Chapter 381: I'm So Excited, I'm Going Crazy
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 381: I'm So Excited, I'm Going Crazy
Encrid stared at the tip of the sword Aisia held out.
It was the same as before.
Aisia's body seemed to fade away, leaving only the blade visible. The very tip of her sword remained—a single, piercing point that filled his entire vision. His sense of distance vanished. He could no longer see Aisia herself.
Soon, the tip of the sword began to tremble.
Starting with this right out of the gate?
Why?
Was she provoked by what I said?
It felt as if she were challenging him to prove himself.
His steady breath, the wall he had to overcome without killing, the Ferryman's words, and the trembling tip of the sword.
The trembling point suddenly split. To his eyes, it looked as if there were several of them.
He imagined parrying each and every one.
The version of himself performing the parry changed every time.
He became Rem; he became Ragna; he became Sachsen.
As he faced her Sword Tip Aiming, the distinct characteristics of those he imitated became vividly clear. It was only natural, as he was currently in the process of learning and mastering their styles.
Rem's method was to play along with the opponent's rhythm.
Sachsen's was to clear the board before it was even set, forcing the opponent to play only on his stage.
Ragna's was to smother the opponent's will with his own.
Encrid followed their steps one by one.
He had repeated this over and over throughout more than three hundred "todays."
They all seemed different, yet they were fundamentally the same.
What was the reason Rem and Ragna could achieve such feats?
It's their sense.
It was possible because they possessed a minute, incredibly precise sense of perception.
Whether it took the form of the five senses like Sachsen, or was something unleashed only when holding a sword like Ragna, the conclusion was the same.
Encrid had honed that precise sense. After going all the way around, he was back at the starting point.
"This bastard...?"
Aisia spoke. Her voice rang in his ears. The point in Encrid's vision vanished, and everything faded away. It was only natural.
Because Encrid had closed his eyes.
Darkness fell. Soon, feeling everything through sound, touch, and his sixth sense, he swung his sword.
He slashed diagonally, pivoting on his left foot and channeling the elasticity of his entire body to transfer the rotational force of his waist. The blade moved as if dropping straight out of thin air.
"As if that would work!"
Aisia yelled, pulling her sword back into a defensive stance. It was a simple diagonal slash, but her Sword Tip Aiming couldn't block it. After all, Sword Tip Aiming was meaningless against someone who wasn't looking.
In an instant, Encrid's blade accelerated, stretching forward.
Clang!
To deflect an attack, one had to pinpoint the exact point of impact, but the sudden change in speed made that difficult.
Encrid had introduced that variation, but Aisia twisted her wrist in a split second to parry his sword away.
If she couldn't block even this much, she wouldn't deserve the title of Associate Knight, let alone a member of the Red Cloak Knights.
Encrid forcefully pulled back his parried sword and brought it down.
Whoosh!
Aisia stepped back.
When Encrid opened his eyes, Aisia was already taking her stance again, aiming the tip of her sword at him.
"Do you hate admitting that your technique has been broken?" Encrid asked, remaining in his post-slash stance.
"Try it again," Aisia said.
He didn't even need to close his eyes this time. Encrid intentionally unfocused his vision. Leaving only a blurry image disrupted his concentration. Sword Tip Aiming was an Illusion Sword technique that preyed on the opponent's focus.
In other words, this was enough.
The lack of vision could simply be compensated for with his other senses.
Clang!
From his lowered stance, Encrid twisted his wrist and slashed upward. His sword shot up like lightning. Aisia couldn't ignore it and blocked. Holding her sword horizontally, she leaped backward to deflect Encrid's absurd, monstrous strength.
Blade met blade and parted. With a sharp clang, sparks flew between them.
Even though she had deflected it, the force of the blow sent a shockwave through her entire body. Aisia knew all too well that she couldn't defeat him in a contest of pure strength.
Encrid's half-unfocused eyes regained their focus.
"One more time?" he asked.
"...What are you?"
To Aisia, this was incomprehensible.
Once could be dismissed as a fluke, but twice?
In truth, she had known from the very first time.
Encrid had broken her Sword Tip Aiming.
