Sagiri Yuko, on the surface, was a genius surgeon at Mochizuki Hospital.
In secret, she was a combat member of Black Label - a warrior who put down the scalpel to take up the katana.
Executing surgery on darkness, she had experienced countless life-and-death situations and countless powerful enemies, being battle-hardened.
Especially the members of the terrorist organization "Syringe" - each one was incredibly powerful, far stronger than previous enemies.
But facing all the enemies she had encountered before, including the strongest, she had never felt like this.
The man before her looked somewhat younger than her, with a build that couldn't be called strong, but also couldn't be called weak - he had that lean, fit type.
To ordinary people, he would seem rather ordinary - just a regular young man or college student.
But beneath this appearance lay power that transcended human limits.
Although she had observed his easy handling of the living dead through the drone from a distance, knowing he was a formidable enemy...
Only when truly facing him like this did she realize how severely she had misjudged.
At this moment, in Sagiri Yuko's eyes, he was like a demon.
If such a thing as aura could be made visible to the naked eye, he would probably be wreathed in terrifying black flames around his body, like a demon incarnate.
This was Sagiri Yuko's special perception.
Moreover, this demon wasn't an ordinary demon - it was like one that had fought and emerged victorious among countless demons in hell, crawling out from hell to the human world.
So now her entire body's muscles were tensed to the most intense degree of her life.
She also had to elevate her mental state to an unprecedented level.
As if the slightest negligence would result in being torn to pieces by the demon before her.
Gripping the sword in her hand even tighter, this time she might truly have to fight for her life.
The girl beside her wearing goggles - Kiba Mikoto - also understood that this time was truly very dangerous, her hands quietly reaching for the twin Smith & Wesson M627 revolvers on her person.
Then, as if noticing her small movement, his gaze turned toward her.
At that moment, Kiba Mikoto instantly felt as if the finger of death had lightly brushed her spine - a chill penetrating to the bone marrow and shooting straight to her brain.
For an instant, she had the illusion of being killed.
Bang bang—
Two gunshots made Kiba Mikoto seem to snap back from a dazed state, looking somewhat shocked at her own hands that had somehow straightened out.
The two gunshots had come from the revolvers in her hands - she had struck first.
Just like the saying about a cornered rabbit biting, Kiba Mikoto was roughly in this situation.
However, it wasn't her consciousness that reacted first, but her body instinctively reacting out of fear.
Simply put, she was so frightened that she had a stress response - it wasn't a conscious decision to strike first.
Almost simultaneously, the figure opposite also disappeared, and Sister Yuko's figure also disappeared.
So Kiba Mikoto's gaze searched somewhat tensely and frantically, quickly capturing them.
Sister Yuko was attacking him at a speed Kiba Mikoto had never seen before, even unleashing techniques she had never witnessed.
This kind of attack would absolutely dismember any previous enemy in the blink of an eye.
However, from Kiba Mikoto's perspective, almost all strikes hit his afterimages.
The next second, accompanied by a somewhat crisp abnormal metallic sound, Sister Yuko's attack stopped.
Kiba Mikoto saw Sister Yuko's sword had broken, saw the broken blade spinning in the air like a boomerang before falling to the ground behind Sister Yuko.
Bang—
What sounded like flesh being struck, and Mikoto's vision blurred as a figure suddenly appeared before her eyes, colliding with her and making her retreat several meters.
"Sister Yuko!"
A cry escaped from Mikoto's lips, because what had collided with her was Sister Yuko herself, who had also spat up a large mouthful of blood.
The sword in her hand that had been broken now had even its hilt almost completely shattered.
"Mikoto, run!!!"
For the first time, Sagiri Yuko uttered such near-wailing words of defeat to her companion.
At the same time, she also discarded the completely shattered hilt with bits of blade still attached, instead gripping with both hands the broken sword that had been severed by his dagger.
The reason the hilt had shattered was because when he kicked at her, she had used it to block.
The broken sword stuck in the ground was something she had immediately grabbed after being kicked away and flying past it.
Since this was a broken sword without a hilt, gripping it with both hands naturally meant the sharp blade tore open her skin, blood covering her palms.
"No, if we're leaving, we leave together - otherwise we die together!"
Sister Yuko's attitude was clearly to use her own life to hold him back so she could escape, but how could Kiba Mikoto do such a thing?
The moment her words fell, the person before them seemed to instantly disappear from Mikoto's vision - but it wasn't so, rather his speed was too fast.
She could see him in front, and orange light flashed from the revolver in her hand.
However, the bullet just passed through his figure - an afterimage.
The next instant, he was in front of Sister Yuko.
Both sides' weapons clashed instantly. In that split second of sparks flying, Sister Yuko again fell back and collided with her, while he also retreated this time.
Sister Yuko had attacked him, because Mikoto saw a serious sword wound exposed on his body beneath his jacket.
"Look carefully, Mikoto - that wasn't my doing!"
Noticing Mikoto's expression and where her gaze was directed, Sagiri Yuko gave an unusually heavy-voiced reminder.
She had attacked him - during his assault this time, her blade was again split apart, but then his movements suddenly showed abnormal hesitation, allowing her to seize the opportunity to kick the broken blade. Shooting upward from below, it cut through the bandages wrapped around his body and did indeed scratch him slightly. But compared to that gruesome wound, it was easily overlooked.
This meant the person before them was even more powerful than she had imagined - he could be this terrifying while fighting her with such an injury.
If he were in perfect condition, she would probably be finished by now.
However, it was also because his wound had now burst open, causing heavy bleeding that affected him, giving her a glimmer of hope.
"Ah? This—"
Pupils dilating then contracting, Kiba Mikoto's face changed dramatically upon seeing clearly.
That huge wound showed suture lines. Now quite a few had burst open - this definitely wasn't Sister Yuko's doing.
This guy could still display such terrifying power while suffering such an injury.
"You're Black Label people?"
He suddenly spoke, making Sagiri Yuko frown slightly.
"Kiba Mikoto? And Sagiri Yuko?"
Having her name clearly called out, Kiba Mikoto showed a shocked expression - her public identity was exposed.
This meant he knew quite a bit about Black Label - someone had leaked Black Label intelligence. Was there a traitor?
"Sagiri Yuko."
Sagiri Yuko corrected the information for him.
Just then—
"Hey, we've got trouble here."
Another voice interjected, coming from his body - probably a radio or communication device.
"Maintaining vigilant caution when uncertain whether the other party is enemy or ally is correct. But attacking rashly will only make you enemies. Your mentality needs more training, young lady."
After leaving Mikoto with words that felt like an elder educating a junior, he turned and melted into the night, disappearing from both their views in an instant.
At this, Sagiri Yuko relaxed slightly.
It seemed he wouldn't be an enemy, but also wasn't necessarily a friend.
"Sorry, Sister Yuko."
"No need to apologize."
Yuko patted Mikoto's head.
This child was still young - encountering such a terrifying opponent, having this kind of stress response was normal.
Moreover, she had still been able to shoot quite accurately at him, which was quite good. If it had been that little fool Rikita Orihime - that bomb-crazy idol - she probably would have pulled out loads of bombs and thrown them randomly, possibly even affecting their own side.
However, since he wasn't an enemy and it wasn't certain he was a friend, but he seemed capable of communication, it meant this ambiguous boundary could still be changed.
He could be developed into a friend.
Follow him.
Because didn't he have trouble on his side?
This was the opportunity to develop friendship.
...
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