Translator: “Kell” Editor: ”Weasalopes”

The roof was inclined for rainwater flow though the slope was gentle enough . We confronted the second Phantom, paying careful attention to our footing .

I was honestly surprised to find out that the other Phantom was a woman . Her arms and legs were long and slender, her face on the slim side . She was of average height, and had long, black hair that went all the way down to her thighs . Her looks were pretty average, but her eyes were terrifying, like they were glaring .

「You guys sure are persistent . 」she said, unfazed, with the right corner of her mouth lifted .

「I heard you only steal from n.o.bles, but why are you taking Emma?」

「Why, indeed? I’m just as clueless as you . You saw the other guy, right? He apparently fell in love at first sight after seeing her walking down the streets . 」

「So he stalked her and found out she was the daughter of a baron . And since he can’t hit on girls, he s.n.a.t.c.hed her away . That’s rather pathetic, if you ask me . 」

I was irate, so I got quite provocative, but she just burst out in laughter like it was not her problem .

「You might be right . Contrary to his appearance, that guy can be unexpectedly shy . So, now what? You’ll become a knight who’ll take back his lover that was taken from him?」

I kept my eyes on her and examined her with my【Appraisal】 . She didn’t have【Concealment】on so I could see her stats and other details .

Name: Phan Berthold

Age: 28

Species: Human

Level: 190

Occupation: Salesperson Thief

Skills: Dagger A Summoning B Throwing B Ukemi Lightning Attribute Weakness A

Yep, she’s quite strong . The level gap between us was about a hundred, but I’ve defeated high-level monsters before so maybe it’ll work out somehow . I had Laylsan and Amr-san with me too .

The skill I’m most worried about is the【Summoning】one . Elnsensei taught about this skill in Hero School and warned us to avoid opponents who’s proficient it . They can summon monsters they had a pact with . With high rank Summoning skill, you could apparently even summon Spirits .

「Laylsan, Amr-san, be careful . She has a Summoning skill . 」

「Appraisal? That’s impressive, Noir-kun . 」

「Thanks for the heads up . But that puts us in a tough spot . 」

Amr-san’s expression was grim, pondering about how troublesome the skill was . Phan was a bit surprised that I saw through her stats, but quickly pulled herself together .

「Since you know, there’s no point in hiding it . It’s tough carrying this girl around anyway . 」

She put her palms together and magic circles appeared from both sides, and from them emerged a monster and a beast . The latter was a cheetah, not something you’d see in this area . Phan placed the unconscious Emma on its back .

「Stay at a distance . If by any chance that they beat me, you take the girl and escape . 」

It seemed to understand what she said as it scampered to the back of the roof . She probably wanted her close in case Emma wakes up . That works in our favour too, though . The problem now was the monster that was summoned .

「That’s a Cerberus, right?」

Laylsan gulped down her saliva . I could tell she was nervous . It was only natural . I was struck with fear myself . In front of us was a large, jet-black dog but strangely enough it had three heads .

Apart from its normal head, two other protruded at the top of its forelegs, around the shoulder blades . Its ears were standing up, its fangs sharply honed . However, it was only “large” relative to normal dogs . Its body wasn’t exactly humongous .

Name: Cerberus

Level: 112

Skill: Fire Breath Wind Breath Cold Breath

Three types of breath attack, huh? One type for each head, most likely .

「All right, then . I’d like to be done here by the time my partner gets the Mermaid’s Tear… . Go get ‘em . 」

「Grroawrr!」

Do I really look like someone who gets killed instantly? Without any hesitation the Cerberus charged straight at me . It leaped to the air, about to sink its teeth into me, when I took out my sword and wedged it in its mouth . But what I really needed to look out for was its other two heads .

「Hyooooo…」

Oh, c.r.a.p . I knew it . The other head was making a weird sound and breathing in deeply . There’s clearly a breath attack incoming!

I tried to get away quickly, but my sword was completely stuck in its mouth and won’t budge . It was Laylsan that saved me .

