"Hey there, beautiful lady. Sorry, but I'm going to need you to lose right here. When this is over, I'll console you in bed — at a top-class inn, of course. Don't worry, I'm not exactly sonic speed at night."
By this world's standards, he was a blonde super-handsome guy: Sonics, the Sonic Speed.
His European-looking face would probably be a hit even in his previous life's modern world, but that line just killed all of it.
He gives me the creeps — full-body shivers. Time to shut him down at sonic speed.
The moment the match starts, I close the distance in an instant and slam the sheath of the Twin Star Sword upward into his abdomen. Sonics' body floats about fifty centimeters into the air, and I drive the sheath down from above into his back, cratering him into the ground.
Sonics doesn't get up.
I properly shut him down in seconds.
He apparently had something like [Thunder God's Spear], but he never got the chance to show it off. Oh, and while I was at it, I snatched [Lightning Speed] too. Now he's no longer at sonic speed!
Since he's annoyingly handsome, I went ahead and reversed [Thunder God's Spear] for good measure. It became "Slightly Numb Spear."
The venue fell completely silent. The nobles in the spectator stands were dumbfounded for a moment, and then their eyes immediately went bloodshot.
It was supposed to be a nobles' showcase, yet a commoner had just obliterated someone in the blink of an eye.
Which means a ton of customers are probably going to show up again.
◇◇◇
"Oh, there they are — assassins. Isn't this a bit much? You sure? Dark guilds?"
On my way back from instantly killing Sonics, heading toward the inn, I sense a massive number of presences targeting me. And since the quality of those presences was all over the map, they were probably dispatched from various dark guilds.
Good effort, everyone.
Do they really not want me to win that badly?
Your payment is your life.
Using Dark Thorns, I catch one assassin and drag them toward me. If they have a good skill, I steal it with my Snatch Skill; otherwise, I just behead them.
I repeat this process thirty times.
[Shadow Spirit's Protection], [Superhuman Strength], [Thunder God Sword], [Good Fortune], and [Clear Storm Magic] — that's what I got. Out of thirty people, these were the only skills I didn't already have. It feels like a gacha pull.
But that's not all.
Next, using [Gentleman Thief]'s Perfect Research, I identify the hideouts of the assassins who attacked me. Then, with [Dark Magic]'s Necromancy, I create undead from the assassins and use teleportation magic to send each of them back to their own hideouts.
◇◇◇
"Hm? When did you get back? Anyway, how'd it go? Hey — what are you doing— guaaaah!"
A certain mid-sized dark guild.
The assassin they had dispatched for the nobles' unusually high-paying commission had returned without a sound. But without saying a single word, they immediately attacked a colleague.
The hideout erupted into instant chaos.
"Tch — assassination technique: [Visceral Rip]! Th-They won't die! Could it be — undead?! Destroy their head!!"
However, their opponents were also renowned assassins within the organization. Nimbly dodging fatal blows to the head while showing absolutely no hesitation toward attacks on any other body part, they mercilessly slaughtered their former colleagues.
In this nightmare where the assassin they had trusted and sent out had returned as undead to kill them, more than two-thirds of the members were dead. The guild was in ruins.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
[Lightning Speed] — A skill that temporarily allows movement at three times one's top speed. As a rite of passage, beginners inevitably crash into walls before they get the hang of it.
[Good Fortune] was obtained by stealing [Misfortune] from an assassin and then reversing it.
Skills: [Reverse], [Divine Eye], [Sword God], [Gentleman Thief], [Dark Magic], [Rock Iron Magic], [Holy Magic], [Space-Time Magic], [Scorching Heat Magic], [Frost Magic], [Magic Hand], [Seduction], [Pain Relief], [Complete Status Abnormality Resistance], [Flame Spirit's Protection], [Phantom Demon], [Lightning Speed], [Shadow Spirit's Protection], [Superhuman Strength], [Thunder God Sword], [Good Fortune], [Clear Storm Magic]
Rank: Silver (Alisa: Gold)