Chapter 69 – The Black Knight, Kalt (2)

The beast that devours the church’s plan. The demon that creates variables. A human who doesn’t appear in the prophecy.

The sun of this world, the one true god, the master of the end— Even Lilith herself could not foresee this being.

Yet, the beast with such grand titles…

Was pathetically weak.

Contrary to the church’s fears, it was weaker than the challengers lying over there.

The sword it swung with force was light, its swordsmanship simplistic. There were no techniques, only movements relying on raw instinct.

I could cut it down at any time. I could kill it at any time.

So I cut it down. I tore through its flesh. I crushed its bones and shredded its insides.

I displayed my overwhelming power.

I didn’t kill it—I made it watch as its comrades were slaughtered before its eyes.

I maimed the challenger I was supposed to kill. I tortured the priestess who was supposedly closest to it.

But why?

Why does it refuse to break? Why does it show no anger? Why does it not fall into despair?

Why does it keep getting up?

A chill runs down my spine. An inexplicable fear rises within me.

My instincts scream to decapitate it immediately. But my body… my body refuses. I cannot move.

Cold sweat trickles down my back.

Since becoming a Master, this feeling… this is only the second time I’ve felt it.

A laugh escapes me.

The first time, it was also a small girl wielding a greatsword. And now, the second time as well.

I recalled the shadows I’d scattered into the air and wrapped them around myself.

I steadied my breathing and watched the staggering girl.

Her legs, barely supporting her weight, looked as though they could snap at any moment. The hand gripping the greatsword seemed like it was only staying attached by a thin layer of skin.

Blood continued to pour from the wounds I had inflicted, and she kept vomiting blood from the internal injuries.

At a glance, she looked like she could be subdued with bare hands.

But.

I cannot approach her. I cannot move carelessly.

This is not human strength. Nor is it the strength of a beast.

It feels eerily similar to the goddess’s blessing that saps my own strength.

A moment later.

The beast rose fully, smiling as it charged at me.

I swung my sword to counter the incoming greatsword.

Whoosh!

I failed to deflect it. I was struck.

“Ugh.”

Blood gushed from my torn chest.

This was not similar to the goddess’s blessing. It was the exact opposite power.

A repulsive, curse-like power.

It ripped through my chest.

A force completely unlike anything I could comprehend surged toward me.

I regained my posture and extended my senses.

I swung my sword again as the beast charged toward me.

Clang—

The swords clashed. It wasn’t deflected. I wasn’t pushed back, nor did I let the blow slide past.

We just stood there, swords crossed, while it stared into my eyes. Eyes like a bottomless pit gazed at me.

An expression devoid of any emotion. Eyes that felt nothing stared back at me.

I swung my sword and flung the beast aside.

Its blood-soaked body slammed into the ground.

And then it got up.

Staggering, it started walking toward me again.

Then it broke into a run.

Leaping forward, it slashed down with its greatsword.

The movement was big. It left plenty of openings.

The right side of its waist was exposed.

I swung my shadow-clad sword toward that weak point.

With such a brute-force attack and a heavy greatsword, it wouldn’t be able to block this attack.

I could already see the beast’s body being split in half.

But.

Crack— Shlick—

I was the one who was cut.

The beast bent its arm at an impossible angle, slicing into my back with its greatsword.

It had twisted its own arm. The red aura coursing through its body had twisted its arm.

A move no sane person could perform.

The beast’s blood-red bones protruded through its flesh. My spine was exposed through the torn skin.

I lifted my knee and kicked the beast’s abdomen.

I could feel its ribs shatter beneath the impact. Blood sprayed from the beast’s mouth, splattering everywhere.

I swung my sword again.

Clang! The beast blocked it once more, snapping its own bones in the process.

“This is madness.”

I pushed the beast away, creating distance.

Shadows wrapped around my back, suppressing the bleeding.

This time, I went on the offensive.

I moved.

In the blink of an eye, I closed the distance between us.

At the same moment, our swords clashed again.

A fierce backlash pushed my sword away.

I gripped my sword with both hands.

I added more power, pressing down with the weight of the shadows.

The beast’s right hand slipped off the greatsword. The sudden weakening of the force pulled me forward.

My sword sliced into the beast’s left shoulder. But the beast’s fingers gouged into my right eye.

And then.

A horrifying sensation pierced into my mind.

The red aura flowing through its fingers burrowed into my brain.

It felt as though my skull was being crushed.

The sudden pain caused my body to convulse. My vision spun, and nausea welled up in my throat.

“Graaah!”

I pulled my sword out from the beast’s shoulder and swung it wildly.

The beast’s body twisted. It bent at an impossible angle. If it were human, it would have been crippled immediately, its spine bent at such a grotesque angle.

Because of that, my sword slashed through empty air.

I kicked the beast away, regaining my breath.

