Warning: Some gore in this chapter.
Risa and Suzu heard a lot of people, mostly adventurers, shouted the nickname of the criminal the former heard from Frederica while ran to the location of the empty alleyway with their weapons ready, and that criminal known as the Genocider by everyone in Tortus, including the players.
According to Frederica, the Genocider is actually a female player who got sent to Tortus like every unfortunate player, with Assassin as her job. But nobody, even players, knew about her in-game name or her skills. And as for why she's being known as the most wanted criminal in Tortus because of the atrocities she made with unknown reason for doing that. The other thing about her is that she always spared the players.
While Suzu didn't know who this Genocider is, Risa trembled slightly in fear while tried her best to keep calm as possible without showing her fear.
What is she doing in here!? Risa thought. She didn't know why the Genocider come to Horaud, but she's afraid that that criminal going to do something to her classmates, especially Kaede. And she won't forgive herself if something happened to her best friend. Because of that, she determined to stop her before it happened and ask for some information, even her chance to defeat her are very low.
The ponytailed girl knew that even with her stats and skills which seems cheating for every local residents in Tortus, she's always believe that there's always someone far stronger, clever, and/or trickier than her thanks of her experience in gaming. Because of that, she's tried to be creative and make sure she won't be tricked anymore in game, no matter how weak she is.
Then, her thought got interrupted by Suzu while asking her a question.
"Risarisa, who's this Genocider person they're shouted about?"
Deep down, Risa didn't want to tell Suzu about the Genocider because it'll devastate her if she knew about it. But since the twintailed girl already involved with the problems the players have while agreed to keep it as secrets from everyone, including their classmates, the ponytailed girl decided to tell her about the Genocider.
"The most wanted criminal in Tortus, according to what Frederica said to me and Kaede. And most importantly, she's a player." Risa said in serious tone.
"…A player!" Suzu shouted in pure shock. She didn't want to believe that someone from their world, even if it's from the game, become a criminal in another world. But when she saw Risa nodded, she couldn't help but agreed with what she said.
"But Frederica didn't know her real name or her in-game name, even the other players too." The ponytailed girl added more.
What Risa said made the twintailed girl confused. She never thought that no one, even the players, didn't know about the Genocider name, whether it's her real name or her in-game name. And she really curious about the real identity of that criminal while hoped that she's not someone she knew in school.
While in deep thought, Suzu heard Risa called someone randomly who ran to the location of the incident. The random person who heard the ponytailed girl and ran toward her was a semi-muscular man with long green hair and yellow eyes.
In term of equipment, he can be considered normal, with rapier as his weapons. As for his personality, they thought that he's flamboyant with how he answered Risa's call, which disgusted the twintailed girl. When he already nears the two girls, he flinched when he saw them, especially at Risa.
"Y-You're… Sally!? That blue devil of sixth day, Sally!" He shouted while pointed at Risa.
When Risa heard the nickname she never heard about, she's only deadpanned at him with her mouth opened a little. As for Suzu, since she's never played 'New World Online', she's only tilted her head in bewilderment and decided to ask Risa about it.
"Ri- Sally… is that what every player called you?"
Risa didn't know why Suzu called her not by the nickname she gave to her, but with her in-game name. But she thought that since he called her with her in-game name, he might be one of those players who knew about her. And she's really thankful for Suzu for pretending as a fellow player.
"Honestly, I never heard about that nickname, even from Kuromu's blog chat, until today." Risa said in honest tone while deadpanned at Suzu, which made the twintailed girl nodded while sweat dropped.
"How could you say that after you massacred a lot of players in the second event of New World Online…!? With that scary smile, blood moon, and that killing intent, you inflicted fear to all players who became your victims, including me!" He screamed.
Risa couldn't help but laughed nervously after she heard what he said.
"Please don't hold a grudge on me, um…"
"…Christmas Rose."
"Yeah, Christmas Rose-san… I mean, it's just a game, right? There's always winning or losing in every game." Risa tried to reassure the player, which known as Christmas Rose. Then she added more in her mind. Seriously, who are you?
His expressions changed after he heard what she said with a smile on his face while flipped his hair flamboyantly.
"Of course, it's normal for winning or losing in game. And I'm glad I met a lot of top players like you in this shitty world, Sally." He said sincerely.
Risa agreed with what he said about Tortus being a shitty world, but she didn't know there're a lot of top players in Tortus. The only top players she knew who got transported to another world from the game, excluding her and Kaede since they've been transported from the classroom, are Frederica, Izu, Kasumi, and Kanade, which the last two she only heard it from Izu.
The ponytailed girl decided to ask him about the name of the other top players who got transported to Tortus, which he happily answered it. The top players he knew who got transported to Tortus were Frederica, Drag, Willbert, Lily, Velvet, Hinata, and Izu.
