Two figures materialized before him. Seeing the man and woman, Rei’s expression shifted to surprise beneath the shadow of his hood.
He recognized them. They were the pair who had been working at the food stall he had visited earlier. The grilled skewers he had bought there had been so delicious they had left a lasting impression, making their sudden appearance here all the more unexpected.
However, the shock on Rei’s face lasted only an instant.
They had come straight for him in this back alley. Assuming it wasn't a mere coincidence that two seemingly unrelated people had tracked him down, he readied the Death Scythe.
He didn't attack immediately, however, as neither of them appeared to be reaching for a weapon.
"...Would you mind lowering that?" the woman, Mura, asked in a polite, public persona tone. "We have no intention of being hostile."
For now, her eyes seemed to add. Rei didn't lower his Death Scythe; instead, he watched them with narrowed eyes.
Understanding the weight of his silence, the man beside Mura—Shistoi—raised both hands to show he meant no harm. Mura followed suit, raising her hands as well.
"I doubt you’ll believe us, but we truly don't want to be enemies. Could you please listen to our proposal?"
"Considering the timing," Rei countered, "it’s hard to see you as anything but accomplices to the children who just tried to kill me."
"True. I won’t deny that," Mura admitted frankly.
Judging that further deception would be useless, she didn't bother trying to hide their connection. Shistoi stood behind her, hands still raised, but his focus remained fixed on Rei’s every movement. He was prepared to grab Mura and bolt the moment things went south.
He didn't think for a second they could defeat Rei in a fair fight. All he hoped for was to buy enough time to escape. While he felt a pang of guilt at the thought of abandoning the children, he wasn't about to die for them. Shistoi kept his nerves taut, ready for anything.
It was precisely because he was so guarded that Rei called him out.
"The man over there seems awfully tense for someone who isn't hostile."
"...We are standing before an expert like you. A little tension is only natural," Mura replied.
"Is that so? Well, I’ll take your word for it."
Rei, who wasn't particularly well-versed in the styles of assassins, nodded. Still, he could sense that these two possessed combat power far beyond that of a typical adventurer. He kept his Death Scythe leveled, refusing to offer them an opening.
To be honest, this development was exactly what Rei wanted. With only four matches left before his fight with Noise in the Fighting Tournament, he still didn't feel confident that he could win. He needed real combat experience against powerful foes. One life-or-death battle was worth more than a week of training.
Besides, if these two were targeting him, it was better to deal with them now than wait for another ambush later. Sensing Rei’s shift in intent, Mura’s expression hardened. Shistoi lowered his hands and stepped forward, positioning himself as a shield for his partner.
"Shistoi," Mura murmured, her voice laced with concern.
Shistoi didn't look back. "I know you’re looking for a challenge," he said to Rei. "I’ll be your opponent. In exchange, let the woman and the children go."
Rei shifted his gaze to Mura. It was a cold, analytical look—not the way a man looks at a woman, but the way a warrior measures a threat. He noticed her long sleeves; they weren't just for the autumn chill. They were meant to hide the subtle movements of her muscles, making her actions harder to predict. He pegged her as rearguard support.
"Fine. I accept your proposal."
"Good. Then let’s change locations."
"No," Rei said, readjusting his grip on his weapon. "We fight here."
Shistoi clicked his tongue. He had hoped to lure Rei away and then use the crowds to disappear. He had no intention of fighting a fair duel. His survival instincts—a sharp sixth sense honed over years of underground work—warned him that he couldn't win this fight.
But Rei wasn't biting. Whether the boy had seen through his plan or simply wanted to get the fight over with, Shistoi realized he was trapped. He resolved himself and gripped the hilt of the longsword at his hip.
"Shistoi!?"
"Mura, please."
His voice was short, carrying two heavy meanings: Take care of the children and Leave this to me. Mura understood his intuition well enough to know there were no other options left.
"Wait a moment," Shistoi said. "If we’re fighting here, those kids are just in the way. Let us move them to the side."
"Fine. Do as you wish," Rei replied.
