Slady was on the computer, searching for information on some scientific organizations, searching for those who killed her friend.
"..."
Shaphira and Elisa were preparing for their first raid on an Inferius.
"Slady, are we really ready?"
"Yes."
Slady stood up.
"Will you girls need help?"
"No, Slady,"
Elisa said, waving her hands.
"We can handle this on our own, thank you."
Slady frowned, sitting back down in her chair and letting out a sigh.
"Be careful,"
he said, without emotion. The girls nodded, leaving together to look for any Inferius who had appeared nearby.
Slady put her hands on her head...
"They are very talented girls, but they are too proud for someone who has only trained for a while."
Despite trusting in Shaphira and Elisa's abilities, he still feared something would happen to them.
***
Shaphira was in her Renkai Creature form, walking beside Elisa, who held her sword tightly. Their hearts were pounding nervously; despite having grown stronger with the training Slady had given them, they still lacked confidence.
Encountering an Inferius near Libretanhya, the two girls entered the dimension...
Their vision was blurry for a few seconds. Upon opening their eyes, they recognized it as an Infernal Inferius.
"My god, I didn't know it was so hot."
Elisa ran her hand over her face, feeling the sweat trickle through her hair faster than she expected. Shaphira simply shook herself, wiping the sweat from her fur.
As they walked, the two encountered several other Renkai Creatures roaming the dimension. Elisa grips her blade tightly, allowing her blood manipulation to merge with the sword, making it more powerful.
Shaphira stretches, letting out a roar, her claws and teeth sharpening, and her muscles becoming more rigid and resilient.
"Let's go!"
Elisa says commandingly, the pair advancing toward the Renkai Creatures with speed. Elisa slashes at the demons with her blade, using her blood magic to create a spike that pierces all the surrounding demons.
Shaphira uses her claws to pierce, her teeth to crush and consume, and her tail to stun them.
Minutes later, after the battle, the two have become exhausted and sweating even more. They meet with the Inferius Core, preparing to end the mission.
But suddenly, the dimension begins to tremble. Shaphira and Elisa stand next to each other. Then, from below ground, a huge demonic centipede emerges, making both women's eyes widen.
"Shaphira!"
Elisa reaches out to Shaphira, but upon returning to the ground, the demonic centipede devastates the area, throwing them both away from each other.
In the smoke, Elisa is thrown meters and meters away from Shaphira, struggling on the ground and losing consciousness in the process.
She then falls into a hole that leads to a huge pool of lava. In the air, Elisa's body begins to move closer and closer to the liquid...
Then her body is held by something that ultimately saves her by a few milliseconds: a red-haired woman with cold, red eyes.
She was wearing a kimono that gave her the appearance of a warrior. Her sword, which was on fire, she gripped tightly, forcing the blade to sink into the rocks. Then she began to climb back to the surface.
"That's not the one I should kill."
The redhead murmurs, and when she manages to return to the ground, she simply places Elisa in a safe place.
"..."
Her vision falls upon all the damage caused by the demonic centipede. Then, gripping her flaming sword tightly, she begins to run toward a large silhouette in the background.
Shaphira was still in her Renkai Creature form, fleeing from the demonic centipede, which was crawling along the rocks at breakneck speed.
"Where is Elisa?! I can't leave her alone!"
She thought to herself, trying to change her path to try and head toward the last place she had seen her.
But then, the demonic centipede leaps forward and opens its mouth with several teeth, ready to eat her...
Suddenly, that same centipede was cut in half and fell next to Shaphira. Due to the Renkai Creature's fall, she was thrown away.
When she opened her eyes, footsteps were heard coming toward her, and the red-haired woman appeared, staring at Shaphira with a cold gaze.
"It's you."
She prepared to kill her.
But just as she was about to strike Shaphira with her flaming blade, the same sword was knocked away in a single shot. The woman managed to catch the sword before it flew away, and as she stared at a small mountain...
"You were the one sent, weren't you?"
It was Slady, who was staring at the woman with the same cold gaze, slowly descending toward her.
"Shaphira, go away and get Elisa, now."
Slady said with a cold, firm tone. Shaphira, in her Renkai Creature form, nodded, running away. The woman didn't pursue the girl, her attention completely focused on him.
"So it's you, the one I was ordered to kill too."
