Chapter 179: Instant Kill!
"Oh my, it disappeared already. What a shame. I really wanted to see what a spirit's intestines looked like..."
Rather than feeling pleased that Puck was gone, Elsa murmured in genuine disappointment.
"Oh well. A half-elf's intestines should be interesting too."
She extended her tongue and gently licked the bright red blood flowing from a cut on her cheek, caused by flying shards of ice.
Then she raised her twin curved blades once more and strode toward the silver-haired girl with an excited gait.
The battle resumed.
Without Puck, her crucial partner, the silver-haired girl was like a cavalry soldier who had suddenly lost her horse.
Both her offensive casting speed and her defensive reactions slowed considerably.
Her magical skill was impressive even by the standards of the entire Kingdom of Lugunica.
She also knew how to create ice beneath her feet and use it to maintain distance from her opponent.
But against Elsa's nearly frenzied blade dance, everything she did could only delay the inevitable.
Crack—!
When Elsa closed the distance to only three steps, she suddenly stomped through the wooden floorboards.
The curved blade in her hand transformed into a streak of light.
Ignoring the icicle shooting toward her left shoulder, Elsa slashed directly toward the silver-haired girl's abdomen.
As an assassin, Elsa did not care how badly she was injured while completing a mission.
She had only one goal.
Kill the enemy in front of her.
Elsa's sudden acceleration made the silver-haired girl's pupils contract.
Even after such an intense battle, Elsa had actually been holding back some of her strength.
At this distance, there was no longer enough time to construct another defensive spell.
Her only option—
Was to kill Elsa before Elsa reached her.
With that thought, brilliant light erupted around the silver-haired girl.
Mana from the surroundings gathered together, forming magical projectiles imbued with the properties of ice magic.
By abandoning the various secondary effects normally associated with ice spells, these projectiles gained overwhelming destructive power.
The girl thrust both hands forward.
The gathered magical shells erupted with enough force to seemingly annihilate everything before them.
A blue-white radiance swallowed the entire path ahead, including everyone's vision.
The Loot House, previously dim because sunlight barely entered, was transformed into a pure-white frozen wasteland.
When the light faded—Everything within sight had been frozen into ice sculptures.
However, Elsa, who should have been standing directly in front of the silver-haired girl, had vanished.
Whoosh—
The sound of a blade cutting through the air suddenly came from behind her.
Then—
Clang—!
Metal collided with metal.
A broken piece of blade spun several times through the air before embedding itself firmly into the ice.
"You've interfered with my work again and again."
"Even I'm starting to get a little angry."
Behind the silver-haired girl, Elsa held a curved blade with only half its edge remaining.
She stared at Shiro, who had silently appeared between them.
Shiro merely shrugged.
"Even if I hadn't stopped you, would you really have left peacefully after killing her?"
"Hehe..."
"When such exquisite prey is standing before me dripping with blood, asking a starving beast to simply ignore it would be rather cruel."
"Exactly."
"If we're going to fight anyway, does it really matter who you fight?"
"Or are you afraid?"
"Not at all..."
"If anything, this is even better."
"Let me enjoy myself a little longer~"
Even after suddenly changing opponents, Elsa showed no hesitation.
She somehow produced a second curved blade and slid around Shiro's flank with a crawling, almost animalistic movement.
Then she stabbed sharply toward his abdomen.
Clang—
Sparks erupted as their weapons collided.
The flying embers illuminated Elsa's intoxicated expression.
Watching yet another blade get split cleanly in half and sent spinning through the air, she immediately twisted her body and kicked the broken fragment.
A silver arc tore through the air toward Shiro's face.
Using it as cover, Elsa became a blur and sprang after it like a cat.
And somehow—
A third curved blade had appeared in her hand.
Yet Shiro's expression did not change.
He merely swept his sword lightly.
That single motion brought both Elsa and the flying blade fragment within his attack range.
In that instant—
Elsa's vision blurred.
Her pupils completely lost track of the sword's trajectory.
The slash was simply too sharp.
Too fast.
If Elsa had not personally seen Shiro begin the swing, she would probably already have been decapitated.
Fortunately, at the final instant, her instincts screamed that death was approaching.
Elsa violently twisted the muscles of one leg far beyond their normal limit.
At the cost of breaking that leg, she forcibly escaped the path of Shiro's slash.
Boom—!
The blade struck the floor of the Loot House.
A powerful shockwave exploded outward, and a violent gust swept across everyone's faces.
No one would have expected such a casual-looking swing to contain that much power.
Elsa, as the target of the attack, understood it better than anyone.
When assassins approached a target, they suppressed their killing intent, softened their footsteps, slipped quietly behind their prey—
And only then launched a violent attack.
Shiro's swordsmanship was completely different.
From beginning to end, he had never restrained his strength.
Yet even while swinging with full force, not a single unnecessary sound escaped from his blade.
It was swordsmanship so far beyond human limits that it almost seemed as though it should not exist in this world.
Even though no one here knew the legendary name Edelweiss—They were still deeply shaken by the swordsmanship she had created.
"One of your legs is already useless."
"Are you really planning to keep fighting?"
"If you surrender now, you can still survive."
Shiro watched Elsa roll twice across the ground before forcing herself upright on one foot and resuming her fighting stance.
There was no particular need for either of them to fight to the death.
If Elsa surrendered now, Shiro was willing to spare her.
After all, as an assassin, her information network would undoubtedly be far broader than that of a few street thugs.
"It's only one leg."
"If my legs stop working, I still have my hands."
"If my hands stop working, I still have my teeth."
"And even if every tooth gets ripped out, I still have one stubborn life left."
"That is how I, the [Bowel Hunter], live."
Unfortunately, Elsa had no intention of accepting Shiro's offer.
She answered with open contempt.
Even with the battle completely one-sided, the fighting spirit in her black eyes had not diminished in the slightest.
So what if his sword made no sound?
So what if his technique had surpassed the limits of humanity?
As long as she could still move, even if the famous [Sword Saint] Reinhard himself stood before her—She would still exchange a few blows with him.
"I see."
After confirming her resolve, Shiro nodded slightly.
Then—
His body abruptly vanished from everyone's sight.
A faint burnt smell drifted through the air.
Something impossible to identify tore through the atmosphere and appeared before Elsa.
Slash—!
The sound of steel cutting through flesh rang out.
At some unknown moment, Shiro had appeared where Elsa had been standing.
And Elsa, who had been maintaining a defensive stance on one leg only an instant earlier—Now lay collapsed in a pool of blood.
Whether she was alive or dead was impossible to tell.
…