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Chapter 46

「Trash, you say?」

In my wobbly field of vision, I felt anger welling up at the girl’s insolence.
It’s true; I’ve been caught off guard and fallen into a state of abnormality.

However, the poison she used was Ex Mandracora.
It’s a rare item, ranked among the best.

Yet, it’s not suitable for poison knives, and it seems like her youth, inexperience, or lack of knowledge made her misuse it.

I reached into my pocket, took out a small bottle, opened it, and quickly gulped it down.
The taste had a faint hint of distilled liquor among the fruit’s sourness.

As the liquid passed through my throat, my vision rapidly cleared.
My inner balance returned to normal instantly, and I stood up.

「Too bad. The primary use of Mandracora species is… not poison but anesthesia or narcotics.」

I showed the girl the now-empty bottle.

「Any idea what this is?」

「…What?」

「It’s a top-level potion known as ‘Blessing of the Archangel.’ I shouldn’t have something like this, given that I’m only a B-rank adventurer equivalent. But, well, it’s just a stroke of luck.」

「…」

「And, the abnormal status caused by Mandracora isn’t primarily meant for combat. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to counter it with this item.」

「…」

「And in terms of swordsmanship, you can’t match me.」

After pondering for a moment, the girl nodded.

「I see, I understand now.」

This girl has various suspicious aspects to her.
Her lackluster sword technique doesn’t match her physical abilities, equipment, and her inventory.

In terms of knowledge, experience, and sheer ability, I’m far superior.
Normally, my victory would be assured, but you can never be too cautious.

That’s why I won’t let my guard down anymore.
That’s why I’ll give it my all.

I concentrated on my palm.
In my right hand, my longsword, and with my left palm extended toward the girl, I accelerated toward her.

Immediately, an explosion occurred at the girl’s head.
It was an advanced fire magic spell: Flare.

From Fire to Fireball, Flare, Shining Flare… each time, the explosion radius increases.
The size of the fireball depends to some extent on the amount of magical power used.

In my case, I can generally cause an explosion within a radius of about 50 centimeters using Flare.

「Haha! Are you surprised? I’m a magic swordsman!」

Amidst my boisterous laughter, I increased my speed even further.
As expected, the girl dodged the Flare I unleashed with swiftness.

However, I had anticipated that.
Magic attacks are merely a diversion.
The real strike is from my sword.

This is my secret unbeatable pattern, and almost everyone died with a single strike.

There are two reasons why this tactic is effective:
Firstly, it combines magic and sword attacks seamlessly.
And secondly, it involves ambushing after making them believe that I’m just an ordinary swordsman.

The girl, just like all the others I’ve faced before, had to break her posture to avoid my magic attack.
As she realized there was no escape,

「Kiieeeeee!」

I struck her with an overhead attack.
She seemed to understand that there was no way to evade it and gave up with a smile.

「…I see. So this is how magic is used in close combat… I’ll take note of that.」

She raised her palm toward me.

At that moment, I felt goosebumps all over my body.
I immediately stopped my attack motion and leaped backward.

There was an instant explosion echoing through the cave.
A detonation had occurred within about a 50-centimeter radius of where I had just been.

「This is… not a Fireball or Flare?」

The shocking revelation that the girl was a magic swordsman too left me dumbfounded.
In response to my stunned expression, she shook her head vigorously.

「…That was just Fire.」

I couldn’t comprehend what the girl was saying.

Usually, more advanced spells have a larger explosion radius, and it’s impossible for a magic swordsman to create such a large explosion with Fire.

「What just happened with Fire was impossible…」

But I knew the truth.
From the beginning, there were countless anomalies about this girl.

「A professional mage… not even an A-rank adventurer… wouldn’t be able to pull off such a feat…」

In reality, I had already suspected it.
And what it meant… was that we had fallen under the spell of the Grim Reaper.

So, I had been pushing that possibility away, keeping it at the back of my mind.

「…Are you only realizing now? I’ll tell you since it’s the end. I initially thought you were just a swordsman… that’s why I planned to deal with you using only my sword skills to hone them. …But then, you used magic. It was unexpected… It’s like a street brawl now.」

The girl extended her palm and continued speaking with a completely emotionless expression and tone.

「…So, I’ll use magic too… and this is the true Flare.」

Everything within several meters of me was engulfed in scorching blue flames.

「…Goodbye.」

That became the last word I heard in my life.