“Gaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
The roar of the black beast echoed through the highway, and Nero charged straight at the knights who had scattered around.
“What is this monster!?”
“Calm down! Form a shield wall!”
The knights responded immediately, raising their weapons and shields. However, unless they were wearing full metal armor, they were unable to withstand Nero’s attacks with their light equipment and were sent flying.
Nero, due to its massive size, targeted the knights on the outer perimeter rather than the narrow spaces. Confirming Crown Prince Elvan’s safety from its back, I slid down and stabbed two Assassins to death with the Dagger and Knife in my hands.
“Wh-what!?”
I crushed the bridge of the nose of the man who cried out at the death of his comrade with an elbow strike, then wrapped my arm around his neck and snapped it backward. Mikhail, who had claimed to be a close aide of the Crown Prince, raised his voice at us, who had suddenly appeared and begun killing the enemies.
“Y-you are…”
“Stand back a little.”
Saying that to him, I turned my skirt, and threw the Knife pulled from the slit at the approaching Assassins.
The Knife pierced one’s throat, and two others dodged. As expected, they wouldn’t bring anyone below Rank 3 for the assassination of the Crown Prince… I thought, and in that instant, I leaped out, using the Pendulum [Blade Scythe Style] to slash the throat of the man who was approaching at close range, and while dodging the Knife thrust out by another man by leaning back, I kicked the man’s chin with my toes as if spinning around, and at the same time, I finished him off by slashing his wide-open neck with the [Slashing Style] Pendulum that I had thrown.
“Hyu…”
Scattered blood. Life fading away like picking flowers. The girl clinging to the Crown Prince let out a muffled scream at my figure, killing the enemies dispassionately, and one of the Assassins, noticing this, rushed out to take them hostage.
“I won’t let you!”
“Rookwell!”
The other of the Crown Prince’s aides cut in between, and Mikhail called out the name of that knight.
The boy, with the build of a knight, seemed to have trained to some extent, but he himself probably realized that it was impossible to stop a Rank 3 Assassin with his bare hands.
“Get out of the way!”
The Assassin raised a one-handed sword at Rookwell, who was still trying to stand in his way.
At that moment, I leaned forward, dug my claws into the ground, and leaped out as if kicking off the ground. I jumped on that Assassin from behind, slammed him into the ground as if crushing him, and broke his neck with my knee.
A sound like crushing a wooden branch wrapped in a wet rag echoed, and while the people on the Crown Prince’s side averted their eyes, I picked up the one-handed sword that the killed Assassin had been using and threw it to Rookwell, who was still dumbfounded.
“You are Princess (Your Highness)’s…”
“I received a request for help from her. If there are enemies, don’t stand there dumbfounded. If you still have the will to fight, take up a weapon. You have something to protect, don’t you?”
“Ah… yes, that’s right!”
Rookwell nodded powerfully as he received the sword. The Second Knight Order’s squad was dealing with Nero, so I could leave that to them.
I pulled out the Black Knife to eliminate the Assassins, and at that moment, I felt an intense Killing Intent, and while leaping away, I threw the Knife in that direction.
Clang!
My Knife, thrown at the “master” of the Killing Intent, was deflected.
Immediately, a Hatchet-like Blade was released from the “master”, but I, realizing that I could not deflect the Hatchet that roared and approached with a thunderous sound, leaped to the side to dodge the attack, and the “master” chased after me.
Gooooooooh!
A kick that made the wind pressure audible was unleashed, and when I received it with my heel and kicked to create distance, the “master” raised the Hatchet Blade high towards me, who was dancing in the air.
“–Vorpal Blade–“
“!”
At that moment, several flashing Blades attacked me.
I kicked the empty air to change my posture, dodged the “Flashing Blades” while twisting my body, and as I fell to the ground and knelt, the “master” of the Killing Intent and I exchanged glances.
“Hoh… I didn’t think you could avoid that Combat Art.”
“…………”
I hadn’t dodged everything either. Blood flowed from my grazed right cheek, and I held down my slashed side with one hand.
Vorpal Blade… This man who uses the Level 5 Combat Art that “he” also used–
“Who are you?”
