The One on Top – Part 06
Ryver was irritated. He had not been this irritated in years. Jillarte’s assassination failed, and he got caught in an explosion at point-blank range.
If I ever see that masked guy again, he’s dead, Ryver swore. I’ll never forget this pain.
“Haha… Hahahahaha!”
Hearing a sudden laughter coming from behind, Ryver turned around and quickly readied his longbow. Batros stood behind him, concealing Caddie, his large shield already in his hand.
As one would expect from Rank A adventurers, they moved efficiently.
“Silver Face!” Ryver gasped. “What are you doing—he followed you.”
“It’s not my fault,” Caddie mumbled. “It’s all your fault, Ryver. Not mine.”
Bitch, Ryver cursed inwardly. She didn’t notice she was being followed?
After quickly escaping from the arena, he rendezvoused with Batros and applied potion on his wounds. Caddie was the last one to arrive.
Ryver quickly used his Life Detection to scan the surroundings. Silver Face seemed to be alone.
What’s wrong with this guy? He can’t do anything unless he’s hidden, so why did he show himself? What’s he trying to do?
“You don’t know why I revealed myself?”
He read his mind. Ryver became even more irritated.
“Why you revealed yourself?” Ryver said. “Your friends are not coming, and there’s no one hiding nearby. What I’m seeing is an idiot who showed up alone.”
“I didn’t know Rank A adventurers could be so dumb.”
“…”
Ryver’s temples twitched. His irritation had reached its peak. He was a Rank A adventurer. He was revered, but he couldn’t remember even being ridiculed.
Ah, I get it now. So that’s how it is. This guy is ignorant to the ways of the world. I’ve never seen or even heard of this masked man before. It probably hasn’t been long since he obtained this magic item that can conceal his presence. He’s elated about getting his hands on something extraordinary. That’s why he showed himself like this. I see. In that case, I got a few tricks up my sleeve.
Was that really the case? A question popped up in the corner of Ryver’s mind, but his annoyance kicked it to the side. It was impossible for a lone masked man to wipe out three members of Rising Falls.
“Before you piss me off any further, leave your magic item and go,” Ryver spat. “If you comply, I’ll kill you quickly so you don’t feel any pain. If you don’t, I’ll shoot your right foot first, then the left foot, then the right hand, then the left hand, in that order. Did you know? Unlike a cut from a blade, an arrow won’t cause much blood loss if it doesn’t pass clean through. You can’t die quickly. It goes without saying that someone as skilled as me can shoot an arrow so that it doesn’t pierce through the target.”
Bow down. Cry and beg for your life.
A dark light flickered in Ryver’s eyes.
“Are you stupid?” Silver Face said.
“Shit!”
Silver Face tossed the smoke bomb he was holding toward them and dashed to the side. Ryver shot the ball as fast as he could, sending it far away. But Silver Face’s figure was already dissolving into the air—his magic item had been activated.
“He disappeared! Ryver!”
“Shut up. I can hit him.”
Ryver was ready to fire the next shot. Silver Face was running in a circle, and although it might look like he would vanish at any moment, he wasn’t completely invisible. One shot should take care of him—or so Ryver thought.
Silver Face wound up his arm, and a glistening blade came flying at them.
“Watch out!”
Noticing the projectile, Batros held up his shield and put himself in the line of fire.
Alarm bells rang in Ryver’s mind. But it was too late.
“You idio—”
The moment the object hit the shield, an explosion occurred. It was the same Blade Bomb that caught Ryver by surprise.
“Out of the way!”
By the time the flames illuminated the alley, Silver Face was already gone. Stealth fully activated.
Infuriation prevented Ryver from thinking calmly, and the moment he overestimated his ability, the likelihood of him coming out on top became slim to none.
“I didn’t know Rank A adventurers could be so dumb.”
Hikaru didn’t just say that to taunt Ryver. He wanted them to think that he had some of trick up his sleeve. After all, why would someone who specialized in Stealth just show himself? Despite this, they thought they had the numbers, overestimated their abilities and tried to fight head-on. Hikaru already knew what Ryver was capable of.
Hikaru had made a firm decision. He would use his Stealth to teach them a lesson. And the best way to do that was not to attack safely, but to crush them head-on.
“One down!”
“Aaaaah!”
Hikaru kicked Caddie from the side. Caught by surprise, she rolled to the ground and stopped moving. Assassination could have taken her life, but he didn’t want to hold back, lest she remained conscious. They were awful people, but they were still Rank A adventurers. A full-powered kick shouldn’t kill her.
“Tsk!”
Hikaru thought Caddie would distract Ryver for a bit, but he immediately fired an arrow at him.
Crap, that was close!
The arrow poked a hole right through Hikaru’s cloak.
How did he hit that?! Is it his Instinct?
The fight, however, was already in Hikaru’s favor. Another smokescreen would make it difficult for even Instinct to aid Ryver’s aim.
“Ryver!” Batros called. “Stay close to me!”
“Ugh… Fine.”
Ryver reluctantly stood back to back with Batros. Hikaru had already checked the latter’s Soul Board.
