Toji Fushiguro casually wiped crimson off his knuckles using the white shirt of the unconscious Adventurer groaning at his feet. Around him, five other members of a notorious local slum gang were laid out on the cobblestones, carrying broken jaws, shattered ribs, and severe concussions.
"Fucking chump change," Toji muttered, stepping over a moaning dwarf.
He was annoyed. Kong had sent him on a debt collection job, roughing up a gang of low-level thugs who owed another gang of slightly richer and stronger thugs. The pay barely covered a single game losse from the previous night. When Toji had complained, Kong had just given him that annoying smile.
"We're building your image in the underworld, Fushiguro. Continue to do these jobs efficiently, and the real whales will start calling. A success streak is everything right now."
"Whatever," Toji grunted, cracking his neck. He stepped out of the alley and into the crowded evening streets of Orario, his hands tucked loosely into his pockets.
"Ah! Toji-san!"
Toji didn't stop walking, but he shifted his gaze to see who was calling.
Bell was jogging up to him, his white hair shining under the evening sun while a bright smile was plastered on his face.
"Good evening!" Bell greeted enthusiastically, falling into step beside the towering assassin. "I just got back from the Dungeon! I managed to get down to the 6th floor today! Goddess Hestia is working late at her part time job and there's no food back at the church, so I was actually just heading to a restaurant to get some dinner! How was your day?"
"Shit," Toji grunted, staring straight ahead and ignoring the rabbit's rambling.
"I made a little extra Valis today," Bell continued, completely undeterred by the silence. "If you haven't eaten, I could treat you? Sort of as a thank you for the free trial training!"
Toji stopped walking the moment he heard free food. "Lead the way."
Ten minutes later, Bell pushed open the doors of the Hostess of Fertility. The tavern was an annoying rhythm of clinking mugs, laughing adventurers, and the smell of roasted meat.
"Ah! Bell-san!"
A girl with gray hair in a green maid uniform immediately spotted him from across the room. Syr Flova's face lit up, and she rushed through the crowded tables, navigating the chaos with ease.
Toji, with his Heavenly Restriction granting him zero magical energy and zero spiritual presence, was practically invisible to the passive senses of anyone around him. This included Syr, who was actually the goddess of beauty, Freya, in disguise. She did not even register Toji standing right behind the boy as she grabbed Bell's arm enthusiastically.
"Welcome! It's so busy tonight, there are no tables left, but I saved a spot at the counter! Come on!"
She pulled the flustered Bell forward.
Toji followed lazily behind them. His sharp eyes immediately swept the tavern. He took in the layout, the exits, and finally, the employees.
His gaze lingered on a green haired elf carrying four massive glasses of beer, a cat girl yelling at a customer, and a human girl spinning plates.
'What the hell is this place?' Toji thought, his instincts flaring slightly. Their footwork was almost completely silent, with calluses on their hands from wielding bladed weapons. Were they ex-mercenaries? Assassins?
Syr, still holding Bell's arm, turned around to speak to him. "I'll go get the menus right—"
SMACK
Syr walked face first into what felt like a solid wall of warm bricks. She stumbled back, rubbing her nose, her eyes going wide in utter confusion as she looked up. Toji was looking down at her, his expression bored.
Freya froze, not understanding where the man had come from. She hadn't sensed anyone behind Bell at all!
In fact, Freya wasn't seeing anything right now as she looked at Toji, only a dull, transparent darkness, as if his soul was designed to be hidden.
She quickly recovered her customer service smile and her persona.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, sir! I didn't see you there." Literally.
Toji didn't care. He simply stepped around her and sat down heavily on a stool at the counter.
Bell nervously scratched his cheek. "Sorry, Toji-san. It's really crowded in here."
"The waitresses here," Toji stated flatly, resting his chin in his hand. "They give off a weird vibe. Be on alert."
Before Bell could ask what he meant, a massive shadow fell over them.
Mia Grand, the dwarven owner of the tavern, slammed a massive plate of steaming pasta and roasted meat down in front of Bell. "Eat up, scrawny! You look like a stiff breeze could snap you in half!"
Bell flinched. "I haven't even ordered yet!"
