The pine clearing lay still as snow whispered gently around them. Adam and Mei Mei stood opposite each other, both utterly calm, both killers in spirit and discipline.
The first few exchanges were measured, a test of rhythm and instinct. Adam's blood-forged daggers moved like extensions of his will, cutting clean arcs through the cold air, while Mei Mei's massive axe spun with elegance and devastating momentum.
They weren't aiming to land blows yet. Each was learning the other's tempo, letting their footwork, feints, and the clash of blades tell them what words could not.
'She's controlled, that's for sure' Adam thought, blocking another crescent swing of her axe with a blade-arm cross.
Mei Mei gave a half-smirk between swings. "You're not rushing. Good. Most men who fight me try to impress me. You're just trying to win."
Adam's eyes remained locked to her center of gravity. "Winning impresses me more than posturing."
The tempo increased.
Mei Mei changed grip—underhanded, then pivoted mid-strike into an overhead swing. Adam twisted his torso, evading by a breath, and used the momentum to step inside her guard. A flick of his left dagger—missed.
Their styles began to escalate. Mei Mei's axe style flowed like dancing steel, a brutal ballet with deceptive grace. Adam activated Shadow Glide, slipping behind her at angles that defied natural movement. Their clash began to draw light from the area, shadows twisting around Adam while snowy particles froze midair from the pressure of their condensed power.
Ten minutes in, sweat beaded on Mei Mei's brow.
"Not bad…" she muttered, breath slightly ragged. "But you're still holding back."
"So are you," Adam replied, his voice even.
Then, he saw it, the faintest hitch in her balance. A half-second slower pivot, her weight shifting incorrectly.
Adam never had to land a major blow. During one of their earliest exchanges, one of his daggers had nicked her—barely more than a whisper against her skin. But within that whisper hid his Blood Poisoning, a unique technique that manipulated her own circulatory rhythm to disrupt motor control and coordination.
As the minutes passed, Mei Mei's grace began to deteriorate—not visibly, not to a casual observer—but to Adam's trained eye, it was clear. Her arcs became slightly too wide, her defense a fraction delayed.
Finally, he disarmed her with a twist and a flick—her axe embedded in a distant pine—and pressed a dagger to her throat.
Mei Mei's breathing slowed as she stood still, lips parted in realization.
"…That ankle cut. When?"
"The fourth minute," Adam answered.
She glanced down, noticing it for the first time—a minuscule red line.
"I couldn't feel it."
"You weren't meant to. The poison wasn't mean to attack you—just reroute your flow until you dance out of tune."
Her eyes sharpened, and then she laughed.
"Well. I surrender."
Adam lowered his weapon and with a smooth motion, extended a hand toward her ankle.
"Hold still," he said. The blood in her system shimmered faintly, then retracted, purifying itself under Adam's control. She blinked in awe.
"You can… control the blood after it leaves your body?"
"Once it connects, it's mine," he replied.
"Remind me never to bleed around you," she said with a smirk.
After cleaning herself up and retrieving her weapon, Mei Mei escorted Adam toward the mansion's interior, a blend of traditional Japanese architecture and modern luxury. The warmth of the entrance hall welcomed them in, servants bowing as they passed.
"This way," Mei Mei said. "Try not to let them intimidate you. They like testing people."
As they entered a lavish sitting room, Adam's eyes widened subtly. The atmosphere felt heavy for some reason.
On the central couch, sipping tea with refined elegance, sat Yukinoshita Haruno, known for her radiant charisma and veiled sharpness. Next to her, regal and composed, was her mother—the family's true matriarch, with eyes that seemed to weigh and measure souls.
But it was the third person in the room who made him freeze for a second.
A girl dressed in a maid outfit, standing to the side with professional poise and subtle tension in her frame.
'Hayasaka Nao?!'
He almost blurted it aloud but contained himself. Another face from fiction now made flesh.
"Please, sit," the matriarch said, gesturing toward the cushion across from them. "We've been watching the match."
Haruno smiled. "And I must say, it was lovely. Very… precise."
Adam bowed slightly and took a seat.
"My name is Yukinoshita Sayuri. I am the head of this family. You've already met Mei Mei, our external consultant." She glanced at Hayasaka. "And that is Nao, our head steward."
Adam nodded to Hayasaka, who bowed respectfully.
Sayuri continued. "The job is simple, but crucial. In three days, a raid will be conducted on an A-Rank gate located deep in the mountain range of Hokkaido. The gate has fluctuating mana readings and is believed to house beast-type entities."
"The raid will be led by my daughter, Yukinoshita Yukino, an A-Rank hunter with multiple expeditions on record."
Haruno added with a playful wink, "And a stick up her ass—but she's also a profesional when it comes to gates"
Sayuri continued, unamused. "The expedition team consists of fifty elite combatants. You'll be among names like: Revy, Mikasa Ackerman, Ryukyu, Uwabami, Kamui Woods, and Spring Mustachio. All are A-Rank professionals or heroes with varied specialties."
Adam's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. That was serious firepower.
"We are not asking you to lead," Sayuri said. "You are to observe, intervene when necessary, and—most importantly—ensure that my daughter returns alive. Payment is negotiable, but if you perform well, you'll earn our full patronage. That includes political protection, technology access, and funding."
"Understood," Adam said. "One question—why so much protection for one raid?"
Sayuri's expression darkened slightly.
"Because we believe this gate is different from the usual ones. Something is making it unusual from the inside. We don't know yet what is making it"
Haruno stood and clapped her hands. "Well, now that we're all friends—how about dinner?"
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Dinner at the Yukinoshita estate was a masterclass in subtle pressure. The kind of gathering where each glance carried weight and every phrase had layers. Candles burned low across the long lacquered table, casting soft shadows on the intricate gold and crimson trim of the walls. A quartet of live musicians played softly from an alcove, and the servers moved with near-silent precision.
