“You bastard, I’ll never forgive you!!”
“…………”
Dagart, the last member of the Dawn Mercenaries—a Rank 4 warrior—finally threw Duncan’s lifeless body aside and roared into the dungeon.
Alright, here comes the main event.
“Uoooooooohhhhh!!”
Dagart, wielding his greatsword, charged in with a shout.
I sensed the strike, which carried even a gust of wind, with my skin and instincts, narrowly dodging it as if a few strands of my hair were being torn apart, and threw a hidden weapon I had drawn from my waist.
As expected of Rank 4… If my 【Martial Arts】 Skill, which affects evasion, hadn’t risen to Level 3, I think I would have suffered a fatal wound from that one blow.
“Tch!”
Dagart tilted his head to evade the hidden weapon thrown at his face from point-blank range.
In that instant, I released a Pendulum from the “Shadow” of my palm, and Dagart, who leaned back to dodge the blade of the Pendulum flying in an arc, retreated and took a wary distance.
Thanks to my Dark Magic reaching Level 3, 【Shadow Storage】, which I could barely activate before, has expanded to a practical level.
Even so, the storage that could barely hold a single knife is now about the size of a small bag, but I deliberately didn’t store my main weapon in it, instead storing the Pendulum.
“…What are you planning?”
Dagart cast a suspicious gaze at me, who didn’t pursue.
I understood in the battle just now. No matter how fast a Rank 4’s sword is, if it’s someone like him who can only make monotonous attacks due to anger, I can fight him well enough as I am now.
But… that would be a problem for me (・・・・).
“…Get serious.”
Dagart’s eyes widened at my muttered words.
But I can’t compromise on this. All the schemes I’ve used, killing Rada and the members of the Dawn Mercenaries, were so that I could fight a Rank 4 Adventurer one-on-one.
From now on, I will be fighting against the ‘Assassin Guild,’ an organization, albeit a branch.
But within it, there are those like Dino and the Sage, who are Rank 4… and those with combat power close to Rank 5, like Executioner Gord.
I’ve been buying time by concealing my combat power to gradually weaken the Assassin Guild’s forces while strengthening myself, but if I don’t return to Rada soon, they’ll start to suspect me.
I think I can buy time until I return to the Guild if I deal with the Dawn Mercenaries. But if my combat power is re-examined when I return to the Guild, the suspicion will surely turn into certainty.
That’s why I desperately wanted to experience a head-on battle with a “Rank 4” before that.
I initially assumed it would be Rada, but even though she’s Rank 4, her main focus is Stealth and ambushes, and once the mystery of Shadow Walk is solved, her direct combat power is only at the upper level of Rank 3.
That’s why I used the Dawn Mercenaries as bait to defeat Rada, and even used Rada’s death as bait to kill the members of the Dawn Mercenaries, all to fight Dagart, who likely has Rank 4 close-quarters combat skills, head-on.
So, I’d be troubled if you fought me in such a state of being consumed by anger.
You’re not such a sentimental person, are you?
Even when your mistress, Glinda, died, you tried to trap me by denigrating the dead.
You threw away Duncan’s body in anger after the trap failed.
Calm down and look at me. The one who killed your comrades is a little girl, but an “Assassin” who can kill Rank 3 Adventurers.
Unleash all your power. Fight with all your might, and die to become my “nourishment.” In exchange, if you win, I’ll give you my life.
“…This brat… what kind of eyes are those?”
Dagart visibly twisted his mouth at my gaze, which stared intently at him.
Having regained his composure after a moment of silence, Dagart gripped his sword, his eyes filled with fighting spirit instead of anger.
“…You probably wouldn’t understand, being a kid like you, but there are people in this world you shouldn’t mess with.”
As Dagart suddenly began to speak, I quietly regulated my slightly disordered breathing from the continuous battles, listening to his words.
“Those guys are mentally screwed up. Even Monsters cower if their opponent is stronger than them, but those guys will gladly use their own lives as chips to win.”
“…………”
“I don’t think of you as a kid anymore. You’re a monster. From now on, I’ll kill you for sure as my greatest enemy.”
Dagart, holding his greatsword shorter to counter my speed, crept forward on his toes, and I, wielding my knife and hidden weapon, shuffled sideways to break his reach.
Thump!
“Uooooh!”
“Hah!”
At the same time Dagart kicked off the ground, I threw my hidden weapon.
Dagart once again tilted his head to evade the hidden weapon, and with that momentum, he swung his greatsword down in a diagonal slash.
Probably, even if I guarded, I would be crushed as is. Judging that in an instant, I stepped forward to evade that strike and dove into Dagart’s chest.
“Tch!!”
Dagart, having his reach broken, instantly swung down the hilt of his greatsword. I received it with the gauntlet on my left arm, but was blown away by the difference in strength.
Seeing that as an opportunity, Dagart made a split-second decision to drop his greatsword to the ground and slash at me with the two short swords he had sheathed behind his waist.
That decision is correct, but also a bad move.
Although I was thrown off balance by the hilt strike and took damage, if he wanted to deal the finishing blow for sure while dealing with my speed, a faster dagger would have been optimal.
But, even if his 【Greatsword】, 【Martial Arts】, and 【Defense】 Skills are at Level 4, are his secondary weapon, the short swords, also at Level 4?
Clang!!
The moment I received it, I understood. His skill with the short swords is not much different from mine.
Even so, due to the difference in physique and the damage to my left arm, the knife that received it was slightly deflected to the side.
“Die!!”
Not missing that moment, Dagart thrust out his right short sword.
In close combat, or when wary of the opponent, 【Combat Arts】 are not used to minimize the creation of openings.
“Hah!!”
