Chapter 166

Chaeng-!

In a back alley of the night, swords clashed, ringing out with an ominous metallic sound.

The sawblade sword swung by Elize, and the three magic swords wielded by me.

A total of four blades sliced through the darkness, tangling together, and with each clash, dazzling sparks flew.

They were mostly the mana particles spat out as my magic swords were shattered.

'She's strong!'

Frantically thrusting my staff to launch my magic swords, I was drenched in cold sweat.

Though I had almost no experience in PVP, I had stood on the front lines with the heroes of "Protect the Empire" and killed many named monsters.

Just a few rounds were enough to tell.

This woman, Elize—she was incredibly strong!

"After going to the monster frontlines, you've become... quite impressive." 

Elize coolly muttered as she effortlessly swung her sawblade sword, grinding my magic swords to pieces.

"Now, I will get serious."

Rolling up my sleeves and adjusting my gloves, I grumbled.

"No, this is already tough enough. Can't you stop here?!"

Of course, Elize didn't even pretend to listen.

"Sword Coffin, release."

As Elize spat the command, the Sword Coffin standing in the corner of the alley emitted a glow, as if turning on.

Woo-woong!

"Third sword."

The sword, stored in the third slot of the Sword Coffin, rocketed up like a projectile, spinning in the air and landing above Elize's head.

Thud!

Without even turning to look, Elize reached up with her left hand and caught the hilt of the sword.

I was already intimidated by just this scene.

Elize, holding a sawblade sword in her right hand and a longsword in her left, bowed slightly.

"Well, let's start again."

She appeared to be making a gesture like a bow before dancing.

"Wait, wait! Elize!"

I reached out my hand, desperately shouting.

"If you really kill me, the whole Silver Winter Merchant Guild will be in jeopardy! Do you know that?!"

If Elize were to commit regicide, certainly her master Serenade and the Silver Winter Merchant Guild would all be punished. She had to know that, right?

However, Elize said something unexpected.

"It's Elize, not Elizabeth."

"What?"

"It's Elize, not Elizabeth. Do not call me Elizabeth."

Whether it's Elizabeth or Elize, isn't it just a difference between the full name and a nickname?

"When I was taken into the Silver Winter Merchant Guild, I abandoned the name Elizabeth, the name of a murderer. Instead, I decided to live with the name Elize, given to me by my lady."

Grrr.

Her hands gripping both swords tensed.

"And I will die as Elize. After killing you, I will end my life here."

"What are you saying?!"

"Dressed as if we were ambushed by a bandit. It will appear as though we were attacked and killed while riding in the carriage. I'll even set fire to our bodies and the carriage... I have a lot of experience with this sort of thing, so I'm good at tampering with evidence. You don't need to worry."

No, my worries are huge, but not about that!

"Whether or not things proceed from here, only if you are gone... my lady's life will change."

Elize's eyes, closing and opening, flashed a chilling determination.

"For Miss Serenade, please die with me."

Her eyes were those of someone prepared to die.

They were the eyes of someone resolved to join her opponent in death.

I gritted my teeth. This fool!

"You think the Imperial Family is that easy?! They'll uncover everything about tonight, and somehow hold your guild accountable!"

"..."

"What you're doing now isn't loyalty! It's stupidity! Stop for your master's sake, too, Elize!"

But no matter what I said, Elize showed no sign of stopping. It seemed that, now that things had come this far, she believed there was no turning back.

'Damn it!'

I gripped my staff.

For my own survival, and also for Serenade, the Silver Winter Merchant Guild, and even for Elize.

I must not die here. Somehow, I must survive and calm the situation down, preventing unnecessary damage from spreading.

Taaat-!

The problem was, Elize was too strong.

Chang! Chae-chae-chang!

Her sawblade sword and longsword, held in both hands, danced with smooth grace, their brilliance following her every move.

Every time the sword light twisted in her hands, my magic swords were smashed to pieces.

The fortunate part was that I fully understood Elize's skill set.

