The battle raging in the dance hall on the second floor of Boruntar’s residence was steadily turning in Rei’s favor.
Of the enemies who had been lying in wait, the only magic user—a middle-aged female mage—had lost her will to fight the moment she laid eyes on Rei. She was currently slumped on the floor, staring blankly at nothing.
Tenda, the man who led the Azoth Firm’s Thieves, had been sent flying and knocked unconscious by a single strike from Rei’s Death Scythe. Even the archer man, who had persistently targeted Mult, found himself outmatched; he was pinned to the floor by Set’s massive forepaw, unable to move a muscle.
This left only a few combatants capable of putting up a fight on the Azoth Firm's side: the three members of the C-Rank party known as the Snowfield Wolves, who were currently occupied with Phron and Brasso, and…
"..."
The man with the halberd. He approached Rei in silence, his weapon leveled and ready.
(This guy is definitely in a league of his own. I heard Galahat was the only B-Rank adventurer here, but between Tenda and this guy, there are more wild cards than I expected. Then again, neither Galahat nor Mult recognized him, so I suppose it couldn't be helped.)
Rei watched the man close the distance. He took a step forward, brandishing the Death Scythe.
As they stepped into each other's reach—
"!"
"Hah!"
The moment they were in range, Rei swung his scythe while the man lashed out with his halberd.
A thunderous crack echoed through the hall as the long-reaching weapons sliced through the air and collided. The screech of metal on metal rang out, followed by a flurry of sparks. They didn't stop at one or two blows; they clashed again and again in a blurring rapid-fire sequence.
The axe-head of the halberd and the massive blade of the Death Scythe met repeatedly, parrying and rebounding with every strike.
Rei felt the vibrations travel up his arms, a look of faint surprise crossing his face.
(I haven't even poured much magic power into it yet, and he has a weapon that can go toe-to-toe with the Death Scythe? It has to be a magic item.)
Rei wasn't the only one shocked. The man with the halberd shared his disbelief. He had survived countless battles and emerged victorious from every one of them, largely thanks to his halberd—the partner he trusted more than anything in the world. He had never imagined a weapon existed that could clash head-on with his own, a magic item forged by a legendary alchemist.
"..."
The man directed a look of silent admiration toward Rei and pulled back his halberd to reset his distance.
Normally, Rei would have pressed the advantage and pursued him, but he remained cautious of the man’s weapon. He let the man retreat, keeping a watchful eye on his movements.
(Phron and Brasso are holding their own for now, but the numbers will eventually take a toll. They’ve been working all day. They don’t have inhuman physical abilities like I do, so their stamina must be reaching its limit. Either Set needs to knock out that archer and back them up, or I have to finish this halberd user so I can go help.)
Rei’s mind raced through the tactical possibilities, but his gaze never left his opponent.
They stood in a tense stalemate, each searching for a sliver of an opening. Rei tightened his grip on the scythe’s handle, stepped forward half a pace, and even intentionally glanced away to bait an attack.
However, the man was clearly a veteran of interpersonal combat. He refused to take the bait, instead countering with his own series of feints to draw Rei out.
Several minutes passed in this psychological tug-of-war. Knowing that a prolonged stalemate would only hurt the exhausted Phron and Brasso, Rei decided to break the deadlock with a move his opponent wouldn't expect.
"Magic Shield."
He activated one of the skills the Death Scythe had learned. A shield of magic power materialized—a one-time defense capable of blocking any single attack.
"Hah!"
While the man was momentarily distracted by the sudden appearance of the shield of light, Rei lunged forward. He closed the gap in a heartbeat, swinging the scythe back as he prepared his next move.
"Wind Hand!"
A single colorless and transparent wind tentacle sprouted from the end of the scythe’s handle.
The man clearly realized Rei was up to something, but perceiving an invisible limb of wind was impossible. His eyes darted behind the visor of his helmet, searching for the threat, but he saw nothing. Dismissing it as a bluff, he readied his halberd to intercept Rei’s overhead swing.
"Hah!"
Rei brought the Death Scythe down with a sharp shout. The man stepped forward, intending to block the blow before the scythe could reach its full momentum.
"Right there!"
"!?"
Using the Wind Hand, Rei snared the man’s right ankle just as he tried to plant his foot. Simultaneously, he triggered his final skill.
"Power Slash!"
The finishing blow was unleashed. Power Slash increased the impact of a strike at the cost of the blade’s edge, making it the perfect tool for this moment. Galahat had asked him to spare the enemies if possible, so Rei swung the scythe so that the blunt back of the blade—the side without the edge—slammed into his target.
"!"
The level of Wind Hand was only 1, making its grip relatively weak. A higher-level version might have kept the man pinned indefinitely, but for now, it only served to trip him up for a split second. Realizing his foot was being held by some unseen force, the man wrenched his leg free with sheer strength and swung his halberd in a desperate bid for a mutual kill.
(I saw that coming.)
Rei smirked. He didn't even flinch as the halberd swept toward him.
