episode_0041

“Wait a minute. Before we fight, let’s talk first.”

It looked like it was going to attack me at any moment, so I hastily stopped it.

If you can get through it without fighting, that would be the best thing.

To those who will kill, to those who will die.

“Story? Kahar, speaking in front of the enemy? Are you trying to make a joke?”

Knut wiggled one eyebrow.

Even his shoulders seemed to be shaking a little, as if he was bewildered.

“I’m serious. Even though it looks like this, I am a pacifist.”

“…bullshit.”

The ax blade on his shoulder was stained with moonlight and flashed a blue-black luster.

It’s pure truth without a single lie.

Because everything I did was necessary for me to live in peace.

” Well, even if I were there, I wouldn’t have believed it. But I really hate pointless fights.”

“It’s a useless fight…”

Knut muttered lowly, like a whisper.

“I can only guess why you hate me so much, but there were circumstances that made it inevitable for me to do so. I feel sorry. If you want to apologize to your people, yes. I am willing to apologize.”

Slowly, I placed my right hand on the hilt of the long sword.

It wasn’t Aimella’s sword, it was the sword she received from the academy.

If I had to fight, I was planning on using this sword first.

“So, can’t we move on to conversation? Do we really need to see each other’s blood just to avenge the compatriots we don’t even know? Answer me, Dane Knut.”

Give me a reason not to kill you.

“Do I really have to see blood?”

Knut gritted his teeth and glared at me with burning eyes.

The swirling murderous intent pressed down on the forest, so much so that even the insects stopped breathing and simply lowered their heads and fled.

“Do I really have to see blood…!”

The moonlight shining down faded.

“As expected, you don’t remember me…yeah. It must have been a day with nothing special for you…!”

Knut trembled, bared his clenched teeth and aimed his axe.

The deep-seated resentment that had been crouching and waiting for the right moment to come finally arose.

The black, rotten hatred waved like waves.

Damn it.

I couldn’t believe it, but was he a direct victim?

…There seemed to be no hope of resolving the issue through dialogue.

After all, is it inevitable?

Finally, I closed my eyes and took a deep, very deep breath of the cool night air.

I didn’t want to kill you.

Not for you, but for me.

I pulled out my steel long sword.

—-

– Kaaang!

The swinging ax leaves a black afterglow, and the striking long sword cries.

The forest awoke from its sleep to the violent crash sound that echoed in the middle of the night.

I had no intention of showing my full potential from the beginning.

Just as I kept my skills hidden, there was a high possibility that Knute also did not reveal his original strength.

The sharp long sword passed by, leaving a small scratch on the hilt of the sword, and the blocked ax blade dug into the bottom of the long sword’s blade.

Certainly, unlike before, the blow was strong and heavy, perhaps because it was a specially prepared weapon.

In the end, it wasn’t at a level that I couldn’t accept.

Because mine is stronger.

Swing the long sword sideways to remove the ax that is being struck.

The ax blade roughly scraped the blade, crushing it, making an unpleasant noise.

Sparks leap out like a waterfall, soaking the armor and disappearing.

“Ha!”

Knut rolls to the side to avoid my outstretched toe.

One after another, the ax was swung at my ankle, and I lifted my leg to avoid it and kicked Knut.

Knut, who barely managed to block the attack by pulling the sack, slipped and bounced away.

The dagger thrown after him was blocked by the ax blade and missed.

A light trickle of blood flowed from Knut’s left cheek, which was grazed by the dagger.

“Haaa!”

He leapt and stabbed his sword.

Place your left palm on the end of the sword hilt and add strength as if pushing.

I was planning on piercing the solar plexus just like that.

Knut kicked the corpse at his feet.

The half-split body of a kobold flew towards me, scattering black blood.

Grasp the hilt of the sword with your left hand and strike it away with the face of the sword as if you were hitting a ball.

The thrown kobold spun like a top, scattering its flesh.

The ax blade came right before my eyes.

I returned the sword and blocked it.

With a crunching sound, the sword body began to crack.

In the end, this guy can’t even survive twenty sums.

“Aishangioruuuu!”

“Kaaat!”

Knut roared, increasing his momentum even further.

I also fought back with a sharp burst of energy.

The ax and the long sword dance like crazy.

The scream of metal tearing through my eardrums is constantly pounding in my ears.

The attacks that passed by tore each other’s armor, scattering metal pieces.

The sword body was gradually breaking apart.

There was no time to hide his swordsmanship any longer.

These were attacks that, if not executed properly, would immediately shatter the sword.

