Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

"You are finally back," Makary was the first one to speak out upon my return. "How did it go? Judging by how Fay didn't freak out…"

I raised my face and looked at the man only to roll my eyes and sit back in Leon's limousine comfortable seat.

"What was this all about to begin with?" Leon asked, equally as curious as Makary.

And out of everyone in the car, save for the driver and the gunner in the limousine's front seats, only Fay understood the assignment.

She didn't ask anything, leaving any sort of talk for later. Instead, she simply snuggled up to my side and grabbed my right hand between her palms before squeezing herself against my shoulder.

"Earth to Peter, hello?" Makary spoke out again, pretty much pressed for answers.

And in all honesty, I couldn't really blame him. After the show I gave when I decided to deal with Irene once and for all, he was bound to expect at least half of the city to go up in flames.

And I couldn't blame him for it either. After all, I was the one asking him to turn this entire area into a burning ruin the very moment Fay would give him a signal.

But now, here I was, sitting with Fay cuddling up to my side, saying absolutely nothing.

"He is alright," once again understanding the assignment, Fay spoke out for me while, at the same time, giving both Makary and Leon a hateful stare. "Everything worked out just fine, so can you drop this topic for now?"

Makary squinted his eyes and challenged Fay to the battle of wits… in the form of simply staring back into her eyes to see who would be the first to look away.

And to the man's surprise, Fay… simply refused to pick up the glove, rolling her eyes in response before turning her head back towards me and joining me in my silence.

"So you really won't talk, huh?" Makary muttered, clearly angered by my refusal to speak up.

"Haaa…" Annoyed by all the pressure the man was putting on me, I raised my eyes and looked him directly in the face.

"Would you rather have me give Fay the signal and pretty much bury this entire city?" I asked, angry at how Makary's needless meddling stopped me from thinking about the words Irene left me with.

"Wait, was it that bad?!"

As if my earlier requests to be ready to open fire in the middle of the town weren't grave enough, Makary finally started to acknowledge just how grave the situation was.

"It could be if the girl I've met with had any desire for things to turn bloody. And to paint the picture just for you…" I took a momentary pause, trying to figure out what was the best way for me to explain the extent of Irene's powers… Or rather, to imply the extent of her powers that I was able to perceive.

"Did you watch the recordings of how Etaria managed to avoid the constant fire of the gunships back in the forest?" I asked, paying no mind to how this question alone revealed quite some news to Leon, news he had no means of knowing of before that.

Makary pressed his lips together and threw me an annoyed stare… In the end, though, he nodded his head.

"Then imagine someone easily capable of taking on a hundred people on that level while sitting down in a cafe and leisurely sipping coffee. Imagine…"

I gritted my teeth and looked over at Leon, taking a moment to consider my options…

Only to find one of the many dark spots within the car and infuse it with my aura, bringing forth a tangible, elemental aura in the form of a simple spike.

"WHAT THE…"

Both Makary and Leon jumped as far back as they could within the confines of the car, startled by the sudden appearance of a physical object that had no right to be in the car.

"Right now, I could massacre everyone within this convoy without lifting my ass from this spot," I claimed… Only to roll my eyes again and allow the spike of elemental darkness to dissolve back into nothingness. "Still, I merely touched upon this power. It's something I'm still learning and discovering. On the other hand…" I paused for a second and closed my eyes.

"The girl I've met with could pretty much make that kind of darkness consume the entire city."

Seeing doubt flash in Makary's eyes, I took a deeper breath…

Before invoking the elemental darkness right as I suddenly jumped from my seat and towards Makary.

'Aura tribute,' I invoked one of my basic spells in my mind, accelerating my body as much as I could with the little space I had, only to press myself against Makary and bring a blob of fresh, elemental darkness and cover the man's mouth with it while holding him down to his seat with hardly any effort.

With both of his mouth and nose blocked by the elemental darkness and unable to free himself from under my hold, Makary freaked out a little. His eyes opened up while his left hand rushed to his belt where he kept his gun.

Watching how the situation developed from merely a meter away, Fay tensed up… but opted to remain in her seat, knowing full well that Makary, as trained as he was in the arts of close-quarter combat as he had to be, posed no real danger to someone on my level.

"Listen and listen well. The fact that I'm not boasting about my strength every other time I open my mouth, doesn't mean I do not possess it. And the powers I command are quite a lot greater than what you are capable of imagining."

Looking Makary straight in the eyes, I waited for just a few more seconds before dispelling the elemental darkness and letting go of his arm as I backed off to my seat.

"For the girl I've met with, dealing with this kind of an assault would be a child's play. If she so willed, I wouldn't be able to even lift my ass off my seat!" I exclaimed before stretching my hands up and breathing out, allowing my body to relax a bit.

"The only reason why I came back alive is because she turned out not to be an enemy I thought her to be. And because she felt bad about meddling with my life for her own purposes, she offered me some answers to the questions that you are not even aware of."

Just a single look into Makary's face was enough to tell he didn't get over my sudden assault yet. And while I had no doubt he would soon acknowledge it was nothing more but a simple showcase rather than an actual attack… he still needed some time to properly process his thoughts and feelings so that he could arrive at that kind of conclusion.

"Answers?" Gathering up his wits a lot faster than I expected him to, Makary asked. "So you were ready to burn half of the town just for some answers?"

Surprisingly… or maybe not at all, Makary was quick to get on the offensive.

"Given how she is able to pass through my gate at will even though I've never allowed her to, then yeah," I admitted. "I've considered her the greatest threat to our project, so I, at the very least, wanted to know her intentions," I explained before putting a small smile on my lips.

"And I've judged that if she spent years trying to cultivate a proper identity in this world, then she wouldn't be all that keen to destroy it all just because I approached her to learn what the hell she wants from us."