She already knew about Frederica and Izu, but she didn't expect Drag would get transported to another world too. She even thought about in New World Online where Frederica always teamed up with Drag, and she admitted that they have a great teamwork as a duo. The only thing she thought about Drag that he worried about Frederica and decided to do like what she did. As for Willbert and Lily, she only passed them before entered Izu's shop in Horaud. While she's only known about Velvet from the description the young woman gave to her, she didn't know anything about Hinata.
Risa thanked him for the information he gave to her, which he replied 'it was normal to help a young maiden in help' in flamboyant tone, which disgusted her internally. Then he glanced at Suzu who only stared at their banter while seems not needed to join their talk since she didn't have any knowledge about that game.
"I never knew about you, are you a new player?" He asked the twintailed girl in curiosity.
Before the ponytailed girl answered him with the answer she prepared in case someone asked about Suzu, the twintailed girl grabbed her hand and wanted her to answer it by herself.
"Y-Yeah, I'm a new player who got scouted by Kae- I mean, Maple-san to join the Maple Tree guild." Suzu lied to him while almost slipped to call Maple with her real name. Then she added more. "A-As for my name, it's… Inaba…"
While Risa impressed that Suzu can make some lie to make her seems like a fellow player, she didn't know about her choice of name, so she will ask her about it later. As for Crimson Rose, he only nodded while smiled hopelessly.
"Then I wish for your sanity, Inaba."
Suzu didn't know what he meant by that, until she remembered Risa and Izu explanations about New World Online, including the members of Maple Tree guild, which made her laughed nervously. As for Risa, she's only stared at her while thought about something.
If Kaede got all of the weird skills Maple has in New World Online, I need to make Suzu gotten used with Kaede's Maple-ness. Risa thought. Then she turned to the player and asked something. "Anyway Crimson Rose-san, do you know anything about the Genocider?"
"The only thing I know about her is that she wore mostly black, with a cape on her back and a single dagger as a weapon. And her bounty has reached 50 million luta."
"…That much!" Risa and Suzu shouted incredulously. They never thought that the crimes she committed have put her head into a very high price.
After Risa doesn't have anything to ask, he left them to join the other adventurers to stop the Genocider while hoped for their safety. When they seemed to be alone, Risa has resolved herself to do what she must to do, even though her chances are very low.
"I'm going to stop her." Risa said in determination, which shocked Suzu.
"You can't do that, Risarisa! What if you got killed by her?" Suzu said in worry.
"I know about that, Suzu, but what if she hurt our classmates?" She clenched her fist while she said that. Then she added more. "And I won't forgive myself if she hurt them, especially Kaede." She muttered the last part while make sure the twintailed girl didn't hear it.
Suzu knew that the ponytailed girl worried about their classmates, even she too also worried if anything happened to Eri. And she didn't want anything happened to her best friend before she's able to make her see the twintailed girl as her real friend. She's also remembered about what Risa said about being true to yourself, and because of that, she will being true with what she wanted to do.
"Then let me help too, Risarisa! And I don't want to hear no about this!" She said in determination while put a serious expression to show how determined she is.
If Risa wanted to be honest, she's quite surprised with how much Suzu changed after her explanations about the players who got transported to another world. And seeing how determined Suzu is, she couldn't help but smiled slightly at her.
"Understood… then please back me up, Inaba."
"I won't disappoint you, Sally."
Then they ran toward the empty alleyway where the Genocider located. While they run, Risa couldn't help but wanted to ask Suzu something which already bugged on her mind.
"Anyway Suzu, can you tell me about the name 'Inaba'?" Risa asked Suzu in curiosity.
"…E-Explanation later, Risarisa." Suzu answered while laughed nervously.
When they to the empty alleyway where the Genocider located, they saw something horrifying in there. A lot of blood splattered either on the wall or ground, some adventurers, mostly players like Crimson Rose but none of them are females, got massive injuries while watching the pile of the corpses of the other adventurers burned, which terrified them. And in there, stood a single girl in black with her cape on her back flowing and bloodied black dagger on her right hand while stared at the injured adventurers.
Seeing that gory moment made Risa and Suzu almost puked. While Risa able to hold it since it's not as scary as the ghosts or undead, Suzu got scared at that girl action. The twintailed girl never thought that someone from her world will commit such atrocity like that.
The girl, which Risa assumed as the Genocider, sensed the newcomers and stared at them emotionlessly. The girl has shoulder length black hair with white streaks on it and blood-red eyes.
She muttered 'later' at them while walked toward the injured adventurers who is possibly not the players, with her dagger ready to end their lives. Before her dagger stab one of the adventurers, Risa casted her [Top Acceleration] skill to move faster and parried it with her own daggers.
Then the ponytailed girl turned her head at the injured adventurers without a single trace of calmness on her face.
"Run, now!" She shouted in panicked tone at the adventurers, which startled them and agreed to do what she said.
"I won't let you." The Genocider said calmly while moved pass through Risa with her dagger ready to stab one of the adventurers, but got parried again by the ponytailed girl.
