Assassin Guild Master Battle
【Gilgun】【Race: Human Male】【Rank 5】
【Mana Capacity: 184/200】【HP: 402/410】
【Overall Combat Strength: 1344 (Body Enhancement in progress: 1712)】
【Aria (Alicia)】【Race: Human Female】【Rank 4】
【Mana Capacity: 176/300】【HP: 212/250】
【Overall Combat Strength: 1152 (Body Enhancement in progress: 1440)】
There’s a difference of one rank, 5 and 4, but the combat strength isn’t that different. However, I know how much that difference of one combat level can affect the battle. To overcome that difference, I’ve sought out combat techniques and honed my blade.
Up to Rank 3, one can reach that level with just talent, so there aren’t many who are a threat. Those who devour those above their rank, regardless of rank, are easy to spot if you look closely… like Carla.
But unlike monsters, which have no racial limits, humans need “something” more to reach Rank 4 or higher.
Whether it’s madness or obsession, by making a vow to oneself and discarding something important as a human, one can gain immense power. That’s why I was more wary of “humans” than monsters, even at the same rank.
“What do you intend to do?”
Gilgun looked dubious as I stowed my knife and dagger and held up my two pendulums.
“You wanted me to go at you with ‘everything I’ve got’, right? Is it your style to confirm things on the battlefield?”
“Hah, not wrong. In that case—”
The moment Gilgun started to say something, I kicked off the ground hard, using full Body Enhancement from the start, and tore the throat of one of the assassins trying to surround me with my [Blade Scythe Style] as I passed by.
“…Huh?”
Blood spurted out a moment after that man let out a strange sound, and using that spray of blood as cover, I swung the [Ball-Shaped] pendulum I had thrown into the air down on the head of another assassin nearby.
There was a squishy sound, like crushing a pumpkin with a hammer. Before that man fell, I used his face as a stepping stone and jumped, flipping my skirt as I rotated in the air, throwing the knife I pulled from my thigh, piercing the eyes of two assassins who were staring at me in amazement, ending their lives.
“You—!!”
Finally, Gilgun, who had intended to “duel” me, became enraged and threw one of his hatchets at me.
Unfortunately, I’m not chivalrous enough to duel in a situation where I’m surrounded by enemies, nor do I have the mental fortitude for it. Even if he intends it as a duel, I don’t know if his subordinates, who were trying to surround me, feel the same way.
So what to do? The answer is simple. Just kill the obstacles first.
I kicked up the hatchet flying towards me with a roar, arching back at a right angle, hitting it with the heel of my leather boot, and with a clang! The hatchet was deflected diagonally upwards.
The boots I’m wearing now aren’t the adventurer’s boots I got from my master. Wearing those with the uniform would look unnatural and make others wary. So, I usually wear the academy-designated ankle boots.
I did ask Gelf to make the same shape of boots using special monster leather with blades hidden in the heels, but it will take some time to complete, so for now, I’m using ones with Demon Iron plates embedded in the toes and heels.
“Y-you brat!”
Finally, one of the assassins, who had been in a “spectator” state of mind watching the duel, pulled a dagger from his waist and swung it, entering the “stage” that was the battlefield.
But that was a bad move. Even if it looked like I had lost my balance by kicking up the hatchet, this is a battlefield with “enemies.” Even if there’s distance, you shouldn’t let your guard down for even a moment.
“—Gah!?”
The [Ball-Shaped] pendulum exploded on the side of the head of the man who tried to jump out, and blood spurted from the opposite ear.
There are three reasons why I stowed my main weapons, the knife and dagger.
I usually only released the pendulums when I was going to use them, but this time, considering the need to deal with multiple enemies simultaneously, I set the length of the threads to 2-3 meters and constantly released them from my hands, rotating the pendulums around me.
This creates a ‘barrier of death’ for the enemy within a 3-meter radius around me, serving both as interception and attack.
“Stop him!”
Gilgun shouted at his subordinates and chased after me. It was a gamble that could have resulted in the Crown Prince being taken hostage, but as I initially thought, Gilgun prioritized killing “me,” the “Ash-Covered Princess” who was crushing the Assassin Guild.
“Guh!”
Gilgun, who was trying to get closer, stopped and stumbled back when the third [Slashing Style] pendulum, spinning at high speed, made him reflexively stop in his tracks.
