Upon opening his eyes, Kyoma found himself once again in the familiar white space that occurred when he slipped on Loran's ring. However, this time there was an unfamiliar figure standing before him. The person appeared to be an old man, with long white hair and a flowing white beard that stretched down to his chest. A force field obscured his face, preventing Kyoma from seeing what he looked like. The man was draped in an ancient robe that differed from the typical attire worn by mages in the present era. The garment resembled the attire of Chinese royalty from the Qing dynasty on Earth, albeit of a higher quality and adorned with ancient runes that resonated with the ambient mana in the area.
Kyoma mumbled, "Where am I?" as he looked around, confused about his surroundings.
"..." The old man in front of him began to speak, but Kyoma couldn't hear a thing. It was as if he was in a vacuum, and sound waves were unable to travel through it.
"...?" The old man continued to speak, but seeing that Kyoma wasn't responding, he shook his head in disappointment and turned away.
Kyoma tried to follow the old man and unravel the mysteries of the white space, but his body was immobilised. He could not move his body at all as the old man walked further and further away. He strained to move his eyes left and right, but even they seemed paralysed. All he could do was maintain his blurred vision as the old man gradually disappeared into the distance, until Kyoma was the sole occupant of the empty white space. Suddenly, Kyoma's eyes shot open as he found himself back in his room at the inn. The darkness outside his window indicated that it was late at night, and he must have fallen asleep shortly after returning from the weapon shop just after sunset. It was now likely around midnight.
The Windcutter rabbit suddenly perked up, assuming a battle stance as if ready to fight. Kyoma was bewildered at the rabbit's sudden behaviour, but before he could react, two small balls flew into his room through the window. Upon impact, the balls exploded, filling the room with a thick, smoky gas. Kyoma held his breath and tried to cover his mouth and nose with his sleeve, unsure of what the gas was. Through the haze, he could see a figure dressed in a black cloak enter the room, brandishing a dagger. Taking advantage of the confusion caused by the gas, the assailant swiftly lunged towards Kyoma's neck with deadly intent, displaying swift and agile movements without any hesitation.
The windcutter rabbit screeched and transformed into a silver bullet, teleporting towards the assassin and swiping its claws at the man's chest, preventing the dagger from reaching Kyoma's neck. Despite this, the assassin was still alive, so the rabbit gathered wind element mana around its claws, sharpening them further. The rabbit used its skill, "Windcutter," to reinforce its claws with wind magic and launched another strike on the assassin's left leg as he attempted to escape. The three goblins woke up from the commotion and quickly covered the window the assassin was trying to escape through. One of the goblins, wielding a newly acquired iron mace, swung it towards the assassin. Caught off guard by the goblin's unusually high attack speed, the assassin was unable to dodge the incoming attack and used his dagger to block the goblin's swing.
The goblin's mace collided with the assassin's dagger, but it was like trying to defend against a flying brick with an egg. The dagger shattered into pieces, and the assassin's right hand, which he used to hold the dagger, was irreparably fractured, with a piece of white bone protruding from his arm. Without giving the assassin a chance to recover, the hobgoblin wrapped his arms around him and lifted him up, squeezing tightly. The assassin's ribs cracked under the pressure of the hobgoblin's bear hug, and blood spurted from his mouth as he was held captive, his legs spasming in agony.
Upon the dissipation of the gas, Kyoma observed the assassin more closely. The assassin possessed black hair and black eyes, and had an average build with no distinctive features. What made the assassin peculiar was the absence of screams despite having a shattered wrist and ribcage. Curious, Kyoma placed his hand on the assassin and activated the "Appraisal" skill, which resulted in an influx of information flooding into his mind.
Name: Ryan Blackwood
Class: Rouge
Level: 8
HP: 110/220
MP: 32/32
Strength: 15
Agility: 22
Intelligence: 5
Passive Skills: Lessen Presence (Level 2)
Active Skills: Critical Stab (Level 2)
Titles: Human Killer, Nightshade Organisation (Wood Rank)
...
"Nightshade organisation?" Kyoma was surprised to hear about the Nightshade organization. From the name, he inferred that it must be an assassin group that hired Ryan to assassinate him. However, Kyoma couldn't fathom why he was targeted for assassination. He had just arrived in Greenridge town that day and hadn't made any enemies yet. The only possible explanation was the group of bandits he had defeated. But those bandits should have been captured and imprisoned by the town's guards.
"Who sent you here?" Kyoma interrogated the assassin, demanding to know who had sent him. The assassin responded with a stubborn and mocking smile, refusing to utter a word. Unfazed by the assassin's behaviour, Kyoma drew his Serpent Fang's dagger and made a small incision on the assassin's skin. While not particularly sharp, the dagger was coated with a potent poison that inflicted unbearable pain on its victims. As expected, the assassin writhed in agony as the poison took hold, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. Despite the excruciating torment, the assassin remained resolute and refused to divulge any information.
Lacking expertise in torture, Kyoma resorted to repeatedly stabbing the assassin in non-lethal areas, hoping it would break the assassin's spirit as he approached death's door. Despite nearing the end, the assassin remained resolute and refused to utter a single word.
