2 The Heir
The woman holstered her gun into the holster at her waist. The long sword she was using turned into liquid-like blood and entered her body through the palm of her hand.
She cleaned up the corpse of the creature she had dismembered, threw it back into the portal, and said,
"Close!"
The portal slowly closed by itself with a single movement of the hand.
She managed to neutralize the Dimensional Anomaly so easily.
"You saved me, thank you," said Ryo and lowered his head.
But that girl's reaction took him by surprise.
"HUH?! Saving you? Just a weak beast like that is nothing!"
Ryo wondered why the woman looked annoyed.
"Sorry if I upset you," said Ryo trying to stand up.
"Tsk!" The woman clicked her tongue and brought her face closer to Ryo.
"I don't like it when I see weak people who are helpless and live lazily like this, I don't understand why Ryuji spoils you so much, the White Raven's successor is so weak like this!"
Ryo paid no heed to her taunts, but the word "Ryuji" struck him even harder than thunder.
"Ryuji? Do you know my father? Who are you?"
"Elena, Elena Katyushka, S Rank Rifter. And of course, I know him, Ryuji is the founder of White Raven."
"Impossible!" Ryo was taken aback when he heard White Raven from that woman. "You mean, the White Raven Rifter Association? You must be wrong! My father was just a small company logistics transportation service worker."
The woman didn't listen to Ryo and instead scanned the room very casually, she walked haughtily and then she stopped in front of a small altar.
"A shiny black katana, with a Hammon pattern resembling dragon scales, unmistakably, the Cursed Heaven Sword. Ryuji intentionally concealed his true identity, so you wouldn't be dragged into this world."
Elena then took a photo frame that was on the altar. "How about this? This is the photo of you when you were ten years old with Ryuji on the right. It is located in the foreground of the White Raven Academy, even though it's dull, but I can recognize Ryuji's tall, skinny posture."
As he listened to all these things, Ryo sat down, his mind still in shock from the previous attack.
'Who exactly was the man whom he considered father all this time? Who was he?' Ryo thought very hard, but it didn't matter, because right now, he didn't know the woman's purpose in front of him. This was someone who could take his life so easily.
As if she could understand Ryo's thoughts, the woman said;
"I have orders to pick you up," replied Elena.
"To pick me up? Why? No! I don't know who you are, what for?"
Elena grabbed Ryo's collar, brought his face close to her eyes and said, "Listen carefully, youngling. Next week, the Abyssals Creatures will come back for your life."
Ryo rebuffed Elena's grip on his collar. The extreme situation he was in just now made him unable to think clearly, nor could he simply trust people who were arbitrary to him.
The girl then looked like she was trying to calm herself down and continued to say,
"Believe it or not, all of this has been predicted by Ryuji, he wants you to live safely, but we can't avoid destiny forever, you will follow me now!"
Predicted? He had to follow this haughty woman?
Ryo was sick of people trying to rule his life.
"No! I don't believe you! And why the hell should I follow you!"
Elena gritted her teeth until her two canines were slightly exposed. "This fool!" Elena clenched her fists in annoyance and showed her veins, but gave up on hitting Ryo.
Instead of hitting him though, she brought their faces close together. Ryo stared deeply into Elena's red pupils and they were glowing brightly like rubies.
"Shhh, you know nothing, Ryosuke! Now you sleep." With one touch in the middle of Ryo's forehead, Elena made him fall asleep just like that.
"We will meet again."
Elena's voice was faintly heard as his consciousness faded and finally sank into darkness.
----
Ryo woke up in a hospital room with a neck brace. Infusion hoses and various sensors were attached to his body, and the nurse who found Ryo awake immediately ran out of the room and returned with a team of doctors who deftly checked Ryo's condition.
"Thank God there are no strange or other injuries," said a doctor with a thick mustache and slightly stocky build.
"What happened, where is this?" asked Ryo in a hoarse voice.
"Tokyo Central Hospital, I'm Kawashima, your doctor. Rescue workers brought you here, thank God you survived the incident," said the doctor while writing notes on his tablet.
Ryo tried to remember the last thing that happened before he got here, but only a few pieces of memory he could remember.
"On the official report, you were found unconscious in your apartment, all the furniture was damaged like there was a shockwave that exploded inside your apartment, and there's no other trace."
Hearing Kawashima's explanation, he realized that the doctor didn't know what happened that night. The dimensional rift incident that definitely damaged his apartment and caught the attention of many people seemed to like it had never happened
"Only people with very strong influence and unlimited funds can hide that fact," Ryo muttered.
The doctor was a little confused when he saw the results of Ryo's body examination on the screen, which indicated rapid body regeneration.
"You'll get better in at least a week, for now, rest and don't think too much."
Ryo breathed a sigh of relief because his body wasn't poisoned or infected with bacteria from coming into contact with the monster.
But he was more worried about the hospital fees than his recovering condition and asked his doctor a little awkwardly, "What about the hospital fees?"
Dr Kawashima took off his glasses, placed them on his bare forehead, then replied, "There's no need to worry about that. Everything has been paid by someone."
Ryo wanted to ask who, but he had some guesses. He immediately imagined the face of Elena, who was so close to him. He didn't realize his mind was churning. "Huh! strange woman!"
"Since you're all good, I'll leave you for now. The nurse will bring the medicine I have prescribed, rest and don't think too much," said Dr Kawashima after he finished taking notes on Ryo's condition.
That way, Ryo spent a boring time in the hospital.
After a week of hospitalization, he was allowed to go home because his condition improved faster than the doctor expected.
Ryo remembered Elena's words before she disappeared somewhere after that incident.
It was late afternoon, when he arrived at his apartment by taxi, all the damage to the apartment during the incident was fortunately covered by the insurance. And it was such a relief for Ryo.
Elena's words the other day successfully weighed on his mind when he was admitted to the hospital. Everything happened so fast that even Ryo still found it hard to believe it.
"Damn monsters!" Ryo cursed and threw his body on the bed.
Ryo laid down. His body was very tired on the bed and the sleepiness he couldn't hold anymore struck him like a truck, and his eyes finally gave up.
***
Loud sirens woke Ryo from his sleep, his neck ached when he woke up from the bed, he looked at his watch which showed 8:30 PM.
There was only one meaning if the siren sounded in the middle of the night. A great disaster would occur.
"God! You must be kidding me, right?" Ryo said once he felt the same sensation when the Dimensional Rift opened before.
