Atsuku sat on the terrace in the backyard near his room after the party. His eyes were closed. He concentrated on stabilizing the Arcane around the Core near his heart.
Previously, he had no time to spare because he needed to take care of Eve. Thankfully, he had no troublesome negative effects like Rio. So he could take it easy and only stabilize it now.
As for Yamada, he already stabilized his core by using the technique written in Atsuku's novel and Gaia's help on the first night after he assimilated with Abaddon. Currently, he taught Rio how to stabilize her Arcane in her room. Gaia was also there to help them.
Feeling the warm Arcane settle down near his Core, Atsuku opened his eyes, which turned to dark yellow after the light dimmed, and exhaled slowly.
"Fuu… It's finally done. The negative effect of assimilating with Iblis will be reduced considerably now."
The sun began its slow descent beyond the distant horizon, casting a warm, golden hue across the vast expanse of the Japanese landscape, a traditional mansion nestled atop a gentle hill bore witness to the breathtaking spectacle.
A gentle breeze, carrying the scent of cherry blossoms and freshly mowed grass, caressed Atsuku's cheek. The area around Fujiwara house was unexpectedly calm even though a big catastrophic incident happened last night.
Even the news was still talking about the crack and the countdown floating in the sky. Even right now, the countdown had yet to disappear, although it would soon if it still worked similarly to back in Fantasia.
"Just a few hours before it disappeared," Atsuku muttered as he stood up. The Japanese Yukata he wore moved slightly as he crossed his arms.
There was one urgent thing he needed to do, so he returned to his room. He passed by some people who greeted him with a bow and returned a slight nod to return the respect they showed him.
When he reached the hallway where his room was located, he found Masa standing in front of his room.
The scary-looking man bowed deeply when he noticed Atsuku, "Young Boss. Have you called for me?"
"Yeah, let's talk inside my room."
Raising his head, Masa answered. "Certainly."
Both of them entered Atsuku's room, and Masa stood near the sliding door, his hands behind him. As for Atsuku, he sat on a cushion behind the round table and looked at Masa.
"I have an order for you." He said authoritatively at Masa, pausing to see his reaction.
The man didn't say anything and only looked at Atsuku with silent agreement.
"I will take your silence as you're willing to," Atsuku said, putting his elbow against the table and resting his head on his hand. "This will not be too hard at all. I want you to teach our men who assimilated with Devils how to stabilize their Arcane. You know how to do it, right?"
"I know, Young Boss." Masa nodded firmly and fixed his sunglasses, "Young Miss made a document explaining the basics we need to know last night and informed our loyal men through group chat. That's why we could move fast and take all the Devils that appeared in our area."
"Is that so?"
Atsuku was pleasantly surprised by that information. His step-older sister, Fujiwara Misaki, moved quickly even though she was the laziest girl he had ever known.
'Did she change after I left for a year?' He mused in his mind.
If Misaki became active and wasn't as lazy as he remembered, she would be a great help to him in the future. An additional strength was always welcomed, especially those who could be trusted.
"If that's done, then let's move to another one," Atsuku said, his tone lighter than before. It carried a hint of amusement and seriousness. "How many bookstores sell my novel in Shibuya?"
"I am sorry, Young Boss. But we have no idea about it." Masa replied, looking down with guilt.
"It's not a problem at all. I just asked about it." Atsuku shook his head, reassuring the man.
"More importantly, take a few men to buy my novels from every bookstore. If the owner doesn't want to sell it or wants to sell it at a higher price, then just burn them. Remember, only burn the store when they refuse.
"Also, if you find my novel, no matter which volume it is, burn them immediately."
Destroying all books in circulation was impossible. Even Atsuku knew about that, so he only gave Masa a reasonable order. Besides…
'Although my novels have many holes and information different from that I obtained from Fantasia directly, it still holds considerable information, including some nasty rituals. I don't want more people to get ahold of the information if possible. '
Knowing the information Misaki sent and the problem with his Young Boss novel, Masa nodded decisively.
"I understand."
As a Yakuza, Masa's hand was already dirty. So he didn't even hesitate to follow Atsuku's order which was borderline a crime in modern society. And he was ordered by the current leader, Lady Kiyo, to follow Atsuku's order seriously. So he would spare no effort to finish it.
"Go. I want the bookstores in Shibuya to be cleared tomorrow since the city is still in a panic. I will take care of my own end and write the important information only I know tonight. Don't worry. Those Devils will go into hiding and won't do any pranks for a few days. So the only danger in the city is other humans."
"Yes." Masa bowed deeply, and then he left the room.
After watching the man closing the paper sliding door, Atsuku stood up and walked to his computer. He booted it up and saw the familiar logo as his computer turned on.
"Oh! It's working." He exclaimed happily, "If this can't turn on, then I will have a problem. Doing what I planned on my phone isn't exactly ideal and takes too much time."
When the computer fully booted up, Atsuku couldn't help but smile wryly at the wallpaper that was set on it.
It was a long black-haired pretty girl's face with her tongue stuck out, edited with words written 'fuck you' in black color. Her hand pulled the skin under her black eye down while the other held her hips. She was wearing casual clothes with black and white color.
The girl in the picture was Atsuku's older step-sister, Fujiwara Misaki, a 19-year-old.
"She doesn't change at all," Atsuku muttered as he smiled happily, watching his sister's silly face as he was drowned in memories.
At that moment, his expression hardened as he also remembered the first year he was in Fantasia. Somehow, he missed his sister the most; her silly personality from his memories helped him through some hard times.
"It's not time to get lost in the past. I have work to do."
Saying so, he opened the browser and typed the page where he uploaded the web novel version of both his Miracle Hero's Adventure and The Depraved Hero. He quickly logged into his account.
When he did that, he saw that his personal inbox and even the comment section were filled with angry people. Some were asking for an explanation, while others blamed him for the catastrophe, saying he invited them.
"They're not wrong." He muttered in amusement, considering that he was the one who resumed the countdown in Fantasia by transmigrating there.
But fuck them. Who were they blaming him for something he couldn't control? If possible, Atsuku would choose to stay in this world without going to Fantasia and suffering.
If only the past could be changed... Unfortunately, it couldn't. And he had suffered enough to even care about strangers.
"Yeah, fuck them." He grinned as he went to his profile and deleted both web novels.
Due to the website's policy, all data and caches when deleting works would be permanently deleted. It was gone forever.
"No free information for them. I planned to think twice before deleting my works because it could help Earth clear the trials, but it seems those ungrateful motherfuckers don't need me after all. Let's see if they can survive without relying on the basic information written in my novel."
He leaned back on his reclining chair and closed his eyes. Somehow, he felt satisfied after deleting his works and made those who blamed him suffer from the lack of information. He doubted they even read his novels and only heard about them from other people.