Under the cloak of night, Rein, delighted, was carrying a sheepskin-wrapped greatsword and walking towards his home.
At that moment, an ordinary-looking middle-aged man in black approached him with a smile and asked, “Hello, could you tell me how to get to the Oak Tree Tavern in Flashgold Town?”
The Oak Tree Tavern?
That’s the Brow family’s place!
Just as Rein was about to turn around to point out the direction, a sudden alarm went off in his mind!
A streak of black light, fast as lightning, was rushing towards him.
“Ha!!”
In the blink of an eye, Rein twisted his body with all his might, gripping the Dual-Handed Greatsword with both hands, and from top to bottom, he swung with all his strength, delivering a Furious Slash!
Almost simultaneously, a streak of black light flashed by, and Rein felt a slight pain in his right rib.
“Bang!!”
Dust flew up!
It was the first time Rein had missed.
His strike, the Furious Slash, had not hit the target; the Dual-Handed Greatsword heavily fell on the ground.
“It’s a dagger!”
“Assassin!”
Rein instantly realized that this strange middle-aged man in black was most likely an assassin.
No wonder he moved so fast, dodging his counterattack in an instant.
Suddenly, the black light struck again!
“Defensive stance!”
Instinctively, Rein used the only defensive sword technique from the Giant Bear Sword Technique, designed to counter high-speed moving enemies. He raised the Fine Steel Greatsword vertically, blocking the path of the attacker’s black light.
“Clang!!”
The assassin’s dagger struck hard on the broad blade of the Dual-Handed Greatsword, to no effect.
However, the force of the rebound caused a slight delay in the assassin’s movement!
“Good opportunity!!”
Rein kicked powerfully at the wide back ridge of his sword, and the tip suddenly kicked up a large cloud of dust, covering the assassin’s whole body like a torrential downpour, forcing him to raise his hands to shield himself.
“Blacksmith’s Strength!”
“Whirlwind Slash!!”
As the assassin lifted his arms to protect his eyes and retreated swiftly, Rein swung the Dual-Handed Greatsword around in a semicircular area attack—the Whirlwind Slash!!
This sword technique, which Rein had often used while clearing out murlocs, proved exceptionally swift and devastating.
The one-and-a-half-meter-long Dual-Handed Greatsword traced a beautiful, bright, semicircular arc.
With Rein’s reach combined with the length of the greatsword, the assassin, although retreating at high speed, really couldn’t avoid it!
He was still half a meter short of escaping the reach of the greatsword; the assassin had no choice but to twist his body forcibly, raising the short dagger to protect his waist, blocking Rein’s ferocious attack.
It must be said that the assassin’s close-combat skills were extremely strong, as he managed to adopt a defensive posture mid-air to avoid being bisected by Rein’s Dual-Handed Greatsword!
“Clang!!”
But tragedy still struck!
The ferocious Dual-Handed Greatsword struck heavily on the small dagger.
Especially since the assassin had underestimated Rein’s explosive strength!
Under the berserk force of sixteen points of strength, the assassin was bent over like a straw; his whole body was violently smashed!
Then, with a “bang,” like a cannonball, he was severely hacked into the woods by the roadside.
“Puh!!”
The assassin heavily collided against a large tree, hugged by one person, and violently spat out a mouthful of fresh blood!
Then, with another “bang,” he was bounced back to the ground by the tree trunk, continuing to vomit large amounts of blood.
His dagger-holding right hand was now grotesquely twisted, clearly indicating a complete fracture of the forearm. The broken radius and ulna bones protruded through the flesh on one side.
But the opponent was lucky!
Because the opponent’s dagger was clearly no ordinary weapon, when split by Rein’s Dual-Handed Greatsword, it didn’t shatter!
Had it been a dagger of normal material, it would have likely shattered on the spot or broken in half, and the person would have been bisected by Rein right then and there.
The opponent tried several times to get up, but each attempt was exceptionally difficult, and clumsily, he fell back to the ground.
Rein’s recent Whirlwind Slash not only broke the opponent’s arm but also left his ribs and organs in a complete mess.
A normal person would have been dead by now, only a well-trained assassin with strong vitality like this could survive.
As Rein rapidly approached, the assassin’s eyes revealed despair.
“Damn it, who said the guy was just a farmer’s son with a bit of talent in swordsmanship, slightly stronger than a militiaman?”
“The strength of that last strike exceeded that of an average third-level Knight Attendant!”
“Damn, we screwed up this time. A combatant comparable to a qualified knight was written off as just a bit stronger than a militiaman.”
“Damn the guy who did the intel; fuck you!”
Unfortunately, Rein could not hear ‘Poison Blade’s’ internal monologue, or else Rein would have touched his nose and told ‘Poison Blade’ that he was wrongly blaming others because the intelligence was essentially correct.
Because ‘Poison Blade’ had indeed overestimated Rein.
Without the enhancement from the Skill ‘Blacksmith’s Strength,’ Rein’s power would diminish significantly, at best, he would be at the level of a first-level Knight Attendant!
So, the intelligence indicating that Rein’s strength was Militiaman+ was actually quite accurate, slightly flawed but not wrong.
But Rein’s skill ‘Blacksmith’s Strength lv3’ was too abnormal, boosting his strength by sixty percent in an instant, turning the kitten into a tiger!
This kind of discrepancy would be unbearable for anyone.
Additionally, a fresh trick works wonders everywhere!
As for the other moves of the Giant Bear Sword Technique, Rein might not be so proficient and swift, but he was familiar with the Whirlwind Slash!
Having swept through a day-long Fishman camp, Rein had been mostly practicing this very move.
The abnormal skill ‘Blacksmith’s Strength lv3’ paired with the fresh move ‘Whirlwind Slash,’ had almost caused ‘Poison Blade’s’ intestines to spill out!
Just when Rein was about to approach quickly and press the opponent for information.
The black-clad assassin lying on the ground looked up at Rein defiantly with a hint of resolve in his eyes, and the next second, his mouth overflowed with a lot of black blood.
“Not good!” Rein rushed forward, but it was already too late.
The assassin had actually committed suicide!
Such a professional assassin?!
Rein quickly recalled everyone he had offended.
The first was bushy brows, but from his last hiring of the likes of “Drunk Jack”—and only asking him to break Rein’s hand—it seemed unlikely that this fierce and ruthless professional assassin was hired by him.
Firstly, the style did not match; the level of bushy brows’ hatred for him did not reach such an extent.
Secondly, the cost of hiring such a professional assassin was likely beyond what a teenager could afford.
“Could it be, was it because of killing Blackbeard, and Boss Kole of the Hyena Gang found out?” Rein murmured.
“Or, was it because I accidentally got involved in the succession disputes of Count Habbs?”
These were the only two possibilities so far.
Rein thought it through and felt that whether it was the Hyena Gang or Count Habbs’ successors, both had the motive and means to hire an assassin.
“Strength! I still need to enhance my strength!”
Rein once again felt a strong sense of urgency in his heart.
This time, if it weren’t for his ‘danger perception’ skill and the fact that the opponent’s strength was within his capability to handle, he could have turned the tables against the wind.
Otherwise, he would really have been done for!
As Rein was about to go forward and collect the spoils of war, the next second, he suddenly felt a slight dizziness in his head.
He sharply looked down and only then did Rein notice the light cut below his right rib, although it bled little and the cut was shallow, the burst skin felt utterly numb!
This made him realize at once.
“Shit! The bastard used poison!”