Now die, Amane Rin!
A bevy of magic attacks—each strong enough to kill a level-10,000 adventurer easily—descended upon Rin. Yanagi knew he was victorious. No matter how confident, Rin couldn’t withstand an attack like that.
The sight of the magic dissipating in an instant stopped him in his tracks.
“How the hell?!” he shrieked.
Rin emerged from the magic without a scratch on him. It was impossible, yet there he was. No level-5,000 adventurer could survive that vicious of a barrage! But Yanagi didn’t have time to panic. Rin was sprinting toward him at extraordinary speed.
“Oh, no, you don’t!” Yanagi said, collecting himself. “Stop him!” he commanded his monsters.
He had to think. Rin clearly had some kind of magic resistant technique. Odds were, that was his special skill. If that was the case, how would he handle a direct physical attack? Out of his tamed monsters, the orc king had the highest raw strength.
“Crush him, orc king!”
The orc king roared and smashed his giant iron axe onto Rin. No way would Rin block that! Yanagi was positive, but Rin defied him once again.
“Too late,” he said.
“What?!”
Rin was faster now, somehow. He swung his sword so rapidly that all Yanagi saw was the flash the blade left behind. The king orc’s body hit the ground in two pieces. Yanagi gawked, but the assault didn’t stop there. Rin’s relentless silver sword obliterated the entire force of level-10,000 monsters.
“What are you?!” Yanagi groaned. No answer came. Only Rin did—he stopped right in front of him. Yanagi threw himself away from the swipe of his sword.
For Yanagi, a specialist in speed, to dodge so narrowly meant that Rin’s speed was completely unreasonable. He couldn’t let his guard down. If he did, Rin would rush him for sure! Yanagi took a defensive stance, but Rin didn’t close the distance between them. Instead, he turned the now-four-colored short sword in his left hand toward Yanagi. The blade glowed with light: crimson, rose, azure, and gold.
Rin said, “Release.”
The short sword expelled a massive ball of flame, much like the one Yanagi had launched at him.
“Ngh!” he grunted as he dodged the surprise attack, just barely. It grazed his left shoulder, leaving behind a burn. He gripped it with his right hand and glared at Rin. One of the colors that shone on his short sword had disappeared. Yanagi reached out and grasped the truth.
“I get it!” he said. “You…”
With the information Rin had revealed so far, the pieces slotted together. Considering the magic attacks hadn’t scratched him, the short sword releasing fire magic explained everything.
Amane Hana could harmlessly borrow skills from people with Stock.
Yanagi Souji had to kill people to steal their skills.
Amane Rin’s short sword could steal magic before it killed him.
One thing was clear.
“That’s a plunderer sword!” he accused.
Rin didn’t answer. He raised the three-colored short sword. “Here we go, Greed,” he told it, then looked at Yanagi and said, “You can have these back.”
A plunderer versus a plunderer’s sword. It would be a duel to the death.
Magic-stealing Short Sword, Greed
A reward given to those who defeat the Remote Magic Tower.
Recommended equip level: 13,000
Attack +60%
When magic strikes this blade, the wielder may pay MP equivalent to the cost to cast the magic and absorb it. The absorbed magic may be activated at no cost.
Storage capacity: Maximum seven types of magic.