Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 52

Silence (8)

‘Wary…?’

This unexpected message caught me completely off guard.

It was hard to believe that the Warlord’s divinity would be wary of just one player.

One might interpret it as being cautious because that player could pose a threat to his apostle, but that seemed unlikely.

Typically, when a divinity expresses wariness through a system message, it’s not merely concern for a single follower.

It usually indicates a genuine threat to their faith or order.

However, there was no time to dwell on it, as the player before me lunged forward, kicking off the ground.

Closing the distance with surprising speed, the man swung his dagger, catching Aile off guard for a moment.

A straightforward attack aimed directly at the front.

Aile was far from naive enough to fall for such an attack, easily blocking the dagger.

But that wasn’t his true target from the start.

Clang!

Locking their weapons together, the man pressed in, closing the gap in an instant.

He relentlessly pursued Aile, preventing him from widening the distance, and continued to swing his dagger, applying constant pressure.

The length of his longsword made it difficult to respond effectively, so Aile quickly adjusted by pulling his sword closer to his body, gripping the hilt as short as possible.

Clang!

Amidst the flurry of attacks, Aile seized an opportunity and powerfully swung his sword, striking his opponent.

The man reacted swiftly, raising his dagger to block Aile’s attack, but the impact forced him to take a step back, allowing Aile to barely manage to regain some distance.

‘What is this…’

Aile couldn’t hide his bewilderment at facing such an unexpected and formidable opponent.

A quest for players around level 25, yet his swordsmanship far surpassed the typical level for that range.

Moreover, most rogue-class characters who used daggers tended to dual-wield, but the man before him was using only one.

Initially, Aile remained vigilant, expecting a trick where he might suddenly draw a second dagger, but his stance suggested otherwise.

The scabbard at the man’s waist held only one dagger, and his posture didn’t allow for drawing another.

‘In that case…’

Aile mentally reviewed the numerous classes and skills that users who wield a single dagger might choose.

Without any information, he couldn’t be certain which one he had selected, but he needed to consider and prepare for all the most likely possibilities in advance.

Even if he couldn’t counter every variable, he had to think ahead to avoid being caught off guard by an unexpected move.

‘Stay vigilant.’

It was clear from their brief exchange that this was no ordinary opponent.

Aile immediately activated his Heretic Designation skill, marking the man with the Heretic’s Mark above his head.

A powerful advantage only an apostle could enforce, whether in PVP [Player versus Player] or PVE [Player versus Environment].

Whoosh!

Aile lightly brushed the blade of his longsword, igniting it with holy fire.

The hooded man flinched at the sudden appearance of the heretical mark above his head and the white flames engulfing the weapon.

But only for a moment, as both charged at each other almost simultaneously.

Clang!

‘So it wasn’t a fluke.’

As soon as their swords clashed again, the man relentlessly closed the distance, pressing inward.

An annoyingly blatant tactic from Aile’s perspective.

He wasn’t just relying on superior physical abilities; he knew how to fight.

The longsword needed distance, while the dagger sought close combat.

If the longsword user couldn’t maintain that distance, the situation would become extremely disadvantageous, and the man was exploiting that weakness.

‘This is troublesome.’

Aile knew the man was targeting his weakness, but he didn’t have a good solution.

Now at level 23, he had only two opportunities to learn skills beyond the basic ones for his class, and the range of available item options was limited, making it difficult to address his weaknesses.

He had planned to compensate for the longsword’s weakness in close combat with martial arts, but that was a long-term plan and wouldn’t help in the current fight.

Clang!

‘Oof…!’

Aile deflected the man’s dagger, which had targeted his exposed thigh.

Besides using only one dagger, his opponent had a unique and rare fighting style.

Typically, dagger users would leverage their weapon’s characteristics, using quick movements and flexibility to mix in numerous small, shallow attacks.

But the man he was facing wasn’t using any such feints.

He only aimed for vital areas, delivering powerful, focused strikes.

Aile, having invested somewhat in health and benefiting from the Madness stat, could usually shrug off minor attacks, but none of the man’s attacks could be casually brushed aside.

