Prologue

Prologue

 

IN A CERTAIN CORNER of the city, a shadowy figure knelt on a slanted rooftop, nearly invisible against the night sky. They loomed there—watching, waiting—utterly motionless aside from the fluttering of their cloak and long black scarf in the breeze. This was unlikely to give the shadow’s position away, as their presence was completely imperceptible even to those who knew what to look for. Perhaps the only exception would have been one of their kinsmen.

Eventually, the shadow rose to its feet with a sigh, drew its blade, and braced itself for imminent combat. Sure enough, a man materialized directly in front of them. Just like the shadow, the man was garbed in black and lightly armored. The only noticeable differences between them were their unique weapons and the cloak and scarf the shadow wore.

“Well, look who it is. You here to guard the place, hotshot? Or are you just out to slit our poor guildmaster’s throat?”

“And yours, if you try to get in my way,” the shadow responded matter-of-factly. They had no intention of trying to reason with the man.

The man felt a chill run down his spine. Even as a fairly infamous assassin in his own right, he knew better than to challenge the most powerful killer around—the one they said could vanish into thin air at the drop of a hat and cleave through a thousand demons with nary a sound.

“Well, that’s just great. Never thought I’d get the chance to go toe-to-toe with the Silent Assassin himself. Lucky me,” the man said sarcastically. He braced himself for combat, though his brain was still flip-flopping between fight and flight. His opponent was small in stature, yet the sheer malice the shadow exuded made him break out in a cold sweat.

The shadow stared back at the man without a shred of human empathy, as a hunter would its prey. Then, with a flash, the shadow’s blade rent the frigid night air.

Before the man even knew what hit him, he fell to the ground with his eyes wide and his hands clutching at his neck, trying to stop the geyser of blood spurting from his throat. The shadow straightened and wiped their blade on their scarf before turning their gaze in the direction of their true quarry.

The blade quivered slightly in their trembling hand. The shadow steadied it with their other hand. Then, once more invisible, they slipped soundlessly through the window into the target’s bedchambers, where another throat in need of slitting lay fast asleep. If they were successful, this assassination would end all hope the shadow had of returning to a peaceful life. But there was no room for error, and no turning back now.

“Sorry, guys, but I have to do this. It’s the only way I’ll ever find closure. With this one man’s death, I’ll be exacting justice for so many people. And one in particular…”

The shadow—a teenaged boy by the name of Oda Akira, who not long ago had been nothing more than your average high schooler—whispered these words to no one in particular, then mustered his strength and made a single, decisive slash.

POV: ????

 

THE GIRL RAN through mud and muck, stumbling over roots and brambles in her desperate flight from her pursuer. This part of the forest was dense and most people deemed it far too dangerous to traverse, but she had no choice. All she could do was keep running as fast as she could, her long silver hair fluttering behind her.

But she couldn’t keep this up much longer. She was rapidly becoming both physically and mentally exhausted. She struggled to make out the terrain through her tears, and she could feel herself slowing with each stride. It was only because her pursuer was matching her pace—taking pleasure in the hunt—that she hadn’t been caught.

“Huff… Huff… Argh?!”

Perhaps her assailant had finally grown tired of the chase, as an arrow was shot from behind and pierced her calf. She knew of only one person who could aim so accurately while moving.

“Ugh… Wh-why…?” the girl begged as she fell. The stinging numbness in her leg spread through her body quickly, suggesting the arrow had been coated in a paralytic. The girl realized she was done for.

“Why, you ask?” her pursuer scoffed. Her face was nearly identical to the girl’s, only contorted into a malicious grin. “Funny, but that’s exactly what I was going to ask you. Why, oh, why, are you even still alive?”

The silver-haired girl shook her head. The words were like daggers to her heart. She knew what was coming next, and she would have covered her pointed ears if not for the paralysis.

“You’re supposed to be the Child of Blight, after all. Remember?”

“No… Nooooo!”

Those were the last words the girl wanted to hear from the mouth of someone she had once considered family. She staggered to her feet through sheer force of will and attempted to run again despite the numbness. But unbeknownst to her, all that lay in the direction she chose was a sheer drop down a rocky cliff.

Her golden-haired pursuer smiled complacently down at the girl, with just the slightest glint of twisted love twinkling in her eyes.

“Farewell, dear sister. I do pray that we shan’t meet again.”

 

When the silver-haired girl first came to after her fall, she found herself in the middle of an unfamiliar forest. Judging from the nearby ocean and her wet clothes, she guessed she’d washed ashore. Dazed, she scanned her immediate surroundings and determined her current situation was unfavorable, to say the least.

She let out a squeal upon noticing a black slime had come to make her acquaintance. Terrified, she tried to wriggle away, but even though the paralysis had long since abated, her immense fatigue made it difficult to move. She could only watch helplessly as the monster gradually swallowed her from the legs up.

“No, no, no! Slimes aren’t supposed to eat people!”

By the time she finished speaking, her entire body had been enveloped. The slime jiggled a bit, attempting to regain its bearings, but a noise on the other side of the thicket sent it into hiding in the shade of a nearby tree.

“Could’ve sworn I just heard a voice coming from around here,” said one voice.

“What? No way. Nothing but demons live in these parts,” said another.

Upon confirming these passersby were merely average humans, the slime demon dissolved into the soil.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Must’ve just been my imagination.”

“Let’s just go home. It’s starting to get dark out and it’s giving me the creeps.”

As night fell, only the trees remained to stand watch over the empty forest.