Editing BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Chapter 10 (section)

===Part 1===

It was still a little early in the evening. The western sky was dyed in the colors of dusk, but the eastern sky still retained the colors of an afternoon that could be called day.

It was a time when many people were out and about in the city. But here, it is just the other side of a disconnected world.

A large, hollow sound echoed from the construction site of a new building, where materials covered with blue tarps were piled up here and there, surrounded by thin walls. 

The hard, flat, leveled ground kicked up a low cloud of dust. The ground, which had been meticulously prepared, was now sunken in the center, as if to undo the work done by human hands the previous week when construction had stopped. From this source, numerous shallow cracks ran in all directions.

At the center of the cracks stood a man. Tall and broad, his silhouette, illuminated by the wishful moonlight, resembled that of a giant beast. His roughly styled hair, which had been swept back and pinned down, looked almost like a “1.”

But he was in human form, at least for now.

“...Boring.” He muttered in a low growl, his voice muffled by his tight suit. Valkenhayn Helsing withdrew the foot he had just slammed into the ground. Underneath it was a crushed insect about the size of a human baby. Its rounded back was covered in thick, hard skin, and beneath it were scissor-like jaws and sickle-like claws. But the strange insect was no longer moving.

The armor on its back, its pride and joy, had been shattered, and one of its sickle-like claws was missing. It had leaped at Valkenhayn, been grabbed, slammed into the ground, and then stomped on with all his might. Just that was enough to make the bug cease functioning.

"Why do we have to be sent out to exterminate insects? Searching for insects and crushing them, searching for insects and crushing them... I didn't come to this country to do such boring chores!" Ignoring the bug’s bodily fluids that splattered on his shoe, Valkenhayn looked up and let out a furious shout toward his target. 

His target was a slender young man standing with his arms crossed against the wall of the construction site. Like Valkenhayn, he was wearing a suit, but the purple cloak he wore over it was an eye-catching contrast. Furthermore, a black leather band concealed both of his eyes beneath his thin golden bangs, giving him an even more bizarre appearance.

This was Relius Clover. Compared to the robust Valkenhayn, his physique was ordinary, and if he removed his unusual attire, he could blend into the everyday scenery without a problem. But in an emotionless voice that conveyed none of that calm scenery, Relius responded coldly.

"I've already been paid. It's a job."

"That again! Does your so-called great research really cost that much?!" With no interest left, Valkenhayn stepped over the bug’s corpse and strode towards Relius. In an attempt to extinguish his burning frustration, Relius remained unmoved as he responded.

“It does.” 

The way he said it, without any hesitation or even a hint of feeling the need to justify himself, left Valkenhayn speechless, more out of astonishment than anger. It was almost ridiculous to even reply.

Coolly ignoring Valkenhayn's condescending glare, Relius pulled his cell phone from his suit pocket and contacted the Mitsurugi Agency. He informed them that the extermination of the bugs was complete and that they should come to collect the corpses if needed, then abruptly hung up.

"...'The creation of a perfect doll'... was it?" Valkenhayn glanced at Relius’s phone as if it were something detestable and spat out the words. It was the 'goal' that Relius had been talking about for some time. He needed money for his research. That's why he was cooperating with the Mitsurugi Agency. And through the work assigned to him by the Mitsurugi Agency, he was looking for 'strong souls' needed for his research.

Valkenhayn was cooperating with the Mitsurugi Agency and killing immortals because he sought stronger enemies.

Strong beings. In that regard, their goals aligned. But it was not as if they respected each other's purposes or philosophies. 

“A research that requires pouring money and souls into it can’t possibly be a legitimate one!” Valkenhayn's words were laced with disdain.

Having grown accustomed to such remarks, Relius didn’t even bother to throw a concealed glance back. He walked past his sturdy partner, heading toward the corpse of the crushed bug.

“More importantly, Valkenhayn, about the Apostle's corpse we saw earlier…” Relius looked down at the almost lifeless, crushed bug with apparent disinterest. This was the second time that night he had looked down at a bug's corpse. However, the first one had not been something they had slain.

Valkenhayn crossed his powerful arms over his thick chest.

"...Yes. There's no doubt about it. There are others hunting Spinner’s Apostles besides us."

The grotesque Apostles usually prefer to remain unseen. They lurk in the shadows, moving in the darkness where no human can see them, suddenly reaching out from the darkness.

Therefore, ordinary people walking through the brightly lit downtown area would never be able to find them. Even if they did, they would probably die the next moment. In other words, someone who cannot be considered an ordinary person was exterminating the bugs separately from Valkenhayn and the others.

"They're quite enthusiastic about it, aren't they?" Rellius muttered to himself in a monotone. Just yesterday and the day before, he and Valkenhayn had discovered corpses of Apostles they hadn’t killed. Both were likely the work of the same person. They featured slashes that were remarkably sharp and persistent. 

"...Interesting." 

Who could be the wielder of those slashing attacks that tore apart the Apostles? Without moving his gaze from the brutally destroyed corpse at his feet, Relius lightly rested his clenched hand against his chin.

"How's Kiiro?" Rellius answered without looking back at the bored Valkenhayn. 

“She’s in the middle of adjustments.” 

“Adjustments? What are you adjusting...?”

Before Valkenhayn could finish his question, a sharp slicing sound cut through the air. Both of them gasped, but Valkenhayn reacted faster. He kicked the ground hard enough to kick up dust and jumped aside, just as a small figure dove in.

With a flutter, like petals in the wind, a pale pink figure danced into sight.

“Relius!” With a yell of warning, sparks flew right in front of Relius. A dull sound came from the white artificial arm that appeared under Rellius's cloak and caught the hard metal.  

What was caught was an attack.

