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Chapter 61 - I Am Kevin Voss [3]
-Spurt!
Appearing behind one of the guards patrolling the area, Kevin swiftly and silently slit his throat.
Dragging the guard's corpse behind a bush, Kevin came back out wearing a black uniform and a hat. On his right peck, a white nametag rested on the uniform.
After scouting all of the guards from the drone, Kevin had a general idea of the guard's movement pattern.
Turning right, Kevin passed by another guard that was patrolling not so far away from where he was.
Nodding his head to greet Kevin, the guard moved past Kevin.
-Spurt!
Swiftly appearing behind the guard and silently slitting his throat, Kevin dragged his body away.
Coming back out, Kevin replaced his previous name tag with the one of the guard he had just killed.
The reason for his action was because certain guards were only allowed to patrol certain areas. If they found out that the guard that was supposed to be patrolling the outside perimeter was outside their designated area, they would no doubt become suspicious.
Though he knew his plan wasn't going to last long, he would at least like to reach a certain point before bulldozing his way towards his target.
Realistically, remaining hidden was not an option...but it's not like Kevin cared. He was that confident in his skill.
Entering the villa, Kevin lowered the hat he was wearing. Masking his face.
Right now Kevin had to operate fast.
His target already knew that he was on his tail.
Previously, he had sent several scouting devices inside of the villa, and thus he knew exactly where Victor was hiding.
However, despite the fact that their cloaking function was fairly good, they had all already been seen through by someone.
Kevin estimated that whoever found the devices, was at least
Though he knew there was going to be someone of that level as the system had already warned him beforehand, he had to confirm for himself.
...and now he knew.
Increasing his pace, Kevin walked in the direction of where he last detected Victor. He knew he couldn't waste any time.
If he let the target escape, the next time he tried to assassinate him, chances were that he would be more prepared. Even worse, he would hide until Kevin had no choice but to return to the academy, preventing him from completing the mission.
He had to kill him now at all costs. If not, there was not going to be a second chance.
Turning left of the hall, Kevin passed by two guards who seemed to be in a rush.
"Hey!"
Hearing someone shouting in his direction, halting his steps, Kevin kept looking at the front.
"Morrison, what are you doing here?"
Jogging to where Kevin was, one of the guards looked at Kevin suspiciously.
"You shouldn't be here. We just got an emergency message regarding someone infiltrating the premis--kh"
Just as the guard was about to finish speaking, Kevin subtly looked at his nametag 'Leo' and swiftly stabbed his heart.
Supporting Leo's lifeless body with one arm so that he remained standing, Kevin pretended to converse with him. Halfway through his conversation, Kevin slightly loosened the grip of Leo's body, and it slowly sank in his direction.
"I know, someone ordered me to...hey? Leo are you okay?"
"What's going on?"
Noticing something strange, the other guard that was accompanying Leo, whom Kevin had just killed, jogged in Kevin's direction.
Using his shoulder to mask the blood that was slowly seeping from Leo's body, Kevin flusteredly spoke.
"I-I don't know. I was just talking to him when he suddenly just passed out in front of me"
"Hey, Leo!"
Arriving next to Leo, the guard gave him a gentle tap
"...Hm?"
Noticing a small red stain on the ground, the guard instantly felt that something wasn't right, but before he could react, a silver streak of light appeared before his heart.
-Spurt!
-Thud!
-Thud!
Knowing that his cover would be blown any second, Kevin sprinted towards where Victor was hiding.
"Hey!"
"Hey!"
As he was running, he met a couple of guards that tried to block his way. However, it was all futile.
Stepping on the side of the wall, Kevin stabbed his sword in their direction.
Noticing Kevin's action, the two guards immediately tried to block Kevin's attack...
...but suddenly out of nowhere, the sword that they assumed was coming from the front suddenly appeared on the side, completely catching them off guard.
-Spurt!
-Thud!
Killing one of the guards, using the momentum he had from having propelled himself off the wall, Kevin somersaulted in the air and slashed towards the other guard.
Flustered, the guard tried to block Kevin's attack, but similarly to the first guard, just as the sword was about an inch away from him, it suddenly appeared in a completely different direction, completely catching him off guard.
-Spurt!
-Thud!
Without looking back, Kevin continued running and killing guards left and right as he bulldozed his way towards where Victor was.
"Stop right there!"
Just as Kevin was about to reach the room Victor was hiding in, a large towering man appeared before him, obstructing his path.
A large pressure emanated from his body.
Stopping, Kevin looked at him and said
"...so you must be the one who found my Scouters"
Without answering Kevin, the towering man looked at him up and down. Frowning, a trace of astonishment appeared on his face.
"E rank? H-how's this possible?"
"You should be worried about something else instead of my rank!"
