Assassinating the Assassin

The assassin didn't let out so much as a groan even though one of his wrists had been half-shattered. He was clearly biting back the pain to keep his identity hidden, but it was obvious at a glance that this wasn't his first time doing this kind of dirty work.

He immediately drew a dagger from inside his coat and swung it to shake me off, creating distance between us. On the surface he remained completely silent, keeping his composure, but he couldn't hide the tremor in his eyes. He was clearly rattled that the sleeping powder he'd scattered had no effect on me whatsoever.

"I figured an assassin would slip in with some flawless stealth technique, take the target down without a sound, and slit their throat with incredible skill. But you're just drugging people and cutting the throats of sleeping victims? That's not cool at all, man."

"......"

"This is the imperial palace, even if it is just an annex. You can't possibly be unaware of the fallout that would come from killing someone inside these walls. Which means you have a powerful backer who can cover it all up, right?"

"......"

"You scattered sleeping powder, so the fact that an intruder was here would be blatantly obvious, yet you don't seem to care. That makes it a clear warning. And the person you're trying to warn by killing me has to be the princess. The one who hates her the most right now is the crown prince, isn't it? Am I wrong? You little lackey of that sewer rat boss?"

The assassin still didn't utter a single word. He simply reversed his grip on the dagger and charged at me. I grabbed the sword I always kept beside my bed and raised my aura.

"!"

The moment the white aura flared to life, the assassin charging at me flinched hard and froze mid-rush. If he'd been even a second slower, his head would have gone flying.

Chwaak—!

Deciding a straight fight would be difficult, the assassin created more distance ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and began drawing out his mana... but something felt off.

What the hell is this guy? His mana is completely different from everyone else's.

To my eyes, which could see mana directly, the assassin's energy stood out from anything I'd ever seen before. Whether it was ambient mana or mana drawn from within the body, it was usually colorless. At most it might have a faint blue-white tint. But this guy's mana... was pitch black.

It was something I'd never encountered even in the game, and it was clearly not normal. I dropped my casual attitude and decided to take this fight seriously.

The assassin wrapped the black mana around his dagger like an aura. The energy writhed like the snake hair of Medusa, giving off an incredibly ominous feeling just by looking at it. The appearance was far more threatening than the hazy auras produced by those half-baked challengers from a few days ago.

But in the end, it was still just mana.

No need to get distracted by how it looks. It's still a collection of focal points connected by circuits. If that's the case... I can do this too!

The structure of the writhing black mana was only slightly more complex than Amari's aura. That level was something I could copy in the blink of an eye.

I instantly replicated the exact composition of the assassin's black mana onto my own sword. At the same moment, he charged again. Right before his dagger could reach me, the replication finished, and I produced mana that writhed in exactly the same way. The only difference was that while his was black, mine was the normal near-colorless white.

Kang!

"!!!"

The instant our weapons clashed, the mana wrapped around both blades shot forward like living snakes aiming for each other's throats. The two streams collided in the middle. The assassin's eyes widened, and for the first time, he spoke.

"How did you...?! You were sent from that side, weren't you?!"

"Oh? 'That side,' you say? Are you talking about the crown prince? Or the place you're actually working for?"

I had known from the start that this assassin wasn't truly loyal to Bryden. Under that incompetent crown prince, all kinds of vermin had gathered—common street thugs, full-blown organized crime syndicates, gambling cartels, drug dealers, mercenaries, and even...

Black mages.

There were even those who studied the black magic that was strictly forbidden in this world and worshiped the race that served as its source. Of course, black mages had only existed in the game's setting and never actually appeared. Even when I ignored the romance elements and played it like a full RPG, the crown prince's underlings I encountered only went as far as street thugs, gangsters, and the various cartels. It was only ever mentioned in passing that black mages pretending to serve him existed somewhere, but they never showed up in the game itself.

But seeing this unfamiliar black mana, the assassin's true origin was obvious. He realized his slip of the tongue had given him away and quickly shut his mouth, but the investigation now had only one direction to point.

"Tsk...!"

Knowing that denial at this point was pointless, the assassin renewed his attack with clear intent to kill me and shut me up for good. He seemed to have some real skill, but...

"Don't you dare look down on someone who's spent years sparring to the death with that crazy old man!"

I kept the structure of the Lightning Shield intact but miniaturized its scale, layering it over the writhing snake-like mana. Then I added Amari's aura on top of that. The mysterious technique, magic, and aura formed a triple layer. Maintaining it consumed a decent amount of my mana, but for me this level of expenditure was so trivial it nearly made me yawn.

The lightning orb of the Lightning Shield had merged with the snake-like mana to form a lightning snake, now wrapped in aura. An aura-clad lightning snake blade! I doubted anything quite so bizarre existed anywhere else in the world, but the triple resonance was making my room shake violently. The power was clearly the real deal.

"W-what the hell is this...!"

The assassin, apparently seeing something like this for the first time in his life, completely forgot about hiding his identity and let out what was practically a scream.

