Hayate, feeling shaken from witnessing Sachiko firing her gun, wasn't taking any chances.

"[Mana Chains]."

It was a 4th tier spell which costed 8mp per use. This spell was ineffective against player characters but useful when used against monsters.

The spell caused blue chains to materialize and wrapped around its target, rendering them immobile and levitating them three inches off the ground. This prevented them from crawling, ensuring they were completely incapacitated.

The duration of the spell was 10 minutes, which Hayate believed was more than sufficient for his purpose. Even though the humans in front of him were not monsters, his spell would still be effective. Hayate repeated the name of his spell, "[Mana Chains], [Mana Chains], [Mana Chains], [Mana Chains], [Mana Chains], [Mana Chains], [Mana Chains], [Mana Chains]," each casting targeting a different person. With 8 targets and the spell being a single-target only, it was necessary to cast it multiple times.

From Hayate's hands, ten sets of blue chains shot out, each pair wrapping around a member of the team and incapacitating them. Their firearms clattered to the floor as they were rendered immobile by the spell, hanging a few inches off the ground.

After they were all incapacitated, Hayate released a deep sigh, the feeling of relief washing over him, it should be a shame to kill them all without knowing anything so for now he would be neutral.

Hayate then paused, for but a moment. Hayate strolled over to where the fallen weapons had landed on the ground. He knelt down and picked up one of the guns, examining it for a moment.

Hayate knew little when it came to firearms, but the gun he was now holding in his hands appeared to be a rifle of some sort. The design and style were foreign to him, and he found the level of innovation quite impressive.

Hayate swung the gun around. It was as light as a feather. Of course, this was not because the gun was light, but because Hayate was very strong.

Hayate was a mage and his mana was very high, but his physical stats were lower in comparison. Still, the strength he had gained from reaching level one hundred was not an inconsiderable figure. If he encountered weak monsters, he could easily pulverize them with just a clap of his hands.

He was about to fire the gun at the ground when suddenly it slipped around out of his grasp.

It fell on the ground with a loud clatter, causing Hayate to flinch. A few curses slipped from his mouth.

But all and all, he was confused.

He was a mage — specifically, the highest ranked of those magic caster's who were from the demon race and pursued demonic magic — he was a [Vile Omen Sorcerer].

This was the final evolution of the basic [omen] mage class which specialised in demonology — since his race was a higher demon which was the final evolution of the basic demon lineage, both of these fit together well.

And, Since he was a mage, he had been limited to using staffs, gloves, accessories, robes, and other similar items that didn't affect gameplay. Anything designated as a weapon, such as swords, bows, guns, etc was off-limits to him except magic weapons and enchanted weapons and dagger's. Therefore, it made sense that the gun must have been categorized as a weapon, preventing him from using it but he had been able to pick it up, if this was hollow he wouldn't have even been able to do that but he had been able to pick it up regardless of the fact that it had dropped from his hands automatically right after.

His curiosity piqued. Hayate was the type of person who was curious and would not refrain from experimenting, that was the nature of his intelligence. He would experiment until he found the answer or the solution to his questions.

Hayate picked the gun up again, holding it more delicately this time but tighter too.

Despite his best efforts, the gun was just too light and slipped out of his hands. He grumbled in frustration as he watched the gun fall to the ground for a second time. "What is this...?" He muttered, picking it up again, annoyed that he couldn't keep a hold of it for more than a moment each time he tried.

However, within just two seconds, it slipped right out of his grasp again.

Hayate became a little frustrated as he saw the rifle dropping from his hands once more. It seemed that he truly couldn't use the firearm, which was unfortunate.

He then looked at the rest of the people in front of him. He moved his focus towards the man who had previously shouted at the girl.

He scrutinized the man carefully, noticing that his right hand seemed to be a prosthetic or artificial limb. The man looked to be trying to calm himself down, but it was an evident effort in futility. Hayate disrupted the silence and said: "Your time to answer my question is over."

The man's body stiffened at Hayate's declaration, his composure slipping for a moment. He looked at the demon warily, a hint of nervousness flickering in his eyes. He attempted to maintain his cool, but it was apparent that he was on edge and scared. Since, the man remained suspended in place unable to move, trapped by the chains Hayate had cast on him; had he the liberty to do so, he might have been on his knees, grovelling before Hayate, desperate for mercy. However, Hayate didn't particularly like the idea of people grovelling before him.

