The Collector's corpse hadn't even cooled.
And the city was already awake, stirred by the scent of spilled blood — that sweet, iron perfume that called killers like moths to flame.
Leon leaned back against the shattered rooftop ledge, his cigarette barely hanging from his lips, glowing dimly like a dying star.
"Y'know..." he muttered, eyes half-lidded, "...I've started losing count of how many people want us dead."
Aria sat beside him, her white dress soaked and torn, her soft skin marred with fresh cuts that only seemed to make her more breathtaking.
She licked the blood from her lips, head resting on his shoulder.
"Let them come, my sweet little Leon."
Her voice was velvet-wrapped madness.
"I'll slaughter every last one of them. For you."
The city lights flickered — one by one — as if the whole world was holding its breath.
And from the streets below, more boots echoed against the cracked pavement.
This time, organized. Precise. Military.
A squad of Guild Hunters in black armor emerged, weapons gleaming, masks cold and emotionless.
The leader raised a gloved fist.
"Leon Valenheart. Aria Bloodveil. By order of the Guild: surrender, or die."
Leon didn't even stand. He simply blew out a lazy cloud of smoke, eyes sharp as knives.
"You boys must be new. That or you've got a death wish."
Aria rose to her feet, twirling her blade lazily, like a cat stretching after a nap.
"Surrender?"
Her voice was all sugar, dripping with poison.
"I only kneel to one person. And he's sitting right there."
The Hunters opened fire.
But Aria moved like liquid moonlight — her blade slicing through bullets, her smile only growing wider with every heart she stopped.
Leon joined her, bare fists splitting helmets like paper.
It wasn't a fight.
It was art.
Minutes later, silence returned.
The rooftop was painted red, the wind humming through the dead city like a lullaby for monsters.
Aria, still flushed with excitement, crawled into Leon's lap, straddling him, arms looped around his neck.
Her lips brushed against his, slow and possessive.
"You're mine, Leon."
A whisper.
"Always."
He chuckled, hands resting on her waist.
"Yeah, yeah... I'd like to see someone try taking me away from you."
She leaned in, tongue teasing the edge of his ear, voice soaked in madness and love.
"If they do... I'll tear this whole rotten world apart."
And as the sun began to rise, bleeding gold across the sky, the two of them sat there — surrounded by corpses, locked in an embrace that smelled of blood, smoke, and obsession.
It wasn't a fairytale.
It was their love story.
And it was only just beginning.