Kyoma inquired, "Did the Nightshade Organisation send you?" The assassin's eyes widened in shock and quickly turned to fear upon hearing the organisation's name. Kyoma couldn't comprehend why the mere mention of the organisation made the assassin more terrified than being repeatedly stabbed until near death. The assassin's fear seemed to surpass even the fear of death itself. Suddenly, the assassin bit his tongue, causing a massive amount of blood to spill from his mouth, and he died within seconds. Kyoma was perplexed by what could have driven the assassin to choose death over revealing the answer to his question.
Kyoma's doubts were swiftly answered as a strong gust of wind burst into the room, shattering the windows and sending furniture flying in all directions. It was as if a typhoon had entered the space and caused chaos. Amidst the commotion, a hooded figure materialised by the window, brandishing a short sword that glistened in the moonlight. His body was enveloped in a swirl of wind magic as he fixed his gaze on Kyoma and the lifeless assassin in the hobgoblin's grasp.
"The name of our organisation is not to be spoken of," the mysterious man declared, remaining by the window as he swung his sword three times in quick succession. Each swing drew mana from his body, compressing the air around the blade and sending three invisible wind blades hurtling towards Kyoma. Sensing the danger, Kyoma leapt away just in time, narrowly avoiding being sliced by the wind blades that left three deep gashes on the floor where he had stood.
"Nice dodge, but the next one won't miss," the mysterious man warned as he vanished from sight.
The man materialised next to Kyoma, his sword poised to strike. Even the windcutter rabbit, the fastest member of Kyoma's team, could not match the man's speed. It seemed as if he had teleported from the window, but teleportation did not exist in this world. It was possible to move so fast that the naked eye couldn't keep up, creating the illusion of teleportation, but physical teleportation was impossible even with the highest level of magic.
The mysterious man coordinated his breath and movements to deliver a seamless and powerful strike towards Kyoma, using the ground to channel energy from his legs to his arm and sword. Kyoma, unprepared for the high-level battle, had only one option: "Curse barrier!" He tapped into the power of the Loran's ring to generate a barrier of potent curse energy that enveloped him, protecting him from the oncoming sword.
-531
Kyoma's barrier, which originally had 5000 HP, deflected the swift sword attack that would have been fatal as it was slashing towards his neck. Despite receiving a powerful blow, the barrier trembled slightly, and the energy within it dimmed by a small extent. Taking advantage of the opening, Kyoma quickly attacked the mysterious man with his serpent fang dagger. However, the skilled combatant easily guessed the trajectory of Kyoma's attack, nimbly dodged it, and responded with another swing of his blade.
-398
The mysterious man's sword counter-strike caused the barrier to tremble and the energy within it to dim even further. Realising that the barrier was not invincible, the mysterious man began launching rapid and skilful slashes at Kyoma.
-453
-364
-673
-423
-421
-235
-146
...
The curse barrier surrounding Kyoma was violently trembling as it struggled to deflect the continuous barrage of attacks from the mysterious man, causing it to rapidly shrink in size and energy. Despite the overwhelming speed and intensity of the man's assault, only a few seconds had passed in real-time. It wasn't until the barrier was less than half its original strength that Kyoma's undead companions finally caught up and joined in the fight, relieving Kyoma of the burden of single-handedly fending off the mysterious man's onslaught.
...
Kyoma was unable to appraise the mysterious man's stats or identify his weakness without physical contact. In response, he ordered his four undead companions to attack the man in a coordinated assault, hoping to land a blow. The windcutter rabbit screeched furiously as it launched itself at the man, its claws imbued with the windcutter skill. However, the man quickly evaded the attack and continued his assault on Kyoma, even as the undead companions joined the fray.
-213
Restricting the mysterious man's mobility, the melee goblin swung a mace imbued with dark matter, but unfortunately, it missed its target. The man leapt into the air, evading the heavy mace attack. In mid-air, the goblin archer launched a flurry of arrows at him, knowing that it was impossible to dodge in that position. Yet, defying the laws of physics, the mysterious attacker managed to evade the incoming projectiles by jumping in midair and using the ceiling to propel himself downstairs, where he unleashed another attack on Kyoma.
-315
The hobgoblin, being the slowest member of the team, arrived at the scene and attempted to catch the mysterious man using its arms since the room was too small for it to swing its sledgehammer with ease. However, the man proved to be very elusive, constantly dodging around and making it impossible for the hobgoblin to land a hit on him. On the bright side, the man was forced to jump away from Kyoma and halted his attacks. Kyoma remained cautious and positioned himself behind the hobgoblin for protection, watching as the man prepared to launch his final attack to end the battle.
Kyoma's only option to escape the dangerous situation was to give a command to his hobgoblin.
"Smash the floor, Hobgoblin!"
SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!!!!!! The hobgoblin let out a deafening roar as it swung its massive sledgehammer downwards, striking the floor with incredible force. The impact shattered the ground beneath them, causing everyone in the room to plummet into the resulting hole.