Late at night on the third floor of Zog’s Toy Store, two humans and two dragons sat huddled around a table, their faces tense.

Soron took a deep breath and reached for the wall of tiles. He skillfully rubbed the face of the tile with his thumb. ’A smooth surface... it’s a White Dragon!’

He was nervous. Furin, the player opposite him, had hardly discarded any honor tiles, playing only middle-numbered ones. ’She must be going for a Thirteen Orphans hand.’

But she had discarded a White Dragon earlier, so she probably didn’t need this one. Besides, he was already waiting on a single tile to win.

’It’s safe!’

Soron steeled himself and discarded the tile. "White Dragon!"

"Mahjong!"

Furin slammed her tiles down, revealing a perfect Thirteen Orphans hand.

"Quick, quick! Put the sticky notes on him!"

All the players at the table already had several white paper strips plastered on their faces. They had the combined age of a small village, yet they were playing like children.

Furin moved to shuffle the tiles for the next round.

"Wait!"

Zog grabbed Furin’s hand. With one of his claws, he pushed over two of the tiles concealed in his hand—two White Dragons.

"There’s one in the discard pile, too. So where did you get this one?"

"Haha," Furin laughed awkwardly.

"What?" Soron immediately snatched the tile. With a casual flick, he dispelled the Illusion Technique covering it, revealing it to be an Eight of Characters.

"Seriously? You’re a full-grown Dragon, and you’re using an Illusion Technique to cheat at mahjong?"

"Oh, alright, fine. I’ll take my punishment," she grumbled. After a few more strips of paper were applied, there was no bare skin left on Furin’s face, just two narrow slits for her eyes to peek through.

Ever since Zog had introduced mahjong, it had swept through the streets and alleys, spreading far faster than the Yo-Yo and captivating everyone from ages ten to eighty.

He had even localized it for promotion. The characters for East, South, West, North, Green Dragon, and the numbered suits were all written in the Kingdom’s standard script. Only the Red Middle tile’s symbol was preserved, which also served as the logo for Zog’s Toy Store.

And so, Zog, whose minions weren’t the sharpest tools in the shed; Furin, who was trying to maintain a cool and aloof image; Soron, who didn’t get along with his colleagues; and Elsa, who was roped in to make a foursome, had formed a regular game.

Lately, they’d been playing mahjong day and night.

Without an automatic mahjong table, they had to shuffle the tiles by hand.

As they were building the tile walls, Xin 104 came in and whispered something in Zog’s ear.

Zog, tiles in hand, gave a few quiet instructions.

The new round began.

Zog glanced at his tiles. He had a hand full of Bamboos forming straights; he was well on his way to a Nine Gates hand.

This was just a friendly game, so why bother with a poker face? Zog’s grin was absolutely wild.

His draws were abnormally lucky, and after just a few turns, he was ready to win.

"Heh heh heh! I’m about to show you all what a real winning hand looks like!"

BANG!

Suddenly, the door to the room was kicked open.

Raghu appeared in the doorway, but he no longer carried the air of a wealthy socialite.

His eyes were blood-red, his face was etched with twisted, bizarre Runes, and he roared in a hoarse voice, "I’ll kill you! I’m going to kill you!"

...

’There was no panic, as he’d expected. In fact, no one was even looking at him. Did that Sub-Dragon just draw another tile?’

"I’m going to kill you!" Raghu whipped out a long, serrated blade and charged straight for Elsa.

But his strike met only empty air. Zog had already snatched Elsa in his mouth and flown out the window.

"Don’t think you can escape!" Raghu leaped out the window after them, blade in hand. His body must have been modified. The fall was high enough to kill three Demon Hunters, yet he landed completely unscathed.

The room fell quiet once more.

Soron was quite displeased. "Did he not recognize who I am?"

"Your face is covered in sticky notes. How the hell is anyone supposed to recognize you?" Furin mocked him mercilessly, conveniently ignoring the fact that she hadn’t been recognized either.

"So what now? We’re short two players." Soron glanced around, his eyes landing on the two goblins standing outside the door. "You two know how to play mahjong?"

「Meanwhile, elsewhere.」

Zog landed in a small, relatively empty plaza, still carrying Elsa in his mouth.

Raghu arrived right behind them. "Nowhere left to run! Did you really think you could steal my Potion Factory? I’m going to toss your corpse into an Alchemy Furnace and let it ferment with the herbal dregs!"

