I didn't even have time to scream before I hit the road on the other side of the portal, face-first.

  Damn it. I pushed the larger pyramid away and started getting up. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a movement and looked back just as a demonic dog jumped at my neck with its mouth open.

  I just had the time to raise my hand in front of my face, and the demonic dog bit into it. The impact pushed me back, but it didn’t knock me over, and its teeth bit into the metal glove, yet they couldn’t pierce through them.

  All right. I slipped the shotgun behind my belt.

  The demon bit harder, lashing with its tails at the same time. They hit my shoulder, but I’ve gotten lashed so much recently that it didn’t throw me off. It didn't even hurt as badly as some of Isabella's whippings.

  I slammed the shotgun’s barrel into its mouth, angled it up, and fired. With almost no recoil, the short shotgun fired and blew out the demon dog’s brain.

  The monster fell off my glove, dead.

  I looked around for more demon dogs.

  None in sight.

  I exhaled, a massive grin spreading across my face, my heart beating like crazy. Not so much fun when I’m ready to fight back, heh?

  I kicked the demon dog’s corpse aside. Hell yeah! Take that, you steel piece of shit. That’s right. Lie there dead. Hah!

  From the corner of my eye, I glimpsed the portal.

  Within the orange light, Isabella sat on a folded chair, legs crossed, glaring at me.

  A mighty blush conquered my face, and I hastily got up and picked up the steel pyramid to turn the thing on.

  I forgot that one could see a bit through the portal.

  Marge handed Isabella a bag of dried jerky, from which Isabella took a piece and started chewing, her glare still glued on me.

  Well, at least I didn’t see any other demonic dogs.

  The destroyed city looked almost eerily peaceful. Nothing moved in or around the destroyed skyscrapers, fires burning in the distance.

  Though soot still softly rained from the sky, and screams and sobs echoed through the air from afar.

  That the fires had stopped burning suggested a somewhat similar movement of time here as in reality. Actually, Isabella clarified that, as she seemed to be chewing normally in the portal. If the time movements were any different, I would see it distorted.

  The pyramid station had all lit up, so it worked. Probably. It wasn’t like they gave me a manual.

  Now, I had to deploy the transmitters and drones.

  They gave me practically no instructions, so that left it to my judgment.

  I stepped onto the broken street, heading sideways from the portal to get out of Isabella’s field of view.

  After a few steps, I stretched.

  Ah, finally some freedom. I opened my shotgun and reloaded the spent shell.

  Shadow?

  Nothing happened.

  Hmm. The System apparently didn't work here. Or Shadow was just ignoring me. I focused, trying to conjure up the stat screen.

  Nothing.

  No System in this reality, apparently.

  Well, time to work. Since I had spider drones and smaller transmitter pyramids, it made sense to leave the ground to the spider drones and spread the pyramids on high ground.

  Hmm, to get on a high ground would allow me to look around and pick good locations.

  That would be a lot smarter than just roaming around. I looked around and picked one toppled skyscraper.

  It lay only slightly inclined, didn’t seem to be too burned or damaged, and had no visible deformation that would suggest demons had moved around it.

  It also led fairly high, so the view was bound to be great.

  I released one spider drone, which skittered off and started climbing up the fallen building.

  Come to think of it, my endurance turned out to be pretty useful against the dog demon. The tail lashes from the first demon tore apart my skin and even a bit of flesh. But now, the hits damaged only my suit, and hurt, but left my skin unharmed.

  Or... my body had somehow adapted to being whipped thanks to Isabella, so now the dog's tail whips didn't do much.

  No, it was the endurance. Definitely.

  Yet still, if I had willpower and shields, my suit wouldn’t have had a scratch. Or if I had speed and dexterity, I wouldn’t have gotten hit with anything.

  Best though, if I weren't a coward, Isabella wouldn't have had to throw me through the portal.

  But no, I didn’t have any of the good stats. I got stuck with endurance because of Isabella, instead.

  With a massive frown, I sped up my climb on the skyscraper, almost running as it was essentially like walking uphill. Just the hill was made of steel and glass, though the fallen ash made them rough, and thus not slippery.

  I rather ran up the skyscraper, figuring my endurance also helped with movement. It also did that during my morning run, in retrospect.

  Through the cleaner windows, I could see burned offices, but with no corpses. Actually, aside from the skyscraper being seemingly cut in half and toppled, it didn’t have much damage.

  I made it up to the top end and glimpsed movement from my vision’s edge.

  I crouched behind a larger pile of ash. Something was flying in the air, high in the sky. Four beings with membrane-like wings circled under the orange-tinged clouds. They were far away, but I could still see them relatively clearly.

  They could probably see me too. I took off my backpack, tilted it, opened it, reached inside, and felt the icy touch of a steel blade on my throat.

