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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 205: Skirmish

After parting ways with Iris and the others, Miria and I stealthily made our way to the tavern atop the rooftops, making sure no one noticed us.

“Is this the right place?”

“Yes.”

The tavern appeared to be closed today, likely due to yesterday’s incident; even with Detection Magic, I couldn’t feel any presence inside.

However, it seemed all the other clan members had gathered in the basement, likely holding a strategic meeting.

“They seem to be all gathered down there.”

“Looks like it. What will we do?”

“Well…”

Since they were all in one spot, it would be possible to use Miria’s poison to eliminate them all at once.

But…

“That would be boring, right? Let’s just walk in boldly.”

“As you wish.”

While Miria and Iris might resort to ambushes or tricky maneuvers, I prefer a direct confrontation.

Because, honestly, it’s just more fun when the other party comes at me without being careless.

So, we strode into the tavern without using any presence obscuring or recognition hindering magic, heading straight toward the stairs I detected leading down.

“Oh, it’s bigger than I thought.”

“Yes. I was a bit surprised when I first came here too, but it’s only natural for a clan of this scale.”

“Right. They seem to be involved in various crimes, after all, so it makes sense for them to expand like this.”

“That might be true. Though their numbers are already under half now.”

“Haha. That’s something you did, right? You’re talking like you weren’t involved at all.”

“That was Luna-san’s orders.”

“Hmm. You’ve become quite bold, haven’t you?”

Having traveled together, Miria was now more likely to retort against me. But I wasn’t one to take offense easily, so I just smirked in response.

“Well, I don’t get angry about little things like this, so it’s fine.”

“Thank you.”

“Ah! Here we are.”

As we continued our conversation, we soon reached the innermost part of the underground facility, where a rather large door stood before us.

“Haha, that sure was a waste of money.”

“Indeed. It’s quite cheeky for a criminal organization.”

“Isn’t it fine? Everyone has their tastes. Anyway…”

“Yes. It seems the ones inside are waiting for Luna-san. That’s a good mindset.”

As Miria said, checking with my Detection Magic revealed the armed members of the Poisonous Snakes were already prepared, each of them radiating clear intent to kill.

“Well then, it’d be rude to keep them waiting, so let’s go in.”

“Understood.”

With that, Miria opened the door, revealing about twenty men armed and ready, who parted to glare at us as we walked through the central path. At the end of the path sat a woman looking down at us from a large chair.

“Well, this is quite the welcoming.”

“Indeed. It’s a fervent reception—almost makes me think they’re about to attack.”

As we exchanged light banter while walking along the central path, we came to a halt at the stairs leading up to the woman’s seat.

According to Iris’s report, the woman had green hair, and her other noticeable features were a large cut near her left eye, tanned brown skin, and a strikingly dark gaze.

“Are you the group called the Azure Comet?”

“Not that we introduced ourselves like that, but that’s indeed what we’re called.”

“Hmph. You’re not as much of a rookie as I thought.”

“Hehe. And you’re not as young as I expected, huh? About 40, maybe?”

“Hah! You really talk a big game, just as I heard. Such a cheeky little girl.”

Trying to poke some fun at her age, I found her unfazed as she continued, narrowing her eyes as if sizing us up.

“So? What business do you have with us?”

“Oh, did you lose your marbles, grandma? I thought you were the ones who told us to come to this town.”

“Is that so? Then you’re done here, so why don’t you head back?”

“Sorry, but our business isn’t finished yet. I told that guy over there… that we’re going to crush your clan.”

“You bastard!!!”

Pointing at the man who had come to recruit us, he turned beet red and began shouting, seeming ready to leap at us any moment.

“Crush us… huh. Do you really think you two can pull that off?”

“It’s not about whether we can or not. It’s already a done deal. After all, more than half your clan bit the dust overnight, right?”

“No way. Was that you guys?”

As I grinned at that, recalling yesterday’s events, the woman asked with a hint of anger in her voice.

“It wasn’t us… but rather, it was that one over there, Mize.”

“Thanks to that, I’ve gathered some excellent data. My Instant Death Girls are happy too.”

“Look at that! Good to know you became the food for the Instant Death Girls.”

“You!! I’ll never forgive you!!”

Seemingly unable to hold back any longer, the man who came to recruit us charged in alone. I pulled out a dagger from my storage magic, evaded his outstretched fist, and cut upwards with the dagger at his elbow.

“Ahhhhh!!!?”