Mia then turned her sharp gaze to Toji. She raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on her lips. She could tell a dangerous man when she saw one. "And what about you, big guy? What do you want?"
"Rice. Fried pork cutlet. Egg on top," Toji ordered instantly, his voice a low rumble.
Mia let out a hearty laugh. "Pork cutlet, huh? Missing your Far Eastern homeland, are we? Alright, coming right up." She turned and headed for the kitchen.
Bell looked at Toji, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. Toji is from the Far East? He didn't know that.
He opened his mouth to ask, but a single side glance from Toji made him instantly snap his mouth shut with a forkful of pasta.
A moment later, Syr returned with two mugs of ale. She set them down, her eyes darting between the two. "Ne, Bell-san. Who is your...imposing friend?"
"Oh!" Bell smiled proudly. "This is Toji-san! He's my Familia Captain!"
Syr nodded slowly, her gaze drifting toward Toji, trying to read him.
Toji noticed her staring. He turned his head, leaned on his fist, and gave her a slow, sly wink.
Syr's face flushed red. She quickly averted her eyes, stammering out an excuse about needing to check on another table, and practically fled the counter. Toji chuckled quietly.
Suddenly, the front doors were kicked open.
"Nya! The Loki Familia is here!" Anya yelled over the noise of the tavern.
The entire pub erupted into cheers and whispers as the city's strongest Familia walked in, fresh from an expedition. Bell looked over in awe, especially toward Ais Wallenstein. Toji didn't even blink, aggressively shoveling his pork cutlet bowl into his mouth the moment Mia set it down.
Fast forward an hour. The tavern was loud, the drinks were flowing, and Bete Loga was very drunk.
The werewolf stood up, slamming his mug on his table, and began loudly recounting the events of the upper Floors.
"...And then we found this pathetic tomato kid! Covered in blood! He was shaking so hard he probably wet his pants! Didn't even try to fight! Just screamed and ran away like a little bitch! The pussy didn't even thank Ais-san for saving his ass! Hahaha!"
Bell gritted his teeth in shame, his fists curled up in anger and helplessness.
Sitting next to him, Toji swallowed a mouthful of rice. He chuckled lightly, shaking his head at the story Bete was telling. "What a loser."
Toji had completely forgotten the incident regarding Bell and the Minotaur Hestia had told him about.
Bell's resolve shattered at those words. His idol, Ais Wallenstein, had heard Bete mock him, and his own Captain had just called him a loser. The sheer weight of the humiliation crushed his spirit. Tears pricked his eyes before he stood up and bolted out the front door of the tavern into the night.
His feet carried him wherever they chose, and he ended up in the Dungeon, his anger and shame burning through him like a bright sun, taking down any monster in his path to release the pent up anger.
Meanwhile, at the Hostess, when Bell suddenly bolted away, Toji blinked, looking at the empty stool beside him.
"Where's he going?" Is he door dashing? The broke ass should have just said that he couldn't afford the food and Toji would have lended him some.
From across the counter, Syr was glaring daggers at Toji, her eyes practically melting holes into the side of his head.
Ais Wallenstein sprinted out the door after Bell. She returned a few minutes later, her expression darkened into a foul, depressed mood. As she walked past the counter toward her Familia's table, her golden eyes casually swept the room.
Her gaze locked on Toji.
Toji slowly turned his head, his dark eyes locking onto hers with a suffocating intensity.
For a moment, the bustling tavern seemed to vanish around them. Ais remembered the sheer violent strength and speed of the man who had turned Goliath into ash.
Ais was the first to look away. She averted her eyes and hurried to her table.
The drunk Bete was currently tied up like a sack of potatoes on the floor, courtesy of Tione.
Finn looked up as Ais approached. "Did you catch him?"
Ais shook her head, taking her seat. She was quiet for a moment, her gaze drifting back toward the counter. She turned to her captain.
"Finn," Ais said softly, leaning in. She didn't want to talk about the white haired boy right now. Instead, she pointed toward the man eating pork cutlet. "That man over there. He is the one who took down Goliath."
The entire Loki Familia table went silent for a second. Finn, Riveria, Gareth, Loki, Lefiya, Tiona, and Tione all slowly turned their heads to stare at the man sitting at the counter.
