Having learned the error of offering even a second to the Legends, Leyenda wasted no time in raising her blade above Kyoya's form. Lyric couldn't even bring herself to her knees, now in the place of a helpless spectator to whatever fiendish acts this enemy would bring forth.

Then, time seemed to stop when a small, red dot appeared on the woman's left temple.

She immediately whipped around and brought her sword into a blocking stance, but not before a sonic boom ripped the bay off its foundation.

When the ringing in his ears ceased, Kyoya's newly cleared vision revealed Leyenda's sword to have been shattered. A crater was gouged into the metal, where the crack once ran through its center. Shards of appalling iron were scattered around her, leaving the woman with a face drenched in shock.

Just as she'd done minutes prior, another figure slowly trod from the cover of the tree line. The first thing he saw was side-swept maroon hair.

As the rest of this newcomer's form was unveiled, the atmosphere of this encounter spiked in turn.

"Talk about lucky! I was beginning to think I wouldn't get any action today!"

Ryder stood with her hands on her hips. A long-barreled, bolt-action rifle was strapped over her shoulder. Its silvery nose still fumed with smoke, implying that the firearm was the culprit behind Leyenda's ruined weapon.

"Ryder!" Kyoya and Lyric both yelped, with the Miscreant finding himself capable of movement once again.

However, the toll of this encounter wasn't far behind him.

He fell to his knees swiftly afterward. That left him and the Seraph to observe this confrontation from the dirt.

The Hunter let her weapon slide off her shoulder and onto the ground, then began a stroll toward the scene.

"How dare you!" The Executioner bellowed, voicing grief for her sword. "Have you any idea how expensive that weapon was!?"

Ryder held her words. She passed a glance at the pair before moving forward and cracking her knuckles. Kyoya hadn't noticed the brutality about her stride until this very moment, and it seemed that even Leyenda was sharing some of that. "Halt, you insect! Enthrall!"

The Hunter's advance continued. "W-what!? Enthrall!"

Now only standing mere feet from the Executioner, Ryder cracked a simple, unbothered smirk.

Leyenda distanced herself further from the hunter. She stumbled and stomped as she chanted her spell to no avail. "Enthrall, Enthrall! ENTHRALL!"

"Wait a sec," the Hunter chirped with widening eyes. "I know you!"

With a snap of her fingers, she smiled her sharp-toothed grin. "Yeah! The Wandering Guillotine, right? I was hoping I'd run into you somewhere down the line," Ryder cheered. "You really ought to hire a different artist for your promo', 'cause those posters don't do you enough justice—you're way prettier in person."

The enemy was finally backed into a corner—entirely confused and without any means with which to defend herself beyond her fists. It seemed that Ryder was plenty willing to accommodate that disadvantage; she shed any additional weaponry on her person.

Finally collecting herself, Leyenda discarded the intimidation brought on by the Hunter's arrival.

"That arrogant gaunt and crass manner of speech..." Leyenda narrowed her eyes at the new face, an apparent realization rolling over her. "To say nothing of having more firearms on your person than the average Rivettonian would even own." Her glare persisted through a mix of caution and hostility. "That must make you Rivetton's very own High Ryder."

From the spectating legends, this meeting was something of a myth made real; Kyoya shuddered in anticipation at the idea of a moment to see the Hunter in action.

"That's money," Allison confirmed her suspicion with a nod. "Not every day we see two of our type on the same payday, huh?"

Leyenda still wasn't amused.

"If you were here to make friends, you wouldn't have opened with an aggressive action. What is your business here?"

Without any warning, Ryder blitzed forward and socked her opponent clean on the lower jaw. She dodged several sloppily made attempts to steal back any upper hand. The Hunter made a joke of the Executioner's techniques, slipping between swings and returning her own where Kyoya was certain he'd have been beaten to a pulp.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

Ryder's movements were fluid, yet still far too erratic to trace, even from a spectating perspective. Her unruly persona was entirely betrayed by the precision of her combat flow.

She continued the completely one-sided brawl until Leyenda whiffed yet another heavy kick. The girl smirked and executed a narrow leaning dodge, then heaved her opponent's outstretched leg backward.

Ryder then threw a brutal elbow into the incoming chin of her opponent, sending Leyenda flipping backward into the ground.

After skidding briefly, the Executioner stumbled back up and shook herself off. The frustration had left her, replaced now by a frowning gaunt.

"An unexpected obstacle, undoubtedly..."

