“I’M SORRY!!! Humingi na ako ng tawad kaya wag niyo na akong habulin pa! Aksidente lamang iyon!” ( I have already apologized so don’t chase me anymore!! That was just an accident!!)

Even as she realized her cries sounded rather strange, the small girl around 10 – 11 years old showed no sign of stopping her tremendous flight.

“Patawarin niyo na ako!” ( Please forgive me already!)

As she ran through back alleys late at night, she glanced over her shoulder.

There were eight of them.

She ran frantically all over for almost 2 kilometers, but there were still eight of them. And worst, they were now getting nearer and nearer and she was getting slower due to exhaustion…

“Tumigil ka bata ka!!!” ( HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, BRAT!!!”)

“Wag mong isipin na makakatakas ka pa sa amin. Hinding hindi kita mapapatawad sa paghampas mo ng bato sa gwapo kong ilong!!” ( Don’t think you can get away from us. I won’t forgive you for ramming that stone into my handsome nose!! )

--- ---

*…English…*

‘I can’t be caught here! Anybody….! Someone, please! Please save me!!’

“Nyaaah!!!”

The girl kicked over a filthy plastic bucket and frightened off a black cat as she continued running.

She then heard one of the delinquents shouting from behind her.

“Hey!! You fucking brat! Stop, you master runner!!”

“I swear I will give you some candies if you stop!!”

“It would certainly make you feel blessed, so just stop!!” it was then accompanied by a nasty laugh.

Hearing these words, it only angered the girl more to receive such a violent love call.

“Shut up you pedophile!! Didn’t I already said I’m sorry and what was that you maniac!!” the girl shouted back despite knowing it was just a waste of stamina.

The world had just gone crazy with those monsters popping out from time to time and yet, there was also this kind of jerks… the girl started cursing the world on her mind.

“Hey Allen, I asked you where are we really going?”

“Hm? You will know it after we arrived there, more like are you really going to come with me?”

“Of course, I am. Why the heck do you think I stayed with you for?”

“!?”

At this moment, voices suddenly rang out in front of her.

‘There’s someone there?!’

“Save me!! Please save ---!!”

It was just when she was just about to reach the main street when she bumped into a person coming out of a side alley.

“---Eek!?”

The girl, having been running in a daze, shrieked from the pain of the collision and the anxiety that she had been holding in.

The little girl fell, and the person she collided with stepped up to her.

“— I’m very sorry. Are you alright?”

It was a young man’s voice.

A sound that gave her relief.

“The game is over, girl! Get back here!!”

“I can’t run another inch…”

“How dare this girl make me run all the way here!!”

“I’ll make her regret this…”

Hearing these voices, the small girl immediately sprang from the ground and hide behind the young man as she shouted, “Hell no!!”

The young man in front of the girl stopped moving and then looked in front of him. There before him were eight men with ragged breathing.

Even an idiot would likely guess by now just what is happening.

And so, the young man said,

“Hey, hey…it’s broad daylight you know~ can’t you see she’s scared? Chasing a little girl isn’t very mature of you people…”

And the response,

“Huh? Are you an idiot?”

“If you want to live then get lost!”

“Who do you think you are?! Stop being so arrogant and let’s see how you would talk after I smash that mouth of yours!”

Hearing their replies, the young man let out a sigh.

“I suppose we can’t solve this through words… in that case…”

However, after the young man muttered those words, immediately the whole situation terrified the surrounding people to the extent where they could even wet their pants.

They saw that frail looking, lovable youth, with delicate features, leisurely took out a pistol, was occasionally looking at them.

There was a deadly aura around him, as if just one unsuited word from their side, and he would immediately open fire on them, without any mercy.

“Come up if you want to die.”

The young man glances over at the group of pursuers, a sharp trace of chill flashed across his eyes.

What scary eyes, just like a fierce wild beast.

Looking at the coldness in the young man’s eyes, a couple of figures involuntarily steps back. Deterred by the existence of the gun, everyone’s eyes held a touch of fear, refuses to be in close proximity to this person.

“C, Calm down…”

“I am wrong, elder brother, I am wrong!”

“We have no animosity against you; there’s no reason to get in a fight like this. Right?”

Some of the eight men became so frightened that they immediately started trembling with fear, and wanted to run away. But nothing could be done, since the fingers of the young man were on the gun, pointing at them. Anyone could be scared of him. then why wouldn’t these bludgers be scared of?

Damn, this world really became crazy!! First, monsters and now children walking around with guns? What are those, toys?

They wanted to think like that but just by looking at the seemingly real ‘toy’ in front of them, all the thoughts in their head vanished like a puff of smoke.

No one dared to test the authenticity of the 'toy' pointing at them.

Don’t tell me this young man was the so-called genuine underworld!?

To open fire brutally, without blinking an eye just because someone tried to do ‘good things’ that can’t be shown to the public!?

How could they even dare to trigger the anger of such a powerful presence?

Of course, the young man would definitely not open fire. Even if he was not afraid to kill, but still he was disinclined to waste his bullets like this.

Besides, behind him was a girl glaring daggers, not at the eight thugs but at the young man, as if she would make her judgment on him if he really does so.

“Then get lost…”

After hearing those words from the young man, as if they were pardoned by God, they immediately turned around and run away leaving the three people in the alley.

“That’s quick~”

--- ---

“So, what’s your name?” Allen asked the girl.

The girl seemed to be hesitating whether to answer or not. Her eyes reflected some fear, suspicions, and anxiety.

