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I looked around in a circle while remaining in Stealth Mode.

Someone was moving—there he was.

Dragging his sword along as he slowly walked toward where I should have been invisible, the spirit-sword wielder, Alberto-kun.

My question of “Was he not dead from that?” was answered when I saw the blond woman pouring a bottle of potion over the collapsed captain and kicking him in the head to wake him up.

If they had been reviving each other like this repeatedly until now, it made sense that I had not noticed, though I could not quite accept it.

Watching the mercenary wipe the potion from his face with his hand and rise to his feet, I thought:

(In a way, this feels like being the boss enemy fighting a protagonist’s party that has full-healing magic.)

Now that I was on the receiving end, I understood—it was quite the unfair game.

And since they had come thoroughly prepared, there was no doubt they had brought a large supply, meaning it had been a mistake to ignore those who had taken on support roles.

Still, I could understand why the kick I had delivered earlier had not been fatal given the angle, but the fact that the captain was alive after taking it head-on was baffling.

(Could it be… that my abilities are reduced while in Stealth Mode?)

That was the only possibility that came to mind.

When I tried recalling previous times I had used the camouflage ability to verify it, the answer “insufficient testing” loomed large in my mind.

In other words, I had no recollection.

“What a blunder,” I reflected, reproaching my own carelessness.

If my defense was lowered, there was even the possibility that an unexpected strike could deal serious damage.

As I wrestled with this new concern, an elf pointing at my location said something that instantly changed the mood of the battlefield.

“So you steal the abilities of those you eat!”

I wanted to deny the elf mage’s claim—“I don’t have such an ability”—but I was currently in Stealth Mode.

I gestured in denial, but no one could see me.

And it would look foolish to deny it out loud.

“When I heard you had eaten the Nightmare, I thought it was some sort of joke… but if that’s the case, it all makes sense.”

The elf mage nodded to himself in apparent understanding.

Unfortunately, if I truly had such an ability, I would have been putting it to far better use.

Just as I was feeling exasperated at this troublesome misunderstanding, an even worse rumor was added.

“Wait… did this thing gain intelligence by eating humans?”

At the mercenary’s remark, murmurs spread among the group.

Stop that—those kinds of rumors actually hurt my reputation.

At the moment only the Kingdom of Canaan was clearly hostile toward me, so spreading rumors that worsened my reputation with others was a subtle but effective form of harassment.

Just as I thought, “This is becoming troublesome,” and prepared to resume attacking to end things quickly, one man raised his voice.

“That doesn’t matter!”

Breathing heavily, Alberto shouted while barely standing, using his sword as a cane.

“If we don’t defeat Argos here and now, humanity has no future!”

Hearing that cry, only one thought crossed my mind.

(You mean the Kingdom of Canaan, not humanity.)

Even by amateur estimation, if Canaan focused too much on dealing with me, it would weaken their national strength and lead to war with Seizeria.

And if that happened, the outcome would be obvious.

I did not know the exact ratio of their national power, but between Seizeria, which had devoted itself entirely to magic, and Canaan, which had halfheartedly pursued science only to abandon it midway, it was clear which side would prevail.

As a line meant to stir people up or restore morale, it was not bad—but it was a stretch to expect mercenaries to move because of it.

In fact, none of them did.

Except for one.

Someone poured a potion over Alberto’s head.

The stunned Alberto froze as the empty bottle shattered with a clink, and then someone slapped his back loudly.

“Why did you come here in the first place?”

The one who stepped forward saying that was the wild blond beauty with her chest still exposed.

With the composure I had now, I could say it:

“Nice breasts.”

Well, not out loud, of course.

In any case, I did not know what meaning her words held for him.

Still, Alberto simply muttered, “Yeah,” and glared at me, though I should have been invisible.

“…That’s right. Of course. I didn’t take up this sword for something like that.”

Had something possessed him and now fallen away?

It felt as if something within him had been shed.

With my limited life experience, I could not understand it fully.

But from the expression on his face, which seemed strangely refreshed, he had probably remembered—or regained—something important to him.

“I will defeat you and become a true hero. This is where you fall, Argos!”

As Alberto charged toward me, I answered aloud, “Try it.”

It just felt like the kind of response that would look good in a dramatic scene.

So I would forgive him for replying from a completely different direction.

But whether I would fight him head-on was another matter.

When I began to move, the first target I chose was—

—the elf mage.

I had not been completely certain he belonged to the Zesat faction, but I had believed that if I obtained the spirit sword, I could simply buy him over.

If my memory served me correctly, the Zesat clan had wanted to join the Three Great Clans that possessed spirit weapons.

If I could prepare a new spirit sword and expand it into a Four Great Clans arrangement, I thought I might be able to pull them to my side…

But his earlier statement had raised my threat level far too much.

As a result, that plan was shelved, and I could no longer allow these people, who carried such mistaken information, to leave alive.

