32 North Saint Kaballah

"You won't be leaving here alive today, 'North Saint' Notos."

Notos? He called me Notos? Who the fuck calls me Notos?

The man continued, his posture settling into an unidentified stance with his hands out stretched, "You should know the name of the man who will kill you. I am North Saint Kaballah. Nice to meet you… and farewell. Shishishishih!"

The newly identified Kaballah disappeared from my sight, and at the same time I sensed arrows flying at me. I evaded the arrows that embedded themselves into the wall next to me, and discovered Kaballah running on the wall towards me at a 90 degree angle like he could defy gravity.

What surprised me even more was when Kaballah thrusted his hand out and a thin, nearly invisible wire shot out of the bracelet on his wrist. The wire, which had a tiny, arrow head tip, flew out extremely quickly and embedded in to the wall behind me.

The North Saint was then pulled by the wire towards me, increasing his speed even further. A long blade simultaneously extended from the forearm of his other hand.

I readied Blue Fang, the mana within me surging like waves during a storm. I glared at Kaballah, that flew towards me in an extremely familiar pose – What the, isn't that Spiderman?

I threw the thought out of my head as our blades clashed. And for the first time since meeting Ghislaine, I was pushed back in a competition of strength. The force of his sword was beyond what I could handle, and my Blue Fang was almost thrown to the side from his momentum.

This… is the strength of a genuine Saint-rank! I bitterly thought as I scrambled to regain my balance. Before I could counter attack, I was forced to dodge out of the way as a sickle flew at my back from behind me. The sickle missed, but was pulled back with the chain that was attached to it.

"Waaaagh!!"

From behind me, the tall, muscular brute advanced with a war cry, his warhammer lifted vertically above him.

I once more rolled out of the way as the head of the warhammer swung down where I was. The ground, which was paved with bricks, shattered into hundreds of tiny shards from the force of the brute.

I lunged forward to slice into the tall brute with Blue Fang, but was again forced to swing my sword to deflect an arrow instead. I then had to lean forward to prevent my head from being lopped off by the North Saint Kaballah, but a kick from him still landed on my back.

Crack! Even though I had hastily moved my scabbard to block the kick, I was still launched away from the force of the kick, which contained the strength and mana from a genuine Saint-rank swordsman.

I managed to catch myself in mid-air, while eyeing the broken scabbard which now lay on the ground between myself and Kaballah. Without that sheathe to absorb the kick from Kaballah, I might have broken a rib from the kick.

This… this was bad. I felt a cold sweat flow down the small of my back. I might really die here.

A mass of mana was already gathered at my palms and at my feet, ready to be shaped into spells at any moment.

'Surprise is your greatest strength. Use your magic wisely during battle.' Was what Ghislaine had told me. I was still holding on to the hope that these assassins, I couldn't really call them anything else from what Kaballah was implying with his words, had no knowledge of my Magic Sword style.

"Shi shi shi shi. I'm impressed. Really. I thought you would already be dead by now. But to tell the truth, I'm finding it hard to believe The Black Wolf granted you the title of a North Saint. Is she blind? You're clearly not at the level of a Saint yet. So it really makes me wonder… Is she blind? Or are you still hiding something up your sleeve?" Kaballah spoke, his demeanour casual and unhurried.

My gaze grew colder before I jumped up to avoid the sickle that swept below me. While I was still mid-air, Kaballah launched himself at me, the blade extending out of his forearm aimed at my chest. He wasn't as fast as I was used to when I fought with Ghislaine, but unlike her, every action of his was filled with the intent to take my life.

I blocked with Blue Fang, but once again, the force of the piercing blade still left my arms trembling when he hit. I flew away, landing on my feet, but one of which was immediately wrapped with a chain from the short man behind me.

The brute ran at me, swinging his warhammer towards my head. The chain was pulled, and I lost my footing, but I still managed to catch myself with my palm on the ground and rotated my hips like a spinning top to slam my feet into the brute's hand.

The chain continued being pulled and I along with it. I slammed on to the ground on my back, and was dragged towards the short man pulling the chain while his other hand swung his sickle threateningly.

"Holy fuck!" I cursed before scrambling to roll out of the way of a sickle that was thrown at me. The sickle stabbed into the ground, while I managed to pull myself up and got a hold of the chain wrapped around my foot.