This is the first reason. To handle up to four pendulums simultaneously, my current skill level requires me to have both hands completely free.
“Die, Ash-Covered!”
The subordinate assassins, who had been ordered to “stop him,” brandished their weapons and blocked my path. At that moment, the [Blade Scythe Style] pendulum, which had been spinning in the barrier of death, tore through the eyes of the leading man.
Using the screaming man as a shield, two more men closed in. It may seem ruthless, but that’s the right move. Gilgun seems to be able to control his subordinates well, despite his appearance.
It’s hard to hit me with thrown weapons while I’m moving around. So, they’re not wrong to challenge me in close combat, since I’ve stowed my weapons and switched to a ranged-focused style.
But that’s where the second reason comes into play.
Clang!
“What!?”
I blocked and kicked back the blow from a spear that was swung to sweep my landing point with a dagger strapped to my calf.
It’s a weapon that didn’t break even after withstanding attacks from Rank 5 monsters and delivering the finishing blow. Even if it’s still in its sheath, it can block any attack except for a sure-kill blow.
Attacking with both hands and receiving attacks with my legs. The second reason I stowed my weapons was to keep them in the holders on my calves for that purpose.
“Enough already, fight me!”
Still, perhaps because I had stopped my feet slightly, Gilgun approached, parrying the thin-bladed [Slashing Style] pendulum spinning at high speed with his hatchet, while being wary of it.
I kicked the face of the spear user with the iron-plated heel of the leg that had blocked the spear, and feeling another one attacking from behind, I wrapped the [Ball-Shaped] pendulum I had been spinning around his neck and strangled him.
“Gugah.”
The attack from behind was sealed. But Gilgun was approaching from the front.
I pulled the thread behind me hard, strangling the man, and at the same time, I used the recoil from pulling the thread to create even more distance from Gilgun.
“Fight properly, Ash-Covered Princess!”
Easy for you to say, after surrounding me with so many people.
This is the third reason. I’ve used strong daggers and knives to withstand Rank 5 attacks many times, but I think that was just the result of being lucky in extreme situations.
It takes resolve for a Rank 4 like me to block a Rank 5 attack. Unless I know what kind of intent is behind the attack, it’s not wise to easily receive it.
That’s why I stowed the strong weapons in their sheaths. I can block if I have to. But that’s a crutch for me, and it leads to carelessness. Therefore, I abandoned defense with the “resolve” to evade all of Gilgun’s attacks and focus only on attacking.
“Hii.”
A young assassin, who had been forced close to me as I evaded Gilgun’s pursuit and killed the encirclement one after another, let out a scream from the back of his throat.
My expressionless face, stained with blood, was reflected in the man’s frightened brown eyes.
Don’t be timid or afraid. Don’t retreat or run away. Fear will kill your heart.
The spinning [Ball-Shaped] pendulum grazed the head of the man who had stopped in fear, momentarily taking away his consciousness, and in that instant, I kicked his face with my knee as if jumping through, and then wrapped my leg around the man’s head, twisting and snapping his neck as I landed.
“Don’t come to the battlefield without the resolve to kill or be killed.”
“Is that Princess (Your Highness)’s escort…?”
“…That’s right.”
Rookwell, while taking the enemy’s weapon and holding it, couldn’t move a step, let alone participate in the battle.
Rookwell, whose father was the Margrave and the commander of the Knight Order of this country, and who would probably succeed him in a dozen years, had been trained to become the best knight in this country in the best environment.
Though once defeated due to a difference in national power, the former Dandole Duchy was a nation of martial prowess, and the blood of the Dandole family, its royalty, had propelled Rookwell to the top of his age group through sheer ability. It was even said that his talent would allow him to reach Rank 3 by the time he graduated from the academy, and in fact, if he took up a sword, he was confident that he wouldn’t even lose to a member of the Knight Order.
To become the best knight in this country. And for the boy, the best knight was also the “strongest knight.” But as he grew older, he realized that the person who would become the General Commander of the Knight Order in this country was not sought after for individual martial prowess, but for political power and leadership.
He wished to become stronger. But the adult self was admonishing the child self, saying that he couldn’t make it on that alone.
However, the battle of the Pink-Haired Girl, who killed enemies as if dancing before his eyes, was on a different level. It completely shattered Rookwell’s values.
To be honest, he felt fear towards the girl who killed people without expressing any emotion. His legs trembled and wouldn’t move, and his hands wouldn’t leave the hilt he gripped.
