Saito drove exactly as the inside of his car looked. The perfectly clean and maintained car got matched by a flawless drive that followed every rule in existence.

  Isabella, sitting in the front next to him, kept tapping her foot, drumming with her nails on the armrest, and glanced at Takezo every time he breathed a little too loudly or shifted in the seat.

  Takezo handled it like a pro, by staring out the window with an expression just shy of catatonia. I’d always thought Takezo was about as readable as a rock, but now I could feel the waves of humiliation radiating off him like a space heater.

  And I loved every second of it, because I wasn’t now the only one that got toyed with by Isabella. Takezo was all cool and mighty with the sleek movement, sword, and overwhelming combat ability. Yet Isabella still made him her bitch in under a minute.

  I enjoyed the ride, watching all the pretty shining lights of Tokyo passing around us. I even caught a glimpse of the building we left from. The place looked like a regular, wide but not that tall, skyscraper.

  They must have used some sort of spell to disguise the upper seventy percent of the building.

  Saito finally broke the silence as we approached what looked like the Tokyo equivalent of Times Square, all neon and digital billboards and people moving in chaotic, directionless waves. “Isabella-dono,” he said, eyes still on the road, “I have had my people choose a restaurant that many would find too exotic. It should, however, suit your tastes perfectly.”

  “That’s adorable,” Isabella replied, crossing her legs. “It better be a succubus bar, or something along those lines. I didn’t come all the way to Tokyo to miss out on the succubi.”

  Saito made a small, strangled sound that might have been a laugh. “I have expected as much.”

  I saw Takezo’s left eye twitch, barely, but it told me all I needed to know about how much he loved this idea.

  We pulled up to a building that looked like a glass jewelry box fused to the side of a hundred-year-old pagoda. Half the windows were tinted pink, and the door had a sign with neon pink kanji symbols.

  We got out of the car, and Saito ushered us in through a side door with absolutely no security. The hallway inside was lined with plush red velvet and gilded frames holding paintings of naked women and demon women and demon-women doing things that I was pretty sure were illegal in at least twenty states and all G7 countries.

  And no, I didn’t mean sex, I meant torture. The paintings split evenly between erotic themes and violence.

  A woman in a dress that was basically four strips of cloth and some optimism greeted us. She bowed deeply and said something in Japanese that sounded like she was apologizing for breathing air in our presence. Saito answered her, also in Japanese, and she led us to a private dining suite.

  The restaurant was a nightmare of aesthetic choices, which made me stare with my mouth gaping. An absurd mixture of statues of naked women and men, teamed up with paintings of the themes from the hallway, filled the place.

  The hostess led us to our lounge, which was a semi-circle of sofas and four bound succubi, all naked with semi-painted bodies and fully grown horns, tied together to resemble a table.

  Tiny glass bowls awaited us on the succubus table, filled with caviar and salmon roe.

  Isabella dropped onto the sofa and put her legs on the table, digging with a heel into the ribs of one of the bound succubus. “I see some of your girls have been misbehaving,” she told Saito, but then motioned with her hand at Takezo. “Servant, hand me a bowl.”

  Takezo drew a sharp breath, but after he verified Saito was glaring at him, he picked up the bowl of salmon roe and handed it to Isabella.

  The rest of us sat down, Takezo awkwardly, Saito with natural grace. “Discipline is crucial for the co-existence of the demon kind and humankind here in Tokyo,” he said. “That sometimes requires creative punishments.”

  Isabella ran a finger through the caviar and smeared it across her own lips, like some kind of cruel mockery of a lipstick ad. “Cute,” she said, “but the service best not disappoint.”

  At her words, a side door slid open, and Elshiko pranced in, arms laden with two trays of what looked like raw tuna, oysters, and little glasses of violently green liquid. She wore a dress so tight and short it technically qualified as a tourniquet.

  “Welcome, honored guests!” she chirped, then immediately locked eyes with Takezo. “Especially you, Takezo. Are you ready for your medicine tonight?”

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  Takezo grunted. “I’m not drinking that.”

  Elshiko giggled and set the tray directly on the bound succubi. “It’s just enhanced sake, and it's not even poisoned. Otherwise, this is the amuse-bouche. There will be about six courses, so save some space for the dessert. It’s really wet and juicy.”

  Isabella watched her with predatory delight. “My shoulders have gotten stiff during the flight. Surely, the place has someone who could remedy that.”

  “But of course.” Elshiko skipped away. “The staff will also help you with the food.”

  Saito picked up a pair of chopsticks and used them to take a piece of tuna. “As for business, the succubi are completely trustworthy, so there’s no need to watch our tongues.”

  “I certainly won’t watch mine.” Isabella scooped more roe with her fingers, straight into her mouth. “But to business, we’ve run our strongest scanners on the portals, and they are miniature wormhole anomalies. There is no theoretical way of getting anything larger than a person through them. And as for Lucifer’s old portal network, that one is dead. Our R&D hasn’t managed to get even a spark of activity from any of the portals in our territory in over a decade.”