Toji finished his meal. He wiped his mouth with a napkin. Since Bell had run off, Toji figured he had to pay the tab. He stood up and looked around. He spotted the green haired elf wiping down an empty table near the center of the room.
Toji walked over to her, his footsteps making absolutely no sound as he reached out and tapped her shoulder. "Hey. Tab."
Ryuu Lion was a veteran of countless battles. She was a former Level 4 adventurer who had survived a bloody war against the Evilus and a crusade against its remnants. Her survival instincts were honed to a razor's edge.
When she felt a physical tap on her shoulder from an entity her senses explicitly told her wasn't there, her body reacted automatically to a lethal threat.
In a fraction of a second, Ryuu spun around, her hands shooting out like vipers to grab Toji's wrist, intending to twist, lock, and dislocate his arm in one fluid motion.
It didn't work.
Toji swatted her left hand away. Ryuu's eyes widened. She flowed into a rapid succession of strikes—a palm thrust to the throat, a knee to the ribs.
Toji didn't even shift his stance, a single hand moving like a blur.
A deflect. Parry. Slap. He casually batted away her strikes with overwhelming speed, treating the elite combatant like an annoying toddler. Before Ryuu could leap back to safety and plan another strike, Toji's hand snapped forward, delivering a backhand slap to her cheek.
Ryuu skidded backward, her hand flying to her bruised cheek, her eyes wide at the strength behind such a light strike.
The exchange had lasted exactly five seconds.
"Oi!" The booming voice of Mia Grand shattered the tension. The massive dwarf stomped out from the kitchen, glaring furiously at Toji. "What the hell do you think you're doing starting a fight in my tavern, and with one of my girls nonetheless?!"
Toji looked completely unfazed by her threatening aura. "I wanted my tab. Pointy ears here attacked me first. I merely defended myself."
Ryuu slowly lowered her hand from her cheek, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves. "Mama Mia...he is telling the truth. I overreacted, I apologize."
Mia's scowl deepened.
Looking at Toji, "The tab is twenty thousand Valis," Mia growled. "Pay up, fuck off, and don't come back."
"Tch." Toji dug into his pocket, pulled out the exact amount, and tossed the coins onto a nearby table before turning and walking toward the door.
"Food was shit anyway," Toji grunted as he pushed the doors open. "And the service was even shittier."
The door swung shut behind him.
The entire tavern sat in absolute, stunned silence. A random, unknown man had just casually boxed with one of Mia's girls, survived their wrath, and walked out complaining about the food.
Now that was a divine miracle if they had ever seen one.
"Mind your own damn business!" Mia's voice made all the onlookers heads snap back to whatever they were doing before the clash.
At the Loki Familia table, the executives were openly impressed.
"He totally played with her," Tione whistled in acknowledgment. "Just who is that?"
"I don't seem to recall seeing him somewhere," Finn replied, taking a sip from his drink.
"Bah! It's just a brute with no taste! He's no match for my Ais-tan!" Loki said with a heavy drunkard blush, her hand sinisterly inching toward Ais.
"I'll cut you," Ais said without a shred of hesitation.
Loki quickly retracted her hand with a serious look of fear.
"He does look familiar..." Lefiya muttered, her input not exactly helping.
Suddenly, Tiona slammed both her hands onto the table, her eyes lighting up in recognition. "Ah! That guy! I knew he looked familiar!"
Everyone at the table snapped their heads toward her.
"You know him?" Riveria asked sharply.
Tiona tapped her chin, thinking hard, her face scrunching up in intense concentration. "Nope!" Tiona laughed brightly. "I forgot where I saw him!"
'Idiot.'
That thought flashed through everyone's mind.
༻❁༺
Two days later, Toji, who hadn't returned to the church ever since he had started doing contracts again, was currently walking toward the industrial sector of Orario, his posture relaxed and bored as usual. Beside him, Shiu Kong matched his pace, checking a silver pocket watch.
"These rapid muscle jobs from the past few days were just to get your name circulating in the right circles," Kong explained, tucking the watch away. "Today, we step into the semi-big leagues. Real clients. Real money. Just let me do the talking, and try not to kill anyone unless I give the signal."
Toji let out a noncommittal hum.
They arrived at an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the district. Inside, the air reeked of cheap alcohol and sour grapes.
