Chapter 61: The Second Assassin (3)

Aiden swung a greatsword as tall as himself with ease as he slowly walked forward.

He overflowed with confidence that he could cut down Raion at any moment.

Meanwhile, Raion drew his shorter sword from its sheath and rested it on his shoulder.

“Well, since you’ve come this far, why don’t you try cutting my neck cleanly?”

Raion even went so far as to gesture as if offering his neck.

At that, a vein slightly bulged on Aiden’s forehead.

“For a prince, you’re quite arrogant. That knight my brothers are fighting too, and now you — do you really think you can block my sword with that weird-looking blade?”

“It’s not impossible. Don’t you think so, Aiden of the Night Ogre?”

They had not yet revealed their names.

Naturally, Aiden couldn’t help but be surprised.

“Have we met before?”

“No. This is our first time.”

“Then how do you know who we are?”

The Night Ogre mercenaries originally operated in the Kingdom of Laboner, not the Kingdom of Canel.

There, they had earned bounties for countless illegal jobs, eventually crossing into Canel to continue working as mercenaries.

Of course, they had handled all sorts of work within the kingdom.

And this time, after assassinating the prince, they had planned to move to another country again.

“I just happened to know. But tell me, was your mouth always this loose? I thought you were the quiet type.”

“It’s just that this is the first job with such a massive payout. I’ve cut down plenty of Laboner nobles before… but a royal? This will be my first.”

Aiden lifted his greatsword, pointing it straight at Raion.

The bulging veins and twitching muscles in his arms holding the heavy blade were striking.

‘With that level of skill, even Jade would’ve struggled. But a swordsmanship based purely on strength always has its limits.’

Raion snorted rather than showing admiration.

“Do as you please.”

“That was my plan from the start!”

Whoooong—!

The greatsword swung wide. The target — Raion’s torso.

In that instant, Raion moved his sword in a circular motion to the side.

Chwaaaaaak!

Aiden’s greatsword struck Raion’s blade, sparks flying as it slid off.

Immediately, Raion’s sword moved even faster.

Shwaaaak! Kagang!

Startled, Aiden hurriedly pulled back his sword to block.

Unlike when he had fought Alkas, the shock this time transmitted heavily through the blade.

“You’re not worse than that knight, I’ll give you that.”

“Better than you, though.”

“Seems you’re not afraid to die. To have the luxury to spout such nonsense.”

Aiden swung his greatsword with even more force.

A fierce wind split and roared with each swing.

Whoong! Whooong! Whooong!

At the increased speed, Raion didn’t bother to block — he used Absolute Step (Jeolbo), dodging fluidly from side to side.

To his opponent, it looked as if he had vanished for a split second.

That only made Aiden feel increasingly uneasy and impatient.

“You’re as slippery as a Dirette!”

He was referring to a monster roughly half the size of a normal rat — extremely fast and difficult to catch despite being of the lowest grade.

Even with the mockery, Raion only found it amusing.

‘He’s no stranger to killing people. For someone like that, there’s no reason to let him live.’

Raion slipped past the trajectory of the greatsword and closed in deeply.

At the same moment, he thrust out his palm, delivering White Strike (Baekta) — an emission strike.

Tuuung—!

The blow landed squarely on the plate armor of Aiden’s abdomen, sending mana surging through it.

“Guh! W-what the hell!”

It was the first time in Aiden’s over twenty years as a mercenary that he had felt such an impact.

The shock that pierced from his stomach through to his back forced him to drive his greatsword into the ground, half-kneeling.

“Now do you see the difference between you and me?”

“So, you can use magic too? That wasn’t in the intel we got… Guess I’ll have to demand a bonus for this job!”

Aiden rose again, adjusting his stance.

A faint blue glow lingered along the blade of his greatsword — invisible but unmistakable.

It was Aura, something that could only be wielded by a Swordmaster.

‘His swordsmanship level was listed as 9 — has he already reached the realm of a Swordmaster?’

That was a skill surpassing even the captains of the Kingdom of Canel’s knight orders.

Of course, from Raion’s perspective, it was still far from enough.

But in this world, once a swordsman reached a certain level of mastery, they could begin to manipulate mana.

From that point on, Aiden’s attacks became even sharper.

Everything that stood in the path of his greatsword — trees, stones, whatever — was split cleanly in two.

“Never thought I’d meet someone worth showing my true strength to. But this is the end for you.”

Shwaaaaa!

The aura flowing along his greatsword flared even stronger.

“Let’s see how long you can keep dodging!”

A sword imbued with aura was difficult to block, even with Mithril.

There were higher-grade metals like Orichalcum or Adamantium, but those were so rare across the continent that even a prince couldn’t obtain them.

Naturally, Aiden assumed Raion was dodging simply because he couldn’t block it.

But Raion’s skill was far beyond Aiden’s assumption.

