The sharp sound barely faded before metal clashed in front of her. Taehyun twisted his body, deflecting a blade with a swift block, the air around them slicing with each strike. Shadows moved in from every angle, masked men with glinting steel, their steps silent but deadly.
"This must be a nightmare… I have to wake up now," Hanna muttered, slapping her own cheeks in desperation.
Junho's eyes flicked to her. "Hanna-sshi… it's not a dream."
She looked at him, her eyes already watery, and gripped his arm even tighter. "Junho… if anything happens tonight, please know… you're always special to me."
Junho's gaze lingered, guilt twisting in his chest at her sudden confession. It wasn't the time for this, yet the weight of her words struck him unexpectedly.
He didn't answer. Instead, his voice rang out, sharp and urgent. "Your back, Taehyun!"
In one motion, Taehyun spun, blade flashing as it intercepted another strike. Sparks scattered in the moonlight. Seri stepped forward at the same time, her nunchaku snapping through the air, taking down an attacker with a single, bone-cracking blow.
Hanna's breath caught. She knew Seri could fight… but not like this. Not with the cold efficiency of someone who'd done it a hundred times before.
Her voice trembled. "She's… she's not just a PR, is she? She's… an assassin?"Hanna's grip on Junho didn't loosen. Her voice shook, barely audible over the chaos. "Why are they attacking us? Junho… is there something I don't know?"
Junho said nothing. His eyes stayed locked on Seri, watching her give everything to keep them safe.
The ground was littered with unconscious bodies, blades clattering in the silence. Seri stood tall, blood-splattered but steady, still gripping her weapon. She whirled, sensing movement. A faint rustle above. The wind shifted—FWUMP.
A dark figure landed silently from the rooftop. Cloaked in deep red with black accents, his armor sleek and patterned with serpentine designs. A black mask hid his mouth, but his sharp eyes glowed with eerie focus. Twin blades rested across his back, and thin leather gloves etched with strange symbols covered his hands.
This was no ordinary fighter. His movements were deliberate, dangerous. A master.
"Seri… he's a Kuro-Ronin," Taehyun's voice dropped, his expression tense.
Kuro-Ronin. The shadow who served no master. A rogue assassin trained by the elite, loyal to no one. If he was here, it meant Takeda intended to end this tonight.
"That's it… I don't know if Seri can handle him," Taehyun said grimly. "He's a Kuro-Ronin… trained to kill without hesitation, without weakness."
Junho and Hanna exchanged a glance, their faces pale, as if death itself had just stepped into their path. Behind them, Taehyun's voice dropped like a blade. A warning. A prophecy.
"Be careful, Aira… he's not like the others."
Without waiting another second, he gently pulled Hanna back. Junho instinctively stepped to shield her as well, moving with Taehyun. They all backed away, giving Seri the space. The stage she needed.
Seri stepped forward, her eyes like storm clouds. She rolled her shoulders, cracked her neck.
"…Enough warm-up."
With a single motion, she flung her blade off to the side. It clattered against the ground like a final warning.
She reached behind, and from beneath her coat, her nunchaku slid into her hand with a metallic whisper.
Seri's eyes narrowed, her stance unwavering as she gripped the nunchaku. 「準備はできている」 Junbi wa dekite iru. I'm ready.
The Ronin shifted his weight, eyes narrowing, and then he moved.
A beat of stillness hung in the air, the moment stretched like a taut string until it snapped.
CRACK.
She whipped the weapon forward, the force rippling through her stance as it struck square against his chest. He stumbled back, but only slightly.
Her breath steadied. "Still works just fine," she murmured with a faint, dangerous smirk.
But he did not flinch. He charged. A swift slash…too fast. She spun to block, but too late. A slice of pain tore across her upper arm. Blood stained the edge of her black sleeve as she dropped to one knee.
"…Ugh." The sound escaped her through gritted teeth.
"Seri!" Junho's voice cut through the chaos.
"Watch out!" Taehyun shouted from the side.
Hanna's wide, terrified eyes fixed on Seri. She could not even scream. Her legs refused to move. Her heart pounded like a war drum.
Seri stayed down for only a second before forcing herself back to her feet. Blood dripped onto the floor. She rolled her shoulder despite the pain, eyes locking on the Ronin. Her stance sharpened. The smirk returned.
He's fast. He's calculated. A Ronin… trained in silence, deception, speed. But even the perfect blade cannot slice through what it cannot predict.