Standing in the center of the dimly lit room was Zanis Lustra, the Captain of the Soma Familia. Behind him stood two nervous looking Familia members acting as bodyguards, their hands resting unsteadily on the hilts of their cheap swords.
Zanis crossed his arms, a look of profound annoyance plastered across his face as Kong and Toji approached.
"You're late, Kong," Zanis spat. He then cast a dismissive, arrogant glare up and down Toji's frame. "And who is this? I told you I needed a professional retrieval expert, not some brainless meathead you pulled out of an alleyway."
Kong smiled smoothly, raising his hands. "Captain Zanis, please. Appearances can be deceiving. My associate here is the most efficient asset I have ever had. Now, about the cargo?"
Zanis scoffed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine. Three days ago, a Rakian raiding party intercepted a smuggling caravan outside the city limits. They made off with sealed crates. Inside them are ten bottles of perfected Soma-sama's wine."
Toji raised an eyebrow. He knew of the Soma Familia's racket. They sold their god's inferior batches of divine wine to the masses for a fortune. The perfected stuff, the undiluted, maddeningly addictive wine that could break a mortal's mind, was heavily restricted to the Familia itself.
"The Guild can't know about this," Zanis continued, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "The batch is perfectly hidden thanks to our connections. It was meant to be shipped to a royal court outside the continent. The Rakians who stole it are heavily armed and dug into a forest camp two days' travel from the city. I need them back, intact and unopened."
"And the pay?" Kong asked.
"For an under the table job of this magnitude, I am willing to offer two hundred thousand Valis for the whole shipment," Zanis said smoothly, acting as if he were making a generous offer.
Toji let out a dry laugh.
Zanis bristled, his face flushing with anger. "What's so funny, ape? You think you can—"
He didn't finish the sentence.
It seemed as if Toji didn't even move. One second, the Sorcerer Killer was standing ten feet away. The next, Toji was standing directly inside Zanis's personal space, entirely bypassing the two Level 1 bodyguards.
Toji's heavy hand was wrapped casually around Zanis's throat. In his other hand, a Japanese Hachiwari knife was pressed so close to the Captain's eyeball that the man's eyelashes brushed the cold steel.
"Zanis-sama!?" The two bodyguards froze, terrified into absolute paralysis.
"Captain Zanis," Kong warned smoothly from his original spot, not having moved an inch. "I highly suggest you do not insult him again."
"True Soma wine sells for two hundred thousand Valis a bottle on the black market," Toji whispered lazily, his breath washing over Zanis's sweating face. "Ten bottles. That's a two million Valis shipment. And you want to pay me a ten percent cut to go butcher an enemy Rakian war camp?"
Zanis was trembling violently, his eyes crossed as he stared at the knife edge hovering over his pupil.
"I want sixty thousand per bottle returned," Toji demanded flatly. "Six hundred thousand total."
"T-That's extortion!" Zanis gasped out, trying not to move his jaw too much. "We have overheads! Bribes and paperwork to pay for!"
Kong stepped forward, ever the diplomat. "Let's find a middle ground, gentlemen. Death is bad for business. Captain Zanis, my associate will retrieve your stolen goods quietly and efficiently. In return, you will pay fifty thousand Valis per bottle."
Kong looked at Toji. "Forty thousand for you, Fushiguro. Ten thousand for my fee. Four hundred total in your pockets. Acceptable?"
Toji stared into Zanis's terrified eyes for another second. Then, he casually lowered the knife and let go of the Captain's throat. "Fine."
Zanis collapsed to his knees, gasping for air, clutching his neck.
"Excellent," Kong smiled. "We estimate the travel time and the raid will take about three days. Have the funds ready, Captain."
With that, Kong and Toji left Zanis behind. The guy was a joke in the underworld, possessing nothing but money to show for it and easily intimidated if facing someone stronger.
Which is precisely why Kong lied about the contract's time period.
The job did not take three days.
It took Toji less than fourteen hours.
Deep in the forests outside Orario, the Rakian raiding camp had been completely eradicated. The slaughter was so bloody that it started tales of a terrifying monster living in the woods. Tents were shredded, weapons were shattered, and thirty hardened Rakian soldiers were left scattered across the blood soaked dirt. None of them had even managed to sound an alarm.