But how was this possible?
During their previous spars, he had struggled just to face it, let alone find a solution. His technical execution had been lacking, and he lacked experience dealing with this type of technique in the first place.
Yet, what was this?
It felt as if he had trained hundreds of times specifically to counter her sword.
His attacks felt perfectly tailored to counter her. That realization cracked Aisia's composure.
My mind is wavering.
The moment she realized it, Aisia pulled herself together. She steadied her breathing.
If her mind wavered, she would lose the battle of momentum. So, Aisia ignored the doubt. No, she expanded her mind to encompass understanding.
"Fine. I suppose this is that ridiculous talent Luagarne was talking about?"
"I got lucky."
A common excuse. To her, it sounded like a provocation. One corner of Aisia's mouth curled upward.
"You get told you're obnoxious a lot, don't you?"
"Sometimes?"
"Yeah. You're obnoxious."
"Thanks for the compliment."
He couldn't be beaten with words. Even within the Knights, few could wag their tongues like him.
Aisia let her sword speak in place of her tongue.
After all, Sword Tip Aiming wasn't her only technique.
Even if my technique is broken, his mastery shouldn't shoot up instantly.
That was an absolute truth. Yet, before even ten exchanges had passed, Aisia's common sense was shaken and cracked.
Because she could see an unprecedented level of mastery in Encrid's techniques.
His swordsmanship, which had previously lacked precision, had become delicate.
For instance, the gap between deflecting and immediately counterstriking had shrunk. Previously, he would over-bend his wrist, giving his opponent time to prepare, but not anymore.
Everything, from the angle of his wrist to the amount of force used to deflect and push, was just right. It showed true precision.
This is impossible.
Was this a talent that naturally made one shake their head in disbelief?
At this rate, his talent surpassed even those she called seniors within the Knights.
Aisia had to use her footwork to dodge as she watched his sword bend like a snake, deflecting her thrust.
His reactions were faster than before, and his sense of timing had improved.
He hadn't just broken her Sword Tip Aiming.
How?
Had he found a great teacher somewhere and swung his sword like crazy for months?
Though it was one shock after another, Aisia steadied her mind once more.
"What is Will?"
It was mind, belief, and determination.
How could someone whose mind collapsed ever win in reality?
She used her master's words as a guide to steady her wavering heart. That was what Aisia did.
This was also applicable to Encrid's current situation.
Because he had steadied his own mind by saying he didn't want to kill Aisia.
Aisia was doing that in real-time.
Indeed, the mindset of an Associate Knight was truly different.
"Ha!"
She expelled her stray thoughts with a shout. Pivoting on her right foot, she channeled the rotational force into a thrust with the sword in her right hand.
It was her third Will technique, following Intimidation and Illusion Sword.
High-Speed Thrust.
It was a technique similar to Encrid's Moment's Will.
It was, in fact, one of the basic skills of the Knights.
Because speed was always the ultimate truth.
Clang!
Encrid blocked the thrust with the flat of his gladius.
He had done so by using Moment's Will in the exact same way.
This, too.
Previously, when they sparred, even when he used Will, he used it in rigid, distinct segments.
The points of segmentation were clear. When he used Moment's Will, he needed prior preparation, and it showed.
But not now.
"You blocked that?"
"If you think it was a fluke, try it again."
Before they knew it, both of them were smiling. Encrid brought his sword down as he spoke, and Aisia, pretending to block horizontally, swiftly dodged.
While his sword struck empty air, she launched another High-Speed Thrust.
Encrid twisted his body. The tip of her sword grazed his cheek by a hair's breadth.
The surface of his skin split open, and a drop of blood splattered.
Thus, they clashed, swung, and competed. Encrid had overcome Aisia's Sword Tip Aiming, but he failed to completely overpower her.
To be precise, it was a draw.
Had they resolved to kill each other, one of them might have died, but neither had that intention.
Thus, the fight ended with both of them exhausted and wounded.
Encrid had been stabbed in his upper left arm, preventing him from raising it, while Aisia had a deep gash on her calf, severely hindering her mobility.