As if blowing out the accumulated breath, I stepped forward without flinching.
Dagart’s short sword, which I barely dodged, thinly slashed my side. But I didn’t back down. A Rank 4 warrior is fighting in my arena. How can I back down here, when I’m fighting to overcome that!
Clink! Clink!
Wielding a Black Knife in my right hand and a steel knife in my left, I clashed head-on with Dagart’s dual swords.
Dagart is superior in physique, strength, technique, and experience.
My attacks don’t even graze him, and even lucky hits are deflected by his hardened leather armor. My stamina is depleted with every blow from Dagart, and he gradually inflicts wounds on my shoulders and arms.
“Hahaha! It seems you’ve finally reached your limit!”
“…………”
Generally, it is said that close combat skills cannot reach Level 3 before adulthood because the body of a child cannot withstand the technique.
The same is true for me, even though I have grown with magic power. Even if I have grown in height, my muscles are still thin compared to a typical early teenager.
But is that really the case? Generally… does that mean there are “exceptions”?
I have fought by compensating for my lack of stamina and strength with technique and “knowledge.”
Focus your eyes. Understand the opponent’s movements.
I can’t compete in strength. I can’t compete in stamina.
If you don’t have strength, use your intellect. If you don’t have stamina, deflect with technique.
There is a model in front of me. There is a warrior who has been fighting for over a decade. Steal the technique, turn the blows you receive into training.
If I can’t do that now, I’ll just die!
“Mmh!?”
At the moment of receiving the attack, I twisted my wrist, absorbed the power with my two arms and upper body, and deflected the impact with my legs and waist.
Deflecting the second and third blows, I accumulated power as if drawing a bow with the power I received, and the blow I released finally tore through Dagart’s armor.
“What!?”
At that moment, something changed within me.
Clink! Clink!
The sound of the knives receiving attacks changes from the sound of clashing iron to a clear tone.
Even so, the offense and defense between me and Dagart has only just become equal. But a slight impatience was born on the face of Dagart, who had been fighting with the upper hand until then.
“—【Cyclone】—!”
Dagart unleashed the short sword Level 3 Combat Art 【Cyclone】.
It was a Combat Art that used magic power to create a pseudo-wind blade, allowing attacks even from a distance, but it’s not scary in close combat if you’re prepared.
While my skin was being torn by the wind blades, I threw the steel blade towards Dagart, who was momentarily stiffened by using the Combat Art.
“Tch!!”
Dagart probably knew that if it was a throw, his face or neck would be targeted.
Dagart, who had recovered from his stiffness, evaded the knife flying towards his face by tilting his head again—but,
“—Gah!?”
I had seen that narrow evasion many times.
The blade of the Pendulum, released from the shadow of my palm at the same time as the steel knife, used the steel knife as bait and slashed Dagart’s neck.
“Gugah!”
But it’s still shallow. It’s not a fatal wound yet.
I lost my balance and swung the Black Knife far back, aiming at Dagart, whose neck had been slashed.
Dagart must have thought I was going to use a [Combat Art]. Without hesitation, he discarded his daggers, and while losing his balance, he leaned forward, scooped up the fallen Greatsword with one hand, and swung it horizontally as if diving in.
But I never intended to use a Combat Art here from the start.
I deliberately created an opening, and as he lunged in for the strike, I used the momentum of swinging the knife back to fall backward and evade.
I quickly struck my heels together, and with the momentum of his missed swing carrying him forward, I thrust the blade from my toe into Dagart’s unguarded neck as if kicking him.
“Gugaaah!”
Blood spurted from his carotid artery, and Dagart coughed up blood, but his eyes were not yet dead.
So this is a Rank 4 warrior… you’re quite the monster yourself.
As he fell forward, Dagart’s arms reached out towards my neck. With those thick arms, he could probably snap my neck with his last bit of strength.
But no.
You’ll die alone.
“[Magic Shield (Shield)]”
A shield of light appeared before me.
This is a shield against magic, but it also has some physical defense, about as strong as glass. If used as a surface, it would be shattered without stopping the falling Dagart, but I had created the [Magic Shield (Shield)] not as a plane, but as a “line” turned sideways.
“!?”
The [Magic Shield (Shield)], fixed in the air, sliced halfway through his thick neck with the force and weight of Dagart falling onto it.
At that moment, I grabbed Dagart’s hair with both hands, and Dagart’s eyes, still conscious, reflected me as if looking at a real monster, and I pulled with all my might until his head was severed.
Blood gushed from the headless torso falling to the ground, staining me.
I placed Dagart’s severed head, which I had been holding, on top of his torso, and quietly muttered as I looked down at it.
“Thank you… I have become stronger again.”
[Aria (Alicia)] [Race: Human Female] [Rank 3]
[Mana Capacity: 92/210] [HP: 84/170] 22 Up
[Strength: 7 (9)] [Endurance: 8 (10)] 1 Up [Agility: 12 (15)] 1 Up [Dexterity: 8]
[Dagger Arts Lv.3] 1 Up [Martial Arts Lv.3] [Throwing Lv.2]
[Defense Lv.1] New [Thread Manipulation Lv.2]
[Light Magic Lv.2] [Dark Magic Lv.3] [Non-Attribute Magic Lv.3]
[Utility Magic x6] [Mana Control Lv.3] [Intimidation Lv.3]
[Stealth Lv.3] [Night Vision Lv.2] [Detection Lv.3] [Poison Resistance Lv.2]
[Simple Appraisal]
[Overall Combat Strength: 443 (Body Enhancement in progress: 514)] 40 Up
Finally defeated Rank 4.
Next, I will begin to act in order to conquer the Assassin Guild.