Klaus sprang into action the moment the Iron Claw Bear's restraints fell away. The three petals of his shield, Tria Petal, were already radiant with light.
He closed the distance in a heartbeat, unsheathing his sword.
It was black—a jet-black blade that radiated an ominous, malevolent light. I knew that rugged weapon.
Wait, isn't that the Black Sword Venom Edge?
It was a weapon from the original game, notoriously known as a "Cursed Weapon."
While its attack power was formidable, it doubled the user's fatigue. While the attack boost was considerable, most players avoided it because the trade-off wasn't worth the abysmal "fuel efficiency."
In the original story, Klaus, being a righteous knight, was never supposed to obtain it in any event—so why did he have such a thing?
"Gugaoooooooooooooooooo!"
The bear let out a roar and swung down its massive front paw. Claws like steel tore through the air, lunging at Klaus.
I expected him to defend with Tria Petal, but instead, he swung the Venom Edge head-on, slamming it into the bear’s front paw.
The Iron Claw Bear's name wasn't for show; its fur was as hard as steel, to say nothing of its claws.
Gigin!
With a grating screech, the black blade split the bear’s front paw clean in half.
"Whoa, incredible!"
"That’s Knight Klaus for you! He’s crazy strong!"
The students raised their voices in excitement.
Based on the feeling I got from our previous mock battle, this level of attack power was abnormal. Even with the Venom Edge, it exceeded my expectations. If that was the case, was it those bulging muscles?
The original game had "secret medicine" items that boosted stats for a set amount of time. There were even drugs to mitigate the Venom Edge's fatigue. They sounded convenient, but they had severe drawbacks—like a chance of triggering "Confusion" or reducing stat gains during level-ups. Therefore, their use was generally avoided.
Could it be, Klaus? I didn't want to believe it, but I couldn't explain it any other way.
"Uoooooooooooooo!"
As the bear recoiled in agony, Klaus stepped in further.
A ruthless slash was driven into the bear's neck. There was a strange noise, like metal shattering, as the blade bit halfway through its throat.
"Go, ga, aaaaa…!"
A fountain of blood erupted from its neck, staining the ground red. The bear's massive body, its eyes rolling back, swayed unsteadily from side to side.
The match was decided.
However, Klaus did not stop.
"Hahahaha! Hahahaha!"
With a manic roar of laughter, Klaus rained down a flurry of heavy slashes. He mowed through its torso, severed its right hind leg, and continued to hack away at the fallen, massive corpse.
"Hey, isn't it over already?"
"That doesn't seem like Knight Klaus at all…"
"At this rate, he’s starting to act like Lord Albert…"
Who’s acting like me?! I'm ruthless, sure, but I don't have a hobby of mincing things for fun!
"…Phew, hah, phew, hah."
Eventually, Knight Klaus, whose fatigue had reached its limit, stopped his hands, his shoulders heaving. At his feet lay the corpse of the magic beast that was once an Iron Claw Bear, now looking like a tattered rag.
Professor Karia spoke up.
"Hmm, wasn't that a bit much, Klaus-kun?"
"You're right… I had some stress built up, so I just happened to…"
"Ah—"
Karia let out a sympathetic sigh, as if saying that couldn't be helped. The students also seemed convinced. And then, they all turned to look at me at once.
Hey! Don't blame it on me! I have nothing to do with this! I'm not involved! I'm not involved… right?
That wish of mine was easily shattered. Klaus turned a pair of sinister, clouded eyes toward me.
Consider this my greeting to you.
That was exactly what his gaze said.
Whoaaaaa! He hates me!
Well, I did beat him to a pulp, so I guess it’s fair. But if he's going to hate someone, I wish he'd hate the Tsundere King instead! I'm the victim here! If he just wanted to keep his distance, that would be fine, but this obsessive, clingy resentment was far more troublesome than someone approaching me with genuine goodwill.
Just as I was feeling a headache coming on—
"""Gugaoooooooooooooooooo!"""
Multiple roars suddenly erupted from the building ahead. Something massive was wriggling in the shadows of the large, rectangular entrance.
Thump-thump-thump.
Heavy footsteps approached from the darkness.
"…Eh!? Professor Selton, what happened!?"
Karia shouted a question to the professor in charge of managing the monsters, but there was no reply. The wriggling shadows drew closer.
Karia's judgment was fast.
"Close the iron gates!"
In response to Karia's voice, the iron gates began to descend, but then the movement jolted to a halt. It was as if they were being dammed up by something.
"No way!"
Karia’s scream-like cry coincided with the moment massive magic beasts began pouring out of the entrance one after another.
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇
Even before the mock battle began, Assassin Milia had already slipped inside the building where Professor Selton was located.
The summoner, Professor Selton, was just calling forth an Iron Claw Bear. It was born from a fist-sized black ball floating around him. The moment the ball cracked and vanished, the bear appeared.
When Professor Selton muttered a command, chains bound the bear's limbs.
"Move forward."
At his word, the bear headed toward the large entrance with heavy, rhythmic footsteps.
(Hmph, so that's how you do it! How interesting!)
Milia felt a surge of excitement watching the skill of bringing out monsters like a magic trick. She wanted to keep watching, but she possessed a professional sense of responsibility to prioritize her work over her childish curiosity.
She smoothly began to walk, killing her presence behind the crates. Selton's back drew closer. There was no sign of him noticing her. That was natural; even if Selton had looked directly at her, there would likely be a several-second lag before his brain processed her existence. That was how absolute her presence-erasing was.
(…I wonder why Lord Albert noticed me, then?)
In no time, she reached his back.
"Ei."
She extended her arm and drove a needle she had hidden into Selton's neck.
"U… a…?"
After his body gave a sudden jerk, Selton collapsed onto the floor. He wasn't dead; she had used a Numbing Needle. However, he probably wouldn't wake up for at least ten hours.
"Ehehe, Mister-sama, you're lucky! Since you didn't see my face!"
Milia didn't kill people for no reason. She had no aversion to murder, but she wasn't a hedonist either. She was simply carrying out her work, and she didn't do killings that didn't pay.
At the same time, the black balls that were floating around Selton fell to the ground. The moment they hit the floor, they shattered with a sharp crack, and large-scale monsters began to manifest.
A silver-furred, wolf-type Sword-Fanged Wolf.
An elephant-like monster with massive horns, an Iron Horn.
A bear-type monster with red fur, a Flame Bear.
A tiger-type monster clad in ice, an Ice Tiger.
The miscellaneous monsters began to form a massive, chaotic herd.
"Whoopsie!"
Milia hoisted Professor Selton onto her shoulder and retreated. She swiftly erased her presence, creating the illusion that the warehouse was empty.
"""Gugaoooooooooooooooooo!"""
The manifested monsters let out roars and charged toward the only exit where the light was shining through.
"Ahahaha! It's a monster parade! How delightful!"
Milia laughed while clutching her stomach. However, she pulled back her smile immediately and flicked her wrist toward the iron gates that had begun to descend.
Clang!
With a loud strike, a dagger pierced the wall at the top of the entrance. The bars of the iron gate were blocked by the blade, and an unpleasant screech of metal echoed through the air.
"You really can't read the room, can you? Stop interfering with the fun!"
She dropped Selton onto the floor. Giggling, Milia pulled two daggers from the sleeves of her dress.
"Well then, shall I finally kill you this time, Lord Albert?"
Having sowed the seeds of chaos, the assassin finally made her move.