regarded the Adjudicators. "Of course this feature is intended for rapists, sex offenders or criminals using the game world to conduct business. But... loopholes are a beautiful thing, aren't they?"

Vanzuela's gaze narrowed, brow twitching as he glared at the daeben. This damned kid was not acting to script. Suzuki should have lost his shit and killed Lunette and Shadow, which would give Vanzuela a chance to seize their 'souls' from the Circle. Failing that, he intended to incite the assassin's short temper. This would grant the adjudicators permission to access Shadow's personal information; which would include, most importantly, the physical address of his server.

Once he had their physical address, Vanzuela could blackmail both Shadow and Lunette into working for him. With his expertise, within a few months to a year, Lunette would become the biggest sensation in the real world, earning him tons of profits (A.Is had no need for physical currency after all.) All this game world singing was an astronomical waste of Lunette's talents.

Vanzuela managed to get his emotions under check and eventually grinned at Suzuki. "Well done. It would seem you are not as stupid as I initially thought." He then glanced at Lunette and said, "As for you... it's only a matter of time before you return home. One way or another. Enjoy your holiday."

Vanzuela turned and was about to leave when a voice suddenly called out, "Ah. Wait a moment." The adjudicators turned to look at Suzuki who sized them up with a hard glare. "I have been pissed off from the moment I laid on you guys. I wasn't sure why at first, but now I am."

"Oh?" Vanzuela murmured. Curious, he asked, "Why is that?"

A dangerous smile spread on Suzuki's face as he said, "Well..."

BOOOM!

The Maggots scattered as a rocket suddenly blasted off the ground. The brilliantly bright projectile made a direct beeline for Vanzuela. Upon closer inspection, the sharper Maggots and Adjudicators noticed a fully dragonified drakon within the light, fist reared back for a massive punch.

Vanzuela's eyes widened as he spread his arms out in joy. "Do your worst!" Anyway, no matter how much it hurt, he would not die.

Suzuki, however revealed a mocking gaze as he suddenly disappeared.

A terrible feeling suddenly enveloped Vanzuela, as he felt, not for the first time that day, that things were spiraling out of his control.. He instinctively looked over his shoulder, just in time to see Suzuki appear amidst the mass of Adjudicators. Suddenly, he understood the daeben's true intent. "WAIT! DON'T A—"

"ROOOAR!!!"

A silhouette of a 20-feet dragon suddenly appeared behind the daeben as a world-shaking roar rocked the room and its constituents. The adjudicators trembled in fear and shock as the silhouette opened it mouth and seemed to swallow them. A particularly frightened Adjudicator drew her sword, instinctively turned it lethal red to protect her life, and swung at the dragon.

Unfortunately, to the rest of the room, and a particularly pale Vanzuela, that sword was not striking at any dragon, but a coldly grinning drakon.

Suzuki suddenly froze in place mid-flight, and then cut his hand through the air. "[Dimension Break]!"

Vanzuela watched, gobsmacked, as a pair of portals opened in front of the daeben and behind the adjudicator. The sword pierced through Kashi's portal, but then stabbed out behind the adjudicator, and skewered through her chest.

Suzuki's cold eyes watched as the adjudicator lost her wings and crashed to the floor, dying a slow, painful death. A ghost of a smile spread on his lips as he muttered, "Good. One-a-Piece. 97 feathers left to pluck." He then looked at Vanzuela. Hell itself seemed to burn within his gaze as he warned, "Never use Suzuki against us, ever again."

A/N: A little short, but I wanted to get this out today. 

Seems Suzuki isn't hellbent on killing Lunette and Shadow just yet. What does this mean for his and Kashi's relationship going forward? Also, how will Vanzuela react to having another Adjudicator killed in front of him?  

On another note, THANK YOU, Ali, for joining the Patreon Family. I really appreciate it! :)

See y'all tomorrow! Got a brilliant anime to recommend.