Ch.43The Warrior

# Spear of Declaration.

This is the storm of Volberg, the God of War.

It was the name of a power that recreated the javelin of declaration of war, which would always pierce the enemy when thrown.

With a thunderous roar that penetrated the forest, dozens of trees tumbled with screams as they were torn apart.

Tree bark and dirt blasted into the air, raining down like a shower.

In the distance, I could see the spear that had bored into the rock face like an awl, emitting a trail of smoke.

I glanced at my throbbing right shoulder.

Just from a graze, my armor had been completely shredded.

If I hadn’t reacted, my shoulder would have been torn off.

Damn it. Was this the power he was hiding?

A Crusader? I hadn’t expected that at all.

Gray energy was flowing like waves from Knut’s entire body.

There was no time to relax.

A Crusader of the War God meant every power was specialized solely for combat.

Though his order lacked the ability to heal their own wounds, they possessed tremendous strength in exchange.

I don’t know how many powers he’s been granted… but if it’s more than three, he’ll be quite troublesome.

The case at my lower back swayed.

Inside, my last resort waited, dormant.

Should I use it?

No, not yet.

I can still handle this with my own strength.

“You dodged it. Your reactions are indeed quick…!”

Knut picked up the axe he had dropped while evading the javelin.

A gray light seeped into the axe blade, making it flash.

A sense of danger awakened my body.

My heated instincts welcomed the struggle, baring their claws.

I recalled Nigel’s advice.

He told me to surrender to instinct, but maintain a thread of reason.

Then that’s what I’ll do.

I released the suppressed impulse.

My liberated nature gripped the sword and charged forward.

—-

Blue afterglow and gray sacred light intertwined.

“Kyaaaah!”

Without taking a single step back, I unleashed endless sword strikes toward Knut.

I couldn’t give him a chance to retrieve his spear.

The Spear of Declaration was an attack that could end my life with just one proper hit.

My chain mail was torn in various places, scattering blood-soaked metal fragments.

The axe imbued with the War God’s power withstood my sword without breaking, but my speed was far superior.

“Haap!”

I ducked my entire body to avoid the axe swinging horizontally.

A savage cutting sound passed over my head.

I drew my dagger and thrust it toward his thigh.

It bounced off the axe handle.

Blocking his foot as he tried to kick my chin, I slid sideways and swung my sword.

The blade bent like a whip from the momentum.

The sound of air being torn vibrated at the sword’s tip.

Knut rolled on the ground to avoid it. My longsword aimed at his waist cut through empty air.

[The whispers of emotion and memory bestow foresight.]

Knut, having created distance between us, recited his second incantation.

The black-gray spiritual energy that spread behind his back took the form of wings, enveloping and seeping into him.

Four wings.

It was a power that extremely enhanced reaction speed and reflexes.

His attacks began to keep up with my speed.

My sword strikes, which until now had inflicted at least light wounds, were all being blocked.

Not yet.

I can still go faster.

I release a bit more of the leash I had placed on my instincts.

My blood began to boil.

The heat made my throat dry.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

Ferocity began to seep into my attacks as I ground my teeth and pressed on.

I deflected the axe aiming for my head with the base of my blade, then clawed with my left hand, fingers extended.

Knut’s cloak was torn lengthwise.

I planted my hand on Knut’s leg as it came toward my torso, and leaped up in a spinning motion.

My heel, striking down toward his head, was blocked by the raised axe handle.

With a resonant thud, Knut’s knee buckled.

“Kuk..!”

I quickly bent my leg to pull on the axe handle, drew daggers in both hands, and struck down at both shoulders.

Knut arched his back like a bow.

The daggers scraped across the chain mail on his chest, sending sparks flying.

I was knocked backward by his fist.

My left cheek stung.

My mouth must have been cut inside, as there was blood mixed in the saliva I spat out.

I discarded the daggers I had been holding, as they had become blunt and useless.

Knut picked up my longsword and threw it toward me.

The sword tip shot toward my head. Though not wrapped in the gray storm like the spear, its momentum was still fierce.

I reflexively reached out and caught it.

The blade cut through my glove, leaving a long wound on my palm.

If my reaction had been even slightly slower, it would have pierced between my eyes.

I gripped the sword handle again and got to my feet.

With a dagger newly drawn in my left hand.

…That leaves nine daggers.

Knut was also covered in blood from various cuts, but he hadn’t sustained any fatal wounds yet.

The chain mail he wore was tattered like a rag.

Definitely different from mindless monsters.

When I tried to overpower him with strength, he would roll away from each powerful attack, looking for openings and counterattacking.

In the end, I had no choice but to keep my attacks short and quick.

With such attacks, it wasn’t easy to smash through his armor.

Then, stronger. Faster.

