"This one seems to be a little girl, huh? She looks lost."
The gay looking man, hiding in the dark alley behind his burly bodyguard, peeked out and scanned the suddenly appeared woman with shifty, heavily lined eyes.
He voiced his confusion, fanning himself with a silk handkerchief.
The skinny trafficker snapped out of his shock. He sneered and pointed a dirty finger at the opposite side, shouting.
"Whose wild child is this? This isn't a playground! Get lost before we sell you too!"
The masked girl in the cloak didn't speak.
Instead, she slowly placed her hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist. With deliberate, calm movements, she gradually drew the weapon.
SHING.
With a clear ring of metal, the gleaming blade was revealed in the dark alley, reflecting the moonlight.
Yet almost everyone present—the traffickers, the buyer, and even Ankh watching from the rooftop—nearly burst out laughing.
The blade was notched in several places along its edge like a saw, and even the body of the sword was slightly bent.
It was clearly a shoddy, worn-out weapon that had seen too many battles without maintenance.
Seeing this, Ankh couldn't help but remark from his perch, "Did this girl just pick up this sword off the street? It looks like scrap metal."
The skinny man burst into raucous laughter, clutching his stomach.
He sneered, "With this piece of junk, you couldn't even slaughter a chicken—"
WHOOSH!!
Before he could finish his insult, the girl's figure vanished from where she stood.
A shadowy form swept toward him like a phantom!
SLASH.
The skinny man had no time to react before a bone-chilling cold pierced his chest, followed by the splatter of scorching liquid across his face.
"Gah?!"
The girl reappeared behind him.
She raised her chipped blade, her body slightly coiled like a nimble panther, exuding a fierce grace.
Even Ankh was taken aback.
This sudden strike showed genuine skill.
'She's fast.'
The skinny man howled as he stumbled backward, clutching his chest. B
lood seeped through his fingers.
He roared in fury, "What are you all standing around for?! Grab this brat! I'm selling her off to some old man for scraps!"
Beneath her hood, the girl's eyes flashed with an icy gleam. Calm and composed, she brandished her blade at the crowd of traffickers charging toward her.
CLANG! CLASH!
The sounds of clashing steel and flesh echoed through the dark alley.
The gay man trembled back into a corner in fear, watching the violence unfold.
"Monsters! They're all monsters!"
Inside the cage, the two children shuddered with terror.
The little girl was too frightened by the splattered blood to make a sound, burying her face in the boy's shirt.
The boy, however, watched the flurry of blade techniques with a glimmer of hope in his wide eyes.
The girl's combat skills and swordsmanship were remarkably polished.
Alone, she managed to repel dozens of armed traffickers with a broken sword.
Sensing the aura around her, Ankh mused thoughtfully, "She has considerable Magic Power within her... yet she doesn't use it. She's relying purely on kenjutsu."
"Then again," Ankh added, watching her deflect a dagger, "with swordsmanship like that, she's more than capable of handling these scum without magic."
[She's about sixteen,] Seram's voice echoed in Ankh's mind. [In terms of talent, she could easily rival those youngsters in the guild like Erza or Mirajane. She seems burdened... like she has a story.]
Seram accurately deduced the girl's age and shared his impression.
'At such a young age, to possess this level of Magic Power,' Ankh thought, 'her magical talent alone would earn her a place among the top mages... Such prodigies were rare outside of Fairy Tail.'
While Ankh and Seram were conversing, the skirmish in the alley had already left a heap of bodies sprawled across the ground.
The thugs were groaning in pain, incapacitated.
The girl lifted her thumb, quietly wiping the crimson blood from her blade. Her gaze fixed intently on the few remaining foes.
The skinny man, his face pale with rage and pain, glared at the girl who had wreaked such havoc.
Clutching his wound, he roared, "Don't think you've won! I'm a Mage too!"
With a roar, he produced a wand-like stick from nowhere.
He began muttering incantations under his breath as he traced the pattern of a magic circle in the air.
'A Holder-Type Mage' Ankh noted. 'Similar to Mystogan, Cana, and Lucy.'
Compared to Magic like Natsu's fire, Holder-Type Magic was easier to learn but harder to master, and it lacked flexibility.
Magnolia had only one Magic Guild—Fairy Tail—so this man must have come from elsewhere.
His technique seemed mediocre at best.
"Take this—Fireball!"
The skinny man shouted.
The magic circle before him glowed with a faint red light. In moments, a massive fireball, as tall as a person, shot forth!
The girl focused her energy. She didn't flinch, she drew her blade back and charged straight toward the blazing fireball.
SHING! SHING!
Several icy glints flashed through the air. The massive fireball seemed to enter a blender.
The scorching heat in the atmosphere instantly shattered and dissipated on both sides, cut into harmless sparks.
The skinny man hiding behind the flames now bore a bloody gash on his face that hadn't been there moments before.
With an expression of utter disbelief, he slowly collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Simultaneously, the katana in the girl's hand glowed red from the intense heat of the cut fire.
