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Unless using the 'Festival of Fire' skill.
Davian cannot withstand the fire magic of Diana Meridiem, Latia's second aunt.
The one who just launched a fireball at Davian is a first-generation direct descendant of the current Meridiem Duchy.
Moreover, she has been practicing magic for over 40 years.
Davian has only just reached the level of magic to escape the academy.
He is far from capable of facing Diana, who likely has at least 8-star magic, with magic alone.
Of course.
This is only in a pure magic duel.
Davian can do more than just use magic.
Taat!
Davian dodged the fireball with a light step.
Unless it comes from a completely unexpected place.
Or he gets hit directly in the face.
Davian wouldn't be hit by an ordinary mage's fireball.
This is why mages are always at a disadvantage in one-on-one combat with swordsmen.
No matter how powerful the magical attack, it's useless if it can't hit.
And the mage's untrained body is the perfect target to be cleaved in two by a swordsman's blade.
Disadvantaged is an understatement.
Mages can't even fight one-on-one against swordsmen above a certain level.
And Davian has more than surpassed that level.
Tap. Tap.
Davian, moving in a zigzag, quickly approached Diana Meridiem, who was wearing a mask.
Diana urgently fired wind magic, but.
Davian easily dodged that too by bending his waist.
At that moment.
Davian's right nerves tingled.
A phenomenon caused by the heightened senses thanks to cultivated inner power.
Instinctive threat detection.
He quickly turned his body to the right and swung his ice sword.
Clang!
'Heavy.'
Even though he didn't face it head-on and deflected it, he could still feel the weight of the opponent's sword.
The assassin who had been fighting Jina's group was now standing in front of Davian.
"Not bad."
Davian wasn't easily surprised.
But this time was an exception.
"Gasp."
He had heard rumors.
The strongest assassin who suddenly appeared.
The Faceless Assassin.
A man who constantly inflicted scars on himself until his face disappeared.
His eyes, nose, and mouth are pierced, but he doesn't have a human form.
The only person who can survive seeing his faceless face is the client.
Of course, no one has seen his original face.
He suddenly appeared and worked as an assassin for several years.
And he hasn't even accepted any commissions in recent years.
There are only a few incidents attributed to him.
Since no one has seen his faceless face, the culprit cannot be identified.
The Faceless Assassin's sword struck again.
Clang!
"An interesting sword. Is it made of magic?"
An attack that was much heavier than before.
'It's not the assassin's sword.'
Davian could tell after just two clashes.
It's not a swordsmanship honed to kill opponents in the dark, secretly, quickly, and easily.
It's a proper swordsmanship built up from the basics.
And.
The strongest and most perfect swordsmanship he's ever faced.
'Several levels above Professor Stella.'
Davian was curious about the identity of the Faceless Assassin.
The Faceless Assassin opened his mouth.
"I heard you killed my two subordinates in an instant and came down, so I thought you had something. But you're worse than the maid in the maid outfit back there."
The Faceless Assassin thrust his sword with a disappointed expression.
A simple thrusting motion.
'I can't block it!'
It was completely different from the people he had faced so far.
It's not that it's impossibly fast.
Nor is it surrounded by an aura that cannot be blocked.
Just a simple thrust.
However.
His black sword came into Davian's sight.
The path of the sword, the sword's trajectory, was drawn.
Davian could tell.
This attack is.
There's nowhere to avoid.
There's no way to block it.
A fleeting moment.
There was no hesitation in the decision.
If he hesitates here, he will die.
It's a pity he couldn't cross swords more.
But there's no choice.
Actual combat is the best training, but it's useless if you die.
The opponent is no ordinary assassin.
"Gla..."
At the moment he was about to ask Glaciei for help.
The Faceless Assassin's sword was quickly retracted.
Clang!
The retracted sword collided with Jina's flexible sword.
"Yes. You're the best after all. Although it's not real swordsmanship."
This time, five people, including Davian, attacked at the same time.
A one-on-five fight.
But the Faceless Assassin didn't seem to be pushed back at all.
'Amazing. It's completely different from when I faced 7-star swordsman Leonel Specula. Just what level has he reached?'
He's not using Aura.
But based on the perfection of his swordsmanship and movements, he's at least 8-star or higher.
Maybe even higher.
He's definitely someone who could lead an army.
Yet he's working as an assassin.
It's impossible.
'Is he not using Aura, or is there a reason why he can't?'
If he uses Aura here.
The five people facing him might be torn apart at once.
"Glaciei! If you see any signs of this guy trying to manifest Aura...!"
Clang!
The Faceless Assassin's sword swung at Davian.
As if knowing Davian's mind, he opened his mouth.
"Don't worry, boy. There's no need to use Aura."
While a fierce battle was unfolding with the Faceless Assassin.
Latia and Karin arrived at the bottom of the hill.
The masked person watching the swordsmen's battle was startled.
Latia opened her mouth.
"Aunt."
The masked person's shoulders trembled.
Latia called the masked person again.
"Second Aunt."
"Wh, what are you talking about!"
Wind magic was fired from the masked person's hands as they regained their composure.
