Ch.297Knights of La Mancha (3)

At the moment of collision, a thunderous roar erupted.

The ground shook, and the sound of space creaking and tearing echoed everywhere. With dozens of stars colliding on the battlefield, it was only natural.

Two stories collided on a single stage.

Two stories, two endings—the actors wielded their blades to determine which ending befitted the play named La Mancha. In this arena where even laughter was drowned by the explosive sounds, Najin kicked off the ground.

The immortal army was countered by another immortal army.

The Empress of Bliss’s narrative was countered by Sancho’s narrative.

Najin had nullified every strategy the Empress of Bliss had prepared to ensure his “inevitable” defeat. What remained after all the nullification was a single constellation: the Star of Contempt.

“Heh, hehahahahahaha!”

The constellation charged forward, laughing wildly. Though he had reportedly lost one star previously, seven stars now floated behind Quixote’s back. To him, the world was merely a play, and the Empress of Bliss, as the narrator of this play, could bestow as many stars upon Quixote as she wished.

【La Mancha, on this stage where you are the protagonist, you can become as strong as you wish. You return to that moment when you shone brighter than ever before!】

The eye that the Helm Knight had taken from the Star of Contempt had been restored. The seven stars rising behind him shone fiercely.

【Dolcinea watches over you.】

【A knight always promises victory to his lady.】

【You shall not be defeated.】

On the stage called La Mancha, Quixote could become as powerful as he wished. Even though Najin had nullified his most powerful weapon, “The Knights of La Mancha,” the scales still tilted in favor of the Star of Contempt.

The Star of Contempt, Quixote—he must be defeated.

On a stage where he was the protagonist.

The moment Najin collided with the Star of Contempt, he felt his hands go numb. Heavy. Shaking off the pressure that felt like the entire world was bearing down on him, Najin caught his breath.

‘My opponent is the Star of Contempt, Quixote.’

Among all the transcendents Najin had encountered, he was the one with the most powerful stage. Moreover, that stage was supported by the Empress of Bliss, a constellation with eleven stars.

‘On this stage, I must defeat the protagonist of the stage.’

Naturally, it was a difficult task. Terribly difficult, but that’s what made it worth challenging.

The Star of Challenge shone.

Najin gripped his sword tightly and charged. The Star of Contempt also pulled Rocinante’s reins taut and rushed forward.

“Run, Rocinante!”

Acceleration—the Star of Contempt’s body left an afterimage that seemed to stretch out like a beam. He was shot forward like a flash of light.

Swooooosh!

A speed that even Najin’s dynamic vision could barely track. Najin gave up on seeing and reacting. He reflexively raised his sword.

Claaaang!

The Star of Contempt grazed the side of Excalibur as he passed by. Belatedly, the sound of air being cut and the wind pressure created by the Star of Contempt’s charge battered Najin. Behind him came a “kwang!” sound, as if a massive harpoon had been driven into the ground.

Fast. And it didn’t stop at just one strike.

Neeeeeigh!

The sound of a donkey braying was heard. Despite charging at such speed, Rocinante carrying the Star of Contempt pivoted in place as if defying the laws of physics.

And, boom!

He shot forward again, kicking off the ground. Yes, rather than “galloping,” “being shot” was a more appropriate expression. While a lance charge is a lethal strike for cavalry, for the Star of Contempt, a lance charge was as casual as swinging a sword.

Meaning he could perform it consecutively.

In the time it took Najin to exhale once, Quixote had executed five charges. Matching the rhythm of these charges that threatened to cut off his breath, Najin moved.

His sword hand felt numb. The wind pressure generated at each collision could have thrown off his balance, but Najin stood firm, his feet planted firmly on the ground.

‘Indeed, it’s different.’

The Don Quixote he had faced in La Mancha was in an incomplete state. In contrast, the opponent before him now was Quixote in his prime, or even beyond. The speed was on a completely different level.

‘But.’

Najin swallowed. Matching the movements of the Star of Contempt who was charging to cut off his breath, Najin kicked off the ground and dove towards him.

‘You’re not the only one who has changed.’

Najin had also ascended to transcendence.

Unlike before, when he could barely withstand with the power of stars, now Najin could respond to Don Quixote’s movements without borrowing anyone’s power.

Counterattack—Najin’s sword, swung upward from below, pushed away the tip of the Star of Contempt’s spear. The Star of Contempt immediately slid sideways, but Najin, as if anticipating this, swung his sword sideways without even shifting his gaze.

Slash.

The flow was broken. Simultaneously, Najin gripped his sword tightly. Constellations flashed from the sword.

Sprouting, it budded.

Blooming, it flowered.

Full bloom, the flowers scattered.

Eight stars flashed behind Najin’s back. As if to seize the reversed flow and make it his own, Quixote burst into laughter as he watched Najin accelerate.

And then.

【You recall.】

【That glorious moment when you pierced the giant!】

The Star of Contempt’s stage, the pages of the story named La Mancha, began to turn.

2.

The Star of Contempt’s stage, La Mancha, is a story.

