I ran through the terrain with swift speed, following the pursuit. Far before they could arrive near my camp, I waved my hand and unleashed a thick smokescreen, spreading out with rapid speed. Unable to see the path ahead of them, the two women that were being chased, and the pursuers, paused in their tracks.

I had familiarized all their positions, so I already had a plan of attack. Now then, let them wallow in confusion for a bit. How do they work in confusion? One of the first steps of learning about your enemy was how they respond to sudden situations. Were they rattled? Composed? United? Disciplined?

My focus was, of course, on the pursuers.

"What is this?" one of them asked.

"Where did this fog come from?"

It would seem they had not noticed I was lurking around them. At least, that was what I thought at first, when one woman among them turned in my direction. But I was already gone from there.

Oh? Sharp senses.

I had to be careful with that one the most, it would seem. They had not moved from their positions, firm on their feet. They were pretty disciplined, even when they were chasing, they were still roughly in formation. This bunch were trained professionals, whatever they precisely may be.

At any rate, I must be more stealthy. What a challenge for my new state. But whatever, I had to win. You know me, I'm the competitive type. Even if a challenge was a pain.

"Stay in your position," one man said in a commanding tone. He must be their leader. "We don't know what's ahead of us."

You're the one I'm killing last.

The man forcefully swung his sword in the air in hopes of dispersing the smoke. However, the smoke immediately refilled the gaps. It was something I already expected, thus conjuring smoke should be continuous. The cost of conjuring smoke was pretty miniscule, too. This thing wouldn't honestly work against monsters, though.

"What is this? This isn't normal," said their leader.

Satisfied with my brief observation, I moved to the two young women.

"Milady," said a woman in her early twenties. "Stay close. We don't know what this fog is."

"This is unnatural," said the young lady with blue hair. She may be slightly older than me. "Suddenly appearing. A monster?"

"I don't recall a monster that could summon fog."

"Where should we head for?"

"I can't say, I wouldn't want to encounter our enemies amidst this fog."

The one that the pursuers called a little princess must be the blue-haired one. She was pretty, but I was prettier of course. What? There's always time to point out my beauty. I have to say though, that flaming sword was worrisome, shining like a fucking beacon. My smoke was covering the light pretty well, but the pursuers might use that thing to find them.

Furthermore, they hadn't noticed me. Which was to my comfort. I stealthily approached them and pointed a hand towards the flaming sword.

"Please stay put," I said like a whisper from the wind.

"Huh?" The blue-haired woman quickly looked around.

I fired ice magic at her sword, and it immediately was engulfed in frost, diminishing the blue flames completely. The young lady quickly looked down at her sword, staring at it with wide eyes. She seemed to be in complete disbelief. Well, the fire was not that powerful, anyway.

"Keep that off," I whispered in the air.

"Who are you?"

I ignored her and proceeded to the enemies. As expected, I was quite enjoying the process. I pulled a couple of medium daggers. In this condition, in this environment, this was where I could thrive. Now, I was to try killing these people without using Armament Magic. If I hit the soft spot in surprise, killing them was possible.

The enemies raised their guards. The two who cast fire magic as illumination even dispelled their magic to focus on security. They warily looked around, anticipating any possible attacks. Not like they could see far within my thick smoke either way.

I headed for the one farthest away, approaching from his rear. He had not noticed me at all. With completely silent steps, I moved in closer. Once he was within reach, I held out my dagger right by his neck.

His eyes shifted down, seeing the blade. "Huh?" He was caught off guard. And before he could speak or shout, I slit his vocal cords. As his throat bled, he took a step back and swung his blade towards me. Or at least, at my last position.

I had already moved, and he only hit nothing but air. I slashed his throat again. He started making choking sounds as his blood spilled on the soil. He kneeled to the ground as he dropped his sword to apply pressure on his neck. Normal humans would have fallen completely with that, but as expected, these people were trained warriors. Strong at that. At any rate, as long as no one cast healing magic on him soon, he'd die.

I appeared beside him, and he looked at me with wide eyes. He was full of confusion. Because, after all, who was I? Just some complete stranger. Sucks so hard, huh? Getting killed by someone who had nothing to do with you.

One down, six to go. I disappeared into the smoke and proceeded to the next target. I was starting from the farthest, so I headed straight for the second farthest person.

"Oi! You heard that?!" one enemy shouted.

"That sounded like something fell, metal…?"

