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「……!?」

At the sound of Inglis’ voice, Leon turned around and made a surprised look.
It was Leon, after all. There was no mistaking it.
He was also accompanied by the lightning beasts that surrounded him.

「Is that you, Inglis girl……!? You’ve grown even prettier……!」
「Why are you here……!?」

Leon should have been under the Ironblood Chain Brigade now.
So, does that mean that the Ironblood Chain Brigade is scheming something in the capital?
Is it an attempt to interfere with the transaction with the Highland that Faris mentioned, after all?
I wonder if the Slasher is part of their plan.

However, besides Leon, there was another man with a bizarre appearance that was positioned behind him.
It was a mysterious person with Runes all over his body.
His face was hiding behind a silver mask, making it impossible to find out his profile.

The Knights that halted Inglis and Rafinha warned them of a slasher who assailed people with Runes.
He told them it was a Rune Eater.
This person seemed fit to that description.
Looking at their positions, it appeared that Leon was confronting the slasher.

「Explode!」

The lightning beasts roared and exploded, generating so much light that made anyone unable to open their eyes.

「Kh……!」

Even for Inglis, she couldn’t help but close her eyes for a moment——

「Later! I’ll leave this one to you!」

And they heard such a remark.
By the time Inglis opened her eyes again, Leon’s figure was nowhere to be seen.
As usual, his swiftness in retreat could be said to be top-notch.

——However, the curtain wasn’t closed yet.
The mysterious man with many Runes that stood opposite to Leon still lingered in the scene.

「…… Who are you? Are your the slasher who assaults Rune owners?」

Normally, there was only one instance of rune for each person.
As how every individual had their own unique nature of mana, the Rune that was etched onto their person was unique‌.
This mechanism was designed for people of the current age who couldn’t perceive nor manipulate mana all by themselves.

However, for this man, along with several Rune instances on his body, Inglis also could feel several different mana wavelengths from him.
From how she looked, this man appeared to have several people’s portions of Runes and Mana overlapping in himself.

And the ‌total of all of those——made Inglis’ mouth loosened up.
Seems like I’ve finally run into a tough opponent after a while.

「If it’s okay with you, I’d like you to assault me too.」
「 ——No… need. Ugly tasting… woman.」

His speech was broken, but he gave a reply.

「I’m often praised for my appearance, just so you know.」
「Don’t… care. Want mana——」
「Well, how about this then?」

Inglis changed the Ether that enveloped her body into mana.

「OOOOOHHHH!?!?!?」

The man howled like in wild ecstasy.

「GIVE MEEEE!!!」

He readied himself to leap towards Inglis.

「Here you go. If you can take it, that is.」

With a grin hanging from one ear to another, Inglis beckoned the man.

「GAAAHH!!」

The man came charging at Inglis from a low posture, shrieking like a mindless beast.

——He’s pretty fast!
Perhaps, his movements wouldn’t lose to those of the Hyrule Menaces.

However, it wasn’t so fast that Inglis couldn’t react.
The punches, kicks, and body blows that he fiercely carried out, all was seen through and evaded paper-thin by Inglis.

「OOOOHHH!?!?!?!」

The man’s attacks were getting bigger as he grew impatient that none of his assaults hit the mark.

「What’s wrong? Please show the power of those Runes.」

While avoiding the scooping uppercut, Inglis delivered a palm strike to her opponent.
With the momentum, the mysterious man flew through the fences of an abandoned house and only stopped once he hit a wall.

「GAAH!? Kuku…….」

There should have been a considerably serious body trauma——And yet, the man stood back to his feet as if nothing happened.
He has quite the endurance. Interesting.

Some of the Runes on his body increased their brilliance intensity.
With a clink, dry sound of something freezing over, sharp blades of ice formed in his both hands.
A Rune that has that kind of function, I see..

He once again kicked the ground, rushing towards Inglis.

——He’s even faster!

「I see……!」

Inglis evaded the incoming two ice blades with gorgeous dancing moves.
During that time——Another Rune glowed from his body, and his figure then vanished.

「……!?」

Woosh woosh woosh!

And, even when Inglis couldn’t see him, the attacks he delivered kept coming.
Relying on presence, the sensation of air on her skin, and the whistling sound, Inglis evaded the incoming slashes——
But, it was certain that the difficulty of handling those attacks skyrocketed compared to before.
Inglis’ silvery long hair was touched by her enemy’s blade, leaving some strands fluttering apart.

「……You’re not bad!」

If all she did was evading, she would eventually be cornered.
If that’s the case, Inglis scrutinized as she predicted the invisible enemy’s attacks then grabbed both of his wrists to a stop.

「Impos……sible——」

The man’s agitation traveled to Inglis.

「We’re not done yet…. Please show all the Runes you haven’t activated yet. We’re having such a good bout after all, are we not? Please, humor me.」
「Gr… rrr….!」

Inglis meant to ask him in a friendly manner.
But, her opponent seemed to be frightened by her instead.