My Scumbag System Chapter 455: The Siren, The Stray Dog, and a Very Public Kiss

Her puppet mirrored her every motion.

She aimed at the left head.

The marionette struck with a fist.

The impact hit with shocking power.

The head whipped backward.

Lightning raced over its scales, sparking through armor cracks.

Ozone and scorched flesh scent thickened the air.

I targeted the bare neck.

Sever it first. Then Ember.

Slice and sear.

The left head tumbled free.

Two heads down.

The right head lunged into action.

Ice gathered in its maw.

Target locked on Reyna.

She held her ground.

Just smirked.

"That’s adorable."

She lifted her free hand.

A second marionette took shape.

This one blocked the ice blast head-on, absorbing the full force.

The puppet crumbled apart.

But it granted her moments.

Moments for me to rush in.

I smashed the bat into the base of the right head’s skull.

Heat flooded the metal.

The beast’s brain boiled from within.

The head slackened.

I cut it loose.

Seared the stump.

Three heads claimed.

The Hydra crumpled sideways, headless and convulsing.

Dark blood spread under its enormous bulk.

"Is it dead?" Celeste asked, edging closer with caution.

"Only one way to find out."

I scaled the creature’s chest.

Positioned right over the bared core.

It throbbed with shadow. With craving. With an essence ancient beyond the Gates.

"Everyone back!"

Natalia snatched Celeste and hauled her twenty feet distant.

Reyna vaulted onto a nearby car, eyeing it all with her hunter’s green stare.

I lifted the bat high above.

Two-handed hold.

Every bit of power from my A-Rank stats unleashed.

Spatial Cleave and Ember raging, draining my stamina.

"Sleep tight."

I slammed it down.

The bat tore through crystal scales, through meat, through the core’s casing.

Collision.

The core burst apart.

Detonated in a surge of raw black energy that flung me from the carcass.

I crashed to the ground.

Rolled three times until friction halted me.

Tasted blood once more.

Yet the Hydra dissolved away.

Its form became ash. Smoke. Nothingness.

The ash dispersed on an unnatural underground gust.

The Gate shimmered.

Started contracting.

"Clear!" a voice called from the perimeter.

The VHC Hunters lowered their guns.

Medical teams surged forward.

I lay flat on my back, gazing upward.

Drained dry.

Bleeding out.

Still breathing.

Reyna’s face hovered over mine, shading the sun.

"Not bad for a Stray Dog."

"Not bad yourself, Siren."

"I hate that nickname."

"Join the club."

She reached out her hand.

I clasped it.

She yanked me to my feet with startling might for her frame.

"Your teammates are intense," she commented, nodding at Natalia and Celeste. "The purple-haired one looked ready to freeze the entire plaza when that thing went for you."

"That’s just her face."

"Liar."

I shrugged.

Natalia crossed the plaza, scanning me for wounds with sharp focus.

"Ribs?"

"Fine."

"You’re bleeding."

"Also fine."

"Satori."

"I’m standing. That’s better than the alternative."

She seized my face in both hands.

Forced my gaze to hers.

"You scared me."

"I know."

"Don’t do it again."

"Can’t promise that."

Her jaw locked tight.

But she kissed me regardless.

Fierce and swift and claiming.

Right in view of everyone.

As she drew back, her cheeks burned red.

Not from the fight.

From the Nectar crackling between us like live current.

Reyna’s brows arched high.

"So that’s how it is."

Natalia whirled, frost icing her fingers.

"Problem?"

"Not at all." Reyna’s smile cut sharp. "Just making observations. For science."

"Observe somewhere else."

"Possessive."

"You have no idea."

Celeste stepped up, glancing between Natalia and Reyna like plotting blast zones.

"We should probably move," Celeste said. "Before the press arrives."

Too late.

Camera drones swarmed overhead.

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

Seventeen notifications.

All from people I barely knew.

Most of them asking if I was single.

I showed Natalia.

She deleted three of them before I could stop her.

"Hey!"

"My finger slipped."

"Seventeen times?"

"I’m clumsy today."

Reyna laughed.

Actually laughed.

Not the icy, staged laugh from her interviews.

Something real.

"I like her," Reyna said, pointing at Natalia. "She’s got bite."

"She’s got everything," I muttered.

Natalia’s expression eased.

Just a touch.

Enough for me to see.

Graves walked up with a tablet and a grimace.

"Preliminary damage report. Three city blocks. Estimated cost: forty million credits. Civilian casualties: seven confirmed. Injuries: twenty-three."

"Could’ve been worse," I remarked.

"Could’ve been better if someone had followed orders and engaged defensively instead of charging a goddamn A-Rank Hydra with a baseball bat."

"It worked."

"That’s not the point."

"Feels like the point."

She let out a sigh.

She massaged her temples, as if my nearness alone sparked a fierce headache.

"President Vance wants a debrief. Tomorrow. 0800. Don’t be late."

"Will there be coffee?"

"There will be consequences if you don’t show."

"Coffee would be nice though."

Muttering about early retirement, she strode off.

Reyna matched my pace as we moved toward the evacuation spot.

"So. Satori Nakano. The Stray Dog who keeps surviving impossible situations."

"That’s me."

"I’ve been watching you."

"Creepy."

"Strategic." Her emerald eyes shifted my way. "You’re not what you pretend to be."

"Nobody is."

"True." She halted her steps. Faced me squarely. "But you’re worse. You’re actually good at it."

"At what?"

"Playing weak. Letting people underestimate you. Then ripping their throats out when they get comfortable."

I locked eyes with her.

Held the stare.

"You’re projecting."

"Maybe." Her smile bared teeth. "Or maybe I recognize the same game I play. Just different rules."

"What do you want, Cabana?"

"To see what you’re really made of. Away from the cameras. Away from your little court." She nodded toward Natalia and Celeste, under medic care. "One on one. No bullshit."

A System notification chimed.

[QUEST ALERT: THE SIREN’S DISCORD]

[The Crimson Comet has issued her challenge. Your response will set the tone for everything that follows.]

I weighed my choices.

Reyna carried dangers Julian could never match.

She boasted S-Rank potential. Professional support. That rare combat instinct no training could instill.

A bout with her would turn into a brutal ordeal.

Yet dodging her spelled even greater trouble.

"Name the time and place."

"Three days. Crucible Arena. After hours." Her grin stretched wider. "Just us. And maybe a few witnesses to make it interesting."

"Looking forward to it."

"Liar."

"Absolutely."

She burst into laughter once more.

Then she pivoted and departed, her crimson hair flaring in the morning sun like a danger signal.

Natalia materialized beside me right away.

"What did she want?"

"To fight me."

"Of course she did." Natalia gripped my elbow briefly. "And you said yes."

"Had to."

"I know." Her purple gaze followed Reyna’s exit. "But I don’t like it."

"Add it to the list."

"The list is getting long."

"Welcome to my life."

She rested against me.

For just a moment.

A rare glimpse of softness amid the chaos of destruction.

Then she pulled upright, her composed facade restored.

"Let’s go home," she said.

"Yeah."