Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: The Darkest Hour is Just Before Dawn (4)
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The clash between the massive greatsword and the equally ferocious slash. Sparks flew from the impact.
I threw my body forward with all my might. I poured everything I had into the greatsword.
But the moment the charging greatsword met the blue slash with savage momentum, it was futilely split in two.
'Damn it...!!'
Right now, with my skills and specs both falling short, my only advantage was information.
The sole positive function of regression: even if I lost my life, I could forcibly return to the past.
On top of that, I'd already perfectly dodged the first slash. So now, all I had to do was clash swords directly with the old knight...
I didn't. Instead, I chose to shatter the blue slash head-on.
It was grim, but since my body grew a little stronger with each repeated death, if I kept at it endlessly, eventually I could break through.
...There was a time when I thought that way.
'No matter how many times I die and die again... the gap doesn't narrow at all...!!'
Sir Valentis and the other knights I faced at first had once been insurmountable walls.
How many deaths had I endured to claim victory over them?
But at least with them, I could clearly feel the distance shrinking bit by bit through endless deaths.
Strength and speed.
Things I'd been overwhelmingly outmatched in began to catch up at some point.
But this time was different. An impossible foe I could never overcome, no matter how many deaths I repeated. To me, he was like the lofty sky.
If Sir Valentis was a man—armed with armor and sword—
Then I had no armor at all. In my hand was just a shabby dagger.
Killing Sir Valentis in that state would be incredibly tough. But it wasn't impossible, even if the heavens and earth had to split apart.
The old knight was different.
No matter how many deaths I repeated, could a mere ordinary person ever reach that sky?
That was the gap between the old man and me now. An overwhelming wall I could never surmount.
It was a one-sided massacre so pathetic it barely qualified as a fight.
Once again, I was crushed before his overwhelming power. No exceptions, as always.
Death. I saw my body slowly crumbling, blood spraying like a fountain.
And as always, I opened my eyes again. Inside these damn familiar walls.
"......"
The depth of that blue slash was far beyond anything a nobody like me could comprehend.
It was the pinnacle of technique, something no greenhorn could overcome.
My mind wore down along with the absolute gap. A sense of powerlessness, like no matter how many times I died, I was just going in circles.
But even despair couldn't hold back time. As the sun set and night fell,
I mounted my horse and charged out the same way. Toward the death I knew all too well.
Thanks to the repeated deaths, I could react to the blue slash. But that was it. A death I couldn't block with my own power.
A calamity like a natural disaster, unbelievable from a human body.
Yet even knowing that full well, I threw myself into the disaster.
The result was always the predetermined defeat. And afterward, I inevitably opened my eyes inside the walls again. Still accomplishing nothing.
It felt like wandering alone in the darkness. Was I even heading in the right direction?
My fighting spirit and drive wore away through the endless deaths, leaving only a frayed heart.
Even so... I hadn't let go of my sword yet.
'If I keep fighting the old knight... if my eyes memorize his movements and my mind engrains them... someday, I might win.'
But this time too, I hurled myself at the oncoming blue slash.
I knew it. Better than anyone. That with my current strength and skill, I couldn't win a head-on fight against the old knight.
But I couldn't run. I had no choice. Call it stubborn if you want.
"I told you at the start, didn't I...? That at the very least, I'd choose my own death."
Once again, the blue slash came without fail. It was like the scythe of the Grim Reaper.
At first, I could barely even see it, but now I could clearly. Knowing the trajectory, I could dodge if I moved in advance.
But I didn't dodge. Instead, I raised the greatsword with all my strength, just like before.
Kwaaaang!!
The countless repeated clashes. Sword ki against sword ki. I heard my muscles tearing.
I turned my head. From the immense shock, one arm had already been ripped off and flown far away, and the greatsword lay in pieces.
Yet even in this desperate situation, I smiled. For the first time through all these repeated deaths,
A sight I'd never seen before appeared before my eyes. Not a single one had lost their life.
After countless deaths... I'd finally reached it.
The moment I witnessed them dodging death for the first time—something they'd never managed through all those repetitions.
For the first time, I saw light in the darkness.
This was the path I'd chosen. My own death.
"Tonight, under my command..."
No warriors fell.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ It definitely wasn't full power.
Since Her Highness the Princess could get caught in the crossfire if I wasn't careful, I'd held back some— that much was true.
But if asked whether he'd toned it down to merely subdue rather than kill the enemy... Master Grandel would shake his head firmly.
'Her Highness has her eye on that Blackguard kid. Looks like her talent scouting fever has flared up again.'
Liking talent wasn't bad. But Her Highness... well.
She went overboard. Way overboard. To get the talent she wanted, she'd even plotted a nighttime escape with the allied forces...
Someone so wise normally—why make that choice?
[Your Highness, it's obviously a trap to lure you out, isn't it?]
[I-I know that much.]
[Then why attempt a personal nighttime escape?]
[...But what if it really is genuine?]
The Third Princess's lowly position meant she got far less than the other royals.
Of the five Masters, three guarded His Majesty the Emperor, and the other two each protected a prince,
While not a single Master stood by Princess Morgana.
Of course, he himself—bearing the overly grand title of Master—was at her side.
'Normally so wise and brilliant, but when she spots talent she likes, she throws all caution to the wind.'
She'd improved since then, at least. She distinguished public from private now.
But if he wasn't careful, her talent lust could flare up again, so this time he'd handle it decisively on his own.
Not full power, but enough to surely kill any average knight.
He hadn't underestimated the foe... but he'd thought it was over.
Then, the anomaly occurred. Cracks formed in the blue slash... and soon, it shattered like glass.
For the first time, a crack appeared on Master Grandel's face amid this unimaginable situation.
'I swung that slash to protect Her Highness for sure... and there's a knight in this kingdom who could block it?'
This war's outcome had been decided from the start, practically.
The Empire had already grasped everything about the kingdom through spies and schemes.
Not just granaries and key strongholds, but even their knightly forces.
According to intelligence, the kingdom's top knight barely reached expert upper level.
In other words, no one short of that could dismantle his slash. Especially not in the variable-free east. Yet here was the anomaly.
The blue slash shattered, scattering waves of blue light everywhere.
At its center stood one man. Black hair, black eyes. His name: Cain Blackguard.
Of course, he wasn't unscathed. One arm torn off, unable to withstand the force.
Yet even in that state, as Master Grandel closely observed the young man, he couldn't help but be stunned.
Because no mana emanated from the youth at all.
'An expert pinnacle could hide their mana, sure... but from his appearance, it doesn't seem hidden. Which means...'
He'd shattered the slash purely with swordsmanship, without relying on mana.
A chill.
The moment he realized it, Master Grandel felt a shiver down his spine for the first time in ages.
'This eerie sensation... it's like the first time I met that guy...'
Why was that?
Among the five Masters he'd personally trained,
Why did this man faintly overlap with that top one?
But Master Grandel quickly shook his head. An old memory had flashed briefly...
Regaining his calm and rethinking from the start, it clearly wasn't on that level.
'Am I getting senile? Or has Her Highness's talent fever infected my old age?'
Master Grandel sighed and moved.
To nip it in the bud before Her Highness's talent lust boiled over again.