The man mustered the courage to speak, his voice trembling as he addressed Hayate. "Please forgive us," he began, referring to Sachiko's previous actions, "we're truly sorry for aiming that at you. We're just mercenaries, that's all."

Mercenaries?

Hayate's curiosity peaked at the word 'mercenaries'. He hadn't expected them to be mercenaries. He had assumed they were some sort of law enforcement or private security unit. But Mercenaries? That was an unexpected piece of information.

"who hired you?"

The man swallowed hard, seemingly contemplating his options. He looked at his fellow comrades who were hanging in chains beside him, then his gaze returned to the demon in front of him.

There was a brief pause before he spoke, as if hesitant. "I can't tell you.."

Hayate's expression darkened at the man's answer. He let out a internal sigh, he raised his right hand towards the man. Despite his reservations, he reluctantly decided to use another method to extract information. He looked at the man in front of him and said.

"[Dominate]."

The man tensed up slightly as he felt a sudden pressure settling on his conscience, an invisible force exerting itself. His expression morphed into a grimace, and he tried to resist as if experiencing intense discomfort and then, his eyes went dark.

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"Sorry, I really have no choice."

Hayate said to himself, internally.

"Who is your employer?" He repeated his question once more with a serious tone.

Without any resistance, the man was about to answer when a loud female voice cut him off.

"YOU KILLED HIM!"

As the voice cut through the room, all eyes turned to the source of it. Hayate's gaze shifted to the side, where Sachiko was suspended in chains, her face twisted with anger and frustration. She was clearly enraged, and the sight immediately put Hayate on the defensive.

"I killed him? Huh?"

Hayate didn't know what to say.

Well, it seemed like no one here had seen magic before which further reinforced this was earth (not that he had any more doubts).

Hayate also found the notion utterly absurd.

Hayate had been cautious about using spells that could harm humans, and that was because he himself is a human… or at least he had been until a few hours ago.

Although he was now in a stronger body, he didn't want to bring harm to any of them unless they harmed him first – that would be self defense.

Despite the immense power he now possessed, Hayate was still a human at heart, and the thought of causing harm to fellow humans went against his nature. Even if these people were his enemies, he didn't want to needless cause them pain or suffering.

In addition to not wanting to bring harm to others, Hayate had a second reason for refraining from killing as that could reveal him fully to the government or military.

It wasn't that he was afraid or intimidated, but more that he didn't want to show his cards before he had a better understanding of their strength and capabilities.

Especially now, knowing that World War III had happened, Hayate was cautious about confronting the authorities until he was certain of their strength. Even if Japan had no official army, in the past, he didn't know what the case was now. And, probably even now they most likely have a powerful ally like the United States which meant that there was likely some military presence in the country.

And also there was no need to rush. He had all the resources he needed right in front of him, and no one would be around to interrupt his plans. Unlike before when he had mind-controlled a random civilian in a city like Neo-Tokyo, he currently was in a secluded and empty area, surrounded by the privacy of his own home.

The only reason he had killed that man before was because that man had fired at him first so he could easily make a case for self defence in case he got the ire of their employer.

Sachiko continued. "YOU KILLED KAZU!"

The mention of the man named Kazu caused Hayate to perk up. Sachiko's voice was filled with anger, and her eyes were practically ablaze with rage.

"So this man's name is Kazu.."

He mused to himself before he answered her.

"I didn't kill him, he's.. unconscious."

"Unconscious? BULLSHIT!" Sachiko screamed, the sheer volume of her voice filling the air.

Hayate flinched slightly at her volume, but he regained his composure quickly.

"What's bullshit? He's definitely not dead," he retorted, gesturing at Kazu who was suspended nearby.

He sighed.

He walked over to her, and casted "[dominate]" on her too, rendering her speechless and unconscious. Hayate couldn't help but smile slightly at the momentary respite from her shouts.

With Sachiko now immobilized, he was able to talk to the others without being interrupted. He shifted his attention to them, and as he spoke again, his tone was cold and commanding.

"Anyone else want to act up?"

The remaining men tensely shook their heads, their bodies still trembling from the presence of the demon in front of them.

"Good..." Hayate nodded.

Now that the commotion had died down, he began to speak, turning his attention to Kazu.

"who hired you all and why have you al come here."

"I am Kazu hiroga — the leader of the golden circle which is the name of my mercenary group. We are hired by the an employee of the Kusonoki conglomerate, we are hired to go to Yokohama and kill some specific targets and anyone including civilians who try to stop us. We were going to Yokohama when our truck suddenly got stuck in a massive hole so we were forced to seek shelter until help comes which is an hour later. One of my teammates noticed a heat signature in this building so we came here to for help."

