Multiversal Ascension-Chapter 54: Surprise Guests (2)

30 observed Mikael closely, stunned by his ability to withstand and react to the attack. 'An F- ranker, and he killed 31? Even if it was a surprise attack, that's impossible. And now he's holding his ground against me, a D+ ranker?' The assassin tightened his grip on his sword, more on guard than ever. When he noticed the grin on Mikael's face, his wariness only deepened.

'Should I retreat and come back with reinforcements?' His mind screamed yes, but knowing he would be punished for returning without results, he decided, 'I'll try to kill him. If I see that he's too strong, I'll retreat, punishment be damned!'

This decision by the assassin saved Mikael from significant trouble. After all, the assassin was faster than him, even with his footwork skill, so if he had chosen to run, Mikael wouldn't have been able to catch him.

The situation remained a tense stalemate, the two fighters silently sizing each other up before Mikael suddenly rushed forward, swords in hand, his eyes cold and determined.

30 reacted instantly, sending half a meter wide aura slashes toward Mikael. Mikael rolled to evade the first attack, then jumped to the side to avoid another flying slash.

While dodging, Mikael continued to close the distance between himself and the assassin. Soon, he was near enough to strike, but the assassin's lack of retreat made him cautious, expecting a sudden counterattack.

30 didn't disappoint. As Mikael approached, the assassin concentrated a high amount of aura into his blade and sneered. "Be proud you forced me to use this move!" he said before unleashing a massive slash.

A multi-meter-wide aura slash, far larger and denser than the previous ones, surged toward Mikael, radiating a palpable sense of danger. Feeling the threat to his life, Mikael used Blade Tempest to slow the attack. While it reduced the slash's momentum, it didn't stop it.

Pushing his body to the limit, Mikael forced more aura into his sword techniques and strained his muscles to swing faster. This combination allowed him to hold the aura slash in a tenuous stalemate before it could reach him.

The assassin was shocked that Mikael managed to block a slash containing 15% of his total aura. However, he smirked and said, "Impressive. But can you handle another one?" Without hesitation, he slashed again, sending a second enormous aura blade hurtling toward Mikael.

Now faced with two devastating attacks, Mikael was forced to split his efforts. Even as he gave it his all, to the point of breaking his arm muscles and make them bleeding profusely, it wasn't enough. The aura slashes inched closer, and the worst part was that he couldn't move. If he stopped using Blade Tempest for even a moment, the blades would kill him before he could dodge.

Despite the thrill of the battle, Mikael wasn't looking to die. Quickly, he began to strategize. When the two aura slashes drew perilously close, he devised a plan. He created multiple thin, nearly invisible aura threads from his back and anchored them to the ground.

With a sudden burst of strength, he pulled himself backward just in time. The aura blades, unobstructed, continued their trajectory and smashed into the ground.

"BOOM!"

The impact created massive craters, but Mikael didn't care. He was already on the move, counterattacking.

"What?" he exclaimed instinctively, momentarily distracted by the explosions caused by his attacks.

In that split second, Mikael vanished from the assassin's view. When he refocused, two flying swords were hurtling toward his legs.

Reacting instinctively, the assassin shifted his stance to avoid the attack, but he wasn't fast enough. One sword missed harmlessly, but the second pierced his right knee.

"Argh!" he let out a pained groan, quickly suppressing it. He turned his attention back to Mikael, who had followed up with a punch aimed at him.

30 instinctively slashed at Mikael, but the form of the attack was sloppy due to the current situation. This allowed Mikael to easily evade the strike and deliver a powerful blow to the assassin's sword-wielding hand, forcing him to drop his weapon.

Mikael launched another punch, but the assassin raised his arms to block it. The force of the impact, however, drove the assassin backward. With the sword still lodged in his leg, he stumbled and nearly fell, barely managing to steady himself by shifting his weight onto his left leg.

Mikael didn't relent. He continued his assault, overwhelming the assassin, who struggled to defend himself with only one functional leg. Though stronger and faster than Mikael, the assassin's disadvantage reversed the tide of the battle.

Realizing the dire situation, the assassin thought, 'I need to retreat and bring reinforcements. I can't defeat this monster alone!'

But Mikael gave him no respite, launching relentless unarmed attacks. The assassin, distracted by the onslaught, failed to notice the previously 'harmless' sword on the ground.

As the battle dragged on and the assassin's position worsened, Mikael's fingers twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Squeltch" a sword piercing flesh sound resounded in the surrondings.

Some blood splattered across Mikael's face before he heard 30 say, "I—"

The assassin didn't finish his sentence as he collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud, killed by a surprise sword strike that pierced his head.

Mikael didn't have time to celebrate his victory. A wave of exhaustion washed over him, and he collapsed to his knees. A violent fit of coughing overtook him.

"Cough, cough!"

He raised a trembling hand to his mouth and saw blood on his palm. He winced. 'And now I'm coughing up blood... This fight really pushed me to my absolute limits. I had to overexert myself, and now I've got internal injuries to deal with.'

