GalaxyTL
* * *
“Why is Master… so strong?”
Back when she was called Knife Hand, Hell Savior once asked the man who picked her up and brought her to ‘Purple Dual Rings’… the assassin named Short Warp that question.
The place was the plaza in front of the ‘Purple Dual Rings’ headquarters, located in an abandoned village deep in the mountains.
The time was early morning, the dew sparkling, and their breath forming white clouds in the air.
After a hellish training session, they had a mock battle, and she was completely defeated, lying on her back on the ground, breathing heavily.
Bathed in the light of the rising sun.
“Don’t call me Master…”
Short Warp sighed after saying his usual complaint.
“And I’m not strong.”
“No, you’re strong!?”
Hearing Short Warp’s words, Knife Hand jumped up and sat up.
If this man claims to be not strong, then what is she, who can’t even land a single punch on him?
She didn’t know if he was trying to be humble, but that statement devalued even her worth.
She pouted.
“Ah… well, don’t be so angry. I’ll correct myself. I’m strong, to a certain extent… But my strength is just mimicry. Therefore… I rely on my special ability.”
The next moment, Short Warp, who should have been standing in front of Knife Hand, vanished… and then, he was standing behind her, patting her head.
He had activated 【Short-Range Teleportation】, the special ability his code name is derived from.
“Mimicry?”
“Yeah. The ‘Grim Reaper Style’ fighting techniques I’m teaching you are just cheap imitations I somehow managed to copy superficially by observing a certain genius’s techniques.”
“But, but! Master, you’re amazing!”
“I’m not amazing, and I’m not your Master. You’re just weak.”
Knife Hand frowned and glared at Short Warp, pouting.
Because he called her ‘weak’.
She hates being looked down upon.
No matter the fact that the words came from her mentor-like figure, she couldn’t forgive such a statement, so the killing intent in her gaze was real.
She didn’t attack him only because she knew she couldn’t win. If someone else, some weakling had said those words, even if they were a comrade, Knife Hand would have chopped their head off.
“Hmph.”
Short Warp scoffed at her killing intent, brushing it off, and then…… after thinking for a moment, said.
“…Well, I’ll tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“The name of the summit you should aim for.”
“Summit’s name?”
“Yeah… in other words… the name of the original… the originator of my ‘Grim Reaper Style’.”
Seeing Knife Hand tilting her head, confused by the slightly complicated wording, Short Warp coughed and rephrased it.
And then, he looked straight into her eyes.
“That man’s name is… ‘The Grim Reaper of Ashgo’.”
“Grim Reaper…”
“That’s right… A genius among geniuses, a once-in-a-lifetime hero.”
As he spoke, Short Warp’s eyes, gazing at the distant mountain range, were filled with various emotions… admiration, frustration, hatred…
Knife Hand, who wasn’t particularly interested in other people’s feelings, couldn’t read those subtle emotional fluctuations.
But.
She understood that this man, Short Warp, harbored extraordinary feelings towards that great genius, the Grim Reaper.
And Knife Hand became strongly interested in that existence called the Grim Reaper who could evoke such strong emotions.
* * *
Later, Knife Hand, now an independent assassin, was assigned to Ashgo.
Coincidentally, it was the country included in the nickname of her mentor-like figure, Short Warp’s highly regarded ‘Grim Reaper of Ashgo’.
At first, Knife Hand searched for traces of the Grim Reaper in this country, but… she never found what she was looking for.
There are many anecdotes about him.
But what she was seeking were techniques.
The original source of the killing techniques the Grim Reaper independently developed and Short Warp imitated.
But there was no way the Grim Reaper, who is said to have left this country soon after making a name for himself, would have left anything like that behind… and it didn’t take long for her to be filled with emptiness.
And as time passed.
‘Purple Dual Rings’, under the influence of Death Pope, underwent a shift in its organizational form.
Knife Hand’s ideology was unknowingly altered, and she even changed her name to Hell Savior.
But now, here.
She finally encountered it for the first time.
Finally!
A trace of the Grim Reaper!
“RAAAAAAAAAAH!!”
It was the black-haired, black-eyed girl, Emi Rune, who was currently fiercely exchanging hand chops with Hell Savior!
The girl’s fighting techniques, now that her special ability was sealed, she could clearly understand.
They were undoubtedly from the same lineage as the ones Hell Savior had mastered.
Moreover, they were even more refined.
Just by watching her movements, Hell Savior was convinced.
She realized.
This is what she had been seeking.
This girl was the one who inherited the Grim Reaper’s legacy!
“AAAAAAAAGH!!”
Emi, dodging Hell Savior’s hand chop aimed at her heart, slipped into Hell Savior’s embrace, and punched her hard in the stomach.
“Guh……!”
The impact sent Hell Savior’s body flying backwards.
This power, even with her 【Body Strengthening】 sealed.
She’s truly monstrously strong.
But, however.
“…Hahaha!”
Hell Savior didn’t flinch, and laughed out loud.
She was overjoyed.
Because she had finally found what she had been searching for!
“We’re not done yet, Emi Rune!!”
Hell Savior, readjusting her fists, declared with a ferocious grin!
“Show me everything you’ve got, and die!!”