"Of course! Among the front-line dealers, she was my top-picked character!"

When playing 'Protect the Empire', I, obsessed with performance, naturally favored Elizabeth, a super-capable character.

Her battle style was inherently flamboyant, something the viewers loved as well.

Thanks to that, I had a complete grasp of Elize's skills and was somehow able to counter her relentless twin sword attacks.

But a limit was reached. Not going down easily, Elize pulled her next move.

"Sword Coffin, eject. Sword number 8. Sword number 11."

Thwack! Thwack-!

From the Sword Coffin, a short sword and a long sword sprang up one after another.

Simultaneously, Elize hurled a sawtooth sword and a long blade at me.

"Uwaaaaah!"

I barely ducked, almost tumbling, and the sawtooth sword and the long blade deeply embedded themselves into the wall of the abandoned building behind me.

Immediately after, Elize soared through the sky, gracefully catching the falling short sword and long sword, then rushing at me.

Whoosh!

Elize brandished the short sword and the long sword with terrifying momentum, and when I barely dodged them, she thrust both swords into the abandoned building's wall. She then pulled out the previously embedded sawtooth sword and long blade, swinging them once more.

Clang! Cling! Clang-clang-clang-!

A relentless assault without a moment to breathe.

She swung the four blades, stuck them in the wall, retrieved them, and swung again - a veritable storm of swords.

'Really...'

The speed at which my magic sword was being destroyed was faster than its regeneration. Feeling my MP dwindling, I thought,

'Really want to recruit her to my Crossroad, damn it!'

How great it would be if such a strong character joined our party! Not only dungeon raids but also defenses would become much easier!

But regardless of my observations as a battle operator, Elize was trying to kill me right now.

'How can I effectively suppress her? If I use [Gaze of Command]?'

But Elize is one of the swordsmen with unusually high Magic Power stats.

There's a significant chance my Level 1 skill, [Gaze of Command], won't work on her.

'Then what should I...?!'

As I racked my brain for a solution,

"Sword Coffin, eject. Sword number 1."

Elize's emotionless voice resonated softly.

Thwack-!

The ejected flying sword from the Sword Coffin was - a dark blue dagger, matching Elize's eyes and hair.

And Elize caught the flying dagger,

Crack!

With her teeth.

She precisely caught the dagger flying from behind in her mouth, a movement so agile you'd believe it if someone said she was a hunting dog, not a human.

Elize then thrust the dagger held in her mouth at me.

My magic swords were all shattered, fending off Elize's other four swords. There was no magic sword left to block the dagger.

A triumphant glint passed through Elize's eyes.

At that moment,

Swoosh-!

I suddenly thrust my right fist forward. My fist was adorned with a glove I had taken out of my inventory and worn earlier.

[Lucky Strike].

My ultimate fortune-based weapon!

"...?!"

Seemingly not expecting me to suddenly engage in close combat, Elize was momentarily bewildered.

Her sharp blue eyes quickly scanned my fist.

She, the sword-wielding mortician who plunders weapons from the foes she slays after conducting their funerals, possesses the ability to identify item grades, [Appraisal Eye]. She must have recognized that the glove on my hand was an SSR-grade weapon.

That's why, undoubtedly,

"Grrr!"

She dodged my attack.

Since she didn't know the true nature of this weapon or what special ability it might hide.

To kill me for sure, she had no choice but to back off here.

Twist!

Elize twisted her charging body in reverse, leaning her upper body back. My fist narrowly brushed past her torso.

I grinned.

'I knew you'd dodge, Elize!'

From the start, my fist wasn't aiming for Elize.

Defeating a strong opponent like her with a luck-based weapon like [Lucky Strike] was something I didn't even hope for.

What I aimed for was the abandoned building's wall beside her, fragile and cracked from all the swords she'd stuck into it!

Thump.

My horizontally swung fist touched the wall, and,

Ding!

Immediately after, a slot window began to spin in a corner of my view. It was the damage determination slot for [Lucky Strike].