「Ha!」

She landed a powerful uppercut on the middle head, opening its mouth . I tried to use the opening to disrupt the other head that was about to unleash a breath attack, but it wasn’t necessary . With a smooth and swift motion, Layla landed a backhand blow, sending the Cerberus flying . It rolled off the roof all the way down . I doubt it was fatally wounded, but it should’ve received substantial damage .

「Thanks for saving me . That monster can use three breath attacks . 」

「Let’s work together to beat it . 」

「Okay . What about her?」

I eyed Amr-san and Phan who were already in the midst of a heated battle . Amr was like a fierce G.o.d, swinging his battle axe around while letting out a battle roar .

「Let’s leave her to Amr . We’ll just get in the way . 」

「Yeah, he wouldn’t have to worry about hitting us with his axe . Let’s go . 」

We jumped off the roof . I felt my feet go numb when we landed, but I just had to suck it up . With better footing, fighting should be a lot easier .

Incidentally, the Cerberus was still alive and kicking, drooling while trying to intimidate us .

「I packed a lot of power into that punch . This thing’s tough . 」

「Ah, breath attack incoming!」

Unlike the last one, it didn’t take a lot of time for it to unleash its breath attack . It came from the head in the middle . Strong winds a.s.saulted us like a storm, freezing us in place . Still, this was nothing more than a powerful breeze . There was a bigger problem, however . Just like last time, the other head started inhaling deeply and white particles seemed to hang in the air around its mouth . Could it be… it’s trying to combine its Cold Breath with the wind? That looked to be the case .

「Noir-kun, raise your arms to guard yourself . 」

「Okay . 」

She sounded like she had a plan so I did as she said . Then she kicked me upward, sending me flying towards the sky, leaving me floating in the air . Why’d she do that?

The answer was obvious . To get me out of range of the breath attack .

She, on the other hand, got hit head-on . When the white stream of breath subsided, Laylsan’s clothes and hair were completely frozen .

「Yikes, that’s cold . 」

She could still speak which was a relief, but she was still not out of danger . The Cerberus was charging straight at her .

「Oh no, you don’t!」

I dashed forward, sheathed my sword, and took out my Hatchet of Divine Retribution from my Different Dimension Storage . It’s spoils I got from the dungeon’s Ogre Hag; a rare item acquired by granting the skill【Wolf Slayer A】to a【Strong Edge】 . It’s widely accepted that dogs and wolves were pretty much the same species . A popular theory even says that wolves are dogs’ ancestors .

My guess was that the【Wolf Slayer A】skill would be just as effective and I was right . I swung the hatchet recklessly and hit the das.h.i.+ng Cerberus square on the head, crus.h.i.+ng it . It was quite the grotesque scene with bones and blood flying about .

But it was clearly effective . I wasn’t even taking a proper stance, nor did I put that much strength into it . Yet, the result was astounding .

Now that I knew to hit its head, victory was as good as mine . Its ferocious roar changed to that of a whimper as it collapsed in a pool of blood .

「Laylsan, are you okay?」

「I-I-I-I-Incredible . Y-Y-You saved me . 」

She couldn’t speak straight with her teeth clattering from the cold . Fortunately, the breath didn’t have any serious effect on her body .

「You should rest . Just leave the rest to me . 」

「I can’t do that . Just wait a bit . 」

She performed a few straight punches and squats to heat herself up . It was very effective . In just under a minute, she had almost completely recovered . Incredible .

「My hair’s still frozen, but nothing we can do about that . By the way, that’s quite the powerful hatchet you got there . You surprised me . 」

「It’s imbued with the skill “Wolf Slayer” . Its name is Hatchet of Divine Retribution . 」

「So you brought down divine retribution to the Cerberus . I guess one could say that you’re a G.o.d at the moment . 」

「No way . 」I said, chuckling .

I looked up at the roof to see the cheetah still staying put in its position . From the angle, I couldn’t see Phan and Amr-san . Is he winning?

Worried, I was about to go back up, when suddenly something fell off the roof, scaring us out of our wits .