  Saito nodded. “We are of the same belief. There is no time loop present, and there is no way for Kallisto to enter the world without dramatically altering the portal. So, either Lucifer isn’t all that gone and will help her, or she has gotten help from the Earthen side.”

  Isabella motioned at a plate loaded with tuna, and snapped her fingers at Takezo. He begrudgingly rose to pick up the plate and hand it to her. “If Lucifer helps her, there’s nothing he can do. He could have brought a demon princess to Earth anytime he wanted to, but he never did, and kept them off, if anything, so his involvement is unlikely. As for who could help her, we would have to find some evidence behind the portal. There’s no way to infer that as it could be anyone. It has to be someone either extremely powerful or overly motivated, likely a mix of both. That’s still too many people, or even organizations. We need to send the youngsters into the portal tomorrow on a fetch mission.”

  “That will likely end up being the case,” Saito confirmed, before he picked up one of the green glowing glasses.

  I picked up mine, and Isabella motioned for Takezo to hand her one. He did, and kept one for himself.

  Saito raised the glass. “To new alliances.”

  “To new alliances,” we all repeated.

  I downed the glass. My throat burned up, forcing me to cough a bit.

  Damn it, this was way too sharp.

  Others also emptied their glasses.

  A small army of waitresses appeared, each one more beautiful and less clothed than the last. They poured drinks, served sushi on the bound succubi, and vanished as quickly as they arrived. It was obscene, but also somewhat clinical, like they were a part of the furniture.

  I used the opportunity to use the level scanner. My vision expanded, and information appeared in front of my eyes.

  Name: Shinmen Takezo

  Age: 13

  Level: 22

  and Saito

  Name: Yamaguchi Hajime

  Age: 181

  Level: 73

  What?

  I stared at the information. Takezo was an adult man, in at absolute least late twenties, likely early thirties. And Saito’s name and age didn’t make any sense at all.

  The level scanner must have been broken. I activated it again, looking at the succubi. Their names and ages were all over the place.

  Who topped it off was Elshiko, at whom the scanner showed neither age nor level, just the name, Elshiko, and a heart next to it.

  Shadow?

  Time froze around me, and Shadow appeared, towering above us as we all sat. He looked over the scene, smirking. “Don’t tell me the succubi inspired you to finally pick a class.”

  “No. My level scanner is broken. It shows absolute nonsense.”

  He shrugged. “And what do you expect me to do about it? I’m a tutorial guide, not the granter of the powers.”

  “My powers are clearly broken. Can I talk to someone who can check them for being broken?”

  He vanished with a laugh.

  Time resumed to flow, much to my dismay. So, the one power I had from the system broke, and I couldn’t have anyone fix it. Splendid.

  I grabbed another glass with booze. Why would I even pick a class if they could simply stop malfunctioning at any moment?

  I didn’t even know if the normal System skills worked behind the portal. The stats did though, so those were great.

  Since I lost all desire to chat, I focused on the drinks and the food.

  Dinner continued undisturbed, with Elshiko and Isabella taking turns at who abused Takezo more. Saito and I mostly enjoyed the meal.

  When we all finished eating, Saito rose. “Very well. This has been most useful. I will drive you to your accommodations now.”

  “No need.” Isabella swooped a bowl filled with raw tuna from the table. “I’ll be staying late. See you at the tower tomorrow.” She motioned me off with her hand.

  The succubi all giggled, even the bound ones.

  Takezo and I rose.

  “Wait,” Isabella snapped, smirking at Takezo. “I don’t remember allowing you to leave.”

  Takezo froze in place for a quick second, but Saito gave him a look that promised he would be cleaning toilets with his tongue for the rest of his life if he acted up. “And may I leave, Isabella-dono?” Takezo asked carefully.

  “No. Fetch me a bottle of sake.”

  Takezo left for the bar. The succubus standing behind it handed him a porcelain bottle. He returned with the bottle and handed it to Isabella.

  She took it with a broad smirk. “Buzz off now. You’re spoiling the mood.”

  With an exhale of relief, Takezo headed out of the bar. He almost tripped over himself due to how much he hurried.

  Elshiko tried to intercept him with a hug, but he sidestepped her with ease.

  Saito and I both nodded at Isabella. She dismissed us with a wave of her hand.

  We left, entering the hallway.

  “So,” I said awkwardly. “Do you run the Yakuza Syndicate?”

  “No, but I am on the level beneath the top leadership.”

  “What rank is Takezo?”

  “A grunt.”

  Right. The only thing that allowed Takezo to participate in any of this was his ability to pass through the portal. Just like for me.

  We exited the building only to almost bump into Takezo, who awaited straight outside the door.

  Takezo sported a short smile when he saw Isabella hadn’t come with us. “I’ll take O’Connor to his suite. We have matters to discuss.”