Chapter 43 : Chapter 43

Chapter 43: A Twisted Fate (1)

Thump.

The two of them stood up almost simultaneously.

Everyone on the first floor of the inn had disappeared.

“Since when?”

Both Artier and Gerard were mercenaries with outstanding abilities.

There was no way they wouldn't have noticed ordinary people secretly leaving.

“It seems something has happened.”

Gerard immediately tried to use communication.

Fizzle!

[Communication is impossible.]

[A communication-blocking spell is active in the area.]

But only a spark echoed in his ear.

“An enemy attack!”

Gerard frowned and hurriedly grabbed the doorknob of the private room.

But the door wouldn't budge, as if it were glued shut.

“What?!”

“Move aside, Gerard!”

Crash!

Artier drew his sword and immediately swung it fiercely at the door.

Dust scattered everywhere as the door was split in two.

“Ropin!”

Artier and Gerard joined Ropin, who was standing in the room holding his staff.

“Oh, you’ve come just when I needed you.”

Near Ropin, people in black robes surrounded him, holding daggers coated with poison.

‘So many assassins?’

Thieves and assassins were the natural enemies of mages, known as masters of exploiting openings.

“Assassins, this is dangerous.”

The quick-witted Gerard immediately tried to cast a Shield on Ropin and himself.

But the enemies reacted faster.

Swish!

“Kut!”

Gerard barely dodged the fiercely flying dagger, but the blade ended up grazing his cheek.

The Shield that was being created was immediately dispelled.

“Be careful. These guys are marksmen who are seasoned at dealing with mages.”

Ropin’s expression was relaxed, but Artier could spot the cold sweat trickling down his forehead.

“Even if you use magic, it won't be even half as effective as usual.”

“That would be the case if I were alone.”

Artier stepped forward with his sword drawn.

“I’ll buy time, so I ask for your support.”

If the natural enemy of a mage was an assassin, then the natural enemy of an assassin was a warrior.

All I had to do was block them before they could interrupt the casting.

“Fuuu……”

The moment Artier took a breath, three or four sparks ignited around him.

[Perfect Counter has been activated!]

Clang-Clang-Clang!

Even though the skill was activated, the enemies’ daggers felt fast.

It was because their agility stat was higher than Artier’s.

‘If I take a hit carelessly and get poisoned, it’ll be a pain.’

Artier flicked off the greenish liquid on his sword blade.

‘This is why assassins are so annoying!’

Unlike Artier, who invested evenly in strength and agility, the enemies, who invested most of their stats in agility, were faster.

However, just as they were incredibly fast, their health was weak.

In a battle of attrition, Artier had a high chance of winning.

[Flame Cleave has been activated!]

Fwoom!

Artier pushed back the approaching assassins by spewing flames from his sword.

As soon as the assassins retreated, a semicircular mark scorched by high heat appeared on the floor.

“Thank you, I’m ready.”

Ropin’s voice was heard.

Artier immediately lowered his sword and took a step back.

“Beneath the dazzling sun, a shadowless brilliance, Sun Rise!”

[Ropin uses a skill.]

Sun Rise (Lv.3): Creates an intense light that erases all shadows, increasing allies' stats and decreasing enemies' stats.

Fwaaah!

As Ropin struck the floor with his staff, an intense light burst forth from thin air.

The light was dazzling yet gentle, so it didn't hurt my eyes at all even when I looked at it directly.

“Were there some over there too?”

Gerard looked at the assassins hastily getting up from within the scattering shadows.

With them joining in, more than ten assassins now surrounded them without a single gap.

“I don’t know why you suddenly appeared here, but……”

Assassins never retreat until they are defeated in battle.

Artier lightly spun his sword and took his stance.

“You won’t be able to lay a single finger on him.”

At the same time, the assassins began to charge from all directions.

“Gerard!”

“Got it.”

At Artier’s shout, Gerard opened his Grimoire and raised his hand.

“Magic Trap.”

[Gerard uses a skill.]

Magic Trap (Lv.1): Sets a magical trap that causes various negative effects when stepped on. Targets with a lower intelligence stat than the caster cannot detect the trap through searching.

This was a skill Gerard had learned upon reaching level 10.

Fwoosh.

Wherever Gerard's fingertips touched, a translucent circle appeared.

Of course, that circle was invisible to the assassins.

Boom!

“Keoheuk!”

An assassin who unknowingly stepped on a circle was startled as his vision suddenly turned to pitch-black darkness and faltered.

A darkness trap that obscured vision had been triggered.

Slash!

“Kuaaak!”

Artier did not miss the huge opening.

The sharp longsword bisected the assassin at the waist.

“Kill him.”

All the surrounding assassins charged towards Artier, who had leaped forward.

Their poison-laden weapons would turn into a fatal wound the moment even one was missed.

Artier took a deep breath and began to parry the flying blades one by one.

Clang!

“Keuk!”

But there were too many.

For every one I parried, three more came flying simultaneously.

There was not a single wasted movement in the attacks of the assassins, who were presumed to have coordinated for a long time.

Soon, wounds began to appear one by one all over Artier's body.

[You have been poisoned with Low-Grade Bleeding Poison.]

[The staunching of your wounds is being hindered.]

Red information windows popped up continuously around Artier.

‘This is dangerous.’

Artier quickly surveyed his surroundings.

He could see some assassins charging towards Gerard and Ropin, who were now without a protector.

Gerard deployed a Shield, but it was no match.

Crash!

“Damn it, again……”

Just like the Hellmorph assassins, these assassins were seasoned veterans at breaking through mages' shields.