Just as the halberd was about to take Rei’s head off, a metallic clink rang out. The shield of light floating around him intercepted the blow, shattering into mist once its purpose was served. In the same instant, the Death Scythe hammered into the man’s flank.
Between the hundred-kilogram weight of the scythe, Rei’s own inhuman strength, and the force of the Power Slash, the impact was devastating. A dull, heavy thud echoed through the room as the torso of the man's full plate mail buckled, sending him flying backward.
"Gugh...!"
For the first time since entering the hall, the man let out a sound—a strangled groan of agony.
"Alright, that’s one more down... wait, what?"
Rei had expected the man to be out cold. He had already started to turn toward Phron and Brasso when a sound behind him made him whip back around in disbelief. Tenda had been incapacitated by a normal blow to the side, yet this man was still conscious after taking a Power Slash to the ribs. Tenda had been wearing leather armor, which was nothing compared to full plate mail, but a Power Slash should have made the armor irrelevant unless it was a high-tier magic item.
"Are you even human? That toughness is insane. You're too tall to be a dwarf, and an elf would be even more fragile than a human. Are you some kind of demi-human I haven't heard of?"
The man stood up, his movements somewhat sluggish but steady. He remained as silent as ever, leveling his halberd once more.
(It would be a lot easier if I could just kill him, but my hands are tied. I’ll just have to break a few limbs... no, that impact earlier definitely shattered his ribs. If that didn't stop him, breaking his arms won't do much either. Wait. His movements...)
Less than a minute had passed since the man stood up, yet his motions were already becoming fluid again. It was as if the injury had never happened.
(As if he's already healed?)
A realization dawned on Rei, but the man didn't give him time to dwell on it. He charged forward, his halberd blurring through the air. There was no sign that his broken ribs were hindering him at all.
(I see! He has a magic item with a constant recovery effect, like the Dropstone of Benevolence Set wears!)
It was one of the rarest types of magic items in existence. It took Rei a moment to reach that conclusion, and the man seized that opening to unleash a barrage of attacks. He mowed with the axe-head, lunged with the spear tip, and struck with the heavy spike on the back of the head. Rei parried the onslaught with the blade and handle of his scythe, falling back into the rhythm of their previous exchange.
Galahat and his guard, Mult, watched the battle from near the entrance. They stood in stunned silence, watching a display of martial skill that no C-Rank or D-Rank adventurer could ever hope to match. It was a deadly sword dance—an exhibition of pure, terrifying power.
Both weapons were incredibly fast and precise. It was obvious that a single hit from either would mean instant death for an ordinary person.
(Is that... the same weapon I use? Our skill levels are worlds apart.)
Mult felt a crushing sense of inferiority. Naturally, he wanted Rei to win, but seeing someone use his own weapon with such mastery made him feel a strange, reluctant respect for the man in armor.
However, the "performance" was nearing its end. Galahat, being higher ranked and more experienced, was the first to see it.
"...He’s won."
"Huh?" Mult asked, blinking. Even from this distance, he could barely follow the exchange. To him, they still looked perfectly matched. He looked to Galahat, silently asking for an explanation.
"You don't see it?"
"No, sir. They look like they're at a total stalemate to me."
"They do, for now. But look closer. You'll see it soon enough."
Mult focused his eyes, carefully observing the dance of the scythe and the halberd. Slowly, he began to realize what Galahat was talking about.
"Wait... the guy in the armor is getting a little slower?"
"Close, but not quite," Galahat corrected. "It's not that he's slowing down. It's that Rei's speed is increasing. I didn't think he had another gear left in him after all that."
(Or perhaps the damage from that first hit is finally catching up to the man's healing...) Galahat thought to himself.
Just as he said, the tide was turning. Truly gradually, the Death Scythe began to outpace the halberd. Rei began to leave a series of small gashes and dents across the surface of the full plate mail.
Galahat and Mult expected the fight to be over in ten minutes, but the man surprised them again.
After a particularly heavy strike from the Death Scythe left a deep gouge across his breastplate, the man suddenly took several steps back.
"...What are you doing?" Rei asked, narrowing his eyes.
The strike had been heavy, but it shouldn't have been a match-ender. Yet, the man continued to back away, putting a significant distance between himself and Rei.
He wasn't just resetting; he was heading straight for the dance hall’s back entrance.
He abandoned the fight without a word. Rei watched him go, tilting his head in confusion, but he didn't give chase.
(He has a magic item with an automatic recovery effect. Trying to knock him out without killing him is going to be a nightmare. If he’s retreating on his own, I should let him. If he shows up again in the room where Boruntar is hiding, I’ll just finish it then. Still, that guy was way above B-Rank. Why would someone like that be working for a guy like Boruntar?)
Rei shook off the thought. Regardless of the man’s reasons, Rei was finally free. He gripped the Death Scythe and took a step toward the Snowfield Wolves, preparing to strike them from behind and end the struggle for Phron and Brasso.