"Damn this fog!"

Then the leader shifted his head towards the one I just attacked. "Is that the sound of someone choking?"

That's it, spread confusion and dread.

I reached the other enemy and quickly slit his throat from the back with my two blades at once. He started bleeding from two cuts. But then, he suddenly turned towards me and swung his blade, sending an arc of light. I easily dodged that before disappearing into the fog. Five to go.

"Someone attacked!" their leader shouted. "Check it out!"

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

It was then another person ran up to the person I just attacked.

"Oh shit." He then caught the man choking up in his own blood. "Someone's attacking us!" The dying man then pointed towards the fog, or to be precise, where I was last, to warn his allies. "They're in the fog!"

I could have attacked him, too. However, don't attack the same spot twice. They'd be already expecting you there. And one must have patience. Don't get too greedy in killing, or you just might end up dying instead. So, I proceeded to another target. I approached with complete stealth, and I slit his throat, his blood spurted out — four to go. But at the same time, I sensed something coming.

I quickly stepped back and held out my dagger on my face, blocking a short katana. Wow, I almost got hit by that, right up in the face, too. I lifted my other blade to block the other short katana coming in low.

"There you are!" It was the woman of the group. "You think you can just sneak around?"

She drew back and moved at me again with great swiftness. I dodged and blocked her coming attacks.

"Can't believe you managed to take out a lot of us already." She continued sending her attacks, aiming for my vitals and soft spots. The way she moved was almost familiar, and it irked me.

I stepped aside to avoid one attack coming, then tilted my head as another came. This woman was moving a bit too fast for my liking, so I had to use a small amount of Physical Enhancement on my body. Just a very small amount. It would seem I could not succeed without relying on my magic to enhance my performance. The smoke was an exception, by the way.

She swung her blades again, but I calmly dodged them and parried.

"What the hell? How are you able to keep up with me? Who are you?!"

I narrowed my eyes. "Are you a ninja?"

She frowned. "Yeah I am—"

That was enough. I snapped my fingers, and a flashbang flashed right in front of her eyes.

"Agh!" She covered her eyes, blinded by the sudden blinding light. She was intending on retreating, but I gave her no chance.

Swiftly stepping forward, I stabbed my blade into her wrist, preventing her from fleeing. Instantly, I stabbed her in the throat. The moment I did, I quickly pulled out my weapons out of her as she attempted to strike at me. After dodging, I stabbed her in the back, right by the kidney.

"You're too slow." I pulled my blade out of her. Of course, that was just me taunting a ninja. She was indeed fast, I'll give her that.

She fell to the ground. Three to go. Considering that our battle was a bit noisy, the rest of the enemies were already coming. Multiple slashes of light came shooting towards me. I dodged them all, just as one enemy goon lunged at me and swung down his blade.

He looked down at the ground. "How the fuck…?" He was shocked to see the woman dead. She must be one of their strongest. "Who are you?!" He attacked me again.

At the same time, another one jumped in, I dodged and as I did, I slashed the side of his neck. He quickly backed away and pressed a hand on his wound. "How the…?" That was not enough to neutralize him, unfortunately.

At the same, I sensed a powerful and swift blade coming at me. I stepped backward and tilted my body back, evading a blade an inch from my face. His sword slammed on the ground. It was their leader.

"Who the fuck are you?" he asked in a grim, angry tone.

"A pointless question, for someone that's going to die."

"Huh?!" He pointed a powerful glare at me. "You just suddenly popped in and started attacking us. You have nothing to do with this."

"Indeed. In truth, I just want to test my limits."

"What did you say?" He was astonished to hear my reason. It was kinda absurd for them.

"In other words, you bunch, are nothing but my test subjects."

His veins basically popped up on his forehead in his anger. "You bastard!" He charged at me.

A burst of smoke exploded around me, quickly spreading around the area, thickening the smokescreen even further. I quietly moved away from my last position, and the enemy leader hit nothing but air.

"You're a damn coward!" the leader shouted.

Oh please, I'm just doing what I'm good at.

Would a mage fight with a sword? Or would a tiger not use its jaws? How stupid.

I approached one enemy, warily looking around through the smoke. "Show yourself! Stop hiding!" he shouted.

I then slit his vocal cord. "Here I am."

He glared at me from the corner of his eyes. I stabbed him in the body, in the gaps of his armor, before quickly fading back into the fog. Two to go. I approached the other goon.

