537 Make Sure They Can't Run First

The three of them gave me an incredulous look, obviously thinking that I was being ridiculous.

"You're actually being serious right now?" Riklan asked.

I tilted my head, "Does it look like I'm joking? You tried to kill me and even stole my stuff, were you expecting me to not retaliate?"

"That's not the point… Do you really think you stand a chance against us? You're just a healer."

"Mmhmm… Why are you still talking? I'm ready to fight, you know?"

Riklan charged towards me without another word, his sword swinging towards my neck at full force.

Seems like he's really serious about trying to kill me.

But well… I'm already at a level where Katsuki's speed could be seen as a blur to me so when I'm focused and ready, Riklan's movements were really slow in comparison.

I even had time to check that Kaelin and Eita remained where they were and weren't trying to flank me from the side.

Seeing that neither of them seemed interested in trying to attack me, I directed my attention back to Riklan again.

His sword was just in the middle of its swing and I wondered how I should deal with it.

Should I just parry it? Block and counter? Or just punch him in the face?

Well, I obviously went with the last option and punched him in the face.

The swordsman got sent flying back from me, though miraculously he managed to keep his grip on his sword instead of dropping it.

All of us watched as he sailed through the air to land at the feet of the other two, Kaelin and Eita looking at their leader in disbelief.

I smiled at him, "Oh my? What happened to you? Did you trip and fall down just like I did? You need to be more careful."

He pushed himself up on his elbows, revealing my punch had broken his nose and a bruise was rapidly forming on the side of his face.

"You… You… What did you do?!"

"Hmm? Did you not realise what happened? Why don't you make a guess?"

He did not respond to my question and simply started chanting a spell instead.

I waited patiently for him to complete the spell, his chant already giving it away that he was trying to cast [Ember].

I was curious why he would cast a spell like that since this spell isn't really that effective as an attack spell.

When the small ball of fire formed in front of him, his sword also burst into flames and he slashed down to cut into the fire he had just created.

The result was a giant wave of fire that sped towards me, threatening to engulf me in its fiery embrace.

I waved my hand and materialised a [Fire Blast] to counter the fire wave.

Our fire met in the centre and cancelled each other out, leaving behind a small smoke cloud that quickly dissipated.

Riklan stared at me in shock, "You… You're also proficient in Pyromancy?!"

"Hmmm~ Would you believe me if I told you I am proficient in more than ten different types of magic?"

The three of them looked at each other before they burst out into laughter.

Eita wiped away her tears with a finger, "Ahahaha! Aster, if you want to intimidate us, at least use something more realistic to do that with! I can believe three, maybe even four different types of magic. But ten?! Ahahahaha!"

Kaelin was also laughing alongside her, "Ahahaha! All of us know at least one form of magic, Aster! We all know how difficult it is to even be proficient with a single type of magic, much less more than one!"

I smiled at them, "Well, then I guess you wouldn't believe me if I told you I was also proficient in martial skills as well?"

They laughed even louder at my words.

Kaelin sneered at me, "Come on, were you making use of my knowledge of your family to try and come up with such ridiculous things? I've seen the capabilities of Nilm Family maids and though they are good, they are not as ridiculous as what you have claimed to be capable of."

"Fufufu~ Really?"

I stretched out my arms and allowed lightning to form in my right palm while a water ball materialised in my left.

The three of them were quick to change their attitude when they saw the two elements appear in my hands, switching from merriment to shock in an instant.

So with this, I've pretty much proven I have at least some skill in Iatromancy, Lumenmancy, Pyromancy, Hydromancy and Electromancy, bringing it to five confirmed magic skills.

I grinned at them, "Oh, and I guess I need to admit to one thing… I'm actually not a trainee maid of the Nilm Family."

Riklan scowled, "I knew it… You're a Mercenary hired by someone to come after us, aren't you?"

"Hmm? Were you that hated that you have people who are willing to pay to have you killed?"

Kaelin blinked, "Wait… You aren't a maid hired by one of our previous victims to kill us? Then who are you? Are you some spy that infiltrated the Nilm Family?"

Hey, that actually sounds pretty fun~

"Oh, wow~ You actually managed to guess that~ I am indeed a spy that was sent to infiltrate and destroy the Nilm Family from the inside~" I laughed.

The silence after my proclamation was deafening.

Eita pointed a finger at me, "You… You are… Trying to destroy the Nilm Family? But… But how? Why?"

"Oh you know~ It's the same old story. Other families and organisations being jealous and what not. And if you don't know, the Matriarch even gave birth to an heir so I'm here to make sure that she doesn't take over the head of the Family any time soon~"

Well, not exactly a lie since I was indeed not planning to take over the Family any time soon, heh heh heh.

By the look on their faces, I can safely say that they finally realised just how badly they had screwed up if what I said was true.

If I was merely just a simple trainee maid, they could possibly get away with what they had planned to do and get compensation from my Family.

But now that they 'know' I was actually a spy capable of infiltrating the Nilm Family, they know that I would most definitely have the skills to back it up.

"Then… Then why are you telling us this?" Kaelin asked

I tilted my head, "Hmm? Because there's no need to keep this kind of secret from a dead party, is there?"

Riklan quickly dashed forward and slashed his sword down towards me.

This time, I created a sword using my Umbramancy and parried it with a casual swing of my wrist.

While he was recovering from the surprise of having his attack blocked, I struck him with a roundhouse kick across his face, sending him flying back to crash in front of his team mates again.

But instead of pressing my advantage, I simply advanced towards them slowly, my blade held loosely at my side.

Kaelin quickly helped Riklan up and the two of them were now facing me with furrowed brows, their mage working on chanting a spell behind them.

They must have realised that I was being serious about wanting to kill them and the only way out of this alive was to kill me in turn.

Riklan and Kaelin charged towards me, the swordsman going to my left and the rogue going to my right, aiming to attack me at the same time.

I used [Shadow Forge] again, changing my sword into a halberd before swinging it at Kaelin from the side.

The rogue tried to block it with his sword but he had underestimated my strength and was sent flying in the direction of Riklan, crashing into him and sending the both of them tumbling away.

Eita finished her chant and fired an icicle at me, only to have the projectile be shattered by a quick cast of [Spark Strike] from me.

The mage's eyes widened when I stalked towards her, her companions still trying to untangle themselves which left her completely defenceless against me.

She raised her hands, presumably as a gesture of surrender but I swung my halberd at her before she could say anything.

The girl screamed as her legs were severed below the knee, causing her to fall face first onto the ground.

Not wanting her to die too quickly, I healed the wound so that she wouldn't bleed out. I do want her to suffer more after all~

Riklan let out a roar and leapt towards me, his sword raised over his head.

I swung my halberd back around and smashed the butt end of the halberd across his face.

For the fourth time today, he was sent flying by me.

Kaelin was trying to sneak around me to attack me from behind while Riklan got my attention, but too bad for him I could see through his plan.

When he leapt out of the shadows to attack me, I called up one of my summons to block his blow with her own sword, making sure he knew exactly what happened before letting my summon knock him back with a swift kick to his abdomen.

The loud crack that I heard told me that at least one or two of his ribs have been broken.

Then, at the same time, both my summon and I swung our weapons at our respective targets, cutting off Riklan and Kaelin's legs.

Oh look, they can't run now~ I wonder what I should do with them?