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Swoosh.
A man emerged from the darkness.
He was clearly walking on the wooden floor, but there was no sound of footsteps, nor even the slightest sign of life.
Ting.
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[Quest: Eliminate the Assassin of Death]
―The most formidable assassin of the Manum Continent has arrived.
―Defeat the Assassin of Death and survive.
―Reward: 80K Mana Points (x2)
―Failure: Death
=====
'He must be quite the opponent.'
Just one assassin appearing warrants a reward of 160K Mana Points.
And the death penalty has made a rare appearance.
The assassin spoke.
"You have quite the senses."
"Are you the assassin?"
"Davian Naone, the one who assassinated Kalai, the commander-in-chief of the Colonia Colonial Command. Any last words for the client?"
"Who hired you?"
"That's irrelevant. You're a dead man anyway."
Davian tilted his head.
"A dead man anyway?"
"My fee is the death of the client. A knot tied with death can only be untied with death."
"If you kill me, you'll go and kill the client too?"
The Assassin of Death nodded.
"Any last words?"
The fee is the death of the client.
After finding the assassination target, he asks for last words repeatedly.
"Isn't the basic principle of an assassin to infiltrate secretly, finish the job quickly, and get out?"
"That only applies to ordinary assassins."
Davian shook his head.
"Either way, you've already failed, but you're constantly lowering your chances of a successful assassination."
"My assassinations never fail."
"They never will."
"Of course."
"Because you're going to die today."
Even as the assassin's eyebrow twitched.
Swish.
An ice sword appeared in Davian's hand.
Simultaneously.
Whoosh.
The ice sword sharply cut through the dark room.
Clang!
The assassin, having drawn a thin sword, blocked Davian's.
'Blocked it?'
With internal energy combined with over four million points of mana, there shouldn't be anything the ice sword couldn't cut.
Yet the assassin casually blocked Davian's ice sword.
Their gazes locked in mid-air.
Davian spoke.
"What is that weapon?"
"I should be asking that. To withstand my dark energy-infused sword without shattering."
"Dark energy?"
Creep, creep.
As if the assassin had infused energy into the sword, dark blue smoke began to rise from the thin blade.
"You have a good weapon, but I'll guide you to the god of death now."
The smoke rising from the assassin's sword enveloped Davian's ice sword.
"Experience being dominated by darkness."
The dark smoke covering the ice sword instantly wrapped around Davian's arm.
Though in the form of creeping smoke.
Its speed as it enveloped Davian's body was as fast as the wind.
"You know."
Davian stepped back and quickly shook off the ice sword.
The dark energy trying to consume the sword and arm was shaken off.
"For an assassin."
This time, he forcefully thrust the ice sword into the assassin's abdomen.
"You talk too much."
Clang!
The assassin, moving his sword quickly, deflected the ice sword to the side.
"And."
Whoosh!
A fireball created in Davian's left hand was embedded directly into the assassin's abdomen.
Boom!
With a loud explosion, the assassin's body was pushed backward.
"Too much bluffing. What? Receiving the client's death as payment? Experience being dominated by darkness?"
The assassin, having been pushed back about five steps, looked down to check his abdomen.
"A fiery attack. Not bad."
"This isn't the time to be relaxed, is it? With this level of noise, the royal guards or the palace guards will all be flocking here soon."
The assassin tilted his head.
"I thought you had quite the senses. Don't you feel it?"
Come to think of it.
Davian's sensitive senses should have been able to detect the presence outside the room, but he felt nothing at all.
"What is it?"
"This room is completely sealed off from the outside. No sound or vibration escapes."
Indeed.
That was why he couldn't sense the presence outside.
"There was a reason why an assassin would be bluffing."
"Let's just call it余裕(yoyuu) / leeway."
"But you know."
Crack, crack.
Davian cracked his neck left and right, making the bones pop.
"Nothing will change."
"You're the one full of bluff. I'll make you beg for your life with tears."
"We'll see. Then let's say the bluff was made by the one who's going to die today."
Davian dashed forward quickly.
The assassin's movements were just as fast as Davian's.
A speed befitting the title of the continent's best assassin.
Clang! Clang!
The two men's swords intertwined chaotically.
Davian deliberately faced the assassin with swordsmanship alone.
'In terms of speed alone... he's better than the head of the swordsmanship department or the president.'
Truly an incredible skill.
He kept up well with Davian's movements, who possessed over 10 stars of internal energy.
Even attempting counterattacks from time to time.
Clang!
The two swords collided strongly.
As they briefly distanced themselves, Davian asked.
"Why would someone with this level of skill be an assassin?"
Both of them needed time to catch their breath anyway.
"Then what must I do to use my strength correctly?"
"There are many better things than being an assassin and killing people. With this skill, you could easily get a high position like a knight commander or an imperial army officer, right?"
"Being an assassin and killing people... an officer. Who kills more people, him or me? Which is the better thing to do?"
An assassin armed with boastful language and bizarre logic.
But.
Even Davian was momentarily speechless.
"I only step in to harm the fewest number of people when there's a knot that must be untied with death."