The rapidly spinning slot window gradually stopped, creating a three-digit number.

0. 1. 6.

16 damage. A figure akin to a mere scratch.

But even if it was a weak number to a monster, it was more than enough to crumble a wall already cracked and worn!

Crash and Bang!

Following the crack, the wall of the ruined building began to collapse.

Under the raining debris of the building, Elize quickly attempted to evade. But at that moment,

"Elize!"

I activated my first skill [Gaze of Command].

[You are using Gaze of Command.]

[Target acquired: 1 unit.]

"Stay still right there... just for one second!"

[Command difficulty: Very Easy]

[Comparing the user's Intelligence stat with the target's Magic Power stat.]

[Determining the success rate. Starting the resistance roll...]

Elize was a character with a high Magic Power stat compared to her class.

Therefore, I gave her an extremely easy command with very low difficulty to make sure she couldn't resist my skill.

And thanks to that,

[Judgment complete!]

>Success: 1 unit

[Executing forced command.]

Skill judgment was a success.

"...?!"

Frozen.

Elize looked down at her body, completely stiffened in place, unable to comprehend what had happened,

Rumble- Bang!

The next moment, she couldn't avoid the fallen debris of the ruined building and was buried underneath.

***

Thud, thud, thud...

Buried under the debris of the ruined building, Elize was completely immobilized.

Her maid uniform was soaked in blood. Being swept away by the building's debris without even having a chance to evade or defend herself must have been quite painful.

"Phew..."

Confirming her knockdown, I sighed in relief. That was truly dangerous.

I carefully approached Elize. She was breathing heavily, looking up at me.

"You got me... completely. I never expected you to have... such a trick up your sleeve."

"You would have won with pure combat skills, Elize."

The fact that I used [Lucky Strike] and somewhat depended on luck was true.

If there had been a 000 fumble, I would have just died.

"Pulling out a hidden trick at the optimal moment, going all-in when needed... that's also skill. Cough! I've been thoroughly beaten..."

Elize closed her eyes.

"Kill me."

"..."

"But Your Highness, please show mercy to my master..."

Elize pleaded in a trembling voice.

"I acted on my own in this matter. Please... show compassion to Miss Serenade..."

"You thought you could be forgiven with those words?"

I spat out coldly.

"Elize. Your emotionally driven actions could have cost not only Silver Winter Merchant Guild but also your master's life."

"..."

"You might have been confident in your skills, but you should have thought about the consequences of failure."

A bitter smile appeared on Elize's lips.

"The former head of the guild was right..."

"Hmm?"

"I'm impulsive and hot-headed. He said I'd mess up someday... that once you've washed your hands of the underworld, you should live quietly. He always warned me..."

Elize raised her downcast eyes to look at the night sky.

"I couldn't bear to see Miss in distress and impulsively committed this act... Haha. I never thought my actions would make her even sadder."

"..."

"I'm sorry, Miss... truly..."

As I was silently watching the pathetic Elize and about to open my mouth,

Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!

Suddenly, a uniform marching sound began to echo around the back alley.

Lights flashed from all sides, and in no time, expressionless soldiers carrying lanterns high marched into the alley.

I narrowed my eyes at them. This is...

"Ash, my dear troublemaker of a sibling."

Then, a young man's soft voice rang out.

"I told you to stay quietly at the Star Palace, didn't I? Where are you going at this hour? You don't know how much trouble it was to find you."

Pushing through the soldiers, a man appeared.

His tempting black hair tied behind his head exuded a faint red aura, and within his frameless glasses sparkled intelligent red eyes.

Though the face was unfamiliar, the voice was recognizable. Perhaps it was because we'd already fought with words once before.

I gritted my teeth and spat out the opponent's name.

"Fernandez...!"

He was the empire's second prince, the administrative deputy, and the overall commander of the Aegis Special Forces Team 8.

Fernandez 'Ember Keeper' Everblack clicked his tongue.

"You should add 'brother' at the end. You're the youngest, after all."