*Hwiik.*
He swung his arm forward, sending a signal.
*Dageudak.*
The knights who had been holding back whipped their horses into formation. Some advanced straight ahead, while others scattered and began flanking the forest ahead.
Those advancing forward formed a wedge formation, the one most specialized for breaking through.
The lead knight among them pulled out a large shield and planted it in front. When the knights beside him did the same, a wall of shields was completed in an instant.
In that state, they charged toward the forest.
*Dudududu!*
Dust billowed, and the branches struck by the horses snapped weakly.
Right as they were about halfway through the forest.
*Peok!*
An arrow flew from somewhere and struck the shield. It was a powerful arrow, but it could not pierce the firmly locked wall of shields.
Combined with the running speed, it should have been quite a blow to the knights, but they merely gritted their teeth and held firm.
“Your Grace!”
Matthias shouted in a low voice.
The next moment,
“It's the center!”
The sinister voice of an assassin echoed from above.
*Peobeok, peok!*
Several arrows concentrated on the knights in the center. They were aiming for the person those knights were protecting with their wall of shields—namely, me.
However, that action only served to reveal their positions.
I was not inside that wall of shields. Along with the other knights, I was trying to flank the forest and catch them from behind.
The fact that all the knights, including myself, wore the same armor was intentional.
*Kkuuk.*
As I injected mana into the spear shaft in my hand, the mana-formed spearhead extended with a *ssyuk*.
I slowed my horse's speed to adjust the distance. I held my breath so my arm wouldn't shake, and pulled back the arm holding the spear.
‘There you are.’
An assassin crouching low in the trees, drawing a bow, caught my eye. After aiming at the bastard, I threw the spear, putting my strength behind the acceleration of the galloping horse.
*Swaek!*
The spear flew through the air with a vicious sound,
“Keugh!”
and accurately pierced the assassin's chest. And with that same momentum, impaled his body to the ground.
*Kung!*
The assassin's body, after falling from the tree, twitched *bareujak* a few times before its movements finally ceased.
I charged toward him, lowered my stance, and pulled the spear from the bastard's body, which had been smashed into the ground.
*Jureuk.*
Sticky blood ran down the spearhead, soaking the ground. After retrieving the mana infused in the spear, I swung it forcefully.
*Hwing!*
The blood on it scattered onto the ground in drops. I injected mana into the now clean spear shaft once more, forming a spearhead.
*Swae!*
As I dispatched the second assassin in the tree, the assassins noticed something was wrong.
“The target is here!”
“Damn it, he wasn't in the center!”
As the assassins hastily began shifting their positions in the trees,
*Pasasat-*
the sound of shaking branches and rustling leaves mixed noisily.
‘Unprofessional bastards.’
I smirked, aiming my spear at them. If they took the assassination contract for me, they should have also heard how I dealt with the previous assassins.
I threw my spear at an assassin who had just leaped out of a tree, attempting to move sideways.
*Swaek!*
The assassin's body froze in midair.
*Kung!*
The bastard's body twisted grotesquely as he fell and struck a branch.
“Aaaargh!”
Oops.
Because he was moving, he shifted away from my original target. I aimed for his chest to kill him in one blow, but ended up piercing his abdomen instead.
Thanks to that, the surviving assassin could be seen having spasms on the ground.
*Dudududu!*
I snapped the reins, turning the horse's head, and rode toward him.
“Ugh, keugh...”
The assassin painfully crawled across the ground, and
*Dudududu!*
looked up upon discovering me approaching him.
“D-Dane Sch...”
The bastard couldn't finish his final word.
*Peobebeok!*
Because I crushed his skull with the horse's hooves.
“Ah, Your Grace!”
Matthias let out a half-scream as he looked my way.
“I told you that you shouldn't kill them all!”
I pulled the reins sharply, turning the horse's head.
*Purung!*
The horse stamped roughly. Perhaps bothered by the flesh and brains stuck to its hooves, it repeatedly stomped its feet on the ground.
*Shii.*
I patted the horse to calm it down. Even though it was our first time working together today, it did quite well. It was a horse that gave me a good vibe.
“Ugh, it's completely turned to mush.”
Matthias, who had ridden his horse over, clicked his tongue.
“Are you feeling sympathetic?”
“Perish the thought. Wouldn't you say this counts as an easy death?”
A *kideuk-kideuk* chuckle leaked from between Matthias's teeth. Meanwhile, his eyes weren't smiling at all.
*Pat!*
He pulled the spear that had been stuck in the assassin's body. The series of movements was extremely natural, as if he had done it hundreds of times.
Matthias had also experienced such ambushes enough to be sick of them. It was an inevitable experience for anyone guarding my side.
‘As expected, there were still assassins left.’
In the original story, Dane was attacked while forcing himself back to the mine on the day Rose arrived.
I thought they might have left since I hadn't shown up yesterday.
It seemed they could endure waiting for a day or so. They weren't ordinary persistent.
