Chapter One Hundred and Fifteen: Qiong (Bewildered Butterfly)

"Is this the true strength of a multi-time underground boxing champion? It’s a bit underwhelming, isn't it?" Shinomiya Tsukiyomi stood there with an air of effortless grace, appearing as elegant and ethereal as a beautiful butterfly alighting upon the world.

Miller, however, was panting heavily through a blood-soaked mouth, looking like a boar that had been stripped of its tusks. Stung by the biting sarcasm in her voice, his eyes turned a fierce, bloodshot crimson. With a savage roar, he launched his massive, mountain-like body forward once more.

Watching Miller charge at her with absolutely no technique left, Shinomiya Tsukiyomi gave a cold, thin smile. Her slender legs danced into motion, a flurry of kicks imbued with inner energy striking Miller’s arm.

Miller’s arm was thick—far thicker than her delicate limbs—yet under the force of that single kick, a sickening crunch echoed through the arena. His arm bent at an unnatural angle; clearly, a bone had been shattered.

"Aaargh!" A howl of agony erupted. Miller clutched his broken arm, stumbling backward in a daze.

Before he could regain his footing, Shinomiya Tsukiyomi flitted forward like the wind. Leaping into the air, she unleashed a high-speed barrage of kicks, each one landing squarely on Miller’s face.

His already bruised and battered face was instantly reduced to a bloody pulp, and one of his eyes hung limply from its socket. He tried desperately to shield himself with his remaining arm, but it was entirely futile against her magnificent, overwhelming assault.

After Shinomiya Tsukiyomi mercilessly landed a dozen more strikes, Miller could no longer withstand the onslaught. With a heavy thud, he collapsed to the floor.

The atmosphere in the arena exploded. The sight of such a slender young girl delivering such brutal violence was a total crushing victory. In just three rounds, the invincible Miller had been brought down. It completely shattered the audience’s expectations.

The spectators, who had previously looked down on Shinomiya Tsukiyomi with disdain, were now whipped into a fanatical frenzy. Though they had all bet on Miller, they seemed far more thrilled by this display of gorgeous violence than they were saddened by the loss of their money.

In the H-Boxing arena, strength was the only currency, and absolute aesthetic violence was what the crowd truly craved.

Miller shakily propped himself up, his movements clumsy and sluggish. He had no heart left for the fight; he scrambled toward the exit, driven only by the instinct to escape the stage where he had once garnered endless glory.

Shinomiya Tsukiyomi would not grant him the luxury of such a fantasy. A phantom blur, she rushed toward him. In an instant, she reached him; in the next, her fists and kicks were already raining down upon him with a whistling fury.

"Fast and ruthless"—that was the simplest and most accurate way to describe her. A violent kick struck Miller’s head, spinning him around like a top, leaving him dazed and disoriented.

As Shinomiya Tsukiyomi landed, she followed up with a punch directly to his abdomen. The stomach-churning agony caused Miller to curl into a ball, and then she delivered a crushing high kick to his chin. Even a giant like Miller was sent flying off the ring, hitting the ground outside like a discarded rag.

Shinomiya Tsukiyomi leaped down from the platform and planted her foot firmly on Miller’s chest, looking down at the mangled, barely recognizable man with utter contempt.

"Wh... why?" Miller gasped, feeling the tearing pain in his body and the rapid drain of his life force. He spat out a mouthful of blood, asking in desperate resentment.

"Someone paid a million Euros for your life," she said coldly. "You should be familiar with the Aria family, shouldn't you? From the moment you raped that little girl to death, you should have known this day would come! You piece of trash!"

Although Shinomiya Tsukiyomi was a bloodthirsty assassin, she possessed a clear sense of right and wrong. Even though she could have ended Miller quickly, she had chosen to torture this subhuman beast.

Upon hearing the name of the Aria family, Miller’s eyes widened. Fear was replaced by a flicker of regret, but in this world, there was no cure for regret. "No... no, I can't die... I..." *Pfft—*

Shinomiya Tsukiyomi had no interest in the final words of such scum. She applied more pressure, crushing his ribcage. Splintered bones pierced through his chest—a truly gruesome sight.

