— — — — — —
"What the hell's going on up there on the roof?"
Roughly 600 or 700 meters away from Excellent Women's Academy, on the top floor of a high-rise building, a mercenary peered through a high-precision night vision scope. He was using the gaps between clothes hung out to dry and half-closed curtains for cover as he monitored the school.
The guy frowned, clearly confused.
Hearing his lookout's report, the leader of the mercenary team—veterans who had worked together for years—hurried over to the next window and set up a second night vision device.
He observed the students moving about on the rooftop. Eventually, they all seemed to settle in and begin grilling food.
The lookout commented, "Looks like some kind of BBQ party… But today's not a holiday or anything, right? Does this school usually do stuff like this?"
"Not even once."
That reply came from another merc, fingers flying across a keyboard. "Based on everything I've found online and the files the client gave us, this is the first time this school's ever done anything like this, especially around this time of year."
"…And it's on the rooftop, of all places. The best spot to see everything going on around the area."
Another merc, quietly maintaining his beloved HK416 rifle, chimed in with a low voice, "Feels like they're just waiting for us to make a move."
"Probably are."
The captain shifted his scope's angle toward the street, focusing on two armored vehicles parked nearby. A dozen burly men, each casually holding a bottle of vodka, stood beside them.
Seriously?
He didn't doubt the firepower or skills of these Russian mercs. But let's be honest—these guys belonged on a battlefield, not here.
For crying out loud, this mission is about raiding a school, taking a few hostages, maybe grabbing some loot. Who the hell thought it was a good idea to bring armored vehicles to a school operation?
And not just one—two of them!
Just because the Japanese authorities have been quiet doesn't mean you can do whatever the hell you want.
With "teammates" like these, it wasn't surprising they'd been spotted. Honestly, if the school hadn't reacted to something this obvious, that would've been the real red flag.
If the target's important enough for the client to throw this many mercs at once, and they still haven't made a move despite this massive opening... it's hard not to suspect they're planning something big—something that could wipe them all out in one go.
The team watched in silence as the captain pulled out a burner phone, inserted a temporary SIM card, and dialed a contact with a scrambled number. He quickly relayed everything they'd seen.
A few minutes later, he yanked out the SIM, crushed it, and said flatly, "The client's aware. No change in plan."
"..." No one replied.
The hands of the clock on the academy's tower kept moving, second by second.
Until finally, the minute hand hit eleven.
BANG!
A tiny spark lit up in front of the security booth. A moment later, there was the sharp clink of something metallic hitting the ground.
"Starting off with a kill shot? Bit extreme, don't you think?"
Rika Minami muttered to herself as she pulled the trigger—her bullet flew out just in time, intercepting the shot fired by a hidden sniper before it could hit the guard in the security booth. She had left the rooftop minutes ago and was now stationed at her favorite sniping spot in the school.
---
"Sensei, I'm heading down."
Meanwhile, on the rooftop, Saeko Busujima nodded at Veyron—her subtle way of saying she was on the move. Then, amidst the gasps and cries of students nearby, especially from Honoka and others who had been watching the scene unfold, she stepped off the rooftop edge.
Without hesitation, she leapt down, wooden sword in hand, and calmly began making her way toward the front gate.
"..."
"Are you kidding me?!"
Back at the makeshift outpost 600–700 meters away, one of the mercenaries—who had just finished setting up his sniper rifle—yelled out in disbelief.
"It's just a few buildings," another merc replied coolly, barely looking up. "Don't tell me you haven't seen the footage that leaked on the dark web over a month ago. That woman's capabilities are beyond ridiculous. I wouldn't be surprised if she's got more drugs than blood running through her veins."
"I wasn't even talking about her," the sniper snapped. "I meant the shooter from earlier—who the hell is she?!"
The light from the streetlamps by the school gate lit up the area clearly, making it impossible to mistake what had just happened. The sniper squinted, double-checking just to be sure. His eye twitched.
If that shot wasn't just a lucky fluke…
And soon enough, it became very clear—it absolutely wasn't luck.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Suddenly, from five different directions, bullets came flying in from a mix of firearms. The front gate lit up like someone had launched a firework show—spark after spark exploded in rapid succession.
When the chaos finally settled, broken and flattened bullets littered the ground near the school entrance.
The mercenaries stared, stunned into silence.
And then, almost all at once, they sucked in a collective gasp.
She had intercepted every single bullet—from five different angles—using her own shot.
What the hell kind of person could even do that?!
Compared to this, even the most over-the-top Hollywood gun-fu scenes where bullets curve through the air felt downright tame.
"…Real talk, this is probably way beyond anything small fries like us can handle."
"Come on, don't sell us short. Even regular troops would get wrecked against someone like that. Only way you're beating her is with heavy artillery carpet bombing."
"No wonder the client was so... 'generous' with the pay this time…"
"Enough chatter," the team leader cut in sharply. "The Russians are about to move. We were just complaining about how ridiculous it was to bring armored vehicles for a school raid. But now? If we wanna finish this job, we might actually need those things."
FWOOOOSH—
A streak of dark crimson light tore through the night like a blade splitting the darkness.
Every merc on lookout could only stare, jaws slack, as they watched the woman with the high purple ponytail—who had just jumped down from the rooftop—walk calmly to the front gate, stop, and then flick her sword.
Just one swing.
In a single instant, her blade sent a shockwave so powerful it traveled over a hundred meters—and sliced the armored vehicle clean in half. Like it was nothing. Like a hot knife through butter.
The mercs who saw it through scopes and night vision couldn't believe their eyes.
At this moment, they knew they fucked up.
"…Captain," one of them said in a daze, "are you sure humans here haven't secretly evolved without telling us?"
"…Why would you think I'd have an answer to that kind of question?"
The captain gave him a long, tired glare.
Right now, there was only one thing on his mind.
He really wanted to have a word with their employer.
This—this freak who can split an armored truck in half with a sword from 100+ meters away—this is the person you want us to capture?
And you're telling us we're not allowed to injure her during the mission either?
Screw you, you son of a b*tch.
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