To Toji, they were moving slower than the garbage mobs on the Upper Floors of the Dungeon. He had walked into the camp, butchered them with his bare hands and a stolen shortsword, fed the heavy crate to his Inventory Curse, and jogged all the way back to the city without breaking a sweat.
That evening, the doors to the Soma Familia headquarters slammed open.
Zanis, who was currently organizing some ledgers at a table, jumped in his seat. Kong, who had arrived early to inform Zanis, smiled at Toji.
Toji, body covered in light bloody specks, walked in while pulling out the crates, with a dull thud, he dropped the goods directly onto Zanis's table.
"Check it," Toji grunted, cracking his neck.
Zanis, sweating bullets as he stared at the blood on Toji's fists, frantically unlocked the crate. He pushed aside the straw packing. All ten bottles of the glowing crimson Soma wine were perfectly intact.
"They are in good condition." Zanis acknowledged, he didn't try to haggle down the price but simply unlocked a safe under the table, pulled out six massive pouches of Valis, and slid them across the table.
Kong stepped forward, counting the bags efficiently. He took his one hundred thousand Valis cut and tossed the remaining four hundred to Toji.
Toji caught the bags, tossing them to his invisible Inventory Curse, which swallowed them with a happy gurgle.
"A pleasure doing business with you, Captain," Kong tipped an invisible hat. "You know how to contact us if you need somthing done professionally."
Zanis didn't reply, clutching the crate of wine tightly.
Toji and Kong walked out of the Familia headquarters and back into the cool night air of the city, Kong was humming cheerfully.
"I don't have a problem with these retrieval contracts," Toji suddenly said, wiping a speck of dried blood off his cheek. "The pay is decent. But I'm getting bored. Are there any bigger fish around here or what?"
Kong chuckled, pulling a cigarette from his suit and lighting it. "Patience, Fushiguro. Like I said, I'm building your image. You handled the Goliath, you handled the slums, and now you've handled a high stakes smuggling issue in record time, the underworld hears it all."
Kong took a puff of his cigarette, exhaling the smoke into the night air. He cast a sideways glance at Toji, a sly glint in his eye. "In fact, I already have a very lucrative client lined up. Deep pockets. Godly connections," Kong said vaguely. "But this client requires absolute discretion and a very specific set of skills, so I'll be the only one doing the meetings. They want someone who can move through this city like a ghost without getting caught."
Toji glanced at him. "Assassination?"
"Something like that," Kong smiled. "Tell me, Fushiguro...what do you know about gardening?"
Toji stopped walking. He stared at Kong, brow furrowing. "...Gardening?" Toji repeated.
༻❁༺
Later that week, the annual Monsterphilia festival began, drawing tens of thousands of citizens, tourists, and Adventurers out of their homes.
Every inch was choked with crowds, street food vendors, and colorful banners. At the center of it all, the massive coliseum roared with the sound of the Ganesha Familia taming beasts for the public's entertainment.
Down in the alleys away from the main parade routes, a pair of Ganesha Familia guards patrolled with their spears resting on their shoulders.
"Crazy turnout this year, huh?" one guard said, adjusting his elephant mask helmet. "I heard the Captain brought up some real nasty ones from the deeper floors."
"Yeah, well, as long as they stay in the cages, I don't care," the second guard replied before suddenly stopping, his eyes darting toward a narrow gap between two stone buildings. He could have sworn the shadows had just shifted.
He gripped his spear, stepping closer to peek into the gloom, seeing nothing.
"You good?" the first guard asked.
"Yeah," the second guard shrugged, turning back. "Just seeing things. Come on, let's finish this route."
High above them, crouched effortlessly on the edge of a roof, Toji Fushiguro watched them pass. Once they were clear, he dropped down into the alley without making a single sound.
He walked over to a heavy iron sewer grate. With a casual flick of his boot, he popped the grate up with his foot, then reached into his pocket, pulling out a handful of strange looking seeds.
"Gonna garden your ass, slick bastard," Toji said with a flat tone.
Kong was not lying about the job being about gardening: apparently, the broker had pulled long strings to secure Toji this job from a mysterious high-end client.