He seemed more nervous. I picked up a pebble and threw it randomly onto the ground. He frantically then fired a slash of light in that direction. At the same time, I stabbed my dagger into his throat and stabbed him in the back.

"The oldest trick in the book."

I pushed him to the ground. One to go, and it was their leader.

I walked around the leader.

"I sense you're nearby," he said. "That must mean you've killed the others."

I didn't answer him, of course. Doing so would just let him determine where I was.

"They were my elite soldiers. And you killed them so easily. Who are you?" He then randomly shot magic in any direction he decided. But of course I wasn't there. "You're more skilled than any ninja I've met. Which island did you come from? Are you from here?"

Motherfucker compared me to a ninja! Outrageous.

I stepped in and swiftly slashed the back of his right knee and instantly disappeared into the fog again.

He grunted in pain. "Damn you. You're insulting me."

I stepped in again, but then he noticed me and he quickly swung his sword in my way. I dodged low and at the same time slashed his armpit. And I disappeared again. He placed a hand on his wound.

"Attacking me in the gaps of my armor, huh?" He clenched his sword tight, and he suddenly spun around in a full circle, sending a wave of light in all directions. I jumped high in the air towards him. I was intending on stabbing him in the neck, but only managed to strike near the collarbone.

He glared at me as I quickly pushed myself from his shoulder, and launched myself back in the air, just as his sword went past my back. I landed back on the ground, and he instantly attacked me. I dodged and his attack hit the ground, but he quickly shifted his weapon to continue striking me.

I would not risk deflecting those with my dagger. If I was using more of my Physical Enhancement, I could have blocked it, but at the moment, best I avoid it. His strikes were heavy. Just as he kept on attacking me, I found a window and slashed his wrist. It slowed him down, and so I struck him in the body in a gap of his armor.

I quickly backed away and struck him again. He swung his blade, I dodged and swooped in towards his back, and slashed the back of his left knee. His legs weakened, and he collapsed on his knees. I stepped away.

"How is this possible…?" he muttered. "Getting killed by some random."

"I am not random."

How dare he?!

He then suddenly stood up, he must be using a great amount of mana in his body. "I will not be humiliated like this!"

It must be painful moving around, but he still did.

I attacked him, and he saw me. I dodged and slashed his other armpit. Huh, his flesh was tougher, so the cut was shallow.

Okay, this may be a bit difficult without using magic, at least on my blades.

Even at full health, I may be hard pressed to beat him without magic.

Ah, what a disappointment.

In myself, of course.

I poured magic on my blades before charging at him. He swung his sword at me, faster than usual. But I dodged him and slashed his arm two times. I got through his armor and did more damage to his flesh. He swung his blade towards me again, and fired a slash of light at close range.

I evaded it and dashed towards him. His sword came down at me, and I parried it with one blade, while the other stabbed in his arm. I twisted the blade before pulling it out. That slowed him as he struck down at me again. I evaded such an attack and stabbed his biceps. Afterward, I swiftly slashed the side of his body. He groaned in pain.

Now that he was in pain from various parts of his body, it was time to end him. He swung his sword at me, I blocked it with one dagger, and I swiftly thrust my other dagger forward, directly at his neck. My strike was too fast for him to evade, and my dagger pierced through his flesh. He froze.

I knew that wouldn't easily kill him, so I twisted the blade. I then kicked him down with the bottom of my foot. He started choking on his own blood, and he dropped his sword.

I let out a sigh.

"My performance is a bit disappointing. But still, it has a good result." I stepped right beside his head. "Just die already."

Damn this world. Hard to kill people even hitting their vitals.

I stabbed him in the heart. And a moment later, his open eyes lost all signs of life. I dispelled all the smoke as I rubbed the stains on my daggers on the man's clothes. Looking around, I noticed one was still moving.

I sheathed my daggers and picked up the man's sword and pushed the blade down his neck, ultimately killing him.

Right then, last man down.

As I looked around at the death I've wrought, I let out a heavy sigh. I felt no satisfaction at all. Only the process of killing them brought me a small sense of… intrigue.

Whatever…

I discarded the blade and turned towards the two ladies. They looked at the bloody scenery with shock and confusion.

I slowly approached them, and the older woman quickly raised her weapon towards me.

"Are you two bad people?" I asked.

Hey, you gotta know if they themselves are aware if they are bad.

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