  I didn't hear anything, but as panic rushed through my veins, I spotted the single-edged blade that lay under my throat.

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  Someone grabbed my hair and jerked my head back, positioning the blade flush across my throat. I still couldn’t see anyone, but a man said something in a language I didn't know, straight behind me.

  His voice sounded deep, human. Still completely frozen, my heart started pounding, and I needed a few seconds to even speak.

  With his hand on my head, he felt my forehead and the top of my head, and again said something in a language I didn't know.

  “English?” I managed to say.

  “Why don't you have horns?" he asked.

  “Because I'm human, and we usually don't have horns.”

  The blade stopped touching my throat, but he didn’t remove it all the way either. “Where are you from and how did you get here?”

  “I'm Peter from Philadelphia, and I came through a portal.”

  He withdrew the blade and let go of me.

  I straightened up and turned to finally see him.

  Behind me stood a Japanese man in a black suit with a dark red shirt, no tie, and a heavy armored coat.

  At his waist, he had a sheathed katana, and in his hand, a shorter, similar blade, along whose shiny edge trickled a droplet of my blood.

  Otherwise, he had a rough shave, his black hair tied in a ponytail, an unremarkable face, and piercing, dark eyes. “I am Shinmen Takezo,” he said. “I came here through a portal from Tokyo, as an agent of the Yamato Syndicate.”

  So, also from a secret society. And corporate too, as Yamato Syndicate was another of the five largest corporations of the secret societies.. I smiled. “Peter O'Connor.” My pulse finally started calming down. “An agent of Lucielle Legal, Philadelphia branch.” I took off my glove and offered him my hand.

  He sheathed the short blade and shook my hand, his grip calm and firm.

  I put my glove back on. “Do you have any idea where we are and what's going on?”

  “No,” he looked around. “But you look prepared, so it’s not your first time here.”

  I fished out a pyramidal transmission station from my backpack, fixed it on the ground, and turned it on.

  How much could I, or should I, talk to him? I didn't know. I’ve never met an agent of another organization.

  And I couldn’t call Isabella to ask about protocols. Then again, she wasn’t going to find out anything I didn’t tell her. “I’ve stumbled here once a few days ago, and now it’s my second time, and the corporation gave me a bunch of drones and transmitters to deploy around, so we can figure out where and when this place actually is.”

  “We're in Tokyo.” He pointed to the destroyed buildings with his hand. “See that incinerated restaurant on the ground floor of that skyscraper? I had breakfast there this morning. I don't know the time difference from the present, or if it is even a future, or an alternate reality pocket. I haven’t been here for long.”

  Oh. So much for me guessing three American cities. Maybe I did watch too many movies.

  I closed my backpack and lifted it back up, making sure it didn’t interfere with my ability to draw my weapons. “I still need to go place the drones.”

  Takezo smiled at me. “I know the drill. How long have you been with Lucielle Legal?”

  “A few months,” I admitted.

  “It shows. I'll go with you. Who sent you here?”

  “Isabella.” I headed down the skyscraper, and Takezo smoothly slid down next to me.

  He needed about a tenth of the effort I did, as if gliding on the surface with effortless ease. “Chihuahua?”

  I laughed. Even in Japan, they knew that moniker. Actually, how? “Yeah. Why is she called that?”

  “Her position is informally called Lucielle’s attack dog. The previous holders of that position were an ancient vampire queen and an absolute monster of a werewolf.” He frowned. “What's your clearance level?”

  So, I should have known that. Or, at the very least, I should have been able to simply look it up. I climbed down from the skyscraper and found myself happy to land on stable ground. “About the lowest there is.”

  He nodded, expression turning dead serious. “If it's dangerous for you to return where you came from, you can leave with me through my portal. Isabella has no dominion over Tokyo.”

  That sounded like he was actually trying to help me. And I couldn’t even think of a selfish reason for that. He could pass through the portal, so my ability to do so had no value to him. I had no other value. Did I want to take the offer though? I didn’t know. “Thanks. I'll think about it.”

  Takezo froze, placed his hand on the hilt of his katana, and subtly nodded to the side.

  I glanced in that direction and spotted four demonic dogs, all the same. They weren't coming towards us, nor did they pay any attention to us.

  The demon dogs kept their noses pressed to the ground and were clearly following some trail.

  I frowned and whispered, “What are they looking for?”

  “People,” Takezo said. “These are Kallisto's scouts, created to find hidden people.”

  Who was Kallisto? I would have to ask about that later. Now, I felt like I’d asked enough dumb questions.

  I exchanged a nod with Takezo. We followed the demons.

  Takezo went ahead of me to lead the way.

