Thud.
Encrid vertically raised Aker and struck down at the approaching spider's head. The blade pierced through the monster's head and buried itself a hand's length into the ground.
As he stepped on the spider's back and pulled out the sword, black blood flowed down the blade.
'There are a lot.'
In the distance, spiders were swarming. They kept coming. However, there weren't too many around at the moment.
It was a battlefield where it was more advantageous to counterattack than to charge. His instincts told him this. So it was okay to take his eyes off for a moment.
Encrid's gaze turned toward the front of Oara, where the monsters had gathered.
The spider swung its eight limbs.
Whoooooooosh!
With the sound of the blade cutting through the air, wind rushed forward, and the rotation and movement of the blade created a circular barrier in front of Oara.
It looked like a disc made from Rem's sling.
The spider did not rush in but moved one step at a time. It was walking. In sync with its pace, the shield made of blades began to approach Oara.
Seeing this, Encrid thought.
'What would I have done?'
It was a different style of combat than before.
Should he try to thrust his sword? No, he couldn't do that. No, it would be more accurate to say that he shouldn't do that.
'There are no openings.'
To thrust his sword and leave it to luck wasn't a strategy to win, but a sign of giving up.
And the spider wasn't the end of it.
The Owlbear began to move. Its steps were eerily silent, its presence almost vanishing as it moved.
Even though darkness had fallen, a red moon had risen. There was no problem seeing.
Yet, the massive body of the Owlbear seemed to blend into the darkness, becoming obscure.
It was like watching Jaxon disappear before his eyes.
A sword hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity.
It was like a Silent Stab.
The Ghoul leisurely walked from behind the spider, moving to its side in a circling manner.
Its arms hung down, with long, sharp claws that could inflict a fatal wound with a mere touch.
This was seriously annoying.
That was his honest feeling.
Encrid mentally switched places with Oara.
He would die. It was a wall.
But still, if he were in that position, what would he do?
He saw Oara's back. Her red cape fluttered in the wind, and the tip of her sword was angled toward the sky. She held her sword with both hands.
"This is interesting."
At that moment, he heard Oara's whisper.
Encrid could only see her back, but he felt like he could guess the expression she was making.
She would be smiling.
A smile brighter than any stolen by the Ghoul.
Oara, smiling.
How does a Knight earn their title?
It is earned by proving oneself.
A title comes from showing through actions and carrying it out.
"Watch closely, everyone. I'll show you what a Knight's battle truly is."
Oara's voice spread out at a suitable volume.
Preparations to face a Knight, traps, special monsters.
Everything was a threat. It could even be called a crisis.
"That's beyond me."
Rem said.
Technically, it was impossible at the moment, but what was the point of talking about something they didn't have right now?
The last part, he kept to himself.
Oara spoke with her back and her sword.
From now on, just sit back and enjoy the show while chewing on some jerky.
That's what Encrid did. Except instead of chewing on jerky, he swung his drawn sword.
In the meantime, two approaching spiders got caught on his blade, and their heads were split open.
As he pulled his sword back with a slash, Oara moved.
Encrid momentarily lost track of her movements.
When one becomes a Knight, their reflexes and physical abilities reach a different level.
They strike at incomprehensible angles.
They move at incomprehensible speeds.
Even if you try to see it, it's difficult to catch it properly.
Encrid knew this from experience.
Hadn't he already faced Knight-level power?
"If you try to see it as points, you won't see it anyway."
The words of Luagarne came to mind. Encrid didn't try to see the motions but the flow.
Only then did he barely glimpse the fighting form.
Oara's sword fell on the spider's barrier.
The straight, even sword strike met the barrier.
Tatatatatatatang!
Between the dark night and the dim red moonlight, golden sparks burst forth, pushing back the darkness and the red light.
"My sword's name is Laughter."
That's what Oara had said during training. A Knight carries an engraved weapon.
An engraved weapon is one that a Knight imbues with their Will.
An outstanding artisan, rare metals, and the Knight's Will.
Only when these three things come together can a weapon even be considered, and because it is made with the Knight's will engraved, it is called an engraved weapon.
"My sword will never break as long as I'm smiling."
It was just as Encrid had heard.
A weapon infused with Will, feeling like an extension of one's own body.
Her sword was just like that.
White powder-like particles mixed with golden sparks as they scattered.
Her sword had cut through the spider's forearm, the barrier made of blades, and returned to her hand. Naturally, the sword 'Laughter' remained unscathed.
"Let's see how long you can hold out!"
Oara's shout echoed. The white powder was the shattered fragments of the spider's blade.
Oara's laughter began to chip away at the spider's blade-like arms.
Then, suddenly, the Owlbear lunged from behind her.
Encrid, watching from a distance, didn't miss it. But if he had been closer?
It would have felt like facing Jaxon.
Wasn't Jaxon's specialty those sudden, soaring sword strikes?
Instead of a sword, the Owlbear swung its fist. A fist covered in feathers aimed for Oara's back.
No, just as it seemed like it would strike, Oara's body moved fluidly. Her body swayed like cloth fluttering in the wind as she shifted sideways.
