“Extra, Extra! Aiz Wallenstein Levels Up! Loki Familia prodigy breaks record and reaches Level Six!”

  The newspaper boy waved the copy of the Orario Gazette around enthusiastically, trying to catch pedestrians' attention from where he stood on the street corner. This news was well received by the ordinary citizenry, who were always eager to hear the latest gossip about the city’s adventurers.

  “I hear she’s been growing better as a swordswoman as well!”, a young man commented to one of his friends, “She’s been challenging higher-level enemies to duels and holding her own while doing it.”

  “Someone with crazy skill who also has a crazy growth rate? That should be illegal.”, his buddy quipped, heading over to the newsboy, “I’m gonna buy a copy.”

  The Orario Gazette sold out that morning, making the city's newsboys pleased as punch, since they got a commission on each sale. As they started home, the shroud of night enveloped the city, making it the adults’ time to come out and play. Amidst the drunken revelers and happy-go-lucky partygoers, a more shadowy figure glided down the street. Mindful not to linger in a crowded area for too long, he soon slipped into an alleyway, walking another 20 minutes before coming to a dilapidated old building. He knocked rhythmically, then muttered a passcode. After the sounds of locks clicking, he walked into the safehouse, going upstairs as the door hurriedly closed behind him. His superior, a shrewd-looking old man with cloudy grey eyes, sat in a wooden chair near the window, palms laced in a triangle formation. The old man didn’t acknowledge his subordinate as he walked into the room, yet the younger man spoke with little delay: “The enemy is on the move. No sign they’re coming for us.”

  The old man gave a small grunt, pursing his lips thoughtfully and moving his head side to side. He didn’t say anything, so the younger man continued: “Is it wise to remain within the city? The god of war is not a trifling opponent.”

  Even if Takemikazuchi Familia wasn’t coming for them immediately, there was always the chance they’d been compromised and were the next on the list. The young man had been surprised that Take Familia had moved out so soon, only an evening after they’d lost the goddess, but he supposed it made sense. Sekhmet Familia had been planning on moving the deity out of the city tonight. It’d been too risky to move her in the daytime, but the assassins had made the plans to bring her away the moment they’d confirmed the goddess's identity. It was too risky to keep her here. Once they had her out of the city, they’d be able to use her as a hostage against the emerald eyed swordsman.

  Take Familia likely would have guessed their plans, but it wouldn’t matter. There was no way they could find all of Sekhmet Familia’s safehouses. Even if they did, they couldn’t have figured out where the Familia had taken the goddess, or how they were planning to take her out of the city. No matter what, Sekhmet would triumph.

  However, that didn’t mean he and the old man were safe. Even if the goddess were transported safely away, their safehouse could still be a target. In response to the younger man’s worry, the old man gave another snort, then croaked out: “We’ve been ordered to stay put. The Familia wants to hold onto its assets in the city. If we ran away every time there was a threat, how long would it be before we were compromised for sure?”

  He gave a dry chuckle, then continued: “Worst comes to worst, at least we will be good bait.”

  The old man’s fatalistic attitude disgruntled the younger man. Other fanatics might’ve been willing to die for the Familia, but they were all psychopaths in his opinion. The young just wanted to collect his pay and stay out of trouble. Maybe he’d have a chance to slip away later. His eyes wandered from the old man to the window, only to widen in shock.

  In a single, suspended moment, he met the gaze of a pair of shining golden eyes that definitely hadn’t been there beforehand. Then everything came apart.

  …

  Aiz crashed through the window, foot striking out and smashing into the chest of the old man. Even as the younger man reached for his knives, her other foot was already kicking off the windowsill and catapulting her toward the assassin. She drew Desperate and cut the man down in the same motion, showing the killer no mercy. Sekhmet Familia was a dangerous and brutal organization. Sparing them here would likely endanger innocent people in the future, so Aiz would act accordingly. She ran down the stairs, bright eyes flickering around the safehouse even as she cut down the doorman. There was no sign of Hestia, so she crashed through the door and jumped back up to the rooftops.

