The so-called quiet sea had already risen into roaring surf; no patch lay calm. Under the storm’s sweep, waves chased waves, dragging fish and shrimp into tumbling silver.

An unmanned submarine sat on the surface like a dead whale, perfectly still.

On the shore, blood clotted like rust, and human shells lay breathless. The once beautiful coast wore a shroud of shadow.

Beauty inside death—that must be what the saying tries to hold.

Huuuh…

After cutting down the new wave of enemies, Yun Shi holstered her weapon and exhaled, her back pressed to Moa’s warmth like two reeds in wind.

Moa was mostly fine; red flecks stained her like poppy petals, making her look a little frightening, yet her face stayed unbroken.

A heap of bodies sprawled before them. Disgust rose first, like bile; habit came after. Even used to blood, the things she hated never changed.

Long ago, after she learned to kill, Yun Shi thought fear had left her. In truth, discomfort still pricked like thorns, and her heart kept its quiet recoil. Even so, she had never spared a life. That was her reality.

If you don’t learn this world’s weather, you get cast off like driftwood. Yun Shi knew that truth in her bones.

“How long has it been since we landed?”

“Forty-six minutes.”

“Didn’t expect it to run that long. We’ve almost wiped them out, right?”

She stared at the crowd in heaps and the slashing red, her mind stirring possibilities like storm clouds. She refused to relax.

“Maybe they’re not coming,” Moa muttered, guilt and alertness twined tight like braided wire.

Yun Shi tapped the infrared in her Goggles, scanning for miles, her gaze combing the dark like a hawk’s sweep.

She found nothing. Doubt eased for a breath, then her gut tightened again like a drumhead. Her instinct said the story wasn’t over.

Why? Simple. The Church had been rampant, its crackdowns rolling like thunder. Even grunts walked with borrowed swagger, so they wouldn’t flinch at strong foes. Momentum alone made cowards bold.

By that reckoning, the Church wouldn’t back off just because the two of them culled so many. They’d come back with heavier hate, like a tide turning.

This shouldn’t be the shape of it. Yun Shi trusted that read.

“Nothing out there, Yun Shi…”

“Don’t drop your guard. They’ll show.”

Hold the stance, and the enemy will grow restless. They’ll either bow to the gap in strength and pull out, or choke on pride and step in.

Either way, we’ll fix their position. Then we strike back.

She hoped for the first path. It meant no fight. She wasn’t bloodthirsty; if she could, she’d avoid head-on clashes like stepping around thorns.

The coast stayed hush. Only waves slapped stone, and stray sea wind combed their hair like ghost fingers. They kept back-to-back, guarding each other’s blind, never loosening for even a second.

To them, this place was nothing but battlefield. A sneak strike could come like a darting eel. Carelessness meant ruin.

Rustle…

Maybe the enemy couldn’t wait. Maybe chance brought him here. Either way, he stepped into their sight like a shadow cut from the storm.

He was tall and trim, muscles strung tight like cables. He carried no weapon, only a smile etched with confidence. A deep scar crossed his chest like a pale river, the mark of heavy wars. He was a man who had stood in fire.

“Elaine. Church combatant. Nicknamed the Human Bombardier. Top-tier in a fight, a known figure in the Underworld.”

Yun Shi stepped out, voice even, laying his dossier bare like cards on a table.

Credit to Asagi Renka. Thanks to her, Yun Shi had gotten stacks of files she once couldn’t touch. That help had cut paths through fog.

“You’ve done your homework.”

Elaine smiled, surprise barely a ripple.

Moa’s power thickened; arcs skipped across her brow like restless snakes. Her whole stance said danger.

“Witch codenames Night Phantom and Thunder Lady. Both key assets of the Magic Institution. If you fall here, the world only benefits.”

Elaine sank, hips loaded, a striker’s posture set like a drawn bow. He hadn’t come by accident. He meant to kill.

Big trouble, Yun Shi thought, the humor thin as smoke.

This Underworld was never fair.

“Sawagawa Moa, together.”

“Got it.”

“Both at once? Fine. If you can manage it.”

He didn’t really see them. His eyes shone with self-trust, the kind only born from brutal wins.

Boom!

A bolt lanced across the sky and speared Elaine, cloaking him in white-blue fire.

Yun Shi pulled on her Mystic Power and tore the air like silk. Space buckled, and the shockwave slammed at Elaine.

Crackle-crackle!

Moa refused mercy. She pushed max output; more than a hundred thousand volts burst under her feet. The ground split like old pottery, and lightning jetted from the seams, bombarding the man below.

Under a double strike, most would be ash, bones and names scattered.

But…

When smoke thinned, Elaine stood intact, dusted and scraped, but barely touched.

“Wh—”

Moa stared, wide-eyed, like she’d found a beast in a man’s skin. Close enough.

Yun Shi’s surprise flashed, then cooled into thought. Raw force wouldn’t do. He had eaten two combined hits. That meant no soft core. Finding a weak seam would be hard.

Retreat wasn’t a door. If he seized the tempo, they’d pay. So Yun Shi chose to move first.

Hum—

She drew her Light Blade. The heated blade sang, thirst sharp. She drove forward, feet kicking grit, body arrowing at Elaine.

In an instant she was on him. Her Light Blade cut for his head like falling sun.

Rumble!

Elaine only chuckled and threw up his forearm, blocking that burning edge with meat and will.

The blade’s heat could melt iron. Blocking with flesh was suicide.

Then Yun Shi saw it: a film glowing faintly along his arm, a sheen like lacquer. Sunlight made it clear.

—!

Understanding hit too late. Elaine broke the bind, snatched her right wrist, and grinned. In Yun Shi’s stunned gaze, he hoisted her high…

Thud!

The earth buckled. A crater blew open, cracks spiderwebbing, obscene in their spread. Elaine lifted Yun Shi again, blood dripping from her hair, and she couldn’t answer with force.

He swung and slammed, again and again, stamping new human-shaped scars into the soil.

“Yun Shi!”

Moa snapped, rage spiking. Lightning poured from the sky like a sudden monsoon, striking only Elaine’s mark.

Elaine ignored the rain of light. His fun lay elsewhere.

He gathered power, then hurled Yun Shi. Her body shot in a clean line, smashing through coastal rocks, and hit a tree hard. Red ran down her face, making her look like a corpse in moonlight.

“Damn it!”

Moa went crimson-eyed, threw restraint aside, and fought with everything.

“I got careless…”

Yun Shi forced her head up, pain biting. She eased off her Goggles, careful despite the shakes. She usually used them to hide her face, but now they were useless.

Identity meant less than survival. Leave the Goggles on and the wound would fester worse. As for who she was, she’d kill him later and bury the question. Dead men don’t speak.

She had to kill Elaine. No reason needed.

He really was a famed Underworld strongman, his power clean and brutal. No wonder they called him Bombardier; his strength hit like ordnance.

Muscle-born power—that was Elaine’s pride. It was a nasty art to face.

And it was the vein Yun Shi struggled with most. No wonder she was getting mauled.

She needed another way.

Yun Shi pushed herself up, slow as tide, and reached for her sidearm. Her fight wasn’t over.