Raion bent his body backward, dodging the greatsword slicing in from the right.

Then he kicked off the ground, leaping back to a safe distance.

Chwaaaaaak!

“So, you’re finally running away? Too late for that.”

“Running? That would be your line.”

“To still talk like that after seeing my sword imbued with aura… Are you truly as stupid as the rumors say?”

At his words, Raion let out a short laugh.

“Heh…”

“Why are you laughing? Do you find this situation funny?”

“You’re actually proud just because you managed to wield aura?”

Just then, the sound of battle ending between Jade, Traki, and Frank echoed from nearby.

“Graaaah!”

It was Traki’s scream.

Having been slashed deeply across the torso, Traki collapsed to the ground.

Left alone, Frank began to stumble backward step by step.

A single Water Lance hovered above his right hand.

He was ready to throw it at any moment — but if Jade dodged and charged, that would be the end of him.

He wouldn’t even have time to draw the magic circle by hand.

“If you’re gonna throw it, do it now. Not that it’ll make a difference.”

Jade was confident.

Of course, if it hadn’t been for the engraving of Decomposition etched into his sword, it would have been impossible to stop the magic.

“Damn it—!”

In the end, the Impact Spear was thrown.

At the same time Frank quickly formed and hurled the two-circle spell, ‘Wind Arrow’.

Shwaak! Pak! Shwaaaak! Papak!

But every one of them was simply decomposed by the sword Jade swung.

Since there was no knight to take over the close-quarters fighting, the gap had to be large.

Before long Jade closed in and was able to completely overpower Frank.

As the situation went poorly, Aiden’s expression twisted.

“Two of them weren’t enough? But if I kill them all, it’ll be over.”

Meanwhile Jade moved up beside Raion.

He could not help but be surprised at the aura clinging to Aiden’s sword.

“Is that… could it be aura?”

“Looks like it. His swordsmanship is decent — he was hiding that kind of level.”

“Shall I take him?”

“Can you handle him?”

“Hmm… it wouldn’t be easy, would it?”

Even if Jade had mastered the Raizen-style swordsmanship to a decent degree, a swordsman who used aura was dangerous.

Besides, Raion had fully assessed his opponent and didn’t want to drag things out.

“I’ll deal with him directly. So step back.”

“Understood, Master.”

At that, Aiden was dumbfounded.

“This is the first time an assassination target has strutted this much. Might as well offer your neck if you want to die.”

“Wouldn’t you be the one to offer your neck?”

“To keep talking like that after seeing the aura on my sword…”

This time Raion was the one who was incredulous.

“What’s so special about aura that you’re overflowing with confidence?”

“Special? You really are a prince who knows nothing. That’s probably why someone commissioned your assassination.”

With his chillingly sarcastic tone, Raion showed a smile.

“No matter what you say, I can never agree with you.”

“So you’re saying you already know the realm of a Swordmaster!”

“Is that so?”

Raion let his sword drop down.

At the same time, a deep, blue aura began to thicken along the blade.

It was clearer and denser than the aura Aiden still maintained.

At the sight of it, Aiden was momentarily stunned.

“W-what….”

“Is it that surprising that I’m a Swordmaster?”

“N-no way! How on earth did you get that kind of aura—!”

Shwaaaak!

In that instant Raion’s figure vanished and then reappeared behind Aiden, passing by him.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

“…!”

Aiden’s throat, which had been making a loud cry, was severed and fell, rolling across the floor.

His headless torso followed the neck.

Thud—!

“….”

Watching that scene, Jade clicked his tongue.

“You’re more or less at the entry level of a Swordmaster — wouldn’t it have been better to try to persuade him?”

“Those kinds of people won’t be swayed. They act only out of greed.”

“Then what shall we do with them?”

Jade’s gaze shifted to Traki and Frank.

They were on their feet with great difficulty, staring at Aiden, whose throat had been cut.

“Hmm….”

As Raion began to ponder, Traki and Frank exchanged looks and immediately dropped to their knees.

“P-please spare us! If you spare us, we’ll do anything you order!”

“That’s right! We were only following orders! Really!”

Both of them even buried their faces in the dirt without any pride left.

They had seen with their own eyes a true Swordmaster who surpassed Aiden of the Night Ogre, and they judged they had no chance.

“Sorry, but that’s not possible.”

“W-what do you mean….”

Before their questions were finished, Raion moved as if vanishing again.

Chwaaaak!

Traki and Frank were nevertheless cut and fell to the ground.

Thud! Thud—!

With the two killed in an instant, Jade’s expression remained calm.

“You’re colder than I expected.”

“You shouldn’t leave people who’ll become trouble. If we left them alive here they’d spread word of my skill to the royal palace. And even if they ran to another country, they’d be hunted down with any pretext.”

Duke Alito and Queen Elina would never leave them alive as evidence.

Even if they fled abroad, they would be pursued and found under any pretense.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep