The next evening, he booked an entire restaurant, brought his own fantasy-ingredient supplies, and after preparing everything, held a celebration banquet for his employees.
At Raize's request, Kobayashi also brought Tohru along to join the meal.
After eating and drinking their fill, everyone left one after another with smiles on their faces and company reward gifts in hand. Kobayashi, who had drunk the most, staggered drunkenly while being supported home by Tohru.
Once they exited the restaurant, the sun had long since set. The bright moonlight spilled forth with a gentle, radiant glow, illuminating the calm and desolate night.
The weather was quite warm. Even with a light breeze, it didn't cool things down much. Raize carried a bag of leftover fantasy cuisine he'd packed up, while on top of his head lay a chibi figurine girl whose belly was swollen round like a ball.
With a teasing smile, Raize lightly poked the system spirit's overstuffed belly atop his head and said amusedly,
"You really got your money's worth this time, huh? You're practically a ball now."
The system spirit pushed away Raize's finger with an annoyed expression, sat up while sticking out her little belly, then grabbed his hair and started yanking it upward wildly while venting her frustration.
"How could I possibly have gotten my money's worth? Ever since that shameless woman came to our house, she's eaten who knows how much of my food! She even treats my personal chef like he's hers!"
The more she complained about her unfair treatment, the more her delicate cheeks puffed up angrily. In the end, unable to hold it in any longer, she directly returned into Raize's body.
Inside his mind, she noisily declared her demands.
[ I'm still going to eat in the future! Playing games and eating good food is my greatest love! ]
"Fine. What do you want to eat next time?" Raize shrugged helplessly.
Neither he nor the system wanted her to appear openly. Ever since Sei had come to live with him, every time she sat in the system's seat enjoying food, the system would throw a fit in his head.
So he planned to satisfy all of her demands.
[ A whole Imperial Feast!! ]
The system shouted her desired dish loudly inside Raize's mind.
This answer made the corner of Raize's eye twitch, and he said irritably,
"Can you even finish that much?!"
[ Whether I can finish it or not is none of your business! I want to eat it, I want to eat it!!! ]
Walking home, Raize didn't give a direct answer. He could make a Feast. If the system couldn't finish it, he could help eat it himself.
After all, Raize's appetite had been growing larger and larger lately. Perhaps it was because he frequently consumed fantasy cuisine—his tastes had become increasingly picky as well.
"Let's keep working hard tonight."
As he spoke, Raize opened the system game projection that only he could see. Dream Westward Journey wasn't fully cleared yet, but it was close.
At his current pace, he'd be able to clear it tonight.
And once Sekiro and Devil May Cry unlocked next, his strength would undergo a leap-like growth.
Everything was finally on track, so Raize's mood was naturally excellent.
On the way home, in the dark and quiet night, only the supermarket beside him was still lit up. A few dusk-colored streetlights cast circular pools of dim yellow light onto the ground.
While looking at his game projection, Raize suddenly felt a gaze devoid of emotion lock onto him.
"Hm?"
With his sharp senses, Raize turned his probing gaze to the side. There, sitting quietly by the entrance of the supermarket, was a silver-haired girl.
Yes—the same place where he had first encountered Sei.
Now, another beautiful girl had appeared there.
Her long silver hair fluttered slightly in the breeze. Her petite and cute body was clad in a set of elegant armor, making others think she was cosplaying.
After Raize noticed her and shifted his gaze toward her, the unknown silver-haired girl continued to sit there, calmly and emotionlessly watching him.
Those sapphire-blue eyes, brilliant like stars in the sky, gazed at Raize as though the most dazzling celestial bodies were looking his way.
Raize wasn't stunned to the point of losing himself like he had been the first time he saw Sei. After a brief moment of admiration, he immediately came back to his senses.
With a blank expression, he turned his head and continued walking, neither stopping to watch nor stepping forward to strike up a conversation.
In his heart, aside from that initial moment of amazement, only thoughts like these remained: 'Shit, another troublesome character has appeared. Retreat!' 'Damn it, this world really is a big mash-up.' 'Thanks but no thanks—I'm not a lecher, and I don't want to become a magical armored girl!'
