Chapter 132

Ṛеаԁ өո​ ＫаṫṚεａđɩｎ​ǵＣ​аſė

Death.

It was a familiar neighbor to him.

A heart that had stopped beating long ago.

A body losing its warmth, growing cold.

Yet, it was a corpse that did not decay.

What flowed through his veins was not blood but thick, viscous death energy.

Paradoxically, death was what moved him.

Death filled the void left by the absence of life.

He had long forgotten his name in life.

The proud knight of death.

The Black Knight. Death Knight. Memento Mori.

Always noble.

Always steadfast.

Even death could not extinguish his fighting spirit.

Though dead, he honed his undying body.

Though life had left him, he still yearned for martial prowess.

His still heart continued to seek what lay beyond.

The supreme realm.

The ultimate state.

A destination beyond life and death.

“Far, so far.”

Yet, if he did not give up.

Surely, he could reach it.

There was already a precedent.

The 72 devil gods who ruled the vast heavens.

A divine power that defied causality and even rebelled against providence.

Audaciously, even blasphemously, he set the devil gods as his goal.

If there was a dream, he would pursue it without faltering, with unwavering resolve.

Having abandoned both life and name, all that remained was a single sword.

「Behold, the remnants of what is destined to perish dare to challenge the gods. How laughable, how absurd.」

The greatest among the great mocked him.

The number one devil god belittled his challenge, dismissing it as insignificant.

「Foolish yet upright. He should be granted the opportunity to transcend his mortal shackles.」

Yet, his unyielding spirit was admired.

Thus, a small favor was bestowed upon him.

Even if his vessel were to shatter and crumble, as long as he did not lose his obsession with martial prowess.

If he could withstand the void with an unbreakable will.

His soul would not perish but be reborn, granting him a third chance.

Of course, this was no trivial matter.

If his vessel shattered and his core broke, his soul would scatter immediately.

The favor of briefly holding onto his soul was merely a temporary reprieve from annihilation.

It only granted him a fleeting moment to reflect on the final moments of his life.

Crisis is an opportunity.

A crisis that can be overcome is a stepping stone to evolution.

But a crisis that cannot be overcome is like a quagmire.

The Black Knight sensed that his end had come.

A momentary lapse had been exposed by the desperate struggle of a weakling unworthy of evaluation.

He had lost an arm to a boy who embodied scorching flames.

His head had been melted and obliterated by a girl who carried the sun within her.

Defeat.

An utterly complete defeat.

He could have won.

He could have slaughtered them all.

If he had revealed his full strength from the start, the battle would have been decided long ago.

If he had resolved to kill from the beginning, the Black Knight would have easily secured an overwhelming victory.

Yet, he had lost.

He calmly accepted this cold, hard truth.

Such is the nature of battle.

Strength alone does not determine victory or defeat.

The stage of the fight, compatibility with the opponent, condition, and mindset.

All these factors determine the winner and the loser.

Had he not been overconfident, this would not have happened.

In the end, the bitter defeat was his own doing.

There was no point in crying foul now.

Rather, he should pay his respects to the boy and girl who had defeated him.

Overcoming overwhelming odds with courage and wit, he could not help but admire them as a fellow warrior.

“Ah, what a pity.”

He wanted to fight more.

He wanted to reach the realm beyond the wall.

If he were to meet his end someday, he wanted to die satisfied after a fierce battle where he had given his all.

To meet such a hollow end due to his own arrogance, how disgraceful.

Embracing his regrets, the Black Knight melted into the darkness.

He sank into the swamp of eternal slumber that he should have embraced long ago.

The knight of death finally laid down his sword.

“…?”

That should have been it.

The Black Knight opened his eyes. This fact surprised him. If his core had shattered, the death energy within him would have gone berserk. 

Without a focal point, he could no longer control his power. His body should have completely corroded and turned to ash. It should have vanished into the void, carried by the desolate wind. How could he still open his eyes?

His senses felt strange. His limbs seemed intact, yet they did not respond to his will. Every movement felt sluggish, as if he was forcing himself into ill-fitting clothes.

Where was his armor, the plate armor that had suppressed his death energy?

Without it, his body would decompose under the surging energy.

Overwhelmed by confusion, the Black Knight belatedly realized he was lying down.

He tried to get up, but his arms and legs refused to obey.

“Where is this…?”

The Black Knight blinked, struggling to focus his vision.

His body felt heavy.

His chest felt tight.

His heart wasn’t beating, so why did he feel this way?

What flowed through his veins was not blood but death.

The Black Knight was the embodiment of death, and most of his senses had dulled.

Yet, an unprecedented sensation stirred within him.

This feeling was new. An inexplicable flow emanated from his chest.

It almost felt as if his heart was beating.

“Oh, you’re awake?”

A red fox mask suddenly appeared, blocking his vision.

The Black Knight gasped and hurriedly tried to sit up.

But his limbs, tangled like twisted nerves, caused him to collapse awkwardly.

“Stay still. Your body won’t respond properly until it synchronizes with the new vessel.”

“…Great One. Was I not dead?”

“Yes, you were dead. Both your vessel and core were destroyed. A clean defeat.”