“…um,” After a long time of consideration, the girl finally gathered her resolve and answered. “M, My name is Alicia. Alicia Tandor.”

“My name’s Allen, Allen Bando.”

“Aileen Cahlo.”

“N, nice to meet you!”

“Same… oh right, why are you being chased by those hoodlums?”

“I, I accidentally kicked a can when I was running away and hit the nose of one of those guys. Of course, I tried to apologize but they suddenly started saying about compensation. I told them I don’t have a money or anything. However, they said that I could pay the compensation by something else while looking at my body. I got scared and so I run away.”

Those pedo… Allen cursed inwardly.

“Why are you running away?” Aileen asked the girl called Alicia with a suspicious tone.

“I, I saw the Jack the ripper!”

“What did you say?!”

While speaking, Allen tried to hide his shock. His surprise wasn't just because of the strange name she said, however.

She's talking about that killer...

“...Allen. What is this Jack the Ripper about?”

Aileen whispered to Allen while tilting her head in bewilderment.

“...Jack the Ripper. He was the infamous killer in London.”

Jack the Ripper is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer generally believed to have been active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888.

He was also called "The Whitechapel Murderer" as well as "Leather Apron" within the criminal case files, as well as in contemporary journalistic accounts.

“- Attacks ascribed to Jack the Ripper typically involved female prostitutes who lived and worked in the slums of the East End of London whose throats were cut prior to abdominal mutilations…”

“I know about that story! What I want to ask is t t, Jack the Ripper is here in the Philippines? That’s absurd!” Aileen screamed in disbelief.

Although it was really hard to believe that the real Jack the Ripper is in this place, no, in this country but with the appearance of the monsters as well as this fantastical situation, just maybe there’s really Jack the Ripper...?

“Of course it’s not the real Jack the Ripper. She was only called that because of her way of killing that resembles the infamous Jack the ripper in that story.”

“She?”

“You mean Sir…you know Jack the Ripper?” the little girl called Alicia exclaimed as she looked at Allen.

Although she called him Jack the Ripper, she didn’t specify the gender. And by the name, anyone would mistakenly conclude that Jack the Ripper was a He.

“Kind of…” of course Allen know her, though she doesn’t know him.

…it seems like; you’re the first one Flor …

One of the infamous anti-hero, [ Jack the Ripper ].

She was an introvert and eccentric girl.

At the second day of chaos, there have repeatedly been strange things happening around Dumaguete City. One of these were the bodies of humans and monsters alike completely mangled.

Who knows who first called it [ Jack the Ripper ] case, it must have been some all-knowing wannabe, but because there had been more discoveries of bodies killed the same way ever since;

…it was not a big leap to conclude that they were done by the same person. And so, the name [ Jack the Ripper ] became known in the city.

“How did you know such a person?” Aileen blinked her eyes in suspicion.

“… …” Allen ignored the girl and instead looked at Alicia. “…so where did you see that lunatic?”

“At downtown.” Alicia answered truthfully. “As you may know, because of the appearance of the monsters, there are already less people in this city. They have already been sent to some evacuation center.

Us here, who were left, had no choice but to risk danger and try going to the downtown where numerous monsters gathered, raid some stores and buildings for supplies…”

Of course, Allen knows of this. Although the army was already dispatched to protect the citizen and bring them to a safe place, but to accommodate all the people in a city was utterly impossible. Forget about the lack of means to transport this people without problem, there are already huge lack of manpower.

And such, many people were still on their homes, hiding while praying to be rescued later on.

“…this morning, when I decided to try my luck to find some food, I went to downtown. There, I found her.” Alicia continued her story. “A lone girl, holding a long black sword, was standing atop of a huge monster corpse. At first I didn’t know who she was but when many monsters attacked her, she jumped and killed them in a blink of an eye. After then, she chopped the bodies of these monsters one by one. So I concluded that she might be the rumored Jack the Ripper.”

“… …”

“… Then she looks at me. I was so scared that I immediately run away, and you know what happened next. I met those people.”

That black sword she was talking about should be that [ Unique ] class; Demon sword, [ Tartanos ]. Listening to Alicia’s story, Allen thought inwardly.

The demon sword that sucks blood on whoever it injures and gives the wielder superhuman strength and speed. It was certainly a good demon sword but there’s a downside to it.

Whoever wields it will experience a tremendous change in their personality.

An angel-like person, when wields that sword will become a demon. Not just that, because of their terrifying tendencies, they are always isolated and feared, resulting to the user drowning in loneliness. And once this happens, the user will at either become insane and became a demon of slaughter or die in sadness by killing themselves.

…this was also what happened to the infamous modern Jack the Ripper of Philippines. She was formerly a good person and save many people, but because of her terrifying strength and the fact that she had killed many people before, although they were evil people, she was isolated. She was feared and was even hated.

Thus, she lost her sanity due to sadness and later on, killed any people she encountered and was then persecuted by the survivors.

A sad ending.

“…well, she was certainly a time bomb, however, she would certainly become a reliable comrade in the future.” Allen spoke to Aileen beside him. “We will look for her~”

“Are you crazy?! Didn’t you hear what she said? She’s a killer!”

“Who cares~” after saying so, Allen stood up and started walking towards downtown.

“Haa! I don’t care what happen after wards.” Looking at him, Aileen could only sigh.

Alicia was left dumbfounded while looking at the two people. She didn’t hear wrong…right? They will look for that person? Are they crazy?!

“Wait…!”

--- ---