Even though it contains a lot of power, the attack is fast enough to follow my sword.

Plus, the weapon is strong enough to withstand my attacks.

Certainly, the level was different from what was shown in the entrance exam.

“Imperial swordsmanship…! How dare you, Kahar!”

Knut recognized my swordsmanship and became even more angry.

The face was distorted with passion and anger, resembling a wild beast.

However, attacks carried out in anger tend to have many loopholes.

In the attack, which was swung with great emotion, a clear gap was revealed.

He twisted the outstretched sword and twisted it to the side.

“Oh my…!”

Knut’s upper body swayed, and his head was clearly exposed.

Instinct raised its fangs.

“Kyaaaat!”

Raise your fingertips and shoot them out like bullets.

The shimmering murderous intent stretched out like a beam of light.

Knut hurriedly turned his head to avoid it, but his chain armor was torn and blood spurted from his shoulder.

“Ugh!”

As if to counterattack, he grabbed the sack that was raised from the bottom.

The gauntlet, which could not withstand the impact, was slightly crushed. The fingertips had become completely flat.

Just like that, he lowers his long sword.

The sound of the wind cracking resonated pleasantly.

– Whoo!

With just the momentum of the swing, the sword body breaks and the engraved crack opens even larger.

Even though it only had one arm, it was a blow that was swung with full force.

Knut kicked my wrist, which was holding the axe, and quickly rolled back.

Blood spurted out along with a bursting sound as if dozens of windows were breaking at the same time.

The blood that sprang up stained my breastplate.

Knut rolled off the floor and lowered his head to look down at his chest.

Between the long torn chain armor, a diagonally carved sword was visible.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a particularly fatal wound.

As expected, it was a bit shallow.

I threw away the shattered long sword, with only the handle remaining.

Knut readjusted his stance and raised his ax again.

“Power beyond reason, plus imperial swordsmanship… Yes, I expected this level of difficulty…!”

“If it’s difficult, why don’t you quit now? This is my last advice.”

I placed my hand on Aimella’s sword, which was swinging at her waist.

With this sword, I can wield it with all my strength without worrying about it breaking.

Maybe even that ax will cut it down.

“It’s a warning… You can’t do that. Because I haven’t even taken the first step toward my oath yet.”

Knut, who was muttering, pulled out the spear stuck in the ground.

Like the axe, it was a spear made of black metal.

“Finally, I would like to ask you one question.”

Knut raised his spear and stared at me.

Those eyes were clouded with complex emotions, not just anger, as if they were looking at something other than me.

Like the eyes of an old man reminiscing about the past.

“What are you trying to ask?”

“What do you fight for? Why did you swing your sword and cause so much slaughter?”

It was an unexpected question.

Why are we fighting?

If I knew that, would anything change?

…now?

There was no reason why I couldn’t answer.

“…To live. Yes, for me to survive. If I don’t fight and kill, I will eventually die.”

I have been fighting only for that.

In the past when I was crawling through gunfire with a gun, and even now when I am swimming in a sea of blood with a sword.

And probably in the future too.

Because there are things that can only be achieved if you are alive.

“To live, you say…?”

Knut gritted his molars.

His mood changed completely.

The anger that had been burning and subsiding repeatedly was now erupting like a volcano with no end in sight.

“As expected, you are not a warrior…no, you are not even a human…!”

The raised spear was unable to withstand the fury and trembled.

An even deeper murderous intent pierced my body.

I grabbed the hilt of the sword and slowly pulled out Aimella’s sword.

The phrase engraved on the sword body suddenly caught my eye.

‘Twelve swords that protect humans’

It’s a sword to protect humans…

Really, it doesn’t suit me.

With a bitter smile, he grabbed the drawn sword with both hands.

Don’t worry. After all, a sword is just a sword.

The faded blue sword sharpened its blade.

And then, Knut cried out to the sky.

“Bölberg, the moment has come to keep your oath!”

A storm passed through my eyes.

Soaring gray aura surrounds his body and waves.

No, wait a minute.

That can’t be…!

[His spear announces the beginning of war.]

With a low incantation, gray rays of light converge on Knut’s spear and swirl violently.

The pebbles and metal pieces around were caught in the wind and rotated, colliding with each other and sparkling again and again.

A swirling gray storm spewing out lightning.

Undoubtedly, it was a sight I had seen on screen several times before.

Window of opening war.

A combat miracle used by the believers of the warrior god, Wölberg.

This bastard…! Was he a crusader…!

Extremely tense nerves sent a violent danger signal.

Knut lifted the spear and threw it away.

A roar tore through the forest.