“Gaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
A scream that seemed to shake the very foundations of the former mine-turned-Guild echoed as the unleashed ‘Executioner Gord’ attacked ‘Sharga the Battle Maniac’.
Clanggg!!!
Gord’s claws and Sharga’s halberd clashed, scattering intense metallic sounds and scarlet embers.
“Gord!!! Damn it, Sage! Make him calm down!!”
While parrying Gord’s attacks, which were like being struck by a giant hammer, Sharga shouted down the passage.
But his voice didn’t reach anyone. Even in such an emergency, no one would approach this section where Gord was.
I had been lurking in this section ever since infiltrating the Guild.
The reason was that this place was suitable for hiding, as other members rarely approached it, but the main purpose was to release ‘Executioner Gord’.
Even with his grotesque appearance, Gord was probably once human.
I speculate that he is a combat chimera created by the Forest Elf sorcerer, the “Sage,” using magical sorcery and drugs.
I don’t even know if Gord retains any memories, intelligence, or even emotions from when he was human. His brain invaded by drugs, Gord had become a beast, his very freedom bound by curses.
The Sage created Gord not only at the Guild’s request but also out of a desire to compete with his master, a Dark Elf magician.
That’s not to say I sympathize with Gord’s situation. But—
Aren’t you frustrated being used by these guys? Aren’t you resentful?
Whispering such words, I slowly unraveled Gord’s curse over time and neutralized as many of the drugs as possible.
Of course, it wasn’t an easy task.
The sorcery I learned from my master in class was a technique to inject simplified Spirit Language written with one’s own Mana into specific Mana Particles, activating the effect by contacting the target creature’s Mana.
It’s a technique that’s inefficient compared to other Magic and is starting to fall out of favor, but once activated, it exerts its effect semi-permanently with the Mana of the cursed target.
To undo the curse, one must read the command from the cursed Mana Particles and counteract it using opposing Spirit Language.
All I could do was use Spirit Language corresponding to patterns that seemed to be commands to counteract them.
I was only able to counteract two characters. I couldn’t negate the curse itself, but I should have been able to almost nullify the command-type restraints binding Gord.
All that was needed was ‘Bait’ to break the last remaining shackles.
That bait is… a “target of hatred.”
That’s why I brought Guild’s upper-level members here, who could become that bait.
“Guoooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
The dwarf, only half the size of Gord’s nearly 3-meter-tall body, received Gord’s attacks while expanding his muscles.
Sharga and Gord both have Rank 4 combat strength, but Gord’s power has Status exceeding Rank 5 due to the effects of drugs and curses.
No matter how much of a “Battle Maniac” Sharga is called, he can only manage a mutual kill at best in his current state.
But… is that really okay with you guys?
“Guoh!? You!!”
The Pendulum’s blade, its trajectory altered by Thread Manipulation, tore through the skin from the gap in Sharga’s armor as he fought Gord.
“What’s wrong, ‘Battle Maniac’? Is that all the power you have?”
“Something” that led to him being called “Battle Maniac” must have existed in this dwarf’s past.
Sharga isn’t suited to be an Assassin. He’s the only one in this Guild who doesn’t erase his presence, constantly repeating training as if to unleash something he’s been holding onto.
The reason why Sharga, who doesn’t stand on the main stage, is smoldering in this underworld is probably because, like my master who is of the Evil Race, there is a reason why he cannot appear on the main stage.
“Is that really okay with you?”
“Guooooh! Ash-covered!!!”
No matter how many times it attacks, the Pendulum’s attacks, with their light power, aren’t fatal.
Even so, they couldn’t be ignored, and Sharga, unable to parry Gord’s attacks completely, was struck a heavy blow over his armor, taking advantage of a slight opening.
Really, is that okay with you?
You were under the Guild’s protection to hide, right? That’s why when Gord attacked, you first called out the Sage’s name as a “Guild member” and tried to calm Gord down.
Is that really okay with the real you?
“Battle Maniac!!”
“…Guooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!”
