My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's

A pure white giant about five meters in total length had a humanoid shape, but no head. It looked as if long, thin limbs had been attached to its torso.

What was more, on the hand that swayed close to the ground, there were five sharp, long claws, as if swords had grown from it.

Th(・)at(・) thing walked right past me in the snow, slowly parting the blizzard and trampling through the drifts, never once noticing me, even though I had activated 『presence concealment』. However, neither my 『danger sense』 nor my 『presence detection』 reacted to it either. Was that the effect of the extra skill 『mimicry』?

At first, I only thought it was the kind of demonic beast found on the lowest floor of the Cantinen Labyrinth. There was no hesitation about killing it.

But no matter how many times I looked at it, from whatever angle I saw it, its race seemed distorted, as if the word "Human race" had been written over with "demonic beast."

As if a human had turned into a demonic beast.

"No, no, no, no. That's a joke, right?"

I shook my head and denied the thing standing unmistakably before me.

Well, even if I denied it, there was nothing I could do about what I had seen with my own eyes.

"..."

The demonic beast with traces of the Human race in its status—Lark—was being drawn toward the faintly glowing Morganaite, who was holding up a demon spear that had absorbed the blizzard. In other words, it was heading toward Amelia.

I moved my feet through the snow and followed Lark.

"Master! A demonic beast is coming this way, but did something happen!?"

Night's somewhat panicked telepathic voice echoed in my head. Apparently the others could also vaguely see Lark's silhouette from there.

At that moment, I could feel the confusion in my mind clear away. It seemed I had been more shocked by that demon beast's status than I realized. I was also unaccustomed to the mountain snow, where my sight and hearing were barely functioning, but thanks to Night, that no longer bothered me.

"Night... No, hearing your voice calmed me down. Thanks."

"I see. Then I'm glad, but is it the kind of demonic beast that causes confusion?"

"No, not exactly... Right. Maybe Amelia and Morganaite should see it too. I'll capture it alive and bring it over there, so wait for me."

"Understood. I'll tell Miss Amelia."

I felt the telepathic connection cut off, and I let out a long breath.

"Alright then."

I drew only one of 『Night Blade God』 from its sheath and took a weighted chain in my other hand. The thing, with weights attached to both ends of a long chain, was something I had procured as a substitute for the chained dagger I had given Crow in the Demon King's Castle. I was glad I had asked Lattice Nail to run some errands and prepare a few new hidden weapons for this subjugation mission. Even if that guy said the grounds were spacious, being cooped up in that base must be rough on him.

"For the finishing touch, 『shadow magic』—activate."

I wrapped 『shadow magic』 around the chain and weights.

I didn't think a mere sturdy chain would be enough to restrain that thing, so this was reinforcement. From what I could see in its skills, it didn't seem to have anything like brute strength, but its raw power might still be high. And since it had 『strong claws』, it might tear through the chain if I left it as it was.

Once I was ready, I解除d 『presence concealment』.

"Hey! Over here, you big thing!!"

At my shout, the massive body that had been wandering toward the light stopped abruptly. It didn't have anything that looked like a head, but it seemed to have eyes and ears.

A moment later, there was a sharp sound of wind slicing through the air, and Lark's claws passed over my head. The claws flew so high they didn't even touch the tips of my hair. Rather than saying it had attacked me because it saw me, it would be more accurate to say it had reflexively swung at the direction of my voice.

"You can reach from there?"

I wiped away the cold sweat trickling down my face.

Even if that strike had been aimed at my head, I could have dodged it, but it was faster and had a wider reach than I expected.