Ever since she was born, Mieruko had been able to see what she thought were ghosts.
She was scared of them; they were disgusting and horrifying in appearance, appearing out of nowhere at any time and in any place. Over time, she had learned to deal with them by ignoring their existence, acting as if they didn't exist. It was a method of self-preservation which had worked fine for several years, inspired by the fact that ordinary people who couldn't see them lived their lives normally, as the ghosts never attacked them. Although it was really difficult for her, she held herself together and did her best to deal with it.
That was until two weeks ago... she saw something that nearly broke her.
A ghost. Eating a human.
Due to her strong mental power built over the years, she barely prevented herself from puking on the spot. Looking at the innards and flesh of the human body being eaten in such a way... it made her feel... unprecedented fear. So she turned around and ran back home at full speed.
'Why? Why can they kill humans now?? No no no no I'm scared I'm so scared! Am I going to die? Will it kill me too?? B-but I don't want to die..... I don't want to be eaten.... sniff'
Locking herself inside her room, she neither went to school nor went outside. Due to this, her family got really worried too. But even after their repeated persuasion, she refused to leave her room, still suffering from the psychological damage of what she saw that day.
Alas, she couldn't stay cooped up in her room for the rest of her life either, especially in a society that wouldn't allow it. So, when her friend Hana came to take her back to school, she had to reluctantly go with her even if she didn't want to.
'It's alright, it was probably a one-time thing? That ghost might be a special one.... yes that's right there probably aren't any more ghosts like that.....'
She repeatedly cast self-hypnosis on herself to regain her calm. Unfortunately for her, she somehow came face-to-face with the same ghost while walking.
The ghost also saw them, its creepy eyes fixed completely on Hana. With trembling legs, she quickly grabbed the confused Hana's arms and tried to turn away.
But as she was doing that, her eyes met with the ghost's.
And almost instantly, the ghost made an extremely creepy smile as if to say...
Found You.
Then it directly rushed towards them on all fours!
Mieruko was about to run when she stumbled over her own legs and fell on her butt.
"Mieruko-chan! Are you okay?"
She couldn't even listen to her friend's worried voice as the ghost was approaching at a rapid pace!
'N-no I-I don't want to die....'
Mieruko trembled in fear as she instinctively started calling out every god's name she knew.
'God, Jesus, Buddha please help me!'
Interestingly, her prayers seemed to have been heard.
"Get away, trash."
An unknown kid suddenly walked out from the alley in front of her and slapped the ghost.
As soon as the boy's hand touched the monster, it instantly exploded into pieces before disappearing into black smoke.
Then, as if nothing had happened, the boy continued walking on his way, completely ignoring the two of them as if they didn't even exist.
"Hm? Mieruko, do you know that kid?" Hana asked in curiosity, seeing her friend stare dumbfoundedly at the departing boy.
Then, without any warning, Mieruko suddenly jumped up from the ground and replied with a strong light in her eyes.
"I don't know him!"
"...."
If you don't know him, then why do you sound so excited?
Ignoring the concerned look her friend was giving her, Mieruko quickly rushed after the leaving boy.
From then on, for an entire week, she followed him like a ghost.
She saw him casually killing ghosts that appeared in his path like a god.
Several weaker ghosts didn't even dare to come into his path and kept hiding away. It was an incredible and extremely enviable sight for her.
'He's the one who moved in recently.....'
She found his home, which wasn't far from her own. The only problem was that he almost never leaves his house.
'Does he live here alone? I never saw anyone else enter...'
One day, getting impatient from waiting, she finally rang his doorbell.
"Who is it?"
Hearing the familiar voice from the doorbell, she quickly opened her mouth and said, "Excuse me, but I have something very important to ask you—"
"Go away."
The voice disappeared just as fast as it had come. Mieruko instantly became anxious and quickly pressed the doorbell again.
"Please! Please! I really need your help! Please just listen to me—"
Clink.
The light on the doorbell vanished; it seemed to have been disabled from the other side. Mieruko clenched her bag and bit down on her lip.