Latia and Karin quickly created an ice barrier to block the wind magic.
Crack. Crack.
The ice barrier hit by the wind magic seemed to crack.
Thwack!
It exploded as it was.
Latia's voice echoed again beyond the burst ice barrier.
"Aunt."
The masked person replied.
"There's no choice now. Latia. You'll have to die here. I'll send your father to your side soon so you won't be too lonely."
"Why are you going this far?"
"You'll understand when you have a child. The heart of a mother who sees her son, said to be the most outstanding of the second generation, only wandering around the periphery of the family because his mother couldn't ascend to the head of the family."
"So! You're killing your own brother over that head of the family position!"
"That head of the family position? Yes. It's easy for you to say that since you were born the next head of the family."
Even while talking, Latia's second aunt, Diana Meridiem, raised her magic power.
Latia and Karin also raised their magic power.
This is how mages duel.
Since there's no way to avoid each other's magical attacks, it's an all-out head-on battle.
Kuuuung.
Huge flames began to blaze in Diana's hands.
Karin asked, feeling uneasy.
"Hey, Latia. What are you going to do? Can we block that?"
"I don't know. I'll have to do what I can."
"That's a very Latia-like answer. I'm stupid for asking. Shouldn't we run away now?"
"Can we avoid that by running away now?"
Karin nodded as if resigned.
"That's true."
"I don't know if we can block it. But let's combine our ice barriers first."
"Okay."
Latia and Karin began to create a thick ice barrier.
Diana's flames became a giant pillar of fire, engulfing the two girls.
At that moment.
"That's enough."
Suddenly, a blizzard raged from somewhere.
"Wh, what?"
Diana, startled, stepped back.
She fired a pillar of fire containing all her magic power.
But it was suddenly swept away by the blizzard and disintegrated in mid-air like a candle in the wind.
"Wh...what is this."
The ice spirit Glaciei intervened between Diana and the two girls.
"Davian told me to protect Latia too. Hey, lady over there. If you cast magic at them one more time, I'll make sure you can never use your arms and legs again."
Crack.
Ice picks that suddenly appeared in the air flew towards Diana's arms and legs.
A speed that even a skilled swordsman couldn't avoid.
Diana, a mage, couldn't even react.
The sharp tips of the ice picks that appeared from all directions pricked her arms and legs before turning into water and melting away.
"Latia, don't attack that lady either. Davian said he needs to capture her alive."
Thwack.
"Ugh!"
In the meantime.
The number of Davian's people was reduced to three.
Now only Davian and Jina remain.
A two-on-one situation.
Glaciei turned her head to look at Davian.
"I need to help over there now."
Crack!
Ice picks that appeared in the air attacked the Faceless Assassin's lower body.
Whoosh!
The Faceless Assassin quickly kicked off the ground and jumped.
The ice picks pierced the air.
"Huh? He dodged it?"
Glaciei wore an intrigued expression.
Crack!
Crack!
A series of ice pick attacks began.
A while later.
Glaciei's dissatisfied voice erupted.
"Aish! Davian!"
"What?"
"Can't I just kill him? It's harder to hit him when I'm trying to avoid his vitals. Should I just pierce his heart or freeze him whole?"
"No."
"Then help me out. I can't catch him like this."
"Okay."
Glaciei grumbled.
"What's an person like that doing as an assassin?"
Davian and Jina rushed towards the Faceless Assassin again.
The battle situation had completely changed from before Glaciei intervened.
The Faceless Assassin was busy dodging and blocking the two people and Glaciei's joint attack.
As he focused all his attention on avoiding Glaciei's most threatening attacks.
Gaps gradually appeared in the Faceless Assassin, who seemed to have no openings at all.
=====
[Mana Points: 175K]
Magic Power: 407K
Inner Power: 170K
Outer Power: 116K
Points Remaining Until Absorption of Archmage's Heart: 1,132K
=====
'I don't need to allocate yet.'
Davian closed the status window he had opened, intending to allocate all the remaining mana points to inner power.
He judged that it was enough as it was, now that Glaciei had fully intervened.
'Something's not right.'
An absurd swordsmanship skill.
Movements so outstanding that he could dodge Glaciei's ice picks.
But somehow, his inner power doesn't seem to reach that level.
The balance between swordsmanship, movement, and inner power is off.
Slash!
Jina's flexible sword grazed the assassin's shoulder.
He was a ruthless expert who seemed like he wouldn't bleed a drop of blood.
But blood redder than anyone else's spurted out.
Then eventually.
Thwack.
Davian's sword pierced the Faceless Assassin's abdomen.
Avoiding the vital organs, of course.
Blood spurted from the Faceless Assassin's mouth.
"You're a unique guy. Persistent too. You clearly haven't held a sword for long. But your sword path is extremely sharp. And you have inner and outer power that don't match your age."
"Thanks for the high praise."
"It would have been fun if we hadn't met as enemies. Raising a junior like you."
"I have no intention of becoming an assassin."
"...I used to think so too."
Davian slowly nodded his head.
This guy's sword is not that of an assassin.
There must be some kind of story.
'If possible, I'd like to hear it. What happened? How did it come to this?'
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