It’s a play woven from his adventures.

Even before he became the Star of Contempt, when he was the Laughing Star, he used his stage in this manner.

【A ridiculous charge!】

【But that charge is swift.】

【Swift and sharp.】

For a moment.

“…!”

Najin lost track of the Star of Contempt’s movement. By the time he regained his senses, the Star of Contempt had already passed by him.

【Your lance grazed the giant’s leg. It was because the giant happened to lift its foot.】

【But your lance definitely ‘grazed’ the giant’s leg.】

Pop—Najin’s calf burst open. Blood vessels appeared in Najin’s eyes. Though Excalibur’s healing power immediately began to repair the wound, the opponent wouldn’t miss those few seconds.

【Charge towards the giant who has lost balance.】

【You pierce the fallen giant’s head!】

Najin threw himself sideways ungracefully. He had to choose evasion, even if it meant rolling on the ground. But seeing the tip of Don Quixote’s spear bending towards his head, Najin realized.

Inevitable hit.

The “narration” echoing on the stage had transformed the Star of Contempt’s spear into one that couldn’t miss. Evasion was impossible. Najin rose from his roll and swung his sword.

Claaaang!

Though he blocked with Excalibur, Najin’s body slid backward. He had lost the flow he had captured. Once again, the Star of Contempt was taking control of the flow.

【You recall.】

The pages of the story turned again.

【The moment you kicked off the whales of the Celestial Star, the glorious strike when you leaped off the whale and thrust your spear downward!】

Paint splattered across the stage. The splattered paint became whales, drawn like a child’s scribble. The whales appeared wherever Rocinante’s hooves touched, and using them as footholds, the Star of Contempt leaped high into the sky.

And, the star shone.

【You were shot like a meteor.】

The Star of Contempt shot down from the sky at an angle, like a falling star. Wrapped in starlight, his appearance was nothing short of a meteor.

Evasion was impossible.

Najin gritted his teeth and took his stance. The stance of the Triumphant Sword. Unfortunately, there was no time to execute the Triumphant Sword technique. Najin responded with the basics of the Triumphant Sword.

Kwaaaaaaang!

At the moment of collision, an area of dozens of meters was gouged out. As if a meteorite had struck, a massive crater was formed. In the center of that crater, Najin gritted his teeth. He was using all his strength to block the spear that was trying to pierce his body.

Sizzle.

His body burned from the heat. The moisture in his body boiled.

“Rocinante, run, run, run!”

With the momentum to pin Najin down, Don Quixote extended his spear. The light bursting from his body intensified. Though Rocinante was kicking at the air, whales formed wherever he stepped, providing him with ground.

Crunch, crunch.

He was being crushed. The sound of bones crumbling could be heard.

‘To face the protagonist of a stage.’

He had to feel to the bone what that meant. Najin changed his thinking. Until he “got hit,” that attack wouldn’t end.

‘In that case.’

Najin twisted his body. The moment the Star of Contempt’s spear grazed Najin’s ribs instead of piercing his heart, Najin accelerated.

He kicked off the ground. He swung his sword technique, drawn to its limit.

The moment the Star of Contempt’s spear pierced Najin’s body, Najin’s rising sword slashed the Star of Contempt’s shoulder.

Slash!

As the strikes crossed, Najin and the Star of Contempt passed each other. Najin clutched his exposed ribs where the flesh had been gouged out. The Star of Contempt, with his half-severed shoulder, rejoined it with a maniacal laugh.

Splat.

Paint covered the Star of Contempt’s body, repairing the wound. On this stage, the Star of Contempt could always return to a perfect state.

In contrast, Najin…

Sizzle.

With a burning sound, flesh grew back. This was possible not only because of Excalibur’s regenerative power but also because the narration “The Knights of La Mancha do not fall” had permeated Najin’s body on this stage.

Yet, it was slow.

The spear created by Sancho was hindering the regeneration. From the festering wound, mouths appeared, leaking laughter: “Hehehehehe.”

Slash! Najin had to cut out the entire wound with his knife.

His body ached.

Excalibur’s regeneration demands mental and physical energy. Najin caught his breath and raised his sword. Opposite him, the Star of Contempt was turning the pages of the story once again.

Swoooosh!

He charged. Najin’s eyes narrowed as he watched the approaching Star of Contempt. How to break through this? In this stage, Merlin couldn’t help Najin. She hadn’t been assigned a “role.”

But she could advise.

-Stay calm.

Merlin’s illusion gripped Najin’s hand. Calming his mind, Najin exchanged attacks with the Star of Contempt. Pierced, slashed, pierced again.

Clang, claaaang!

Najin was withstanding the corrections of the Star of Contempt’s stage with his skill. But there was a limit. Najin realized that in a war of attrition, he would start to lose.

Babababababam!

The spear thrust in consecutively. He deflected dozens of straight lines, but was grazed by the remaining two or three. Mouths formed on the skin grazed by the spear, bursting into laughter: “Hahaha!” It was an attack that corrupted the flesh and gnawed at the mind.

