Chapter 1: Rose' Flashbacks

Rose Hineki just finished her last subject for the day at the prestigious Akita University.

"Whew. It has been a hell week lately. I got a lot of projects and assignments to tackle. "

She exclaimed.

She's also involved in a lot of extracurricular activities.

"Hey Rose, we're going to have a party for incoming freshmen in college in the next few days. That means you're also invited. come in and join in the fun?"

Takeshi, her best friend since secondary school, said.

Rose put her arm around him, then they hopped inside her car and drove him back to the dorm he is staying. " Nah. Sorry man, I'll have to decline for now. Maybe some other time. I still have a lot of stuff to attend to. See you tomorrow."

After that, she went home, took a shower, and dealt with the assignments and projects.

Then she drove straight to an upscale coffee shop on the other side of the city.

Then she sat down and ordered a cup of espresso.

While sipping the espresso she ordered, she took out her smartphone and then quickly checked for any important task she forgot to take care of.

Just as she is tinkering around, an important email popped up, right in time.

Rose read the content of the email. It turned out to be a top-secret order by the Premier himself.

Then she chatted with her Co-Units and asked them if they received the same email.

They all answered yes.

She had a feeling that things were starting to get busier and more hectic from now on. And more uncertain, too.

Just as she put away her phone, she had a flashback of events that changed her forever.

Rose will never forget the night the grisly crime that will forever mess up her life and turn her whole life upside down happened.

She met up with her uncle by chance in his condo unit in upscale Akiko.

They were both tired at that time and happened to be both returning back home to the province district of Toshiko for a vacation.

He just finished his duty in a distant district infested with Renegades, which is Honshu District.

He didn't dare try to drive his enchanted smart van all the way back to Toshiko in order to safeguard against a possible ambush, so they just took public transportation instead.

After speeding along the highway through the self-driving taxis, they finally arrived at the provincial bus station.

While they were on their way home, they greeted each other and asked how they fared in day-to-day life. They also shared plans on what will be done after arriving home.

They thought that we could still see their family but they were to be proved wrong.

Fate was already laughing at them in a high, cold, cruel, and sinister laugh.

Rose's parents, her siblings, and the rest of the household staff were all killed without mercy.

They were dismayed and in disbelief at what greeted their eyes upon arriving back home.

It turned out that Rose's elder brother went home ahead of them.

At first, they were in disbelief at what greeted their eyes and ears the moment they arrived home.

Rose's eldest brother, Ross, was reduced to drinking a bottle of vintage wine, his eyes red with grief and anger.

Rose approached her eldest brother, John Ross, and asked." Ross, my brother, what happened? "

"Rose, Uncle Denver, we must get back at those who did this. They shall pay with their lives. I swear it."

"Brother, don't worry. We'll help you. Their deaths shall not be in vain. "

Rose put a comforting arm around her elder brother.

Her uncle fished out his hologram smartphone and called the Police Mages.

After the cops conducted their investigations and cleaned up the crime scene, they requested to at least take a look and obtain copies of the photos and CCTV footage when we arrived at the precinct.

The images were a grisly and horrible sight.

Rose's parents were killed in their sleep with an Undeath spell.

The household staff lay dead.

They were slowly tortured to death with an ancient Demonic Curse.

Even the elite bodyguards that we hired were poisoned to death while having their usual drink of tea.

Even her siblings weren't spared.

Her two younger sisters aged 12 and 14 got raped by Renegade Half-Demons while asleep, before getting killed with a frost spell.

Their shorts and underwear obviously got pulled down ad their crop-top and bra pulled up with rape marks still visible between their legs.

They were already naked when killed.

Rose's youngest brother tried to defend himself, but he was no match against a more experienced mage, specifically a renegade mage who fell to the ways of the outlawed Renegades.

In short, her family was totally caught off guard.

Seeing the photos were too much for Rose to take in, and she fainted right on spot.

Luckily, the mages caught her before she fell to the floor, and called an ambulance.

After waking up in the hospital bed, Rose saw Uncle Denver sitting at her side.

"Uncle, what happened? Why am I here? When will I be released?'

Rose asked her uncle.

He replied "You fainted right on spot seeing those grisly pictures. You won't be discharged from the hospital yet unless the doctor says so. You need to rest up and recover your strength."

A few days passed and she eventually recovered her strength.

She was eventually discharged from the hospital.

Because of a lack of leads and witnesses, and no one claimed responsibility for the killings, the police gave up on the case and it ended up being a cold case. The case was eventually forgotten.

But not for Rose, not for her uncle, and not for her brother.

She still remembered the time she visited the graves of her parents and her siblings all by herself in the memorial park.

She was still in junior high school back then. It was a cold and rainy afternoon.

She did not bring any raincoat or umbrella.

