A girl with blond hair and blue eyes, dressed in a blue high school uniform and carrying archery gear, ran swiftly along the wall, releasing arrows that pierced through the huge bug-like monsters below. Yet, for every one that fell, another took its place.
"Why are there so many of them today…?" she muttered under her breath.
She had thought today would be just like any other patrol, kill a few of them, and go back home to sleep. But suddenly, she found herself swarmed by countless monsters.
Still, she didn't stop. She continued firing arrows as she ran, her movements quick and precise. But soon, the tide turned, and monsters were now closing in from every direction, surrounding her completely.
"What should I do…?" she whispered as a massive centipede lunged toward her.
And just as all hope seemed lost. A bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky, obliterating the monsters around her in a brilliant flash.
Her eyes widened in shock. "W-What…?"
Then, she heard something unexpected: it was music. The sound of electric guitar and drums filled the air, playing an ominous yet thrilling melody.
[Now playing The Devil Regains His Strength OST from Hataraku Maou-sama].
"Aah… I hate bugs," a boy's voice said lazily.
She looked up and saw a beautiful boy with snow-white hair and starlike, purple eyes descending from the sky. She had never seen someone as handsome as him before; she even wondered if he was really human. He landed gracefully in front of her. The air smelled faintly of ozone, his presence radiating a quiet dominance. Then, she turned to look at her.
"A western… magician?" she muttered, the first thing that came to her; he looked exactly like a Western magician.
The boy, Akira, looked back at her and smirked. "Oh, an eastern… middle school archer girl."
That sentence made her twitch in anger; her hand tightened on the bow. "Middle school? Middle school?!" Her face flushed with irritation. "I am not a middle school student! I'm a high school student!" she snapped.
Akira's eyes briefly glanced down at her flat chest, and something clicked in his head.
"Oh, sorry about that. You looked younger… high school archer girl, then." He smiled, but for some reason, that only made her even more irritated.
"Who are you? And why are you here?" she demanded.
"Well, you looked like you needed help," Akira replied casually.
"I didn't need your help! I had it under control!" she said, even though deep down she knew she had been in serious trouble.
Akira smiled, unfazed. "Oh, really? If so… can I leave the rest of them to you?" he said, pointing casually to the swarm of monsters creeping from the alleys.
"Huh? Wait! You just got here! At least help me kill them!" she protested, stepping forward, bow ready.
Akira just laughed softly. "Okay, okay."
He raised one hand, and a magic circle formed in front of him.
A tornado burst forth, pulling all the bug monsters into its swirling winds. With his other hand, another magic circle appeared, and flames erupted, engulfing the tornado in fire. The swirling inferno devoured the monsters instantly.
"Fire Tornado!" he called, and the monsters were obliterated instantly. The fire dissipated into the night air, leaving only scorched ground and faint smoke. Akira sighed, hands in his pockets. "Well, that's that. Mission accomplished."
The girl stood frozen. The boy before her looked about her age… yet his power was on a completely different level.
"Who… are you?" she asked at last.
"I am...", Akira thought for a moment, deciding how he should introduce himself.
"Hmm… hey, Sister," he called out to his sister inwardly.
"What is it, brother?" Selena's voice echoed in his mind.
"How should I introduce myself here? Use Akira, or Sirius?" He asked.
Selena thought for a while and said, "Either is fine. But why not use Sirius for a change? You can even identify yourself as the current head of the Starlight Family."
"Is that okay?" he asked, nodding.
"Well," Selena replied, "since our parents are gone, both of us are technically the heads, but the outside world doesn't know about me. You are officially the head in their eyes. Use it for formal introductions".
"Alright then…" Akira decided.
Facing the girl again, he said, "My name is Sirius Lucen Starlight, current head of the Starlight Family."
Her eyes widened. "S-Starlight Family…?"
"Yes," he nodded. "So, you've heard of us?"
"Of course! Almost everyone in this region knows about your family," she replied quickly.
"Hah, I see. So we're famous." He chuckled. "What about you?"
The girl straightened her posture before answering.
"My name is Shimazu Sakuya, the 37th head of the Shimazu Clan."
"Shimazu… Sakuya…" Akira murmured, his mind racing. "Blond hair, flat chest, yellow and red ribbon tied in hime style, uses arrows… that name…"
He felt like he'd seen her somewhere before. "She's definitely an anime character," he thought, "but which one…?"
"What are you mumbling about?" Sakuya asked, tilting her head.
Then it hit him. "Ah! It's Isuca!" he blurted out.
The moment the name left his lips, his expression turned pale. "Oh… shiiiit…"
Sakuya stared at him in disbelief, as if he had just revealed her deepest secret.
"W-Wait… how did you know that…?" she asked shakily.
Before she could continue, Akira clapped his hands.
"Oh, would you look at the time! It's almost dinner. No need to thank me, let's meet again if fate allows it, you know what, don't worry about it, bye!"
He waved cheerfully and shot into the sky.
"W-Wait!!" Sakuya shouted after him, but by then, Akira had already broken the sound barrier, vanishing into the night.