"Run!"
With those words, the Tengu pulled his arm back out of Momiji's body, and the power that Athena had been on the verge of unleashing froze in place because of Momiji's death.
Athena had experienced many battles and had often acted as a champion of justice, but this was the first time she had ever witnessed such a hellish scene.
And such a horrifying one at that!
If only I were stronger... If only I were stronger!
As she watched the monster ignore her and prepare to stuff the two hearts in his hands into his mouth, the seal Chin Gentsai had placed upon Athena began rapidly breaking apart. But at that very moment...
A flash of sword light streaked across the battlefield.
The silver-white slash carrying overwhelming killing intent and fury instantly severed the Tengu's arm. Athena only caught sight of a blurred black shadow flashing before her eyes, and in the very next instant, the towering monster was cut into countless fragments that scattered through the air.
A young man wearing a gauntlet and wielding two greatswords appeared in midair. The moment he saw the two hearts suspended in the air, he immediately hurled the greatswords in his hands toward the soldiers in front of and behind him.
The two greatswords instantly surpassed the speed of sound. They merely brushed past the soldiers, yet those men were swept into the sky like falling leaves, their bodies shredded completely by the terrifying sword qi, bursting into clouds of blood.
His now-empty hands caught the two hearts, and the instant he landed, he wrapped them in golden flames before throwing them back toward the gaping wounds in the chests of the two girls.
At the same time, Athena clearly saw that along with the hearts, two steel wires shot out as well, pulling Bulma's and Momiji's bodies together so they lay side by side in front of the young man.
At this moment, the man looked like a god descending from the heavens.
And that man was Ryuji.
The moment he landed, Ryuji quickly summoned the Goddess's Milk. Under his control, the milk imbued with divine power swiftly lifted the two girls' hearts. While their bodies were being healed by his Dragon Fire, it rapidly replenished and restored the vitality and cellular activity within their bodies, causing their missing organs and flesh to regenerate at an astonishing speed before returning to their original, pristine state.
Only after seeing that both girls' chests had returned to normal and their breathing had stabilized did Ryuji finally let out a sigh of relief. He looked around and discovered that, aside from himself, the only conscious person in the entire area was the girl standing before him. There wasn't a single living person within a radius of 500 meters.
He tore his cloak apart and covered the two girls with separate pieces of it before looking toward Athena, who was still staring at him in stunned disbelief.
At the same time, he casually fired out a steel wire, which quickly wrapped around his Kuroinu Sword. He then sent the sword flying toward the two helicopters that were trying to escape, instantly turning both helicopters into fireballs.
But even after doing all of this, Ryuji still had no idea what had happened. So, while controlling the steel wire and having the sword fly back toward his back, he asked,
"What exactly happened here? Why were you being pursued by so many people? Also, don't worry about your companions. Since they're both beautiful women, I've already brought them back to life."
Ryuji was rather speechless. He had been sitting in the courtyard meditating, with all of his senses focused on controlling his Satsui no Hado and his body, but he could still hear the sound of gunfire.
Then his perception instantly spread across the entire city, and he saw what was happening here.
Someone was causing trouble right at the entrance of his Shiranui dojo, so naturally, Ryuji had to come out and take a look.
But before he could even reach this place, these three beauties had already been nearly killed.
However, the reason he was willing to spend what little Goddess's Milk he had left to save them was because the woman lying on the ground, with her rather voluptuous figure and shrine maiden outfit, looked very similar to Mai Shiranui. That was why he had decisively stepped in to save her.
Looking at Ryuji's handsome face, which, while not exactly earth-shattering, had become quite attractive thanks to the optimization of his body. Athena opened and closed her mouth several times, yet couldn't manage to say a complete sentence.
"Ah, I... I... I don't know. I only know that someone was attacking these children... I..."
Athena was extremely flustered. She couldn't seem to say anything at all while looking at Ryuji. She didn't know what was happening to her. She only knew that whenever she looked at Ryuji, her heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably, while her mind went completely blank.
If Athena knew about the suspension bridge effect, she would naturally understand that after being saved by Ryuji, she had subconsciously fallen for him.
But because of that very feeling, the power within her body that had been on the verge of breaking through its seal settled down once again. Therefore, Ryuji, who wasn't paying particularly close attention, naturally failed to notice anything unusual about Athena.
However, seeing Ryuji's puzzled expression, Athena somehow blurted out an answer that left him at a loss for words.
"I... I'm Athena Asamiya! Nice to meet you!"
When he heard Athena introduce herself, the first thing Ryuji thought of wasn't Athena Asamiya from The King of Fighters, but rather sheer speechlessness.
He looked at the severed limbs of the soldiers he had casually killed, as well as the large group of children lying on the ground who were clearly unconscious from being anesthetized and then looked at Athena with an indescribable expression.
Introducing herself at a time like this...
She really must have been scared out of her wits.
Ryuji didn't say anything. It was also at this moment that he finally remembered exactly who Athena Asamiya was. This made him somewhat curious about what kind of changes had occurred in this merged world where the original plot had been altered because of his presence, to the point that Athena had nearly died here.
And who is that blue-haired woman?
~~~~~~~~~~
You can support me by subscribing on Patreon and read up to 20 chapters ahead.
patreon.com/Ranabir_20