  The scenery blurred as Aiz dashed to her next target, the night wind running through her long blonde hair. She needed to hit more than a dozen locations in a few hours, so Aiz didn’t have the luxury of taking it easy. She just hoped she’d find Hestia in time.

  …

  Elsewhere, a hooded figure floated toward the upper windows of a warehouse. It smashed through them with a casual grace, defying gravity as it hovered over the enemy. Pale moonlight illuminated the shocked faces of the assassins below, their mouths gaping as they stared up at the face of Death itself. The figure reached out, robes billowing as its hands began to glow with magical power. That glow danced across a skeletal face; a face steely in its intention to punish the interlopers who’d violated the peace of its master’s city.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  It was the face of a Grim Reaper.

  …

  Mikoto panted as she extracted her sword from the body of one of the assassins, head on a swivel as she searched for other threats. The four human members of Take Familia were moving as a pack, while Takemikazuchi himself was hunting alone. Between their two parties, their shadowy ally, and Aiz Wallenstein, they hoped to hit every enemy stronghold in a single night.

  Mikoto frowned as she saw Asuka get kicked away from her opponent, the assassin sprinting away at high speeds. Mikoto dashed to follow, but the man tossed a smoke bomb behind him, creating a cloud of poison that blocked her path. Mikoto slowed, unwilling to breathe in the toxins, but as she looked at it, something jogged her memory. She remembered the briefing their whole group had gotten before going on the mission. The shadowy figure, who her master referred to simply as ‘Fels’, had mentioned something important: “The enemy will likely attempt to leave via the tunnels under the city. I have eyes watching their entrances just in case, but there are too many entrances to secure easily. We will try to defeat them before they even get the chance to run.”

  The mention of tunnels back then didn’t ring any bells, but now that she was confronted with this smoke, another memory resurfaced. A memory of assassins disappearing into a cloud of smoke, leaving no trace behind, when she’d first tried to chase them down. Was it possible that they’d escaped into the tunnels back then?

  Take Familia’s adventurers had just finished off their first target, and the route to their second target took them close by the place those men had initially disappeared. If there was an entrance to the tunnels there, maybe the assassins would try to use it now.

  …

  Mikoto suppressed her excitement as she watched from the shadows of Orario’s rooftops, examining the trio slinking through the alleyway below. One of the men carried a human-sized bag on his back, while the others covered him from the front and the back. It was possible that these men were decoys, but Mikoto intended to go after them anyway. Before she did, she’d inform the others of her findings. Fels had given each operation member a crystal that could relay one’s voice across a long distance to anyone who held a corresponding crystal. She took hers out, muttering softly into the device: “Three enemies spotted in the alleyways near Southwest Main Street. They look like they have the goddess. I’m in pursuit.”

  Ouka had given her leave to check up on this lead as the rest of the Familia moved on to their objective. He hadn’t given her leave to chase after the enemy alone, but he’d understand. If she waited for the others, the assassins would get away. Mikoto pretended not to hear the responses of “stay put” echoing from her crystal as she dropped into the alleyway. The enemies had walked into a dilapidated shack while she was informing the others, and Mikoto crept along like a lynx as she walked to the building’s entrance. She waited a bit before trying the door. Locked. Mikoto deftly picked the lock, sending the door creaking open and revealing a barren room with a deep hole in its floor. She looked at the hole critically before fishing something out of her back pocket. Mikoto tossed a smoke bomb into the hole, listening intently as it fell and released its payload, then jumped down after it. The billowing smoke obscured her as she fell, even as she threw several kunai out into the darkness. Mikoto heard a muffled cry of pain and dashed in its direction the moment her feet hit the ground, drawing her katana as she did. The assassin tried to defend himself, but he was already wounded and off balance. After a few exchanges of blows, she lodged her sword in his guts and ended the fight.

