A breeze gently stirred the fields.
Yuki Tsukumo opened her wide eyes and gazed in confusion at the children fighting below.
Thud!
A sturdy boy silently drove his hard fist into an older boy's face.
The boy, who stood at least a head taller, staggered backward, clutching his right cheek as he stared in shock at his noticeably smaller opponent.
"That hurt!"
"This brat's terrifying."
The delinquents, clearly several grades older, fled with their hands over their heads, bruises marking their faces. They backed away from the elementary schooler as though they had seen a demon.
Whether beating the delinquents or watching them flee, the little boy remained utterly expressionless and unconcerned.
He seemed uninterested in any of it.
But then, suddenly.
He turned his head, his expression sorrowful.
Without a word, he looked at the bold, spirited woman leaning against an extravagant motorcycle behind him.
A gentle breeze carrying the fresh scent of the fields swept through Yuki Tsukumo's long black hair, streaming it far behind her.
The confusion on Yuki Tsukumo's face suddenly became a smile of understanding.
Her tone was thoroughly irritated.
"You've got to be kidding. They beat me so badly I'm seeing my life flash before my eyes!"
The scene shifted.
Yuki Tsukumo lay on the ground, her body severed in half.
Driven by a flood of hormones, her heart pounded wildly, accelerating her blood flow to deliver oxygen and nutrients to every part of her body.
It was meant to meet the physiological demands of intense combat.
Yet now, that rapid circulation only hastened Yuki Tsukumo's death.
Blood poured from her severed abdomen, spreading freely across the filthy ground.
The blood loss clouded Yuki Tsukumo's consciousness, and the injury to her abdomen was even more fatal.
Cursed energy was drawn from the abdomen, while