Two figures are dashing through the royal capital in the night.

Clad in black from head to toe, they keep glancing behind while stopping in a narrow alleyway.

They must have been rushing quite a lot. They are leaning against a wall, completely out of breath.

For a while, the only sound echoing in the alleyway is that of their breathing.

But suddenly.

Katsu.

A new sound rings out from the depths of the alleyway.

The two men swiftly turn around, trying to peer into the depths of the shadows.

Within the darkness, something is drawing near.

Katsu. Katsu.

That is the sound of boots on the stone pavement.

The two men in black bring up their guard and ready their swords. But in that instant.

A jet black sword sprouts from one of the men’s head.

Without any herald, in complete suddenness, the man was pierced through.

“Ah, h-…… agah……!”

The jet black sword is withdrawn, leaving the man to writhe on the ground spraying bodily fluids while releasing a death rattle.

“……!”

When the remaining man quickly backs off in a fluster, the figure of a man materializes from the shadows.

That man is wearing a jet black coat, holding a jet black blade, and has his face covered in a magician’s mask.

“Did I make you wait?”

It is a deep voice that seems to reverberate from the depths of the earth.

“Hii……”

Finding himself struck dumb with fear, the man in black can only continue to back up.

“Why so serious?”

So he says.

“Could it be that…… you actually thought you can escape?”

The man in black turns around and dashes off.

However.

“Wha-?!”

“As expected of Shadow-sama.”

Before him is a single girl. Wearing a mini one piece, she seems like a very classy woman.

“To think that you could apprehend him this quickly, as expected indeed.”

“Nyuu, is it?”

“Yes, my lord.”

The two of them are talking over the man’s head.

The man has his back against the wall and is beginning to hyperventilate.

“Please leave the rest to us. We will draw the information out of him.”

He puts away his sword.

“……I want no mistakes.”

“Yes, my lord.”

With that, he turns on his heels and disappears into the darkness.

The woman sees him off with her head lowered.

Then only the man in black and the woman are left in the narrow alleyway.

Whereas the man is wearing full body gear, the woman is wearing a one piece and high heels, with not a weapon on her.

The man’s decision is swift.

With a very fast mowing attack, he kills the empty-handed woman.

Or so he intended.

The hem of her one piece flutters, and her white, shapely leg slices through the darkness.

Karan.

The man’s sword falls to the ground.

Belatedly, 8 of the man’s fingers fall alongside his sword.

“Ah, AHHHH……!”

Is it his fingers that he is trying to pick up, or his sword?

He reaches out with a hand that only has a thumb left.

However, that hand is stepped on by the stilleto of a high heel.

“Igi……”

At the tip of the heels is a jet black blade.

The blood flowing from the stumps of the man’s fingers pool on the ground.

“I am not as merciful as Shadow-sama.”

Her chilly voice descends from above.

When he looks up, he sees sharp, freezing eyes staring down at him.

“Do not think that you can die an easy death.”

The hem of her skirt flutters again, and her knee smashes into the man’s jaw.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

The next morning, a gruesome corpse is strung up above one of the royal capital’s main avenues. There is a message written out in blood on the corpse’s abdomen.

“The End of a Fool”

The corpse’s face is frozen in agony and terror.