The strike that targeted his thigh, bypassing his upper body defenses, wasn’t a mere distraction but an attempt to inflict the ‘Bleeding’ status by targeting the femoral artery.

‘But I’ve got a general idea of his pattern.’

Swish!

The longsword in Aile’s hand vanished, replaced by a dagger from his inventory, held in a reverse grip.

A seamless weapon swap without any wasted movement.

Aile momentarily twisted the trajectory of his longsword swing and thrust the dagger toward his opponent’s abdomen.

A surprising and unconventional move.

Thwack!

But it missed.

The dagger grazed the man’s collar due to his quick reflexes, and a counterattack flowed in like water.

The sudden, exaggerated movement to create an opening left Aile vulnerable to a counterattack.

The man’s dagger aimed precisely for Aile’s neck.

Stab!

“… !”

But it was the man’s back that was stabbed by the dagger.

Just before the attack reached his neck, Aile used the Reverse skill to instantly turn around and plunge the dagger into the man’s back.

[Special effect ‘Curse’ is activated!]

The ‘Dagger of Lament’s’ slowing effect was applied to the man, and simultaneously, the burning damage from the holy fire began to take effect.

It was a calculated move from the moment Aile switched weapons and thrust the dagger.

Clang!

However, the opponent quickly regained his composure and charged at Aile again.

His movements were still fast, as expected from an agility-focused class, but the slowing effect made him easier to handle than before.

He could now cover with the longsword he had switched back to, and there were occasional glimpses of narrowly parrying counterattacks.

But then, with a sound effect, circular marks appeared on Aile’s body.

‘This is…!’

Aile was startled as he recognized the marks on his body.

A rare skill, Weakness Detection.

Activating the skill would mark the opponent’s body with indicators of their weak points, and successfully striking those areas would deal significantly more damage.

A common skill among rogue-class jobs, it was highly regarded even among rare-grade skills.

It meant that attacks on the marked areas should be avoided at all costs.

The opponent relentlessly targeted the weak points, thrusting his dagger, and Aile defended against and blocked them all.

Clang!

As his attacks continued to be blocked, the man deflected Aile’s swinging longsword to the side, then twisted his body to approach from a lower angle.

And this time, he targeted the gap in Aile’s defenses, who was focused on the dagger and the weak point.

Thwack!

The man’s elbow struck Aile’s chest squarely.

A strong impact, far from a normal strike, sent a jolt through his head.

It was the Warlord’s status effect, ‘Stun.’

Unlike online games where it would cause a brief period of complete paralysis, this effect severely impaired cognitive abilities and induced a state of confusion, leaving the victim unable to respond—one of the most powerful status effects.

A normal elbow strike wouldn’t cause a stun, so it must have been the common skill ‘Concussion Blow.’

A rare-grade skill that, if landed accurately, would inflict significant damage and a guaranteed short stun.

‘Oh no…!’

Aile tried to regain his senses, but it was difficult.

As it was a system-induced state of confusion beyond his control, there was nothing he could do.

Stab! Stab!

The man, dodging Aile’s blind swings, easily thrust his dagger into the weak point marks.

With the gruesome sound of armor and flesh tearing, Aile’s health plummeted.

The combined damage from Weakness Detection and Stun reduced his remaining health to around 30 percent.

Two dagger attacks alone had taken away over 60 percent of his health.

The stun’s duration was still slightly in effect, and Aile’s awkward stance wasn’t suitable for defense.

He was a challenging opponent, the first the man had encountered, but it ended here.

He thrust his sword into the heart for the final blow.

Clang!

“… !”

But his expression quickly turned to bewilderment.

A black barrier that appeared around Aile’s body without any warning completely deflected his attack.

It was the special effect of the Black Crystal Accessory set, which could nullify any attack once.

The force of the attack caused a greater recoil, pushing the man’s arm back and creating a massive opening.

Click!

At that moment, Aile’s stun wore off as he was already poised and gripping his longsword.

A perfect opportunity presented itself, and there was only one action to take.

He activated the Heroic skill, ‘Iai Strike.’