["Finally, Constance… my most ambitious child, my most excellent child, I have nothing more to teach you. Just remember… make Penacony's midnight wither and decay. Take away everything you love, leaving only the graves of [Remembrance]!"]
——
Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid.
"Wow, this demon is so powerful…"
Kanna stared at Duke Inferno on the Celestial Screen in a daze, her eyes completely captivated. She tugged at the hem of Tohru's maid skirt and looked up with her little face. "Lady Tohru, this demon actually dares to fight so many Paths at the same time. He should be…"
Kanna raised her chubby little hand, imitating the explosion of fireworks with a "whoosh." "Super——strong, right?"
"Of course, Kanna. That kind of demon is definitely a world-destroying catastrophe level existence. If you encounter it, you will undoubtedly die." Tohru rarely showed a serious expression. "But I have one question. Why does he seem to know exactly which Path factions will appear in Penacony? He arranged his people so early."
"Maybe he's monitoring with his flame sparks? He learned about the participating factions in advance?" Kobayashi pushed up her glasses. The lenses reflected the blazing flames on the Celestial Screen as she showed a puzzled expression. "However, what kind of banquet would allow the Masked Fools of [Joy] to participate?"
In Kobayashi's eyes, the factions of [Destruction] and [Abundance] were not good news. But if you ranked further down, the Masked Fools of [Joy] were the most unpredictable. This kind of force that only cared about their own fun and disregarded everyone else should also be kicked out of the gala.
In short, with the pursuits of these people, if they saw the gala proceed smoothly without any twists or turns, it would probably be more painful than death.
——
["Hahahaha… She doesn't get to take the stage."]
[Wild laughter tore through the stagnant air. A sexy and hotly dressed woman stepped on a ball and chain, pressing her hat brim low to cover half her face, revealing only her upturned lips.]
[A snap of her fingers exploded with crimson sparks, illuminating her sharp jawline.]
["I alone am enough!"]
["Caterina, it's better to be a bit more pessimistic…" A woman in a white dress slowly walked out from behind her. The fingertips of her snow-white gloves gently touched her chin. The shadow cast by her wide-brimmed hat covered half of her porcelain-white face, with only a faint, ambiguous smile at the corner of her lips.]
[But upon closer inspection, a touch of azure blue lit up in her pupils, like flickering will-o'-the-wisps in a midnight graveyard, carrying a bone-chilling coldness.]
["Perhaps we will all die."]
["Shh…" The man behind lowered his voice. The moment his bow crossed the strings, a wisp of blue flame leaped up, as if to open the curtain for this grand drama. "When have the desperados walking the Path of [Destruction] ever feared death?"]
["But we should plan ahead…"]
[A little girl in a white dress walked over, holding a bright red apple in her hands as if she were about to present it to the demon on the throne — if she hadn't suddenly stopped in mid-air.]
[The words "Father" got stuck in her throat. The sweet child's voice suddenly distorted like a jammed tape. Her neck tilted at an impossible angle. It turned out she was merely a puppet controlled by strings.]
["This journey is perilous. What is our retreat?"]
——
One Punch Man.
In the dim underground hall of the Monster Association, Homeless Emperor trembled as he looked up at the woman in the white dress on the Celestial Screen.
The moment his eyes met hers, he felt the world suddenly shrink into a narrow tunnel. The azure flames in her pupils seemed to spread along the tunnel, burning, continuously burning… climbing toward him like a living creature along his optic nerve.
(This is wrong… this is wrong…)
By the time he suddenly regained his senses, cold sweat had already soaked his entire body without him noticing. Under that woman's gaze, he felt as if he had turned back into the homeless man huddled in the corner of the park. Even though her infernal flames couldn't burn him, they seemed to be burning away his "God Chosen" shell inch by inch, exposing the ordinary mortal essence underneath…
"Hey hey, what are you shaking for?" Black Sperm's sharp voice suddenly pierced his eardrums. It tilted its head and looked at him curiously. "You didn't wet yourself from fear, did you?"
"What kind of joke is that?" Homeless Emperor forced a smile, trying hard to stay calm. To this day, Black Sperm and the other monsters still didn't know that besides his light sphere ability, he was just an ordinary good-for-nothing person. He had to constantly maintain his image to avoid arousing suspicion.
"I'm just excited… Finally encountering a decent monster outside of Emanators."
"Just decent? Tch, you guy…"
Black Sperm felt some disgust toward Homeless Emperor's pretense. In its view, any one of the guys on the Celestial Screen picked at random would be a Dragon-level or higher monster, the kind that could beat Homeless Emperor senseless. Probably only Orochi in the entire Monster Association could handle them… but even that wasn't certain. But it didn't matter. If he encountered them, he would definitely run away immediately.
If these [Destruction] guys came to Earth, their style of doing things would probably be even more ruthless than the Monster Association. They might even destroy the Association itself while killing and wreaking havoc.
Thinking of this, he suddenly began to hope someone would deal with these guys and prevent them from discovering Earth.
——
["Retreat?"]
[The sound of a cane striking the ground echoed rhythmically in the hall, each step like the lingering chime of a death knell. Duke Inferno Ifrit walked forward leisurely, seemingly dismissive of this serious question.]
["As always, there has never been one. [Destruction] is a magnificent instant. If one despicably seeks survival, this life would be far too long."] ["Enjoy Penacony. Enjoy her invitation."]
[Blazing flames were reflected in the lenses. Countless human figures seemed to wail and cry in agony within the flames, but they were ultimately all swallowed up, leaving not even ashes behind.]
["…Let this beautiful dream prepare itself to welcome its new master from Tepit."]
["[Duke Inferno] Ifrit — Eternal Fire Mansion."]
——
Monogatari Series.
In the room, Koyomi Araragi was lying on the desk, repeatedly thinking about Duke Inferno's words from earlier.
"Enjoy Penacony's invitation…" He scratched his messy hair, nine-tenths or even ten-tenths puzzled. "This doesn't make sense? Penacony should know what Duke Inferno does, right? He's like a terrorist who destroys wherever he goes. Inviting these guys… Did the [Family] people all get their brains caught in a door?"
Shinobu Oshino sat on the bed, a donut in her mouth and cream on the corner of her lips. "It's not hard to understand. In my opinion, there are three possibilities~"
The girl held up three fingers. "First, Penacony is very confident in its own security and the Family's strength. Second, we have underestimated Duke Inferno's strength and his preparations before departure. As for the third…"