If they were going to fight, the unconscious children were indeed a nuisance. Rei didn't want to accidentally step on them and undo the mercy he had shown by not killing them.
Mura and Shistoi quickly dragged the children to the edge of the alley. Within minutes, they were done. Mura stepped back, and Shistoi turned to face Rei. She didn't intend to stay idle; she planned to look for any opening to intervene, either to kill Rei or to secure their escape.
The air in the alley turned suffocatingly heavy.
"Hah!"
With a sharp, whistled breath, Shistoi lunged. His longsword cleared its scabbard in a flash, aimed in a blistering thrust. He chose a point-based attack over a slash to make it harder for Rei to read his movements.
"Naive," Rei muttered.
He parried the sword tip with his Death Scythe and moved to entangle the blade, intending to whip it out of Shistoi’s hand. Shistoi yanked the weapon back instantly.
His thrust is a bit slower than Rhodos’s, but the speed of returning it to his hand is several steps ahead, Rei thought.
The faster recovery meant Shistoi could maintain a higher volume of attacks. Rei continued to parry the rapid-fire thrusts. Despite the repeated impacts, the longsword showed no signs of damage.
A magic item. Not bad for a skewer stall owner, Rei mused. In his mind, the man was still primarily defined by his previous job.
There was no point in just blocking forever. Rei decided to put more power into his next parry to shatter Shistoi’s posture. But the moment he shifted his weight, Shistoi’s attacks stopped, and the man leaped backward to put distance between them.
Is he out of breath? Rei wondered.
Shistoi’s face was flushed red. Rei assumed it was the result of anaerobic movement from the high-speed assault, but Shistoi was actually shivering. A cold dread had crawled up his spine. His sixth sense had screamed at him that something terrible was about to happen. He had jumped back purely out of a desperate survival reflex.
"Ready to go again? My turn."
Rei kicked off the ground. He didn't run so much as glide across the pavement at a terrifying speed. Shistoi followed his intuition again, throwing himself backward.
Slash!
The Death Scythe cut through the air where he had been standing an instant before with such force that it seemed to tear the atmosphere.
"You’ve certainly improved since the last time I saw you," Shistoi panted, wiping cold sweat from his brow.
Rei tilted his head. "You sound like you’ve watched me fight before."
The realization hit him. The inn attack on his way to the Imperial Capital. "So, you’ve been targeting me for quite some time."
"Who knows?" Shistoi replied, searching for an opening.
Damn, he really is a monster, Shistoi thought. He was already dangerous, but his growth rate is insane.
Shistoi couldn't find a single gap to exploit. Or rather, every time he saw a potential opening, his sixth sense blared a warning. Rei was intentionally creating those gaps to bait him into a counter-attack. It was a risky tactic, but Rei was willing to use it against an assassin he didn't mind killing.
"What’s wrong? Not going to attack? You came out here to show me your skills, didn't you? Don't tell me you’re only good at talking."
Shistoi didn't respond. He couldn't respond. They stood locked in a stalemate for several minutes.
Mura, watching from the side, glanced toward the entrance of the alley. Rei, focused entirely on Shistoi, didn't notice. Even with his skill, he didn't have the luxury of looking away while trying to bait a counter from a man with such sharp instincts.
Then, the silence was broken by the sound of approaching feet. About ten masked men appeared, armed with daggers. They weren't city guards.
"A diversion, then," Rei muttered.
Shistoi gave a small nod and began to retreat. Rei took a step forward, determined not to let them go, but Mura cried out.
"Now!"
The masked men threw glass jars. Rei leaped back, expecting an attack, but the jars weren't aimed at him. They shattered against the ground, releasing a massive, pitch-black smokescreen.
Rei realized he’d been played. He swung his weapon blindly into the fog.
"Flying Slash! Flying Slash! Flying Slash! Flying Slash! Flying Slash!"
Five waves of vacuum force tore through the dark smoke. Screams echoed in the alley, but by the time the air cleared, the Requiem Bell members were gone. Mura, Shistoi, the children, and the reinforcements had vanished. Only a few severed limbs remained on the blood-stained pavement.