Rei watched the blade of the long sword pass in front of him, making a whistling sound as it cut through the air, before making a sweep with the shaft of the Death Scythe.

Rhodes had made a big attack and, because he had been so focused on his attack, he had left his legs open.

Noticing the attack late, he tried to avoid it, but didn’t make it in time……resulting in him falling to the ground.

Before he knew it, the blade of the Death Scythe was pointed at his neck.

「That hurts-! ……Damn it.」

Rhodes seemed disappointed at his loss after taking a direct hit. He slammed his left hand, which wasn’t holding onto his sword, into the ground.

Seeing that, Rei spoke up as he moved the Death Scythe away from Rhodes.

「It’s fine to increase the power behind your attacks, but it’s also a bad habit to focus too much on your attacks and neglect your defense. Especially in a situation like the tournament where many skilled fighters are gathered, the first attack or two may not be enough to win, so your weakness will be easily noticed as you fight.」

「I know!」

Rhodes answered in frustration before standing up and pointing his sword at Rei.

This was the place where Rei had brought Luzi and the others to train before. With almost no pedestrians around, it was the perfect place to hold mock battles.

But, the mock battles they were currently doing weren’t really mock battles.

Rather than the blunted weapons usually used on mock battles, both Rei and Rhodes were fighting using their usual weapons.

……Well, Rei using his scythe in a mock battle was a bit on the reckless side.

It was effectively weightless in his hands after all.

Yet, absurdly, the person being struck by it would still feel the full weight of over 100kg.

It was one thing to say that it was a magic weapon created from the Magic Beast Art, but that wouldn’t make it any easier for Rei’s opponents .

In fact, Rei’s earlier attack that had knocked Rhodes legs out from under him, if he hadn’t been using the Death Scythe but an ordinary spear……or if it wasn’t Rei with his inhuman strength, Rhodes might have been able to deal with it somehow.

(Well, even if you complain about your opponent’s physical strength, skills, or weapons, it’s nothing but excuses.)

Muttering to himself, Rhodes stood up and took a deep breath to ease his frustration at his loss.

To be able to have mock battles with someone like Rei could only be called a blessing in disguise. Normally, opportunities to spar with someone as skilled as Rei were rare.

(My father is an exception though.)

Rhodes thought of his A rank father as he held his long sword.

「Come.」

Rei spoke briefly to Rhodes.

Rhodes didn’t say any unnecessary words as he swung his sword at Rei.

He unleashed a continuous series of thrusts, which had rapidly improved from his past few years of training.

Even Rei had to admit that this technique of Rhodes had been born from his talent and training.

The shaft, pommel, and blade of the Death Scythe were all wielded to repel the over 10 continuous thrusts in the spaces of a few seconds.

But, no matter how many thrusts he made, Rhodes couldn’t keep it up forever. As he began to lose breath, his speed slowed down and, as if to take advantage of that opening, Rei aimed for Rhodes’ legs, sweeping them with the shaft of the Death Scythe just like before.

At that moment, Rhodes jumped back, as if sensing the attack.

As expected, he didn’t plan to fall for the same attack twice.

But……that was all he was able to do.

Forcing himself to jump back while out of breath made him unable to take any further action.

Not missing the moment when Rhodes had to stop, Rei dashed forward to close the distance.

Because his jump back had been a spur of the moment decision, all Rhodes could do was watch as the distance between him and Rei closed and the giant blade of the Death Scythe was brought to his neck.

They stayed in that position for a few seconds. Moving the blade away from Rhodes’ neck, Rei spoke as he brought the Death Scythe to his shoulder.

「Your thrusting attacks can be considered first class. That’s probably why you’ve come to rely on that technique so much. But, you have to be careful because your movements have become a lot easier to read as a result.」

Ordinary attacks couldn’t deal effective damage to Rei, so Rhodes had ended up relying on his thrusts.

And, because he relied on his thrusts, the more he used it, the more his speed, power, and technique were honed.

