Paradise of Infinity: 323

Title: Returning Fears

From what Nik’s gathered, Tokyo is broadly divided into the more traditional North-Eastern and ‘active’ South-Western halves. His first target is a surprising one, something called a Muscle Girls Pub. Why Tokyo has many questionably themed cafes, such as cat girls, sexy boys, and authentic family experience, is not something Nik can understand. All he knows is that he’s interested nonetheless.

The Muscle-Girls-themed pub named Sugoi Muscle Pub also acts as a front for Kousa Council’s, guess what—Muscle-Girls-themed Brothel.

Nik’s interest in the latter is less than he let on as he conversed with Revy throughout the cab ride.

“You’ve ever been with muscular ones?” Revy inquires, letting her gaze observe passing buildings and people. “I hear they’re kind of freaky.”

“It’s fine as long as they know what they’re doing. Unfortunately, this wasn’t always the case for the ones who hired me,” Nik drawls. “It wasn’t so bad compared to the rest. What about you?”

“Nah,” Revy smirks. “No swole gals for me, except that Slutty Maid. Remember the abs on her?”

“Remember her back?” Nik whistles, admiring Roberta’s physique.

“Heh,” Revy turns away from the window, curiously gazing at Nik. “How should we deal with the building? You cannot take living creatures, right?”

“Living and sentient ones,” Nik nods. “I was thinking we knock out the customers and the service providers before letting the men from Kousa Council fall without a building under them. It should put them in a hospital for some time, right?”

“That’s not what you promised to Anego.” Revy frowns.

“Did you really believe I’m just going to increase the number of casualties?” Nik scoffs. “I don’t care what Balalaika thinks I should do.” He looks out the window, noticing dark clouds hiding the moon. “What if there are innocents amongst them?”

“Innocents among the Yakuza?” Revy sneers.

“Those with no option but to make a dishonest living,” Nik replies. “There are plenty like us, right? - Groomed for the life others don’t like thinking about.” He exhales and mischievously smiles at Revy. “Besides, I’ll volunteer to appease the tank’s anger.”

Revy scoffs, “It’s still fucking weird!”

“You know how it won’t be weird?” Nik offers.

“How?” She glances at him.

“You should join us.”

“Fuck off!”

“You mean—fuck me, right?” Nik snickers, leaning onto Revy, “Or does the crowd scare you?”

She glances towards the cab driver, finding him looking at them through the rearview mirror before snorting, “It doesn’t. But we’re on a job. And I don’t fuck around during a job.”

“I thought a whore’s entire purpose IS to fuck during a job,” Nik blinks, making Revy almost regret spouting bullshit like—I’d rather have my friends treat me like a whore.

Dutch wouldn’t let her past as a strip dancer down, and Nik likes taking it to another level, too. And there’s Eda, a whole different breed on the matter. However, she isn’t one to back down from anything, especially the thick, veiny shaft pitching a frustrated tent in her partner’s trousers, onto which she promptly climbs while filling Nik’s mouth with her tongue.

She feels they could use a good make-out session to calm their nerves. For Revy, the thought of doing it with her Anego is as nerve-wracking as titillating. And for Nik…

Revy doesn’t know what’s going on with him, but she could tell something was off before he lost consciousness in the school.

Her hips grind on him, rubbing her crotch on his erection as she whispers between their breaths, “Does that help you?”

Nik’s eyes briefly widen before he nods quietly, firmly gripping her ass with one hand and bending air with the other to slap the driver’s head and make him focus on the road instead of them.

He admits they could be doing this elsewhere, but Nik’s feeling more than bothered.

He’s rattled.

---

“Hey! Stop him!”

Revy ignores the echoing shouts and screams as patrons and hostesses run outside the dimly lit pub. Her predatory gaze lingers on the obscenely large, roided woman. Revy’s opponent isn’t a local if her caucasian features and deep red hair are anything to go by as the 230 centimeters of pure muscle mass shouts in rage, lunging at Revy with the practiced precision of a professional grappler.

Revy dodges the woman, smashing the thick bottle of whiskey on the female bouncer’s head as the opponent crashes into a thin booth, destroying the furniture within.

“Fucking idiot,” Revy snorts, sniping the woman’s ass with the half-destroyed glass bottle in her hand. “You’re lucky I didn’t blow your head off.”

She snorts, sitting by the counter and tapping its surface with an empty glass. “Fill it up,” she taps her index finger against the glass, making the athletic woman hiding behind the counter tremble.