It was a level of reflexes beyond extraordinary.
To Encrid, it looked like a rehearsed move.
The Owlbear's fist struck empty air. A loud noise, like the air being torn apart, rang out.
It was a deafening sound, a punch that ripped through the air.
At the same time, Oara's face became visible. Her foot, her hand, her sword.
A soft smile, a step forward, a twisting wrist, a curving blade.
The blade aimed for the Owlbear's neck. A flash of white cut toward the creature's throat.
The Owlbear shrugged its shoulders, pulling its neck inward.
The feathers around its neck bristled and blocked Oara's sword.
Kagakakak!
The blade seemed like it would slice through the feathers and split the neck. Black blood splattered in droplets.
The feathers, ground down by the blade, broke apart like shards of metal and scattered.
Then, the spider removed its barrier and approached, swinging its eight limbs.
Two arms struck down from above, two more slashed diagonally, two aimed to stab at her thighs, and the last two targeted her feet.
The eight bladed arms did their job.
Oara, in the middle of cutting the Owlbear's neck, pulled back her sword and displayed eight afterimages.
Her sword parried each of the spider's bladed limbs one by one.
Encrid felt his senses sharpened to their peak.
His ears caught eight distinct sounds.
Pak, pwek, shik, pik, chichik, sakduk, kwak!
It was a battle that required total focus, sensory skill, everything to watch.
Oara deflected five of the spider's limbs, while cutting, tearing, and breaking the other three.
Seeing it all was impossible. But it was possible to deduce the process by the result. His mind was racing.
'She twisted her wrist to slice, stab, and strike.'
Could such feats be achieved by wrist movement alone?
It was possible because she was a Knight.
By thrusting and twisting her sword, she had shredded one of the spider's limbs into tatters, slashed through the second with a powerful blow, and smashed the last one in half with the flat of her blade.
The broken spider's limb dangled loosely.
How could someone move like that?
He didn't know. He couldn't understand.
But it was where he wanted to go, the path he wanted to walk.
Ragna, Sinar, the Mercenary King, the Knight of Aspen.
What if those four went all out?
Oara was showing them that now.
A mere swordsman speaking of omnipotence. That was a Knight.
'Ah.'
His breath was taken away as his gaze was captivated. It was inevitable.
"Is she insane?"
Rem threw a sarcastic remark from the side.
"There are too many monsters. An unusually large number."
Luagarne voiced her unease.
If a dull-witted Frog said something like that, it was a serious situation.
Dunbachel started trembling next to him.
Even so, Encrid kept his eyes on the smiling Oara. All his senses, his focus, were drawn to her.
"Oara!"
A soldier shouted a cheer.
Oara responded to the cheer.
The Ghoul, which had intruded on the fight, thrust its arm forward.
From just the speed and angle, it was clear.
'A Knight.'
The monster fought like a Knight. Oara, with her sword in her right hand, struck down the Owlbear's fist, and with her left arm, she blocked the Ghoul's claws.
It was a feat of skill. She blocked the claws with the vambrace on her left arm, deflecting the angle.
Kakak.
Scratch marks appeared on the vambrace.
Meanwhile, the spider's blade-like limb struck Oara's torso.
Oara withstood it.
Thud.
She skillfully twisted her body to absorb the impact. But she didn't stop there.
The sword that had blocked the Owlbear's fist had, in the blink of an eye, been driven into the spider's head.
'Missed it.'
This attack was truly invisible.
The spider was dead. The Owlbear hid itself in the darkness again, while the Ghoul alternated its strikes with both hands.
Head, chest, stomach, thigh.
Its targets were clear.
Just get stabbed once.
Oara blocked the strikes by alternating between her sword and her vambrace.
Meanwhile, the Owlbear swung its arm wide from behind her.
Whoosh!
Even though he wasn't in its path, it felt like the wind from the swing was hitting his face.
The swing was parallel to the ground, with a very wide impact range.
Instead of blocking it, Oara jumped straight up, using the Owlbear's arm as a springboard with her feet, launching herself into the sky.
In midair, Oara twisted her body and brought her sword down from above. The curved blade appeared to split into three.
It was a blend of overwhelming power and speed.
The Ghoul moved its arms, copying the movements that Oara had used to block it with her vambrace.
It was a frenzied exchange of offense and defense.
A fight where it didn't matter who won.
And then—
Thud. Crunch.
Oara's sword split the Ghoul's head. It happened simultaneously with the Ghoul's claws stabbing into Oara's side.
"I won, you disgusting bastard."
Oara spoke, her smile unwavering.
Her half-torn red cape fluttered in the wind.
The face of the Owlbear, which had already been partially severed, still held a piece of the torn cape in its hand.
With its head split vertically, the Ghoul, Jerix, collapsed to the ground with a thud.
"Wooaaaaaah!"
Roman let out a roar. It was a cheer of victory.
"There are too many. There must be something or someone behind this."
Luagarne said, noting that the spiders were still emerging.
"That seems likely."
Even after Asia had gone inside, the situation hadn't been resolved.
