Chapter 35

Vivi let the apple fall from her hand. It bounced once on the cold concrete floor before rolling away, forgotten. She took a single step forward, eyes fixed on the man before her.

"Two months ago?" Gin echoed, his voice rough as the wind from a passing train swept through the platform. His hood blew back, revealing a shock of unkempt grey hair. “That’s about when things went south for me. After that damn dungeon. Never expected the bitch to reawaken into an S-Rank.”

He exhaled, eyes narrowing. “Since then, I’ve been on the fucking run. A-Rank after A-Rank, the Association wouldn’t let up. Sending hunter after hunter after me.”

His fist clenched at his side, knuckles pale. “Now who might you be, if you weren’t sent by the Association?”

Vivi stepped closer, her voice steady and low. “You must’ve slaughtered so many innocent hunters that you can’t even remember the face of one of your victims.”

“Victim?” Gin tilted his head, squinting. “From two months ago?” His gaze swept over her, analyzing every inch, until his eyes caught the faint flicker of embers dancing at her fingertips. Recognition dawned. “The fire mage. From the dungeon. You lived.”

Vivi didn’t smirk. She didn’t gloat. She couldn’t. The only thing left in her chest was a cold, burning rage.

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited to see you again.”

Gin’s thoughts reeled, the puzzle pieces falling into place. His eyes widened. “The bitch didn’t rat me out… it was you.”

He laughed, a dry, humorless sound. “All that running. Starving. Sleeping in alleys. I was looking over my shoulder because of you.”

Vivi now stood inches from him, close enough to feel the stale heat radiating from his body. Her voice barely wavered. “And now, I get to end it. What joy. I could cry.”

Gin exhaled sharply, locking eyes with her. “You’ve got a mouth on you for a C-Rank.” His aura flared, a violent, electric blue that crackled up toward the ceiling. “I’m going to enjoy ripping the flesh off your bones.”

But Vivi didn’t flinch. Her crimson aura bloomed around her like a slow, rising flame.

“You’re weaker than I remember,” she said calmly.

A vein bulged on Gin’s forehead. Something snapped in his expression.

His glaive moved, blindingly fast.

BOOM!

The subway shook violently as an explosion ripped through the platform. Shards of concrete, dust, and smoke filled the air, drowning the space in chaos.

---

Killing Intent Detected.

PVP Function Enabled.

Arena Created: Shiya Station.

---

Name: Vivi Hachibana

Level: 51

Job Class: IGNIVAR (STR+30, VIT+40, AGI+20, DEX+10, INT+30)

HP: 5400 / 5400

MP: 1340 / 1340

Status: Exhaustion (Extreme)

Attributes:

STR: 99

VIT: 151

AGI: 86

DEX: 79

INT: 134

Physical Damage Resistance: 20%

Equipment:

— None

— None

— None

Skills:

Fire Generation, Fire Reinforcement, Flash Fire Fist, Flame Spear, Detonate, MP Boost (S) INT+20, MP Cost Down (S), MP Recovery Speed Boost (M), Magic Boost (M), Eruption, Flare Impetus, Incendion, Burning Spirit, Martial Arts Style: Sol Ignitus.

SP (Party Leader Use Only): 0

---

Unseen by either Hunter, the entire subway station shimmered with a subtle blue hue. The world around them had shifted, they had been transported to another dimension, one that mirrored the subway station in layout but carried an unnatural stillness, like a paused reflection of reality.

They had been transported, without warning, into another dimension. It resembled the subway station in every way, but there was something surreal about it.

Gin allowed himself a satisfied smirk as he felt the solid resistance of his glaive connecting. “Hah. I really was hoping to rip the flesh off your bones… but I guess killing you instantly works too.”

The smoke slowly began to thin.

Then he saw it, and his smirk faded.

A single drop of blood trickled down Vivi’s cheek, glinting in the eerie light. Gin’s glaive was pressed against her face, but not embedded in it. Her head was turned slightly to the side, just enough to avoid a fatal blow. The weapon trembled, struggling to pierce through her skin.

Gin’s eyes widened.

With a sharp breath, he yanked his glaive back. Vivi straightened, blood and spit dripping from her lips. She spat onto the ground without a word.

Then her eyes ignited, deep, molten orange.