Raize had already recognized her identity. Beyond the initial admiration for her beauty, all that remained was the desire to keep his distance.
Eucliwood Hellscythe, a character from the anime Is This a Zombie? The story was extremely memorable.
Back then, when Aikawa Ayumu transformed into a magical armored girl, Raize had nearly choked on his water. He knew this anime far too well.
Although she was a top-tier beauty, Raize didn't have much lustful impulse toward her. At present, he really didn't want to get involved with her.
Yes, you heard that right. Right now, Raize felt almost nothing toward this beautiful girl and had no desire to interact with her.
This was the result of careful consideration in a very short time, because what Eucliwood represented—herself and the forces behind her—was far too significant.
In her original single-world setting, she was already being monitored and hunted by multiple factions. In this crossover world, Raize could only imagine that such attention would be even stronger, and that her uncontrollable power might also be amplified.
Recklessly interacting with Eucliwood would only place Raize directly in the sights of various forces, completely contradicting his original intention to lie low and develop quietly.
More importantly, if he interacted with her, Sei's existence could also be exposed.
Even though Sei, as the Biblical God, had ways to conceal herself, Raize had absolutely no desire to let her take even the slightest risk—not even a remote possibility.
Interacting with Eucliwood was a case of far more harm than benefit.
Raize wasn't the kind of guy who couldn't move when he saw a woman, nor someone who thought every beautiful girl should be his wife.
He had very few things he truly cared about anymore, so his own safety and interests naturally came first.
Eucliwood quietly watched Raize's departing back. Those deep blue gemstone-like eyes revealed no emotion.
"Grrrr~~~"
A cute sound, like a kitten's soft whining, rang out. With Raize's hearing, he naturally caught it clearly.
Immediately, he felt the gaze behind him shift to the items he was carrying. Raize didn't slow his pace at all and continued walking.
He completely ignored the fact that a certain beautiful girl behind him was hungry.
Eu rubbed her protesting little belly. When Raize passed by, the things in his hands had drawn her attention. After he glanced at her, aside from that brief moment of amazement, he immediately turned and left.
The emotionless, expressionless girl watched Raize disappear from sight. A slight tremor of emotion flickered in her eyes, her cherry-blossom pink lips parted slightly, then pressed together again.
She could tell that Raize was extraordinary. He seemed to recognize her, yet deliberately avoided her. Eu didn't think much of it—after all, she had always been chased and hunted by various people.
Once Raize was completely gone, the lonely street was left with only the solitary girl standing there.
As if feeling a little dejected, Eu turned her head to look at the convenience store behind her. Although she was hungry, the girl didn't have any money, and she would never rely on her strength to steal.
The utterly lonely girl lowered her head in disappointment, silently hugging her knees, with nothing to do but raise her head and stare at the bright, pristine moon in the night sky.
Rumble—!!
All of a sudden, a thunderclap like a bolt splitting the night shattered Eu's attention on the moon. Startled, she immediately turned her head to look toward another part of the night sky.
There was clearly no rain, yet thunder had suddenly sounded, and out of the corner of Eu's eye, she even saw lightning flash in the distance.
Is it going to rain? I should find somewhere to take shelter…
Eu thought to herself.
On the other side, in the warm night breeze, beneath a pitch-dark and slightly eerie night curtain, Raize seemed to hear something strange.
And he was certain he hadn't misheard—but he had no intention of caring.
Yet even if you don't look for trouble, trouble will come looking for you.
Clatter!
"Ah…"
In the pitch-black night, the sound of something falling suddenly rang out, followed by a faint scream…
The phrase "a moonless, windy night is perfect for murder" fit the scene all too well. Raize possessed senses far sharper than ordinary people; his vision and hearing were not weakened at all by the darkness of night.
Casually placing the items in his hands back into his backpack space, Raize calmly cast a glance to the side.
It was the second floor of a residential house. On the unlit second-floor window, something red seemed to be stuck there.
That distance meant nothing to Raize. He could clearly see blood clinging to the glass, slowly flowing downward.
Not sensing the aura of a ghoul, and sticking to his desire not to get involved, Raize merely glanced once and then walked away without reacting.