“Then, what am I now…?”

The Black Knight should have perished the moment his core shattered.

Transferring to a new vessel was only possible when the core containing his soul was intact.

Yet, he could not comprehend how he still existed.

“Who do you think I am?”

“…It was a foolish question.”

Indeed, who was the being before him?

A transcendent being beyond the comprehension of mortals.

If she had intervened, reviving him would have been trivial.

But the Black Knight wondered if he was worthy of such a favor from a great being. By the standards of monsters, the Black Knight was formidable. Humans classified beings like him as high rank monsters, even named monsters. 

But by the standards of the devil gods, he was a weakling, not even reaching the level of a demonic beast. There was no reason for the 29th-ranked devil god to show him mercy.

“I liked you.”

As if reading the Black Knight’s thoughts, Astaroth spoke.

“So I decided to take you in. Consider it an honor.”

As she tilted the red fox mask, her blue eyes were revealed.

The Black Knight bowed his head without hesitation, captivated by those deep, azure eyes.

“I will follow you.”

In truth, the reason didn’t matter.

What mattered was that he still existed, that he had not been annihilated.

He had endlessly craved power and pursued higher realms.

Though he had thought it was the end, if there was still a chance, the Black Knight was willing to dedicate everything he had.

“Ahaha, good answer. Now that you’ve regained consciousness, adapt to your new body. I’ll bring you some clothes to wear.”

Watching Astaroth’s figure disappear, the Black Knight began to settle his soul into the new vessel, as she had instructed.

As he actively attempted to synchronize, control of the body quickly shifted to him.

Within minutes, the Black Knight fully claimed the new vessel as his own and slowly rose to his feet.

The more he adapted to the body, the more he began to realize something he hadn’t noticed before.

“…My energy… it’s being controlled…?”

This was astonishing.

Why had he been sealing his power with special armor all this time?

Because the overflowing death energy was something even he couldn’t fully control.

But now, it was different.

The death energy, which had once raged like a wild horse, had become docile.

The immense energy that had been too vast to control now moved according to his will.

“It’s a difference in level.”

The Black Knight quickly understood the reason.

It was the difference in the vessel. The previous vessel and the current one were on entirely different levels. 

Unlike the past, where the vessel couldn’t contain the energy and overflowed, the current vessel could fully withstand his power. Naturally, this meant the Black Knight could now perfectly control his energy. He no longer needed armor. There was no need to suppress his power anymore.

“Ha, haha…”

The Black Knight couldn’t hide his joy.

He had finally cast off the long-standing restraints.

The weakness that had held him back every time he tried to advance to the next level.

He had finally overcome it.

He had at last earned the right to transcend the realm of monsters.

Trembling with rising euphoria, the Black Knight suddenly furrowed his brows at a thought that crossed his mind.

His chest felt heavy. It had been heavy since earlier. He had thought it was just a sensory error due to not being accustomed to the new body, but even now, after fully settling into the vessel, his chest still felt heavy. Puzzled, his gaze naturally drifted downward. White skin filled his vision.

“What is this…?”

He reached out and grasped the white flesh.

What was this massive lump of flesh attached to his chest?

It was too large to be held in one hand.

As he carefully kneaded it, a soft and plump sensation enveloped his palm.

“Ah…?”

As he continued to fiddle with it, his heart inexplicably fluttered.

Without realizing it, the Black Knight let out a faint moan and his legs trembled.

Why was this growth attached to him?

No, could this even be called a growth?

There was no way the vessel bestowed by the great one would have such flaws.

So, this wasn’t a defect but a natural part of the body…?

As one question arose, others quickly followed.

His height and build had become smaller.

His hands were clean, without a single callus.

His voice was thin and high-pitched.

This was almost like… a human woman.

“Ah.”

Feeling an inexplicable sense of foreboding, the Black Knight looked around.

He spotted a mirror placed against the wall.

He hurriedly ran over and looked at his reflection.

What awaited him on the other side of the mirror was the sight he had hoped to avoid.

“…”

Hair that reached down to his waist.

The outer layer was as white as a lily, but the inner layer was as black as obsidian.

His pupils were red, as if filled with rubies.

Even on tiptoe, he couldn’t reach the height of his previous body’s shoulders.

His flawless, snow-white body was more like a beautiful sculpture than something lewd.

The unnecessarily large mass of fat on his chest swayed with every movement, exuding an overwhelming presence.

“Wh-what is this…?”

As the Black Knight stood there, shoulders trembling in despair, the girl with the red fox mask approached with lively steps.

“How is it? I asked Belial to specially prepare this vessel for you. Do you like it?”

“G-Great One…”

He couldn’t possibly complain about a gift from the great one.

In the end, the Black Knight could only close his mouth and nod.

He shrank back, overwhelmed by the unfamiliar sensations of the new body.

Every movement caused the massive chest to sway, making the changes to his body all too real.

The Black Knight felt like crying.

How was he—no, how was she supposed to wield a sword with this cumbersome body…?

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
It’s not really an important note, but…

The Black Knight is now the biggest among the women in the story.

What? What’s big?

Well? What is it, I wonder?

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
In another world, this is the plot of another novel, heh.