Chapter Three: A Fated Encounter
The moment Misaki arrived at the battlefield, chaos exploded before her eyes, as if the city itself were calling her to death. People's screams pierced the air, while black smoke coiled around the shattered buildings like a poisonous cloud. Sparks scattered from raging flames, and the ground trembled beneath the weight of collapsing structures.
She whispered softly as she stared at the scene:
"Dear God… how did things reach this point?"
Reality gave her no time to hesitate. Suddenly, she saw monsters swarming over the rubble—some running wildly, others letting out sharp shrieks that stabbed straight into the heart. Misaki tightened her grip on the hilt of her water sword, and the blade sprang forth from between her fingers like a blue flash cutting through the darkness.
She said to herself as she rushed toward the first monster:
"Alright… let's begin."
The creature lunged at her, and she shouted as she struck it with force:
"Get out of my way!"
Its body split in an instant and rolled across the ground. She didn't slow down. Another monster approached from behind, so she turned swiftly and struck it with a rapid slash, scattering its fragments.
"Two in less than five seconds… good. But where are the rest?"
Three appeared from the right all at once. She tightened her grip and raised her sword, preparing to repel their attack.
The first rushed at her. She dodged easily and cut off its head in a single motion. The second leapt over her, so she raised her hand and unleashed a wave of water that hurled it backward.
As for the third, it burst out from the ground beneath her feet. She jumped high, reinforcing her body with "Anna," then descended like an arrow with crushing force until the creature fell silent.
Her breathing began to quicken, her heartbeat racing. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and muttered irritably:
"You're endless… and that's extremely annoying."
Two more monsters charged at her, and she prepared herself with what remained of her focus.
She surged forward, her sword cutting through the air, the sound of her footsteps over the rubble resembling the beating of drums. She cut down the first, then the second—but her speed began to decline… her shoulders grew heavy… and her breathing became clearly audible amid the chaos.
"Stay away from me!!"
"What is that sound?"
She followed the noise and found a massive monster holding a woman, torturing her—pressing down on her leg with brutal force as she screamed in agony:
"Aaaah!"
In the next instant, the monster's head flew off from a violent strike of a water sword. Misaki stood behind it, her expression resolute and her gaze lethal.
She approached the woman and asked:
"Are you alright?"
But the woman couldn't respond. Pain overwhelmed her, and her leg was clearly broken. Misaki knelt beside her, closed her eyes, and directed her energy toward her hand. It glowed with a warm light, and translucent green water flowed from it. She placed it on the woman's leg, and the water slowly began to heal the fractures.
The woman gasped in surprise and whispered gratefully:
"Thank you…"
Misaki smiled.
"No need to thank me. Go somewhere safe and take shelter."
The woman stood up, her body almost restored despite what she had endured, and ran away, thanking Misaki with her eyes.
Misaki stared for a moment, then fell to her knees again, panting heavily.
"This technique consumes too much of my energy… but I have to help everyone quickly."
She stood up again, but suddenly felt something approaching. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a monster charging at her with insane speed. She barely avoided it, but it left a shallow cut on her waist.
The map spoke in a sarcastic tone:
"Oh, if you had been a second late, you would've become a blueberry-flavored donut for that monster."
Misaki replied tiredly:
"Stay quiet for now. I don't have time for your jokes."
She threw her bag aside—it was hindering her movement. This monster was different from the others: larger, faster, and surrounded by a dark aura.
It attacked again with its claws toward her heart, but she blocked it with her water sword and pushed it away. She counterattacked immediately, but it dodged and began circling her at incredible speed.
Yet Misaki's eyes did not betray her. Thanks to her extraordinary ability, she could see its movements in slow motion.
The monster lunged from behind, but Misaki spun smoothly, switched her sword to her other hand, then reinforced it with concentrated water energy and struck the monster's back with overwhelming force, splitting it in half.
"I finally got rid of it…" she said as she caught her breath.
She went to where she had thrown her bag near the remains of a burned carriage and opened it to check on the map.
"Even though I won't forgive you for throwing me away, I guess I can rely on you a little," the map said.
Misaki answered with a tired smile:
"Sorry, you were slowing me down in battle."
"Well, as long as I didn't break."
Misaki smiled, but suddenly the atmosphere changed. She felt a sinister aura approaching.
"There are many monsters coming!!" she said nervously.
"Yes, and most of them are D-rank monsters. They're much stronger than the ones you fought earlier. Are you sure you can defeat them in your current state?"
"Leave it to me."
The moment their conversation ended, monsters surrounded Misaki from every direction. Dozens of crawling creatures with wrinkled bodies and foul breaths, each possessing enough power to kill five armed men. Their forms varied—some with brutal claws, others with mouths opening chaotically as if they didn't belong to any living being. But they all shared one thing: the intent to kill.
Misaki tightened her grip on the hilt of her water sword. Her eyes didn't blink. She watched every movement as if time itself were slowing down around her—literally.
"Focus… breathe… water."
Her body began to glow with blue light, energy flowing through her veins until her entire body was enveloped in a trembling watery aura.
"Come at me…" she said in a low voice, almost a whisper, yet it echoed across the battlefield like an unrefusable command.
The monsters charged at her all at once, as if driven by a single instinct.
In the blink of an eye, Misaki jumped upward using a water boost from her feet, rising several meters into the air. She twisted her body midair and unleashed dozens of water blades downward, each precisely targeting the neck or heart of a monster.
Explosions of water and blood…
Screams… roars… bursts of energy.
She landed lightly on the ground, her face dripping with sweat, but she didn't stop. She blocked the attacks of three monsters simultaneously with her sword, then pushed them forward like a powerful wave that sent them flying.
