"Wow, miss, you're so pretty! But I don't think I've seen you around Sundown Alley before—are you here as a tourist?"
The moment she stepped into Sundown Alley, a cute young girl appeared before Sakura.
Pardo's sudden appearance gave Sakura a little fright.
Mainly because she had been completely lost in thought, figuring out how to carry out this mission.
Honestly, if she could, she'd really like to shove her long blade right into her superior's backside.
What kind of messed-up assignment was this, anyway!
Not long ago, they were so uneasy about the MANTIS warriors that they made her undergo the MANTIS surgery. Thanks to that, she still had a pair of fox ears on her head now. Fine, for the sake of power...
She'd endured it.
But this?
Sending her to eliminate the infected at the sanatorium was one thing, but now they wanted her to take down Mei?
Have you been sitting in your office so long your brain's fried? Who is Mei? A terrifying existence who single-handedly took down three Herrschers, a hero within Fire Moth.
And her strength was unfathomable.
Even though Sakura was now a MANTIS herself, she still felt utterly outmatched facing Acheron.
After all, the other woman was just too strong.
When those Herrschers were killed, Fire Moth had no footage; no one knew what had really happened back then.
But the incident with the Herrscher of Sentience happened right inside the Fire Moth base. How Acheron had cut down the Herrscher of Sentience—Sakura had seen it clearly in the recordings afterward.
Was that a fight against a Herrscher? More like an adult beating up a kindergarten kid!
At first, the Herrscher of Sentience was all high and mighty, only to be kicked aside by Acheron like a stray dog.
And now, Sakura was about to face Acheron...
She wouldn't have to fight her head-on, at least. As an assassin, all Sakura needed to do was slip her blade into Acheron's heart from behind.
But easier said than done—actually pulling it off was absurdly difficult.
Lost in these tangled thoughts, Sakura hadn't even noticed Pardo standing right in front of her.
It wasn't until the girl stopped her that she snapped back to reality.
"Mm, it's my first time here. I'm not very familiar with the area yet."
Sakura looked at the other girl and nodded.
"Oh, I see! In that case, miss, wouldn't you need a guide? I've lived in Sundown Alley since I was little—I know this place like the back of my hand! So, how about it? For just a small fee, you can hire me to show you every corner of this town!"
Pardofelis's eyes sparkled as she stared at Sakura, looking at her like she was a fat sheep ready for shearing.
"Then I'll trouble you."
After a moment's hesitation, Sakura nodded. Being new here, having a local around would make it easier to take action.
Besides, a disguise would make it simpler to strike.
"Miss, let me carry your bag for you!"
"No, no, it's fine."
Sakura's bag was heavy, filled with weapons for this operation. But now that she was a MANTIS, she didn't really need them anymore—a single blade was enough.
"Aiya, I'm a professional guide! If you don't let me carry it, other guides will look down on me. Reputation is everything in our line of work!"
"Well then… I'll trouble you."
Sakura sighed, looked at Pardo, and handed over the bag.
Thirty minutes later…
Sakura stood blankly waiting at a crossroads.
Ten minutes ago, Pardo had said the ice cream here was delicious and insisted she try it. Unable to resist the girl's enthusiasm and afraid of acting suspicious, Sakura had nodded and joined the line.
And then… there was no "then."
Pardofelis had vanished without a trace, taking the bag full of weapons with her.
Clearly, she'd been robbed by a little thief cat.
The nimble little thief moved with startling speed; by the time Sakura realized what had happened, she was long gone.
Honestly, managing to leave a MANTIS empty-handed—Pardo was something else.
--+--
"Hehehe, my intuition tells me there's something good in this bag!"
Having run far away, Pardo stared greedily at the bag in her hands.
Her treasure radar was screaming that there was something really valuable inside.
Muttering to herself, she unzipped it… and her hands began to tremble.
"Oh my god, no way… So many weapons? What was she planning to do, wipe out the whole of Sundown Alley?"
