Although the infamous assassin Blackpearl was a relatively well-known figure — well-known enough for me to remember him and details such as the countries where he was hunted — I didn't actually know much about Blackpearl.
The protagonist of The Journey to the Beyond crossed paths with Blackpearl only once, and on that occasion, they did not exchange blows, only glances.
Hunter needed information about the murder of a high-ranking nobleman in the Aurelian Capital — an investigation meant to secure a small favor from a friend of his — so Hunter tracked down Blackpearl, knowing he had an extensive network of contacts in the criminal underworld.
At that point in the story, Hunter had already died more than a dozen times and restarted from the beginning each time, so it was easy to find Blackpearl in a tavern he frequented, located in a dirty swamp on the fourth floor.
Hunter was succinct and kicked everyone out of the tavern. Since the tavern's patrons weren't the best kind of people, it was obvious they didn't listen to Hunter at first, and the protagonist had to beat up a few nobodies for the others to pay attention.
I said Hunter didn't exchange blows with Blackpearl, but fights against random nobodies were always happening, and this time was no different.
Blackpearl understood how strong Hunter was and gave him the information about who the assassin was but said he couldn't reveal who had hired him.
Hunter didn't need much more than the assassin's name. Just as he found Blackpearl, he could find the other one. So, Hunter left the tavern and went his own way, never to meet Blackpearl again.
That way, even if I knew the person — the enemy in front of me — I didn't know what his Blessing was or if I could even defeat him.
"What are you waiting for?! Get her, now!" Anton shouted at Sun, surprising both me and Sun herself.
"Ghehehe!" Blackpearl let out that coarse laugh. "I like you, kid."
Sun glanced sideways at Rosella, who turned diagonally to look and protect herself from both Blackpearl and Sun.
Meanwhile, my mind was working at full speed.
If it wasn't Sun who killed Hawklight, the obvious answer now was Blackpearl, but...
How did he do that?
Blackpearl took Sun's sword without her noticing, and it was a Rank-B weapon.
How was that possible?
He was under the Angelica Tree when he surprised Anton.
How could that be?
Nothing that had happened so far made logical sense—unless my first suspicion was wrong.
"Blackpearl and Sun are in this together!"
Their strategy was clever and stupid at the same time. They split up to try to conquer. When Blackpearl took Anton, they created a reason for Sun to turn against her group, so that when they got out of this situation, they would still have close contact with the Wilxes and receive their 'gratitude' for saving the heir of a famous assassin.
Considering that all of this was true, things started to make a bit more sense, and the range of Blackpearl's possible abilities became much narrower.
Unfortunately, I didn't have much time left to think about it.
As I pondered, the long seconds of tension between Rosella and Sun finally erupted into action.
The hooded bodyguard revealed a small dagger hidden beneath her sleeve and lunged at Rosella, who, aware of how powerful Sun was, revealed her Blessing for the first time.
A blue aura enveloped Rosella and her sword, turning her eyes as blue as glacial ice.
The aura expanded in a shockwave around her, scattering the Angelica petals.
Sun wasn't fazed by the newcomer's Blessing and charged into the aura, lunging forward with her knife.
Just when Sun thought Rosella had no chance to block a fatal strike to the heart, Rosella vanished from her sight.
Sun didn't even have time to blink before Rosella reappeared behind her with her sword raised.
Rosella knew it was a life-or-death moment, so she didn't hesitate to swing her blade with lethal intent.
Sun barely dodged, feeling Rosella's blade graze her right cheek. A trickle of blood flew and speckled the ground with red droplets.
Not understanding what had just happened, Sun retreated beyond Rosella's aura.
"Shit, girl... What kind of Blessing is that?! Ghehehe!" Blackpearl asked, wearing a mocking look of surprise.
"Weren't you supposed to have just a measly Rank-C Blessing? You're clearly stronger than most Rank-Bs."
Normally, the gap between Blessing Ranks was immense.
An E-Rank would almost never beat a D-Rank unless its class naturally countered the opponent's—after all, a healer couldn't win against a swordsman in a straight fight.
That's why it was so shocking that Rosella had managed to withstand an attack from someone of a higher rank and offensive class.
But the explanation lay in Rosella's Blessing — Aura Manipulation.
The Aura Manipulation Blessing essentially allowed Rosella to extend her mana beyond her body and control it in multiple ways.
Rosella's most notable technique was the one she had just demonstrated: forming an aura around herself and sensing everything inside it — even the slightest disturbance.
For a skilled swordswoman like her, even a split-second edge could make all the difference.
Now, you might be wondering—how could this Blessing be ranked only as C? The answer lies in its toll.
Though Aura Manipulation was theoretically powerful, it was notoriously hard to control.
Users could barely handle it in the beginning, and Rosella was among the few who could wield it effectively.
Moreover, since using it required releasing nearly all of one's mana outside the body, it granted the user enhanced physical abilities for a few seconds—but left them quickly drained.
In the end, against a stronger foe like Sun, Rosella's Blessing was more bluff than weapon.
"We have to do something," Kyle said to me, gripping his staff with both hands. He was trembling, his eyes wide.
Since we hadn't been involved yet, we had a chance to possibly escape this situation.
However, Kyle would never approve of that, and honestly, I didn't want Rosella, my ticket to financial success, to die here either.
"Okay, I'll do it," I said, placing my hand on Kyle's shoulder.
"HEY! YOU TWO THERE!" Blackpearl suddenly exclaimed. "What are you whispering about? Don't even think about running away, or else I'll—"
"You don't even need to say it. We know you'd kill us if we tried to run away," I said, taking a few slow steps forward with my arms raised.
"Why don't we try to settle this peacefully?"
"GHAHA! PEACEFULLY? Are you stupid, kid? Don't you realize the situation you're in?!"
"Stupid summoner, help Sun get the girl! I promise I'll put in a good word for you with my father!" exclaimed Anton.
I put a hand on my chin. "That's a tempting offer, but I'll pass. I have a deal with that girl over there."
Rosella raised her eyebrows, apparently surprised that, in a situation like this, I was still thinking about our agreement regarding the guild.
The truth was, I didn't know how Rosella and Brandon had escaped death in this situation in the original storyline. I probably never would. However, that couldn't stop me from acting. After all, unlike the original Brandon, I had powers that were far more effective in situations like this.
"Okay, what are you going to do? I read your file, kid!" Blackpearl announced.
"I know you can summon one or two undead, but let me tell you something: killing undead is nothing new to anyone inside this damn tower!"
"One or two?" I asked and laughed. "If that's all the information you have, then you might be a little surprised now."
Slowly, I raised my right arm and pointed to the ground. A magical circle of crimson light appeared where I pointed, and a Skeleton Soldier began to form from a black cloud. But it didn't stop there.
All around me, several Skeleton Soldiers began to appear, drenching the white forest in red from the glow of their eyes.
It was at that moment that the smug smile Blackpearl had been wearing vanished completely.