And she exploded into fire.

The blaze roared outward, a pillar of flame engulfing the platform. Gin instinctively shielded his face from the light and searing heat. His thoughts raced.

'She’s using the flames to blind me. Classic mage tactic. She needs space, to cast, to maneuver. That means…'

He surged forward, leaping straight into the inferno, his glaive poised to thrust. 'I won’t give her the chance.'

But then...

The flames burst apart, not by wind or force, but by a punch.

A fist pierced the fire like a bullet through paper.

Gin had only a heartbeat to process the shape barreling toward him before it slammed into his cheek with bone-cracking force.

'What?'

His body reeled, staggered backward by the blow. His eyes flicked up, disoriented.

Vivi stood before him, her fist still extended from the punch. Her pink hair, and orange eyes.

Gin blinked in disbelief. 'Did… did she just punch me? A mage just punched me in the face?'

His mind stalled.

Then his aura exploded. Blue energy surged out of him like a geyser, warping the air around his body. His glaive vanished in a spark of lightning as he leaned forward, madness in his eyes.

“A FUCKING MAGE!!”

He roared with fury, clenching his hand into a fist. His aura condensed until it turned white-hot.

Bang!

His fist crashed into Vivi’s face like a cannon shot. The platform cracked beneath them, a web of fractures racing outward from the impact.

But Vivi didn't fall.

Her eyes, now glowing red through the smoke and pain, locked onto him.

Then she launched an uppercut, blindingly fast, right into his chin.

Boom!

Gin’s head snapped back, his entire upper body rocked by the impact. The shockwave rippled outwards, slamming into the station’s ceiling and sending dust and debris raining down.

But the false ranker recovered instantly. He clasped his hands together, raising them above his head, and brought them down like a sledgehammer.

Boom!

Vivi raised her forearm, bracing against the impact. The blow landed, and the shock tore through her block, cracked the platform again, and then...

Crash!

The ground gave way.

The section of the platform they stood on collapsed, plunging downward into darkness. Concrete and steel tore away as the two combatants fell, locked in vicious battle, into the levels beneath the station.

Into the sewer systems far below.

Neither of them cared.

Not about the fall.

Not about where they were.

Not about the world.

Only about the fight.

Bang!

Vivi drove a vicious right hook into Gin’s chestplate as they plummeted past a massive, rusted sewer pipe. The force of the blow echoed through the empty shafts.

Boom!

Gin retaliated instantly, slamming his fist downward into Vivi’s cheek. The impact knocked her low, blood trailing from her nose as her head snapped to the side.

They kept falling, past more thick sewer pipes and a wide, cylindrical reservoir, locked in a brutal mid-air melee.

Recovering with a snarl, Vivi surged upward, her fist wreathed in flames. She launched an uppercut just as Gin came down with another hammering strike.

Bang!

His fist collided with her forehead, and hers with his. The brutal double impact caused both of them to stumble mid-fall, their vision blurring.

Below them, the shockwaves of their continued blows rocked the surrounding infrastructure. Several pipes burst from the strain, releasing torrents of water that surged into the air and cascaded behind them.

Dazed but unrelenting, both Hunters reared their arms back. Fists cocked. Muscles tensed.

And then...

KABOOM!

Their punches collided with a thunderous crack, generating a massive shockwave that shattered what remained of the falling platform beneath their feet. The explosive force launched them in opposite directions through the flooded underbelly of the city.

Vivi crashed into the reservoir with a splash, her body skipping across the surface before hitting the submerged ground. She gasped, rolling with the momentum and rising instantly to her feet in the waist-deep water.

Gin wasn’t as lucky.

He slammed into the water back-first, the impact jarring his spine. His head struck the hard surface below, white sparks dancing across his vision. He grit his teeth and forced himself up, but his instincts screamed at him.

He jumped just in time.

A blazing axe kick slammed into the space he'd just vacated, carving a crater into the sewer floor. Water exploded outward on impact, a cloud of steam hissing into the air and briefly veiling Vivi’s figure in mist.

Her silhouette emerged, molten orange eyes glowing like furnace embers. She slowly turned her head, locking eyes with him.

Gin now stood on top of a nearby sewer pipe, his gaze cold, calculating.

