Ch.64Escape Under the Moonlight (5)

A clearing created by blowing away trees in the area.

In this alien space—empty without a single tree despite being in the middle of the forest—Griffin raised his sword. Above his raised blade, red branches stretched high into the sky.

A red thorn-like sword aura.

A red thorn tree took root in the middle of the forest. Griffin’s motion of raising his sword was slow, but there was no opening in his movement. Najin, who had been trying to strike at an opening, frowned.

He couldn’t see it. An opening.

Najin sensed that something was different from what Griffin had shown until now. This wasn’t basic swordsmanship. This was martial arts honed by a warrior over a lifetime. Griffin’s stance radiated such intensity and precision.

Najin’s instinct screamed.

To retreat immediately.

Creating distance from an opponent unleashing a major technique was clearly a bad move. But if there was no way to receive that sword, he had no choice but to make that bad move.

Thud.

Najin stomped the ground to halt his momentum. His body tilted forward from the inertia, but Najin managed to push off the ground and leap backward. And ultimately, that judgment proved correct.

Griffin swung his sword.

The red thorn tree extended its branches.

The sound when the sword was swung wasn’t a cutting “slash.” Instead, a cracking sound echoed as if something was being split open. Wind blew and dirt rose. When the dust settled, what was revealed was split ground.

Where Najin had been standing moments ago, within about five steps of Griffin, sword marks in the shape of thorny branches were carved into the earth.

And Griffin’s sword didn’t stop. With roots planted in the ground, he swung the thorn tree. The sight was less like a knight swinging a sword and more like a giant uprooting a massive tree and wielding it.

Crack!

The ground split. The longsword in Griffin’s hand was only about 120cm, but once wrapped in the red thorn sword aura, its length and width more than tripled. However, since the sword aura had no weight and only repulsive force, its speed wasn’t much different from swinging a longsword.

‘Starting from Sword Seeker, common sense begins to break down.’

Najin was now experiencing firsthand that sentence he had read somewhere. A greatsword over 3 meters in length was being swung at the speed of a longsword. It was clear that if those extending branches touched him, they would slice through not just flesh but bone as well.

He was rolling on the ground, pushing off the earth, keeping his eyes wide open to read movements in advance… but evasion alone couldn’t save the situation.

Eventually, an attack came that he couldn’t avoid.

Najin thrust his sword toward the red thorn tree swinging horizontally. Even with his sword aura output at maximum, when it collided with Griffin’s sword aura, Najin’s aura was rapidly shaved away.

Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-kak!

He was overwhelmed in repulsive force.

He was overwhelmed in density.

Though he gripped his sword tightly, the violently shaking hilt felt like it would slip from his grasp. Crack—his fingers bent. He couldn’t withstand it. If this continued, all ten fingers would break.

Gritting his teeth, Najin kicked off the ground.

The moment his feet left the earth, his body floated in the air and was pushed sideways. He had judged that if he couldn’t withstand it, it was better to be blown away.

Crack!

Thrown far away, Najin barely managed to roll and stand up. His arms were numb and his fingers throbbed with pain. His sword aura, mostly shaved away, no longer emitted a fierce light. It only flickered briefly like a nearly burnt-out torch.

“Cough, hack.”

Najin had been barely maintaining his balance by whipping his body while receiving more mana than the allowable amount. His ravaged body screamed, and crimson blood flowed endlessly from the long cut on his shoulder that had been inflicted at the start of the battle.

The situation was dire.

He was cornered, and his opponent remained unscathed.

What lingered in Najin’s ears was a sweet whisper. Draw Excalibur. If you draw it, you might win. But Najin had no intention of giving in to that whisper. It was his last resort.

A power still too vast for him to handle.

If he relied on such power and drew it whenever he faced a crisis, he would never grow. Moreover, if he drew it in a place like this, even if he overcame the immediate challenge, only greater trials would await. Najin caught his breath and thought.

Think. Find an answer.

Think of a way to survive against this formidable knight.

‘What I lack is… sword aura.’

Other elements could be compensated for somehow.

The biggest problem was that he couldn’t withstand the opponent’s sword. The difference in sword aura. There was only one way to bridge that gap.

Heart image, a landscape etched in the mind.

A specific form to imbue in the sword aura.

If he couldn’t envision it, he would die. Walking a tightrope between life and death, Najin readjusted his grip on his sword. But how? How should he interpret and understand the vague phrase of imbuing an image into sword aura?

-No need to overthink it.

That was the moment.

Merlin, who had been silent all along, spoke.

