Shen Akira went to a bar with Mei Tsukino to meet one of his acquaintances.
There, Shen Akira begged them to help him escape from Northern through a secret route.
Shen Akira's acquaintance named Boston looked confused. "Look, Shen Akira, it's not that easy to pass through the secret route because it's being guarded right now, not sure why…"
"Huh, guarded..? Damn it, then how am I supposed to get out of here?" Shen Akira complained in confusion while gulping his beer.
Meanwhile, Mei Tsukino secretly called Nic, telling him that Shen Akira was currently at a bar in Rusfin city.
But without her realizing, Shen Akira's acquaintance saw that and then approached Shen Akira. "Hey Shen, looks like your enemy has been near you for a while."
"What are you talking about?" Shen Akira was confused.
Then Mei Tsukino came back, and the acquaintance went straight to the point. "That girl is a traitor and just told your location."
Shen Akira turned, shocked that the one being pointed at was Mei Tsukino, the most loyal assistant he had.
"Don't joke around! There's no way Mei Tsukino would do that!" Shen Akira still insisted on not believing it.
They could only sigh at Shen Akira's stubbornness, but unexpectedly Mei Tsukino admitted it herself.
"What they said is true, Shen Akira. I was never your ally… soon he will come to capture you," Mei Tsukino said coldly.
Everyone fell silent. Shen Akira couldn't believe what his loyal assistant said. "No way… WHY!?"
They started becoming the center of attention, but the bar seemed understanding, turning the music louder so their commotion wouldn't disturb others.
Mei Tsukino smiled slyly. "From the beginning, I've always been loyal to the strong… but when he came to our territory… I accidentally met him, and his eyes were so sharp I could feel death just from his gaze. Then secretly, he recruited me without anyone knowing, including you… does that hurt?"
Shen Akira wasn't just hurt, he was disappointed, furious, and immediately lashed out, rushing toward Mei Tsukino like he wanted to destroy her. "YOU DAMN BITCH!!!!"
Suddenly, the bar boss walked in and clapped. The music stopped, and everyone was shocked since it was rare for the owner to show up.
A bar staff approached. "Madam Hilda? What brings you here?"
Hilda smiled and whispered to her staff to tell everyone to leave because the bar was being rented, except for the people she pointed at.
Hilda pointed at Shen Akira, his acquaintances, and Mei Tsukino.
Everyone immediately obeyed and left. Shen Akira tried to leave too, but was blocked by bodyguards.
"What the hell!? Everyone else can leave, why can't we!?" Shen Akira said. His acquaintances also tried to get out but were stopped.
Mei Tsukino stood calmly in the middle of the bar and laughed. "Why are you panicking? Looks like there's a special party for all of you… you should be happy it's paid for."
Shen Akira got annoyed, grabbed a glass, and threw it at Mei Tsukino. It shattered, almost hitting her if she hadn't dodged.
"Damn bitch… you're just a noisy dog!" Shen Akira said angrily.
Everyone else had left, and Hilda smiled. "Enjoy your party, dear customers~"
The door opened. Nic walked in casually, without using his Death Raven or King Raven form.
After Nic entered, Hilda went upstairs and told the staff to watch as well.
"Yo, it's been a while since we met, huh? Looks like you've been pretty safe here…" Nic said with a smile.
Shen Akira tried to act calm. "You've got guts not using that damn crow form. You think you can capture me here!?"
Nic chuckled. "Keep talking like fate can save you."
Shen Akira's acquaintances whispered among themselves. They thought the form Shen Akira feared would be something big and terrifying, but it turned out to be just a normal guy.
"Kill him…" Shen Akira picked up a broken glass shard, its edges sharp.
His acquaintances glanced upstairs. Madam Hilda was watching, smiling indifferently.
In the end, they also took weapons and prepared to attack Nic.
But Nic, already done playing around, moved fast this time. With one motion, he grabbed an iron table and snapped one of its legs like it was a cracker.
Boston was shocked. "What the hell was that…"
Nic activated Combat Fusion Skill and instantly dashed, appearing in front of and behind them. He struck their faces, legs, stomachs, and necks in succession with the iron rod, dodging all attacks.
They all collapsed easily. Shen Akira froze. "THIS MAKES NO SENSE!!"
Nic's gaze turned sharp, and just like with Bjorn, he brutally beat Shen Akira using that iron rod until his body was crushed and couldn't move.
"I feel bad, let me heal you," Nic said with a smile, and Shen Akira's body recovered.
But before he could regain consciousness, Nic immediately followed up with martial arts combos. Unlike when he fought Galea, this time he struck repeatedly, hitting Shen Akira's face, stomach, and stomping his legs until they broke again.
Shen Akira couldn't do anything at all, only scream in pain… his eyes were filled with fear, seeing Nic as something completely unreal, like a monster.
"P-PLEASE!! I BEG YOU!! I'LL GO TO PRISON AND APOLOGIZE!!" Shen Akira shouted.
But Nic kicked his mouth, then flipped and slammed his foot into Shen Akira's head, smashing him into the ground. Nic lifted him again without giving any pause and kicked him away, shattering glasses around the bar.
A staff member asked, "Is this really okay…? That's really brutal… the place might get destroyed."
Hilda smiled. "Relax…"
Shen Akira coughed blood. His body was completely broken, his eyes dim, but again and again Nic healed him. Even though Nic would feel the pain too, he didn't care.
One hour passed. Shen Akira had lost all will to live. He was fully healed, but still couldn't move, his instincts telling him his body would just be destroyed again.