Was it finally over? At the very least, they seemed to have bought themselves a moment to catch their breath.
That was Encrid's assessment.
Dunbachel felt her entire body tense up as her muscles contracted.
The reason? She didn't know.
Sometimes, fear surpasses the limits of one's instincts. That's what happened to Dunbachel.
She sensed it and spoke.
"Something's coming."
Dunbachel's gaze turned in one direction.
Oara's gaze followed.
Encrid was a little late to look.
Thump!
Right in front of Oara, who had just killed three monsters, stood a creature covered in red muscles. Two legs, two arms, wings resembling bat wings, and a broken horn protruding from its forehead.
Such a creature, called a 'Demon' in the continent, was among the most special of monsters.
It was the kind of creature one would only expect to see in a place known as the Great Demon Realm.
Dunbachel caught the scent of sulfur.
The creature, which looked like it had just crawled out of hell, charged at Oara as soon as it appeared, using its long, whip-like body to pounce on her. It crushed Oara, who had already exhausted her last bit of strength.
Barely managing to block the attack, Oara held the creature's bladed hand at bay, gripping her sword with her right hand and the blade with her left.
"...Everyone, run."
Oara said.
"Damn it, get out of here."
Rem also spoke.
"Balrog? No, it's just a fragment of a Balrog."
Luagarne recognized the opponent.
As soon as the creature appeared, it dominated the surroundings. The presence of the monster overwhelmed the entire battlefield.
It was as if it was demonstrating what true Intimidation was.
All the soldiers were frozen in place.
Snap.
In the meantime, there were soldiers being killed by the spider's legs.
There were also soldiers standing silently with their mouths open.
Dunbachel was drenched in fear. Her beastly eyes saw the situation more clearly than anyone else.
She saw Oara's arm trembling, and her heart shrank from the overwhelming Intimidation exuded by the creature.
She wanted to run away without even looking back.
The fear caused her mind to break.
Dunbachel unknowingly rushed forward, slashing her blade at the newly arrived monster.
The creature kept its bladed hand aimed at Oara while delivering a high kick to Dunbachel's head.
Bang!
Her skull shattered, and blood gushed out.
"Dunbachel!"
Encrid shouted. The Will of Rejection activated. His body moved.
"I said, run."
Oara muttered as she pushed back the creature's bladed hand with both of hers.
Several exchanges occurred, but the result was not favorable.
Crack.
Oara's neck broke from a blow to the head.
Was it because she had been stabbed in the side by the Ghoul?
No, even without that, she had already exhausted all her strength.
She was also poisoned by a potent toxin, so she couldn't fight for long.
So the creature had set the stage to prevent her from fighting properly before striking.
It was a sinister creature.
A monstrous creature.
As Encrid advanced with his sword, he knew it was a futile death.
Yet, his body didn't listen.
It wasn't just that.
The moment he saw Oara die.
"Let's die with a smile!"
Roman shouted.
"Let's die with a smile!"
"Oara!"
"Oara!"
The chant was named after Oara.
This city was Oara's city.
The city that Knight Oara protected.
A surge of exhilaration rose.
Before, charging in knowing you would die would make everyone call you a madman, but here, only madmen existed.
The creature, whether it was a fragment of Balrog or something else, was almost on par with a Knight.
'The three monsters were weaker than that.'
The difference in strength was clear.
The spider monsters kept attacking endlessly, and arrows made of thread continued to rain down from above.
They were the same arrows that had killed Milio.
Encrid exchanged five blows with the monster known as the fragment of Balrog.
His swordsmanship and movements were nearly divine, but in the end, he was struck in the side by a kick and sent flying.
And then he saw the dead Roman.
He heard Rem, who was coughing up blood and rolling to his side, muttering.
"I should've gone sooner."
Everyone died, starting with Dunbachel. It was a massacre.
The city that Oara wanted to protect was disappearing.
Encrid took it all in with his eyes. As breathing became increasingly difficult, the surroundings slowly began to darken.
He had seen death so many times that he knew.
'I was hit badly.'
The impact was too much for even the bandage-like armor to withstand, it shook his insides. A broken rib had pierced and torn his internal organs.
"Cough."
A cough escaped, and blood gushed out.
He would die soon. Just before closing his eyes, Encrid saw the fragment of Balrog slaughtering the soldiers.
With one swing, two or three soldiers were killed. The creature had picked up Roman's weapon after killing him.
Bang! Thud!
Explosions and cracks followed as bodies flew.
"Argh!"
"Let's die with a smile!"
A soldier cried out, weeping just before his death. Encrid knew the face, though not the name.
Everything that Oara had tried to protect was crumbling.
Encrid closed his eyes. A short but long tunnel of darkness awaited him.
Splash.
The boat rocked with the movement of the waves. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a purple lamp.
"You'll really like this wall."
The ferryman spoke with great enthusiasm. Without a chance to respond, Encrid closed his eyes and opened them again.
Screeech!
It was another repeated day where he now recognized that scream as belonging to the screaming spider.
Even though he woke up before midnight, the start wasn't morning.
Today began after waking from sleep.
So, this today was very short.
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