CRASH!
Before she could regain her composure, an enormous fist came crashing down!
The bodyguard behind the gay man suddenly charged forward.
He was huge, wearing brass knuckles.
He sent the sword-wielding girl flying with a single punch, despite her attempt to block with the flat of her blade.
SNAP.
The long sword that had just proven its worth finally shattered into fragments under the tremendous force.
Only the hilt remained clutched in the girl's hand.
The girl landed on her feet, skidding back.
She sighed and casually tossed the broken hilt to the ground.
"Another one broken..." she murmured.
Seeing her disarmed, the gay man immediately jumped out from his corner, laughing hysterically.
"You bitch! Hahaha! How are you going to fight me now without your toy?!"
"This guy was hired at great expense from the Mercenary Guild! He's a monster! Quick! Finish her off!"
The towering bodyguard remained expressionless, flexing his wrists as he advanced toward the unarmed girl.
However, a mocking smile abruptly appeared on the girl's indifferent face.
She raised her hand.
Her Magic Power, suppressed until now, gradually emerged from within like a rising tide.
"Gravity Change."
Above the dark alley, a massive magic circle materialized in the sky.
BOOM!
The gay man turned pale with terror, collapsing to the ground while frantically kicking his legs.
"My legs! I can't move!"
The bodyguard, who moments ago had exuded an Arnold Schwarzenegger-like aura, was now completely bewildered.
He struggled to lift his arms.
They had agreed on an assassin-warrior duel, and now you're telling me you're a mage?!
"Close... Open."
Amid the terrified and disgusted screams of the bodyguard and the gay man, the precise and cruel gravity compounded.
It pounded their bodies into the ground like crushing garlic, creating a dark, deep crater in the alley floor.
WHOOSH!
It was as if a tornado had swept through the alley.
The violent wind from the pressure surge nearly blew away the caged children.
Fortunately, the girl reacted quickly.
She rushed over to press down the cage against the wall to stabilize herself and the kids.
After the gale subsided, the girl lowered her hood.
Her pretty face was revealed. Though youthful, one could clearly see the heroic bearing she would possess in the future.
Her dark purple hair cascaded loosely around her shoulders.
While maintaining aesthetic beauty, they also revealed rarely seen heroic lines in a woman—a warrior's face.
Most striking were the girl's eyes.
Their coldness surpassed her age.
Sharp as blades, they betrayed no trace of weakness.
'The last time I saw such eyes,' Ankh thought, 'was from Erza when she was in serious mode.'
Meanwhile, the girl stood there, looking at her hands. She felt even more bewildered than the two who had just met their demise.
Because she knew that the Gravity magic just now... hadn't been cast by her.
'That level of gravity capable of crushing human bones,' she thought, 'was something I couldn't achieve even at my full power.'
At this moment, Ankh observed the girl's confused expression from the roof.
He nodded with a smile.
"I see. You're a Gravity Magic user too."
The girl's ears perked up alertly.
She turn around and finally noticed Ankh on the rooftop.
Assuming a defensive stance, she looked up and coldly demanded.
"Was that your doing just now? Who are you? Why are you helping me?"
Ankh leaped down from the roof.
He brushed past the highly vigilant girl as if she weren't there, walking straight toward the children still trapped in the cage.
He reached out and twisted the iron bars apart with his bare hands as if they were made of clay.
He scooped out the two little ones.
"How rude," Ankh said over his shoulder, smiling. "Before asking someone's name, you should introduce yourself first, right?"
Hmm... It seemed Ankh had selectively forgotten how "rude" he had been when he first met Mirajane all those years ago.
The girl fell silent for a moment, assessing him.
Finally, she answered succinctly.
"Kagura."
"Kagura?" Ankh was taken aback.
And he blurted out without thinking, "The one from Yorozuya? The gluttonous one?"
Kagura was puzzled by his question, looking at Ankh with confusion.
"What's Yorozuya? Is it a guild? I don't know that name."
"And... who is this glutton?"
Ankh quickly shook his head, chuckling to himself. "No, never mind. I mistook you for someone else from my... imagination. I thought you were that short-legged girl with the umbrella..."
Kagura gave the... weird man in front of her a strange look.
Her heart filled with caution.
'This guy who kept spouting nonsense was quite skilled,' she thought. 'He took down those men instantly without moving. I need to be careful.'
Ankh temporarily ignored the prickly Kagura.
Seeing that the two children he had freed were frightened, he quickly tried to soften his demeanor.
He knelt down and smiled gently.
"It's okay now. You're safe. And what about you two... what are your names?"
The two children exchanged glances.
The older-looking boy wiped his face and mustered his courage to speak.
"I... I'm Kira. This is my little sister... Kage."
"Oh... Kira Kage..."
Ankh nodded with a smile. "Nice names."
But after a moment, his expression slowly froze.
'Huh?'
'Holy crap?'
'That name sounds so cool, and... why does it feel so JoJo-esque?'
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