One monster approached from behind, but she kicked it away and cut off its leg while spinning rapidly.
Every movement she made was calculated—light as a breeze, yet fierce as a raging wave. She fought as if she were the sea itself.
But… the pressure began to show.
Her breathing accelerated.
Her eyes grew heavy.
Small wounds began to appear on her shoulder, face, and right arm.
She whispered:
"My energy… is running out…"
Yet she refused to let her body surrender.
A giant monster attacked from the front. She focused her energy again into her sword. When it tried to punch her, Misaki leapt onto its hand and began slicing it into pieces at incredible speed, causing the monster to roar in pain and retreat.
They were too many. With every strike Misaki delivered, she paid the price with her body and energy.
She knelt on the ground, breathing heavily, her face covered with dust and sweat. Her hand trembled as she held her sword, which was weakening in turn. Her wounds bled slightly, but they were many—scratches on her cheek, bloodstains on her arm, and various cuts on her right leg. Yet she was still standing.
I fought with everything I had… but they never end…
She looked around and saw dozens of monsters surrounding her. She stood up, fought, fell, then stood again.
Suddenly, two giant monsters attacked her at once. One jumped from the top of a shattered wall, while the other dashed from the right with blinding speed, as if they had decided to exhaust her together.
Misaki closed her eyes. Her heart trembled. Fear surprised her… but she did not give up. In a fleeting moment, a memory surged from deep within her.
Amid all the chaos… when she felt that her legs could no longer carry her, and her eyes could see nothing but fog, an old memory rushed toward her.
She was sitting in front of her mother in the garden, sunlight gently touching her face.
"Mom… one day, I'll become the strongest hunter in the world!"
Little Misaki said as she raised her fist to the sky.
Her mother laughed gently.
"Stronger even than your brother?"
"Yes! I'll become famous like him… no, even more. And I'll protect everyone!" Her eyes were filled with determination.
Her mother smiled.
"Then remember one thing, my little girl… strength isn't only in muscles or swords… it's in the heart. When you think everything is over… remember why you started."
Misaki opened her shining eyes and whispered:
"No… I don't want… to die now!"
But the monsters were already too close… there was no time left.
Suddenly… everything changed.
The air became warm.
The pressure shifted.
A strange person appeared on the ruins…
A short figure, roughly Misaki's height, stood there. A black scarf fluttered slowly behind his back as if the wind had brought him. His short orange hair shone with a strange light, and his face was covered by a black mask, revealing only two orange eyes glowing like twin suns at dusk.
In an instant—
"Zfff!"
He swung his sword, which looked like a sleeping fire dragon, and cut the two monsters in half with a precise straight line.
Time froze.
Misaki couldn't understand what had happened… except that she hadn't been hit.
She stood frozen, her mind unable to process it.
Who… who is this person?!
Before she could comprehend anything, he swung his long sword again in a single motion through the air…
Three seconds passed.
The surrounding monsters… dozens of them…
All of them stopped, then suddenly collapsed into halves at once, as if an invisible line had torn them apart.
Misaki gasped in shock.
"Impossible…"
The mysterious person didn't look back, as if it wasn't worth any effort.
He sealed his sword by closing the Anna, then slowly turned toward her, his calm voice carrying through the air:
"My name is… Ryuzaki Niramaro."
Then he added while looking at the dissolving monsters:
"Thank you for enduring them… and for trying to protect the city."
Despite the mask, his eyes radiated warmth.
Misaki drifted for a moment, then murmured:
"Uh… ah, there's no need to thank me. This… is my duty."
He smiled faintly with his eyes only, then turned away.
"Goodbye," he said simply.
But Misaki couldn't bear it. She shouted after him:
"Wait!!!"
He stopped and slightly tilted his head toward her without turning around.
"What is it?"
She spoke quickly, all her excitement bursting out at once:
"Are you… are you a hunter?! If so, what rank are you? You're clearly very strong… maybe… S-rank?!"
He laughed softly.
"Sorry, I can't tell you."
She lowered her head slightly and said with a shy smile:
"Oh… I see… thank you very much for saving me, Mr. Ryuzaki."
"No need for such formality," he said gently.
"Take care of yourself."
Before she could say anything else… he disappeared.
Completely, as if he had never existed.
Who is that boy…? Is he really the same age as me? And how does he possess such power?
She breathed slowly, trying to calm her heart that was still pounding fiercely… not only from the battle, but from something else… a strange feeling she had never experienced before.
When she looked around, she saw that all the monsters had vanished, and the ground was covered with their bodies, still dissolving.
She raised her head to the sky and saw that the ominous purple clouds had dispersed, and sunlight began to pierce through the gray veil calmly, bathing the city once again in a warm golden color.
Misaki let out a long sigh—one filled with exhaustion, relief, shock… and peace.
She put her bag on again, then took out the luminous map to check her route.
But the moment the map appeared, the familiar annoyed voice came:
"Hah! I take back what I said earlier. You're absolutely unreliable!"
Misaki raised an eyebrow in tired disbelief.
"Huh? Why?"
"Imagine if that strange person hadn't intervened… what would you have done? Don't forget I was in the bag! If you had died, I would've been buried with you!"
Misaki laughed lightly despite the pain.
"Maybe… you would've cried for me?"
The map shouted angrily:
"Are you mocking me?!"
"Who knows…" she said playfully while looking at the sky.
"You really are mocking me!! Then over my digital dead body will I guide you!"
"Waaah, wait! We didn't agree on that! Fine, fine, I'm sorry, so please guide me…"
"Rejected."
"Yooou!!!" Misaki shouted, waving the bag as if she were threatening it.