The powerful mana pouring from my body to maintain the technique blew all the lingering sleeping powder out of the room. One by one, the windows shattered.

"Are you prepared?!"

"Ugh...!"

The snake-like mana collided once more, but the result this time was completely different. The moment our weapons met, the assassin's mana shattered and scattered while my technique stayed perfectly intact and struck him directly.

Crackle—!

"Kyaaaaaaaack! Keuk...!"

The assassin started foaming at the mouth. But suddenly, black light began emanating from various points across his body, and vitality flooded back into him. The lightning snake had burned away his shirt and mask, revealing his bare upper body covered in a massive black tattoo. As the tattoo glowed, the assassin's posture straightened as if his body was being forcibly pulled upright.

Both eyes bloodshot, blood dripping from his mouth, he panted heavily.

"Huk... huk... What... this doesn't make any... Tsk...!"

He should have been one hundred percent dead by all accounts, yet somehow the man was still alive. He leaped through the broken window and began to flee.

"An assassin who can't even finish off his target and just runs away? You really think I'll let you escape?"

It was the middle of the night. Between the garden grass, trees, and various walls, I couldn't track him visually, but the trail of black mana he'd scattered remained perfectly visible. There was no need to search.

Toward the First Annex, huh.

It was where Bryden stayed. He obviously wasn't running there for help—it was probably just coincidence—but the location was perfect to wrap this up.

I jumped down after the assassin, concentrating every bit of mana in my body into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my legs before exploding forward at breakneck speed. I'd felt this wasn't enough countless times while chasing or being chased by monsters on Mt. Ksir, but chasing a human was child's play.

When I instantly overtook him and blocked his path, the assassin's bloodshot eyes shook with extreme panic.

"H-how...!"

"I can see everything. Your black mana, the structure of that snake-like energy, and exactly where you've been hiding!"

"This... this is impossible...!"

Realizing escape was no longer an option, the assassin drew his dagger again to fight. But I had no reason to keep playing along.

I gripped my sword, layered the snake-like mana, miniaturized Lightning Shield, and Amari's aura once more, then poured every ounce of mana in my arm into an upward slash.

Clang—!

The sword scraped across the ground as it swung upward. The assassin's dagger shattered in a single blow, and he was sent flying along with the sliced earth all the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠way to the fifth floor where Bryden's room was located.

Crash!!!

The crown prince's window shattered with a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠deafening roar. At the same time, the interior of the First Annex erupted into chaos. I could hear Bryden, jolted awake, screaming in panic.

"W-w-what is going on! The window...! I-it's an intruder! Is anyone out there?!"

You shouldn't be able to sleep peacefully with your legs stretched out after sending an assassin to kill me.

I sheathed my sword, focused mana into my legs, and ran straight up the outer wall of the annex. By the time I entered through the broken window, the entire First Annex was on high alert over the destroyed outer wall of the crown prince's bedroom. The butler and maids were running around in complete panic.

Bryden, of course, was in full panic mode himself.

"What the hell... What exactly is going on here?!"

"Y-Your Highness! Are you all right?!"

"Please take cover! There may be more intruders!"

I stepped forward and declared confidently, "Please be at ease. There was only one intruder."

I glanced once at the assassin's body, now split nearly in half, before turning my gaze to Bryden.

"You...! You're Serena's...!"

Bryden's eyes shook violently as he recognized me. Of course he'd be terrified. After all, he was the one who sent that assassin after me, only for the same assassin to come flying into his room in two pieces.

Without showing any of that on my face, I put on a worried expression and knelt on one knee before him.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, are you unharmed? I noticed an assassin sneaking into the imperial palace and lurking around this building where Your Highness sleeps, so I rushed down and eliminated him immediately. The resulting clash caused this disturbance. Please forgive me!"

Since he'd been the one to send the assassin, he would at least recognize the face. Bryden asked back in a trembling voice.

"You... took care of him?"

"Yes. I happened to spot him right in front of this building. It's fortunate I was able to stop him before anything worse happened. On top of that, I gained unexpected information about someone backing him. We should soon be able to reveal the identity of the traitor who orchestrated this heinous act. I will definitely find them and cut off the head of whoever commissioned this, so please rest easy. While I may not be Your Highness's personal guard, my desire to protect the imperial bloodline is the same!"

Fear filled Bryden's eyes. I was speaking as if I knew nothing, talking about duty and loyalty to the imperial family, but to him it must have sounded like I was holding a blade to his throat.

"G-good... work. However, I will have my guards investigate this matter separately, so there is no need for you to—"

"Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness! But I cannot claim to bear no responsibility for causing this commotion! To resolve what I have caused, I will definitely uncover the mastermind behind this assassin! And I will make him suffer the same fate and present him to the imperial family! No matter what it takes, I will find him and make him regret ever being born!"

"...... U-understood... You may leave."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

I bowed my head and walked confidently out through the corridor. It was truly a shame I couldn't stay longer to savor the look on Bryden's face.