“Aren’t hostesses trained? Do you know how to speak English?” Revy questions.

“Y-yes,” the dark-haired woman nods, nervously adjusting her crop top, displaying a generous swath of her skin and lean muscles.

“Then you know I asked for a drink,” Revy scoffs.

“Right away!” The bartender squeaks, slowly getting on her feet and casting cautious glances at the destruction behind Revy. It’s not just the unconscious female bouncer but many other men lying on the floor as a figure darts through the darkness, seizing men away from the light until bone-chilling screams follow his wake.

She shivers when Revy prompts a discussion, “Say, what’s your routine?”

“Yes?” the bartender gulps, looking behind Revy and almost jumping in fright as the pub’s owner falls down from the second floor, moaning in pain.

“Do you girls stay lean all year long?” Revy inquires. “It’s kind of bland, no? Or is the pay good enough to feel like complete shit the entire year?”

“W-well,” the bartender swallows, “We can cover ourselves from October to January.”

“Oh? Nik? Did you hear that? Even these girls get some employment benefits! You must have had one shitty boss to have such a sob story!”

The bartender gasps in surprise, crouching as a figure flies past Revy and smashes through the counter into the nearby shelves.

“Huff!” The bartender hears a soft exhale. “I know, right? Hey, miss. Are you okay?”

She glances at Nik’s blood-splattered face, quivering.

“You should leave,” Nik ignores her reactions, hiding the slightly complicated look in his eyes, asserting, “Now.”

“Police should be arriving soon, too,” Nik sits beside Revy as the bartender runs out. He accepts the drink from her, sipping it, “There are already a few police officers securing the perimeter.”

Revy shrugs. “Should have used masks.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Nik offers her his hand. Understanding his intent, she frowns, “You’re sure your Dragon won’t just decide to eat me?”

“I’m sending you into my bedroom.”

“That’s better,” she smirks.

Once she leaves, Nik escapes to the building’s roof before touching it with his right palm.

The Building disappears, filling his AP bar very slightly.

[AP: 4.1→4.8/100)

The two-storied building earned him more than Nik imagined. A Fire Nation’s warship should be worth one Rank 1 AP. Meanwhile, the building was somehow worth 0.7.

‘Maybe it’s made of improved materials?’ He shrugs since he plans to hit other less important locations and fill his AP bar.

His AP fell off once he purchased another bullet-proof hoody from Accu-mulet. It wasn’t precisely the same as his last one, but its quality was the same. Not to mention, Nik isn’t willing to hunt other Hosts for AP—it’s not worth the risk. Instead, he glances in the port’s direction. Ray’s message pops up in his chat module before he can leave the nearby roof after confirming his target’s status.

[Smexy-succu-succu: Was that you, Nik?]

He blinks, focusing his senses before discovering Ray not far from the location.

[Nut-Cracking-Messiah: What are you doing here?]

He jumps past the roof before landing in an alley, finding Ray beside a few unconscious men. “Something I can help with?” He glances at the men, frowning. “Did they…”

“Do you think they can do anything to me?” Ray rolls her eyes. “You’re too strung these days. I told you, right? The Primary target will attack us only if we do something to the students.”

“You didn’t feel what I did,” Nik grunts. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think a ‘manga’ can do that sensation any justice.”

Ray smirks, crouching to check the men’s condition. The succubus then stops and glances at Nik contemplatively.

“Nik? How long till you complete your AP bar?”

He stills, momentarily hesitating before answering, “96. Why?”

“Well, I’m not too worried about my AP because I have loads of collected material in my personal space. Just because our AP bar fills doesn’t mean we can’t store more stuff for later consumption. Want to earn a few easy Authority points?”

“Now?” Nik tilts his head. “I have a mission to report and…”

Nik gives her the universal glance about how he’s ‘busy’ later.

“Tomorrow’s fine. I’ll tell you the details once you’re free to hear me out. Oh, and don’t be late tomorrow morning!” She grins. “It’s our first day as teachers!”

His eyes twitch before he mutters, “Yeah.”

Ray puckers her lips, musing, ‘Did that strike a nerve? So, it’s not just Koro that’s got him bothered.’

---

What Nik stated to Regret that fateful day was the truth.

With his strengthened bond with Mokshi, his mind won’t fall to other’s delusions. External threats are almost close to nill.

What he didn’t understand that day was Nik also became his own worst enemy.

“Ah~! Hnngh!”

Their moans and grunts mix with the wet sound of their sex. Nik relentlessly thrusts as if wanting to lay all his frustrations out at once upon the charming woman under him, forced to breathless gasps and adulterous moans. He snatches her lips, pumping with a finality as her ruby eyes widen. Her thin, fair body quivers as another load of hot cum fills her tight snatch, marked for his use for as long as he desires.

He looks up, finding those red eyes and golden locks overshadowed by dazed, glassy amber orbs and messy brown hair.

Nik tries pecking her, only for slender hands to creep around his back, tugging him and prying him away from the woman under him.

He looks back, observing the triplets possessing ruby eyes and golden locks spreading their legs, exposing their slick snatches to his hungry gaze—Ishtra, Fretra, and Aphrotra.

“It’s fine,” Fretra smiles. “We’re promised to each other, remember?” She coos. “We’re going to take you away, Nik. Esta is so cruel to you. The three of us will make you happy.”

Her siblings giggle as Nik’s body moves forward. He would like to plug his cock inside them rather than violently shoving his arm—

*Haaaah*

Nik’s eyes snap open, and he sits up in one motion, feeling cold sweat drenching his body. He quickly glances at the sleeping Revy, recalling how their night wasn’t a dream. His hand reaches out to brush her hair as he chews his lips, unable to discover a single strand of gold within her locks.

He tried not to think about it.

It was so pleasant then. The days after dealing with regret saw Nik getting busy with other things. It wasn’t until he got Mitsuko’s note that he unintentionally recalled the one rare instance of clarity between the carnage he ushered in under Regret’s hold.

They’re back—

His nightmares.

It’s not others. Nik doesn’t dream of Esta anymore. What she did, what he felt—it’s the past. However, Nik now finds himself being his worst enemy.

‘Mokshi,’ he covers his lips, the corner of his eyes quivering as he slowly walks to his bedroom door. ‘What have I done?’

His breath catches in his throat as his eyes almost water.

“Hey,” a soft moan snaps Nik out of his reverie, stopping him from going out.

“Get back in here, Nerd,” Revy demands as she turns to her side without looking at him. “Don’t worry. I won’t laugh at you.”

“Revy, I—”

“You did something bad,” she whispers. “And it’s haunting you.” Her body curls slightly. “It haunts me, too. Do you know what’s helping me these days? You.”

Nik glances away.

“Nik,” Revy continues softly. “You can’t change what happened. Someone like you already understands that. So, don’t wallow in it. You’ll feel better eventually.”

The Incubus mutters, “I don’t want to feel good. If I forget it again, I’ll become worse.”

Revy sighs, slowly sitting up without bothering to cover herself. She brushes her brown hair away and glances at Nik, questioning while rubbing her eye, “What’s wrong with that? I forget and become worse every day.”

“I enjoyed it,” Nik’s eyes redden. “I always somehow enjoy it, Revy. It scares me.”

Revy grows silent.

“What do I do?” Nik questions again.

He recalls one set of triplets among the hundreds yet again.

“I guess I shouldn’t have stopped you,” Revy slumps back. “It sucks. But it will help us both if you get back inside the sheets. Ruin Anego’s mood with all this talk if you have to. Leave the fun stuff for me.”

Nik scoffs a chuckle, noting the subtle quiver in his voice as he returns to the bed.

“Hey,” Revy coos softly, sliding her hand up his chest and cozying up to him. “I just don’t call anyone a sniveling pussy. Got it? If I call you one, you best believe you’re the kind of guy to eat a missile to his face to save a stranger.”

“I did that to eventually fuck you,” Nik teases, regathering himself. “And it worked.”

“I know,” Revy snickers as she closes her eyes. “I’ve got an amazing box that can hide the longest carrots away.”

Nik covers his arm around her shoulder and closes his eyes.

He doesn’t face another nightmare, but Nik knows issues won’t disappear with a few words of encouragement and jokes. His sins are beyond that.

***

Alternate Title: Muscle Pub; Sugoi Muscle Desu Ka; The First Target; Easy Money; Revy Vs Roid Rage; Street Fights Have No Rules!; Revy Needs a Drink; Cab Make-Out; Calming Tense Nerves; Revy Feeling Bothered By Doing With Her Mommy, Ehm, Anego!; Nik’s Reservations; The Discussion of Job Benefits; Feeling Hot; Devoured Building; Nearby Ray; Issues; Phantom Sex; Nightmares; His Worst Enemy; The Remembered Secret; A Bad Thing; Nik’s Spoon DO Help Revy; A Filthy Confession; Revy’s Box’s The Boss