Vol 2 Chapter 23 (1/2)

Volume 2, Chapter 23 【A Mysterious Pulse】

For your information, Chapter 22 was revised on 5/3.

Although there is no change in the general flow, please [go through it] if you can.

When he noticed――I was das.h.i.+ng.

Forward, thinking only of how to close in on my opponent.

Grabbing the chance, I stepped my right foot out. Following a backlift stance, I executed a sword strike that could bisect my opponent.

By no means did I think it would be the end. However, it was enough for the opponent to retreat.

Serdio skipped back and shot a look my way.

Although I wanted to treat Logins-san first… it would be impossible unless this guy was incapacitated.

He seemed to have been stripped of his mask during the battle… That guy had sanpaku eyes. With the small ash brown pupils, that were by no means cute, he was glaring at me.

Thanks to that, however, I was able to grasp the opponent’s status.

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Name: Serdio Keith

Race: Human

Age: 33

Job: Special Duty Corps Captain

Skills

Sword Arts Lv3 (21/150)

Body Arts Lv3 (15/150)

Dark Magic Lv2 (42/50)

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…Although I had expected it, his martial skills were at par with me.

The element of his magic skill was dark.

Dark… huh? Although I could use dark magic, too, it was far from the best.

When it came to dark, I could only imagine the dark of the night. Granted it was a poor conception; however, it was easier to imagine in case of other elements.

「――Don’t tell me a brat like you is gonna spoil our plans. Should I rather have killed you, disregarding the intentions of that guy lying over there?」

Aah… like I thought. So, Lim’s and my life was spared by the grace of Logins-san?

「Haha… aren’t you――――quite a lucky fellow yourself?」

Now that his face was naked, his emotions lay bare.

Other than words, the most effective means of conveying emotions was――expression.

Although the emotion of the opponent could be figured out through the air around them or their voice, it would be easier to surmise the emotion of the opponent if their expression were added to the mix.

With the emotion of anger outspread, Serdio cut the distance in a bound.

If there was no difference in the martial skills, the advantage could be gained through stealing a skill or using magic. That the opponent had forged his Body Arts Skill, however, caution had to be exercised in close combat.

Repelling the lateral sword slash executed mercilessly to cut my neck, I delivered a strike from my crouched state to severe the opponent’s arm from the shoulder――

――Far from defending, however, Serdio lunged the base of his palm at my chin from close range.

Although I was somehow able to dodge it by bending my upper body back, the counterattack ended up broken and I had to retreat a step.

「…I hate people like you the most. Only good at lip service… Do you think you’re some ally of justice? Cute brats yearn for it and then get needlessly offended with their half baked strength.」

Ally of justice…? Me?

An ally of justice… who relinquishes the evil and protects the weak?

Nope, wrong. Absolutely wrong.

「You seem to be misunderstanding something, so let me make it clear. I’m not an ally of justice. Running to a faraway stranger just because they want help… Pretending to save everyone… That’s absurd.

About Roy and Minii of the orphanage, it was merely a coincidence.

「Your empire must have circ.u.mstances of their own. I won’t conveniently judge anyone as good or bad. But… I want to enjoy my life laughing. Do you think I would enjoy it as someone harmed people close to me? Do you think I would laugh as they were left to cry?」

There might not be such reason.

「At the very least, I wouldn’t. That’s why… Whether my opponent is good or bad, I don’t care. You may be looked up to by your people, for argument’s sake, and this matter may be crucial to your empire… but I don’t care.」

「…I see…」

In short, I’m doing it because I want to do it. In this sense――I really am a brat!!

Spitting those words out, I firmed the sole of my foot onto the ground and kicked forth.

I, who had once again closed in, warded the sword strike of the opponent off and slipped in. I defended his right kick to the midsection with my left hand. Utilizing that gap, I thrust the sword out; however, it could only rip his flank.

Fresh blood, lit under the moon, flitted about.

Face and neck… were the only exposed parts of the opponent for his skin to be touched. The rest of his body was clad in a black outfit, making the Thief’s G.o.dly Skill ineligible to be invoked. Quite troublesome.

However, his Sword Arts and Body Arts had already been confirmed visually.