Pardofelis shuddered. She was just a timid little thief cat—how could she not be scared by something like this?
Besides, during their brief chat earlier, Sakura had deliberately—or not—mentioned the sanatorium.
Did that mean her target was the sanatorium?
Shaking her head, Pardo pushed the thought away.
"Forget it, I'll just find a place to stash this… So scary! This kind of thing is way too much for a little cat like me to get mixed up in…"
As she spoke, she dashed off into the distance as if searching for shelter.
But almost without realizing it, her footsteps began carrying her toward the sanatorium.
"Mei-sis, Elysia-sis, you've gotta wait for me! Please be careful! Sniff… It's fine, it's fine. My luck's always been good—everything will be fine!"
--+--
"I can't wait to see it—the sight of these children, free from their illness, happily embracing the sky."
Looking at the children in the sanatorium, a hopeful smile naturally spread across Elysia's face.
"We have to thank that doctor for their contribution. I'm looking forward to meeting them."
Aponia, standing nearby, couldn't help but smile as well.
Just moments ago, she had reached an agreement with Acheron and Elysia—she would join Fire Moth.
These children were her greatest concern. If they could all be properly cared for, then Aponia joining Fire Moth wasn't out of the question.
And Aponia's abilities were exactly what Elysia and Fire Moth needed right now.
A mental power user of her caliber was rare even in Fire Moth.
Her innate psychic abilities already surpassed those of Dystopia, who had become a MANTIS. If Aponia were to undergo the procedure as well, her power might even reach Herrscher level.
With a combatant of that caliber joining, humanity's chances of overcoming the Honkai would increase once more.
Of course, that was before. Now, with Acheron here, the difficulty of humanity's struggle against the Honkai seemed to have dropped considerably.
Even though Herrscher appearances had become more frequent and their power kept rising, Acheron was like a bottomless abyss—no matter how strong the enemy, it always seemed to be a one-cut affair for her.
Now, Fire Moth's standard procedure for dealing with Honkai threats had become: minor outbreaks handled by the soldiers, Herrscher-level catastrophes left to Acheron to instantly erase.
Although, it was worth noting—perhaps because of Acheron's presence in this world—minor Honkai incidents were becoming more and more frequent, and these outbreaks often included powerful Honkai beasts.
Lately, Kevin alone had already taken down three Emperor-class Honkai beasts, not to mention countless others of varying sizes.
And besides Kevin, the other MANTIS warriors had been plenty busy too.
If they were being honest, the current intensity of the Honkai had increased by more than a little. In the original timeline, there hadn't been nearly this many active Emperor-class Honkai beasts.
But it couldn't be helped. For Acheron, no matter how many enemies of that level came, it was just more cannon fodder.
The top-tier Herrscher-level threats were handled by Acheron alone, and the remaining Honkai beasts—if they were only Emperor-class—posed no real threat to the MANTIS warriors. As for those approaching Herrscher level, they needed time to grow.
For now, the Honkai's progression in this world seemed stuck in a kind of deadlock.
"Kalpas, you should join too! You're a powerful warrior—if you joined Fire Moth, you'd definitely be a great asset!"
Elysia looked at Kalpas, her eyes full of expectation.
She'd had her eye on him for a long time. Their recent interactions had only confirmed that Kalpas was no ordinary man. If he joined Fire Moth, they might just gain a warrior on par with Kevin himself!
"Me? Not interested."
Hearing Elysia's invitation, Kalpas was momentarily stunned, then let out a cold snort and shook his head.
Because of certain experiences in his earlier years, Kalpas wasn't exactly eager to display his power in front of others.
To him, being an ordinary, unnoticed laborer was just fine.
During the day, he'd work, maybe look after those annoying kids.
Although, hearing that a cure for the children's illness had been found did make him happy—not because he'd always been worried about them, of course. It was just that they'd wipe his sweat and bring him water while he moved things. He just wanted them to have better lives.
Kalpas wasn't one for sweet talk.
