Chapter 418

Perhaps they were enraged by the deaths of their comrades. Their momentum was quite fierce.

Their glaring eyes overflowed with killing intent, and their swinging blades were filled with confidence.

How laughable.

As I leaped onto the roof, I caught the scythe aimed at my neck with my left hand.

The screeching sound of metal friction. The scythe, instead of piercing through, merely sparked and slipped weakly from my grip.

“You blocked my attack… bare-handed?!”

Heinz, in shock. His pupils, visible through the mask, trembled in disbelief.

Seems like he finally realized something was wrong.

“You bastard!”

Nabis, charging at me from the roof, swung his longsword at my back, demanding I let go.

At the same time, the woman named Hersh threw two daggers, while Kellogg and Radeli thrust their swords from different directions.

Seems like they’re quite skilled at coordinated attacks.

I considered sweeping them all away with the blade of my Life Force but decided against it.

If Kistler is watching this battle, it’s better not to reveal my true identity until the very end.

If they knew the Winter Slayer had come to kill them, they’d abandon everything and flee.

So, I should just play the role of a highly skilled master.

Would the level of masters I met in Landenburg suffice?

The moment I reached that conclusion, my combat instincts provided the optimal answer.

I bent my knees, leaning my upper body back, and swung my left hand to the side, adding my strength to Heinz’s scythe.

“Ugh…!”

The sharp clash of metal.

Heinz’s scythe sliced through the air where my waist had been, deflecting Nabis’s longsword.

“Guh!”

Nabis, caught in the scythe’s momentum, collapsed with a groan.

At the same time, I swung Durandal in my right hand, knocking away Radeli’s rapier.

*Clang!*

“Huh…?”

Jin’s rapier shattered like a reed upon contact with the blade. Radeli gasped in shock.

Why are you so surprised? It’s not like breaking a thin rapier is a big deal.

In my experience, those who use rapiers are rarely proper swordsmen.

In the original world, rapiers were useful for targeting gaps in armor, but in this world, knights can tear through steel with their training.

It’s far more efficient to train to cut through steel than to poke around with a thin rapier.

If you can’t do it, just die. Like this.

A blue flash pierced Radeli’s face, who was stunned after losing her sword.

*Thud!*

The blade pierced through her mask like paper, passing through her forehead and exiting the back of her skull.

Blood and brain matter dripped down the blade.

“Ah… ahhh…!”

Radeli, still alive despite the blade through her forehead, let out a breathless groan, her arms trembling.

Her shattered mask fell away, revealing her face.

Her expression was filled with disbelief, her eyes rolling back. She looked no older than nineteen. A surprisingly youthful face.

I twisted my wrist, wrenching Durandal to the side.

*Crunch!*

Her skull split open, its contents spilling out. Her eyes, which had been staring into the void, danced wildly.

Radeli convulsed like a struck beast, a thick stream of liquid flowing from beneath her armor.

“Radeli-!”

Kellogg, who had been charging at me, screamed at her gruesome end.

He tried to strike my flank with his longsword, aiming to slash my half-prone body.

His swordsmanship was quite fluid, transitioning smoothly from a mid-thrust to a downward slash.

Still, just knight-level.

I released Durandal, which had pierced Radeli’s face, and rolled to the side.

Kellogg’s longsword pierced the roof instead of my body. Despair filled his face as he sensed his death.

The next moment, my leg, full of rotational force, struck his ankle.

*Crunch!*

“Gaaaaah!”

His steel greave crumpled like a crushed can, his ankle shattered like a cookie.

Kellogg spun vertically like a possessed cartwheel, slamming his face into the roof.

*Bang!*

The impact shattered his mask, leaving his face unrecognizable even to his own mother.

With Hersh’s dagger still embedded in my back.

“This… this can’t be…!”

Hersh, denying reality, groaned and took a few steps back.

Yeah, it’s hard to believe.

Five of them attacked simultaneously, and in the next moment, two were down, and the other two were corpses pissing themselves.

Such a brutal reality is hard to accept.

“So, feeling like talking now?”

I stepped on Radeli’s abdomen, crushing it as she convulsed, and chuckled.

Her flattened lower abdomen. Her intestines spilled out from her crushed groin, along with a fountain of blood.

“Ahhh…! Radeliiii!”

“You demonic bitch-! I’ll cut off your legs-!”

Nabis and Heinz, having regained their footing, charged at me like rabid dogs.

Hersh, having lost her sanity at the sight of her comrade’s entrails, rushed at me with her daggers.

“Such devoted friends! How nice!”

I kicked Radeli’s emaciated corpse toward Hersh and tossed Kellogg’s lifeless body at Nabis with my other foot.

“Ah…!”

“Such tricks!”

Hersh reflexively caught Radeli, stopping in her tracks, while Nabis pushed away Kellogg with his left arm.

“Idiots. You should’ve just slashed through.”