-You already know how to do it.

2.

“You’ve already experienced the trigger.”

Merlin said.

“The pure white sword aura you’ve been able to draw since the battle with the Fallen Knight—that’s a fragment of the heart image.”

Where she sat was deep darkness.

This was Najin’s inner world, still incomplete.

“A heart image is the landscape you paint in your mind.”

When she opened her eyes that had been closed all along, what Merlin saw was Najin’s inner world… that is, the landscape of his heart image.

“Memories strongly imprinted in your mind, things you want to resemble, things you want to obtain—those are what make it up.”

When Merlin first settled here, all she could see was darkness stretching to the horizon.

But not anymore.

Merlin could see it.

The landscapes beginning to take shape in Najin’s heart image, the sceneries that had started to form outlines since the battle with the Fallen Knight—she could see them. Walking among those landscapes, Merlin whispered to Najin.

“What was your starting point?”

As if answering that question, the landscape trembled.

The scenery that had only been outlined became clearer. It was the landscape of the underground city. The dark underground city. The place where Merlin had been walking had transformed into the city located at the lowest place in the world.

A range of barely ten steps.

A landscape etched in a very narrow range.

Though far too insufficient to fill this vast space, it was enough for now. One shouldn’t be greedy from the start. Merlin continued to whisper to Najin.

“What did you want to become? Star, knight, pride, honor. Ruminate on the words lodged in your mind. Try to paint them as landscapes.”

A light sparkled.

“You said there was a knight who shone even in the lowest place.”

The sparkling light rose in the center of the underground city. It was a pure white light. A light symbolizing a knight who could shine until the very end because he never lost his pride.

“You swore to that light. That you would hang a star in the highest place. Yes, in a place where stars couldn’t be seen, you dreamed of stars.”

Another light rose.

The risen light sparkled high in the sky. A pure white star hanging in the lowest place, and a platinum star hanging in the highest place. Looking at the two stars supporting Najin’s heart image, Merlin smiled.

“A place where stars can’t be seen.”

The landscape of the underground city became clearer.

“A vow with a knight who didn’t lose his star.”

The low-hanging pure white star pulsed intensely.

“A star shining in the highest place.”

The high-hanging platinum star shone brilliantly.

“And what you hold in your hand is a sword. It may not be Excalibur, but does that matter? You were chosen by Excalibur. You received recognition from the Sword of Selection. And in your inner world, there are two shining stars.”

So, Merlin whispered.

“If you swing while envisioning stars, that becomes the Sword of Stars.”

Merlin stopped walking.

The pure white star before her, pulsing intensely, flashed brightly for a moment. With that momentary flash, all the surrounding scenery evaporated. But Merlin knew this didn’t signify destruction.

That landscape had simply moved.

From Najin’s inner world to his sword.

Merlin closed her eyes again. With her eyes closed, what she saw was the world through Najin’s eyes. Through Najin’s vision, Merlin saw the sword he was holding. The pure white sword aura rising above the sword.

That sword aura somewhat resembled a star.

The sword aura resembling a pure white star scattered white particles.

3.

The fight wasn’t ending easily.

Griffin frowned.

Despite bringing out the swordsmanship of the war hero, Arta Trigadian, contrary to expectations, the fight dragged on. Using every means possible, the young man was avoiding his sword. Bleeding, destroying his own body, he was buying time.

He certainly wouldn’t lose.

But if time dragged on like this, he couldn’t complete his mission.

That was as good as defeat for Griffin. For him, knighthood meant completing the mission given by his lord under any circumstances. Griffin approached Najin, stomping his foot down.

He had to end this.

So Griffin recalled.

The landscape that formed the foundation of his heart image.

It was a barren thorn tree placed in the garden of the Albania ducal family. Since Griffin was young, the thorn tree had always stood in that spot. The knight who had taken Griffin as his disciple called that tree the guardian tree of Albania.

A thorn tree that had guarded that place for over 300 years.

Looking at that tree, Griffin swung his sword. Over the years, the master he served had retired, Griffin had become a knight, risen to the Sword Seeker level, and become the captain of the knights.

Decades had passed, but the Albania guardian tree still stood in its place.

Having swung his sword while looking at that guardian tree for decades, a thorn tree stood tall in Griffin’s inner world. A sturdy tree that simply carried out whatever its master desired.

That was what Griffin thought a knight should be.

The heart image extended through Griffin’s sword.

Griffin swung the tree, now grown even larger, a thorn tree exceeding 5 meters. There was nowhere to run. To prevent escape by pushing back like before, Griffin swung his sword from top to bottom.