Water rushed back into the crater with a low roar, sloshing around Vivi’s legs as she stood upright. The liquid reached her hips, but she didn’t waver.

'What the hell is going on here?' Gin thought, heart pounding. 'Isn’t she a C-Rank?'

He watched her warily as she stepped out of the crater, unbothered by the pain, the water, or the rising steam.

'She matched me blow for blow. Took every hit I landed and still fought back.' His jaw clenched. 'I let my emotions get the better of me. Faced her head-on, and lost in a battle of strength.:

He quickly scanned the shattered environment.

'The A-Ranks from the Association will be here any minute. I need to finish this, fast.'

His hand slipped into his pocket. From it, he retrieved a tiny glass vial.

Inside, a grotesque insect squirmed, a hybrid of centipede and grasshopper, with far too many legs and a grotesquely segmented body.

'That girl better not have lied about this thing,' he thought.

He popped the vial open and turned his eyes to Vivi.

"I don't have time to waste on trash like you," Gin said, voice sharp with venom. "So I think I’ll kill you now."

Without hesitation, he tossed the insect into his mouth. It crunched sickeningly between his teeth before he swallowed.

Almost immediately, steam hissed from his pores.

His blue aura deepened, darkening into a murky shade. His eyes flickered, once, twice, then glowed with a strange, viridescent hue. Green-tinted carapaces began forming along his arms and legs like armored plating.

The sewer trembled with his presence. His corrupted aura erupted around him in a violent gale. Then, with a spark of lightning, his glaive reappeared in his hand.

The water churned violently now, moving in rhythmic waves like a stormy sea. Each pulse of power distorted the surface, creating ripples that slammed against the cracked sewer walls. But Vivi remained still, even as water splashed up around her from the turbulent force.

She raised both hands slightly, flames dancing from her fingertips. Embers trailed in the air, swirling around her wrists like fireflies.

Clank!

Twin gauntlets materialized on her forearms with a metallic hiss, glowing red lines tracing their surface like veins of molten metal.

'A weapon born from my soul,' she thought, eyes narrowed.

The water surrounding her began to boil, heat radiating from her body in waves. Steam hissed up, forming a veil around her as her power surged.

It had happened just a week ago, after she felled her first B-Rank boss. The other hunters in the raid party had stared in disbelief as the seemingly average girl overwhelmed the monstrous foe.

She remembered the moment clearly, how something within her had ruptured, like a dam bursting.

When she forced that power out, the gauntlets appeared.

She hadn’t known it at the time, but this was her reward for reaching Level 50. With no access to the system’s interface, she could only deduce that the gauntlets were forged by her very soul.

For a brief moment, everything fell silent.

The raging sewer water stilled, drawn toward her as though she were the eye of a storm. The ground beneath her feet trembled subtly. Heat shimmered across the surface of the reservoir.

Above her, Gin stood atop a wide sewer pipe, now transformed, mutated by the parasite he’d swallowed. His body was wrapped in shifting carapace, his eyes glowing green beneath the hazy steam. He stared down at her, unreadable.

Then...

Vivi vanished.

Gin’s eyes tracked her.

On the far side of the sewer system, an explosion of concrete and rust erupted as Vivi crashed through the side of a sewer pipe. Her arms were crossed in front of her face as Gin’s glaive forced her deeper into the structure, metal shrieking against metal.

She grit her teeth as the pipe burst apart around her. Her body was thrown back into the reservoir, skidding across the surface before she dug her heels in and came to a stop, crouched and ready.

Steam rose in thick coils around her.

But Gin was relentless.

He was already on her, his glaive a blur as he thrust it forward with near-lightning speed. The air cracked from the force of his strikes.

Vivi leapt back, her arms blurring as she raised her flaming gauntlets, blocking blow after blow. Sparks and embers scattered with each collision.

The water churned once more, rising high around them as both Hunters became indistinct blurs, flashes of steel and fire dancing within the chaos.

“Raaaargh!” Gin bellowed, his glaive arcing forward with killing intent.

“Yaaagh!” Vivi roared in response, her fist bursting into flame. She twisted into the blow and launched her counterattack.

BOOM!

A colossal shockwave exploded outward.

The surrounding water evaporated instantly, exposing the cracked ground beneath. A moment later, the impact crumbled the concrete, creating a deep crater at the heart of the collision.