It was a slash from a Japanese sword, which gleamed ominously under the brightness of the still-setting sun.

"……Daughter?" Staring at the attacker up close, Relius muttered suspiciously.

The one who jumped in was a girl. Still a child. With black hair tied up like bird feathers, her small frame was clad in a kimono of pale pink and light purple. In her white hand, the girl wielded a katana—an impressive sword that seemed far too heavy for her small stature—and she quickly sheathed it back at her waist.

Suddenly leaping into the scene was Saya Terumi.

Her sharp, clear red eyes glinted coldly as she crouched low and swiftly created some distance.

"Valkenhayn Hellsing?"

Saya, Relius, and Valkenhayn now stood at equal distances from each other, unexpectedly separated. Saya looked back and forth between the man whose eyes were covered with a black belt and the tall, sturdy man. Her voice, still tinged with childish innocence, was strangely cold for someone in her early teens. Both Relius and Valkenhayn could sense a chilling aura devoid of warmth.

"Do you know her?" Relius asked, looking at Valkenhayn. Valkenhayn furrowed his thick eyebrows, staring intently at the kimono-clad girl who had barged in.

"No, I don’t."

"But it seems she has business with you." Assuming he was no longer involved, Relius calmly crossed between Valkenhayn and Saya, moving to the edge of the construction site. As Relius retreated as if to take a spectator's seat, Valkenhayn naturally found himself face to face with Saya.

"What do you want, little girl?" Valkenhayn asked the unknown girl with an intimidating weight. He wrinkled his high, bony nose. There was an unpleasant smell coming from her. An ominous scent. Even without a keen sense of smell, anyone who would boldly enter while wielding a sword could not be considered a gentle creature.

Saya straightened her back and stared at the man standing in front of her. There was no fear or hesitation in her eyes. Instead, there was a sense of exhilaration, as if she had finally found what she was looking for, and a cold, focused determination to target her prey.

Her eyes were not those of an ordinary girl. Valkenhayn’s stern expression grew wary.

"...Valkenhayn Hellsing." Saya's lips once again spoke the name of her target. The moment Valkenhayn tried to respond, the distance between them shrank to almost zero.

It was unclear when or how she had kicked off the ground. But Saya, without a moment's pause, advanced to the front of the sturdy big man and spun her body in mid-air. 

She had the lightness of flower petals dancing in the spring breeze. Yet she was as swift as spring thunder.

Her sword drew faster than her breath. The delicate hands of the girl, as if arranging flowers, gripped the hilt tightly, and she slashed upward from a diagonal angle with the speed of wind sweeping across the fields.

"Ugh...!" Valkenhayn arched his back and jumped back forcefully. He twisted his body almost forcefully, planting one hand on the ground to jump away. The blade grazed past his shoulder, cutting into him. It hadn’t reached the flesh, but the thin fabric was slightly torn, and Valkenhayn was in pain. His eyes widened in astonishment more than in pain.

“How… fast!” From a distant spectator's seat, Relius voiced admiration.

Given Valkenhayn’s robust physique and rough demeanor, one might expect him to rely on brute strength in battle. However, his true strength lies in his speed. That there exists a human capable of moving at a speed that even he cannot perceive—especially a human girl—is astonishing.

"That bug is my prey. I would appreciate it if you would stay out of this." With a steady posture, Saya returned her sword to its sheath and sent a cold warning. Her unwavering gaze suggested that she would cut anyone who didn't listen. She was clearly an extremist.

Valkenhayn raised an eyebrow in displeasure.

"If you don't want me to interfere, you should take care of it before we do. If you have time to attack us for no good reason, why don't you just go exterminate some bugs somewhere else!"

"No. I'm not aiming for your neck just for the sake of killing a bug. Valkenhayn Hellsing. Your crime is..."

The cold atmosphere around Saya suddenly began to heat up. Like icicles smoldering from within and eventually bursting into flames, Saya was filled with rage and killing intent.

"For killing my older brother!"

In the blink of an eye, Saya moved behind Valkenhayn. She skidded to a halt, tracing a half-circle with her foot, then spun on the spot to draw her sword in a fluid motion. The sound of the blade unsheathing was crisp and cool. An icy coldness crawled up his neck, and Valkenhayn kicked off the ground before he could think.

In his human form, he wouldn’t make it in time. Driven by a primal instinct akin to that of a beast, he transformed into a wolf. As he leaped higher than the slash aimed at him, he kicked off the air, performing a somersault and landing on the opposite side of the ground littered with insect corpses.

Even so, Saya's sword grazed his fur, scattering it into the air.

"This... is quite the soul." Relius stepped forward, suddenly interested. He wanted to test the girl's true worth for himself. But Valkenhayn’s angry voice interrupted his second step.

"Don't touch her! I'll do it!" Transforming back from wolf to human form, Valkenhayn finally readied himself for battle. He tore off his formal tie and discarded it, loosening the collar of his shirt.

"I don't know anything about your brother, but I'll make you regret attacking me recklessly!"

"......As expected." Relius had expected that response. He shrugged his shoulders and took a step back.

Valkenhayn bared his sharp, canine teeth, his eyes gleaming with the desire to fight. He no longer thought of the girl as just a young opponent. To Valkenhayn, that girl was now an enemy. Moreover, she was an enemy that had forced him to transform so quickly.

Valkenhayn resented being forced to transform. It wasn’t that he disliked his wolf form; he simply didn’t want to have to rely on the transformation to amplify his already considerable physical abilities.

He didn't like being so easily cornered in this situation. 

And it very simply ignited his fighting spirit.

"Don't kill her. I want to examine that girl." Though he said that, he wondered how much he could truly expect. In front of the watching Relius, Valkenhayn and Saya moved almost simultaneously.