CLANG!!
The Shamshir swung by Seda, one of the twins, clashed with my Black Dagger, sending a high-pitched sound echoing through the Dungeon.
“Seda! —【Air Curtain】!”
Without missing a beat, the other twin, Serik, frowned at Seda for rushing ahead, yet still deployed a wind barrier around himself and Seda. Empowered by that momentum, Seda’s strike forced me back a step.
“Don’t think you can beat us!”
Serik and Seda, male and female twins, warriors under Charleschan of the Youma Clan.
The male, Serik, was a Rank 4 Magician and used at least level 4 Dark Magic.
Although he was a Magician, he wore leather armor (soft leather), so he was likely not an amateur in close combat either.
From the fact that he possessed the assassination-oriented magic, 【Shadow Walker】, I inferred that he was a scout-type, just like me.
The female Seda is also a Rank 4 melee-type warrior. She’s the type who attacks with speed, wielding the Shamshir, a lightweight one-handed sword. That straightforward personality of hers, too, would likely be an advantage for a skirmisher-type light warrior who charges into the enemy.
A high-level Dark Magic user and a dual-wielding light warrior. Both of them share my combat style. And while each of them has less combat power than I do—since I’ve mastered both arts—their skill in their individual specializations is probably higher than mine.
“Hraaaah!!”
Seda shrieked wildly, her sword swinging in a dance-like motion, and I moved to match her, parrying with my knife and dagger. Our speeds were equal. But, perhaps due to the difference in our strength values or our weight, every blow from Seda sent me reeling.
“—Dark Gimlet—!”
Serik unleashed a Dark Magic I didn’t know. A fist-sized mass of darkness shot out above our heads, and from it, sharp needles were fired.
“Kuh!”
“Haah!!”
Seda swung her sword with all her might, aiming for the very instant I dodged the Spike of Darkness. I instinctively raised my leg to meet it, using the impact to propel myself backward and create distance. But Seda, who I’d expected to press her attack now that I was off-balance, instead crouched low on the spot.
“Die, human woman!!”
“――【Shadow Walker】――”
Dark Magic erupted from Serik again, and in that same instant, Seda—who had vanished into her own Shadow—assaulted me from behind. A murderous Blade, promising a fatal blow, closed in before my very eyes. Knowing I couldn’t parry it with my knife in time, I caught its edge with the gauntlet on my left arm.
CLANG!!
I was able to block it with the Magic Steel core embedded in my gauntlet, but I couldn’t withstand the force myself. Even as I rolled across the Dungeon’s stone floor, I threw the hidden weapons I’d taken out from my Shadow Storage at Serik and Seda.
“Seda! Don’t stray too far!”
Serik stopped Seda, who was gradually moving away from the supply unit. She, who had been about to launch a follow-up attack on me, frowned slightly at his words.
“You saw that, didn’t you, Serik! Against an opponent like this, I won’t lose even on my own!”
“…Tch.”
Seda, from the sensation of our Blades clashing, thought she could defeat me even on her own. Serik, who knew I had used [Shadow Walker] when I decided to participate as a warrior, was extremely wary of me, viewing me as someone of a similar type.
“…”
I kept the twins in my sight, and while confirming there was no damage to my own bones or tendons, I continued my analysis of their combat strength.
Seda was impulsive… to put it bluntly, simple-minded. Serik, conversely, struck me as cautious, or perhaps I should say, overly suspicious. If it were just the two of them fighting, they should be able to cover each other’s weaknesses and capitalize on their strengths. But as it was, the burden of the supply unit was clearly draining Serik’s focus, leading to a mismatch in actions with his twin sister.
And what’s more… that initial feeling, the one that made the fine hairs on my skin stand on end, hadn’t disappeared.
“We run!”
As I suddenly tried to put even more distance between us, Seda immediately came slashing at me as if in pursuit.
“Seda!!”
Just as I thought, Serik stopped Seda, who had surged forward. But Seda, who had just had that minor squabble with him, ignored it and continued her pursuit.
Behind Serik, the supply corps was still engaged in battle with the Great Boar. With their combat strength, they shouldn’t lose, but even so, they surely wouldn’t escape unscathed.
Concerned about that, Serik cannot leave that spot. Tactically, the move would be to draw only Seda away from this spot, but I am deliberately using this situation.
“—Fear—”
“Ghk?!”
Serik reacts to the Fear I unleashed while retreating. My target wasn’t Seda; it was Serik. Precisely because he is also a Dark Magic user, Serik, knowing its effects, immediately attempted to evade.
