Chapter 142 - Ghost Vs Ghostsaw - II

'What can I do if I can't parry him.' Merlin thought to himself for a moment.

Ghostsaw was now glancing towards the humidifier in the middle of the room. "Ah, so that's how you did it. No matter, I don't need stealth to kill you all."

Ghostsaw grabbed his blade and charged towards Merlin, who was still lost in thought, but quickly snapped out of it.

Merlin swung his daggers at the blade while avoiding the next strike. And as he observed the blade, it went through both of his, barely missing his arms.

'Surely the blade has limitations, it wouldn't make sense otherwise.' Merlin wondered. 'If his blade can go through anything, it would fall through the world any time he sets it down, sheaths it, or drops it.'

'If I can't parry the blade, perhaps I could parry the handle.' Merlin thought, readying his blade once more.

Merlin charged forward this time, slashing the man with both daggers, one was just a decoy attacking the main body while the other was slicing towards the handle of Ghostsaw's blade. 

His enemy moved his hand out of the way and twisted his body around Merlin's strikes before counterattacking. Merlin also avoided the man's strike before attacking him once more.

It seemed the blade couldn't be used for parrying either, as Ghostsaw made sure not to defend with it, so it eventually became a dance between two skilled thieves trying to kill each other in a government building.

Fortunately Ghostsaw's original target seemed to have the right idea and escaped out the side room with his subordinates, leaving Merlin to deal with the assassin without any distractions or people to protect while he fought.

Eventually Merlin managed to strike the blade's handle, and to his surprise the blade went right through it, barely scraping Ghostsaw's finger. But in retaliation the dagger was plunged into Merlin's arm, causing yet another large number to appear on his damage logs that made Merlin worry.

"How is that thing fair." Merlin grumbled as he barely dodged another slash aimed for his throat.

"Why would an assassin have to play fair." Ghostsaw replied in an arrogant tone.

"Fair point." Merlin retorted.

The yew poison didn't seem to be doing much on the assassin. Although it was just a small scratch on his finger, he should be feeling some of the effects by now.

'Well, if skill won't help me...' Merlin's train of thoughts continued. 'I guess all I can rely on is overpowering him with an extreme act of violence.'

Merlin began chanting out a skill name, which caused ghostsaw to back away quickly.

「Skill ⟪Heavy Strike⟫ Activated, your next attack will do an extra 35% damage, and has a 15% chance to trigger the stagger effect.」

'He's surprisingly cautious.' Merlin noted as he watched the thief stare at him with inquisitive eyes.

"Well, I hope you don't mind, but I'll have to change this up a bit." Merlin remarked, "I'm not a fan of tediously long fights. Even if you do pose a challenge, this is incredibly boring."

"I was about to say the same." The assassin retorted, readying his blade once more.

'Does heavy strike work with my vines?' An invasive thought crossed Merlin's mind, and as he pondered the question a smirk formed on his face that was hidden behind his mask.

Merlin charged towards Ghostsaw, pretending that he was going to strike with his blade once more. 

He made an obviously wide attack aimed at the assassin's right side, forcing him to dodge left as he readied himself to counterattack.

But although Ghostsaw was suspicious at the moment, his body instinctively followed along with Merlin's plan. And as the assassin was standing at Merlin's side, just about to deal Merlin a crippling blow, several vines flew out from Merlin's body, thrusting themselves towards the assassin.

"What the--" The assassin was startled as several vines appeared in his vision.

The assassin managed to slice through one of the vines, causing it to retract back into Merlin's body, but the other two managed to slip past Ghostsaw's guard and puncture his skin.

Merlin received a notification sound notifying him that his skill had triggered, alongside another notification that his passive had also triggered.

「Passive skill ⟪Rose Blight⟫ has triggered, target's stats have been reduced.」

"Surprise!" Merlin said in a playful tone. "But how interesting... Does that blade pick what materials it can and can't cut through, or does it just not cut through non-living materials?"

"In which case, can it cut through plants? Are those considered living materials? What about undead? Can you only slice my vines because they're a part of me?" Merlin's curiosity grew. Fortunately one of the quest rewards was the dagger, so he'd be able to satisfy his curiosity once the assassin was dead.

