Dino joined the Assassin Guild when he was 10 years old.
Born to the former Guild Master of the Assassin Guild’s Northern Frontier District and a barmaid, he had lived in the city with his mother until certain circumstances led to his being handed over from his mother to his father.
His father’s profession was not exactly commendable, but his mother had not told her young son the true nature of his father’s work, instead saying that he punished bad people and earned money.
Young Dino admired his father and began to overpower those who disagreed with him using logic, and resorting to violence against those who could not understand his “justice.”
However, his “justice” was met with resentment from other children, and young Dino was beaten down with even more violence.
It was at that moment that Dino first became twisted.
He began to strive to become stronger for the sake of his “justice,” and at the same time, he began to inflict meaningless violence on those “weaker than himself” to vent his frustrations.
At first, he would kidnap and torture the family dogs and livestock of those who had been violent towards him, but this gradually escalated, and when his mother saw him killing children younger than himself with a twisted smile on his face, she finally abandoned her son and handed him over to his father.
Learning that the true nature of his father’s “justice” was the Assassin Guild, Dino’s own “justice” wavered, and he became even more twisted.
However, he realized that his idea of “justice” was not accepted by the majority, and he became devoted to the Assassin Guild itself, which executed punishment on evil even if it meant defying the law.
The former Guild Master had no interest in his son. He gave Dino what he wanted as a father, but he did not truly see him.
When Dino was 14, a Dark Elf woman called a “member of the Evil Race” joined the Guild.
Serejula was a beautiful woman. He also admired her great power. Dino begged his father and forcibly became her disciple, thinking that he would make her his own.
Dino possessed the magic attributes of wind and earth, and with Serejula’s guidance, he mastered magic in less than a year.
However, for better or worse, Dino only had average talent, and although he learned Rank 3 attribute magic, he could not construct his own magic and obtain “spells.”
Although it was generally sufficient skill, she, being a Dark Elf, may have felt that he lacked talent.
Dino felt that Serejula’s pitying gaze was “contemptuous.”
It was probably at that moment that he became definitively “twisted.” He began to find pleasure in despising and tormenting those weaker than himself, those without talent, and became fixated on Serejula, who had inflicted “pain” on him.
＊＊＊
“Aria!!!”
From the beginning… from the moment Dino threatened my master, I had decided to make the “Assassin Guild” itself my enemy and destroy it.
He finally understood “me,” his eyes widened, and he screamed my name as if spitting out blood.
[Dino] [Race: Human Male] [Estimated Rank 4]
[Mana Capacity: 145/180] [HP: 223/290]
[Overall Combat Strength: 795 (Body Enhancement in progress: 933)]
Clang!!!
At the same time, our blades sprang out, scattering brilliant embers once again within the darkness-shrouded Guild.
At that moment, I saw the “color” of Earth Mana Particles emanating from Dino and leaped away, just as Dino pointed his fingertips at me.
“[Pebble]!!”
Several pebbles rained down from the exposed rock ceiling of the former coal mine.
Judging from the overflowing “visible” Mana Particles, I estimate that Dino’s attributes are probably “Earth” and “Wind.”
The activation is fast. I would like to say that’s what you would expect from a “senior disciple,” but his magic lacks “power.”
“Gyah!”
“Guah!”
Screams could be heard from the surroundings.
Dino’s magic is probably at level 3, the same as the Female Thief, but although the activation is faster than the Female Thief, it was inferior in terms of launch speed.
From my previous experience fighting that Female Thief, I know the activation timing of Earth Magic.
Sensing this, I hid behind the assassin of the Human Race, who had low Night Vision, as if using them as a shield, and they were struck by the pebbles as if caught off guard. I took advantage of the gap to slash their necks with my blade.
“Damn!”
Dino groaned, directing his hateful blade towards me, having involved his comrades.
Even though he had lost himself in anger, it was your fault for involving your comrades. I was the one who set it up that way, but I don’t intend to fight only Dino for a long time in this state.
I scattered poison, made Gord and Sharga fight each other, and threw the Assassin Guild into chaos, but that doesn’t mean I’ve gained an advantage.
The surviving assassins who withstood the poison are gathering. There are about ten left, including beastmen like Rada who have corrections for Night Vision and detection.
Even if their movements are dulled by the poison, most of them are Rank 3, the same as Guy and Keira.
“…………”
I narrow my eyes, suppressing my emotions deep within my heart as if steeling myself.
I don’t really like such “luck-dependent” tactics. But a single child fighting against an organization requires that kind of resolve.
Come out.
You’re watching, aren’t you?
You’ve been thinking about killing me ever since I arrived, haven’t you?
Because you hate everything related to my master.
“–[Magic Shield (Shield)]–!!”
The moment I “saw” it, I activated my Magic Shield and jumped back as if falling.
“I won’t let you escape!”
“Die, Ash-covered one!!”
Two assassins reacted instantly and fired Throwing Knives and arrows. I took some damage as they grazed my arms and shoulders, but I managed to create more distance. In the next moment–
“Gyaaaaaaaah!?”
“Hiiii!”
“Gwaaaaaah!?”
Several assassins on the far side were dyed black, and their bodies, unable to move, collapsed like withered trees.
Even as I dodged the approaching, unpleasantly colored Mana Particles with a complex mixture of colors while defending with my Magic Shield, the cloak that had been hit by the “curse” that I couldn’t completely defend against crumbled away like dust as soon as I took it off.
“…So you dodged that. That damned Dark Elf’s disciple.”
From the depths of the darkness, an old Forest Elf man wrapped in a dark-colored robe–the sorcerer “Sage”–appeared, his dark eyes fixed on me.
Curses… Curses are an inefficient technique, but if you ignore efficiency and limit the time and place, they have the power to surpass other magic.
In the first place, if it were an insignificant technique, my master would not have bothered to lecture about it in class. That’s why the one I was most wary of was not Gord, but this “Sage.”
“Sage! What do you intend to do!!!”
Dino shouted at the attack that had involved the remaining Guild members, wondering if I had managed to evade it, and the Sage glanced at him and scoffed.
“A youngster… does a mere Human think he can stand above me?”
“What…”
For the Sage, the Guild was a place for research, and even if he worked hard to maintain that place, those who were there were not his comrades.
Ignoring the speechless Dino, the Sage only looked at me.
“How did you dodge it? Dark Elf’s disciple.”
“…I thought you would definitely do that.”
More than the relationship between Dark Elves and Forest Elves, who hate each other despite being the same race, the Sage would never forgive my master for denying the “curses” to which he had dedicated half his life.
Even though I was certain of that, it was a gamble whether he would attack even if it meant involving others.
My master is the same, but the Elf race has high pride. Elves who go outside are not so bad, but that means his hatred for my master was that strong.
But thanks to that, the Guild members with combat power who were in the way have been almost completely neutralized. I think there are still some who are hiding, but those who don’t come out here are either not confident in their combat abilities or are very cautious.
“Guoaoaaaaaaah!”
A death cry was heard from somewhere.
It must have been the effect of the curse from earlier. Sharga the Battle Maniac, whose one leg had been dyed black, collapsed as Gord’s claws pierced his heart.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!”
Executioner Gord noticed the “Sage” who had bound him with a curse and let out a cry of rage.
But Gord himself was not unscathed. Not only had he fought Sharga in earnest and suffered deep lacerations all over his body, but his right arm had been cursed and was collapsing into black dust.
“…You won’t even accept ‘orders.’ You’re truly detestable, Dark Elf and her disciple!”
Pekin.
The Sage, realizing I had rewritten Gord’s curse, frowned and snapped one of his withered, twig-like fingers.
“Fall to the earth.”
“Gugaaaaaaahhhhh!”
Gord, who had been about to pounce on the Sage, collapsed to the floor, vomiting blood.
This was ‘Reciprocal Sorcery,’ which even my master considered the least efficient form of magic, and the reason for his animosity towards the Sage.
Magic is a technique that causes “phenomena” in exchange for one’s own Mana, but in the case of sorcery, that ratio becomes higher.
If it were sorcery as magic, “Mana” and the “time” to set it would be the price, but if you pursue it, you end up offering “yourself” as a price to spiritual life forms such as demons.
In the first place, Elves age, but their appearance does not become that of an old person.
The fact that the Forest Elf Sage looks like an old man is probably because he is paying with his own lifespan.
Presumably, he has several “curses” that can be activated by paying with his lifespan, and he activates them by self-harm, such as breaking his fingers.
The number of fingers remaining… if he can launch similar attacks nine more times, my chances of winning in a straight fight against the Sage are slim.
Besides, there’s Dino-san.
He is currently hesitant to interfere with me and the Sage, but if he realizes that the Sage is neither an ally nor an enemy, he will try to prevent me from escaping.
I am still at a disadvantage. But I have no intention of running.
And soon, the last life-or-death “trap” will be activated.
“?”
The Sage frowned slightly, and Dino-san noticed it and turned his face towards the entrance.
When I entered through the “official entrance” of this Guild, I set up the final trap.
It was strangely hot today, wasn’t it?
It was strangely humid today, wasn’t it?
That’s because I blocked all the vents in this underground Guild.
Originally, this place was a coal mine where a large number of victims were killed in an accident hundreds of years ago, and a huge cemetery and Chapel were built.
As a result of investigating the accident, it was found that the fire from a lamp ignited natural gas that gushed out from the rock surface.
Even now, gas is seeping out, albeit weakly. Still, it shouldn’t affect the human body, and there should be no problem if vents were created at the points where it gushes out.
The reason why there is an unusually small amount of lamplight in this underground area is not because everyone has Night Vision, but because the people who built this Guild in the past were afraid that gas would accumulate again and ignite.
In this Guild, where the vents had been blocked for several days, gas had begun to accumulate, and some people were probably feeling dizzy, but they had been in this underground area for so long that they had become accustomed to the smell and didn’t notice it.
And I thought that if Gord-san and Sharga-san fought in the Guild, which was beginning to fill with poison, and the Sage used sorcery indiscriminately, those who were not confident in their combat abilities would hide and run away.
And the moment the entrance door was opened, the set-up thread would come loose, and the spark would ignite the oil.
The fire should be spreading from the entrance side.
The reason I didn’t use this method from the beginning was that if I used it from the start, even individualistic Assassins might unite and run away.
“I won’t let anyone escape alive.”
When I muttered that, Dino-san, who understood that the underground had been set on fire, groaned as if muttering, “You’re crazy.”
The time remaining for the lives of everyone in this underground Guild is until the fire spreads and ignites the gushing gas.
You all die here. This is your coffin.
Next time, Assassin Guild攻略 Final (planned!)
The final showdown on a burning stage.