Dominion Bond System: The Only Man Left Has A Yandere Girlfriend

Chapter 60: The Calm Before The Storm

Morning light slipped through the curtains like a quiet blade, painting the room in soft gold.

Reiji returned through the window without making a sound.

[Shadow Step.]

The world outside barely reacted, as if nothing had happened at all.

Inside the room, Vel was still asleep.

Curled up on the bed like nothing in the world could disturb him.

Reiji paused for a moment, watching him.

Vel breathing was steady, calm, almost peaceful in a way that didn’t match the chaos of the night he had just survived.

"My Lord... meow"

Vel murmured softly in his sleep, shifting slightly under the blanket.

Reiji’s eyes narrowed a little as he muttered under his breath, "This damn goblin spoke again..."

He just let out a sigh. He just prayed Vel could stop sleeping talking as it would be troublesome if Hina woke up and heard the cat talking.

Who wouldn’t be terrified?

Reiji removed the bloodstained hoodie and immediately stored it inside his inventory, making sure there wasn’t even a trace left behind.

Then, without ceremony, he dropped himself onto the bed.

The exhaustion hit him all at once.

His body felt heavier than stone. Though he didn’t do much but using Shadow Step and Rupture consistently wore him out.

"...Just five minutes," he muttered, already half sinking into sleep.

Ding!

The moment his eyes tried to close, notifications returned like a flood breaking a dam.

Reiji’s eyelids twitched as he forced them open again.

"...you’ve got to be kidding me."

Ding!

[Skill: Shadow Step has met the required conditions and leveled up to LV5!]

[Skill: Rupture has met the required conditions and leveled up to LV3!]

He opened his status screen.

Ding!

_____

[Status]

[Host: Kurosawa Reiji] – [LV9]

[Class: None]

[Skills: Active] – [Charm (F), Water Jet (E), Soul Torture Flame (E) (LV2), Swift Arousal (F), Sword Dancer (E) (LV4), Wind Cutter (D), Strength Of The Overlord (D), Mana Manipulation (E) (LV1), Shadow Step (D), Demonic Essence (D), A Thousand Slashes In One (D++), Forbidden Arts (5) (D+++), Rupture (D)]

[Skills: Passive] – [Detect Presence (D)]

___

[EXP: 678/200] [BP: 48/100]

[Health: 100] [Mana: 5] [Fatigue: 65]

___

[STRENGTH: 144] (Important for the accumulation of bond points through affection. Who doesn’t love a strong, thick man? Currently at solid ’Jacked Handsome Protagonist Who Can Suplex a Truck’ stage. Still a long way from true Overlord physique though – keep grinding, champ!)

[SPEED: 130]

[STAMINA: 143]

[PERCEPTION: 50]

[INTELLIGENCE: 50]

[AESTHETICS: 33] (Also vital for the accumulation of bond points. Handsome.)

[Free Stats: 50]

___

[Items / Equipment] – [Mana Suppression Weights (Intermediate)] [Knight Sword] [Soul Torture Blade (Broken) (D+)] [Undead King’s Bone Armor] [Undead King’s Bone Sword] [Devil’s Ring (D)] [Spatial Ring (D)] [Broken Bow (F)] [Large quantity of Anderite Stones(+999)] [Undead King’s Journal] ["Piercing Needles Swallowing Sun" skill book] [Magic Skill Books] [2 Dungeon Cores] [1 Monster Core] [Oversized Hoodie] [Mask]

_____

Reiji exhaled slowly through his nose. So it was exactly where he expected. EXP was rising fast, but Bond Points were still painfully low. And without Bond Points reaching the quota...

No level increase.

"...So I’m still stuck."

He clicked his tongue lightly. It wasn’t frustration exactly.

More like calculation.

He leaned back again, staring at the ceiling while thinking.

Bond Points weren’t just gained from killing monsters.

They were tied to interaction, emotional connection, intimate bonds with bonded partner. Which meant tonight’s grind had done almost nothing for that aspect.

Hina was around which means less interaction and emotional connection.

He let out a quiet sigh as he turned his attention to the inventory.

The two Dungeon Cores and the Monster Core floated inside his system space like suspended stars.

Reiji pulled one out.

It landed softly on his palm. It was warm to the touch.

He narrowed his eyes and activated Mana Manipulation.

Mana spread from his senses into the crystal, but what he saw was only layered structure upon structure of compressed energy.

Not information, just structure.

Reiji frowned slightly. "...So it really is just a container of energy."

He shifted to the Monster Core next.

The blue crystal felt denser, heavier somehow.

More refined. But the result was the same. No reaction beyond mana absorption. No system explanation either.

"This thing is definitely hiding something."

He paused for a moment before speaking out loud.

"System."

[...]

Reiji’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"...You’re getting more annoying."

No response came.

As expected.

After a moment, he stored the cores back into his inventory and lay down again.

Sleep was the priority now.

***

Military Headquarters.

The atmosphere was anything but calm.

"What do you mean eleven Gates were cleared without authorization?"

The voice echoed through the command room.

Analysts were gathered around a massive tactical display showing multiple red zones that had suddenly turned green overnight.

One of them adjusted her glasses nervously as she spoke, "Confirmed... seven F-Rank Gates and four E-Rank Gates were completely cleared."

A heavy silence followed immediately.

Then someone else added, "No Awakened registration logs match any entry into those Gates."

Another voice cut in quickly, "That’s impossible. Gates don’t just clear themselves."

"They don’t," the analyst replied quietly.

That statement alone made the room colder.

Another officer stepped forward, pointing at the data screen, "What about dungeon cleanup teams that collect the cores? Any late entries?"

"None," came the answer again.

Silence stretched again.

Then a report was projected onto the central screen.

Images loaded.

Blood-stained dungeon floors. Scattered weapons. Walls cracked from impact.

But almost no bodies.

One analyst zoomed in on a section of the report, hesitating before speaking.

"...It looks like the monsters didn’t die normally."

A captain standing near the back finally stepped forward.

Captain Morgan.

Her presence immediately shifted the room’s tone.

She looked at the screen without speaking for a moment, then asked calmly, "Explain what you mean by ’not normally.’"

The analyst swallowed slightly before replying, "There are almost no intact corpses. It’s as if... the monsters’ bodies were destroyed at the moment of death."

Another officer frowned, "Explosion-type skill?"

Morgan didn’t respond immediately.

Her golden eyes narrowed slightly as she studied the data.

Seven F-Rank Gates and four E-Rank Gates had morphed and was leared in a single night.

No entry records, no witnesses, no identity trail.

Finally, she spoke. "Summarize all possibilities."

The analysts quickly responded one after another. "A hidden high-tier Awakened operating off-record."

"A rogue guild running unsanctioned Gate clears."

"A vigilante-type individual targeting dungeons."

"A new dungeon phenomenon we don’t yet understand."

Morgan stayed silent for a moment longer, then turned slightly away from the screen. "...Or someone who doesn’t want to be found at all."

The room went quiet again.

Because everyone understood what that implied. Whoever did this wasn’t just strong.

They were careful, extremely careful.

And that made them far more dangerous than anything predictable.

Morgan’s voice broke the silence again, calm but firm. "Increase surveillance on all active Gates."

"If they appear again..." she paused slightly. "...we will be ready."

The room immediately responded in unison.

"Yes, Captain."

But as the reports continued to flood in, one thought lingered in everyone’s mind.

Something had started moving in the darkness. And nobody knew what it was yet.