Merlin pulled the vines back before the assassin tried slashing at them.

Ghostsaw he seemed to have noticed that his body became visibly slower, and Merlin caught him glancing towards the door.

"Oh don't you even think about running." Merlin taunted, charging towards the assassin once more.

He sent out his vines to attack first, both of which were cut down with ease and retracted back into Merlin's body before he could even close the distance.

The assassin then attempted to attack Merlin, but as his speed had lowered, Merlin was able to dodge the blade and leave a deep gash on the assassin's arm, slicing through several muscles and causing Ghostsaw to drop his blade.

Merlin's attention snapped to the blade, and he watched as the blade fell. He wanted to reach for it, but his body didn't react in time. To Merlin's surprise, the blade had hit the floor instead of phasing through it.

"Oh? Does it only phase through objects when it's being held?" Merlin thought out loud.

Merlin barely managed to dodge a fist that was aiming for his head, and then his attention was brought back onto the assassin once more.

"Shouldn't you be dead right now?" Merlin asked, while holding his blades up. "How high is your constitution for this to not take effect already."

The assassin didn't talk anymore, he just started throwing one unarmed attack after the other, while seemingly trying to make his way towards the dagger he dropped.

Merlin caught on to his actions pretty quickly, so he stood around the dagger and prevented the assassin from getting in close.

After trading a few more strikes, Merlin landed a solid attack on the assassin's mask, causing it to shatter into several tiny pieces.

The face that was revealed underneath was hideous. Besides the bloodshot eyes that Merlin could see prior, the man's face was dry, wrinkled and cracked, as though it were stone being eaten away by erosion and time.

"Ever heard of moisturiser?" Merlin mocked, slicing at the man once more, only to find that he had ducked under his attack and made a dash for the door.

"No you don't!" Merlin roared, sending his vines out to wrap around the assassin's legs, causing him to trip and fall face-first on the hard floor.

Merlin dragged the man's body back to him, he watched as the once confident Ghostsaw was now desperately trying to claw at the floor, trying to get away from the inevitable.

Merlin leapt onto the assassin and began ravaging his defenceless back with his daggers. And only moments after he began making a mess of the surroundings, Ghostsaw's body stopped moving and the room went silent. 

「You have completed the quest, "Cutting off the spider's legs: Ghostsaw", rewards have been delivered.」

"God, that was even more tiring than dealing with the statue." Merlin groaned before yelling out to the government officials. "Alright, job's done, you can come out now."

Moments after Merlin yelled, Elwood Jenmier and his subordinates came out of the side room. The subordinates seemed shocked at the sight of a dead body, but Elwood just took a seat back at his desk with a smile on his face.

"Well done." Elwood spoke, "I can see why you're the elf's favourite."

Before a conversation between the two could start, one of the subordinates walked over and picked up Ghostsaw's blade, and moments later he screamed in fear, only to drop the blade and back away from it.

"What are you doing, you idiot." That subordinate received a glare from Elwood, causing him to shrivel up in the corner. "Bring some people in to deal with the body."

The subordinate vanished into another room, as as he did so Elwood spoke to Merlin once more.

"The spoils of war goes to the conqueror." He said, "Please take the assassin's blade as you leave."

Merlin stood up and walked over to where the blade had ended up, and as he reached down and grabbed the blade, he felt an eerie energy coming off of the blade, and it was surprisingly cold to the touch.

Merlin inspected the blade, wondering what secrets it held.

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[Ghostsaw's Blade (Unique)]

A nasty looking long dagger with a serrated edge. It was previously the trusted partner of Ghostsaw, a famous assassin who operated within Macedonia before he was assassinated. It has an eerie aura, and often feels cold to the touch.

• Damage: +16

• Stealth: +15%

• Abilities: ⟪Rending Strike⟫ 

• Infused souls: "★ Race Soul: Ghost (Level 3)" 

• Soul abilities: ⟪Phantom Step⟫, ⟪Phantom Slash⟫

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"Ah, that explains it." Merlin muttered. "A soul infused weapon, no wonder it had such an interesting ability this early in."

Merlin threw the item into his inventory and cast cleanse on himself and his weapons, washing off the excess poison.