【Soul Board】Batros
Age: 25 | Rank: 37 | 21
【Vitality】
【Natural Recovery】3
【Stamina】15
【Immunity】
【Magic Resistance】3
【Toxin Immunity】1
【Strength】
【Muscle Strength】16
It was a simple and straightforward Soul Board. A musclebrain. No other comments. Batros was probably a pure meat shield who protected his companions with that huge shield.
Hikaru had already checked the Mage’s Soul Board.
【Soul Board】Caddie Fullblood
Age: 15 | Rank: 50 | 37
【Magical Power】
【Mana Capacity】15
【Willpower】
【Faith】
【Evil】5
【Accursed Magic】5
Hikaru knew nothing about the Accursed Magic stat. It was probably the cause of the mass outbreak of the Undead. Considering that Lavia’s 5 points on Fire Magic demonstrated tremendous firepower, he wasn’t surprised that Caddie’s 5 points on Accursed Magic could cause such chaos.
She was such a skilled spellcaster that at the age of fifteen, her Soul Rank was already 50, an unbelievable number.
Hikaru was not worried about individuals, but groups of enemies. That’s why he took care of Caddie first.
So they think that if Batros watches his back, Ryver can focus on the enemy in front of him?
Batros was certainly very effective as a shield. And as long as he only had to watch the front, Ryver believed he could rely on his Instinct to shoot, even without seeing the enemy.
Oh, okay. That’s what you think your forte is.
Then I’m gonna destroy it completely.
“Damn it. It doesn’t stop coming.”
Ryver continued to create wind with his magic item. They had to stop the smokescreen from approaching them. Silver Face seemed to be about five meters away from them, out of reach of the magic item, hiding in the smoke.
“Ryver. He’s not coming.”
“Shut up and keep your shield up.”
“Maybe he got scared of us and left. Besides—”
A thud came from behind Ryver.
“Batros?”
There was no reply.
“Batros!”
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
Silver Face should be lurking in the smokescreen, beyond the range of Ryver’s magic item. So why did Batros collapse?
Ryver didn’t look back. Batros was a dimwitted fool, only capable of fighting with brute strength, and a battle maniac who wanted to fight solely strong opponents. Controlling him properly was the key to Rising Falls’ growth.
Batros’ power, however, was the real deal. To Ryver, Batros was an absolutely indestructible shield, no arguments. He couldn’t possibly collapse.
Batros did not fall. Impossible. He had faced five Lesser Wyverns, was constricted by a King Anaconda, a serpent more than a meter thick, and took a blow from a giant over three meters tall. But not once was he fazed.
“Batros… Batros! Answer me!”
“If you’re worried about him, why not turn around?”
A voice came from behind. When did Silver Face move there?
Silver Face was not supposed to be within the five-meter radius of Ryver’s magic item, but that was only within Ryver’s range of detection. Batros lacked his detection capabilities. If Silver Face walked in front of Batros with his Stealth on, he would not see him. And Ryver finally realized this.
He slowly turned his head. He should have shot an arrow instead of wasting time like this, but Ryver couldn’t help himself.
“Batros.”
Batros was lying on his face. There wasn’t even a speck of dirt on him, like he was just sleeping.
“Batros!”
Rising Falls was a party that was bound together solely by self-interest, with no attachments of any kind. There was no trust between the members, only in their abilities.
“It can’t be… It’s impossible. Batros can’t possibly fall.”
“Do you get it now?” The voice came from right behind.
Ryver yelped. He tried to run away, but he stumbled over Batros and fell forward.
“Do you finally understand, Rank A adventurer, Mr. Ryver?”
Ryver let out a squeal. He was about to pull the string of his bow when he realized that it had been cut. It would have made a loud noise and caused the bow to bend, but he failed to notice even that.
“You messed with the wrong guy.”
“S-Stay away!”
“Tell the guards everything you know. I’m always watching you.”
Silver Face approached him. When he was only one step away from Ryver, the man fainted. His eyes were rolled back, and he was frothing around the mouth.
“Surprisingly weak-hearted. Was Batros’ collapse really that shocking?”
Hikaru put his hands on his hips and looked at Batros lying nearby. He was sure he was tough as nails, so he made full use of his Assassination when he struck him in the back of the head with the back of his dagger. Imperceptibility muted the sound of the blow, preventing Ryver from hearing it.
Ryver didn’t notice his bow being cut due to his agitation and the effect of Imperceptibility. Hikaru moved away when Batros collapsed, so Ryver only heard the man falling.
The remaining smoke dissipated. Three adventurers—three members of a Rank A party, one of only a handful in the Adventurers’ Guild—were lying in a back alley.
Hikaru didn’t think they were weak at all. They simply overestimated their abilities and underestimated him. That was the cause of their downfall.
“I gotta be careful too.”
Hikaru turned his back.
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
Rule Breaker (Light Novel)
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 70 hours
Why must he keep not killing clesrly dangerous enemies? I had alot of hopes early on he’d be less resistant to killing human enemies cause of how it started