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Volume 6 Chapter 2 Part 4

When Aishela said so, she smiled and shook hands with Bruno.

「Pleasure to be working with you then. Let’s make short work of these guys and take all their Arts for ourselves! 」

* * *

「They’re coming. 」

Sensing the presences of three people rapidly approaching them, Boltz climbed to the top of the hill where the vineyard he had once burned was.

The two large armies could be seen glaring at each other in the distance. The battle hasn’t started yet, but it’s only a matter of time before all hell would break loose.

And out of that large army of rebels, Boltz saw three small shadows running towards them. It was definitely the Chamberlain of Theo Cornero and the twin Werewolves.

「Are you ready? 」

Boltz turned to Yana and asked.

In response, she held the handle of her broomstick high, and then the Black Witch drew a complicated shape on the ground, after which she sprinkled the makeshift magic circle that she just made with a blood of a chicken that she caught somewhere along the way. Apparently what she wanted to do was to increase the concentration and density of the Chaos in the surrounding air through this strange ritual.

「Yes, I am ready anytime. 」

Yana glanced back at him and nodded, after which she uttered some words that Boltz had never heard before.

The Black Witch’s chant continued for some time, and at the end she hit the ground hard with her broomstick.

The next moment, the center of the magic circle glowed black, and a strange looking monster appeared crawling out from inside of it. It had a black goat’s head on a human torso. Despite having abundant breasts, it also had male genitalia in the crotch. Whatever that creature was, it was apparently androgynous.

「What is that? 」

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「One of the Demons inhabiting the world of Abyss. He’s also my first man. 」

「That… that sounds like a pretty serious matter. 」

Boltz said while frowning.

If you want to summon something, it’s important to know the target and have a clear picture of it in mind, and for that purpose, something like this is ideal. 」

Yana laughed mysteriously.

Boltz thought that this black witch usually looked decent, but with both her words and her actions, she was proving from time to time that she was still irredeemably insane.

(Well, I probably shouldn’t expect anyone who’s carrying so much darkness inside them to be normal to begin with.)

In that sense, she’s no different than an Assassin.

「Is that your countermeasure against the Werewolves? 」

「That’s right. I don’t want to fight them myself. Instead, it’ll be much more fun to watch the two of them being tormented by this Demon from high above in the sky. 」

「I like the sound of that. Because of those twins, my subordinates have been annihilated. 」

Black Witches have their own ways of doing things, but he would never dare to say that out loud to her.

「More importantly, be careful when handling the thing I gave you. 」

「know. 」

Boltz nodded his head.

「I’m an assassin. I’m used to dealing with these kinds of things. 」

By then, the Chamberlain and twin Werewolves had arrived at the foot of the hill.

「What is that monster? 」

As Irvin ran up the hill, he saw a ghastly figure near the Assassin and the Black Witch and asked the twins.

「A Demon, most likely? The White Witches were saying that these are the ones that the Black Witches often summon to do their bidding. 」

Emma answered him.

「If that woman summoned it, then that must be quite a formidable Demon. 」

「Yeah, but it’s definitely weaker than the Vampire King. 」

「So more than that monster, we should focus on throwing the Black Witch back to the ground. 」

Emma and Luna looked at each other and talk to each other about possible courses of action.

「Don’t die, Irvin. That guy is seriously bad news. 」

「Yes, I realize that. 」

Irvin nodded with a wry smile.

「However, I have inherited the Arts from the late Grand Chamberlain. And for an artist like myself, my Arts are as important as my own life. I have no intention of handing it over to anyone other than the future Chamberlain or Maid who I approve of. 」

Then, Irvin separated himself from the twins and ran up the remaining distance to the Assassin standing calmly on top of the hill.

He shot his throwing dagger through rows of burnt vines. It was a secret technique in which three daggers hidden in his pocket were held between the fingers of each hand and drawn while crossing both hands.

Six blades slid through the air.

The Assassin tried to dodge them, but that was an attack which was impossible to avoid completely, and so one of them lodged itself his right thigh. However, Irvin knew that he is not the kind of opponent who’d flinch at something like that.

Irvin faced his opponent while assuming a flexible stance, wielding a combat dagger in both hands while the Assassin drew the dagger from his thigh.
「Amazing. 」

The Assassin called out. His trousers were splattered with blood.

「You too. This is the first time where my opponent was hit with only one of those. Although, when my predecessor used that move on me, I managed to dodge all of them.

Irvine agreed with his opponent.

「You mean a Grand Chamberlain who served Jürgen Kraische? That man is a legend in the dark side of society…」

「Yes, his deeds will be remembered for all eternity. 」

Unbeknownst to the public, behind the establishment and expansion of Jürgen Kraiche’s Factory Alliance was the superhuman activity of the Grand Chamberlain.

「… as a failure as a Chamberlain because he couldn’t protect his master. 」

Since Jürgen Kraische was killed by the previous Marquis of Nord, that certainly meant that his Chamberlain had failed to protect him. But there is a reason for that. The Marquis of Nord was overwhelmed with passion and threw himself at Jürgen. No Chamberlain could ever hope to stop him if he took action before the moment his murderous intent manifested itself.

「And you couldn’t protect your master either. 」

The assassin sneered.

「Yes, I couldn’t. 」

In the Grand Cathedral, Irvin made an irreparable mistake. He should be an almighty Chamberlain, but he has his limits. However, he has no choice but to spend the rest of his life aiming to see how far he can raise those limits of his.

「I will kill you, and then I will also kill Theo Cornero and your master, the witch from Elam. 」

「Did you receive a request from someone to kill all of us? 」

「If I didn’t, then I wouldn’t be aiming to claim your life right now. That is what being an Assassin means. 」

「I’m sorry, but I’ll have to disappoint you then. 」

Irvin said while narrowing his eyes.

「We’ll see about that. 」

When the assassin said so, he still held a weapon in both of his hands. A pair scalloped daggers favored by assassins. Each of these blades was covered with a thick, black liquid.

「Is it poison? I hear it’s often used by second-rate assassins. 」

「This is the sign of me respecting how strong you are. This is what those daggers are for: for making sure that I’ll kill truly strong opponents. They cut the skin wide open and allow for the large amounts of poison to infiltrate the victim’s bloodstream. And this poison is the deadly one made by the Black Witch specifically to kill you. Just one scratch with it is going to be enough to put you in the ground. 」

「In other words, all I need to do is to not allow you to scratch me with it. 」

Irvine flashed him a thin smile. His original strategy for the battle against this man involved exactly that.

「If you think you can, then go ahead and try! 」

The Assassin raises his voice, and at the same time, the battle began.
He drew his two daggers with astonishing speed. Since they’re coated with poison, there’s no need for him to aim at his opponent’s vital points. Therefore, it was difficult to narrow down where he was going to be aiming.

However, Irvine also repelled the enemy’s poisoned blades with his own daggers that he was holding in his hands.

「I didn’t know you could keep up with my speed. 」

The Assassin grinned.

「If I was unable to keep us with attacks of such speed, then I’d never be able to meet the punishing demands of my current master! 」