But at the same time, Rookwell couldn’t take his eyes off the girl’s figure, and the desire to become stronger that he had sealed within him gave an abnormal power to the hand gripping the hilt.
“…………”
In response to Rookwell’s mutter, Mikhail, unlike his friend who was looking at her with a yearning gaze, was staring at the girl stained with blood with a sorrowful look.
“Why…”
Crown Prince Elvan, who was protected a few steps behind the two of them, was looking at the girl in the same way, but his face was pale.
A few years ago, an Adventurer girl he met in the Royal Capital when he went out incognito. When he first met her, he had a naive admiration for the girl who was an Adventurer at such a young age, and he felt more than just interest in the loveliness that the girl showed unexpectedly in such a life. But…
“Why can she kill people so easily…?”
Elvan had heard stories from his mother, who was a former Viscount’s daughter and became the Queen, about her days as a Viscount’s daughter, when she had freedom while enduring the tyranny of the upper nobility, and he wished to live like that himself. That’s why he wanted to go out into the city incognito, and the girl he met there was a symbol of freedom for Elvan, who was troubled by responsibility and pressure.
However, she, who had become the Princess’s bodyguard, was a far cry from that impression. Is this what it means to serve the Royal Family? Elvan looked at her with a feeling of despair, wondering if this blood-soaked path was the world the Royal Family walked.
A small, warm hand gently enveloped Elvan’s trembling hand.
“…Licia?”
“It’s okay, El-sama. This world isn’t just full of scary things like that. This world is full of beautiful things. If you don’t want to see scary things, please look at me now. I’ll be smiling all the time.”
Aria, who said so and smiled sweetly, finally found an escape route for Elvan, who was mentally cornered, and he gave a strained smile and gently squeezed the girl’s hand back.
That girl… Aria, who had even forgotten her real name, looked at Elvan and tilted her head slightly, wondering why this event was supposed to be an attack by a “bear” Monster, but where did the bear go, and why did a “big cat” come instead.
＊
“Gaaaaaaah!”
Around that time, Nero, the Mystic Beast Kuaal who was thought to be a big cat, was playing with several human knights.
He knew that there were particularly strong individuals among humans, like Aria and the humans who had trapped him. Even so, Nero considered humans to be weak, and thought that almost no one could beat him alone.
For Nero, Aria was the first “other” he had ever been interested in. At first, he was by her side to hunt a common enemy, but Nero felt a “moon” that illuminated the endless dark night in Aria, who lived in solitude like himself, and whose eyes were always looking at the sky, and Nero wanted to see her life.
If he was with her, he might lend a hand on a whim like this time. Humans are weak. But Nero knew that they could become a threat when they formed a group.
Nero, who was playing with the knights as a practice partner for the battle, suddenly jumped away from them and gave a wary growl towards the forest behind the knights.
A few seconds later–
“Gooooaaaaah!”
“What is this guy!?”
“Azure Shell Bear!? Why is it in a place like this!?”
The knights hurriedly raised their shields to the bear Monster that appeared from the forest behind them.
The Azure Shell Bear is a Monster evolved from an animal, whose chitin from the crabs it feeds on has become part of its skin due to Mana Particles and hardened. Its rank is 3, but its hardness makes it a powerful individual with a difficulty of 4 at the Adventurer’s Guild.
Even so, it is not a threat to Nero, the Mystic Beast Kuaal. So, what was Nero wary of?
The Azure Shell Bear had not come to attack the knights either, but had several burns all over its body and several lacerations.
The Azure Shell Bear was running away from “something.” There was something that was driving the Azure Shell Bear, which had a subjugation difficulty of 4, into a corner.
Gooooooooh!
At that moment, several huge pillars of fire erupted from the depths of the forest, piercing the Azure Shell Bear from behind, and two knights were engulfed in flames as a result.
As the Azure Shell Bear and the knights screamed and rolled around while being burned by the fire, a black-haired girl appeared from the depths of the forest as if darkness was oozing out, and narrowed her eyes with pleasure as she looked at the black Mystic Beast who was wary of her, not even looking at those who were burning.
“Well, there’s a kitty who looks like she has a big pelt we could take.”
The situation is quite messy.
How will the battle situation change with Carla’s appearance?
The flu is going around, so please take care of yourselves.