Dark Magic’s 【Fear】 is a difficult-to-use magic that can almost always be resisted if ranks are equal. But Serik, being a Dark Magician, even though he knew that, chose to evade it, being overly cautious due to his suspicious nature.
As long as the probability of resisting isn’t 100%, there’s still a point to evading. But my true target isn’t you.
『BUMOOOOOOO!!』
“What!?”
My true target was the supply unit that was behind him. Throwing the knife at Serik, who has the Wind’s Protection, was also to make him focus his attention on me and, even for an instant, make him forget about those behind him.
All the personnel in the supply unit were Rank 3. There was about a fifty-fifty chance that the effect of 【Fear】 would activate even with a lucky hit, but even if it wasn’t effective, Serik would be forced to check the situation behind him.
But the Fear I unleashed struck the Great Boar, which had been nearly killed by the supply convoy, and transformed it into an ‘undead soldier’ that had forgotten death.
“Damn it! I’ll deal with the Great Boar. Seda, you keep her pinned down!”
“Hmph! I’ll take this woman down before you’re finished over there!”
Without taking her eyes off me, Seda replied to Serik’s voice and took out something like a ‘talisman’ from within her clothes.
“I’ll show you my trump card.”
Seda chanted something like an incantation and tore the talisman apart with her teeth. I didn’t understand the meaning of that act, but I recognized the ominous nature of her Magical Element. Just as I threw my Pendulum, Seda shot forward, her speed now significantly greater than before.
“Kuh!”
GIGIGIGIGIGIGIIIIIIII!!
It was as if her senses couldn’t keep up with her physical abilities; Seda’s sword gouged the stone wall behind me, despite my instantaneous dodge—
SHATTER!!
Just how much brute strength would it take for that to happen? The Shamshir’s blade had finally shattered.
“Haaaah!!”
“Kuh!”
Seda discarded her other Shamshir and lashed out with her long, sharp claws.
I instantly suppressed the momentary confusion deep within my heart. While parrying Seda’s claws with my level 5 Martial Arts combat, we kicked off each other to create distance.
“Hah… hah… How’s that, human woman!” Seda panted, her shoulders heaving. Her eyes, even the whites, were stained completely red; her muscles were bulging, and sharp claws and fangs had even extended.
So that’s their trump card, huh. It’s a phenomenon I’m seeing for the first time, but I recognized that flow of Magical Element.
“…Sorcery, huh.”
Sorcery… It’s a magical art that Sage, the elven sorcerer from the Assassin Guild, also used.
The Sage used chemicals and Sorcery to transform humans into monsters, and employed various kinds of Sorcery using self-harm as a medium. Seda too must have used talismans as a medium to place a “curse” upon her own body, temporarily transforming herself into something close to a Monster.
“Handling Sorcery and changing into ‘Ma’… So that’s why they’re called the ‘Youma Clan’.”
“That’s right. Now that I’ve shown you this much, I’ll put an end to this with your death right away.”
They must be using Sorcery to physically enhance their clansmen. As expected of chosen warriors, I suppose. I genuinely found it quite remarkable that they still retained their sense of self, despite being subjected to such a potent curse.
If one combines human intellect and skills with a Monster’s power and resilience, they should be able to defeat most enemies. But no matter how strong they become, if they are essentially Monsters, then there are specific ways to fight Monsters.
“……What?”
I sheathed my knife and dagger. Holding the Rope Weight Type and Scythe Blade Type Pendulums at about a meter’s length, I readied myself. Seda narrowed her crimson eyes at me.
Thud!!
Simultaneously, I shot forward, kicking off the stone floor. I’d focused my Physical Enhancement on speed, and as we crossed, I kicked Seda’s claws upwards.
Seda, with the momentum from her lunge, ran up the wall, kicked off the ceiling—which was as high as a two-story roof—and aimed her claws at me. I parried them as if slamming a weight into them, rolled away to create distance, and then dashed towards where Serik and the others were.
“You’re not getting away!”
“Then come and get me.”
“Seda?!”
Serik cried out at me, who had burst in, and at the transformed Seda.
The battle between the supply unit and the Great Boar was still ongoing. Even from my perspective, the Great Boar’s body was dead, but it continued to rampage, increasing the number of dead and injured in the supply unit.
“Gah!?”
I dug my Scythe Blade Type into one of the supply unit members and, as if pulling a Thread, swapped our positions. Seda’s claws, which had been aimed at me, then tore into that man’s neck.
“You bastard!”
Realizing this, Seda let out a furious roar and swung her claws at me as I slipped through the supply unit members.