His arms looked muscular and hard to cut, but since the elbow joint wasn’t fully protected by muscle, targeting the joint allowed me to easily sever his arm.

“Shut up already. It’s just an arm. Why are you all alone? What happened to Ichi and the others?”

“You guys killed my subordinates, didn’t you!!!”

Looking around again at his words, I noticed not a single familiar hairstyle remaining except for the central remains. Ichi, the only one I recognized by name, was nowhere to be found.

“You think we killed them? Mize, do you have any memory of that?”

“I don’t remember. If I had killed with the dagger, I would have remembered, but since I don’t recall, I assume it was poisoning.”

“Oh, sorry! Guess my child accidentally killed them without realizing it.”

“Wow, saying ‘my child’… even I’m blushing at that.”

I had no clue what there was to blush about, but Miria, out of place, turned red and held her cheek, letting out a heated breath.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll make sure to kill you both with my own hands!!”

In response, the man, still kneeling and pressing against his severed arm, glared at us as if to curse us to death.

“Sigh. Why do these types always have the same last words? I’m so tired of hearing them.”

“Perhaps it’s due to a lack of intelligence.”

“Plus, saying you’ll kill us, but look, you’re missing an arm.”

“I’ll kill you! Absolutely! Definitely kill you…”

“Shut up already.”

Bored with the man repeating himself, I casually severed his head with my Ignid drawn from my storage magic, then returned my gaze to the woman who had been silently watching.

“Well then. We’re out of things to chat about, aren’t we? Shall we start killing each other?”

“Hmph. You’ve got some skills, it seems. But there’s something you lack. Let me teach you how humans have survived for such a long time.”

As she snapped her fingers, figures began emerging from the back of the wall, adding around thirty more to the original twenty men in the square, bringing their total to fifty.

“Even we haven’t been sitting idly today. We gathered comrades from other towns and nearby thieves, waiting for the perpetrators to return. This is the sea of humanity tactics that have allowed humans to survive for so long. Enjoy the experience before you die.”

With a triumphant grin, the woman looked at me as the men surrounding us exhibited lewd smiles, but they weren’t the only ones laughing in this situation.

“F-Fufufu… ahhahahahaha!”

As I suddenly burst out laughing, the women looked at me as if I had lost my mind, but unfortunately for them, my mind was perfectly normal.

“Indeed. You’re right; the only reason humans haven’t gone extinct up till now is due to numbers. But what do you think is the reason dragons can survive even in those conditions?”

“What nonsense are you babbling? You must’ve lost your mind in this situation. Attack them!”

As the woman’s words prompted the Poisonous Snakes and thieves to charge at me, I calmly lowered my stance and readied Ignid, slowly channeling magic into it.

As the amount of magic I poured into Ignid increased, the flames surrounding it shifted from red to white, then blue, and eventually to black.

“‘Black Flame Blade: Blaze’”

The instant the flames wrapped around Ignid reached maximum intensity, I released excess force from my arm, slicing horizontally through the air. A black flame slash surged toward the men, instantly severing dozens of heads and torsos.

“…Huh?”

The voice that escaped someone’s lips brought the men—who had been so eager moments earlier—to a halt, now staring at me as if they had seen a monster.

“Now you get it, right? The reason dragons can survive despite numbers is because of their overwhelming strength. In other words, in front of me, you assembled trash are merely trash.”

In most situations, being called trash would provoke a reaction, but with fear and confusion now dominating their emotions, none of them dared to respond.

“Alright. The fun’s over. Mize.”

“Yes.”

“You’ve got about thirty left, but can you handle them alone?”

“Leave it to me.”

“Then I’m counting on you. Oh, just to mention… ”

“I’ll keep them alive.”

“Just like you. Alright, I’ll deal with her now.”

“Take care.”

Having entrusted the remainder to Miria, I slowly walked toward the woman, but the surrounding members had completely lost their fighting spirit, stepping back in fear to clear a path for me.

“Come on. Let’s kill each other, old lady.”

“Tch. Looks like a real monster just walked in.”

With that, she stood up from her chair, drawing the sword strapped to her waist and thrusting it into the ground.

“My name is Naguraiya, the leader of the Poisonous Snake’s Claw.”

“I’m Luna, just an ordinary B-rank adventurer.”

And thus, the battle between me and Naguraiya, the leader of the Poisonous Snake’s Claw, finally seemed ready to begin.

 

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