'Where is this? What am I doing here? Who am I?' An eighteen-year-old woman's thoughts echoed as she felt herself drifting into the cold, dark area. It was followed by a sudden flash of white light that sent her head spinning and confused.
Her mind was blurry due to a concussion she had just experienced from getting hit by the shockwave of the exploding ball full of gunpowder. Alisa shook her head and looked around, but the sharp pang in her head intensified, which made her yelped.
"I feel sick… Urgh!" She exclaimed as she vomited blood.
Soon enough, her vision started to become clearer as the tingling noise in her ears gradually faded until there was no more. Her mind also found a sense of clarity as she slowly remembered who she was.
"I am… Alisa Hayworth. I was a master assassin and I died… but where is this place?" She muttered under her breath; her voice easily lost in the echoes of clashing steels of blades and the cries of the soldiers around her.
Her head started spinning once more and a sharp pang of pain invaded her head, making her scream. Her previous memories in another world had merged into the person she was right now. She finally understood what happened. While she was Alisa Hayworth in her previous life, she had reincarnated in the body of another Alisa Hayworth in another timeline, world or whatever it was. Her memories flooded her brain and made it overloaded with information that's why she felt a surging pain inside. It slowly dissipated as she was able to digest the information slowly. This was her new reality. She was in a battlefield. Alisa was a girl who grew up without parents, but was picked up by a bunch of slave traders. She couldn't remember everything, but she knew she was initially sold as a courtesan to a vile, lecherous old man. She was able to escape her fate of being defiled and then she eventually ended up joining the military secretly.
Her mind didn't have the luxury to be absorbing the shocking fact as a soldier was rushing towards her and swung his sword. Being a master assassin all her life before she was eliminated by the government in the past, her reflexes instantly kicked in even though her brain was lagging, raising the sword she was holding and parrying the incoming attack. With a few twists and change of trajectory, she disarmed the soldier and violently tore his body with a single slash.
Adrenaline rushed towards her head as arrows rained down on their flank. The enemy was rather desperate to defeat the forces of the Infernal Monarch, the same force she was affiliated with, which made them target both allies and enemies.
"How despicable!" She angrily cursed them.
To avoid getting skewered by the countless falling arrows, she took the body of the one she had slain and used it as a shield. The other soldiers who accompanied her were shocked. Since when was she this bold?
"Hey, greenhorn! Don't rush recklessly. You'll break the formation!" One of the soldiers said. He had a muscular physique and broad shoulders, easily towering over his comrades, while wearing a partial metallic and leather armor.
Alisa remembered him as Grunt. She was in the same squad as this man. But she couldn't care less at all. She was a lone wolf. She had been working as an assassin all her life and she didn't need any comrades. Whether it was a direct confrontation or an assassination, no one could surpass her skills. She was absolutely confident that she could even wipe out these bunch of trashes if she wanted to. However, she had to admit her body in this world was currently a little bit out of shape and slightly malnourished. Was her counterpart a fool? The body is the most important asset of a human. How could she not take care of herself? But then, she had known based on her memories that her counterpart was such a pitiful person with barely anything to eat. She joined the military for the sake of free food. Since she was bound to die wherever she went, she thought she might as well spend it in the battlefield and her life might have some meaning to it.
"Damn it! She's not listening." Grunt expressed in displeasure, but didn't chase after her.
The formation had wobbled because of her disappearance. He thought that if she would be able to survive, Alisa would still face punishment for disobeying orders. He could only sigh as he pushed the thought at the back of mind and focused once again on defending themselves from the raining arrows.
Meanwhile, the arrows pierced on the body Alisa was holding as she pushed through, eventually reaching the ranks of the enemy. Her bloodshot eyes gleamed with danger as she threw away the body and shot her sword forward. It pierced through the skull of an enemy soldier, killing him instantly. She moved once again and proceeded to slash the necks of a few soldiers. She was killing people swiftly and efficiently. It didn't take too long before she had almost destroyed the whole right flank of the enemy formation, which made the soldiers trembling in fear and scattered randomly.
'Ah… it sucks…' Alisa thought. She hated a life full of bloodshed. She wondered if she would get anything out of this? The least thing that she wanted to happen was to get entangled with these people. Based on her memory, the current history of mankind was tied by strict laws and women were often looked down. She sighed inwardly as she continued mowing down the enemy soldiers until her blade chipped.
"Tch! These are such horrible weapons. Gladly, there is an unlimited supply of these laying around." She scowled, her expression reflecting a hint of disdain towards the world.
She wished she had the weapon she was using in her previous life. It was similar to an artifact, after all. Moreover, it was made using the divergent laws, which made it quite special and powerful.
After she had enough and thought that her work had already disrupted the enemy greatly, she backed off and re-joined the ranks of her squad.
"Hell yeah, greenhorn! You're still alive? Quite the tenacity you have there, eh?" Grunt said while laughing after seeing her again. Her back was even slapped so hard that she stumbled almost fell to the ground.
The moment her fellow foot soldiers saw her coming back unscathed, their eyes were filled with admiration and disbelief. It was like they had seen the devil slaughter lots of enemy soldiers with ease and boredom. Her cold and indifferent demeanor gave an impression of a ruthless and experienced killer.
The others also joined in, chanting praises at her. She never talked to them before, so they didn't know that the person behind the armor was a woman. She removed her helmet, allowing her light purple hair like a lotus flower to gracefully fall down and hung over her shoulder until her waist. The rest of the soldiers were stunned.