Having transformed into a Monster, Seda still possessed her self-awareness but was unable to control her emotions. The Sage had controlled her by binding her actions with Sorcery and drugs, but now, by injuring her own comrades and feeling anger, Seda rampaged even further, needlessly harming her allies.
“Stop it, Seda!!”
Serik, who had been momentarily stunned, shouted, and at the same time, Seda’s rampaging body was swallowed by Shadow.
He’d impulsively isolated Seda using [Shadow Walker], but what would he do now? His shield, who handled close combat, was gone.
“Tch!”
Serik retreated, pulling out a talisman identical to Seda’s from his breast pocket and immediately tore it up. He must have thought that even if his close combat Skill was lower than Seda’s, he could fight me if he transformed into a Monster. That line of thinking was correct. And precisely because of that, I had already (・・・・・) anticipated it.
“Uwoooooh!!”
Drawing his knife, the transformed Serik lunged at me. I pointed my fingertips straight at the target (・・).
“—[Pain]—”
“Gah!?”
The knife Serik thrust out pierced Seda’s torso, who was paralyzed by [Pain].
Where had Serik sent Seda? I figured that no matter how flustered he was, he wouldn’t send Seda, his close combat specialist, far away.
It wouldn’t have mattered if that prediction was wrong. In that case, I would just have to defeat Serik before Seda returned. But based on our battles so far, I had predicted that Serik would send Seda into my blind spot, and I had set up my [Shadow Walker] there.
Seda, appearing between me and Serik, was paralyzed by [Pain]. Serik, lacking close combat skills superior to Seda’s, couldn’t stop the knife he’d thrust out after transforming, and it pierced Seda’s body.
“Se-Seda!?”
The moment the stunned Serik cried out, my Rope Weight Type Pendulum smashed the transformed Seda’s head from behind.
Blood splattered, and Seda’s body slowly crumbled. Towards Serik’s terrified face on the other side, I raised my knife high.
“—[Critical Edge]—!”
A flash of Critical Edge, and Serik’s severed head flew through the air, disappearing into the intricate darkness of the Dungeon.
“…”
All that remained were the injured supply unit members and the nearly dead Great Boar.
There was also the risk that reinforcements might arrive, having sensed the disturbed space from me and the twins repeatedly using [Shadow Walker].
If possible, I should leave this place immediately. But I remained, turning my Black Dagger not towards the supply unit, but towards the Dungeon’s darkness where the head had flown.
“Whoever’s watching… come out.”
From the very beginning, I’d felt a chilling sensation.
At first, I thought there might be a trap. It turned out to be the Youma Clan twins, who also had the trump card of transforming into Monsters.
But that wasn’t it. From the start, I’d felt my skin crawl at the presence of “that.”
It wasn’t that it had found me. It wasn’t that it had noticed this battle.
I suspected that, perhaps, it had been watching these twins as “decoys” all along.
“…I’ve wanted to meet you. Woman with Pink Hair.”
A still young… no, a childish voice was heard, and from beyond the darkness, a small figure clad in a pitch-black cloak appeared.
I couldn’t sense any sign of life… Yet, from that person who approached, gliding without a sound or sway, and from their voice, I felt a burning hatred akin to ecstasy.
“…You know me?”
“Oh, I know you well. Your face, at least… he… Gostola sent it to me.”
“…”
Gostola… Among those I know, there’s only one with that name.
The Vampire of the Evil Race who, seeking achievements for his clan’s survival, invaded the kingdom to kidnap the princess—the very cause of Elena and I being sent flying to the desert.
“I should never have let him go… If it was to end like this, I should never have given him the Dungeon’s treasure. Only the corpse of my friend Gostola returned. That is why, to avenge him… to meet you, I sold myself to the Youma Clan…”
The person, who had been listing her grievances, threw off her cloak. A Dark Elf girl, looking no older than her early teens and clad in a blood-colored dress, turned her crimson eyes, as if shedding tears of blood, towards me.
“It’s you…!! To kill you, the one seared into Gostola’s eyes! You, and you alone, I swear on the name of Scheherazade, Chieftain of the Vampire Clan, I will kill you with my own hands!!”
To avenge the slain Vampires of the Evil Race, to start a war to kill humans, and to reach me, whom she didn’t even know by name, the chieftain of a clan had come all this way herself.
“…Very well.”
I, too, threw off the shawl wrapped around my neck and readied the Black Dagger and a knife in both hands.
“I will end this sorrow here.”
An old grudge has resurfaced.
Next time, the battle against the strongest Vampire Princess begins.