"Nope."
The moment Felt finished speaking, the woman's voice followed, coldly snuffing out Felt's hope.
"Just like an assassin only gets one shot, not everything comes with a second chance."
"And besides… you won't be needing that chance anymore, will you?"
Won't be needing it anymore?
Felt froze.
Who the hell are you to decide that for me?
She was just about to argue back when, in that exact instant, an overwhelming sense of danger slammed into her.
It was the kind of terror that made your blood run cold, like being thrown into a cracked sheet of ice. Bone-deep killing intent swallowed her whole.
She could even feel the hair on her exposed skin stand up straight.
Danger!
Her brain practically short-circuited under the sheer intensity of it.
Only her body reacted, screaming at her to run.
Driven by that instinct, Felt lunged sideways without thinking, trying to dodge an attack she couldn't even see, one she didn't know where it was coming from or how it was being delivered.
But the moment she moved, her footing vanished.
Her body dropped into sudden weightlessness.
What… what is this?
Felt's mind went blank.
For something like this to happen in the middle of a life-or-death moment…
It felt like death had already been decided.
In this situation, even with Divine Protection, there was no way she could create leverage out of thin air in midair and avoid what was coming.
Just as her thoughts turned foggy and despair settled in, Satoru Gojo's voice rang out, amused and teasing.
"What's with that face? You're so tense you're practically puffed up like an angry cat."
Felt blinked, snapping back to herself, and realized Gojo's face had suddenly appeared right in front of her, wearing that irritatingly playful grin, eyebrows wiggling at her like he was having the time of his life.
And the attack she had sensed, the one her instincts screamed about, never came.
Now fully aware again, Felt stared at that annoyingly handsome face and finally realized what had happened.
Somehow, she'd been lifted off the ground again, dangling from her collar in Gojo's hand like a misbehaving kitten.
So that was the weightlessness.
The moment she identified the culprit, the suffocating danger vanished like it had never existed. Felt glared at him, furious.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Did he really have to pick her up so casually, like she was some pet?
And more importantly… she was their creditor. He was the one who owed her money. Who gave him the right to treat his creditor like this?
"Put me down already…"
"Sure."
And just like that, without warning, the same way he'd lifted her, Gojo simply let go.
"Thud."
Caught completely off guard, Felt stumbled and went down hard, landing on the floor.
"You bastard! Couldn't you wait until I finished talking…?!"
She climbed to her feet, fuming, words spilling out in pure rage.
But before she could finish, she noticed something was wrong.
The air had changed.
Her eyes lifted instinctively, and what she saw made her pupils snap tight.
Because standing right in front of her was her wealthy employer.
Only now, in the woman's hand, there was a strange purple curved blade.
Under the warehouse light, the ornate weapon gleamed with a sharp, icy edge.
And in front of it… Gojo's palm held it back.
Just like what she'd seen earlier in that alley, the blade couldn't get any closer, no matter how it tried.
Seeing that, Felt shuddered.
Now she understood exactly where that sense of crisis had come from.
And why it had disappeared so suddenly.
If Gojo hadn't moved, that blade would've come down on the exact spot where Felt had been standing.
Meaning, if he hadn't intervened just now… she would've…
"Oh?"
"What a shame. I was so close."
The alluring woman yanked her blade free and sprang back, smoothly widening the distance between herself and Gojo.
Her smile hadn't changed in the slightest, still wearing that half-laughing expression, like she hadn't just tried to murder someone.
"If the creditor dies, it really makes things difficult for us debtors."
Gojo watched her retreat, still smiling as if nothing had happened, then shrugged casually.
"Difficult…? That's completely backwards…"
Even with the tension snapping tight, Subaru Natsuki couldn't stop himself from muttering a complaint from the side.
"Huh? Is it?"
Gojo blinked like he'd just realized something, looking almost regretful.
Then he reached out and shoved Felt a step toward the woman, eyes wide and innocent.
"In that case, I'll leave my debt to you, beautiful lady."
Hearing that, Felt bared her small sharp canines and kicked Gojo in the shin.
What did he mean, leave her with it?
This absolute bastard.
"I'm so sorry, but I don't make a habit of interfering in other people's personal matters."
The woman spoke lightly, then smiled wider.
"But if everyone dies… debt stops being a problem, doesn't it?"
As she spoke, the tip of her pink tongue slid out like a snake tasting the air, slowly licking across her vivid red lips.
"Haaah!"
Old Man Rom, who'd been stunned behind the counter up until now, finally reacted.
With a roar, he grabbed a wooden club thicker than an ordinary man's thigh, like a baseball bat scaled up into something monstrous, and charged straight at the woman.
If she was an enemy, then there was nothing left to talk about.
"So you're from the giant tribe… I've never met one before."
The heavy club came down with a howling swing.
But the woman moved like a shadow, light and swift, simply stepping back to slip past the blow with ease.
With her cloak whipping around her, she looked like a venomous snake gliding through darkness.
Dangerous. Alert.
And capable of exploding into terrifying violence at any moment.
The club missed and slammed into the floor.
Wood shattered instantly. Splinters burst up into the air, proof of how horrifying Old Man Rom's strength truly was.
But he didn't pause for even a second.
A weapon no normal person could lift with both hands looked like a child's toy in his grip, swinging again and again with brutal momentum.
His relentless strikes forced the woman back repeatedly, making it look like she couldn't fight back at all.
"S-so strong…"
Subaru stared at the destruction Old Man Rom was causing, stunned.
"You think I'd choose to meet here for no reason?"
"With Old Man Rom around, nothing can go wrong…"
Felt's eyes stayed locked on the battle, her voice low and serious.