When I shouted Sharga’s alias again, Sharga’s atmosphere changed.
Raising a roaring voice, he swung his giant halberd around as if spinning it, smashing the surrounding earthen walls to pieces, and Sharga deflected the Pendulum and Gord’s strike.
Is that your “real” power?
“Gwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!”
“Goooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
The color of Sharga’s eyes is clearly different. In response to Sharga, who raises a distorted laugh in his blood-soaked figure, the “beast’s” Killing Intent gushes out from Gord.
Gooooooon!!!!
The two colliding forces made a sound like smashing giant iron together.
Sharga, who had begun to unleash his true power as a “Battle Maniac,” not only stopped Gord’s blow with his halberd in one arm but also threw his Hand Axe at me, whom he recognized as an “enemy.”
That’s good. The two madmen have finally become “serious.” But it’s still not enough.
“—【Weight Up】—”
The moment I was attacked, I activated the Dark Magic I had been chanting.
【Weight Up】, a Level 1 Dark Magic that was thought to be the most useless Magic, only changing the weight of an object by about 10%, is actually a Magic that changes the weight in any direction, and the effect increases by 10% each time the level of Dark Magic increases by 1.
If you’re just changing the weight, it doesn’t make much of a difference even if it changes by 20-30%, but the story changes if you can freely control the direction of the weight and can use 【Martial Arts】 of the same level.
The Hand Axe roars as it approaches in the narrow passage.
Unable to dodge it to the side, I dared to step forward, and with the momentum of that leap, I ran up the wall, dodging the Hand Axe, and then ran through the ceiling as well. From above the two who continued to fight, I slashed at them simultaneously with knives in both hands.
“Tch!!!”
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
My blades only slightly wounded the two. But that small strike pushed me onto the stage of their battle.
As I changed my position by jumping over the two, throwing knives at them as I ran back the way I came, Sharga and Gord chased after me, fighting as if to keep each other in check.
As I led the two of them back to the first hall where Sharga had broken down the door, I encountered several Assassins who were searching for me, the traitor.
“You, Ash-covered!!”
“Gord!?”
“Even Sharga…”
“Doryaaaaaaaah!!!”
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
The two madmen continued to fight without regard for the Guild members, and when Gord’s giant body and giant halberd were swung, several people caught in it were sent flying as if their necks and spines had been snapped.
As I slipped through, cutting the neck of one of them, whose movements were sluggish due to the poison, with a knife, Sharga’s halberd, which had been chasing after me, mowed them down like withered ears of rice, and Gord tore them apart like trash just by passing through.
If it becomes such a melee, they can’t concentrate on me alone.
In a “battlefield” where lives are easily lost with even a little carelessness, I finished off several more who were affected by the poison, and then “that man” appeared.
“Ariaaaaaaaaah!!!”
Clang!!
As if reacting to that shout of hatred and Killing Intent, I swung my knife, and it collided with the short sword wielded by that man, scattering sparks.
“You’re late, Dino.”
With blades grinding against each other, Dino let out a groan of resentment at my words on the other side of the clashing blades.
“You’ve done it… don’t you care about Serejula-san’s life?”
In Dino’s eyes, distorted with hatred, was reflected my cold gaze.
“If I kill ‘everyone’ who tries to use master, there will be no more worries.”
When I answered so easily, Dino, who understood the meaning, looked at me with eyes as if looking at something incomprehensible.
“From the beginning… you intended to do that?”
“Of course.”
I tug the thread at my fingertip, and an arrow shoots from the crossbow hidden inside my gauntlet. Dino barely dodges it, and we kick off against each other, leaping apart to create distance as we glare at each other once more.
Five months ago, when we first met, we could have chosen different paths.
But the moment you tried to use Serejula, our paths were set.
“Dino. You were my enemy from the start.”
Goat and Sharga fight, drawing others into their battle.
Dino, learning Aria’s true intentions, overflows with hatred.
And the Sage, still nowhere to be seen.
Next time:攻略 Assassination Guild, Part 5.