Then, he faced me, who was holding my sword behind Kellogg’s corpse.

“Gasp…!”

I blocked Nabis’s longsword with my left arm and swung Durandal vertically with my right.

*Crunch!*

The sound of splitting wood with an axe.

A blue arc split Nabis’s skull, exiting through his groin.

“Nabis-!”

His body split in two.

I charged through the fountain of blood toward Heinz.

“You demonic bitch…!”

Heinz swung his scythe like a storm.

*Clang!*

Everything the scythe touched—flesh and brick alike—was mowed down like barley at harvest.

As expected of a master.

Though my speed had rendered his subordinates useless, his skill was on par with Leonor’s.

Meaning, with my current act as a “strong master,” I shouldn’t kill him in one strike.

So, I’ll just play along.

I gripped my longsword with both hands and charged at him.

Clash of skills.

The longsword and scythe danced endlessly, devastating the surroundings.

Fighting head-on was more fun than I thought.

The long reach of the scythe, its wide slashes, and its unique pulling strikes.

A thousand-year-old reaper couldn’t do better.

Heinz was wielding the scythe to its utmost potential.

Still, he couldn’t reap me.

“Starting to regret it yet? Just tell me where Kistler is, and I’ll spare you!”

“Don’t even think about it! I’ll avenge my comrades with your head!”

I provoked him with a sly grin, trying to speed things up.

“Calling yourself a master with that skill? Trolls are better. Talking about peace and punishment, how laughable. I’d have killed myself out of shame.”

“Shut up!”

Oh, it’s working.

Heinz was surprisingly susceptible to taunts.

Though I couldn’t see his face through the mask, I could vividly imagine his twisted expression.

“Did your parents kill themselves out of shame? Grown men playing drug lords, how embarrassing. Executioner? Hah, what a joke. Who’d you execute with that skill? Your mom and dad?”

His strikes began to falter.

Though they grew stronger, his openings widened.

“Tell me honestly. Was the first head you cut off your whore mother’s, or your father’s, who slept with prostitutes instead of your wife?”

“You damn bitch!”

He swung his scythe in a fit of rage.

A critical opening.

I ducked low, avoiding the slash aimed at my waist, and charged at him like a wolf.

He couldn’t even retract his scythe in time.

“Game over.”

My blue longsword carved a crescent, slicing through his limbs.

“Gaaaaah!”

Heinz spun through the air like a garden sprinkler, spraying blood everywhere.

“Pfft, ahahaha!”

Honestly, not laughing at that sight would be inhuman.

And since I’m human, I burst out laughing.

—-

After subduing Heinz, I grabbed the half-crazed Hersh and tossed her next to Heinz.

Took about three minutes.

Most of that was spent talking; the fight itself wasn’t long.

No, it wasn’t even a fight.

Considering the difference in skill, it was more of a one-sided execution.

[The fight itself was flawless… but wasn’t the taunting a bit excessive? It reminded me of Amin.]

Hersela grumbled.

Being a filial daughter from the afterlife, she must find parental insults distasteful.

Still, comparing me to Amin? Really?

‘It helped end things quickly. These guys deserved it anyway.’

I dismissed her complaints and looked down at the two sprawled figures.

The Five Swords, or whatever they’re called, weren’t bad in terms of skill.

If their opponent hadn’t been me, they could’ve handled most situations.

The four warriors were each stronger than Dermont, and Heinz, the scythe wielder, had reached master level.

But… in the end, this is how it turned out.

Heinz was left with just his torso, still defiant, while Hersh had completely lost her will, trembling.

What was she even doing?

She only threw two daggers and did nothing else.

She had the aura of a silent assassin, but she had no hidden tricks.

No matter. It’s easier to interrogate a fool.

“Now, our Five Swords… no, Four Swords friends. Ready to talk? You seem to know more than Dermont, so spill it.”

“Damn you, demonic bitch! Just kill me! I have nothing to tell you!”

Heinz, despite losing his limbs, still had venom in him.

Twisting his body, he shouted furiously, clearly not ready to die anytime soon.

This is why masters are great.

They don’t die easily. So convenient.

“Well, that’s your mistake. Want to bet? How long until you confess to cutting off your mother’s head? I’ll give you five minutes.”

I leaned in close, grinning, and then proceeded to give him the full treatment of my interrogation skills.

Not even the imperial physician would have been as thorough as I was.

—-

Heinz, who had been screaming loud enough to shake the slums, turned into something more insect than human after exactly four minutes, and began spilling everything he knew.

“Gaaaaah…! Y-yes… my mother was a prostitute! I cut off that whore’s head…! My father’s too! I admit it, so please, please stop…!”

“See? Didn’t even take five minutes.”

I chuckled, mocking the unrecognizable rag that was Heinz.

Hersh had long since passed out, her legs wet with urine.

She had a surprisingly weak stomach.

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