Chapter 44

Roy’s expression told Swift Death all he needed to know.

The assassin stopped and narrowed his eyes at him. “It’s a surprise to know someone as intelligent as you don’t know who wants you dead. You manage to fool the world into believing you’re not worth a cent when actually you’re the best among the unawakened. The fact that you tackled two trial grounds alone and succeeded in triumphing over them proves it. I don’t know why you hid yourself so deeply, but you must have your reason, just like I had for becoming an assassin.”

The assassin was silent for a while.

“Uh… well, now that I think about it, it’s not too surprising you don’t know. Actually, you don’t have much of a beef with my client. You are just in their way. So they want you out. How about this? I’ll tell you who they are if you beat me.”

With a smile, Roy gladly accepted his challenge.

“Alright, bring it on.”

The minute his last word was spoken, the feminine youth charged toward him.

There was a reasonable distance between the two.

He wouldn’t instantly reach him.

This was the perfect time to determine this man’s power level and specialties.

Roy inspected him.

At that very moment, the black bracelet on that youth’s wrist released a shine.

It was barely visible, but it didn’t escape Roy’s notice.

On the other hand, a blue screen appeared before him.

Only three words were shown before it crumbled apart into pieces.

Then, another system’s notification rang in his mind.

『Ding! Your target’s family regalia has nullified the effect of your skill. Inspect failed!』

Roy was taken aback by this. This was the second person on which his information gauging skill had failed. He must be really something.

Like his name, Swift Death covered the distance between them swiftly.

Two daggers materialized out of nowhere in his hand.

Roy, who saw this scene, determined that this guy was at least at the Weapon Master Level.

Although the opponent was a whole stage above him, he didn’t panic.

He had taken down a Level 15 Boss Monster that was supposedly stronger than level Peak-level Weapon Masters.

He had no reason to fear this guy who had only shown the capability of a beginner-level Weapon Master.

“My name is Swift Death. You’re about to experience why I am called that!”

“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”

The assassin slashed his daggers at him several times in one breath as if he was not familiar with the concept of taking a break.

Roy dodged all his attacks by simply tilting his body out of the trajectory of his attacks, just like a martial expert. He did not even pull out the Moon Reflecting Sword.

The assassin’s eyes widened to the size of saucers as he was alarmed to see how easily Roy had dodged his combo move.

“H-How… did you do that? How can you dodge my Swift Barrage with that body of yours?” Swift Death asked after dodging Roy’s sword by jumping backward. A distance was created between them.

Roy smiled and replied, “What do you mean how? You’re just too slow and predictable. I can see your attacks coming for my vitals from a mile away.”

There was a ridiculous difference between their stats.

The brief exchange they had helped Roy realize that.

He had been fighting Boss monsters all this time. Boss monster’s stats were ridiculously higher than all the trainees and most weapon masters. He was the only one whose stats were higher than Level 10 Boss monsters and around level 15 boss monsters.

Others wouldn’t come close.

It’s just that he hadn’t realized it until this fight.

“Whoosh!”

“Clang!”

Roy stabbed his sword toward the assassin’s shoulder. Swift Death blocked it with his dagger, but his hand turned beet red as if it would explode. The impact he felt from blocking his sword was similar to a train smashing a man.

They clashed several dozen times in a span of a minute.

Roy’s 69th attack went through Swift Death, who quickly burst apart like a balloon.

He immediately realized that his sword had only connected with the assassin’s afterimage.

The real person was somewhere else.

“Then… Where is he?”

Roy’s sixth sense came into play at this moment. Firstly, he sensed great fluctuations in the surrounding Mana just two steps behind him. Then, his hair stood on the edge. A prickling sensation stabbed the back of his head.

“Got you.”

Before those whispers reached Roy’s ears, Swift Death hadn’t only appeared in the spot where he had sensed energy fluctuations but also thrust the sharpness in his hand towards the back of his head. Roy bent his knees, his body dropping down as the dagger went over his head. The assassin swiftly followed up with a stab to his back with his other hand that forced Roy to roll forward.

His body hadn’t hit the ground when he launched a kick towards his butt. From the corner of his eyes, Roy saw a glimmer of steel flashing ominously on the tip of his boot. A knife was sticking out of it. If this kick of his were to connect with his butt, he wouldn’t be able to fart or shit in peace!

Pah!

Roy slapped his hand on the ground with all the strength he could muster, shooting himself out of the trajectory of his insidious strike.

“This is where we say goodbye.”

The dagger in his hand shot out, flying towards Roy at the speed of an arrow.

As he was in mid-air, he had no platform to change his trajectory or move out of the way of this dagger.

“It’s impossible for you to dodge death this time around.” Swift Death proudly exclaimed.

However, his expression took a turn for the worst as he saw a smile creeping up on Roy’s face.

“Mana Wall!”

A mana wall appeared in the trajectory of the dagger.

Almost at the same time, a mana shield appeared below him.