And that was the moment.

Najin, who had been fleeing all along, stopped in place. Stopping, Najin suddenly raised his sword above his face. Griffin recognized that motion. It was a stance habitually taken by some knights, or the Knights of Atanga, before drawing out their sword aura.

A sword salute to compose oneself.

The moment the salute was completed, pure white particles rose above Najin’s sword. The sword aura looked no different from before, but Griffin sensed something was different. Najin’s sword aura, which had almost died out, was scattering light again.

Yes.

It was scattering light.

Pure white particles bloomed around Najin’s sword. Like stars shining in the night sky. At that moment, Griffin’s eyes widened. Not just a simple light cluster, but a sword aura with “form.” Though still unstable and imperfect, it was clear that the young man’s heart image was imbued there.

He had touched a fragment of the Sword Seeker.

In a desperate situation, walking a tightrope between life and death, Najin had finally stepped into a realm he couldn’t reach before.

Ka-ga-ga-ga-ga-gak!

The red thorn tree and the pure white star collided.

Until now, Najin’s sword had been helplessly pushed back, but not anymore. Scattering particles, Najin’s sword cut through a branch of the red thorn tree.

It was just one of dozens of branches that was broken. But the fact that it was cut was significant.

Seeing it cut, Najin’s eyes widened.

Having a means to counter meant he could freely use techniques he couldn’t use before. Najin kicked off the ground and charged toward Griffin.

Slash!

Cutting down the branches of the great tree, sometimes bleeding, Najin closed the distance. He had to shed blood several times to take a single step, but Najin didn’t mind. However, there was one thing Najin was mistaken about.

It was the difference in experience.

Najin had just touched a fragment, but Griffin was an expert who had been at the Sword Seeker level for over a decade. Though he couldn’t hide his surprise, Griffin steadily swung his sword. After all, he still had the upper hand.

The heart image imbued in Najin’s sword was gradually evaporating.

Its momentum was sharp, but he was still a novice who didn’t know how to wield a sword imbued with a heart image. The difference in experience determined the outcome. Najin fought hard, but by the time he reached close, no more sword aura formed on his blade.

Time was up.

‘It’s over.’

Thinking this, Griffin was about to swing his sword to finish it when—Swish! With a sound cutting through the air, an arrow flew from somewhere. Griffin, eyes wide, swung his sword to deflect the arrow, but with a thud! both the sword and Griffin were pushed back.

Looking at the arrow stuck in the ground, it was an arrow that would fit a great bow that couldn’t be drawn by an ordinary person’s strength.

What came to Griffin’s mind was a famous knight from the Trebache viscounty. A knight at the Sword Seeker level who wielded a great bow. It was clearly an arrow shot by him. Following that, the sound of war horses’ hooves echoed through the forest.

“Stop.”

Approaching war horses. Echoing voices.

Griffin looked around.

Those who arrived on war horses were knights from the viscounty. They were pointing their swords at Griffin.

It was a faster move than Griffin had anticipated, and this meant Griffin’s defeat. Griffin exhaled deeply and slowly lowered his sword. With the viscounty’s knights present, he couldn’t continue the battle.

As he was about to lower his sword.

Griffin inadvertently looked ahead.

There stood the young man, covered in blood, frozen in the same posture as before. The young man, stopped in a sword-swinging stance, exhaling. Looking at that posture, Griffin couldn’t help but laugh wryly.

He didn’t have future sight or the talent to foresee the future through an opponent’s movements.

Yet he had enough insight to recognize Najin’s stance. It was the swordsmanship of the Order of the Sword, optimized for counterattacks at close range. A technique to break the opponent’s stance by striking the hilt when no sword aura forms.

‘In the final moment, anticipating that the sword aura would extinguish, he took a stance for a counterattack?’

Even if he had brought down his sword.

Could he have taken the young man’s life?

He couldn’t be certain. Because he couldn’t be certain, Griffin felt a chill. Even if he couldn’t grasp victory, at least he wouldn’t be defeated. Such intense will emanated from the young man who was catching his breath.

“……”

Griffin silently lowered his sword.

Though they met as enemies, the young man’s fighting spirit deserved respect. Toward Najin, who still hadn’t relaxed his stance, Griffin said:

“My defeat.”

Only then did Najin lower his sword. Griffin sighed and looked at the knights surrounding him. Now he had to fight not with a sword but with words and justification.

And such a battlefield…

Was far too disadvantageous for Griffin.