[D+ Rank Elite Human killed: 200K XP received x2]

Struggling, Mikael forced himself to his feet, ignoring the notification. His mind raced as he quickly assessed his options. There was no time to heal here. He needed to return to the Academy as quickly as possible before another wave of stronger assassins showed up.

He cast a quick cleaning spell on himself to appear more presentable, then retrieved his swords and stored them in his ring. Glancing at the bodies of his attackers, he wished he could make them disappear but knew he didn't have the time.

Without hesitation, Mikael broke into a run toward Adresia City. Each step sent sharp jolts of pain through his body, but he gritted his teeth and pressed on, chanting Minor Heal on himself repeatedly as he ran.

The constant casting of the weak healing spell offset the damage his movements were causing. It even managed to heal him a little, though not much, as Minor Heal was the weakest of all healing spells. The only reason it had any noticeable effect was due to his high vitality, which greatly enhanced his body's natural recovery.

After what felt like an eternity, Mikael finally caught sight of the city gates. Slowing his pace, he merged into the flow of people entering and leaving the city. In this way, he slipped inside without drawing attention to himself. Once within the city walls, he made a beeline for the Central Academy's teleportation hall.

Entering the grand building, he ignored the receptionist entirely, too exhausted and in too much pain to care about formalities. His focus was solely on the small teleportation rooms at the back, each containing a functioning array.

Just before paying the required credits, Mikael remembered to adjust his limiter. Spending 100 LP, he configured his physical stats to cap at 150, except for vitality, which he left untouched. He also set his SPI to 100 but left his INT unchanged.

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Once the limiter was in place, he paid the fee and stepped into the teleportation room. Standing on the glowing blue circle, he felt the familiar locking sensation before his vision went dark. Moments later, solid ground returned beneath his feet.

Opening the door in front of him, Mikael stepped into the bustling teleportation hall of the Central Academy. Relief surged through him as he thought, 'Finally... safe.'

He took some steps outside of the teleportation rooms walking amistd the nearby students, his stance unnasuming of the pain behind. He was quietly leaving the teleportation hall.

Not far from him, someone was in shock—a young man with brown hair and eyes, and a relatively handsome appearance. He stared at Mikael with wide eyes.

'How the fuck isn't he dead? Jacob said he left the Academy and that two D+ rank assassins were sent after him. HOW DID HE ESCAPE?' he thought, rage boiling inside him. 'Were they so incompetent that an F- rank managed to survive and escape? No, this won't do. He'll keep getting in my way of winning over Amelia Mournsky and the Duke's family backing. If I conquer her, their influence will be mine,' he thought with growing greed.

But seeing Mikael alive and seemingly well made him feel like the obstacle he thought he had removed had returned. Frustrated, he stormed off toward his dormitory with an angry expression, planning to speak with his butler about the assassins' 'incompetence.'

Meanwhile, Mikael, completely unaware of Wernon inner turmoil—and honestly too drained to care—finally reached his dormitory room. He unlocked the door using his bracelet and entered, setting the "Do Not Disturb" mode before collapsing onto the bed.

There were questions he wanted to ask the Records and tasks he needed to address, but his body felt too weak. Instead, he lay on the bed and began spamming the Minor Heal spell.

Thanks to his new mage talent and his increased INT stat of 500, his proficiency with the spell and magic in general rose at an astonishing rate. The length of the chant gradually shortened, and by the time he had nearly drained his mana, he could already cast the spell silently by reciting only a portion of the chant in his mind.

But this wasn't his main goal—it was merely a secondary benefit. His focus was on healing his arms, which had suffered the most damage from the repeated use of Blade Tempest. After numerous healing casts, he managed to restore his arms to the same level of injury as the rest of his body—a significant improvement compared to their previous condition.

Exhausted and completely drained of mana, Mikael didn't resist the pull of sleep and let it claim him.

***

Hours later, Mikael, who had been lying on his bed, had his fingers twitch.

"Argh," he grunted, sitting up. He was momentarily disoriented, feeling the lingering aches in his body before the memories returned. 'Ah, right. I was attacked by assassins yesterday and had to push past my limits, which left me injured.'

After recalling the events, he got out of bed, cast a quick Clean spell on himself, did some light stretching, and then made his way to the kitchen. Once there, he prepared a light breakfast and ate it leisurely while scrolling through his phone at the table.

When he finished his meal, a cold glint passed through his eyes. 'Now that the rest is over...'

"Records, who commissioned the attack against me?"

[Question answerable for 100 LP! Do you want to pay? Yes/No?]

"So, 200 LP total... Fine, I'll pay."

[Transaction confirmed. Answer: The person who ordered the assassination of Mikael Angelini was Wernon Digeglide. His butler, Jacob, then hired the two assassins who tried to kill you.]

'Wernon? Who the hell is that?' Mikael pondered before a memory resurfaced. 'Oh, right. That guy who approached Amelia after the second test and made a fool of himself, congratulating her on her "win." I forgot about him—he's completely forgettable. But this? Sending assassins after me?'

He frowned, his expression turning contemplative. 'It's probably some petty jealousy over my closeness with Amelia. Honestly, I expected something like this. With her beauty and her status as the heir of a duke's family, she's the ideal woman in the eyes of many. My actions were bound to ruffle some feathers.'

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