Until he couldn’t react.

I raised my fighting spirit even more.

There was no time to hesitate.

Growling from my throat, I leaped again.

I slipped past the gray arc and dove in, thrusting both hands with all my might.

– Kang!

Blocked.

Not yet.

Faster.

More fiercely.

I exhaled the heat I had been holding in.

Steam mixed with my breath.

I surrendered to the intensifying fighting spirit.

My body accelerated even more.

“Kyaaat!”

I stabbed my dagger like lightning toward his descending left arm.

The dagger tore through the chain, crushing muscle and bone as it penetrated.

Knut’s expression contorted.

I grabbed his kicking leg and swung it.

Knut, losing his balance, still brought down his axe while staggering.

“Haaaap!”

“Kaaaaat!”

Gripping the sword handle with both hands, I struck back with all my might.

The gray light shattered, and my blade cut halfway through the axe blade.

“You’re like… a monster…!”

The astonished Knut shook off the axe.

My body was pushed back.

I drew another dagger and threw it.

The dagger lodged in Knut’s shoulder where his armor had fallen off.

“Kheuk..!”

Even with the War God’s power, he was still human in the end.

His body was becoming increasingly sluggish from the successive bleeding.

Meanwhile, my instincts were growing sharper, heating my body endlessly.

“Kyahaa…”

I exhaled the breath I had been holding.

The smell of flowing blood felt sweet.

My heart, pounding as if meeting a lover, supplied endless vitality throughout my body.

“Truly, a beast…! Indeed, you are not human. No different from the monsters sprawled here!”

Knut gritted his teeth.

Gathering my fading reason, I answered.

“You seem… quite angry at what I said earlier…! Was my statement about fighting to survive so offensive to you…? Saying I’m not a warrior…”

“Offensive? Ha, yes! Look at those!”

Knut passionately pointed at the kobolds around us.

Drops of blood scattered from his blood-soaked beard.

“Without reason or belief. Fighting only by instinct to eat, killing for pleasure! How are you any different?”

Knut raised his axe and charged with fierce momentum.

I parried each swing of the axe blade with my sword.

My blade vibrated with a clear ring.

The gray light on the axe blade was fading like a mirage.

“A warrior, a human. One must become strong to protect, fight for beliefs, and die for honor!”

“Ah, is that so…!”

What an old-fashioned warrior’s creed. And a narrow-minded one at that.

Fighting to survive isn’t a belief?

Do you really fight while worrying about such things?

It doesn’t look that way to me.

I twisted my body to avoid an attack aimed at my shoulder, then kicked him in the abdomen.

The remaining chains burst apart as Knut flew backward.

Knut collided with a tree trunk and coughed blood.

“Kuuugh… it’s not over yet…!”

Gritting his teeth, Knut recited his final incantation.

[Greed and hunger shall bring eternal struggle!]

Einherjar.

A blessing that ignores the pain and impediment of wounds, maximizes strength to the limit, and maintains combat ability until death.

It was a power for the War God’s Crusaders, who lacked healing miracles, to wield their swords until death.

Knut sprang up and charged.

His movements were even faster than before the battle began.

The broken axe and longsword collided violently once more.

As the battle intensified, attacks that missed or were deflected began to tear apart the surroundings.

Shattered rocks fell to the ground, making the earth tremble, and severed trees collapsed, spilling their leaves.

“That power…! With that ferocious power that slashes everything around you, you can protect nothing! You probably have no intention of protecting anything but yourself anyway!”

The axe blade lodged in my thigh. My armor shattered and blood gushed out.

My longsword tore a long gash in Knut’s left arm. Scraped bone was visible through the open wound.

“To survive? The reason for killing thousands of Danes was merely for your own survival! That’s not a belief, but a sophistry!”

The daggers I threw lodged all over Knut’s body.

My left arm ached as it blocked his retaliating kick.

“Honor? You probably never had anything worthy of that name to begin with!”

I jumped backward, kicked off a tree, and lunged with my sword.

The axe handle, trying to block the longsword, couldn’t withstand it and was cut in half.

“Volberg-!”

Gray storm energy gathered in the axe handle, which had turned into a metal rod.

Oh no.

The Spear of Declaration, shot once more, rushed toward my head.

The longsword that barely blocked it tore from my grasp and flew away.

I crashed through trees with my back.

The back of my breastplate seemed shattered, metal fragments piercing my back.

I vomited blood that welled up.

Damn it… I guess a sharply cut metal rod is essentially a short spear…!

As I was getting up, Knut summoned the spear he had thrown at the beginning of the battle.

A vortex began to form again from the spear in his left hand.

“Therefore, you are neither a warrior nor human. Even if you speak like a human and look like one. You’re nothing but a monster!”