The pain began to subside. A shadow took the place of my gouged-out eye.

The bleeding stopped.

The beast charged at me again.

I must not let it touch me. I cannot allow the aura that disrupts the magic in my body to take hold.

I blocked the incoming sword while keeping my distance.

We exchanged blows, over and over again. Dozens, hundreds of times.

And with each exchange. The beast grew stronger. It became faster. Its strikes sharper.

The red aura that had been flickering darkened. It moved with intention. Dozens of tendrils lashed out at me.

They wrapped around me, grabbing, twisting. They coiled around my body, then snapped back, cutting into my flesh. They seeped into my wounds, spreading chaos.

They caused excruciating pain. They numbed my senses.

The longer we fought, the more it grew and the stronger it became.

Meanwhile, my body weakened. The red aura that disturbed my insides tore at my veins. It paralyzed my muscles and dulled my senses.

It was consuming the magic inside me.

I gathered the shadows I had wrapped around my body into my sword. I compressed them, forming a single point, then a line.

The condensed shadow shot toward the beast’s open maw.

But.

Just like before, with that unnerving calm.

It cut through the shadow.

But in doing so, it exposed an opening.

I drove my sword into its abdomen and twisted. I ripped it out, pulling chunks of flesh and what seemed to be internal organs with it.

But at the same time.

The beast grabbed hold of my sword and opened its jaws.

Its teeth sank into my neck. My sword pierced its hand.

Crack—

“Guhh…!”

A wave of intense pain overwhelmed me.

I drove my elbow into its solar plexus. It didn’t let go. I hit it again. And again. Over and over.

Until all its ribs were shattered. Until neither of us could feel anything anymore.

I kept hitting it.

Finally, after it had ripped away half of the flesh from my neck, the beast fell away. It slammed into the ground.

The beast’s limp body struggled to rise, spitting out my torn flesh.

And then.

It laughed.

It laughed as it charged at me again.

I swung my sword to parry.

But this time. It wasn’t an outward parry to deflect the attack. It was an inward parry to draw me in.

My balance shifted. The beast’s teeth sank into my shoulder.

I shoved it away and swung my sword again. I sent out a shadow strike.

The beast’s bloodied body, slashed by both sword and shadow.

Still, it rose again. The red aura held the beast together. And it came at me again.

It lunged, biting into my flesh. I swung my greatsword, slicing through its body. Hundreds, thousands of times, we repeated this.

Through the night, until dawn broke, the beast never stopped.

And still, it laughed.

It laughed with its blood-soaked face. Its twisted limbs scraped across the ground as it crawled, still laughing. Its stomach was split open, its entrails spilling out, but the red aura kept it all contained.

It laughed and laughed.

The sight was grotesque. I couldn’t understand it. I didn’t want to understand it.

In the first place…

It was neither human nor beast.

Watching that… thing… I felt as though I would go mad myself.

Since becoming a Master, I had never been driven into such a corner.

No… I’m not even sure if I can call this a corner.

It feels like, if I just swung my sword, I could cut its head off at any time.

But I can’t and I don’t know why.

I can hit it. My sword strikes it. But I can’t deal the final strike.

No matter how many times I hit it, I can’t bring it down.

It feels as if the very laws of this world, the will of the universe itself, do not want this thing to die.

If I continue to delay any longer, my body will weaken further, and it will only grow stronger.

If I flee from this fight, hoping for another chance later, I may not be able to handle it next time.

And if I give up… The blessing embedded within me won’t let me.

I’m out of options. I must take a risk.

This will be the second time…

I made up my mind and drew out all the magic power within me.

As I deflected the incoming greatsword, I replaced the magic I had spent with shadows.

From the corpses of the beasts. From the carcasses of the monsters. From the bodies of the humans I killed on the way here. From the remnants of divine power floating in the air. From the blood that had turned the ground into a thick sludge.

From within my own body.

Even twisting my own life force, I gathered the shadows.

The flickering shadows became clearer. They took form and clung to my body.

A powerful surge erupted around me. The beast was knocked to the ground.

I stepped back and released my sword.

The sword floated up, and then, on its own, drove itself into my heart. The embedded sword melted into my body.

Slowly.

I opened my mouth. I made a wish. I hoped. And I prayed.

“Grant me power.”

I invoked a force that transcends human limits. A power not of defiance, but of obedience to the heavens. A Master’s exclusive ability—the manifestation of authority.

While in my mind.

[What will you offer me in return?]

A mocking voice echoed.

“Ten years.”

[Huhu… Very well. Though you’ve halved the offer from last time, I don’t mind.]

The source of the world stirred.

In an instant.

A power beyond words.

The authority made itself known.

Slowly, I raised my arm.

And swung.

The sky tore apart.

The sun split open.

And a black sun revealed itself.