Even a graze required the wound to be cut out.

In terms of skill, Najin had the upper hand.

But the correction placed on this stage, the stage supported by the Empress of Bliss, was overwhelmingly powerful. Najin couldn’t deploy his own stage here.

“The Star of Contempt becomes terrifyingly strong on his own stage.”

“Moreover, with the Empress of Bliss supporting that stage, he’s practically invincible on it.”

“Ah, but I won.”

“So you can win too.”

The Helm Knight’s voice echoed in his ears. To his master’s suggestion to simply shatter the stage with a single blow, Najin had asked for a more realistic method.

The answer the Helm Knight had given…

Reflecting on that strategy, Najin exhaled.

‘Time.’

He needed a little time. If he had a moment to gather himself and observe his opponent, he could find an answer.

‘Above all, those sacred relics are bothersome.’

The Star of Contempt was adorned with many sacred relics.

Unlike ordinary sacred relics, these were crafted from the flesh of constellations themselves. Rocinante and the spear he held were examples. The parts pierced by the spear festered, hindering regeneration.

Najin didn’t have such sacred relics.

At least, none that would be useful in this battle.

‘But.’

He had a comrade who could play a similar role.

“Run, Rocinante!”

Just as the Star of Contempt was about to charge once more.

“Did you call, sir?”

A voice was heard from above the crater. With a tap of a staff, mounds of dirt in the crater surged upward.

And then.

Boom, boom, boom! Someone shot into the crater, kicking off the rising mounds of dirt. It was a trajectory thinner than the Star of Contempt’s, but sharp because of its thinness.

“Sir.”

“Sancho, it’s Sancho!”

“Yes, it’s me.”

With a bitter smile, Sancho pushed back the Star of Contempt. In the gap created, Rocinante grabbed Najin and pulled him up, speaking briefly.

“There’s no need to be swayed by the story.”

“What?”

“Aren’t you also a knight of La Mancha?”

Rocinante chuckled and patted Najin’s back.

“Here, you’re not a demon, giant, or monster to be defeated. You’re a free knight. Remember that.”

He gestured towards Sancho, assisting him.

“I can’t buy you much time. The protagonist of this story is ‘you,’ not ‘us.'”

Najin pondered the old man’s words.

3.

Sancho charged at the Star of Contempt to buy Najin time to gather himself and catch his breath. He was certain that the young man would soon find an answer.

“Sancho! It’s been a while. Let’s go on a journey together. Exciting adventures await us!”

Sancho gritted his teeth at the sight of the Star of Contempt bursting into laughter. The breath, voice, and small gestures of the Star of Contempt, tainted by the Empress of Bliss, were all an insult to the existence known as the Laughing Star.

It was an insult and a blasphemy.

Sancho, now wielding a spear against his friend, felt bitter. He should have done this earlier. He should have knocked some sense into his master, even if it meant beating him, and if that was impossible, he should have ended his life with his own hands.

He should have, but he couldn’t.

He was afraid. Afraid of ending his master’s story with his own hands, of killing his friend. And he felt that if he ended it that way, he wouldn’t be able to laugh anymore.

Sancho had to pay dearly for his hesitation.

He knew what his master, now transformed like that, had done, what crimes he had committed. That’s why Sancho gripped his spear tightly.

“You weren’t that kind of person.”

You weren’t that kind of man.

“You weren’t someone who laughed like that.”

Speaking through gritted teeth, Sancho thrust his spear. Of course, it was just a delaying tactic. Sancho could never kill Don Quixote, nor could he defeat him.

Because Sancho’s story had already ended.

Though he wanted to send his master off with his own hands, Sancho knew it was impossible. Yet, he struggled like this, repeating the nightmare in La Mancha for over 300 years…

Because he had been waiting for someone.

Someone to end this long nightmare.

Someone who could conclude this story, which had ended in tragedy, as a comedy where people could laugh and talk.

Sancho and the Knights of La Mancha had endured hundreds of years of nightmares, waiting for someone who might not even exist, or if they did, might not be able to come here. Reflecting on that time, Sancho couldn’t help but laugh.

Because he felt it.

The star shining behind him.

The star of the hero who had appeared before them to end the long nightmare, to split the night and announce the arrival of morning.

He’s coming.

The Hero of this story.

“Sir, do you know?”

Barely withstanding the Star of Contempt’s attack, even as his arm was pierced, Sancho shouted as he bought time.

“Sometimes, even the protagonist…”

The protagonist always saves others. Don Quixote had always saved someone. But in his final moment, when he was in crisis, no one could save him.

Because in that story, there was only one hero.

But not anymore.

After wandering for many years, Sancho had found it.

“…can be saved by someone.”

Just before Sancho’s body was pierced, Najin brushed past him. Najin deflected the spear aimed at Sancho’s body and stepped in.

【The land of giants where giants stomp!】

【There, you will…】

Just as the Star of Contempt was about to unfold another page of the story, Najin’s body accelerated. As if he had now figured out how to break through that story.