Appearing before Eldor, Kevin drew his sword and slashed in his direction.
"You dare!"
-Clang!
Before Kevin's sword could hack at Eldor, a giant axe appeared in his hand, perfectly blocking his attack.
-Kach!
Taking a couple of steps back, Eldor hacked his axe on the ground to stop himself from moving further backwards.
Regaining his bearing Eldor solemnly looked at Kevin.
"To be able to push me this far back...You're not half bad"
-Shua!
Without answering Eldor, Kevin appeared on his left side and stabbed towards his head.
Just as Eldor was about to block Kevin's sword attack, midway through his motion he stopped and redirected his axe to the left side of his body.
-Criiick!
"khhh..."
Barely managing to block Kevin's attack, Eldor's axe grazed Kevin's sword.
Though he managed to stop Kevin from stabbing him in the liver, a large gash appeared on his body.
"What kind of sword art is that?"
Dumbly looking at his wound, Eldor looked at Kevin who was a few steps away from him.
Ignoring Eldor, Kevin once again attacked.
-Shua!
-Criick!
Staring at the sword coming in his direction intently, Eldor once again managed to barely deflect his attack.
"Khhh...dammit"
Holding on the side of his body, Eldor took a quick potion from his pocket and downed it. Slowly, his injuries started healing.
-Shua!
Appearing on Eldor's right side, Kevin's sword hacked towards his head, and a whistle arose as the sword split the air.
-Clank!
Firmly blocking Kevin's true attack that was heading towards his heart, a smirk appeared on Eldor's face.
"You think I wouldn't be able to block it after the second time?"
Using his enormous frame, Eldor pushed Kevin back.
"Hhuuuuaaa"
Raising his axe in the air, Eldor firmly hacked it towards Kevin's direction.
Sidestepping, Kevin tried to avoid the attack, however, midway through the air, Eldor's axe twisted to the side in a J motion.
-Clank!
Blocking the attack, Kevin felt all the bones in his body vibrate from the clash.
"Again!"
Raising his axe again, Eldor once again hacked.
-Shuuua!
Frowning, with his right hand holding the grip of the sword and his left hand holding the body of the sword, Kevin followed the axe's movement and redirected it to the ground.
-Baaam!
Breaking the marble floor into millions of pieces, a large cloud of dust swept the area.
Noticing the slight opening, Kevin decided to act
Swiftly turning the tip of his sword, a whistle arose! Kevin's momentum suddenly changed. His gentle attacks from before were long gone, and what replaced them were fiercer and heavier strikes that overwhelmed Eldor.
Following the heavier strikes, Kevin's sword became even harder to trace as every single one of his attacks would look like the real deal. He would occasionally pretend to do a feint when in fact there was none. This was so that he could destroy Eldor's mentality, increasing the chances of him making a mistake.
Eldor, who was under the barrage of attacks, could barely hold on as he used his giant axe as a shield.
The fact that he couldn't rely on his sight made things that much harder for him. He had to pay extra close attention to the sound the sword made in the air, else he wouldn't know where the sword was coming from.
"Khhh, dammit"
As he was being pushed back, Eldor grit his teeth. Looking at Kevin whose momentum was increasing by the second, Eldor who knew that this couldn't keep going anymore decided to use his strongest move and end things.
"You leave me no choice!"
Suddenly, a black glow emanated from Eldor's body as his muscles started bulging from his body.
Kevin who noticed these changes immediately attacked him more fiercely, but it was to no avail as Eldor who was struggling before was starting to defend his attacks more accurately.
'He's using something similar to overdrive'
Stopping his frontal attacks, as he knew it was useless, Kevin decided to rely on his agility and swiftly moved behind Eldor's thick body
Noticing Kevin moving behind him, Eldor turned around at an astonishing speed. The giant axe in his hands was covered in a thick black glow before Kevin knew it, and along with it, a supremely fierce and immense pressure bore down on Kevin who was caught off-guard.
-Whaaam!
As soon as the ax slashed horizontally, Kevin felt the air and the surroundings vibrate intensively.
It was so fast that it was impossible to dodge!
Seeing that he couldn't dodge, Kevin met the axe head-on.
-CLANG!
A large shockwave swept the surroundings. Taking ten steps backs, Kevin felt an iron-like taste in his mouth.
-Spurt!
After a couple of seconds, Kevin couldn't hold it anymore and spat a mouthful of blood.
"Huaaaa!"
Before Kevin had enough time to catch his breath, Eldor's giant axe came swinging from above.
-Kacha!
Narrowly dodging the attack by a hair's breadth, Kevin saw the giant axe split the marble floor into dozens of pieces.
"..In the end I have to use it, huh"
Looking at Eldor, who was preparing himself for another swing, Kevin closed his eyes and let out a long breath
[[E] Overdrive]
As if all of his muscles had been rejuvenated, Kevin felt an unprecedented power rise from deep within him.