She was drenched and soaking wet in the cold provincial rain.

In a rage, she shouted and screamed all her pain and anger while crying.

" Mother, Father, to my brother and sisters I hope you are now happy in heaven. Rest in peace. Do not worry. I will avenge your deaths. Those who committed these crimes to all of you will pay dearly with their lives and suffer. I will see to it to crush them without mercy. They will end up crawling on the floor like lowly worms, crying, begging for mercy. I will use all the means possible. I will see to it that what they did to you will be reflected back to them. I assure it. My revenge will come!"

She also remembered all the difficulties she had to go through and endure just to become a member of the Elorian Secret Unit.

Her father was a brother of the Minister who tried to keep the province district safe from the Renegades.

Her father was an influential businessman who funded the local opposition.

Her mother came from an old rich family in Sokoto.

She is lucky to be born privileged, but it isn't an easy life.

She and her siblings were always pressured to succeed in everything.

After Rose finished primary education, she decided to tag along with her uncle to Akiko, so she can study at an elite university.

Since she graduated top of the class during primary school, she had no problem getting into a well-known private university.

She studied on a full scholarship. It was a full scholarship as a varsity player as she was the poster girl for taekwondo in the Junior High School Girls division of the university.

It was tough balancing studies and sports.

Being involved in family affairs at a young age also made it tougher.

She also took special weapons handling and espionage lessons from a close colleague of her uncle.

The odds were stacked against her. But she fought on and will continue to fight on.

And here she found herself, the youngest member of the Secret Unit, attacking and defending to survive in a landscape where The Renegades are still entrenched.

Any ordinary by-passer will just see a chubby but athletic and good-looking girl in an elite mage outfit enjoying a cup of coffee.

Little do they know that she still has the same flashbacks again and again.

Rose is the best coder and hacker among the youth who currently studies at Akita University.

She still is, until the present day. involved in top-tier cyber warfare attacks against the feared and dreaded Renegades, often taking lead, or else playing support roles that could pull serious damage.

Most of them ended in success, and she had to wear a mask every time, as those cyber warfare efforts often made it to the front-page news.

As a result, she was often a target of assassination attempts by different factions of the Renegades.

All of their attempts of course ended in failure, as she was lucky enough to be able to take advanced assassination lessons, which only the elite could afford to have.

Coming from an old rich family of mages who trace lineage to ancient times meant she had access to state-of-the-art anti-magic guns, and an assassin's weapon like chakrams, a pair of daggers, a pair of very sharp switchblades, and a katana.

Rose also studied magic.

Not the weakened and diluted sort used by commoner mages, but ancient, dangerous sorcery usually practiced by the nobility, which they learned from books left behind by their powerful ancestors, and written in a lost, ancient language.

Rose specifically studied multi-elemental magic, dark summoning, and celestial summoning magic.

Rose also had her fair share of major battles and skirmishes to fight, as the Renegades always seem to be keen on finishing off what they thought to be "the last few remnants of the once proud but annoying Hineki family."

What they did not know is that they didn't get all the family branches, as her father still had 4 siblings, plus her grandfather who wanted to see the downfall of the Renegades by supporting the Premier.

And downfall it shall be.

Despite being chubby, she made it a point to keep fit and not get overweight by always practicing taekwondo, and constantly working out on a daily basis.

It eventually paid off, as she has a lot of admirers everywhere she went.

She was shaken off from her thoughts and came back to the present when she noticed that Tashiro had somehow slipped inside the coffee shop and was now sitting on the other side of the table, holding her hand.

She could not prevent herself from blushing.

"Tashiro, what are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here in broad daylight, in a public place, and undisguised. What if your father sees you? You're only putting both of us in danger."

" Don't worry, my dear. I'm not the sort to come and see you recklessly. It's been a while since we last met. What a pleasant surprise to come across you here. "

Tashiro replied gently.

Tashiro is an ex-Renegade, also of noble and ancient lineage.

He is tall, more or less the same age as Rose, fair-skinned, athletic and handsome.

He now works as a double agent while running various successful businesses as a cover to spy on the Renegades.

They were introduced by a common friend.

It was love at first sight.

He started hitting on Rose and they became a couple ever since.

" Have you had dinner yet? It's almost 9 p.m."

"Nah. I'm in a hurry. I thought I'd drop by and see you."

So, Rose ordered Tashiro's usual coffee and sandwich for him.

Before he left, both Rose and Tashiro hugged and kissed passionately.

"Thanks for ordering my usual, my love. I was in such a hurry I forgot to eat dinner. Take care out there. You know my number and social media accounts. Let's keep in touch."

"All right, love. I will. You also take care out there. I know how dangerous your missions are. Will do."

Tashiro winked at Rose before he left to focus on his new mission.