Every time she tried to stab them, Risa always parried it, and when the adventurers able to escape, she sighed and stared at her new victims while the ponytailed girl jumped back until she near Suzu.
"It can't be helped then. Please have some fun with me." The Genocider said emotionlessly while bowed at them.
Risa couldn't help but frustrated at what she said. She never thought that the girl was so emotionless while asked for fun. And the only thing the ponytailed girl thought about the fun she meant is like what Frederica told her. She couldn't help but wanted to ask a lot of questions at her. But before she questioned her, Suzu interrupted her.
"Y-You're… Ichijou-san…?"
Risa glanced at Suzu, and she saw that the twintailed girl has a shocked expression on her face. The ponytailed girl decided to ask her for confirmation.
"You know her, Suzu?" Risa ask her, which she nodded.
"And her face looks similar to someone from our school. You might be didn't know about her, Risarisa, but she's from the same year as us, but different class." Suzu answered. Then she stared at the Genocider while sweating in fear. "Genocider-san, are you… Ichijou Reina-san…?"
The Genocider only tilted her head while put the back of her free hand to her chin in thinking pose. After thinking enough, she decided to answer Suzu's question.
"I don't know who you are, but you're right. My name is Ichijou Reina. But please refer me with my in-game name. And it's Rena, not Genocider." The Genocider, known as Rena, answered with the same emotionless tone. Then she continued. "But, can I ask both of you something?" Risa and Suzu nodded at that while prepared for the worst. "Does this 'Genocider' refer to me? And are you both players? If yes, may I ask about your in-game name?"
Both Risa and Suzu stared at each other while thinking about her questions, especially her first question. They thought that she might be pretending for didn't know about that nickname or just didn't realize it that everyone in Tortus started to refer her that. After pondering about it, they answered her questions, with Risa mostly answered it.
"'Genocider' refers to you, Rena-san. And yes, we're players. As for my in-game name, it's Sally." Risa answered mostly in calm tone.
"As for me, it's Inaba. And I'm a new player." Suzu answered the next while using the name she made to refer herself as a new player.
After they answered Rena's questions, she nodded while closing her eyes. Then she opened her eyes and stared at them with the same emotionless expression on her face.
"Sally-san and Inaba-san, huh… I'll keep that in mind." Rena prepared herself to attack them, but Risa stopped her while suggested something.
"If you want to fight us, how about we do it in a secluded area like the forest?"
"…As you wish. Please lead the way." She sheathed her dagger while ready to follow the ponytailed girl to wherever the place she wanted.
Before they go to the forest, Risa and Suzu discussed something regarding about the tactics to fight Rena and about the effects of Doping Seeds Izu gave to them. After they have enough discussions, Risa crouched in front of Suzu with her back faced her, which bewildered the twintailed girl.
"W-What are you doing, Risarisa?"
"Giving you a piggyback ride, it's much faster to reach our location if I'm doing that." Risa said nonchalantly while internally apologized to Kaede for letting her piggyback spot taken by Suzu temporarily.
"B-But it's embarrassing to me." Suzu said while blushed slightly in embarrassment.
"There's no time for that, Suzu. Who know what will happen if we made Rena-san gotten impatient and started to doing another atrocity." She said while glanced at Rena, which still standing with her usual emotionless expression.
Suzu didn't want to do that because it's too embarrassing to her. But she knew the worst case scenario will happen to her classmates if they didn't fulfill Rena's 'fun'. After sighed deeply, she hopped to Risa's back.
"Please be gentle with me, or I accidentally grope your breasts." Suzu said while making some dirty jokes to Risa.
"Don't do that!" Risa shouted at her in embarrassment. While her chest covered with the breastplate of her unique series equipment, there might be possibility that Suzu's able to grope her breasts, like what she did to Kaori many times.
After the ponytailed girl stood up and make sure that Suzu's clinging tight enough for the piggyback ride, she hold the twintailed girl thighs and glanced at Rena.
"You have an agility boosting skill, right?" When Risa saw Rena nodded, she smirked a little. "Then follow me."
Then both of them casted the skill [Top Acceleration] to move faster to the location of where they're going to fight. Leaving only a trail of dust on the place where they stood before. As for Suzu, she's only screamed loudly because of how fast Risa moves.
A/N
If you don't know who is Christmas Rose, it's one of the character in BOFURI anime only. And he's only appear in this chapter.
Hinata is one of the new character introduced in BOFURI WN or LN, like Velvet, Willbert, and Lily. About her appearance, you'll find out soon.
As for the Genocider, I'd like to congratulate UnconsciousFake for guessing it right. But I will alter her skills to make it like a combination of Arifureta and BOFURI.
Spoiler for the two next chapters:
Chapter 17: Risa and Suzu vs Rena
Chapter 18: Kaede vs Rena
If you have a better name for Suzu's 'in-game name', just write it in review or PM me. I'll be grateful for that.
If you have any questions, input, or suggestions, just write it in review or PM me. Also no flames and spam please.
Thank you.