"Aww, what a shame! Kalpas, you're so strong!"
Elysia looked at him with some disappointment but didn't press further.
Just then, hurried footsteps approached from the edge of the sanatorium grounds—Pardo rushed in, looking frantic.
"It's… it's bad!"
Pardo was clutching the bag, panting heavily as she looked at everyone.
"Pardo? What's wrong? Why are you so scared… Don't tell me… you got caught stealing? Is someone with a kitchen knife chasing you right now?"
Seeing how panicked Pardo looked, Elysia couldn't help but tease her.
"Elysia-sis, you're spot on! But this is way worse than that! There's an assassin in Sundown Alley!"
Pardo quickly explained everything that had happened after she met Sakura.
"I'm telling the truth… Look!"
As she spoke, she tossed the bag onto the ground, and all sorts of weapons spilled out in front of everyone.
Seeing this, Acheron frowned slightly.
She could guess—it was probably Sakura.
But the key point was… she had come here personally to handle this matter. Were the higher-ups still unwilling to leave the children of Sundown Alley alone?
To be honest, Acheron was losing patience. How could they possibly save the world properly while working with these vermin?
They knew exactly where she was, and they chose to send Sakura at a time like this. Were they trying to work her to death?
Oh, wait—strictly speaking, Sakura really was from that region…
Faced with Pardo's warning, Acheron had run out of patience. She decided then and there—after returning this time, it was time to start planning a change in leadership at Fire Moth. The weather was getting cold; it was time to give Dr. Mei a little more… responsibility.
Acheron had no interest in playing political games with the higher-ups. To her, these parasites deserved to be crushed underfoot.
"If I'm not mistaken… this assassin's target is this sanatorium."
After a moment's thought, Acheron briefly explained the situation.
Of course, she didn't mention anything about the whole Origin Incident.
After all, even in this world, very few people knew about that.
"What!"
Before Aponia could respond, Kalpas erupted in fury, "Who was it? I'll rip their head off and shove it down a toilet!"
"Heads don't fit in toilets…"
Hearing Kalpas's words, Acheron reminded him matter-of-factly.
No one expected her to respond so literally.
Elysia couldn't hold back—she covered her face with her hands.
But just then, familiar footsteps sounded from outside the door. They were unhurried, yet carried a chilling sense of urgency.
"Ack, she's here! She's here!"
Hearing the ominous footsteps, Pardofelis quickly hid behind Acheron.
"Save me, Mei-sis! I stole her weapons—she's definitely going to come after me! I'm too young to die, Mei-sis!"
Pardo stared at the suddenly appearing Sakura, her words tumbling out rapid-fire.
She scanned the surroundings, searching for any way Acheron could resolve this.
However, the fight ended far more quickly than she had imagined.
Sakura had thought that, as a MANTIS, even if she couldn't defeat Acheron, the gap between them wouldn't be that large.
But reality dealt her a brutal blow.
The moment she even hinted at moving to strike, Acheron's sheathed blade was already in motion.
One move—just one—and Acheron had defeated her, resting the blade against Sakura's neck.
"Don't move. Otherwise, I can't guarantee your safety."
Acheron held her blade, her tone calm and detached.
She was just a MANTIS. If Acheron hadn't held back, she could have ended Sakura's life with that single cut.
"I've lost… I never imagined the gap between us would be this vast…"
Sakura looked at Acheron, her voice resigned.
"Join us. Someone of your talent shouldn't be left to rot in the shadows."
Elysia, watching from the side, couldn't help but speak up.
But even as Elysia tried to persuade her, Sakura kept her eyes closed and remained silent.
Seeing this, Acheron let out a nearly imperceptible sigh.
"Sakura… you told me once that you have a little sister. You wouldn't want her to find out what you really do for a living, would you?"
The moment Acheron's words left her lips, Sakura immediately agreed to her request, without the slightest hesitation.
Well, for a siscon, little sisters were the ultimate trump card!
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.