"Excuse me, a slight correction," Elsa said, politely interrupting Raghu’s villain monologue. "First of all, I wasn’t fleeing. It’s just that it would be a hassle to clean up if we made a mess inside. Secondly, I’m not the one who took it from you. He is."

She pointed at Zog. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"You think one Sub-Dragon can protect you? I’ll slice him to pieces, bit by bit, and then I’ll do the same to you!" Raghu roared, gnashing his teeth as he charged.

Elsa sensibly closed her eyes.

’Face reality, you coward!’ Raghu thought. Elsa’s head was as good as his. She was just some kid throwing her weight around because of her powerful backer, someone who had never seen a real, bloody fight.

Suddenly, a red figure flashed before his eyes. He didn’t see it clearly. He only felt a sudden coldness sweep through his body, and then his vision began to fall.

’What happened?’

Raghu couldn’t comprehend what was happening. ’Aren’t I running forward? Why am I not moving? Where are my legs? I can’t feel them...’

The upper half of Raghu’s body slammed onto the ground, a fine mist of blood hanging in the air. His consciousness began to fade.

"Can I open my eyes now?" Elsa asked meekly.

"Hold on a second," Zog said. "It’s been a while since I’ve had a real fight. I didn’t control my strength properly. Went a little overboard."

Zog walked over to Raghu’s bisected body and said with genuine feeling, "Don’t die on me. If you die, who’s going to pay me for damages?"

Raghu couldn’t understand the words. He only heard a dragon roaring, its voice filled with what sounded like deep regret.

Zog noticed the Runes on his face. After a quick look, he dipped the tip of his claw into the blood on the ground and drew an identical Rune.

Instantly, a massive, blood-red gate rose from the ground. It connected to the Hell Plane, and a slender Devil stepped through it.

"Who has summoned the great—"

Raghu, not quite dead yet, let out a hysterical laugh. "Hahaha! Lord Devil has arrived in person! You’re dead—"

However, the scene he imagined—the great Devil striking down the fiendish Sub-Dragon in a single blow—did not happen. Instead, the Devil bowed respectfully.

"If it isn’t Lord Zog! Let me declare up front: my contract with this mortal didn’t specify who he could use my power against, so I bear no responsibility here. If you’re planning on hitting me, I’m just going to leave."

Raghu watched, dumbfounded, as the same Lord Devil who had been so arrogant during the ritual now cowered, one hand shielding his face while the other gripped the edge of the Gate of Hell, ready to leap back through at a moment’s notice.

’Why?’

"I’m not going to hit you. His soul is still yours. Just make sure he survives long enough to stand trial."

"Huh?" Even for a Devil, this request was bizarre. "Lord Zog, have you picked up some kind of niche hobby?"

"No. This guy still has some assets left. I intend to acquire them legally by having the court order him to pay damages for assault. After all, I’m a legitimate business-dragon now."

"Lord Zog, it’s a real shame you won’t come be a Lord in Hell," the Devil said, actually starting to applaud.

Zog beckoned with a claw. A Beastman emerged from the shadows, holding a Ghost Camera.

"Did you get all that on camera?"

"Got it all."

"Good. Edit out the part where I attacked him. Just leave the footage of him charging at us with the knife. Where’s the eyewitness?"

The Beastman brought forward a child dressed in Old Clothes.

"Recite your testimony."

The Beastman translated for the child.

The child showed no stage fright, fluently reciting, "I’m a beggar who hangs around the plaza. I made friends with a weird guy who has a camera for a head, and I sometimes come find him at night to play. Tonight, while we were taking a walk, I heard fighting. It was Raghu attacking a young woman, and my friend’s camera head accidentally recorded what happened."

Raghu heard every word. His mangled body writhed on the ground like a severed worm, unable to vent his fury.

"Good. You’ve got a bright future ahead of you."

He then turned to the Beastman. "Where’s that damaged Secret Silver Armor?"

"Right here."

Zog slipped the armor underneath the outerwear of a still-confused Elsa.

"The Guard Corps is almost here!" came a message from Zor, who was acting as lookout.

"Alright. All non-essential personnel, clear the scene."

Zog then led Elsa to a spot not far from Raghu. As Raghu watched in utter despair, Zog began a performance of ham-fisted, exaggerated acting, pretending to be gravely wounded.

Seeing this, Raghu closed his eyes. The last shred of hope in his heart finally died.