Even more so, these were marksmen who specialized solely in dealing with mages.

Effortlessly dodging the incoming Mana Bullets, they aimed for Gerard’s neck without hesitation.

Clang!

“!”

Gerard hastily drew his sword and barely blocked the dagger.

Firmly gripping his trembling hand with his left, Gerard immediately took a stance and swung his sword in a wide horizontal arc.

“Get lost!”

Pik!

But contrary to Gerard’s wish, a sharp gust of wind did not emerge from his sword.

Clang!

“Keuk!”

“A mage’s sword is nothing.”

Instead, Gerard was sent stumbling and falling by the assassin’s fierce dagger, losing his grip on his sword.

‘He’s in danger!’

As soon as Artier confirmed an assassin was approaching Gerard, he shook off all the assassins with a spinning slash combined with Flame Cleave and dashed forward.

[Perfect Counter has failed!]

Thud!

“Ugh?”

A terrible pain flowed down his back.

‘I definitely parried it!’

When I hastily turned my head, the dagger of an assassin that I had just clearly deflected was curving back like a boomerang and slashing across his back.

[You have been poisoned with Mid-Grade Paralysis Poison.]

[You will be paralyzed for 10 seconds.]

“Swordsmen never look back at a deflected sword.”

The assassin who had slashed him opened her mouth.

Surprisingly, it was a low, haughty female voice.

“Without even knowing what a big mistake that is.”

[Lv.14 ??? (Assassin)]

Thud!

Artier’s body, stiffened like a log, collapsed helplessly to the floor.

The female assassin removed her hood.

A deep ponytail of a rare, light pink color in this world came into view.

“Nothing personal, you know?”

She said so as she tossed her dagger into the air and caught it.

‘No!’

I tried circulating mana throughout my body, and I struggled with all my might.

But I could no longer feel any sensation in my arms and legs.

Master!

Just then, Collie’s voice was heard.

What’s wrong!

Suddenly, Mr. Artier’s body condition is strange!

‘Collie……?’

It seemed that Collie, being classified as a summon, had recognized Artier's paralyzed state.

But there was supposed to be a communication-blocking spell in the area, so how did he contact him?

‘It's an enemy attack…….’

I wanted to answer, but my mouth wouldn't move.

Only the sound of wind escaped from my forced-open mouth.

If there’s a problem, you should summon me, sir!

As if reading his thoughts, Collie shouted urgently.

‘Summon?’

You have to think of me in your head!

Intensely!

Artier couldn't understand Collie's words.

Thinking was just thinking; what on earth did he mean by ‘intensely’?

Should I picture his boy form or his dog form?

‘There’s no time to hesitate.’

The assassin caught the dagger she had tossed.

And this time, she took a proper stance.

Just as she was about to throw the dagger at Artier’s forehead.

‘Collie……!’

Artier squeezed his eyes shut and desperately pictured him.

A single Border Collie, smiling sadly under the moonlight.

Crash!

“Keuk?!”

Then, along with the woman’s bewildered voice, a loud sound of something breaking echoed from inside the inn.

Contrary to my expectation, I felt no pain in my head, so Artier quietly opened his eyes.

‘……An ice wall?’

“Master!”

In front of him stood Collie.

The boy, who had surrounded the area with a seamless ice wall, hurriedly placed his hand on Artier’s shoulder and used a healing spell.

[Regeneration (Lv.1) is being applied.]

In that time, 10 seconds had passed.

Artier, who got up from his spot, looked at Collie with a bewildered expression.

“How?”

“I don’t think there’s time to explain.”

Crack!

The ice was already breaking.

Through the translucent ice, the figures of assassins swinging their daggers could be vaguely seen.

“We have to save those two.”

“What?”

At those words, Artier raised his head.

Far away, Ropin was holding his staff high, deploying a protective barrier, while Gerard was panting for breath.

[Ropin uses a skill.]

Divine Magic: Divine Barrier (Lv.Max): Deploys a protective barrier that moves to a divine dimension, defending against all damage. When in use, the caster cannot perform any actions and continuously consumes mana. This skill cannot be canceled until all mana is consumed.

Woooong…….

The color of the barrier was a brilliant gold.

It meant he was using divine power, not mana.

‘Divine Barrier?’

Artier frowned as he checked the information window.

The fact that Ropin had used that skill meant that this was truly the worst-case scenario.

Fortunately, that skill was the only one among divine magic that didn't use lifespan as a penalty.

But its other penalty was the worst.

Being in another dimension, they couldn't interfere with the opponent, and the moment the skill ended, the caster, having consumed all their mana, would be forcibly removed from combat.

“Collie, how much mana does Mr. Ropin have left?”

“About half.”

“How much longer can he hold on?”

“30 seconds, maybe 25.”

“Got it. Release the wall.”

30 seconds was enough to swing a sword about twenty times, being generous.

There were still about seven assassins left.

‘I’ll finish this before the barrier breaks.’

The moment the ice wall shattered, Artier rushed forward.

“Where do you think you’re going.”

As soon as he took two steps, the same female assassin from before charged at him.

“I don’t know what you did, but the fact that you’re going to die doesn’t change.”

The woman didn't think that Artier was a summoner.

It wasn’t a common enough class for that.

Instead, she thrust her dagger at him in the same way as before.

Clang!

Artier deflected the dagger.

But faster than the speed at which it was deflected, the dagger changed its trajectory and rushed at Artier again.

‘He’s hooked.’

The woman smiled under her concealing mask.

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