"!!...."
However, just as he withdrew his gaze and stopped looking, he felt a gaze filled with malice, like a predator eyeing prey, sizing him up from behind.
That gaze was as sharp as a blade, scanning up and down Raize's back as if pondering where to strike.
Killing intent suddenly spread, making the surroundings unnaturally quiet—so quiet that even the chirping of insects could no longer be heard.
In the darkness, that malice grew stronger and stronger, already to the point of not even trying to hide it.
Raize's mood darkened along with it. The gaze coming from the second-floor window behind him caused the anger in his heart to surge violently.
Sensing that the owner of that malicious gaze had no intention of letting him, this "innocent" passerby, go, Raize suddenly stopped in his tracks. Just as the other party's killing intent reached its peak and they were about to make a move—
"Who the hell are you staring at, you bastard?!"
Boom—!!!
Thunder roared along with Raize's fury, erupting violently from the void. The power lines on nearby utility poles burst with dense electric sparks, and the violent current was instantly drawn into Raize's body.
Transforming into lightning, Raize entered his highest acceleration state. After finishing his shout, he turned into a streak of thunderous light and charged straight into the second-floor window behind him.
"Boom—!!"
"Zzzzz—!!!"
"Enemy! Damn it! Enemy! Attack!"
"Ah…"
In an instant, the building behind him—silent like a horror movie set—was filled with continuous thunderclaps. Electric currents hissed like lightning serpents, followed by Raize's furious curses and a mysterious scream.
From outside the house at night, the second-floor window flashed with blinding blue-white lightning. Terrifying arcs crawled along the walls and spilled out from the room. The glass that had already been shattered by Raize's impact was instantly blasted into fragments by the electricity.
Boom! Bang!
With a violent crash and a thunderous sonic boom, the second-floor window and wall were completely destroyed. A small figure, still wrapped in electric arcs, was blasted out like a cannonball.
That petite figure turned into a supersonic projectile, smashing through the second-floor window and wall before shooting straight into the distance.
Residents awakened by the noise glanced outside their windows and saw a streak of lightning flash across the pitch-black night sky.
Bang!
After blasting the opponent away, Raize immediately chased after them. A bolt of lightning tore through the inky night.
As lightning that ripped through the darkness, Raize caught up within two breaths to the petite figure whose body had been struck by his thunder, paralyzed and unable to move, yet still flying at supersonic speed.
Now it was clear—the opponent was a slender, petite girl.
Smack!
Raize, having caught up midair, showed no mercy just because the other party was a beautiful woman. His fist, wrapped in dense lightning, turned into a cold iron clamp and ruthlessly grabbed her face.
Crack!!
The crisp sound of bones breaking rang in Raize's ears. It was obvious that the bones of her face had been crushed.
Spotting a dark, gloomy graveyard not far away, Raize tightly gripped her face and violently slammed her immobilized body downward.
Bang!
A heavy impact shook the ground.
Rumble—!
What followed was an unending series of rocks shattering. A roar filled with thick dust and smoke tore through the earth with tremendous force.
It looked as though something carrying enormous kinetic energy was scraping across the ground, plowing a straight, deep trench into the earth.
Boom!
Without the slightest hint of mercy, Raize dragged the opponent's body and the back of her head across the ground with one hand, carving a massive trench before finally smashing her into an old tree.
Zzz—!
A thunderclap rang out from within the smoke, instantly dispersing the dust and haze without mercy.
With the view cleared, Raize could be seen in the trench, his expression icy as he pinned down a body that had already been smashed into a bloody pulp with one hand.
Under his palm, the opponent's face was no longer recognizable. Her head had already shattered upon impact with the ground, and after scraping nearly ten meters along the dirt, the small head was completely unrecognizable.
Red, white, yellow—brain matter mixed with blood, flesh, and bone fragments splattered everywhere.
In this state, the thing beneath Raize's hand was undeniably dead beyond death. Yet he still coldly stared at the disgusting, blood-soaked remains, not loosening his grip even though his hand was coated with sticky brain matter and blood.
Because he knew this bastard wasn't dead.
With the firm resolve to kill the opponent, Raize waited right there, guarding the corpse.