It may seem like a good thing on the outside, but the fact that he only had one good technique meant that if you could see through it, Rhodes could be easily dealt with.

「Or, it might be possible to think about further derivations of your thrusts.」

「……Derivations?」

「Yeah. Look, remember the time when I stopped your sword with my bare hands? At that time, you had changed your thrust to a slash, right? Something like that.」

At Rei’s words, Rhodes understood he was talking about the time they had been training with Wind Dragon’s Fang in the courtyard of the Eternal Sky Pavilion. He nodded in understanding.

「Actually, back then, I was caught off guard as your attack changed to a slash.」

「……I didn’t think it would result in you catching my sword with your bare hands though.」

Hearing those words, spoken with a sigh, Rei was about to say that it couldn’t be helped……when he suddenly sensed the presence of several people around them.

(Is this……murderous intent?)

He gripped the Death Scythe in his hands tightly as he thought to himself.

That was his only movement, but it wasn’t hard for Rhodes, who had worked with Rei for a long time now, to sense that something was wrong.

He didn’t know what it was, but there was definitely something.

Judging so, he also gripped the long sword in his hand.

At that moment, a metallic sound echoed out.

The sound came from Rei’s side.

When Rhodes turned to take a look, he saw a 20cm long needle embedded into the ground.

「……It seems you’re quite skilled.」

Before Rei’s eyes was a person whose face was hidden behind a mask.

Between his fingers were many needles.

「Needles, huh?」

He muttered but didn’t seem surprised.

Needles were rare weapons, but Rei had met Byune in Exil, who had mastered such weapons.

Because of that, he also knew how troublesome these weapons could be.

The shape of needles were their most troublesome aspect. Most adventurers wouldn’t have been able to do what Rei just did, knocking them aside with his weapon.

They were thinner and sharper than arrows. However, their power was also comparatively lower, so it had to strike a vital point, or……

「Rhodes, careful with the needles, they are coated with poison.」

「What-!?」

Hearing Rei’s words, Rhodes turned to look at the ground and gasped as he saw the discolouration around where the needle had struck.

You could tell how potent the poison was from the way the weeds around the needle withered in the blink of an eye.

「Also, I can feel the presence of a few other people besides him. They’re probably planning to make a surprise attack, so be cautious.」

「……Got it.」

Seeing the poison and realising this was no joke, Rhodes put more strength into his grip on his long sword.

However……contrary to his determination, the tip of his long sword was trembling, as much of his strength had been used up in his earlier mock battles with Rei.

(Well, I guess it can’t be helped in this current situation. Anyway, these guys……are they sent from someone who wants to make it further in the fighting tournament, or are they here for me as Crimson? Which one is it?)

The further you went in the fighting tournament, the more honour and rewards you would received.

And, it had been decided that the S rank adventurer, Noiz, would be participating in this year’s tournament, so there were quite a number of people aiming to win.

As long as they continued to win, their rewards would be immense.

Even if they couldn’t win the tournament, getting second place would already mean the largest amount of prize money as well as magic items they had ever seen. They would probably even be invited to serve a noble.

Considering all that, defeating other skilled participants in their way ahead of time was more than enough of a motive.

And, needless to say, Crimson was a mortal enemy of the Bestir Empire.

Considering what had happened during the battle on the Selemus Plains, it was only natural that they would want to eliminate Rei and Rhodes while they were out on their own.

「Requiem’s Toll, huh?」

At Rei’s words, the masked figure showed a moment of agitation.

Noticing that, Rei judged that the person before him was from Requiem’s Toll.

……In actual fact, he was an assassin from a completely different organisation and had just become agitated when he heard Rei say the name of the underground organisation with the highest level of skill and scale in the Bestir Empire.

For a moment, they glanced at their surroundings.

Rei, who had been waiting for an opportunity, had no intention of letting that moment pass. He dashed forward with the Death Scythe at the ready, closing the gap in an instant.

