A long, tense standoff continued as both Eight and the Spirit scrutinized one another. Time, the measure of which was unclear, passed agonizingly slowly—until the Spirit finally broke the silence.

─So, you’ve come with a request for me?

The Spirit regarded Eight as though he were a mere insect, completely insignificant. Seeing this, Eight hesitated momentarily before flashing a wide, amicable smile and humbling himself with exaggerated politeness.

“It is an honor to meet you, Spirit. I have heard much of your greatness.”
─You’ve heard of me?
“Yes! They say you are a miraculous being who turns impossibilities into possibilities. And just by looking at you, I can already tell those words are no exaggeration.”
─Hmph, you seem to know your place.
“Seeing you with my own eyes, I feel unworthy to make a request… truly, I’m at a loss.”

Hearing his words, the Spirit flicked its long tail and spoke.

─No need to fret. You have my permission. What is it that you wish for? Whatever it is, I shall grant it.
“How could I possibly…?”
─Don’t make me repeat myself.
“In that case, with all due respect…”

As Eight voiced a fabricated wish, he came to a realization—the Spirit was unaware of his true identity. Of course, it didn’t know he was affiliated with Evilus Corporation or that someone from Evilus had been toying with the Spirit.

The pale serpent-like figure before him had no means of uncovering such details.

Eight cast another sidelong glance at the Spirit—a being whose entire form was that of an enormous, ghostly white snake.

‘The most this thing could possibly know is that someone within Evilus is capable of defending against its powers and counterattacking.’

Moreover, his meeting with Riu Spirit had been a sudden and unplanned encounter. There were no signs that she had reached out to the Spirit beforehand.

In other words, the Spirit didn’t even know Eight was connected to Evilus. Of course, if it ever found out, who could say what actions it might take…

Subtly…

Eight shifted his gaze to Riu Spirit. She appeared visibly uneasy, fidgeting nervously.

‘There’s no way she’d spill the beans.’

Her company was already teetering from the counterattacks it had suffered. Would she really jeopardize a potential financial savior by exposing the truth? No matter how capable she might be, someone so short-sighted could never build a successful corporation.

Eight was confident that, for all her current anxiety, Riu Spirit wasn’t that foolish.

“…That is my wish,” he concluded.
─Quite a challenging request. It is not impossible, however. Offer me a sacrifice.
“Thank you, Spirit.”

As the Spirit demanded its offering, the conversation came to an end. Watching it, Eight offered a faint smile.

“I have no doubt it will succeed. I shall return to pay my respects to you again in the future.”
─How delightful. It’s been a while since such a charming human visited me.

Of course, the truth was plain.

Eight had no intention of doing anything beneficial for them.

With a bow to the Spirit, he left the building.

‘What was that? They won’t take payment if it doesn’t work?’

Up until now, their so-called invincible shield had likely remained unbroken.

But not anymore.

Beep!

[─Executing Operation: ‘Lehman Brothers.’]

Issuing the command to the AI, Eight left with a bright smile, heading back to E City.

++++

"Yes…!"

Riu Spirit clenched her fists and struck a victory pose after successfully securing a piece of the $10 billion investment. With this, she could finally ease the severe financial bottleneck strangling her company.

Of course, that was assuming the investment would succeed. But knowing the Spirit's power, Riu Spirit was absolutely, positively certain that failure was impossible.

‘Things have been strange lately, but doubting the Spirit’s power is unnecessary...’

Reassured, she began calculating how much seed money she could scrape together from her company. There were countless expenses demanding her attention—constructing a new secret research lab, bribing the press into silence—but somehow, she managed to gather enough to invest a reasonable amount.

She funneled the money into the same venture Eight had mentioned. This was actually the third secret business project of her company, something she hadn't even informed Eight about.

After all, the success of the investment was a foregone conclusion. What harm could there be in adding a little of their own capital to make some extra profit? It wasn’t as if they were sabotaging the project—they were only helping ensure its success.