“Does an Assassin announce himself when asked who he is?… I’d like to say, but I’ll tell you my name. I am Guildmaster Gilgun of the Southern Frontier Branch. Your appearance… your ability… I know it. You’re the Ash-Covered Princess, aren’t you?”
[Gilgun] [Race: Human Male] [Rank 5]
[Mana Capacity: 184/200] [HP: 402/410]
[Overall Combat Strength: 1344 (Body Enhancement in progress: 1712)]
The man, with a rough appearance of about forty years old, laughed like a beast, baring his fangs.
The Guildmaster of the Assassin Guild’s Southern Frontier Branch… The fact that this man, who called himself Gilgun, had come out directly meant that both the Guild and the nobles who had requested it were serious about wanting to eliminate the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince’s complexion turned bad when he heard that the opponent was the Guildmaster, and Gilgun grinned maliciously at the sight, so I spoke up to “buy time”.
“Why did you think I was ‘that’?”
Gilgun made a dumbfounded face at my question.
“Hah, how many girls your age with that much combat power could there be? The fact that you’re related to the Assassin Guild is reason enough, isn’t it? But more than that, I’ve heard a lot about you from ‘someone’.”
Someone who knows about me?
“He studied you well. He researched your Magic and weapons and thought of countermeasures. The man with the prosthetic arm felt ‘love’ more than hatred or obsession. He said ‘hello’ if he met you.”
“…………”
I see. I thought he was unusually talkative, but he just wanted to say this information.
A prosthetic arm? In this world, you can regenerate lost body parts if you have the time and money. There’s only one person I can think of who’s involved with the Assassin Guild and would bother to use a prosthetic arm for a lost arm.
Grave. He’s finally come out into the outside world.
“To be honest, one of the reasons I took this job was because I wanted to fight you. That guy is in a certain noble’s castle right now. He’s lying low and sharpening his fangs to kill you, the Ash-Covered Princess. If you can survive here, you should try looking for him.”
“…Are you not on his side?”
“I’m not an enemy, but I’m not an ally either. He was with us for a while through a noble’s connection, so we’re not strangers, but that’s all. My only interest is in how much power you have, that he’s so obsessed with.”
I gently stood up while holding my side, and Gilgun, with his attention focused on me, glanced at Nero.
“That’s a Kuaal… It’s more of a monster than I heard from him. But if it’s the same Rank 5, we can handle it with a few comrades. This ‘Southern Frontier Branch’ will destroy you all.”
Gilgun held a Hatchet in each hand and quietly narrowed his eyes.
“Get serious, Ash-Covered Princess. Show me your true power, the power that made him so obsessed, and made the Central Branch refuse the nobles’ request and maintain their non-interference!”
Gilgun’s combat style is a close-range attacker like Feld and “that man”. In particular, his style of fighting with a one-handed sword in each hand reminds me of that man.
Right now, I can’t use [Iron Rose] for a while because I’ve been forcibly using it while drinking Mana Recovery Potions to get here.
“What’s wrong, have you become timid, ‘Ash-Covered Princess’? I’m not going to let you ‘buy time’ any longer. No matter how incompetent the kingdom’s knights are, they can hold down that beast long enough for me to kill you.”
“…What are you talking about?”
I took my hand away from my slashed side and wiped the blood from my cheek.
The blood on my cheek had already stopped. The wound on my side had been stopped by Gelf’s inner armor, so I just wanted time to recover from the surprisingly large impact by gathering Mana of light in my hand until I could move properly.
Gilgun seemed to think I was waiting for Nero’s support, but I have no intention of “giving” this to Nero.
Even if I can’t use [Iron Rose], even if the opponent is a skilled [Rank 5], as long as we’re standing on the same stage, I won’t retreat even a step.
I put away the Black Dagger and Knife, and took out the [Blade Scythe Style] and [Ball-Shaped] Pendulums from both hands’ [Shadow Storage] and spun them around.
I’m sure there’s a difference in ability and experience between Gilgun, a Rank 5, and me, a Rank 4, that goes beyond just combat power. But I’ll show him my “way of fighting” that surpasses even that.
“You are my ‘prey.'”
The shadow of that man suddenly appeared.
How will Aria, with her Iron Rose sealed, fight against the Rank 5 before her eyes?