The Ronin feinted left before twisting sharply to the right, his blade hooking low and sweeping against Seri's ankle.
Her balance broke in an instant, and she hit the ground hard, palms scraping against the cold stone as the sting shot up her arms.
Taehyun's eyes narrowed. He stepped forward, ready to barge in, but Seri's sharp voice cut through the air.
"Don't. It's my war."
Junho's eyes followed her, heavy with sadness, wishing he could do something, anything to help.
"Seri… please. Stop the fight," he urged, his voice low but desperate.
Hanna stood nearby, unable to speak. Her body was frozen, eyes red, trembling as the scene unfolded.
Seri rose from the ground after the fall, her stance steadying. She closed her eyes, shutting out the chaos. There had to be a weakness in his movement, what could it be?
The world slowed. Every breath. Every footstep. Every subtle shift in the air became clear. Her pain became rhythm. Her rage became stillness.
Then she moved. Her body twisted midair, the nunchaku spinning behind her back before wrapping around the Ronin's wrist mid-strike. In a blink, she spun beneath him and swept his legs.
The Ronin faltered, shocked. No one, not even him, expected that movement.
"Predict this," she said, fierce and quiet.
For the first time, he stumbled back, off balance.
The Ronin's eyes narrowed. One wrong move could mean death, yet nothing about Seri's movements followed any pattern.
She vanished low beneath his strike, then reappeared, her nunchaku cracking across his ribs.
Before he could react, her hand brushed his chest. The shock ring discharged, jolting him for a split second. It was all she needed.
"One second is enough."
Her boot struck the ground with a click, releasing a small, sharp blade from the hidden slot in her heel. She flipped it into her hand mid-spin like second nature.
SLASH.
A clean cut across the Ronin's thigh—not deep, but enough to send him staggering. She landed silently, breath steady. "You're not the only one who was trained to kill without mercy," she whispered with a smirk.
From the side, Taehyun's voice was tense. "She's using every inch of herself as a weapon…"
Junho could barely breathe. Hanna trembled, whispering like a prayer. "I can't mess with her anymore."
CRACK.
Seri's elbow slammed into the Ronin's side. She twisted, blade pressed to his neck, shock ring against his spine.
「もう終わりよ.」 Mou owari yo. It's over.
The Ronin dropped to one knee, clutching his bleeding thigh, his sword trembling in his grip.
Seri stood above him, chest rising and falling, the nunchaku swinging in her hand, the shock ring still humming faintly. The moonlight caught the blade in her other hand.
The Ronin laughed, low and cold. 「なるほど… さすがアイラ.」 I see now… So this is Aira.
Then he lunged again…desperate, wild. Seri spun sideways, dropped low, and swept his legs from under him. He hit the ground with a hard crash.
Seri's voice was low but unyielding as she faced him, her gaze locked.
「あなたは敵じゃない.戦う相手は私じゃない.これ以上血を流させないために…引き下がって.」
Anata wa teki janai. Tatakau aite wa watashi janai. Kore ijō chi o nagasasenai tame ni… hikisagatte.
You are not my enemy. Your fight is not with me. I have to stop more blood from being wasted… back off.
She understood the mind of a Kuro-Ronin. She knew… he would never waste his strength on anything unworthy of his blade.
The Kuro-Ronin laughed quietly, the sound low and unsettling as he rose to his feet. His gaze locked on Seri, unreadable beneath the mask.
「命は奪える時に奪うものだ…今日は違う.」
Inochi wa ubaeru toki ni ubau mono da… kyō wa chigau.
"Life is taken when the time is right… and today is not that time."
With that, he turned away, fading into the shadows as if he had never been there.
Seri approached them, her steps steady despite the blood on her sleeve. Taehyun was the first to speak, his voice low with concern. "Are you alright?"
Junho's mouth didn't move. He wanted to hold her, to tell her she had done well, to ask if she was in pain… but nothing came from his lips. Hanna stood frozen, her eyes wide as her voice cracked. "I… I can't move." Her feet trembled, her body cold as ice.
Taehyun steadied her from the right, Junho from the left. Taehyun glanced down and muttered, "She's really cold."
Seri's tone cut through the tension. "Lift her up. We're running out of time."
Taehyun and Junho's eyes met, a silent stand-off over something that shouldn't have needed thought. Seri stared at them both, a faint crease in her brow, wondering why it was so hard for them to do something so simple.
The scene ended there. No one knew who finally lifted her.