A deal.

Now on her knees, Radia coughed for a while, her legs still trembling from what Damien had done to her earlier.

To think she was that fragile.

While she knew she had never been with any man before, she never in her wildest dreams thought it would be this easy for one to set her off.

If she hadn't stopped him when she did, no doubt she would have come.

The humiliation of knowing that threatened to swallow her whole.

Of course, Damien didn't care.

His main reason for doing it in the first place was to get her like this; her breaking down before he even got to do anything was a win in his books.

Though one had to admit, it was quite a shame.

"Word of advice: you should stop flirting if you can't last for more than two minutes."

Hearing Damien say that made Radia raise her head, a frown etched on her face.

"W-hat?! That's ridiculous. I can last more than two minutes; I was just caught unaware."

Damien sighed, almost out of pity.

"When do I get my badge and territory?"

As if reddening, Radia glanced to the side. "You may not need to enter the academy for learning, but you still need to register as a student to be a fully recorded soldier of this city."

"How long will that take?"

"Three years, I guess, shorter than the others, spending five years."

"That won't be possible," Damien clapped back.

"You don't exactly have a choice; the organization can't have us putting unlicensed soldiers on the front line."

'The organization—by that, she's talking about the Med, the people in charge of supervising all other headquarters within Veltox City. They were so irrelevant in the game that I barely took note of them,' Damien thought, tucking his hands, his cold gaze still dawdling on Radia.

"You, of all people, know how close this city is to plunging. Once our sector falls, the other sectors within the city will be open to Raptor attacks. As of this moment, the Nox headquarters is the only one doing a horrible job of keeping this place safe."

Radia merely snorted a bit; she couldn't deny it. It was a plain fact.

"You said it yourself: Aria has refused to give up the headquarters to anyone else. Even the organization can't do anything about it; a lieutenant is the only one capable of stepping down from power of their own accord."

"How do you know all this?"

"My point is, Aria is stubborn, so you can count on this sector not changing anytime soon. We don't have three years to waste on something so trivial. Getting a license is easy if we have someone attend those three years in my stead, using my identity."

A smile almost started on Radia's face.

"I see where you're going with this."

"Good, so I don't need to explain myself too much. While my substitute is at the military school for the license, I'll be working on my base."

Radia stood up from the ground, her breasts practically spilling out of her unbuttoned shirt.

"It's quite risky, though. If we get caught, we'll be locked in jail forever."

"That won't happen."

"You sound confident."

"Because I know how smart you are. There's nothing I need to worry about."

For a second, Radia blushed. After realizing it, she shook her head to ward off the thoughts.

There was no doubt she was getting attached to Damien, and quite frankly, she hadn't stopped thinking about how he touched her.

But for some reason, taunting him about it was much harder than it needed to be for her.

"Hmph. Your compliment will be accepted after you take responsibility for what you did to me today." She began buttoning her shirt, and just before she opened the door, she looked at Damien with a shy expression.

"You—you better do it to me again."

And with that, she was gone.

Damien's eyes lingered on the door for a while.

'Was I that good for a first time? Huh… what do you know?'

Somehow, a proud smile found its way onto Damien's face.

…

A couple of hours later, Radia managed to persuade Aria; in truth, all they did was have Damien whip Aria into allowing them to carry out their plan.

It took quite a lengthy time, but she came around eventually, like the masochist she was.

The next day, Damien and Radia were headed to the academy—or rather, to meet with the principal commander.

To get there, Radia had Damien ride with her in her car.

It was more of a jeep with a few modifications needed; however, compared to the other cars Damien saw on the road, it was still manageable.

The city of Veltox was no different from what Damien was used to in his former world.

Its skyline of sleek, angular skyscrapers—studded with dim, translucent panels—glowed faintly at dusk. Blank, rusted billboards loomed over cracked roads, where synthetic moss glinted under flickering streetlights.

Drones hummed softly above desolate streets, weaving past minimalist towers frozen in a half-finished future. The air buzzed with a faint electric charge, whispering of a small city caught in time.

But even with the beauty that washed over the city, the emptiness that followed was not something that could be replaced or easily fixed.

As the wind frittered against his face, Damien uttered,

"People have begun moving to other sectors. That's quick."

With her eyes still on the road and arms on the steering wheel, Radia responded,

"How do you know so much about this city if you've never been here?"

"I read the article on your desk."

That was a blatant lie.

Radia giggled a bit.

"Yeah, people are moving, alright, darling. You'd do the same if you were in their shoes. They're afraid the Raptors will penetrate the city soon; signs are showing that they will."

Damien looked at her. "Running deeper into other sectors won't save them. It's pointless unless the other sectors decide to block off this sector and become independent."

Radia was silent for a while.

"I never thought of that."