Tensing his calves, Kevin appeared behind Eldor.
-Thud!
Slashing upwards, a head flew in the air and a massive body fell flat on the ground sending debris all over the place.
"Khhhhhh...."
Deactivating [Overdrive], Kevin's muscles spasmed continuously. The pain was so strong, that he barely managed to stop himself from passing out.
...in the end, he had to use [Overdrive]
The side effects of using [Overdrive] were currently too much for him. If not for the fact that he had no choice but to use it, he would've never used it.
In the end, despite being stronger than Eldor, his experience was still far lower than his.
He wanted to win without needing to use [Overdrive], but in the end, without it, he wouldn't have been able to win.
-Gulp! -Gulp! -Gulp!
Gulping down a couple of potions, Kevin felt a little bit better...Well enough to stand up.
Looking around, Kevin walked towards Eldor's headless body.
-Shaa!
Slashing towards Eldor's hand, Kevin took it and headed towards a large wooden door.
-Beep!
Placing his finger on the lock in front of the door, Kevin waited for the door to open before entering.
Waiting on the other side of the door, Victor stood up and let out a sigh of relief.
'Only Eldor can unlock the door, this means he succeeded right...?'
-Click!
As the door fully extended, Victor's smile froze as he saw two scarlet red eyes staring in his direction.
"Hiiiiii, w-ho are you?"
Slumping backwards, Victor trembled as he crawled backwards...As far away from Kevin as possible.
"Who am I?"
Looking at Victor's sorry figure, Kevin smirked. Extending his hand upward, he slowly hacked in his direction.
-Slash!
-Thud!
Watching Victor's fat head rolling on the floor, Kevin slowly said
"I am Kevin Voss"
Chapter 62 - Resolve [1]
They say humans were adaptable creatures.
Presented with an external scenario that changed their behavioral pattern or ways of life, humans were creatures that were able to adapt to the new changes presented to them.
Compared to the other races, humans didn't have anything in particular that stood out for them.
Dwarves were smart, Elves had a high affinity with mana, and orcs had strong constitutions.
...humans had none of that.
They didn't have the dwarves' intelligence, the elves' strong affinity with mana, nor did they have physiques as strong as the orcs.
They were merely a bunch of evolved primates in the eyes of the three races.
...yet, after around 70 years, to the surprise of the three races, humanity had almost caught up with them.
Though they weren't particularly outstanding in a single area, after adapting to the new changes around them, they were able to swiftly become a powerhouse that could comfortably defend their territory from the likes of demons and the other races.
It all came down to how they were able to adapt to the changes presented before them.
They didn't need to be the smartest. They didn't need to have a high affinity to mana, nor did they need to have strong constitutions like the orcs.
Though they wouldn't come close to the level of orcs, elves, and dwarves, humans were able to control mana, have strong physiques, and come up with new technology and theories that further increased their knowledge.
...adaptability.
Though it sounded dull, it was probably what made humans so scary...
Sitting in front of a cafè, sipping on some iced lattè whilst listening to my mp3, I looked outside the window.
Two days have passed since I had been assigned the mission by the academy.
Surprise, surprise, Kevin completed it on the same night as he got his mission assigned.
Show off...
Jokes aside, past the first day, most people had already completed their missions.
A couple of students got injured and some even nearly died, but due to some sheer luck, no one died.
Though I could've been like them and done the task on the first day, I decided against doing so.
There was a reason for my action.
For one, completing the task so fast would definitely arouse suspicion from the professors, and two...I just needed some time to sort my state of mind.
It's been about two months since I had reincarnated into my late novel, and despite having seen all sorts of terrible things, I still couldn't quite grasp the concept of death.
I've sort of forced myself to not think about it, even after I killed Elijah back in the after-party, I wasn't affected much due to the effects of [Monarch's indifference].
But that was merely a way for me to cope.
In order to cope, I lied to myself into making myself think that the person who killed Elijah wasn't me, but another version of me that was under the effect of [Monarch's indifference].
I knew this wasn't good for me, but if I didn't do so, my mentality would've long crumbled.
Biting the top of my latte' cup, I looked at the foremost notification on my phone.
[Time left until mission expires : 01D : 02H : 17M : 24S]
...Now, I was once again presented with a scenario where I had to kill someone.
My first thought when I got the mission was...let's use [Monarch's indifference].
If I used that skill, I wouldn't have to worry about having nightmares for a week.
However, after a bit of thinking, I decided against doing so.
...I needed to get used to death.
I needed to acknowledge the fact that I was no longer on earth...but inside of my novel where the morals were completely different from the world I used to live in.
It was hard.
It was very hard.
