Max spent hours wandering through the chaotic streets of Gluttony, searching for one specific person.
Verosika.
It wasn't easy.
He already knew about her addiction to Beelzejuice, and that made things complicated.
Extremely complicated.
Until he somehow convinced Bee to distribute Beelzejuice outside of her exclusive parties, it was nearly impossible to find. It was a Bee-exclusive product, tightly controlled and rarely sold.
That said…
There were always exceptions.
A few shady places dealt in leftovers—bottles smuggled out or salvaged from parties—and sold them at absurd prices.
Max eventually found one of those places.
A low-end bar tucked away in a darker part of the district.
The kind of place where deals happened quietly… and problems were solved even quieter.
As Max stepped inside, the smell of alcohol, smoke, and desperation hit him immediately.
And right on cue—
"There is no way that price is real!"
Max glanced toward the bar.
There she was.
Verosika.
Leaning forward aggressively, glaring at the barkeep.
"Three hundred dollars per ounce of Beelzejuice?" she snapped. "It was half that last week!"
The barkeep shrugged lazily, clearly enjoying himself.
"Yeah, well," he said, leaning over the counter, "prices went up after last night's little… incident."
He smirked.
"Bloodbath at Bee's place. Whole area got locked down."
He tapped the counter.
"Plus, some weird web thing killed a bunch of people. Supply's dried up."
Max stayed quiet, listening.
"Deal with the price," the barkeep continued. "Or…"
His hand slowly reached toward her.
"…maybe you can convince me to lower it."
Verosika's expression darkened.
Before she could react—
Thwip.
An ice needle shot through the air and pinned the barkeep's hand to the counter.
He screamed.
Max walked forward calmly.
"I don't think she's interested in that," Max said casually.
Several patrons immediately stood up, weapons drawn.
Guns.
Blades.
Magic.
Max didn't even look at them.
With a small flick of his fingers—
Flash freeze.
Every weapon instantly froze over, encasing itself in thick layers of ice.
The attackers froze too—some literally, others just in shock.
Max smiled slightly.
"Man… ice magic is fun."
He reached into his coat and pulled out a stack of cash—money he had "borrowed" from the demons caught in his web earlier.
He placed it on the counter.
"Here."
He grabbed the bottle of Beelzejuice.
Took a small sip.
Then handed the rest to Verosika.
"Enjoy."
The barkeep growled through clenched teeth.
"You're going to regret this," he hissed. "I'm backed by the Rat. He'll deal with you."
Max's expression glitched for just a moment.
A twisted smile spread across his face.
"Oh," he said quietly.
"I really hope so."
The barkeep fell silent.
Verosika stared at Max for a moment, then looked down at the bottle in her hand.
"…Why give this to me?" she asked.
She looked him up and down.
"And you're a sinner, right?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"You've got wolf ears and a tail, but you don't look like a full Hellhound."
She tilted her head.
"…What are you?"
Max shrugged casually.
"Someone who doesn't need Beelzejuice as much as you do."
He smirked slightly.
"And besides…"
He glanced at her.
"One of my girlfriends is a huge fan of yours."
Verosika blinked.
"…Girlfriends?"
Her lips curled into a faint smile.
"Wow. You're popular for a sinner."
She took a sip of the drink, clearly relaxing a bit.
Then she stepped closer and handed him a small card.
"Here."
Max took it.
Her number.
"As a thank you," she said. "Maybe I'll meet this girl of yours who's such a big fan of me."
Max smiled.
"I'm sure she'd love that."
There was a brief pause.
Verosika studied him again.
There was something… off.
A strange pull.
A subtle attraction she wasn't used to feeling this quickly.
Normally, she was the one causing that effect.
Not the other way around.
"…You're interesting," she said finally.
Max chuckled lightly.
"I get that a lot."
With that, he turned and walked toward the exit.
As he stepped back into the neon-lit streets of Gluttony, he glanced down at the number in his hand.
"…Succubus," he muttered.
"Definitely going to take more effort."
Even with his ability, someone like her wouldn't be easy to win over.
But this was a start.
A good one.
Max slipped the number into his pocket and stretched slightly.
"Alright…"
He looked around the district.
Time to rest.
He spent a bit longer walking until he found a small, run-down apartment building tucked between two larger structures.
Nothing fancy.
But it would do.
Max stepped inside, claimed an empty room, and dropped onto the bed.
"Quick nap," he muttered.
"Before everything starts moving again."
Within moments, he closed his eyes—letting his body rest, even as his mind prepared for everything that was about to come.