* * *
“Hey.”
Flinch―
“Yes?!”
The large man guiding me from the front jumped in alarm. When he cautiously looked back, the marks where I had struck him with my index finger were clearly visible all over his face.
He looked somewhat pitiful, but what could I do?
He had brought it upon himself.
“Are we still far away?”
“N-No, sir! We are almost there!”
“I am a busy man. Pick up the pace.”
Wag. Wag.
“E-Eeeek! Y-Yes, sir… U-Understood!”
Merely seeing me wag my index finger a few times made the thug’s face turn deathly pale.
After being struck so many times, he seemed to have developed some trauma.
‘Tsk, tsk. He cannot even live up to that enormous size.’
If this much was enough to intimidate him, how did he intend to survive the difficult life of a gangster?
‘Will he even be able to function normally?’
Whenever he saw a finger, his pupils shook as though an earthquake had struck them.
While I was distracted by such idle thoughts, the thug led me through a series of twisting alleyways.
How long had we walked?
A fairly spacious clearing appeared.
“Heh heh… Young Master, we have arrived.”
The ruins of collapsed and destroyed buildings had been left scattered throughout the area.
It was too dark to see clearly, but I had definitely visited this place once before.
‘This is where Evan Verdin originally lived.’
I remembered it distinctly.
After all, Ainsera had caught me completely off guard here before.
Swoosh.
“There is still some time remaining… You arrived earlier than I expected.”
A voice emerged from the darkness of the clearing.
The man who soon revealed himself had a face I knew well.
Dark skin and a long sword scar across his left cheek.
He was the knight who had once served as one of the Marchioness’s closest retainers, only to be expelled.
Walter, the former Commander of the Ninth Battalion.
“So this was the Marchioness’s doing after all.”
“Heh heh… It is already too late, even if you have realized it now.”
Shing―
He drew the longsword from his waist.
Its cold blade reflected the moonlight as the sharpened steel revealed its edge.
“You lowborn bastard. You should have continued living in this filthy place.”
“Why?”
“Because then, you would not have had to die here today.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Heh.
I could only laugh.
“When you were expelled from the castle, you should have cut ties with the Marchioness and stayed out of Verdin’s affairs forever.”
Why?
I returned the exact same words he had used.
“Because then, you would not have had to die here today.”
“…You truly are an insolent brat. That must be why you came here of your own accord without even realizing it would become your grave.”
“I wonder about that. I came because I was curious which bold bastard dared interfere with my work.”
“Heh heh heh! Curiosity killed the cat.”
“My apologies, but I am not a cat, and I do not think you are capable of killing me.”
GRIND―
“…Your mouth is certainly lively.”
Walter’s face twisted as he ordered the thug who had guided me here.
“Hey, you!”
“Yes? …Yes, Boss!”
“Go back and tell them to kill the hostages.”
Even as he spoke, his eyes remained fixed on me.
His gaze was filled with expectation.
Could he possibly be hoping I would cry out, ‘S-Stop!’ or ‘No! Please do not do it!’?
How amusing.
“Tsk, tsk. This bastard is already under my finger.”
“What…?”
Not under my thumb, but under my finger.
Walter looked confused because he could not understand what I meant, so I personally demonstrated it.
“Hey, look over here.”
Point.
“H-Hic…!”
The moment I aimed my index finger at the thug, he froze like a frog before a snake.
Tap― Tap― Tap―
“Wh-What?! My body…!”
Of course it would not move.
I had struck his Paralysis Acupoint.
I had also struck his Mute Acupoint.
“…! ……?!”
The thug remained frozen in the exact posture he had assumed while attempting to flee. Only his eyes bulged as his mouth silently opened and closed.
Walter frowned as he watched.
“Perhaps because you were raised as a lowly commoner, you have acquired some unusual little tricks.”
“Then just how nobly were you raised if you do not even recognize a trick known by children in back alleys?”
Acupoint Sealing was a technique from Murim.