“He’s coming this way! Support me!”

Noticing my movement, the elf sprayed water widely in my direction.

It was a move meant to at least reveal my position to the surrounding allies.

For a long-lived race, they understood priorities well.

I canceled the camouflage ability and revealed myself.

At the same moment, the punch I launched shattered the water barrier easily and rushed toward the elf mage—

—but my hand was struck down by a light arrow, and while I missed the attack, he managed to create distance.

I tried to pursue, but the perfect coordination with the elf in the rear prevented me from closing in, and Alberto arrived in time to intercept.

At present, the clash with the spirit sword posed the greatest danger.

I clicked my tongue and leapt back once to retrieve my saber.

Sensing my intention, one mercenary shouted “Not happening!” and hurled his broken great axe, knocking my weapon away.

When I looked over, the axe-wielding mercenary was leaning on a spearman’s shoulder, grinning in satisfaction.

“Persistent bastard,” I muttered quietly, stepping back to evade another strike of the spirit sword.

Naturally, the attack did not end there.

Disregarding the danger, Alberto stepped forward again, while arrows from the elf flew in support.

Revived once more, the captain joined the fray, along with a mercenary carrying what appeared to be a spare great axe, and the battle once again devolved into chaos.

The blond woman darted in and out, using the men as cover and taking advantage of her light equipment for hit-and-run attacks—but her chest kept drawing my gaze too much, and I wanted to beg her to step back.

Even so, with their stamina nearly exhausted and only sheer willpower keeping them fighting, the addition of three elves would not reverse a battlefield that had already tilted.

And monsters did not need to worry about fair play.

In the midst of the exchange, I seized a momentary opening and activated my camouflage ability, leaping away from that spot and landing heavily on both hands and feet.

The sound and cloud of dust revealed my position, but that did not matter.

Once I had safely broken out of the encirclement, there was no need for camouflage, so I canceled it and launched myself toward the top-priority target—the elf mage.

At the same time, a flash of light stabbed into the ground in front of me.

I had anticipated that and had already stopped my feet.

(After being obstructed so many times, you start taking countermeasures.)

Of course, I had also considered what would come next.

That was why I had landed like that earlier—to obtain this.

Although I had stopped my feet, my momentum had not completely vanished.

So I used that momentum to throw the stone I had hidden in my hand toward the elf mage.

He thrust his right arm forward in reflex, apparently attempting to reduce the impact with some kind of magic while dodging—

—but the thrown stone blasted straight through everything from his right elbow downward.

Seeing his own severed arm spinning through the air while spraying blood, the elf screamed.

Naturally I wanted to finish him off, but the elf in the forest intensified his arrows, even sending magic flying.

Just as I gracefully deflected those, Alberto leapt at me.

The descending slash barely grazed my arm.

Understanding that if the elf mage fell now they would lose any chance of victory, he had launched an attack that was nearly suicidal.

Which meant he had stepped too far forward.

At this very moment, this place would become his grave.

But even so, the spirit sword remained the greatest threat.

Therefore I needed a move to seal it.

Right before Alberto’s eyes, I activated my camouflage ability while moving.

After being strengthened twice, the camouflage ability now covered my entire body in less than two seconds.

Even so, the last thing to disappear was still the tip of my tail.

I used that time lag.

To him, it must have looked like this:

Just before vanishing, I was about to strike from his blind spot with my tail.

“You followed it with your eyes, didn’t you?”

That was a death sentence.

Reacting instantly, Alberto raised the spirit sword to block the tail that swung like a reaping blade.

But that was a feint.

The sword cut empty air.

My fist struck.

Alberto’s attention had been diverted from the front.

That instant was fatal before me.

I felt flesh and bone collapse beneath my fist.

The blow I delivered certainly took his life.

“I see—an invisible attack and a visible attack. So that’s how the combination works.”

As if learning in the middle of battle, I tossed aside the now-motionless Alberto.

The spirit sword was no longer in his hand, and I finally moved to achieve the goal that had been withheld from me.

I reached out and picked up the sword, which was far too small for me.

With that, my original objective was achieved—

—or so I thought.

The next instant, the spirit sword flew from my hand as if repelled.

“What!?”

I was surprised enough to shout.

I had heard that only a chosen person could wield it.

But I had not expected that I would not even be able to hold it.

“Don’t let him take the sacred sword!”

I did not know whose voice that was.

But since I could not hold it directly, I could not immediately decide whether to turn this into a battle for possession or simply annihilate them all, and my reaction was delayed.

If I were to take it away, I would need something that made that possible.

If I continued the fight, I would have to ensure no one escaped with the spirit sword.

The moment of hesitation was brief.

I chose the latter and turned first toward the wounded elf to eliminate him.

There stood the elf, bleeding heavily while shouting something toward me—

And the instant after I saw that sight, my consciousness abruptly went blank.