Ch.85Chapter 85 – The Lion King (2)

Kuuwoong-!

As Kyle blocked the spear thrust by Shin Jaehyuk with his shoulder and sword, a heavy sound reverberated through the air. It wasn’t like blades clashing against each other, but more like heavy trucks colliding, creating a low shockwave.

Without withdrawing his thrusting force, Shin Jaehyuk swung his mace with his left hand, targeting the Black Knight’s exposed flank. When facing armored opponents, impact from a mace can be just as effective as a thrust.

However, the Black Knight stepped back to deflect the thrust while simultaneously avoiding the mace by a paper-thin margin. At the same time, he raised his greatsword upward in a slashing counterattack. Shin Jaehyuk hastily retrieved his mace to parry the sword.

“I had my doubts, but seeing this fighting style confirms you’re the Longinus I knew.”

Kyle Leonhardt muttered calmly. Shin Jaehyuk didn’t respond and instead cast a spell.

“Light of Punishment-!”

A massive hammer of light appeared in the air and struck down at the Black Knight. The Black Knight hid behind his greatsword and was sent flying by the holy force.

Landing with surprising lightness despite his full armor, he flexed his hand several times as if it were tingling. A faint smell of burning emanated from his body, then a red light flickered as his wounds disappeared.

“Hmm… I don’t remember it hurting this much when I was human. Being undead is certainly inconvenient when facing a paladin.”

“Your light, to my hand!”

Shin Jaehyuk pressed on without giving him a chance to recover. He conjured consecutive lightning spears in the air and fired them at his fallen friend. The Death Knight staggered backward, dodging each spear one by one.

‘An opening!’

When the Black Knight stepped back, exposing his upper body, Shin Jaehyuk immediately charged forward. He thrust his spear like a beam of light.

“…As I’ve told you before…”

But his decisive strike failed. The Black Knight twisted the flat of his blade to skillfully deflect the incoming thrust, his eyes gleaming sharply. His shoulder flashed for an instant.

“Your spear is too honest.”

Slash-!

“Guh!”

Shin Jaehyuk’s left arm was completely severed. Quickly channeling holy power to the bleeding stump, he swiftly retreated.

“Hmm… Your regeneration seems faster than before? How troublesome.”

Kyle calmly remarked while observing the bone and flesh regenerating in real-time from the severed surface. His attitude showed absolute confidence in his victory.

‘He cut through demon-iron armor with a simple sword strike…?’

Picking up his mace with his newly regenerated left arm, Shin Jaehyuk regarded him warily. The opponent’s weapon skill was clearly superior. After all, Shin Jaehyuk was a paladin who had honed his skills to fight demons all his life, while Kyle was a Sword Master who had trained to fight humans.

It was natural that someone accustomed to fighting humans would have an advantage over someone used to fighting monsters…

‘But he’s no longer human—he’s a monster now. The odds are even…’

Shin Jaehyuk removed and discarded his armor. In a situation where he’d be cut regardless, the armor only got in the way. With slightly lighter shoulders, Shin Jaehyuk moved his spear. The spear bent strangely like a snake as it rushed toward the Black Knight. If straightforward attacks wouldn’t work, then irregular ones…!

“No, no, Longinus. You know that’s not what I meant by ‘honest.'”

Kyle extended his zweihander forward and twisted it sharply. All five thrusts in its path were deflected at once.

“Your spear technique, from fighting only monsters, is accustomed to delivering the strongest strike at the fastest speed. That might be enough against monsters, but…”

The Black Knight stepped forward deeply with his sword extended, then slashed vertically across Shin Jaehyuk’s chest. Blood splattered as his torso was deeply cut.

“It’s far from enough against me.”

Shin Jaehyuk quickly circulated his holy power to heal the wound. The bleeding stopped instantly and the flesh mended.

The Black Knight continued his relentless sword attacks. Despite being over 2 meters long—a length that would normally restrict a swordsman’s movements—Kyle wielded the zweihander, longer than his own height, with complete freedom.

