Acting quickly, I stashed my bow back into my smart bracelet's dimensional storage and mentally prepared myself for hand-to-hand combat.
I know I can't defeat a vampire alone without a weapon on me, but fighting to win isn't my motive to begin with.
By the looks of it, Nero will reach me in around eight seconds. That's all the time I need to stall for.
Yes, I was fighting to stall time.
I am not the main character of this story, so I won't act like it and try to fight an obviously stronger opponent than me with the objective of winning.
As soon as Magnus stepped into the striking range, he thrust his sword forward at my head to drill open a hole in my skull with his blade.
He was quickly going for the kill.
Unfortunately for him, I have no intention of dying here today.
Fwoosh—!!
I ducked and let his sword pass over my head while simultaneously willing mana into my right hand and balling it into a fist.
Tensing my calve muscles and mustering all the strength I had in my body, I lunged forward from that low position and shot forward a powerful punch.
[Soul Smashing Killer Fist]
It was a combat art provided to me by the Academy's combat art instructor that I hadn't used in real battle yet, but using it here was worth a shot.
Swish—!!
However, my fist connected with nothing but air as the vampire swiftly twirled to his right and firmly gripped my arm.
Thwack—!!
With the hold of my arm, Magnus used my forward motion against me and yanked me in toward himself before thrashing his knee into my stomach.
"Khuuk!"
The impact knocked the wind out of me, leaving me gasping for air as the skilled assassin raised his sword high, poised to strike and plunge it into my heart from behind.
Should I use Mana Burst or Phoenix's Embrace? – this thought crossed my mind, but I quickly decided against it.
Those were cards I couldn't afford to play just yet.
Why not?
The reason was simple: there were CCTV cameras installed in the hall where we were currently engaged in a life-or-death battle.
Once the Cadet Council learned of what had happened on this trip, they would undoubtedly review the footage of the tragedy that had taken place here.
Aside from the Cadet Council, there was someone else I needed to keep my cards hidden from too.
That person was, of course, Grace Goodwill.
Why is that?
Because if she knew the extent of my abilities, she would almost certainly inform Kai.
And that was something I couldn't risk.
Yes, I absolutely can't let that happen.
But if I do nothing, I will die.
…No, I can't die here! I have to live! I have to reach the end of this story!
I need to take my revenge on the author of this shitty world for killing me! I need to win!
"Arghha!"
With a burst of adrenaline-fueled strength, I twisted my body to the side, causing Magnus' sword to miss its intended target by a hair's breadth.
Thwack—!!
Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, I slammed my elbow into his face, sending him staggering backward.
My heart pounding in my chest, I scrambled to my feet and backed away from the vampire.
Bang, Bang, Bang—!!
Hugh used this chance to shoot a barrage of bullets at Magnus, not giving him a chance to recover.
Cling—!!
But Magnus acted quickly, and he used his claw to block the bullets before swiftly closing in on Hugh, slashing his sword at him.
"....?!"
With widened eyes, Hugh jumped back in time and barely managed to avoid the sword hitting his body.
Kwish—!!
However, the vampire's blade met with one of the guns in Hugh's right hand and sliced through it like a hot knife to butter.
Bang, Bang—!!
As Hugh fired off rounds from his remaining gun, he took cautious steps backward.
But despite his efforts, Magnus evaded most of the bullets with his inhumane speed and relentlessly closed in on him once again.
Instead of using his sword this time, however, the vampire planted his left foot firmly on the ground and willed mana into his right one.
Fwish—!!
Thwack—!!!
With a swift twist of his body, he delivered a brutal spinning kick to Hugh's abdomen, sending him hurtling several meters away as the gunman coughed a mouthful of blood violently and skidded across the ground.
"Haaaa!"
In the critical moment, William seized the opportunity and charged toward Magnus with his spear gripped tightly in hand.
Seeing that the vampire was still off balance from delivering that kick to Elijah, William aimed to strike and impale him with his spear and end this battle right this instant.
Kwish—!!
Unfortunately, Magnus proved to be more agile than William had anticipated. He effortlessly sidestepped the incoming spear as it whizzed past him on his left.
However, he didn't stop there.
Thwack—!!
