Ryusei crashes through branches and slams into the forest floor, carving out a crater on impact. Pain spikes through her ribs as she pushes up onto her knees.
"What the hell…" She spits blood onto the dirt, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Why is he so physically strong?"
She draws her daggers from her inventory, Knight Killer in her left hand, Kasaka's Venom Fang Dagger in her right.
'I need to figure out why this guy wants to kill me so badly. He doesn't feel like a Hunter… and I'm not important enough in that world for someone to come after me like this…'
A heavy thud shakes the trees as the mysterious man lands in front of her.
'Did he fly?! No—he jumped. He jumped all the way from across town…'
Ryusei raises both daggers in a reverse grip, her pale blue eyes glaring into his blood-red ones.
"I'm assuming you only have a problem with me, since you ignored everyone else. Right?"
"That's right," the man replies casually. "I was only ordered to kill you."
He pulls out the same curved broadsword he used before—its fur-wrapped tsuba brushing against his knuckles as he takes stance.
He rushes her, unbelievably fast.
Ryusei floods her body and weapons with cursed energy, sparks of blue flickering around her arms. She barely catches the first strike, the clash ringing through the forest.
"Who the hell ordered you to come after me?! Was it Riser?!" she demands, struggling against the crushing strength behind his blade. Her eyes burning blue as Six Eyes activates.
"Nah," he says with a smirk.
He slams his sword downward, Ryusei jumps back, but the blade still slices her arm, blood spraying.
"But since you're gonna die—" He rests the sword on his shoulder casually. "Guess I'll spill it. I'm from the future. The distant future."
{Elsewhere}
Kiba, Issei, Koneko and Saji sped through the sky, beating their wings hard as they followed the trail Ryusei and the attacker left behind.
"Damn, they sure went pretty far, huh?" Saji panted, already winded. "How much farther?"
"Quit your whining and move faster," Koneko said flatly, shooting past him without a glance.
"We'll be there soon," Kiba said, though worry crept into his tone. "Let's just hope Ryusei is alright. I don't think I've ever seen her make a face like that before. For the short time I've known her… she's never made a face like that."
"Like what?" Issei asked. "You saying she was scared? No way! She's stronger than Rias! She's stronger than all of us!"
Kiba didn't respond. His silence said enough.
"She better not be scared!" Saji cried, panicking again. "If she's scared then—then we should be scared too, right?!"
Koneko punched him in the back of the head without slowing down. "Stop. She's fine. Rias wouldn't live with someone who couldn't hold their own."
Just as she said that, a black-and-red blur shot past them like a bullet. It stopped dead in their path, forcing all four to halt midair.
A girl with long half-crimson, half-black hair and blue-green eyes.
"Where's Ryusei," EX demanded.
Koneko blinked. "Huh? What are you doing here?"
"You know this brat?" Issei asked.
EX snapped toward him with a death glare. "Who the hell are you calling a brat, perv?"
A shiver crawled up Issei's spine. 'Holy crap… she makes the exact same face Ryusei makes when she's pissed…!'
Kiba narrowed his eyes, noticing her wings—batlike and demonic, just like theirs, only slightly larger. "Her wings look like ours…"
"Are you going to answer me?" EX shouted. "Where's Ryusei!"
"W-why the hell should we tell you?" Saji yelled back.
"Because your friend is going to die! And I will cease to exist, you dumbasses!"
The four stared at her.
"If you're going to help," Kiba said, pointing forward, "she's straight ahead. With all of us together, we should be able to—"
But EX blasted forward before he could finish, leaving only a shockwave behind.
"Y'know…" Saji muttered, rubbing his face. "Now that I think about it… that girl kinda looked like Ryusei and Rias…"
"Forget that! We have to hurry!" Issei shouted.
{Back with Ryusei}
Ryusei and the mysterious man clashed again, blades meeting with explosive force. Her arms burned, her lungs tightened—but she didn't let up.
Ryusei flips backward under a vicious horizontal swing.
The moment her feet touched the ground, she activated one of her skills.
[Satan's Gravity]
Black-purple energy warped around her fists as several dense blasts of compressed gravity shot forward. They slammed into the man's chest one after another, each hit bending the air around him and sending him spiraling violently across the dirt.
He crashed down, skidding through trees and tearing a trench through the ground.
[Power of Destruction: Spiralling Bullet!]
A swirling crimson-black projectile erupted from her hand and detonated against his torso. When the smoke cleared, the mysterious man staggered upright, the middle of his shirt shredded, blood running down his chest.
'Okay… so this guy isn't invincible. Thank god.'
The man wiped the blood from his mouth and grinned.
"As expected of someone who becomes the strongest being on the planet in the future," he said. "How about you start going all out for real now!"
He vanished.
Ryusei didn't even see him move.
He reappeared point-blank in front of her, sword already thrust forward—aimed perfectly at her throat.
'Oh.'
"Father, move!"
A voice cut through the air.
Before the blade could pierce her, a violent explosion of black and red lightning detonated between them. Ryusei felt someone grab her collar and yank her backwards at blinding speed.
She stumbled but landed on her feet—eyes widening.
Now standing where she had just been, sparks crackling off her body, was the new first-year girl from Kuoh Academy.
The same student who had pissed her off earlier that day.
The same one who had a familiar shade of red mixed with black in her hair.