"…How foolish of me."

These mercenaries from just now were wearing suits emblazoned with the insignia of the Special defense forces of japan, so Hayate had been confused for a bit that they were soldier's but now after hearing they were the Kusonoki conglomerate's men it was a bad idea to harm them.

A mistake.

He shouldn't have harmed them, but it was too late for that now.

He would probably receive the ire of the Kusonoki conglomerate if they found out.

As Hayate started at nothing in particular, he thought about what he had to do.

It was dangerous to move around in this world when he did not understand anything about it. Ideally, he should finish gathering information and then begin acting in this world under a false identity. Although, now that he had encountered these people, hiding his identity was impossible.

Even if the mercenaries were exterminated, their employer would unearth the truth. Much like in the previous time where forensic science was well-developed, and now since he was in the future, it would probably be even more developed.

To prevent a leak, he could take them all into his house and keep them under his custody but their employer would not take that lying down, and they might even treat it as a kidnapping.

Therefore, he could maybe introduce himself and let these people go.

There were two reasons for that.

The first reason was that news about Hayate would get around as long as he did not hole up in his house. Therefore, it would be better if he controlled how the information got out.

The second was because he wanted to spread the word that Hayate, of angels of hell, no he would need an alias too, had saved a group of mercenaries from dying. In particular, he wanted to let any Players from Hollow hear about it.

Hayate planned to take up residence somewhere in japan, Korea or china.

If there were other Players in these countries, there should be some trace of them. In contrast, if Hayate used his summons to gather this information, It would not only be troublesome, but very risky. For instance, most of his summons were demons or undead and although he had not fully tested it, it seemed that summons were now acting like they were real people with personalities and based on hollow's lore — demons and undead hated humanoid races, so, giving them the wrong kind of orders would end up making him unnecessary enemies.

Therefore, from an information-gathering point of view, joining one of the countries was a very good idea.

It would also be good to have one of them as backing in order to ensure his autonomy. After all, he could not take these countries lightly while he was not aware of their power. In addition, he could not lower his guard as long as he did not know who the most powerful people were in this new world.

For all Hayate knew, there might be someone stronger than him among these three nations. And even if there wasn't anyone stronger than him, the governments of those three countries surely had powerful weapons.

While there were a lot of drawbacks to becoming part of one of these counties, there were many advantages as well. The question was the capacity in which he would join one of these countries.

He was not interested in being a slave. Neither was he interested in becoming part of a black-hearted enterprise like the one dark-angel (the oldest of his friend) was in. Therefore, he needed to make his existence known to these factions. After having a closer look at their respective situations and how they treated him, he would move toward the most ideal factions.

Hayate was not an idiot.

He was aware the consequences of exposing himself. The worst case scenario was that these factions would try to capture him, imprison him in a lab, and perform tests on him to study his origins and his body. However, Hayate believed that there must be a good-character organization out there as well. If a such an organization existed, then he would join them.

Of course, this wasn't something that would happen until he understood the power composition of this world and how it worked.

Because, if he wasn't careful, he might end up exposing his weakness while being ignorant.

He also had the option of joining an organization that had nothing to do with the three countries. However, such an organization had the greatest chance of being an evil organization given the state of the world since such a group would lack a good structure. Although there was a possibility of them being a resistance force trying to bring down one of the three countries because of the former war (as far as he could guess), it was unlikely.

However, no matter what he did, he would have to take some sort of risk. If he really wanted to establish himself in this new world, then he would have to make bold decisions. It was a rule of nature that nothing was free and the same stood for the actions he would need to take.

"You said an employee of the Kusonoki conglomerate hired you right, who was it?"

Hayate asked Kazu, snapping himself out of his thoughts.

"The man on the far left of the room is employed by the Kusonoki Conglomerated, he's the one who hired us," he informed Hayate.

Hayate turned his attention to the person in question. He was a man in his early to mid 20s, a bit older than Hayate's own age, with short, gelled-black hair and a handsome face. His dark blue suit was well-tailored and his tie was perfectly tied. He looked like an office worker.

Hayate approached the man and stood in front of him. He looked the man up and down, as if he was analyzing each inch of him. The man tried to avoid Hayate's gaze, but given the position he was in, he could not move.

"What is your name?"

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