*Hwiik.*
Matthias whistled as he saw the vividly glowing mana spearhead.
“As expected of Your Grace. Your mana capacity is tremendous.”
He handed the spear back to me handle-first.
“When I infuse my mana, it doesn't shine quite like this.”
The spear I had just received was a type of Magical Device.
There were two ways to operate a Magical Device. Either charge it by inserting a magic stone, or directly inject mana.
And I overwhelmingly preferred the latter. Because I was born with an absurd amount of mana.
“You talk too much, Matthias.”
Like before, I shook off the blood on the spear and adjusted my grip.
“Let's keep going.”
“Your Grace, wait. Aren't you going to investigate who's behind this?”
Matthias grumbled and adjusted his grip on his sword.
His sword was also stained with clear traces of blood. He had already slain an assassin before coming over to my side.
“It's fine as long as I kill them all.”
“No, even though you killed them all, they keep stubbornly sending more assassins, don't they?”
Until now, no guild had ever accepted my assassination contract and succeeded. Yet, the assassination attempts never ceased.
Whether it was the determination to pull off a contract that no one else had succeeded at, or because the client had put up an enormous down payment.
It was one or the other.
“It's a wonder where they supply such manpower. Even training them all costs money.”
Though he sounded like he was marveling, Matthias's tone was closer to cynicism.
“So, I'm thinking it might be time to change our strategy.”
“How?”
“We catch one, beat him down, and raid their stronghold. How about it?”
I stared at Matthias without saying a word for a moment.
“······.”
Seeing the corners of my mouth slowly rise, Matthias shuddered.
“Your Grace, don't tell me...”
“If you really want to—”
*Peok!*
“—be my guest.”
I felt a heavy resistance on the other side of the tree where I suddenly thrust my spear.
“Keugh...”
I had dealt with the assassin hiding behind the tree, aiming for us.
*Pat!*
I spun the spear and wrenched it out, charging ahead. There was no need to look back. There would be a massive hole in the assassin's chest.
“Agh, I'm gonna lose my mind.”
Matthias scratched his head roughly and followed behind.
“It's His Grace's command!”
His shout, belted at the top of his lungs, spread through the forest.
“He says to save them if you can!”
As soon as the words echoed and rang out,
“Keck!”
I killed yet another assassin. He thrashed and grabbed the spearhead, but—
*Pat!*
As I instantly retrieved my mana, the assassin's hand grasped at thin air.
*Peobeok!*
Following that, my horse trampled over the bastard's body as it passed by. The ownerless hand fell limply to the ground with a *ttak*.
“Your Grace, please!”
“Let's just kill one! Just one!”
The knights clamored. The knights steadily chased after me, trying to dispatch the assassins before I could.
“Kuhek!”
Unlike them, who showed mercy in their kills, I focused solely on ruthlessly slaughtering the assassins.
Above all, the difference in our inherent mana pools widened the gap between the knights and me. The mana that someone else had to squeeze out with all their might flowed from my fingertips like a waterfall.
“Kuaagh!”
I killed, slashed, and crushed. I moved as if I was born solely to slaughter our enemies. I did it this way because I couldn't endure it otherwise.
The excruciatingly persistent assassination attempts over the past three years had made me this way. An ordinary person would have gone mad.
“Don't panic!”
An assassin's voice reached me as I hacked my way through the forest.
“We outnumber the enemy! We just need to calmly engage them!”
Moving his position right after finishing his sentence, he seemed like a fairly skilled assassin.
‘That's the bastard from earlier.’
The one who had first identified my location and commanded the attack. If so, that guy was probably the core of today's raid.
*Dudududu!*
I deliberately rode my horse roughly, galloping toward the direction the voice came from.
Because the distance was closed, the assassins could no longer use their bows. Instead, they either hid to avoid the knights searching for them thoroughly, or
*Kkagak!*
they suddenly lunged from behind and attempted surprise attacks.
In the midst of that chaos, I blatantly made a commotion to draw attention. And the bastard bit the enticing bait I dangled.
*Kung!*
An assassin landed on the saddle from behind. His left hand grabbed my shoulder, and the dagger in his right hand aimed for my neck.
“Gotcha...!”
The moment a smile of triumph appeared on the assassin's face,
*Puk!*
a spearhead abruptly jutted out and pierced his abdomen.
“What the...”
The assassin stood frozen in place and looked down at his own body. He had a dumbfounded expression, completely unsure of where this had popped out from.
“This,”
I slightly shook the spear I was holding at him. Up until just a moment ago, it had been nothing but a spear shaft, but now it had become a longspear taller than a person.
“It can get longer, you see.”
Simultaneously with finishing my words, I explosively injected mana.
*Hwuung!*
The spearhead instantly extended and widened, tearing the assassin's body to shreds.
“Kuaagh!”
The assassin twisted his body and plummeted to the ground. Blood splattered in all directions from his shredded abdomen.