“You’re enduring with regeneration now, but how long can this desperate struggle last?”

Kyle swung his sword widely, pinning down Shin Jaehyuk’s spear shaft. Gritting his teeth, Shin Jaehyuk defended against the attack. A heavy impact transferred through, making his arms tremble.

“A day? A week? A month? Perhaps a year?”

Kyle released the handle and gripped the blade shorter. Though his attack range decreased, he could swing the sword more freely without being hindered by obstacles. With flexibility unbefitting a corpse, he manipulated the sword in various ways, inflicting shallow cuts all over Shin Jaehyuk’s body.

“I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter.”

Conscious of his increasing minor wounds, Shin Jaehyuk swung his mace horizontally to create distance. However, Kyle gently stomped on the mace’s center of gravity to block it, then thrust his sword into Shin Jaehyuk’s heart.

“Gahk! Cough-!”

“However long it takes, it will be a very short time compared to hundreds of years.”

With his heart damaged and oxygen not circulating to his muscles, Shin Jaehyuk felt momentarily dizzy and collapsed. His heart regenerated while he coughed up blood several times, but his complexion remained poor.

‘Damn, he’s monstrously strong… His swordsmanship is several times better than the Sword Demon’s.’

It was skill befitting the greatest martial artist among the 12 Heroes and the strongest Sword Master of his era. In terms of weapon techniques, even the exceptional Shin Jaehyuk was no match. In swordsmanship, Kyle was in a league of his own.

“Cough, were you always this skilled? I don’t remember you being this strong when we sparred before. Shit, this hurts like hell…”

“Oh? You’re swearing now? You’ve changed a lot. Just as I have.”

He kicked Shin Jaehyuk’s abdomen as he sat slumped. Shin Jaehyuk crashed through trees and tumbled down the slope. Kyle pursued him, leaping high and bringing his zweihander down. Shin Jaehyuk rolled away in panic.

Kyle continued swinging his sword. Trees in the sword’s path were cleanly cut and fell toward Shin Jaehyuk. As Shin Jaehyuk dodged the falling trees and got to his feet, Kyle timed his attack perfectly.

“This time you’ll dodge here. So predictable.”

Slash-!

Shin Jaehyuk’s neck was cut about a third of the way through, spraying blood. Under the relentless attacks, Shin Jaehyuk couldn’t regain his composure. Kyle seemed to see through everything—how he would attack, where he would dodge, when he would counterattack. It was as if his thoughts were laid bare.

Realizing he would just keep taking hits at this rate, Shin Jaehyuk quickly shouted:

“Radiance-!”

“Kuh!”

A holy shockwave erupted from Shin Jaehyuk’s body, sending Kyle flying backward. His armor sizzled and smoked as it burned. Meanwhile, Shin Jaehyuk had time to compose himself and reestablish his stance.

Though Kyle showed overwhelming prowess in weapon skills, his undead body was extremely vulnerable to Shin Jaehyuk’s holy spells. Shin Jaehyuk smirked.

“No comeback this time? Didn’t see that coming, did you?”

“…Right, you’re not just a spearman, but a paladin. I momentarily forgot.”

The Black Knight muttered in a slightly irritated voice. He picked up his helmet and covered his face, then took his stance.

“…Since you challenged me to a duel of honor, I should take this seriously as well.”

Thwoom-!

The Black Knight’s body shot forward with strength beyond human limits. Accelerating with gravity’s help, his sword descended upon Shin Jaehyuk at the bottom of the slope.

Bang! Thwack! Crack!

Shockwaves erupted as weapons collided repeatedly. Fallen leaves piled on the hillside scattered violently, obscuring vision. Kyle used even this blind spot to his advantage, hiding his sword behind the leaves for a thrust. Shin Jaehyuk blocked what he could, dodged what he could, and occasionally fired shockwaves to disrupt Kyle’s stance when lethal attacks came.

“How annoying!”