The contract was incredibly simple yet paid an astronomical fee: plant these seeds in highly specific, hidden locations across the city during the Monsterphilia event. The client wanted a highly trained assassin for the job to keep absolute secrecy. Toji filled those boots thanks to Kong.
Toji didn't know what the seeds were for, nor did he care. He dropped them into the sewage water below, kicked the grate back into place, and turned back. "That's the last of 'em."
With his pockets empty and his job done, Toji headed straight for the coliseum betting booths to treat himself.
He was feeling lucky today.
Two hours later, he was in a foul mood.
He had started strong, winning a massive payout on a Minotaur taming exhibition, but his notorious gambling luck had quickly caught up with him. He had just lost his third bet in a row on a rigged Hellhound race.
"Trash mutt," Toji grunted, tearing up his betting ticket and tossing it into the wind.
He decided he was done for the day and started heading down to Daedalus Street to hit the Fairy Night Club and collect his massive payout from Kong to offset his losses.
But as he walked away from the coliseum, the festival atmosphere suddenly shattered.
Screams echoed from the main plaza. A deafening roar shook the cobblestones. The panicked crowd suddenly reversed direction, turning into a trampling mess of terrified civilians fleeing for their lives.
"Monsters! Monsters are loose!" someone shrieked, sprinting past Toji.
Toji stood calmly, letting the panicked crowd part around him like water around a stone.
He looked up. Bursting from the streets and scaling the walls of the city buildings were massive carnivorous plant like monsters. They boasted thick vines and sharp looking maws, and were already engaging a group of Adventurers in the distance.
It was the Loki Familia.
"Damnit, this salad is hard!" Tiona nursed her fist lightly, reddening from punching the plant's hard skin.
Toji stared at the man eating plants for a few seconds from a safe distance. He recalled the specific locations where he had dropped his cargo earlier that morning.
"Huh," Toji's face flashed in clarity. "So that's what those seeds were," he muttered. Well, he already got paid, it wasn't his problem that his actions had technically caused a terrorist attack.
As he navigated the chaotic alleys, he passed a pair of fleeing Guild employees.
"Did you hear?!" one yelled. "A Silverback was spotted in the slums! It's chasing a white haired rookie and a short Goddess!"
Toji stopped walking, blinking slowly as he processed the information.
"There goes my free room," Toji sighed. If Hestia dies, the church would probably go back to the original owner, some random named Hephaestus.
With an annoyed look, Toji changed his steps toward where the Silverback supposedly went.
By the time Toji arrived, the fight was already over.
Daedalus Street was a wreck. A massive Silverback ape lay dead, slowly dissolving into black ash. Standing over it while gasping for breath and covered in sweat was Bell Cranel. He was clutching a glowing black knife that Toji hadn't seen before.
Hestia was sitting on the ground nearby, crying tears of relief.
Toji, leaning against a stone wall, watched the boy's stance. He had taken down the big ape by himself, which was impressive by this shitty city's standards.
Toji pushed off the wall and walked out into the open, Hestia spotting him approach.
"YOU!" she shrieked, her relief instantly boiling over into fury. She pointed a trembling finger at the assassin. "Where were you these past days?! Your junior was fighting for his life just now, and you were just standing back there watching?!"
Toji ignored her completely, walking up to the panting teenager.
Bell looked up. The moment he saw Toji, his shoulders slumped and he instinctively looked down at the dirt.
They hadn't spoken since the Hostess of Fertility incident. The memory of Toji casually laughing at Bete's story and calling him a loser still stung deeply. Bell braced himself for more mockery.
Toji did not actually remember any of that, and likely wouldn't care, but the rabbit did not know that.
Toji looked at the ash fading into the wind, then looked down at Bell.
"You fixed your garbage footing," Toji stated flatly, his voice devoid of praise but acknowledging the improvement. "Not bad for a fresh monkey."
Bell's head snapped up, his red eyes widening as his face went through a confused mess of emotions.
First came the mild offense at being called a 'fresh monkey.' But then, a massive, overwhelming wave of relief and pure happiness washed over him. Toji hadn't mocked him. Toji had actually acknowledged his growth!
Bell's heart raced. If Toji recognizes his hard work, then maybe...maybe Ais Wallenstein will too!