Although my left arm which blocked his kick was in immense pain, it was immediately recovered by Vitality Enhancement since it had not fractured. I lightly shook my arm; however, the pain had already been relieved.

As the wound to his flank wasn’t serious either, Serdio leaked a mumbling voice.

「You really want to do it… don’t you? You have my respect.」

I was not at all happy to receive such a guy’s respect.

「But… to do it, you need enough strength…」

The body of Serdio, who shouted so, lost it’s form as if it had melted into the darkness.

I, who could not understand as to what had happened, had my body momentarily stiffened.

――The moment I realized it was the opponent’s magic, I concentrated my consciousness to invoke Light Magic. However, after hearing a rustling sound from the gra.s.s to my right, I a.s.sumed a defensive stance.

「…Seiji! Left」

Upon the voice resounding from the sky, I switched my concentration to my left.

In that instant, a blade which was giving off a dull l.u.s.ter swung down. Under my eye, a cut ripped open vertically on my cheek.

「Kuku… regretting already? Just a little more and you would be in two.」

…had Marita not informed me, it would definitely have been dangerous. Was the noise from right a feint?

For the body to melt into the darkness and conceal one’s presence――an ideal magic for a.s.sa.s.sins.

Like my optical camouflage, however, it must be quite difficult to imagine.

「I heard from Rey, that you can use magic, too. But… your element won’t be able to outdo the dark.」

Aah… I did remember using Fire Magic in front of the twins at the time of invasion. Moreover, I also used Fire Magic and Water Magic earlier to defend.

Neither Fire nor Water――were capable of countering Dark.

「Next will be the last… cower under the darkest of the dark.」

With those words, Serdio’s body once again vanished into the darkness.

That’s right. What kind of image did the opponent’s magic embody? What type of element could the opponent use? …One would not know until one saw.

――I invoked the magic, which I had prepared, and tossed a ball of light into the air.

Putting strength in my palm, I clenched it into a fist.

――――《Flash Shock》

The next instant――the s.p.a.ce br.i.m.m.i.n.g with darkness regained the brightness of noon.

Darkness had been wiped away. As far as the eye could see, light had infringed.

「Gu… a, is this… Light Magic…?!」

In the middle, of the area that was once more engulfed in darkness as the light had subsided, stood bare a man groaning to the point of looking silly.

With his dazzled eyes covered by his hand, he was faltering. I was not so generous as to let such a chance slip.

「――How could you make such a mistake as to think I was not able to use Light Magic?」

I, who had broken into a run after sighting Serdio, closed in on the location that was an arm’s length away. Catching the randomly waved sword, I grabbed his face with my left hand and pinned him down.

「――Let’s dig in.」

I had visually confirmed every skill this guy had. Sword Arts, Body Arts, Dark Magic――every skill.

The rate of success would be 50%.

――I invoked Thief’s G.o.dly Skill.

The sense of invocation was, as planned, three times. And I relished the sense of fulfilment two times.

When I checked the status of the opponent… he only had Dark Magic left.

Although I had stolen the highly antic.i.p.ated Body Arts and significantly strengthened Sword Arts, I was reluctant to have my skills contaminated by this guy’s.

Well, such a thought was a luxury in itself.

「Get… off!!」

Serdio, who had struggled free of my hand, set his sword up.

At that moment, as if he felt a sense of incongruity, the hand which he was wielding the sword in trembled.

「What… happened? What happened to me?!」

His imploring voice, which had a hint of fright, lacked the ambition it had before.

The sword talent, which there was no trace left of, was that of an amateur’s. He was brandis.h.i.+ng the sword with nothing but arm strength.

Without dropping guard, I read the trajectory of the sword swung by the opponent and flicked it off in a circular fas.h.i.+on.

A shrill sound echoed in the s.p.a.ce pervaded with silence as the opponent’s sword rolled onto the ground.

「f.u.c.k…!! What’s the meaning of this? Why…」

Catching the fist he had stuck out in desperation, I twisted it. To pull him toward me, I upturned the elbow joint――and launched an upper kick.

The right arm, that had bent in a direction out of the joint’s natural range of motion, had it’s bone fractured completely.

「Guaaaaaaaa… y-you…」