Season 1
008
"It's about time we end this."
I faced the two rookies, decently formidable adversaries for the current me.
"Oh~ I never took on two guys before."
It was silent.
"First time for everything!~"
Nothing except for the sounds of clashing swords.
You know what?
I should stop trying to play the act of a psychopath. It makes me feel weird and doesn't suit my character.
--
Keeping a keen watch of their movements, I caught slivers of vulnerability amidst their tag-team assault.
The first knight had a larger figure and frame. His weapon was also different from the others. It was a massive broadsword, befitting of his build. He lunged forward with a strike.
He swung his sword, and as I blocked it, it felt as if I was being struck by a blunt weapon. There wasn't anything "sharp" about it. Just straight raw power.
I deflected his weapon down and did an overhead slash which he dodged by tilting his body. He attempted to front kick me but I stepped back.
This created a small amount of distance between us. Since he had a longer reach with his weapon, I was at a disadvantage. He can hit me but I can't hit him without giving him the first move.
The fat piece of lard had charged up an attack and did a low swing with his broadsword. His body shimmered with a coat of aura.
I clicked my tongue.
"Piece of shit."
As he stepped forward and started twisting his body to swing his broadsword, I began circulating my mana. I envisioned a whirlpool made of conflicting water currents that rapidly rotate, drawing any object into the center.
I cast a similar water spell based on the mechanics of a whirlpool but upon my sword.
Right now, I await the perfect moment when our weapons collide. Upon impact, I timed it perfectly with the spell activation.
Water currents spiral from the hilt of my sword and it acts as a strong and dense whirlpool with my blade as the epicenter. This allowed me to defend against his attack with ease.
He was beyond surprised when water erupted from my blade.
"You're a m-magic swordsman?!"
"Don't be too surprised, fatty."
Using the current as a pulling force, I used the strength of his attack and spun his broadsword away.
His face was full of shock after seeing how effortlessly his attack was parried.
"-How?!"
Judging by the strength of his attack and imbued with aura, he probably ranks somewhere between the lower and middle stages of 5 stars.
Considering the lack of aura control with how he can only cover his body and not imbue his weapon with aura demonstrates the lowest level of aura mastery.
Very typical for the soldiers of the Empire to rely more on brute force. Especially someone of his build who thinks strength is everything.
Strength without technique will only get you so far.
Parrying his attack with the help of my spell caused him to be off-balance. I made use of that opening and quickly conjured my aura, launching a powerful spinning back-kick toward the knight's midsection.
That was a part of the body where only chainmail protected him. For some reason, this guy was not fully equipped like the other knights. Perhaps he thought that his pure strength and some chainmail would suffice so he sacrificed the heavy armor for more speed.
On some days, that thinking might've worked. But not today.
My kick was executed perfectly as it staggered the knight and momentarily, knocked out all the air inside of him. He was stunned by the sheer force that a tiny person like me could inflict upon him.
As he faltered around, the other knight was a second too slow to react. Of course, I made use of that and dashed over covering my sword with aura.
His teammate made an attempt to defend against me, wedging himself in between me and the larger knight.
This one was a little more skilled as he made partial aura coverage over his sword. The colorless flames of aura flickered over his blade, a sign of the technique being incomplete.
He got into a defensive stance as I charged towards the two knights.
The knight shouts at me, "Fuck off!"
As I approached his range of attack, he performed a horizontal slash. I dodged by stopping my advance an inch away from the blade.
I grinned at him intensely.
"Is your name Off? Sure, Off will be fucked."
I threw my sword up, confusing both knights. I dashed and spun behind the knight guarding against me, unsheathing my knife and covering it with aura.
Without a moment of hesitation, I swiftly stabbed the knight in the back with my knife, caught my sword that I threw up, and sliced off the larger knight's hands in one quick attack.
The knight who guarded me let out some quiet noises of agony. He couldn't scream loudly as the air was escaping from him. The big knight, on the other hand, shouted with all his might as blood trickled down.
Both of them were in pain and agony, likely catching the attention of the other knights and assassins. I could care less if they looked this way. I just need to finish the fight.
The more I bluff about my combat abilities, the more disadvantageous I'll be.
I was surprised that the knight with the knife in his back could still move. He must have summoned the very last drops of his strength to combat me. I responded by outputting as much aura as I could control as a 2-star.
We collided blades and it was a struggle of who had more power. Despite the knife stuck inside him, he seemed smug.
"What's wrong, prisoner? Is this all the aura you can use?! Were you lying about your skills?!"
"This is all the aura I need for someone like you."
As he pushed against me, I quickly let go and sidestepped away. In that split second, he fell forward from pushing against nothing. I couldn't avoid an injury at that distance and got a long but shallow cut across my neck and collarbone.