This annoying fucker!

I pumped my arms full of mana, and pulled. However, the position I was in compromised the amount of strength I could put into this act, while the short man had both feet planted firmly on the ground. Even if I was physically stronger than the man, this difference negated any advantages I had. The short man did not budge, and was even slowly overpowering me.

A thin wire flew past me, before stabbing deep into the ground infront of me. The hair on the back of my neck stood and I immediately dropped to the ground, as Kaballah, carried by his wire, flew past me. A few strands of my hair was sliced off by his blade which had been aiming at my neck.

I kicked myself up, hurriedly moving my sword to defend myself from Kaballah who had already started attacking. My foot was tugged once more, and I almost tripped if I hadn't stealthily used Earth Magic to slide myself along.

I understood that as long as the chain sickle wielding bastard kept interfering, this fight would be too tough to win.

If it was only a one-versus-one situation against North Saint Kaballah, I could have just maintained a tight, defensive Water God stance and eventually be able to cut him down with chantless magic at my disposal. Yet, because of the constant interference by the archers and the two other assailants, all my efforts were being disrupted. The teamwork of these assassins were truly admirable, if I had not been on the receiving end.

I did not need to defeat North Saint Kaballah. However, the chain-sickle wielding assassin and the four archers had to be eliminated before I could escape with Eris. They did not seem to have any desire to kidnap Eris. Instead, they were more eager to kill me. Even an idiot could understand that they were assassins sent to take my life.

But why? Why would there be anyone with the resources to hire these assassins that had the motive to kill me? In the 7 years of my life, I truly could not remember offending anyone to the extent that they would go to such an extent to kill me.

Stop. There' no point thinking about this now. Focus on getting Eris out of this death trap! Think, Rudeus, think!

The moment I start using Magic Sword style, I won't be able to predict how they will react. They might escape if killing me seems too difficult, but at the same time, it is also likely they might use Eris to make me surrender.

If that happens, am I really willing to use my life to exchange it for Eris…?

This question weighed heavily on my conscience. I didn't know Eris particularly well. It was only a month since I met her. What kind of emotional attachment would I really have to this arrogant and disrespectful girl? And yet, if they were here to kill me and Eris gets harmed or killed as a result, could I truly live with myself?

The cold, rational side of me said yes – I didn't owe her anything. My life was more important than anything else. But the human, emotional part of me disagreed. And I came to the same conclusion. No, I would not be able to live with myself if I let an innocent child get hurt because of my own selfishness, no matter how illogical such a decision would be.

I thought up a plan in that moment, after making this decision. Even if I had to exchange my life for Eris', it would be worth it!

Mana surged out of my sole, and an [Earthen Dash] launched me towards the short assassin who used the chain-sickle. [Earthen Dash] was my most subtle spell, and unless one had prior knowledge about Magic Sword style, they would not be able to guess that I had casted Earth magic to produce such an effect. And coupled with the Battle Aura that enhanced my physical ability to superhuman levels, I was faster than even the Saint-rank Kaballah.

The chain-sickle assassin was still able to react to my advance, despite the strangeness of my movement. The metallic links that formed the chain whipped, snapping into my body that I had protected with my Battle Aura. The impact, while sharp and fast, was not able to penetrate the protective layer of mana I had on my torso.

An arrow flew at me as well, but I gritted my teeth and prepared for the approaching pain. I let the arrow sink into my flesh, ignoring the projectile to continue my advanced towards the shortest assassin.

I could see hints of panic in the eyes of the assassin under his cloak, as he frantically swung his sickle at me.

With a cold gaze and gritted teeth, I used Blue Fang to block the sickle before reaching within striking distance of the chain-sickle user.

No hesitation. You forced me to this!

I swung my blade, demonstrating a Sword God technique that had been imbued in my muscle memory. The cold edge of Blue Fang sliced into the assassin, cutting through cloak, armour, skin, flesh and bone. In that instant, I mused that cutting into a human felt no different from cutting into a wild beast. In the end, we are all just walking bags of meat.

Blood sprayed out from the assassin, showering my clothes and the wall in a thick coat of the crimson fluid.

Today, I killed my first human. And something in me changed forever.