After thinking for a moment, she turned around and left. This didn't mean she was giving up. This was the first time she had found hope to deal with these monsters; there was no way she would give up. Instead, she simply changed her plan to meet him when he came out of his house. She would wait as long as she had to; she even had her friend Hana help her keep watch.
And perhaps it was God's grace or her good luck, the kid finally left his home.
After getting the message from Hana, she immediately left her house and ran with all her strength.
And the result was quite unexpected... It seemed the kid she had been looking for was about to be assassinated.
----
As the assassin was approaching at rapid speed, she failed to notice that Phantom had secretly pulled a cursed spear from his shadow.
Then, as soon as she came in range, he used the length of the spear to his advantage and launched a surprise attack, catching her off guard.
Clank.
The dagger in her hand trembled as a tremendous force assaulted her arm.
'How can a young kid be so strong?.....'
Had his cursed energy reinforcement reached such a level?
She thought in disbelief as the spear moved with great agility and rushed at her from several different angles: shoulder, leg, abdomen, and heart.
Moving the dagger in her hand, she parried the attacks in quick succession.
She then took a step forward to decrease the distance between them when suddenly her pupils constricted.
'Behind!'
Two dogs with their mouths wide open were right behind her, having jumped out from the shadow. She had been careless.
The previous attack wasn't meant to injure her but to grab her attention.
At the same time, from her front, Phantom waved his spear and attacked without pause. It was a pincer attack from both sides.
Seeing that she was about to be injured, the assassin remained calm and muttered, "Flow."
A cursed light shone on her body as she activated her cursed technique.
Instantly, her body moved as if it had no bones, dodging both the spear and the wolves' attacks while bending at an impossible angle and counterattacking at the same time.
Phantom used the shaft of the spear to deflect the attack before taking a step back and looking calmly at her.
"Is this your cursed technique? Does it increase your body's flexibility or change its composition entirely?"
The assassin got back on her feet and gave Phantom a dangerous look before saying, "Why would I tell a dead man anything?"
"I wasn't looking for an answer.... I have assessed that your cursed technique is useless to stop me, so die."
Then, before she could react, Phantom moved at incredible speed, leaving afterimages in his path.
Cursed Technique: Projection Sorcery.
Instantly, the assassin was stabbed by a 24-frame hit combo.
Both her eyes, the muscles in her hands and legs, along with her spine, were hit precisely. As the technique ended, she powerlessly dropped to the ground with blood flowing from all over her body, unable to move.
"M-monster....." she muttered one last time before losing consciousness.
Phantom moved his shadow and enveloped the assassin to send her to the master.
At the same time, he turned his head to look at the girl who had fallen to the ground at some point.
It was the same one who had been audaciously following him all this time.
After sensing her cursed energy, which was only slightly better than the average person's, he had ignored her, thinking she was just a random girl with brain damage. But today, she somehow appeared right with the assassin...
'An accomplice? I was too careless because she appeared too weak.....'
Phantom's expression hardened as he took steps toward the girl, reached out with his hand, and grabbed her neck.
"Tell me, are you with the assassin? Here to gather information on me?"
He tightened his grip around her neck, making her face turn red as she quickly grabbed his hands as a survival instinct.
"Ack—no p-please... not with her."
"Not with her?"
Phantom slightly released his grip, allowing her to breathe.
Just as Mieruko felt a little relieved, a sharp blade's tip was placed right before her eyes. Phantom was about to ask another question when he suddenly noticed something and lowered his gaze.
He could see a liquid sliding down her legs, forming a small puddle.
She had peed herself...
'Is she.... really an assassin?'
Phantom couldn't help but doubt himself. Even after he stabbed the real assassin so many times, instead of screaming, she had simply cursed him before passing out.
But this one... from just a little fear, she had embarrassed herself.
As Phantom was wondering what to do, a sudden memory from his master appeared in his mind, clearing his doubt.
Looking at the woman, he opened his mouth and asked:
"You, what is your name?"
"M-Mieruko....."
The name matched what his master had shared with him.