And she would have. Because high above them, concealed in the tight shadows of Daedalus Street, Ais Wallenstein was watching. She had followed Bell, intending to save him, but smiled when she saw him defeat the beast on his own.
Her smile faltered slightly when she saw the massive man with the scarred lip approach the boy. Were the two part of the same Familia? What were the odds?
But before Ais could process this revelation, the cobblestones behind Bell and Hestia erupted.
"Ghraaakk!!!"
A Violas, one of the exact seeds Toji had planted hours earlier, burst from the sewage lines. Its massive, pointy vines whipped through the air, its razor sharp maw opening wide to devour the closest target: the screaming Hestia.
"Goddess!" Bell turned in absolute terror. He raised his new knife, throwing his body between the monster and Hestia, fully prepared to die defending her.
Up on the rooftops, Ais drew Desperate, her muscles tensing to launch herself downward!
But there was no need.
Faster than Hestia could scream. Faster than Bell could swing his knife. Faster than the crowd of onlookers could even register the threat.
Toji moved.
The movement was fast enough to be mistaken as teleportation when Toji appeared between Bell and the Violas, in his hand, the Split Soul Katana.
His Inventory Curse had also somehow manifested around his torso.
He didn't perform a flashy sword art but merely stepped into the Viola's center of attack and held the blade out at a vertical angle.
The Viola lunged with blinding speed, throwing its entire massive weight forward to bite him.
Instead, the monster simply pushed itself entirely through the edge of the katana. The blade met absolutely zero resistance. It passed through the Viola's thick skin and magical core like air, splitting the beast in two as each side fell beside the stunned Bell and terrified Hestia.
Toji casually flicked the katana, shaking off a few drops of the monster's remains, and let the Inventory Curse swallow the weapon back into its stomach.
The plaza was dead silent. A few seconds passed before the hidden onlookers in the windows and alleys erupted into thunderous applause.
Bell's jaw was practically on the floor. His red eyes were sparkling with starstruck awe.
"T-Toji-san...what was that?! I didn't even see you move! And that weapon! I never saw you use it before!"
Hestia didn't ask any questions. The sheer whiplash of almost being eaten and then saved twice caused her eyes to roll into the back of her head, and she passed out cold onto the dirt.
Up on the rooftops, Ais Wallenstein stood perfectly still, her golden eyes carefully racing to comprehend what she had just witnessed.
He has a tamed monster. He keeps it hidden...somewhere, and he uses it as a storage space for his weapons, Ais quickly analyzed, finding the monster storage quite useful if she was being honest.
But one other thing made her question her own eyes.
Toji did not swing that sword.
Ais had seen it perfectly. The man just held it in place. The monster cut itself in half on the blade with its own momentum.
Just how impossibly sharp is that weapon?
This mysterious man was becoming more mysterious with each new encounter.
Thinking she had seen enough, and not wanting to be caught spying, Ais sheathed her sword and turned to leap away across the rooftops.
Down in the plaza, Toji ignored Bell's rambling. His sharp eyes flicked upward toward the roofline, catching a brief flash of golden hair disappearing over the slates.
"Tch." Toji clicked his tongue, scratching the back of his head. "First she spies on me in the Dungeon, now she's stalking me. Blonde chicks are crazy obsessive."
༻❁༺
This is the start of the divergent probably
With Toji planting the violas in the sewers, Dionysus is innocent thus eradicating all potential suspicion from Loki
It's always easy to start a series but the more tethers you mess with the harder it becomes to be consistent
So I have chosen this new writing style where everything is fast paced but not enough to not see what the hell going on
I think it's the best for me so I won't lose concentration on the main plot just because I'm struggling to write one chapter
Next one: Toji In The 18th floor probably? We'll see..
Btw the moment I get to a dead end with this I'll start my main fic for danmachi x JJK
Lemme talk about it s little
It has Yuji, Todo, Choso and Sukuna in Megumis body or his Hien era reincarnation (still megumi body)
I don't want to say more since it'll ruin the whole plot but I can at least say that the brothers won't be in the same familia and Sukuna will be butchering stuff in the hole that is the dungeon
I think it's neat
Leave a like/comment/review to support this work, if you don't that's fine as well.