Bang, bang, bang! After firing her handgun and eliminating the undead creature before her, the twintailed girl in an ornate red dress lowered her weapon and stood in place, breathing a sigh of relief. Those troublesome enemies had finally been wiped out.
Her left eye was concealed beneath her long bangs, while her exposed right eye was filled with vigilance. In this chaotic world, she had no choice but to act this way. Otherwise, she would only bring even greater disaster upon herself.
Clap, clap, clap... A round of applause came from behind her. The sensitive girl whirled around and raised both hands, aiming her guns at the newcomer as she asked solemnly, "Who are you?"
"Me?" His entire body was covered by a cloak, with only the upper half of his face exposed. Yet even that was hidden behind a pair of black sunglasses, leaving not the slightest trace of his appearance visible to others.
Hearing the girl's question, he tilted his head and thought for a moment, as though he were genuinely considering who he was. Only after quite some time did he sigh. "I don't know who I am either. However, the reason I came looking for you has nothing to do with discovering my identity."
"Oh, you came looking for me? For a reason? I wonder what qualifications a solitary person like me could possibly possess for you to say such a thing." Her exposed eye watched the newcomer cautiously. At such a time and in such a place, she had absolutely no reason to trust him.
"No, no, no. Being alone does not necessarily make you useless. You must understand that it is precisely those who have nothing left who possess the motivation to complete missions that may otherwise be impossible. Do you understand? Heh." His words were shrouded in mystery, and that final chuckle made the girl's body stiffen. He was dangerous.
"If that is all you came here to say, then you may leave. There is nothing for us to discuss." She did not want to deal with this person. She felt that if this continued, she would inevitably be forced into a passive position and left with no choice but to make a decision.
"Kurumi Tokisaki." After hearing her impolite response, the man fell silent for a moment before finally getting to the point. First, he spoke the girl's name, causing her grip on her guns to tighten. Only then did he explain his purpose for coming here in a low voice.
"A Dimensional Assassination Order. Will you accept it? Don't tell me you don't know what that is. If you weren't a member of the Time Assassins, I would never have sought you out." Faced with his bluntness, Kurumi Tokisaki could no longer continue pretending. She withdrew her guns and looked at him with a strange smile. "Interesting. Then who do you want me to kill?"
"A girl named Deloris. Her true name should be Chu Lian. Planetary coordinates: Origin Planet A001." He adjusted his glasses and spoke in a grave voice.
"Deloris? Chu Lian? Isn't that one of the names at the very top of the Time Assassins' mission list? Since you want me to kill her, you could simply have me accept that mission. Why come speak to me personally?" Her interest was piqued. What secret was this man hiding?
"No, no, no. The price listed by the Time Assassins for killing her is far too high. I have no intention of wasting that much money, which is one of the reasons I came looking for you. You're cheaper." The man laughed freely, showing no concern over whether his words might offend the girl. He spread his arms and shrugged.
"I'm cheap?" The girl's pupils contracted slightly. Was this person provoking her?
"What I mean is that I have a way to lower your price. In fact, I can compel you to complete this mission without paying much at all." The man shook his head, denying Kurumi Tokisaki's interpretation.
"Then what price can you offer to make me kill her? According to the information, countless powerful individuals surround her. I cannot guarantee success. The same remains true even if I face her alone."
Kurumi Tokisaki was no fool. The other true identity of the girl known as Deloris—Chu Lian—was precisely the reason everyone feared taking that mission.
"I know none of you want to accept her mission because it is too dangerous and could easily provoke enemies you cannot oppose. But that doesn't matter. You will accept it." The man stopped there. Although Kurumi Tokisaki could not see the lower half of his face, she could sense that he was smiling beneath the cloak, and that his smile was wildly arrogant.
"The price I offer is helping you revive the other Spirits, along with three hundred thousand crystal coins that can be used for transactions in shops across any plane. Will that be enough?" The first offer alone, without even considering the second, made the girl's eyes narrow. The light flickering within them was extraordinarily dangerous.
"You should know how difficult and costly it would be to revive them. Moreover, the price you're offering is far lower than the direct reward for assassinating Chu Lian." Judging by her words, she seemed unwilling to accept such an unequal mission.
"Stop pretending. Why did you become a Time Assassin in the first place? Why have you slaughtered your way through these places and accepted countless missions? Wasn't everything you did meant to revive the other Spirits? The mission I'm giving you will allow you to achieve your goal instantly. What could possibly be more worthwhile?" His voice carried a sinister laugh. It was already a threat, yet it was one the girl could not resist.
"Raise the price. I also want half the crystal coins paid in advance. I need to make preparations." She closed her eyes. After a long while, she opened them again. Only determination remained within them, with no trace of hesitation.
"Very well. Five hundred thousand crystal coins, then. Half in advance, two hundred and fifty thousand. Once you complete the mission, the remaining two hundred and fifty thousand crystal coins, along with the revival of the other Spirits, will be my responsibility." The man waved a hand. Her demand for a higher price was entirely within his expectations. Was that not the true reason she had argued with him for so long?