  I didn’t hear him move at all, and truth be told, I was quite glad he went first. He looked like he knew what he was doing.

  Actually, I could check that. I focused and activated the level scanner.

  Nothing.

  Or well, I tried. The skills didn't work either. My stats functioned though, and I didn’t have any non-system skills to try.

  Was the System destroyed in the meantime between my time and this one, or was I just not attuned to this version of the System due to not being supposed to be here in the first place?

  More questions, to which I had no answer.

  Along the way, I reached into my backpack, pulled out a spider drone, pressed the activation button, and tossed it aside. The drone skittered off.

  As we followed the demonic dogs, I wondered if Takezo wasn’t leading me into some kind of trap. I dismissed the thought as nonsense. But what I couldn't get out of my head was the question of what Takezo was actually doing here. He didn't seem to have any goal. We sneaked after the demonic dogs, and they entered the ruins of a large mid-rise.

  Four more demons descended from the sky, looking like twisted, steel vultures, and landed in the shattered windows of the building. The dogs slipped inside, and the vultures did too.

  There was someone inside whom they were looking for.

  Takezo entered first. I dropped my backpack and followed right behind him. From the depths of the building came a rustling sound, as if someone was rummaging through plastic bags.

  Takezo stopped, and I realized that eight demonic dogs and four vultures headed towards the stairs that led to the lower floor.

  That was a lot of demons.

  My last fight with a dog ended in my victory, but I still got a bit hurt.

  The dogs suddenly bolted towards the stairs, and the vultures flew there as well. I rushed after them, gripping my assault rifle.

  I ran down the stairs and saw the dogs' target. A blonde girl my age, in jeans and a sweatshirt, had just thrown a plastic bag out of a broken freezer box. She yelped as she noticed the attacking demons and jumped out of the box. She staggered and twisted strangely, barely staying on her feet.

  The fastest of the demonic dogs jumped at her. I raised my rifle but couldn’t shoot as I would hit her.

  She crouched, slid aside, and waved her hand. A spectral short sword appeared above her arm and cut one of the dogs in half, cleanly through the steel armor.

  Vultures descended towards her, and I aimed, and fired in bursts. Shots echoed through the room, and I hit the fastest vulture, blood exploding from its body, the bullets pinning it to the wall.

  Claws dug into my back, and a steel vulture pecked at my neck.

  Shit!

  I twisted my body, but the beak hit my shoulder, stabbing into my flesh.

  How did I miss a vulture?

  I let go of my rifle and grabbed the shotgun behind my belt. The vulture stabbed with its beak again, and pain also shot out from my leg.

  A demon dog bit into my calf.

  I gritted my teeth and twisted my body completely to slam my back on the floor.

  The vulture released its claws and slipped up my body to avoid being crushed.

  It moved straight to my shotgun’s nuzzle. I fired, blowing it apart into an explosion of blood.

  Two more demon dogs pounced at me. I turned my body, but the dog biting into my calf pulled, and stopped me from avoiding. I covered my neck with my left arm.

  The dogs landed, one biting into the arm, teeth stopped by the steel glove, and the bit into my shoulder. All their claws sunk into my body.

  I jerked my arm, put the shotgun to the head of the dog biting my arm, and fired.

  The monster twisted its body, so the shell hit its armored top. The shot threw it off me but didn’t kill it.

  Damn it.

  The demon dog hit the wall, and scrambled to its paws.

  I reached for the gun on my right side, and noticed the dog biting into my leg went limp.

  Takezo landed next to me, seamlessly stepped over me, stabbing the dog biting into my arm straight through the head, his sword piercing the steel shell with ease.

  The third demon dog pounced, and Takezo slashed, severing the monster in two, showering me with the demon’s blood.

  I exhaled. “Thanks.”

  A drunken, girly laugh echoed through the room.

  Takezo slashed the blood off his sword, sheathed it, and stretched a hand towards me.

  I caught it, and he pulled me up to my feet. Pain burst through like a dozen spots on my body, especially the calf.

  The girl was drunkenly laughing over the bodies of four sliced-up demons. The rest of the demons were also dead, in total nine dogs and four vultures.

  How we followed the demon dogs, we most likely were followed ourselves by another group.

  My head spun a little, so I braced myself by the wall. Fatigue started joining the pain in wrecking my body. I still had some strength left, but even breathing hurt.

  “Finally,” the girl exclaimed. “I thought I was the only living person here. I'm so glad to see you boys that I have to drink to it.” She leaned towards the cooling box and pulled out an almost empty bottle of vodka. Showered in blood, her blonde hair glued to her head, blue t-shirt stained, jeans ripped in a few spots, and sneakers black from ash.

  I exchanged a glance with Takezo, and he just shrugged slightly.

  TG