Even if someone searched the entire continent of Arvania, I was probably the only person capable of using it.
Still, my mockery seemed to have wounded Walter’s pride considerably.
“I see… You cannot even understand your position, yet you insist on hastening your own death!”
BANG―
He immediately kicked off the ground and launched himself forward at astonishing speed.
He was almost too fast for the eye to follow. By the time I perceived his movement, it was already too late to evade.
But that did not matter.
I had never intended to dodge in the first place.
‘As expected, he has let his guard down.’
His movement was excessively straightforward and simplistic.
He was targeting my left shoulder instead of a vital point such as my neck or heart.
He had used Aura only to reinforce his body and had not coated the descending longsword with it.
“Hahahaha! I will make your death as painful as possible!”
Right.
At that moment, taking my head probably seemed easier to him than pulling an object from his pocket.
And that very belief created numerous openings.
‘I will seize control of the entire flow in a single move!’
What I intended to use was Shifting Flowers and Grafting Trees.
Along with the principle of Four Ounces Deflect a Thousand Pounds.
I would use my opponent’s strength and turn it back against him.
With my own strength still lacking, this was the only method I had to subdue him effectively.
“Haaaaap!”
SWISH―
Walter had already arrived directly before me.
He brought his sword down vertically toward my shoulder.
At that instant, I turned the shortsword in my hand horizontally and met his blade.
CLANG―
The sound of colliding metal rang out.
Throb!
A crushing pressure struck my wrist the instant our blades met.
If I continued resisting that force, my wrist would eventually break.
However, something that bent would not break.
Slide….
I responded flexibly.
Instead of resisting his strength, I allowed myself to be pushed back as he pressed forward. Yet I kept our blades in contact and guided the trajectory of his strike in the direction I desired.
“What…?!”
The smile vanished entirely from Walter’s previously confident face.
Confusion flashed through his eyes.
However, it was already too late for him to notice anything.
A sword strike swung carelessly with brute strength alone—
‘Just one step.’
I moved slightly to the side.
Having lost his target, Walter’s center of balance completely collapsed.
The longsword I had guided inward had lost all of its force.
FWOOSH―
I planted my pivot foot and spun my body.
The power contained in Walter’s strike flowed entirely into my own sword.
‘I will kill him with this blow!’
CRACKLE―
I added Aura as well.
The preparations were complete.
Everything was now in place for the strongest move I could currently perform.
“Die!”
SWOOOOSH―
The technique I would use had been decided from the beginning.
Black Dragon Descends from Heaven.
At my present level, it was the only technique into which I could properly channel this much power.
BOOOOM!
“Th-That is… a dragon?!”
Colorless Aura erupted explosively.
It lasted only an instant, but it unmistakably formed the shape of a dragon.
RUMBLE―!!!
“Keugh!”
Walter was hurled backward with a brief scream.
However, the battle was not over yet.
‘Tsk… It was too shallow.’
Just before the blade struck him, he had released Aura to protect his body.
“You… f*cking bastard! You lowborn bastard!”
RUUUUMBLE―!!!
Walter immediately rose and screamed as though he had never been struck.
His eyes had completely lost focus. He appeared to be exceedingly furious.
The energy erupting from him was on a completely different level than before—
Nevertheless, my previous strike had not been meaningless.
“I will fight you seriously now!”
He spoke as though he were granting me some tremendous favor, but in truth, he had simply lost the luxury of holding back.
A long wound now stretched diagonally across his chest, from his left shoulder to his right waist.
‘…He is coming!’
Whoosh―
His speed was on a completely different level from before.
Only a faint afterimage remained where Walter had been standing.
‘Form-Shifting Transposition?!’
It was astonishing, but I had no time to admire it.
Walter instantly moved behind me and swung his sword.
SWOOOSH―
This time, crimson Aura wrapped around the blade.
It was a Sword Force filled with dense killing intent, intended to end my life with a single blow.
Forget blocking it—I did not even have time to turn around.
‘Damn it!’