In a fluid, spinning motion, the vampire twirled his body like a whirlwind and delivered a crushing blow to William's right chin with a powerful elbow strike.
"Khuaak!"
With a sickening crack, one of William's teeth dislodged from his mouth, flying out as he spat out a gush of blood mixed with fragments of tooth.
"Aaaaah!"
But before Magnus could use his sword to kill off the green-haired half-elf, who was already down on his knees, Nero came to William's rescue.
He skillfully swung his sword at Magnus with all his might, giving him almost no time to react to his attack.
Cling—!!!
But the vampire assassin did react. He slightly lifted his sword and parried Nero's blade with very little effort.
Thwack—!!
The protagonist couldn't even blink as Magnus thrashed his leg into Nero's midsection, making him stumble a few steps back.
"Aaaah!"
"Fuaaaa!"
To gang up on the vampire and help out, Nero, Aster, and Elijah came running.
Swish—!!
In a flash, Magnus dropped to his knees and used Elijah's momentum to lift him over his shoulder with one hand.
".....?!"
Before Elijah could do something about it, Magnus threw his body at Nero like a rag doll, who was rushing back to him after recovering from that kick.
Thwam—!!
Elijah's body flew forward and violently crashed into Nero as they both fell to the ground.
"Stay down, you pests!" Magnus yelled in a demonic voice before turning his attention to Aster.
The blue-haired elven girl had already summoned five Ice Spears as they all floated around her.
SWISH—!!!
With a mere sweep of her fingers, the Ice Spears launched forward at the vampire assassin.
Magnus, seeing this, enveloped his sword in an ominous aura of darkness and slashed his blade horizontally over the ground.
Fwish—!!
Thwush—!!
A crescent-shaped arc of pure darkness launched from his blade and collided with the Ice Spears, shattering them into a thousand ice shards.
As the particles of ice fell down like snow, Magnus darted straight for Aster. As that happened, Grace and Ella also rushed toward Magnus.
"Ilana–" Aster prepared her water barrier spell to protect herself from the incoming vampire who was charging at her like an enraged bull.
But before she could finish her spell, Grace lunged at Magnus with her halberd poised to strike.
Magnus merely swirled to his left and grabbed Grace's weapon by its shaft.
He then used her own speed against her, deftly swinging her around before hurling her towards Aster.
Thwam—!!!
Aster tried to dodge Grace's hurtling body, but the unexpected collision knocked them both off balance.
They met the same fate as Elijah and Nero earlier as they tumbled to the ground, struggling to regain their bearings.
Swish—!!
Just then, Ella pounced forward with her rapier, aiming for Magnus' skull with fierce determination.
However, the vampire was ready and countered her attack with a swift parry, sweeping his own blade upwards to deflect her weapon.
Not content with just defending himself, Magnus quickly spun around, his sword making a deadly arc aimed at Ella's neck.
Fwish—!!
Reacting quickly, Ella managed to take a step back just in time to avoid the lethal blow, letting Magnus' sword meet nothing but air.
But Magnus was not yet finished.
Kach—!!
Splurt—!!
In a blink of an eye, he changed his slash into a thrust, lunging forward with his sword aimed at Ella's shoulder.
Despite her efforts to dodge, the blade pierced through her shoulder, eliciting a sharp cry of pain from the young girl's lips. "Arghhaaa!"
"Tsk," as I watched this scene from a distance while biting on my thumbnail, I couldn't help but click my tongue in frustration.
I gravely underestimated our foe.
Magnus knew he was overpowered and outnumbered, so he was picking his fights one by one.
What's more, is that our team had no coordination whatsoever. They weren't communicating with each other.
They were letting Magnus isolate them into fighting a one-on-one battle.
"Bwaaah! I can't take it anymore!" Amelia, who was also watching the same scenery, yelled out in a frustrated tone.
She quickly put her bow back into her dimensional storage and clenched her fists. "I'm going in!"
"Amelia, no!" Anastasia tried to stop her, but the black-haired archeress had already arrived in front of Magnus.
"Haaa," letting out a sigh, I looked at my watch.
It was 6:54 PM right now.
"Heh," suddenly, a grin formed on my face.
It was almost time for my backup plan to start.