‘The timing couldn’t have been better.’

Riu Spirit poured not only the company’s funds but also her personal savings into the investment, hoping to make some pocket money for herself. Compared to the company’s capital, her contribution was a drop in the bucket, small enough to go unnoticed.

Chuckling to herself, Riu quickly wiped away her smile and returned to work. Naturally, Eight was still attacking S City and the Spiritual Center, leaving her scrambling to manage the chaos.

It was only natural that she completely forgot about the investment.

─Why hasn’t that adorable human come back yet?
“Pardon?”
─The male who requested an investment. He said he’d return once it succeeded—don’t tell me he lied to me?

Hearing the Spirit’s words, Riu Spirit finally remembered the investment and told the Spirit she’d look into it before cautiously leaving the altar room.

One minute of searching the internet later, Riu Spirit let out a shrill scream.

“What… what is this!?”
“P-President!? Is something wrong!?”

Employees outside her office burst in, startled by her outburst. Panicked, Riu Spirit quickly waved them off, claiming she’d just been frightened by a bug. It was a flimsy excuse, but they accepted it and left.

Unfortunately, this incident would tarnish her charismatic image, creating the impression that the fearsome president was secretly terrified of insects. But she didn’t have time to care about that now.

“This… this can’t be real…”

The investments Eight had promised. The stocks she had poured her company’s funds—and her personal savings—into…

Had all plummeted, breaking through their lower limits.

“A crash? A crash!? Why is everything blue? Huh? Am I colorblind all of a sudden…?”

When faced with incomprehensible events, people are easily shaken. Trembling, Riu Spirit picked up the phone and called the number on the business card Eight had given her—the one for Laémon.

The call connected after a few moments.

[Ah, President Riu?]
“You—you! What did you do!? What did you do!?”
[What do you mean?]
“How could you do this!? Every investment failed—every single one!”
[Ah, that?]

Eight let out a dry chuckle before replying in a calm, almost mocking tone.

[I should be the one asking. Did you pray properly?]
“W-what?”
[You assured me failure was impossible. I trusted your words and didn’t worry much. So what’s going on now?]

Eight’s voice was so tranquil it was almost infuriating. It was hard to believe he had just supposedly lost billions. Compared to him, Riu Spirit—who had lost far less—was on the verge of breaking down.

At that moment, Riu Spirit instinctively realized something: this man hadn’t lost a cent.

“You… you! You conned me! You scammed me!”
[Conned you? What are you talking about?]
“You knew the investments would fail! Didn’t you!?”
[What nonsense. Isn’t the Spirit supposed to be capable of anything? If that weren’t true, why would anyone pay you such exorbitant fees?]
“You… you found a way to escape the Spirit’s power, didn’t you!?”

At her accusation, Eight couldn’t hold back his laughter.

[And if I did? What are you going to do about it?]
“...Give it back. Give me my money back.”
[Give it back? Wait, don’t tell me you followed my investment moves yourself? My goodness. That’s highly unethical, isn’t it? Imagine what people would say if they found out.]
“Give it back, now!”
[Investments are always a personal decision, aren’t they? Anyway, I have more important matters to attend to. Goodbye.]

Click.

The line went dead, leaving Riu Spirit shaking with rage. She stormed up to the Spirit and reported that the man who had visited before had deceived them, never actually invested, and had mocked both her and the Spirit over the phone.

The Spirit sighed deeply and spoke.

─Such a charming human he was…

Clicking its tongue, the Spirit closed its eyes. But then it paused, realizing something was off—its powers weren’t working.

This sensation… it was all too familiar.

Yes. It was the same feeling it had experienced when it attacked Evilus—the presence of that enigmatic being who reflected and countered its powers.

Finally piecing everything together, the Spirit trembled with fury.

─…That wretched creature dared mock me…

Moments later, the Spirit let out a deafening roar.

But—nothing happened.