The enemy’s realm was higher than I had expected.
However, I still possessed many cards he knew nothing about.
“Reflect Shield!”
FLASH―
The bracelet around my wrist shone the instant I spoke the Activation Word.
The stored Mana was consumed, and the spell activated immediately.
“An Artifact! And that is… a Fourth Circle spell?!”
BOOM―
“Aaagh!”
Unable to withdraw the sword he had swung, Walter received the full force of his own attack.
However, this alone could not deal a fatal blow.
SCRAAAAAPE―
“Ughhh… You have all manner of tricks!”
Walter was hurled backward by the reflected force, but somehow managed to remain standing.
He immediately launched himself toward me again.
Matching the exact moment he leaped, I released the next attack I had prepared.
“It is far too early to be surprised!”
The moment I extended my hand, something transparent shot forward like an arrow.
It was a mass of colorless Mana—a ‘Magic Missile.’
FSSSSSH―
“Y-You cast magic yourself?!”
Walter’s eyes widened so much in shock that they looked ready to burst from their sockets.
He appeared far more stunned than when I had used the Artifact.
“You definitely used Aura earlier. How can you…?”
“How should I know?!”
Right.
Unfortunately, I had no idea how it was possible either.
But the principle did not matter.
BOOM―!!!
What mattered was that, although it was merely a crude First Circle spell, it had caught my opponent completely off guard.
Walter stopped midway through his leap.
FSSSSSH….
“Ugh… What kind of f*cked-up situation is this…?”
Despite his surprise, he did not appear to have suffered much damage.
However, the Magic Missile had performed its role perfectly.
My true objective had been something else—
THUNK―
“Aaagh!”
Three daggers had followed behind the conspicuous Magic Missile, hidden within its wake.
Unfortunately, one missed.
However, the remaining two lodged precisely in Walter’s abdomen and right thigh.
“It is over.”
His movements were now sealed.
With a hole through his thigh, forget using an advanced Movement Art such as Form-Shifting Transposition—he would have difficulty moving properly at all.
“Ughhh… Come at me! You cowardly little bastard!”
Step.
Walter struggled to correct his stance.
He had already lost a considerable amount of blood, and his eyes were half unfocused.
Even so, his expression was remarkably resolute, as though he had no intention of allowing himself to be defeated meekly.
Grin.
“Why would I?”
“Wh-What…?”
I maintained my distance and stared at him vacantly, openly mocking him.
The blank expression that appeared on his face was quite entertaining.
“Heh heh heh, you idiot. Even if I leave you alone, you are going to die. Why would I deliberately put myself at risk by approaching you?”
“Hah… You intend to delay until an injured opponent bleeds to death? Do you have no pride as a swordsman?!”
“Oh~ And did your magnificent pride as a swordsman compel you to take hostages?”
“Ugh, you f*cking…!”
Tremble….
Walter’s face turned bright red at my ridicule.
Was his entire body shaking because his strength was failing?
Or, since he still considered himself a knight, did he find his current situation humiliating?
Either way, I did not care.
It was entertaining to watch.
“Once you die, I will cut off your head, wrap it beautifully, and send it to my stepmother as a gift. She will be delighted, will she not?”
“Ughhh! You bastard! Even chewing you to pieces would not satisfy me!”
GRIND―
He ground his teeth in fury.
However, the fact that he did not immediately charge made it obvious that he was desperately thinking.
Soon, he began laughing like a man who had lost his mind.
“Heh… Heh heh heh…!”
“Wow. Did you think of some wonderful plan?”
“Heh heh… That is right! Have you forgotten that the people you cherish are in my hands?”
Walter seemed to believe he had found the decisive move, and a confident smile appeared on his lips.
“Once the time I declared arrives, the hostages will be executed!”
“What? That is all you managed to think of?”
“…D-Do you not care if the hostages die?!”
“No, that is not it.”
Walter became flustered by my indifferent reaction.
I gave him a broad grin and explained,
“I already made arrangements for that.”