Before he could catch himself, I breezed past his sword, grappled him, and climbed my way around to his back. I pulled out the knife wedged inside his back and stabbed it in his throat.
I pushed him away from me, just in case he pulled another last-minute struggle.
He choked on his blood and stumbled around for a little while before ultimately falling face-first and dying.
The larger knight, now with no hands, could only look at me with a dead and defeated expression. I didn't want to wish upon a fate where he slowly waited for the sweet embrace of death as he bleeds out.
I'm no demon. It's just unfortunate that I was their opponent. If I'm going to win, it will be with anything within my disposal.
I slowly walked over to the dead knight's body to retrieve my sword and knife. I sheathed my knife behind me and rested my blade upon the larger knight's shoulders.
He closed his eyes and lifted his head up ever so slightly, accepting his fate, which I granted.
I made sure to end him with one move.
"Sorry," I muttered under my breath to the knight.
With a swift horizontal stroke, I made sure to cleanly cut off his head as fast as possible so the pain he experienced was the least.
As his head rolled across the forest grounds, the other knights looked at me in terror. I used this opportunity to exert my dominance and did my best to cover the entire area with my aura. The result of that was an incredibly unstable and incomplete area coverage.
Due to the fear that I'd implanted in all of their heads beforehand, it didn't matter that my area coverage was weak, it was still effective to emit pressure.
This was a strategy that one of the martial masters taught me before, using your enemy's emotions to your advantage.
With my area coverage, I felt my aura drain incredibly fast. I was probably only able to maintain it for two seconds. But that's enough time for them to feel the pressure of my aura.
I don't want to die.
I want to leave. I need to run. I want to live.
He's a monster. We can't kill him.
All the aforementioned are likely similar to the thoughts that these knights would have. I know this from first-hand experience.
In my past life when I fought many opponents that were multiple times stronger than me, I often found myself enveloped in these thoughts whenever they would conduct an area coverage.
With a few knights dead by my hands, I'm confident that the assassins are more than capable of taking care of the other knights on their own. The knight commander will be too busy trying to defend against the assassin's leader. Sooner or later, the assassins will prevail.
It would be pathetic to call them assassins if they still manage to lose. The knights should also be tired and they have fewer aura stars. If they lost, I would have regretted picking the assassins' side.
I made my way to the carriage. I stayed silent and carefully opened the door, staying fully on guard in case of a sudden surprise attack from the survivors inside.
Making my way inside the carriage, I was greeted with a stereotypical sight.
Inside the dimly lit space, a young maid in a slightly ripped and torn moss-green dress huddled protectively over a smaller, frightened girl. Based on the small girl's fancy silk dress, the hairclip on the floor, and the expensive rings on her fingers, I'd assume she was the "important" figure that these assassins were targeting.
My gaze was drawn back to the maid. She had wavy brown locks that gracefully came down to her collarbone. The soft curls framed her face delicately. Her brown eyes were a common trait for many commoners and it invited warmth and emitted a quiet strength.
Despite being only a servant, she gave off the power of something more.
Due to the attacks that the carriage suffered before I intervened, the damaged lanterns flickered. The small amount of light the lanterns cast was a gentle glow that barely illuminated this scene of their vulnerability.
The maid's eyes glanced at my blood-stained sword. Despite not knowing whether I was friend or foe, she was brave enough to ask me the obvious.
"Are you here to kill us?"
Her voice was full of fear and courage mixed.
I couldn't help but chuckle, "Should I say you're naive or valiant?"
I gave a smile and raised my sword. The woman closed her eyes and held the girl who clung to her tightly. The girl clutching onto the maid's green dress wore a hood so I couldn't see her hair or face.
I slashed with my sword. Blood splattered from my sword onto the carriage's wooden walls and onto the soft seats.
"Leave. I'm not here to kill you. Run away fast, while you still can."
I sheathed my sword slowly.
Confusion knitted delicate lines on the woman's forehead. Her eyes were pools of uncertainty.
Given the situation, I wouldn't trust a random stranger who barged in with a bloody sword either. Who knows if they'll betray you right when you take their trust for granted?
As the maid and I stared into each other's eyes, I noticed how hers seemingly flared with suspicion and hesitation.
"Hurry, go on. You don't have much more time. Those assassins are going to come after you soon."
Within the depths of her eyes, I could see the traces of a once-confident and strong spirit. Now, it was a gaze that had witnessed loss and desperation. Though, I hope a sense of hope starts to fill their eyes instead. Her eyes darted between me and the outside world just through the door.
"Fine. I'll trust you."
Whether it was for herself, for the sake of that child, or for both of them, she gained a resurgence of determination. She was choosing to accept the trust of a stranger's urging and taking flight toward safety.
I offered a reassuring nod to the woman.
"As soon as I create a distraction, make your escape into the forest. Don't look back and keep running. They won't have enough time to trace your steps."
I looked at the woman and she hesitated but she quickly made up her mind. She got up and held onto the child tighter.
"Hold on, miss," She says to the girl, "It will be all over soon."
Seeing how she attached that title to a little girl makes me wonder if I just wedged myself into some deep shit. This better not come back later to bite me in the ass.
Oh well, what's done is done. They couldn't possibly target me when I saved them...right?
I looked at the woman and waited for her approval.
She nodded back.
I began to circulate my mana in preparation to cast a big magic spell.
I mouthed the word "run" to the woman and I ran out the door.
In order to create the perfect distraction for them to escape, I gathered up all my mana I had to cast one big spell.
I cleared my throat.
"HOLY SHIT, THERE'S A FUCKING BOMB!!"
I cast my spell, using all of the mana I could gather as a 2nd circle. I drew out the magic spell I had in my mind. It was an explosive elemental art. Usually, I'd need to be at least 4th or 5th circle to pull off a spell capable of demolishing an entire carriage of this size, but I learned from my past life to use other resources before expending my own.
Thus, I focused my explosive spell on the lantern. It was flickering either way so it was going to be destroyed regardless. It was the perfect chance for me to exploit its damaged state and create a chain reaction in my favor.
The carriage exploded and the debris went everywhere, this was good enough as a distraction for the woman and the kid to escape behind the flames and smoke. It also caused a lot of distress amongst the assassins and they fled far back to avoid any further explosions. However, there were no more since it was just one spell.
I got up from pretending to have been injured by that explosion.
After this, I'm for sure out of commission for a while with anything mana-related.
The assassins were able to regroup among themselves. They stood over the dead bodies of their enemies. The knights lay motionless on the ground. The assassins have sustained light injuries, aside from the leader who seems unscathed and only drained of stamina.
The leader made his way over to me while his underlings followed behind. Their uniform made it hard to discern their identity. The only detail that's given is gender. At least, I would assume he's a male from his build, voice, mannerisms, and how he conducts himself.
"What happened to the people inside?"
The leader asks.
"I didn't notice any people. When I opened the door, I saw a bomb."
"Were there any signs of people or hints that pointed towards their existence?
"Nope."
The leader stared at me silently. He waved to his subordinates.
"Verify the carriage."
He walked up to me.
I tried my best to act like a maniac again. I chuckled psychotically.
"If you're gonna walk up this close, some people might think we'll kiss."
The leader was not amused. He was not into that. Or maybe he is? He could just be shy. Well, regardless of what he is into, I don't find any attraction to men like that.
As he looked me up and down, he gave me some attitude and rolled his eyes.
Fuck, did I miss up?
The other assassins gave a nod to the leader. It seems they finished checking on the carriage.
He offered his hand and I grabbed it firmly with mine and shook it. He gave a friendly smile.
"As promised, you can take your spoils of this battle. We have accomplished our objective and we will be leaving. I hope not to be so weak next time to require the assistance of...someone like you. Farewell."
He signaled to the other assassins and they made their way into the forest, disappearing into the shadows of the trees before I even knew it.
Well, at my current level, I wouldn't be able to sense the movements of assassins of their caliber. After all, they were specifically trained in that field.
But I was offended by what he said.
Someone like me?!
I'm the best there is. Several decades of fighting experience that far surpasses their lousy-ass techniques.
Whatever, it's not like I can necessarily blame him for thinking like that. The character I assumed and played out was quite convincing. I would not want to be partners with someone psychotic either.
Now it's time for my favorite hobby since the battle is over.
Taking clothes off from the deceased!
That was a joke.
--
It was quite a successful robbery. If you could even call it that. They died by MY hands so it would only be safe to assume that whatever was theirs is now mine.
At least...that's how my logic works in this situation.
My haul was some slightly longer black pants and a comfortable white cotton shirt. I often forget I am built like a twig and significantly shorter than the average adult male. After all, I'm still considered a teenager. This made both articles of clothing fit me like an oversized item.
"Guess we'll have to do some cropping."
I pulled out my knife and shortened the clothes so they would fit without obstructing any active movement. I stretched and did a few kicks to test the durability of these clothes.
"A huge upgrade as compared to my prison rags."
My pants were a little loose but not something that could interrupt me.
Now fully cloaked in the stolen garments of my vanquished foes, the apprentice knights, I was able to set forth to my destination. Looking a little more sophisticated and less like a beggar.