Chapter 43

Who came out on top?

Bang!

The silvery flying sword arcs burst apart the icebergs into hundreds of pieces and rained down on the Giant Gremlin.

It was so slow that it couldn’t move out of their way in time and had to take them head-on.

One after another, they rained down on it like torrential rain.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The giant claw it had raised to block them was what they chopped off before drawing dozens of red lines all over its body.

These lines grew, and blood gushed out, splashing on the ground.

『You’ve landed consecutive critical hits on the Giant Gremlin. It lost 270 HP (20/500 HP). It’s periodically receiving bleeding damage. It will lose one HP every minute.』

Roy saw it was covered in wounds from head to toe and thought to himself: “Is this the power of a magic sword? Too ridiculous!”

The Giant Gremlin was no longer Roy’s match. It was not only at its last breath and covered in injuries, but its legs and thighs were so injured that it could not move, and its arms were in similar conditions, so it couldn’t attack using them either. The only thing it could use to attack was its tail, but Roy easily dodged it and finished it off by beheading it.

Its head fell down to the ground, and immediately a notification sounded in Roy’s mind.

『You’ve killed Darklin, The Giant Gremlin. You gained 150 Experience Points. You gained 750 additional EXP for killing a monster five levels higher than you. You gained 100 bonus EXP for killing a level 15 monster for the first time.』

The rewards amazed him. He couldn’t store this big boss’s corpse in his subspace. So he dissected it using his dissection skill. Methodically, he skinned it, separating the useful parts of its body from the useless parts. He did it too fast. Unless one has a glorious history of dismembering monsters for their parts, they will come nowhere close to Roy.

『Ding! Congratulation. You looted Sturdy Bones, Sharp Claws, delicious tail, and a magical beast core from the Giant Gremlin’s corpse. Merchants would be happy to buy them.』

『Ding! Congratulation. You looted the rune stone of magic complexity, the rune stone of Gigantification, and the wind blade rune stone from the Giant Gremlin’s corpse.』

No wonder it was so strong. It had three rune stones. Now, however, they were all Roy’s. The hard work he had put into killing it paid off the moment he got his hand on the colorful stones.

The second and third rune stones were self-explanatory.

He inspected the first one, finding out about its functions.

『You’ve used inspect on the rune stone of magic complexity.』

『Four magic symbols can be placed anywhere in your field of vision. After placing them, you can’t change their location or take them back within an hour. They can’t be seen by the naked eye. Each symbol reflects a different ability, from sealing to ability reuse. If someone steps on a symbol, its effect will be instantly activated.』

He found it complex but also fun. The thing was that it added an element of uncertainty to every battle. He could use it just like the Fortification rune stone he had received from the Boneworm Area boss. Just by pouring his Aura into it, he would be able to activate its special effect. The problem with this way was that it ate away at the lifespan of the rune stone. The best example was the White Fortification rune stone. It was now only 2/3rd its original size as Roy had used its effect in an unnatural way once.

Except for his sword, everything precious went inside his subspace.

He stood up, looking for a way out.

Exists would be generated in a naturally formed dungeon after the boss monster gets defeated.

But this was a trial ground. He had to find the exit himself.

But one thing was certain.

The exit had to be in this room.

As Roy was searching for the exit, a ray of light flashed, and a sharp dagger was seen shooting for his life.

Just as it was about to claim it, Roy whipped around and deflected it with his sword.

The dagger landed on the ground with dull thuds.

Looking at it, Roy gulped, his hands shaking.

If not for the fact that he has the sixth sense that monks of his previous life dreamt of having and, thanks to it, sensed the approaching danger, this dagger would’ve claimed his life—no doubt about it.

Who shot it through?

“Reveal yourself!” Roy shouted mightily while keeping his eyes on the entrance to the boss room.

Clap!

This sound echoed six times as a person walked into the boss room.

Roy finally had a good look at the person who tried to assassinate him.

This unknown person’s eyes were like that of a seductive fox. His lips and nose were like that of a pure maiden, tiny but pleasant to look at, and his hair was black and shiny, falling down to his waist like a waterfall.

Roy would’ve mistaken this man for a gorgeous woman if his adam’s apple, strong and thick muscles, and sharp jawline didn’t stand out.

As a whole, this man was the perfect combination of the masculine and the feminine.

This man was wearing an all-black ninja suit. Droplets of sweat continuously ran down his temple. The mask he was supposed to use to cover his face was dangling from his neck.

Evidently, this man had traveled a long way in a short time to get here to assassinate Roy.

“People say that the third son of Count Badulf is a useless waste and can’t hold his own against a gust of wind. From what I have seen, the rumors outside are fake! You aren’t a useless waste. You’re far more impressive than your peers. Intelligent enough to fool the world. And Stronger than the seventh prince who hadn’t undergone awakening. You’re at least at the tenth level of the Body Refinement stage. Am I wrong?”

The assassin said that while leaning against the wall and trying to act cool when in actuality, he was just catching his breath.

“Yes, you’re wrong,” Roy replied.

The truth was this man was indeed wrong.

Roy wasn’t in the tenth level but at the thirteen level.

Swift Death was dumbfounded at his words

“Huh? I judged you wrong? If you’re not at the tenth level, what stage are you in?”

Roy ignored his question as he didn’t feel the need to make himself clear to this asshole and, in turn, questioned him with a red face, “Who are you?”

Swift Death, without a change in his emotions, replied, “What good would knowing that do for you?”

Hearing what he said, Roy rolled his eyes.

“Why did you try to assassinate me?” Roy questioned the madman again.

“What other reasons could I have? Someone’s paying a lot for your head, and I just happened to be the one trying to claim it.”

After saying that, Swift Death straightened his posture.

The laziness in his eyes vanished, and a sharp aura excluded from him. He started walking toward Roy. The more the distance between them lessened, the more he looked like an assassin that was out on a hunt.

“Who… who wants me dead?” Roy asked.

Swift Death’s eyebrow raised.

“You don’t know?”

Roy looked back at him in silence.

This silence was taken as an answer by Swift Death.