Chapter 92
Nearly all of the bandits had been dealt with . What was left was one man who’d stayed out of the fight the entire time .
“Dark Mist . ”
The name of the organization responsible for the assassination attempt on Laptiricisama . The group above Enjuu . As I knocked out Leif, I heard that name muttered . The resting area was once again enveloped in a thick dark mist . I couldn’t even see beyond a few meters .
[～～～～、～～～～、Dark Eye]
I didn’t know what it was exactly, but I was pretty sure that it was some sort of magic judging by the chant . When I finally heard the name of the spell, I realized it was a spell to see through the darkness or night . In Response, I also switched to my FLIR-mode to confirm the location of my target .
The man was no longer where he was before he casted Dark Mist . I simply couldn’t find him . There was no one when I looked . I didn’t pick up any movement or sound, neither was there a dot on the map . Did he escape? Just when I thought that, I could hear the faint sound of air being sliced from behind .
A cold shiver ran up my spine, and I slid-jump forward . I looked back mid-slide . He was there, silently coming after me .
“You can actually dodge me? It’s been a while since anyone could avoid my backstab while Dark Mist and Shadowrun are in effect . ”
The voice sounded young, clear and high pitched . But at the same time, it was cold .
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“ ‘Shadowrun’ huh…”
Of course I didn’t know what that was . But it was probably some sort of skill . A stealth movement to be exact . Was that a shortsword in his hand? I saw cold blue streaks extending from his hand . It was hard to judge while in FLIR mode . All I see was the outlines of the and it made CQB hard . The blue streak suddenly changed to red, signifying an increase in temperature . The heat coming from that short sword had somehow become a sort of beam saber .
“Kuh!”
I twisted my body to avoid the blade . I readied the welrod and took aim after I found my footing—
“Not here?!”
Again with the ‘Shadowrun’, the man had disappeared again . Before I could find him again…
[～～、～～～、～～、Dark Flame]
Right as I heard the voice, a plume of jet black flame burst up behind, engulfing me . I did a slide-jump to escape the flames and discard my burning overcoat in the process . I was able to grab a tomahawk with my left hand . I wasn’t able to retrieve any magazines, however . They were stashed in the inner pockets . The overcoat burned, showing up as bright particles in my vision . And with that, the magazines were gone… I only had eight rounds inside the welrod .
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“Even that couldn’t catch you . You are more capable than rumoured, ‘Black Mask’ . ”
“You know me, but I don’t know you; isn’t that unfair?”
“Would an assassin introduce themselves to their target?”
“Fair enough . ”
I couldn’t afford to take my eyes off this man . He was silent and fast . If I allowed him to get behind me, I was done . Right after our short exchange, I threw the tomahawk at him . While at the same time I also positioned the welrod’s crosshair on him .
[～～～、～～、～～, Dark Hole]
At first, I thought he’d use his dagger to deflect or physically decade . However, he instead responded with some sort of defensive magic . A large circle with no heat signature appeared before him, sucking the tomahawk in . A thrown tomahawk was pretty much a long ranged attack, just like a shooting arrow . Judging that, shooting now wouldn’t do any good . So I decided to attempt a melee .
I had the electric baton hanging on my hip, but I deemed that it was better to leave my left hand free . I never tried to dual wield a baton and a tonfa before, so I didn’t know what kind of movement the CQC system would dish out . In this situation, such an unpredictable move could be my last .
As I moved into another slide-jump, I reversed the welrod’s grip . With the momentum, I launched a left-right swing with the longer end of the pistol . The assassin evaded my attack by twisting his upper body backward . At the same time, he left his upper torso for attack . I gave chase by kicking forward, which the assassin attempted to block with his short sword . But apparently, my kick was far stronger than he’d expected . My boot continued until it connected with his stomach . Even so, he seemed to have endured it with only a short muffled grunt . I turned the welrod around so the read faced forward and I aimed for center mass .
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Since it was center mass, it wasn’t something easily avoided by just slightly moving . However, midway, I reached out to grab his shoulder with my left hand, the welrod spun around in my other hand . Its muzzle now faced forward as I readied to pull the trigger .
“Guu!”
My left hand was deflected, yet there wasn’t a way for him to use defensive magic at this distance! After switching to the proper grip, I matched the crosshairs on the ironsights . Before he could react, I shot twice . Probably realizing that I’d launched a ranged attack, the assassin raised his shortsword on the first shot, successfully deflecting the first round . However, the second round managed to land on his flank .
Got him!
I intended to capture this one alive, and find out who hired him . I switched my grip on the welrod once again, and aimed to knock him out . Seeing my huge swing, I could feel the assassin’s eyes turn grim .
“Liberate!”
The moment the word was spoken, a large black hole appeared in between me and the assassin . At the same time, something cut off my right hand .
“Guaa!”
Since coming to this world, this was the first wound I’d taken . And ironically, it was not inflicted by his sword . It was my own tomahawk that’d disappeared in the previous black hole . My right hand, cut below the elbow, fell into the black hole alongside the welrod . With my line of sight diverted, I wasn’t able to react to the assassin’s next move .
I felt a sudden sharp pain come from below my armpit . It was accompanied by an unpleasant sound… Did my ribs break? Either way, the attack sent me rolling on the ground . Just when my body came to a stop, and I laid on my back, I felt something heavy pressed against my stomach . The assassin had mounted me, sitting on my belly as he began to strangle me with hsi hands .
“Did you think I wouldn’t use magic there? This is it, the trash that’s been an obstacle to our dominance . Along with those vixens, I’ll send you forth to the evil god . ”
With a short sword in his hand, he stabbed my chest . Since he used his left hand to do so, it was embedded into my right side .
“Guu!”
“No use to struggle—”
“When you meet the evil god, do tell him this – It’s his fault for dropping me in this world!”
“What—!”
In my desperation, I pointed my finger right at his face . An invisible shield deployed instantly . The CBS was like a thin film, deploying some inches from my hand; where his head was . It was cut in half .