Though I've tried multiple times already, the morals that had been engraved in me for 32 years of my life couldn't just be thrown away in the drain as I wished.
It just wasn't possible...but that didn't mean this couldn't change in the future.
Though I may not be able to get used to killing immediately, there will eventually come a time where I would finally be indifferent towards killing.
Though it was going to be hard, it wasn't impossible. All I needed to do was...
Adapt.
-Plap!
Placing my now empty latte' down, I stood up and left the cafe'
Resolutely looking at the counting timer on my phone, I headed back towards the mansion so that I could get all preparations done
Today I would try to consciously kill without the aid of [Monarch's indifference]
Though I knew this day would eventually come, it didn't stop me from feeling a hint of anxiety creep into my heart.
Killing without the aid of anything.
That was my resolve.
...
10 P.M
Outside a venue filled with people, I stood on top of the opposite building quietly scouting the perimeter of the venue.
Inside of the venue I was looking at, a masquerade party was being held.
People wearing masks dancing and chatting could be seen everywhere. This was quite inconvenient for me as I had a hard time finding my target because of this.
The masquerade party was a celebratory party in commemoration of the building's opening.
The host of the party was...my current target, Karl zar.
According to the files I had been sent, my target was the head of a minor drug organization that sold and traded potent drugs into Hollberg.
Despite the fact that the organization he controlled was small, he earned a hefty amount of money.
Enough to afford a whole building...
The building he just bought was merely a building he had bought so that he could show off his wealth to the others, and it was one of the many other properties he owned.
After looking carefully, I was finally able to spot my target
Despite the fact that everyone was wearing a mask, my target was surprisingly easy to spot
Wearing a gold mask that only covered his eyes, Karl had a group of people following him.
...they were probably his bodyguards.
Frowning slightly, I thought something was strange.
...he was being too obvious.
Despite this being a masquerade party, he didn't try to hide who he was.
If he wasn't as obvious, I would've probably have had a harder time spotting him.
'Maybe he caught wind of what was happening these past few days?'
I thought as I looked at it from a different perspective.
If so, it made sense.
I mean who wouldn't become more cautious after seeing a lot of big shots disappear in a matter of days.
He was currently living his days not knowing whether he would be one of those people that disappeared overnight.
I too would've become paranoid.
Looking at Karl's figure walking around to the venue accompanied by the many bodyguards, I measured the distance between us.
In terms of distance, I was probably about a couple hundred meters away.
Though it wasn't far, it was also not close.
I needed to kill him before he left for good.
If he managed to leave before I could kill him, I may not be able to find another good time to kill him.
In any case, my job today was simple. I just had to wait for my target to leave before killing him.
11 P.M.
The sun had already long set and what replaced it was the gentle moonlight that lit the surrounding streets.
The street lanterns brightly lit the streets of Hollberg as occasionally a few cars would drive by in the distance.
The masquerade was nearing its ending stages. Luxurious cars arrived at the venue one by one, and people adorned in fancy dresses and masks filled with strange patterns exited the building and entered the cars that soon drove into the distance.
As they left, the roaring sound of the car's engine could be heard not so far from where I was standing.
11:30 P.M.
A black limousine arrived in front of the party venue.
Soon, two people exited the building and made their way towards the limousine.
Seeing the two people leave the premises, I instantly became alert and prepared for what was to come.
My target Karl zar had finally left the venue.
Though I could've killed him while he was still at the venue, there was a high chance things were going to get troublesome if I were to kill him in front of everyone.
In the end, I could only wait for him to exit the building and attack then.
"…Hm."
Just as I was about to make my move I halted and looked at Karl.
Taking off his mask 'Karl's' figure suddenly morphed to the figure of a young man in his thirties.
Opening my eyes wide, abruptly turning my head left, I could see a black car speeding off in the distance
"Shit...I've been had!"
This guy was much more cations than I had anticipated.
After a lot of big-shots disappeared over the last two days, noticing that something was strange, Karl took no chances and heavily invested in security as well as methods to avoid being assassinated.
The guy who was pretending to be him was most likely wearing a top skin mask that lasted for a couple of hours, meaning that after the time was up the mask would no longer function.
Staring at the black car that was speeding off into the distance, a smirk appeared on my face.
His plan was honestly quite good...too bad he was currently being targeted by me.
Prior to coming here, I did a thorough investigation of the nearby areas.
I had memorized every single street in the nearby radius.
...and I knew exactly which road he was going to take.
Jumping off the building I was on, I softly landed on the ground and sped towards the distance. Turning left and right of a couple of buildings, I increased my pace even further...
It was a race against time.
Because his main house was in the opposite direction, I knew exactly which road he was going to take to get back home.
Though it may look like they shook me off, I already knew that our paths were bound to cross very soon.
"Let's see if you can really escape from my grasp...."