Nic sat on a broken table in front of Shen Akira, who stared blankly. Nic took out a potion bottle.
"Do you remember… Ochana suffered so much because of you. You should've treated her well since she obeyed you… but your promise to fix her face never came true until she almost died," Nic said, staring sharply.
Since Shen Akira didn't respond, Nic activated God of Dictator, forcing him to speak.
Shen Akira spoke flatly. "I don't care about her… I only took advantage of her, and it was fun."
Nic's face turned colder and he kicked Shen Akira again until he fell. Then Nic smiled and activated God of Psychology to raise Shen Akira's mental state again, making him fully conscious.
Shock, panic, inability to move—that's what Shen Akira felt. When Nic poured a strange potion onto him, he was completely desperate.
The potion hit half of Shen Akira's face. He screamed in pain, burning, as half his face was destroyed just like what Ochana once experienced in Eastern.
"AGGHHHHH!!!! YOU BASTARD!! WATER!!! YOU MONSTER!!! DEVIL!!!" Shen Akira screamed, clutching his face.
Nic didn't heal him again, then looked at Mei Tsukino.
"I'll cripple his legs, and you can take him to Eastern to be imprisoned and apologize. He has to be jailed for life because he's taken many lives," Nic said.
Mei Tsukino nodded, and Nic went upstairs to meet Madam Hilda.
"Why did you want to watch this… I didn't ask anyone to see it because I was really venting my emotions on him," Nic said.
Madam Hilda replied casually, "I don't care what you do, but I'm impressed by your execution… it's strange and insane. He's a bad person, and you taught him a lesson like a real devil."
Nic stayed silent, then looked at Shen Akira being taken away. "Criminals like that won't change just by being imprisoned and apologizing. Sometimes violence is necessary when peace isn't enough. I just do what they did… I'll become a devil if they're worse than devils."
After that, Nic paid twice the rent, including compensation for the damaged items and the customers who were asked to leave. The payment was so high it made Madam Hilda shake her head, wondering who Nic really was.
---
Then Mei Tsukino went to the harbor to board a large ship that had been reopened by Nic. Earlier, Nic, using his King Raven form, had ordered the new leader of Northern to shut down transportation routes temporarily. Now that everything was settled, Nic reopened them, and operations returned to normal.
Mei Tsukino brought Shen Akira back to Eastern and handed him over along with all the evidence.
The news in Eastern immediately mocked Shen Akira after learning he had been captured. They were shocked seeing his miserable condition.
At the Unity Temple, Ochana, Lingmei, and Hinata, who were gathered with others, saw the news and were shocked.
Especially Ochana, who saw Shen Akira's face looking exactly like her own face back then, half destroyed. "Nic… you really got your revenge…"
Lingmei clapped. "No doubt… even Shen Akira looks like he's lost the will to live."
Hinata was touched. "He really chased him all the way to Northern and succeeded… Shen Akira got his own karma…"
They held hands, satisfied, making them feel safe, along with the other Eastern citizens.
---
At the highest mountain of Northern Unity region,
Nic gathered with all the Unity factions who were now truly united.
"Yoo… are you really going to leave, bro Nic?" Fannar said, disappointed.
Nic nodded. "My job here is done… at first I came here just to capture Shen Akira, but I met all of you and ended up helping you haha… but it's not a coincidence, because I always do things like this without being asked."
Helia stepped forward and bowed. "Thank you… if it wasn't for you, we might not have been able to unite like this… I'm really grateful I realized before falling deeper."
The former predator faction members said the same and thanked Nic.
Ocha approached Nic. "Take this… this is a gift from me and my two orcas."
Nic took a stamp with a picture of Ocha and her two orcas, along with a small raven drawing that looked like Ocha made it herself.
"Thank you," Nic said simply with a smile.
Seraphine raised her hand. "Um… can I come with you, Nic…?"
Nic laughed. "Sorry, Seraphine. It's not that you can't, but I don't want to bring people close to me into complicated things they shouldn't have to go through. You all should just be happy with what you've been through… you don't need to worry about me. I'm leaving because I still have something to do…"
Seraphine understood and thanked Nic for everything he had done.
Before Nic truly left, Galea arrived.
"Hey, wait," Galea said.
Nic turned and saw Galea holding something. "Take this golden feather. I hope with this, you know you're free to fly as high as you want, but remember not to forget to come back… you're my favorite anomaly~" Galea smiled.
Nic accepted it, and they hugged. At that moment, Nic activated Cupid's > sticky bombs for those not yet on the list. Then he waved goodbye. They waved back and shouted their farewells from up there.
Some time later, Nic sat on a small boat. "Zeta."
[ Yeah, Master Nic? ]
"Detonate now."
Then boom! A love explosion on the mountain, and all the female members of the Unity factions were finally added to Nic's girlfriend list.
[ DING!! ×9 ]
[ Congratulations! Master Nic has performed a Raid! 9 girls have been added to the girlfriend list! ]
[ Congratulations! Master Nic obtained a new skill! All skills related to each animal's abilities will automatically be merged into Skill Fusion Animal and activate together when used! ]
[ Congratulations! Master Nic has reached a multiple of 10 girlfriends! New system skill obtained, do you want to see it now? ]
"Later… activate God of Tracker and find a very quiet location," Nic said.
[ Activated: Searching for location ]
[ Location found: a remote island 5000 kilometers from here across the ocean ]
"Alright, let's go there…"
Nic then headed toward the remote island, seemingly wanting to calm himself after everything he had done.
To be continued...