My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's

"I'll push through!"

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

I dodged the raised greatsword, deflected the falling blade and let the impact dissipate into the ground. But this time, before the blade could sink into the earth, it bounced back up.

As expected, he's quick to adapt. The same trick won't work twice.

I jumped back and bent my body to avoid the blade that aimed precisely for the vital neck. The sound of wind cutting passed right in front of my face.

"GUAH!!!"

He's in a berserk state. Though he swings the greatsword with a force that looks uncontrollable, the blade's trajectory is rational, efficient, and responsive to my movements. It's similar to, but not the same as, the Night Cerberus state I saw in the Brute Labyrinth. That night form would even harm itself, but Blythe's berserk state doesn't seem to do that. For someone with the berserker profession, he doesn't look particularly like a berserker. In the Cantinen Labyrinth there was a monster with the skill 'berserk' at level 4 that was completely consumed by it and kept destroying everything around it. Considering that, a level 7 'berserk' skill might allow adjustment of how much self is lost.

I want to cut his consciousness in one strike, but against that muscle-bound giant it would be difficult. If his berserk state progresses and goes into runaway mode, I might not be able to handle it. After all, his attack power when berserk exceeds Aurum.

"Akira!"

When I jumped back, he took a step to follow, and that long-armed greatsword with its extended range could reach me. But a blade swung with one arm extended to its limit is less powerful than one using both arms. That's what I was aiming for.

Seeing the blade stretch toward my face again, I stepped forward this time.

"Master!?"

The blade passed right beside my eye; I felt a sizzle as my temple warmed. My cool-headed part thought for a moment that it must have grazed me, but the next moment I had already forgotten even that. No problem so long as my vision wasn't affected.

I released my hold on "night blade god" from both hands and leapt into Blythe's close range. I wrapped my fist in shadow and, strengthened, swung it straight upward.

"Gah!?"

My fist landed cleanly on his jaw. Blythe staggered as if his brain had been shaken, and while his torso was unguarded I followed up with a kick enhanced by 'shadow magic'. His body—larger and heavier than mine—bounced like a light ball and rolled across the ground.

"Return, 'night blade god.'"

Closing in as Blythe pushed off the ground and hopped, I recalled "night blade god" to my hand, much like the 'shadow magic' that once controlled my body in the Brute Labyrinth. I then drove the ridge of "night blade god" into the barely conscious base of his neck.

"Aaa!!"

After that strangled scream, I confirmed Blythe's consciousness had completely dropped and finally relaxed my shoulders. Probably he wasn't fully berserk from the start because we were in town and Mahiro's barrier was in place. If he had attacked buildings, it might have reflected back like Ria's 'divine inverted barrier'. His movement was that constrained. It bothers me that my victory owed so much to the environment and wasn't a clean one. As someone who wields the peculiar weapon of a greatsword, I'd like to fight him again when we're both at our best.

"You're not going to kill him."

"...At least for now we came to talk with the demon king. Why create new grudges?"

If there's a grudge between me and the demon king, it's probably that I took the night from the demon king's right arm, and maybe it's for Commander saran's revenge. As for the night, since it was in a boss room that wouldn't open until someone died, it was effectively out of the demon king's hands. As for Commander saran's revenge, it's unclear right now, so I won't go make enemies on purpose.

"Hmm, but everyone here's pretty ruthless about that stuff. We're still an army, after all. They wouldn't care if the eighth-ranked guy died. Even if he's a summoned-from-another-world, they wouldn't want the Ten Demon Lords' Council to be defeated by the Human race and would probably remove him. Blythe cared about his comrades, but his comrades didn't."