In the middle of the night, Rick found himself surrounded by a group of three men. All of them were obviously skilled and strong on their own; Rick scaled them to be at least level 200. But the one who stood among them was the man clad in light armor and with his chest protected by a mithrill breastplate. Judging from his long, silky, and lustrous blonde hair, Rick easily identified that person, and he turned out to be Sir Austin, a powerful marksman in Astley’s Order of the Royal Knights.
Austin was a renowned knight of the kingdom pertaining to his pleasing looks and unmatched marksmanship. His charisma and skills brought him to being a squire until he was promoted as a member of the Order of the Royal Knights, one of the highest military positions in Astley. Aside from being a member of the Royal Knights, Austin was being rumored to be one of the Twelve Paladin, the highest order of the knights of Astley. Only the king could pick the members of the order, and it was done confidentially, so no one could verify whether he was a paladin or not. 𝘦𝑎.𝒸ℴ
However, he had something that tainted his reputation; he was known to despise beastfolk, and he was proud of displaying his brutality toward them. For that reason, he volunteered to be stationed at the borderlands to satisfy his craving to kill them.
“What is Astley’s greatest shooter doing here?” For someone as skilled as Austin, Rick was perplexed as to why he was tasked with dealing with an artist such as himself. But they had been following him the whole day; they probably had an assessment of his capabilities and most likely witnessed his secret intrusion into the palace. “Isn’t it obvious? I am here to eliminate you, of course.” Upon declaring his haughty remark, Austin drew his beloved gun from its holster and pointed its muzzle at Rick. Rick seemed to be unfazed by his actions, which partially distracted Austin’s flawless demeanor.
“Ho ho. You are undaunted even in front of my presence and my gun? Is your confidence really that high?” “Is there a reason why you want me dead?” Rick asked him instead of giving him a response. “You seem to be more capable than you appear. The order was to observe you; if you are proven to be a potential threat, you must be terminated.” “I see. Someone ordered you to do so. And when you saw me in that place, I guess that you eventually concluded that I would be a potential threat toward that person, so you need to get rid of me.” “You are quite a sharp person, aren’t you?” Austin sent him a glare. “Anyways, even if you could perfectly assimilate your presence with the surroundings, you could never dodge my bullet.” Bang!
As soon as he uttered those words, Austin instantly pulled the trigger of his gun and fired it at Rick. Austin had analyzed Rick using his Appraisal and already had an assessment of his strength. Confident of his overwhelming superiority over him, Austin thought a technique was unnecessary.
The bullet flew several times at sonic speed, cutting the air as it was aiming toward Rick. With that speed, even the Level 150 Rick had no chance of avoiding it. However, a meter before it could pierce Rick’s head, the man in the black suit suddenly vanished from their sight, and the round bullet flew past his spot, traveling through the air until it stopped upon hitting the stone of one of the houses several dozen meters away. For the first time in years, Austin’s bullet did not hit its target. “He disappeared?!” “He dodged Sir Austin’s bullet?!”
Filled with disbelief, Austin’s henchmen yelped upon seeing his bullet miss its target. Ever since they were assigned under him, there was never a moment they saw Austin go off the mark. Aside from the missed shot, Rick was now nowhere to be seen, and their panic was valid. “What? Impossible?”
In spite of his genuine shock, Austin managed to maintain his cool as he quickly reloaded his gun. Never in his mind did he think he would miss the shot. 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝘮
Rick was reportedly said to be around Level 100, but what he was showing was not something even a Level 200 rogue could do. He must be hiding something, he thought. He instantly realized that Rick was not someone to take lightly, and he immediately activated his Perfect Concealment to perceive his presence. But when he was able to get a glimpse of him, he saw Rick was about to throw a fist into his subordinate’s face. “Ack—?!” The punch hit the dumbfounded man’s face, smashing his face and breaking his nose. The man went flying in the air for several meters before landing on the pavement headfirst, unconscious, blood gushing out of his nose.
“Huh?! What happened?! When Rick ran toward his next punching bag, Austin quickly aimed his gun at Rick.
“Fast Shot.”
Bang.
Austin performed a Shooting Art technique that doubled the bullet velocity as he pulled the trigger. Not only the technique, but Austin even activated his Supersonic extra skill for tremendous additional velocity. “Ugh—?!” The bullet flew several dozen times faster than the speed of sound, so fast that Rick could barely react to it, and the bullet managed to pierce his left shoulder. Rick’s Perfect Concealment was undone, and he revealed himself as he was holding his wound.
As Austin was reloading, the other man pulled out his dagger and lunged toward Rick. Injured, Rick quickly evaded the stab by sidestepping. However, the man was persistent and consistently kept attacking him. But Rick still managed to avoid his attacks.
When Rick partially healed the wound with the bullet still inside, he reflexively avoided another slash and even managed to disarm the man. Upon dropping the dagger, Rick and the man engaged in close-quarter combat. Rick and the man exchanged ferocious blows, as the man was also an expert in martial arts. However, Rick got the upper hand with his superior stats and strength due to the effects of the Monarch of the Night. With his might, the stalemate of fists became a one-sided beatdown.
“Gluh-?!” In the middle of his massacre, Rick suddenly felt a painful sting in his body. Rick felt his body was weakening, and now he could not move properly anymore. The bullet that pierced his shoulder actually had lethal poison coating it. The poison flowed through his veins and gradually paralyzed his body. The man noticed his changes and unhesitatingly punched his face with might. Rick was stunned by the punch and started staggering before falling to the ground. The man then sat atop the collapsed Rick and continuously delivered his powerful blows to his face. “That’s enough.” Austin approached. “Yes, sir.” After almost a minute of beating, Rick was lying on the road with a face full of wounds and bruises. The poison also affects his mana veins, so his healing abilities were intercepted. “I never thought… you would use… such dirty tactics…” “The world is already unfair in the first place,” Austin uttered, aiming his gun at Rick’s head. “Any last words?” “Hmm… Could you tell me… to whom you are working?”
“Ha ha. You are still into that?” He just laughed. “Well, since you are going to die, and a dead man tells no tales, I will tell you. The one I served for is—” As soon as he uttered the name, Austin immediately fired the gun and successfully ended Rick’s life.
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