Even with his stance broken, Kyle effortlessly defended against all incoming spear thrusts and even attempted counterattacks. Shin Jaehyuk dodged them lightly and chanted an aria.

“The Lord gathers the firmament, and light strikes down-!”

Kwarrung-!

Golden lightning rained down from the sky like a bombardment. As the powerful light struck the ground, the earth cratered and dust clouds rose. But Shin Jaehyuk remained vigilant, continuing to call down lightning into the dust cloud.

Sure enough, the Black Knight emerged through the dust, his entire body scorched by lightning. His whole form was surging with vivid red demonic energy.

“Right, this isn’t enough! Light!”

Shin Jaehyuk cast an even more powerful holy weapon enhancement spell. The light enveloping his spear and mace blazed brighter. The two clashed with accelerated movements.

With each clash, memories of their shared past came back one by one. He was a valiant warrior who always protected the party from the frontlines. He was an excellent teacher who never withheld advice when Longinus asked for guidance with his spear technique. He was a reliable comrade… or so he had believed.

Shin Jaehyuk cried out in anguish:

“Why, why you! I thought you of all people would never fall!”

“…”

Kyle swung his sword horizontally at the one who was once his trusted comrade. Shin Jaehyuk jumped to avoid it while firing consecutive lightning spears. The lightning that struck the ground burned the fallen leaves and created large craters.

“You fucking traitor-! How are you any different from that Sabah or Iscariot-!”

The offensive and defensive positions switched every second, accompanied by explosive sounds. The combination of a corpse’s maximum muscle capacity, surging demonic energy, and a Sword Master’s technique displayed the ultimate limit of power a human entity could possess.

Shin Jaehyuk stepped back while keeping his spear engaged. The opponent was too much to handle with just spear and mace, but the holy spells that interrupted Kyle’s flow allowed him to barely maintain the confrontation.

Fortunately, the undead in the vicinity had stopped acting on orders from Kyle, their superior. If he had mobilized his subordinates, subduing Shin Jaehyuk would not have been difficult, but for some unknown reason, he insisted on fighting alone.

They fought without any interference. Trees and rocks exploded from their clashes. The savage sound of the sword cutting through air brushed past ears. Feeling goosebumps rise on his back, Shin Jaehyuk grew anxious.

‘Damn it, why don’t the holy spells seem to be working?’

It was incomprehensible. Kyle had allowed several hits from powerful spells targeting his openings, but each time he recovered from the shock within seconds and charged again. Attacks that would have annihilated ordinary undead were instantly healed by the surging demonic energy as soon as he was wounded. It almost rivaled Shin Jaehyuk’s regeneration speed.

‘How does a Death Knight have so much demonic energy…! Judging by magical power alone, he’s not a Death Knight but at least Lich-level.’

For now, they were evenly matched as both regenerated their wounds, but neither could land a decisive blow. Whenever Shin Jaehyuk tried to chant a longer aria for a major spell, the Black Knight would target his jaw or vocal cords. Kyle knew Longinus very well.

“It’s useless. I know how dangerous those long, powerful spells are. How many years do you think I’ve watched you fight?”

“Fuck… You say hundreds of years have passed, yet you remember that?”

“How could I forget… those days.”

Muttering dejectedly in a small voice, the Black Knight adjusted his grip on the sword into a thrusting stance. Shin Jaehyuk matched his stance. The spear extended forward in preparation for attack, while the mace was hidden behind his body for a counterattack. Immediately after, the Black Knight’s lightning-fast thrusts came in waves.

As Kyle began to seriously account for holy spells in his calculations, Shin Jaehyuk started to struggle with defense. However, thanks to his improved control over holy power after his awakening, Shin Jaehyuk could abbreviate arias, allowing him to narrowly escape from perilous situations.

The fierce battle between the two continued as they moved down the mountain. Blades clashed against the backdrop of the mountain burning with flashing lightning. With each shower of sparks, the two changed positions like dancers and clashed their weapons. One moment he would hold the high ground, but after a few sword exchanges, the advantage would reverse, and he would be retreating down the mountain.