  “That bomb didn’t have poison in it.”, she though to herself with some satisfaction. The assassin had been lying in wait for her, ready to ambush Mikoto the moment she dropped down. He’d moved around the moment the bomb dropped down, expecting poison from the device. The sound of his movement gave away his position, allowing Mikoto to ambush him with kunai from within the smoke. Only one of those projectiles had found its target, but it was enough.

  The young adventurer quickly continued dashing after her target, swearing in her heart that the enemy wouldn’t get away from her a third time. Pursuant to that, she dropped all pretense of stealth and began chanting, body soon surrounded by purple light. A slight whistling sound from in front of her was the only warning she had of the incoming dagger, which she deflected at the last moment. An assassin had been lying in ambush from around a bend in front of her, a fact which she’d guessed rather than known. The defender had sensed her magic and had been forced to engage her on her terms rather than trying to ambush her.

  Still, there was a major disadvantage to this strategy. If she dropped the magic mid-cast, she’d face significant backlash, leaving her at the mercy of the assassin’s blade. She’d need to keep up the chant while fighting, a skill that most adventurers didn’t have. It was an especially rare skill for someone as ‘green’ as her.

  The assassin likely expected to win the fight the moment he started attacking her. Indeed, he seized the advantage immediately, driving her back with a sequence of well-disciplined strikes. Nevertheless, Mikoto defended herself well, turning away each attack even as she was forced to give ground. The enemy’s eyes narrowed in frustration even as he held the initiative, for one simple reason. She held onto her chant. Mikoto didn’t even stutter as she was put at a disadvantage, blade flashing as she parried and blocked with exceptional skill despite the focus her magic required. She’d mastered this technique over long hours in the Dungeon with Adama, Oni-sensei making this ability a high priority for her to learn. The assassin was one of the best Level 2s Sekhmet Familia possessed, and he’d likely win a normal swordfight against the young adventurer under any other circumstances. Unfortunately for him, this was not a normal swordfight.

  “Futsunomitama!”

  Both fighters were surrounded by a powerful amethyst light, but only one of them was ready for it. The assassin staggered, unprepared to handle the heightened gravity, giving Mikoto the only opening she needed. He was a beat too slow in blocking her next attack, allowing her to sever his carotid artery in a smooth, clean stroke. He didn’t last much longer after that.

  Mikoto heaved like the bellows as she dropped the magic, the stress and exertion of both fights weighing heavily on her despite their brevity. She forged onward despite her exhaustion, desperate to see things through. After more running, she finally came to the tunnel’s end, spying her quarry making his way onto an open field. Her heart sank, however, to see that two more enemies had joined the man. They’d been waiting for their comrade with a few horses in tow, clearly well prepared for this escape. The duo each drew a pair of twin daggers and rushed her, determined to finish their pursuer off as their comrade rode away. Mikoto raised her sword in despair, prepared to fight to the death even though she knew it was hopeless.

  She didn’t have the time to finish the thought before an arrow took the fleeing assassin in the side.

  He went down as several more projectiles spouted from his body. One of the men attacking Mikoto was also shot before he could even reach her, and the other one turned on his heels and tried to get away. He didn’t get very far.

  Mikoto was gobsmacked at the sudden reversal in fortunes. Had Chigusa come to her rescue again? Her eyes wandered to the place the arrows had come from, landing upon the slight figure of a dog-eared, cienthrope girl. Naaza’s purple eyes gleamed in the moonlight, giving Mikoto a friendly salute from her posting on the wall. Fels had stationed her there in case of this exact situation. The fighter gave the archer a giddy salute in response and took off. Mikoto found the body of the man carrying the bag, cutting the burden free and unwrapping the bag with great care. Raven hair spilled out, and Mikoto let out a breath of relief as she set eyes on the beautiful, sleeping face of Hestia, mistress of the Hearth.

  Mission accomplished.