After a final, violent convulsion, Miller’s breath ceased. The boxing champion who had reigned over the H-Boxing circuit for years was dead.

Yet, the audience in the stands ignored the fallen former champion. The stage belonged to the victor. This one-sided match, which no one had expected much from, had turned out to be unexpectedly spectacular. A tidal wave of cheers filled the stadium.

Feeling the manic passion of the crowd, Shinomiya Tsukiyomi felt a headache coming on. As expected, she detested these kinds of occasions.

As if sensing her thoughts, the small, soft figure in the control room pulled the power switch. The entire arena was plunged into absolute darkness.

The spectators, assuming this was just another setup for a new opponent or a new surprise, roared with excitement... but this time, they were destined to be disappointed.

On the main road outside the venue, a pure black Rolls-Royce Phantom sped along. The car was incredibly luxurious, yet one detail seemed utterly incongruous: on the sleek black door, two butterflies were painted in a childish, amateurish scrawl.

The artist behind this masterpiece, Shinomiya Tsukiyomi, was leaning back comfortably in the rear seat, sipping a Yakult.

Beside her sat a slender girl who looked like an otherworldly anomaly. She had silver hair that reached her shoulders and pale blue eyes that shimmered like a glacial stream. Her doll-like, ethereal beauty was her most striking feature, though it was a pity that her expression—and her chest—were both equally flat.

If one had to use an inappropriate term to describe her, this cute, flat-chested, silver-haired girl was a "poker-face."

"Qiong, you were so mean today, making me do the fighting while you hid in the control room!" Shinomiya Tsukiyomi shook her twin tails at the silver-haired girl.

Qiong was the name given to her by Xue Tian’ai. Like Shinomiya, she was an orphan saved by him, and like her, she was an assassin in the Butterfly organization. Her codename was "Mystery Butterfly," ranked ninth in the world, specializing in cyber warfare and assassination.

"Because Yue-chan was enough. I am not skilled in close-quarters combat," Qiong replied, her voice calm and devoid of inflection.

Although Qiong’s ranking as an assassin was high, her physical combat ability was not top-tier. She excelled at researching a target’s weaknesses through the network and eliminating them from the shadows. Hence her codename: mysterious and elusive.

"But with your skills, you would have been more than enough to handle a piece of trash like that!" Shinomiya Tsukiyomi pouted in dissatisfaction.

"No, it would not have been enough," Qiong said, staring at her with earnest, emotionless eyes.

Accustomed to Qiong’s stoic nature, Shinomiya didn't take it to heart and naturally moved to the next topic. "Qiong, don't you think Tian’ai is being too much? He didn't even contact me after returning to China! Do you think he’s forgotten about me?"

A look of indignation appeared on Shinomiya’s cute face, much like a girl complaining about an inattentive boyfriend. It was hard to reconcile this image with the assassin known as the "Crystal Butterfly."

"Hmm..." Qiong remained calm and nodded, agreeing with her.

"Hey, Qiong, you like Tian’ai too, right? You need to learn how to complain, how to act spoiled! You can't just keep indulging that heartless man!" Shinomiya Tsukiyomi looked at the unflappable Qiong, trying to reason with her.

"Hmm..." Qiong nodded again, though a faint blush appeared on her porcelain-like cheeks.

"Honestly, Qiong, your expression only ever changes when you talk about Tian’ai. That’s absolutely no good!" Shinomiya said, sounding helpless.

"Hmm..." Qiong silently turned her head away and looked down, attempting to hide her blushing face behind her curtain of silver hair.

"Qiong, you have to learn to take the initiative! Otherwise, with a block of wood like Tian’ai, he probably won't understand your feelings for a lifetime!" Shinomiya sighed, her mind drifting to the arduous journey she had endured to win him over.

"Hmm..." Qiong’s head bobbed up and down, though her mind was busy seriously contemplating Shinomiya’s proposal.