She extended the blade toward Slady's head, who remained impassive. He noticed a certain hesitation in the red-haired woman, as if she didn't truly want to attack him, as if she were forced to.
"..."
"..."
The two fell silent, staring at each other...
Suddenly, two of them stepped forward. The woman attacks Slady, who defends with her bionic arm, causing a massive impact that forces the two apart.
"..."
"..."
Slady draws his pistols, starting to fire at the woman, who manages to cut through the ammunition with ease. She rushes toward him, preparing a horizontal slash at his head. Slady leans back, dodging the blow. Seeing in his peripheral vision, he manages to dodge an attack that devastates the horizon behind him.
"This woman... isn't normal at all."
The woman doesn't give Slady a chance to think, leaping above him and attempting to kick him in the head. Claws emerge from the man's back, wrapping around the redhead's leg, throwing her away.
She breaks the impact by plunging her sword into the ground. When she raises her head, she sees several shots heading toward her, their ammunition catching fire and emanating an electric aura.
She dodges the shots with some difficulty, but the woman hears a footstep behind her. Turning around, she finds Slady, who's preparing a horizontal strike toward the woman's neck.
She jumps back and kicks the mechanical arm, causing her foot to hurt and Slady's arm to lose some parts.
Slady quickly repairs his arm, but as he looks up, the woman is already preparing a kick to his face. Luckily, he dodges it, but it lands squarely on his eyepatch, sending him flying into the air and being burned by the Inferius's flame.
'Son of a bitch.'
Slady places his hand over the prototype eye. Despite the slight advantage, the woman doesn't move forward.
"..."
Seeing Slady's bionic eye, the woman is slightly shocked, seeing everything that man has had to put into his body over the years.
"That's it..."
She shakes her head, her coolness returning. In silence, she merely prepares to advance. Slady asserts her stance again, now with her bionic eye exposed, the five claws on her back positioned defensively and aggressively, holding the double pistol in her regular hand, and her mechanical arm ready for hand-to-hand combat if necessary.
"Were you sent by the scientists?"
Slady asks.
The woman is surprised by the question, but lets out a sigh.
"They told me to kill you because you're a bad man and a 'disposable creature.'"
Like the woman, Slady is also surprised, almost thoughtful.
"Disposable creature... I've heard that somewhere..."
He decides to forget it, focused on trying to understand that woman, why she wanted to kill him, and why behind that cold facade, vulnerability lurks.
But before he could think, the red-haired woman created flames in her hand and fired at him, creating a massive blast of fire in his direction.
The explosion was massive; Slady managed to leap aside with his claws, now using them as a means of movement.
His bionic gaze captured everything, from the simplest to the most complex details, giving him a headache. The woman didn't wait this time, emerging from the smoke to strike him with a kick to the chest. His claws managed to block the blow, but due to the impact, Slady was thrown back.
The woman ran as fast as Slady had thrown it, and he drew his dual pistols to fire at her, which managed to cut through the ammunition.
The two began a series of blows against each other, destroying everything around them, with several demon bodies flying into the air.
With the two separated by an impact, Slady's claws sank into the ground near the woman, pulling himself toward her. Due to her speed, she had no time to react and was struck by the bionic arm right in her breasts, causing her to spit blood.
But without wasting time, she grabbed Slady's shirt and spun in the air, slamming him into the ground with great force.
Boom!!!
The entire ground is destroyed, and although Slady manages to break the fall with his claws, he feels intense pain and loses sight of his pistol.
"Slady!!!"
Truth appears in his mind, floating next to him.
"We can't die like this, be strong!"
Despite his closed eyes, his desperation is palpable. The red-haired woman appears before the wreckage and the fire that had spread around them from the impact.
"You... are the most insane person I've ever had the honor of facing."
But instead of a cold look, hesitation is clear, as if she doesn't want to kill him yet.
"..."
Slady lets out a sigh, trying to extend his bionic arm, but not having the strength to fight.
"Please, Slady, don't die, we still have so much to live!!"
Truth says, hugging him tightly.
The red-haired woman looks at the man, her arm holding the blade lifting, and she lets out a melancholic sigh.
"Goodbye..."
***
Beep... beep...
Slady feels an excruciating pain in his body, but he can't open his eyes, he can't scream, nothing. It was a familiar sensation...
Then, a malicious voice echoed right in his ear.
"After more than a century since your creation... you have finally returned to your home."