Kyoya and Lyric sat at each other's sides, either helping the other to remain upright. Ryder, though, stood with crossed arms. "Such a plight compels me to wonder at the extent of your abilities, Reclaimers."

A frowning Hunter returned her gesture of offhanded disrespect.

"I expected more out of somebody taking my jobs—it's bad manners to swipe up all the gigs and still get washed."

The Seraph maintained herself, staring back to the opposition.

"Wonder what you want... Just know we're not any joke."

Leyenda's arms slowly crossed in turn. She completely blew off Lyric's statement, and instead looked at Ryder.

"Don't preach your code as though there is any honor in what you and I do. Even I wouldn't be so jaded." She frowned, continuing. "As for the deserter—"

"I can't desert a side that I was never on! And what about the Demon from yesterday? Was that you, too!?"

The Executioner raised a brow.

"Demon?" she began. A bout of apparent thought followed another glance to the Hunter. "While this may not be the answer you sought, I've no knowledge of such a thing; we prefer to do our work in person."

"Figures... Like you'd be any help, anyway."

The Executioner offered a loosened chuckle.

"Consider my answering your question a courtesy; anything more, and I'll require my usual going rate for compliance with any demands."

Kyoya had to stop himself from trying to stand and rush her again. "Given time, perhaps we'll both outlive your accusations..."

She let off a breath. "...Wouldn't that just be swell."

Someone had been sent after his life, by his own boogeyman... and now, the seething Miscreant had to sit and watch them walk away. "Until then, I suppose I'd best tread lightly if the High Ryder is among your allies. Perhaps I'll hold this bounty close in the meantime of your journey."

Lyric's eyes widened, and the girl shuddered against him. Whether it was rage or anxiety, he had no clue.

Ryder thumbed something in her pocket while the enemy was occupied.

"How'd you know about that?"

"The same way I knew of this beachfront being one of your favorite locales, not to mention your little passageway. Vigilance is key, Reclaimers; forget that, and you'll likely not last until our next meeting." Leyenda dully added, casting a blatant, dry glance at the Hunter.

The flash of metal would've been missed if he had blinked.

Just as her initial assault began, Ryder sprung forward, this time with a hunting knife in hand. She lashed out at Leyenda's form, but Executioner's physical being had already begun to fade into a crimson mist. The last thing the defenders saw was a face of scorn peering back, straight through them.

Ryder flew forward and onto the ground, having moved too quickly for her own good.

After a taking face-full of beachfront, she shook off and stood with vengeance.

"Shit! I should've moved sooner, dammit!" The Hunter cursed herself, kicking around dirt and eventually throwing her knife into the tree Leyenda used to get up. She managed to spear a piece of the Executioner's torn cloth onto the bark.

"Hey... you made it to us. Give yourself some credit," offered Lyric.

"Right, right, I know! But now, an A-Class Reclaimer's getting paid to put this guy's head on a stick!" She made an exaggerated point to Kyoya. "It seemed like she already had him in her sights, but you were the only leg up we had! Damn! Why didn't I just—!"

Following that pause, she finally seemed to have cooled down. Or, at least she did to some extent, taking a deep, prolonged sigh. "And she knows what went down in Teleo. That means we can't tell anybody about this."

Lyric opened her mouth to question that claim, but the Hunter followed it before anything could be added. "I'd love to be more transparent, but now's not a great time. How fit are you to head back?"

The Seraph offered a similar sigh.

"We'll need a while."

"I guess I can't blame you. Just don't take too long, okay? I was only able to go toe-to-toe with her because we took out her sword. I'd probably have gotten my ass handed to me if Blue-Top here hadn't roughed it up before I jumped in."

"Piece... of cake..." A feeble thumbs-up was offered by the Miscreant in question.

Following a brief bout of thought, Ryder continued.

"Sure, then: take what time you need. Pretty soon, though, we need to sit down and talk. Once after Ace figures something out, She paused, turning a glance back to the castle. "...and another time, just the three of us."

Finally, Ryder cornered a glance to Kyoya. "You've got some answering to do. I'll take your compliance as payment for bailing your ass out."

With that, the Hunter retrieved her rifle and set back out along the path he and Lyric took to escape the forest.

She offered no passing condolences, plainly and simply bidding them a silent farewell amongst the embrace of the tunnel.

In the wake of this encounter, Kyoya found it challenging to truly calm himself down.

Though, while unease still ran rampant, one thing was for certain.

It felt wonderful to finally be able to breathe again.