When the masked man saw that, he reflexively tried to throw a needle. However, he was already within the range of Rei’s Death Scythe.

「Pain Burst!」

Rei used the skill that doubled the amount of pain his enemy felt from an injury.

His attack sliced through his opponent’s torso as they leapt back instantly.

「GAH!? GaAAAaaH-!」

Drops of blood flew out.

By quickly leaping back, the assassin had managed to avoid having their body split into two halves, but they hadn’t been able to avoid the attack completely as the strike cut through his body.

The wound wasn’t that deep, it wasn’t exactly shallow either, but it wasn’t life threatening.

However, the masked figure let out a scream as he felt the unexpectedly severe pain.

A wound of this magnitude wouldn’t cause this much pain.

They knew it from experience, but yet the pain exceeded their expectations, making them scream.

What was even more tragic that the chain mail they had been wearing under their clothes had been torn apart.

It was a specially made chain mail that an ordinary long sword would have been unable to cut through. But, Rei’s Death Scythe had sliced through it like wet paper.

「Gah, damn it……I didn’t expect him to be this much of a monster. If it’s like this……」

A voice muttered from under the mask.

From their voice and earlier scream, Rei realised that the person was a man.

Rei had initially thought about capturing him to extract more information, but there was no way the man’s companions would let that happen.

However, it was also clear from their exchanges that even if the man kept trying to attack Rei, it would only end in vain.

What should he do then? His answer was to attack Rhodes, who had been watching things develop from a short distance away.

The four presences lurking around them blatantly attack Rhodes with murderous intent that even Rei could see.

At the same time, the sound of things cutting through the air was heard.

Four daggers were thrown out, each aiming at Rhodes from a different angle.

「Rhodes!」

「I know!」

Rhodes’ skill exceeded that of other adventurers.

He immediately swung his long sword, deflecting the daggers thrown at him. However, his physical strength had still been exhausted from his mock battles with Rei.

In addition, the skill of the four others lurking around was higher than he had expected.

As a result, Rhodes only blocked two daggers.

Of the remaining two, Rei used a flying slash to destroy one, but the last one still flew towards Rhodes’ right shoulder……

『Water Ball!』

At that moment, as the assassins were sure that the dagger would hit, a voice echoed out.

At the same time, a water ball the size of a person’s head, flew out, blocking hte dagger that had been about to pierce Rhodes.

For a moment, Rhodes didn’t understand what had happened, but turning towards the voices, he couldn’t help making an exclamation of understanding.

There were two young men and a young woman.

One of the young men, who could be described as muscular, approached one of the assassins who had thrown a dagger while holding a larger than normal claymore. The young woman, with daggers in her hands, was also moving to the location of another of the assassins.

A short distance away from them, a mage holding a cane looked around sharply.

Wind Dragon’s Fang. They were a C rank party that Rei and Rhodes dad met and become friends with after arriving in the Bestir Empire. They were also fellow participants in the fighting tournament.

With the appearance of those three, the assassins seemed to realise their disadvantage. The two other assassins that weren’t being approached by Luzi and Vaycul immediately threw out multiple round objects.

Instantly, a smokescreen spread out, blocking everyone’s vision.

At the same time, there were signs of the assassins rapidly retreating.

「You think I’ll let you escape!?」

Rei immediately threw out a dagger he took from the Misty Ring.

The sound of a blade piercing flesh followed by a muffled scream echoed out, but after the smokescreen cleared, there wasn’t anyone in sight.

There were only a few traces that someone had been stabbed by a dagger.

「Tch, if it was a spear, I would have killed them instantly……」

Rei spat out with disgust.

Rei’s specialty, throwing spears, were certainly powerful. However, when it came to speed, daggers were still faster.

Therefore, with a moment’s worth of time to spare, Rei chose to throw a dagger instead of a spear……but although he was successful in injuring them, he was unable to finish them off.

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