"No way! You are a woman?" Grunt asked.
"Is there a problem?" Her cold stares pierced through his eyes which made him involuntarily shiver.
"N-no…"
She didn't say anything anymore and left the area. However, before she could even take a rest, a group of soldiers went forward and arrested her. Grunt wanted to say something, but they had already taken her away in haste. Of course, Alisa didn't dare to run away. Although she could just murder everyone here, it was still her fellow countrymen. She was working as an assassin, but she also had her principles. She always upheld it with pride. One of it was to never turn her blade against her fellow countrymen, unless they harbored evil intentions that would put her in a tight spot.
She was thrown inside a cell and the guards had locked it. It seemed like she would be interrogated soon regarding how she broke the formation. Her stomach growled and she finally felt tired after the adrenaline wore off. She was tired and hungry.
"Can I please at least have a little food and water, sir?" She asked the one of the two guards who stood outside of the door to her cell.
"Beat it! You are in no position to ask for anything. Know your place, woman!" He scoffed and ignored her.
'Looks like I could only wait for the one in-charge.' She thought as she sat down on the cold floor while leaning on the wall. Her vision started to blur and she soon lost consciousness due to the hunger and tiredness.
While she was asleep, she dreamt of her previous life. Alisa was on a mission to infiltrate the headquarters of the president of Altair in order to assassinate the commander. The headquarters was like a prison when she had entered it. There were so many guards roaming around and security cameras were placed in every corner, making it impossible for her to sneak in without getting discovered. However, she was still able to perform her tasks. Through disguising herself as one of the guards there by stealing a uniform, she got close to the president and slit his throat. She vividly remembered how his blood splattered and gushed out like fountain before dying. It stirred a commotion among the enemy's base, but with their commander dead, the long-standing war between the two countries had finally ended, with Eidelweiss emerging as the winner.
The people's country hailed her as a hero once she stepped out into the limelight. However, the government officials thought otherwise. They were afraid of her otherworldly abilities and strength, thinking that she might turn against them someday. So, they plotted a sinister plan as she returned to her country. She never would have expected on the day she was about to retire as an assassin was also the last day of her life. When she boarded the plane, the government officials were already aware. Thus, they sent missiles to destroy the plane she was riding. They even resorted to tampering the plane's system and locked the electronic doors to prevent her from escaping. She fell into despair while she could only watch the missiles closing in and destroyed the plane into pieces of scrap metal. The dream abruptly ended and she woke up drenched in cold sweat and water.
"Wake up, woman. It's time for an interrogation." The guard coldly said. He was holding a bucket in his hands, which meant that he had poured water on her as she was sleeping. How cruel!
Afterwards, she was dragged by the two guards to another room and tied her up to a chair. Alisa's body was extremely weak right now as the hunger continued to assault her mind and driving her crazy. Her eyes were slowly becoming unfocused. She even ignored the fully armored person in front of her.
"What happened to her?" The armored person asked. The voice was hoarse and deep, indicating that it was a man inside.
"Sir, we have left her without food and water as punishment for breaking the formation and disobeying orders during the previous battle." One of the guards who dragged her said.
Alisa wasn't sure what emotions were being expressed in the face of the man right now, but she also didn't care. All she wanted was food and water. Her lips were already dried up and forming cracks which was unsightly for a woman. Her strength was slowly slipping out of her body.
"Bring her clean food and water." He commanded.
"Sir, but…"
"Are you going to ignore my commands?" His voice was menacing enough to stir a fear in the guard's mind.
"R-Right away, sir!"
He nervously followed his orders and hurriedly went to the supply room to get some bread and a strip of beef jerky. Then he fetched a cup of water in the jar before returning to the interrogation room.
At the sight and smell of food being placed in front of her, Alisa's senses were awoken and she greedily eyed it, with her saliva drooling. She was really looking less and less than a woman lately. She had to take care of her image soon. It would be a big joke to her organization in her previous life if her beauty would be ruin by a mere war and they would end up seeing her miserable state. When she was a master assassin, her beauty was also unrivaled by most young ladies. She didn't look like a ruthless killer at all. But now, with her skin looking rough due to the calluses and peeled off layers, she was definitely ugly and unattractive.
'A woman assassin should always maintain her looks no matter what. Otherwise, she wouldn't be graceful and would look unsightly.' She secretly said it again and again inside her head.
"Go on. Eat up first." The man's cold voice echoed once again, giving her permission.
"How can I eat if my hands are tied up?" She asked while tilting her head slightly.
The man was dumbfounded. How were these idiotic guards so unresponsive and not thinking? It was reflecting on him poorly. He glared at the previous guy, which scared him and untied the knot binding Alisa's hands.
Without even waiting, she grabbed the bread and jerky and took a large bite, trying to savor the flavor while chewing it. But then, she was disappointed. As expected of the rations given by the military. It was bland, hard, and cold. She wished she could throw it away but she couldn't endure the hunger anymore. It was a waste of food too, and she hated wasting anything that was still usable. She ignored the taste and just swallowed it after chewing for a short period. It didn't take more than two minutes to finish the meal. She sighed in relief upon feeling her stomach full.
"Have you had enough?" The man once again spoke and asked her.
She didn't speak but slightly nodded instead.
"Good. Let's begin the interrogation then." His voice hardened once again, losing all compassion in his tone. The real challenge would begin now, or so she thought.