When they stepped back a few paces and paused their swords, Aisia asked.
"Seriously, what are you?"
She asked, then spoke again, making no effort to hide her sheer bewilderment.
"No, seriously, why the fuck are you smiling?"
In Aisia's view, Encrid stood there with a broad grin on his face.
It was just utterly baffling to her.
There was a limit to enjoying a fight. Being able to smile in a situation like this meant something in his head was broken.
The sun was setting. The sunlight streaming through the window faded, and the twilight began to creep in.
Aisia furrowed her brow. Even then, Encrid was still smiling.
Did he go crazy during the fight?
Perhaps he really had.
Looking at Aisia, Encrid spoke.
"I'm so excited, I think I'm going to die."
"What?"
What was he talking about?
Encrid's eyes seemed to hold the fading sunlight. In his eyes was a light born of passion and zeal.
He continued speaking.
"I'm going crazy with joy because there's still a path left for me to climb."
He was sincere. It was a pure joy, completely devoid of any impurities.
Encrid had gone beyond his sense of evasion and sense of attack, infusing his senses with delicate precision.
Even though the techniques he had mastered had advanced by a level, he still couldn't completely overpower Aisia.
That was why.
Because there was still a path to go further, to train more, and to climb higher—and because he could see it, and his fingertips could almost reach it.
He was incredibly happy about that.
"You crazy bastard," Aisia, too, defined his identity with absolute sincerity.
It was a phrase he heard often.
* * *
"That is not a wall."
The Ferryman appeared in his dream. He seemed to have more free time lately than before.
Encrid couldn't even answer. Because it was a dream. It was closer to a fleeting afterimage.
However, it was an afterimage that remained vividly in his memory.
It felt as if he had to obey the Ferryman's words no matter what.
"Kill her."
Someone was commanding him, and it felt like he had to obey.
Encrid refreshingly ignored all of it.
"It's a damn good morning."
Muttering to himself before the sun had even risen, Encrid headed outside.
Rem, who had half-opened his eyes in the middle of sleeping, tilted his head as he watched Encrid's retreating back.
"Why are you acting crazy first thing in the morning?"
An ominous air had been spreading thick since last night, so what was there to be so happy about?
That was the underlying meaning of Rem's words, but Encrid didn't care.
He went on to train his body using the Isolation Technique. His thoughts naturally organized themselves and reached a conclusion.
Thoughts about the walls.
A wall is a condition.
If killing the Stabbing Freak was a condition...
There were times when simply surviving was the condition.
There were times when blocking a knight's sword just once was the condition.
In all those "todays," had there been only one path?
No.
So, it was the same this time as well.
No matter what the Ferryman said, Encrid would do what he always did.
Which meant doing exactly what he wanted to do.
A moment later, Esther transformed into her human form and announced she was heading out. Seeing this, Encrid spoke.
"Bring back a melon."
Melons were a rare fruit from the south. They were hard to come by on this part of the continent.
"Your condition gets worse by the day," Esther spoke indifferently and moved on, concluding that trying to understand that man was a futile endeavor.
"Why are you so excited? Do you feel like you're about to fly?"
They hadn't just met yesterday. Rem could see that his captain was excited like never before.
Sachsen had noticed it too and was watching him with a strange look. Dunchabel's eyes kept losing focus, lost in whatever thoughts she was having, and Ragna, of course, was not the type of person to care about such things in the first place.
He had every reason to be excited. It was only natural.
A heavy weight that had been hanging on his heart had vanished.
Isn't it true that when you take off sandbags you've been carrying, your body feels incredibly light?
On top of that, he could see the path forward, and walking that path was immensely enjoyable.
"Ah, my heart is pounding just thinking about beating someone down," Encrid said.
Rem, of course, couldn't understand what he meant, but he didn't press further.
He merely asked as he watched the sheriff appear, only for Encrid to smack him on the head and knock him unconscious.
"Was this the guy you were planning to beat down?"
Did he do that knowing the sheriff was coming?
That was the meaning behind Rem's question.
Encrid laughed.
"No."
Because the person he was going to beat down was a female knight with orange hair.