Five hundred thousand crystal coins was an enormous fortune even to him. If not for the sake of achieving that objective, he truly would not have been willing to pay so much. However, as long as she died, he would recover everything he had spent dozens of times over.
Beep! Two purple cards overlapped. Two hundred and fifty thousand crystal coins instantly vanished from the man's card, while the same amount appeared on Kurumi Tokisaki's, bringing her balance to exactly one million.
"All right. I've already given you what you asked for. I look forward to hearing that you've completed the mission. As for the contract, it's here. Would you like to read it, or write a new one yourself?" The man took back his card with a pained expression, then looked at the girl's unwavering gaze and asked seriously.
Was there even any need to ask? She had always been exceedingly cautious for the sake of her goal. She did not trust this man in the slightest, so how could she possibly accept a contract he had written? "I'll write it myself."
As she spoke, she took a scroll from the small pouch she carried and used spiritual power to write a passage of incomprehensible text upon it in midair. She then handed it to the man.
"Okay. Since you've already written it, I don't need to look. My dear, good luck." In contrast to the cautious Kurumi Tokisaki, the man appeared remarkably careless. Without even glancing at the words written on the contract, he signed his true name.
The contract was established. Under the watchful gaze of an archdevil of the Endless Abyss, the agreement was successfully sealed. Should either party violate it, they would have to await its pursuit across countless dimensions of time and space.
"Assassination Order." Kurumi Tokisaki picked up the scroll, gently rolled it up, and placed it inside her pouch. She had now accepted this S-rank mission among the Time Assassins. Whether she could actually complete it remained unknown.
I will revive all of you, no matter how heavy the price I must pay. In the eyes of the world, she had always been an arrogant girl who mercilessly slaughtered other living beings. Yet after all her sisters died, she alone had shouldered the responsibility of bringing them back.
"Killing her will not be simple. I need to think carefully about how to proceed." Turning around, she headed toward the small hotel in the distance. She had already delayed her previous mission for quite some time. Hopefully, the client would not be angry, or her income would be reduced yet again...
"Hah... hah..." Chu Lian jolted upright in terror, gasping heavily. She pressed a hand against her chest. The lingering sense of fear still coiled there, leaving her deeply unsettled.
"Lian, what's wrong?" Inori was startled awake by her movements. She opened her eyes and looked at Chu Lian's pale face with concern.
"I dreamed that someone was hunting me. I fled without any destination in mind, then fell into a bottomless abyss, doomed beyond salvation..." Chu Lian slowly released a breath. That dream had left her far too uneasy.
"Who was hunting you?" Inori was somewhat puzzled. For people at their level, dreams had already become exceedingly rare. If one did occur, it usually represented a rehearsal of some event or a warning that something was about to happen to the dreamer.
Since Chu Lian had dreamed of someone hunting her and of falling into a bottomless abyss, something similar was certain to occur in the future. Inori wanted to know what Chu Lian thought about it.
"Perhaps it concerns something in the future. Perhaps it will happen very soon. I don't know how I should face it. For now, the only thing I know is that I have at least sensed it in advance." Chu Lian touched her forehead, which was covered in tiny beads of sweat caused by fear and tension.
"Then you must be careful, Lian." There was little Inori could do to help with something like this. All she could do was comfort the girl as best she could and prevent her from feeling that she was alone.
Chu Lian nodded. Even without Inori's reminder, she would take the matter seriously. "Don't tell Chu Chu and the others for now. Keep this between the two of us. Otherwise, if danger really does occur, things will become difficult."
It would be unwise to let too many people know about this matter. She first needed to understand what was truly happening before she could determine how to resolve it.
"Mm." Inori answered obediently. She believed Chu Lian would solve it. She had always believed in her, and Chu Lian had never disappointed her.
"Let's get up first, Inori. We'll all be training on the fourth floor today. If you get bored, you can come upstairs and watch us." Turning to the side, Chu Lian reached out and stroked the girl's soft, fair cheek. After giving the reminder, she pulled aside the blanket, stepped naked onto the floor, and stood before the full-length mirror to change clothes.
Someone hunting me? She stared at her reflection in the mirror. Behind her, there seemed to be the shadow of a person revealing an arrogant smile from within the darkness, like a venomous snake waiting for the opportunity to strike and kill with a single blow.
I will survive this, even if no one remains by my side. Chu Lian clenched her fists. In her heart, the possibility that someone would come to hunt her had already become the matter requiring the greatest vigilance during this period.
Bright sunlight shone outside the window, while the girl in the room was as beautiful as a painting. Yet within the heart of that picturesque figure lay an incomparably sharp blade already drawn from its sheath.
It was an unparalleled blade waiting for the enemy to step forward, so it could cleave them in two with a single slash and split open the chaotic heavens and earth to reveal a clear and radiant world.