"Is that something you can say when you go all the way to the client and kill them too?"
"If you're going to request someone's death, you have to be prepared for that much. That's the weight of death. But. What about the knights and soldiers you mentioned? Aren't they the ones who swing their swords without knowing who or what kind of person their opponent is?"
Again, he was momentarily speechless.
The assassin continued.
"What about you? For what reason did you kill Kalai, the colonial commander-in-chief who was someone's husband and the head of a household? Was there a grudge that could only be resolved by death between the two of you? Or were you just removing something that was in your way?"
It was sophistry, but.
Listening to it, it sounded plausible.
'If I keep talking, I might get caught up in it.'
Whoosh.
Pure fire bloomed in Davian's left hand.
"Hey, assassin. Let's finish this up."
The assassin's eyes moved quickly.
The ice sword in his right hand and the fire blooming on his left.
'Can I withstand it?'
He had circulated the Dark Ring to push his physical abilities to the limit.
He had already used his secret technique, the Dark Aura.
What he had felt so far was.
'Davian Naone... is facing me as if he finds it interesting.'
He had clearly seen him use swordsmanship and magic at the same time.
But only once, and then he didn't use magic at all.
'Not only that.'
His movements were also very relaxed.
It felt like he was matching his speed to mine.
Davian Naone, who had been like that, was now creating flames, saying it was time to end things.
'Based on my judgment so far...'
If we fought with all our might, I can't guarantee victory.
No.
I will 100% lose.
'I have to think of a way.'
This is the strongest enemy I've ever encountered since I started walking the path of an assassin.
An opponent I can't beat even if I use all my cards.
That opponent is staring at me in front of me.
Thud.
Davian Naone's foot lightly kicked the floor.
In an instant, Davian's body disappeared.
The assassin circulated the Dark Ring even more fiercely and focused on his two eyes.
Only then could he barely see Davian's movements.
Clang!
He barely managed to block Davian's sword.
Somehow he managed to lift the sword imbued with the Dark Aura, but it was definitely different from before.
It wasn't so much blocking properly as barely touching it.
Boom!
He felt a strong pain in his side.
Davian's fireball had been lodged into him.
This time, even without the assassin trying to rotate it, the Dark Ring inside his body rotated strongly on its own.
He barely managed to prevent his bones from breaking and his internal organs from bursting, but he couldn't help but have his body float and fly backward.
The destructive power was incomparable to the fireball he had been hit by earlier.
"Ugh!"
The body flying backward stood upright in the air.
He was caught by some unknown force.
He felt a strong pressure all over his body, as if he were being held by the hands of an irresistible giant.
Whoosh.
His body was being dragged somewhere.
He could see Davian pointing at him with his palm outstretched.
'Telekinesis...!'
He was pulling him in with one hand, and holding the ice sword in the other, aiming it at the assassin's body.
If he was pulled in like this, his torso would be pierced by that ice sword.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The Dark Ring rotated faster than ever before.
"Aaaah!"
After letting out a scream once.
He gathered all his strength and twisted his body to the side.
He barely managed to escape from Davian's telekinesis.
Whoosh, whoosh.
Thump, thump, thump.
The rapidly rotating Dark Ring compressed the assassin's heart.
But he couldn't stop here.
After all.
'If I can't rotate the Dark Ring faster, I'll die at that guy's hands.'
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The even faster rotating Dark Ring was now on the verge of swallowing his body.
'The last move. I'll finish that guy off with the last move.'
After obtaining the Dark Ring.
I thought there were no more opponents in one-on-one combat.
I had been able to deal with all the assassination targets I had met so far without any difficulty.
There were no those who could dare to counterattack properly.
Now, I am completely being pushed back.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The Dark Ring, which had completely settled as an intangible organ inside the assassin's body, rotated even faster.
'I'll end it in one shot.'
Now it's the limit.
If I rotate the ring any further, my body won't be able to withstand it.
There must be no mistakes.
'Only one chance.'
At that moment.
A bed placed in the corner came into the assassin's sight.
A blonde-haired girl lying on it.
He remembered the sight of Davian carrying that girl in, laying her on the bed, and tidying her disheveled hair.
'A monster. But he unexpectedly had a weakness nearby.'
If I use that girl.
I can completely plant my last move into Davian's body.
"Aaaah!"
A scream that didn't look like an assassin at all.
The 'Assassin of Death', known as the best assassin in the Manum Continent, leaped towards Davian, stretching out his sword forward.
Just before Davian's ice sword and the assassin's sword touched.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
He activated the Dark Ring to its maximum and controlled his body and arms that were being stretched out.
The assassin stopped in place, the speed at which he had rushed in becoming meaningless.
Then.
Whoosh.
He threw the sword he was holding at the blonde-haired girl lying on the bed.
An act that was no different from a life-threatening gamble.
'If you try to protect the girl, you will die, and if you attack me as you are, I will die. What will you do, Davian Naone.'
At that time.
A calm voice pierced the assassin's ear.
"Guys like you never deviate from expectations."
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