Adam sat with perfect posture across from Yukinoshita Sayuri, matriarch of the influential family, her demeanor one of refined calculation. Her elder daughter Haruno, elegant but far more expressive, lounged nearby with a glass of plum wine in hand, studying him. In the corner, Hayasaka Nao—wearing a fitted black-and-white maid uniform—stood still as a statue.
The meal ended, and a contract was brought out on an obsidian tray—digital on one side, paper on the other. Sayuri offered him the choice.
Adam took the paper and dipped his finger in a small crystal inkwell. The ink was red, laced with mana. "Symbolic," he said, signing with a flourish. "It ensures I'm bound to the letter of the agreement"
Sayuri gave the faintest nod of approval. "Old-fashioned, but reassuring."
"Now," Adam said, setting down the pen, "I'd like to propose an addition to our arrangements. Two additional operatives."
Haruno leaned forward with interest. "A secret ace up your sleeve, Mr. Adam?"
"Not secret. Just smart. You've built a solid team, but gates like these are never what they appear. We don't need more firepower, we need flexibility and edge."
He tapped twice on his phone, and Nano projected two profiles in mid-air trought it.
"First: Kaina Tsutsumi—formerly known as Lady Nagant. Ranked ninth among A-rank heroes at her peak. A Sniper. Silent movement, battlefield control, aerial mobility, and the experience of someone who's seen every kind of enemy. She stepped away from the public eye and hero associations. But she's clean—and still capable."
Sayuri's gaze narrowed. "You want to bring in a former assassin."
"She wasn't made for the spotlight, and that nearly destroyed her. But she left the blood trade on her own and buried the skeletons. She's precise. Loyal to no one but her own sense of justice. She's also kept contact with key figures such as Yor Briar and Rumi Usagiyama. If she was too dangerous they'd have removed her long ago."
"And the second?" Sayuri asked, still weighing the first.
"Haku Yuki. B-rank, ranked eighth. A rising star with his ice powers, close-quarters combat, and tactical insight. Lives locally in Hokkaido. Supports a regional orphanage and uses his earnings to keep it running. He's young, but stable for someone so young in this life. He also turned down three offers from high-level agencies in different parts of Japan and one from the U.S.A"
Haruno tilted her head. "And he's not A-rank?"
"Not officially. But sometimes, ranks don't tell the whole story. I've watched S-ranks collapse under pressure that a C-rank could endure. Haku fights with clarity and purpose. That's the kind of man you want in an escort team."
Hayasaka finally spoke, her voice calm but assertive. "There are some... concerning rumors about him. Contracts about killings under the table"
Adam nodded. "I've looked into it. Every target was a stain on this world. No civilians. No strays. Just monsters in human form. He was judge, jury, and executioner—but never without cause."
Sayuri stared at him for a long moment.
"You'll be personally responsible for their behavior. If either one endangers Yukino, or the mission, the contract is void. And we will deal with it our way."
Adam didn't flinch. "Understood."
Sayuri gestured, sealing the matter.
Haruno smirked, sipping from her glass. "Looks like you're building your own little warband."
"More like a shield," Adam replied before getting up and leaving.
Later that night, Adam exited the estate without fanfare, the moonlight casting silver across the stone path. The temperature had dropped, and a soft breeze blew in from the mountains, carrying with it the scent of pine and snow.
Rather than teleport away immediately, he took a slow walk down the estate's private road, mind turning over everything he'd learned.
Yukinoshita Yukino would be the raid leader. An A-rank hunter with ice-based powers and a reputation for absolute focus. She is stoic, brilliant, but too young which mean a lack of experience.
The raid team was already stacked Revy for long distance support, Mikasa Ackerman for frontal combat, Ryukyu as airborne support, Kamui Woods and Spring Mustachio for control and restraint. And now, potentially, two more cards.
But something still gnawed at him.
The gate was A-rank on paper. But something in him told him that it wasn't that simple. A setup? A double dungeon? A mismatch in the rank? He would see when the time come.
Adam filed it away and teleported to a nearby luxury hotel, booking the top-floor suite. Once inside, he stripped down to his undershirt and slacks, laid his back on a sofa, and opened the shop once again.
"Page forty-seven," he said.
[Summoning Spell: Cross-Dimensional Binding Contract
One-use spell.
Summons a being from another universe or timeline.
Bound to the caster until death, liberation, or replacement.
Loyalty based on synch rate, blood link, or contractual exchange.
Price: 880,000,000 credits.]
He stared at the swirling glyph on the screen. "Buy it."
Nano confirmed.
Then, he navigated to the Weapons section.
His blood-forged blades had worked against low to mid-tier enemies. But against someone like Mei Mei, his weapons were too easy to destroy. She shattered them like glass with her refined strikes. He needed something that wouldn't break so easily.
[Crimson Spine — Reinforced Rapier
Material: Arkanite-core forged in soul flame.
Mana and blood-reactive edge.
Light, durable, anti-disruption runes.
Price: 12,000,000 credits.]
"Buy."
The rapier materialized in his hand with a whisper of mana and steel. The weapon felt alive in his grip—an extension of his will. He gave it a few test swings, admiring the way it cut the air without resistance. His daggers would now serve as support tools.
Satisfied, he placed the blade back on the desk and dropped onto the bed. Sapporo's city lights shimmered in the distance, framed by snow-covered trees.
He stared at the ceiling.
Tamayo should be handling things in the Demon Slayer world. Yuzuki and Arika were in position. He could return… but this world still had things to explore, gates, corrupt associations and enemies hiding behind respectability.
And something deep in his blood told him that this raid in the Hokkaido mountains wasn't so simple.