Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: The Dawn Before Sunrise is the Darkest (5)
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I was afraid.
The pain of cold metal burrowing into my bones was the first hell I had ever faced.
A rain of steel pierced my flesh and lodged deep in my marrow. The sharp, sturdy metal tore through my skin and reached my bones.
The agony left by death clung to me viciously, as if my soul had been sewn with needles.
There were times I heeded the soul's desperate cry not to die and fled with all my might.
And I paid the price for it. Not only did I die, but everyone who trusted and followed me ended up dead because of me.
Someone once said it.
It's only when you're backed into a corner that your true worth reveals itself.
Despair etched into my soul. The unfamiliar pain stood before me as cold reality. Even so, I picked up my sword.
I repeated only slow, plodding efforts. Even if it was just half a step.
As long as I could move forward even a little, that alone was enough.
And now, facing a wall I could no longer advance past, I realized my true talent: the tenacity to endure the ordinary.
Under the moonless night where even moonlight was faint, the swords of two men clashed with full force.
The greatsword's strike, fierce enough to shake heaven and earth, ended up for naught.
In that brief moment when my breath faltered, the veteran knight pierced my heart without missing a beat. His weapon was experience itself.
"......I'll remember it clearly."
The pain of death is etched into the soul and never fades. That's why I remember.
The man who killed me, the weapon that pierced my vital point, and exactly how he cut my life short. Every detail, without exception.
I plunged back into hell. The greatsword fell with force enough to shake heaven and earth.
This time too, the veteran knight calmly raised his sword to block my greatsword.
A diagonal downward deflection of the greatsword, followed by a thrust from the tip—a counter. It was certainly a technique near its peak, but......
Unfortunately, it's already in my memory. A light fist slipped through the gap in his perception.
Serack!!
Yet even against this unexpected ambush, the opponent reacted immediately.
Soon, a chilling noise reached my eardrums. Only then did the searing pain hit like a fire pit under my right forearm.
"Anticipating a counter was impressive. But unfortunately, the outcome seems decided."
"......It does seem that way."
"Just to be sure, I'll ask: will you drop your weapon and surrender now?"
I moved my body in response. I gripped the greatsword with the one arm I had left.
The veteran knight let out a deep sigh at the unquenched fighting spirit burning to the end.
His expression openly showed regret. But soon, he raised his sword. Moments later, a merciless slash severed my head.
I dreamed.
I was still alone in the darkness. An impenetrable gloom where I couldn't see an inch ahead.
It kept doubting me relentlessly. Was this the right path? Shouldn't I find another way now?
"No."
Denying the endless doubts, I kept walking forward.
An absolute wall I could never surmount. Before it, I swung my fists ceaselessly.
Skin tore and blood flowed. Even when my bones were exposed from the relentless swings, the wall before me remained unshakable.
The veteran knight lightly twisted his body, evading the greatsword by a paper-thin margin, then countered.
In that action, refusing to allow even a single attack, I could sense his unyielding conviction.
I died. I died again. He wouldn't permit even one strike. An immense wall I couldn't climb or shatter.
Yet I stood before it again. I swung my sword with foolish persistence.
In the end, after endless collisions, what broke first was the doubt, the weakness.
There might be other paths. But I believe the one I chose is also the right answer—not the only one, but mine.
The bone-chilling cold soaking into me began to melt in the belatedly rising heat.
What had been mere specks of dust piled up until it could no longer be ignored.
It wasn't yet a mountain. But at least it could be called a hill.
What on earth was this power?
Was it accumulated from Defeat Regression too? Its nature was unknown, but......
For some reason, I already knew how to use it. Or rather, my body remembered it instinctively.
But what needed to be done hadn't changed. I raised my head and faced the wall again.
Against the absolute wall I still couldn't overcome, I swung my sword with all my might.
And......
For the first time, I heard the sound of it cracking.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The sound of hooves shattered the drought-like silence, and Master Grandel instantly assumed full battle readiness.
The moment his sword cleared its sheath, a blue arc poured down toward the enemy like a thunderbolt.
A single strike capable of slaughtering a hundred men—that was proof he had reached the pinnacle.
To block that blue slash would require at least an equal level of mastery.
That's why Grandel had immediately turned to check on Her Highness the Princess's safety.
In that fleeting instant, the air trembled. The moment Grandel sensed something amiss and whipped his head back around,
"What......?!"
The blue slash, meant to annihilate Her Highness's foe, was suddenly right before his eyes.
There wasn't even a moment to question it. He thrust his sword tip straight into its core.
Kwaching! With a clear, ringing sound, the blue slash shattered like glass.
"How in the world......?!"
But his shock didn't end there. Through the gaps in the flying shards,
a man rapidly closing in, swinging that massive greatsword.
Did he turn my own slash against me to create an opening and close the distance?
'Such a feat would require the skill of a master......!!'
A chill ran down his spine, but Grandel quickly shook his head.
In that life-or-death moment, the man's greatsword had seemed agonizingly slow to him.
If the man had reached master's realm, his own head would already be gone. Grandel's sword cooled with resolve.
He didn't know what technique had deflected the slash, but it didn't matter now.
Master Grandel. He had sworn on his name and honor to protect Her Highness the Princess.
To uphold that oath, Grandel swung his sword without mercy or hesitation.
Though his stance had crumbled from breaking the slash, he could easily deflect such a crude swing.
Dodge the strike and counter the opening. A habit etched into his body from years of training.
But the man's next action was enough to fluster Grandel once more.
'......A fist?! Was that initial strike a feint?!'
Yes. He had chosen to swing his fist personally instead of the greatsword.
At this unimaginable choice, Grandel's thoughts froze for a moment.
But though his mind stalled, Grandel's instincts moved his body first. To sever the arm before the fist connected.
That was the sole truth he had reached through accumulated experience.
It certainly wasn't a wrong judgment. He had severed it dozens, hundreds of times before.
But that's precisely why it was wrong this time. Kwang! Metal clashed, sparks flew.
"......Hah."
Grandel's sword, moved purely on instinct without any technique, was blocked by the jet-black greatsword.
Meaning he had no means left to defend against the man's fist.
Thus, Grandel had no choice but to take the hit squarely. A fist faintly cloaked in black struck Grandel's face.
Thwack!!!
With a dull thud of flesh yielding, Grandel's body was pushed back considerably.
Yet despite taking the attack, his body bore not a single injury.
'How in the world......? How could he dismantle my attack so perfectly?'
Not even a Sword User, let alone an Expert— that fist was unharmed.
The problem was that the man had responded perfectly, as if predicting his every move.
Could it be......? In that brief exchange, he read all my moves? A situation where even a warrior couldn't help but entertain stray thoughts for a moment.
"Oh no......!!"
Grasping the situation belatedly, Grandel tried to close the distance again.
Thanks to his experience, he shattered the distraction and refocused on his goal as a warrior.
It took only about five seconds to reach that point. But even five seconds was more than enough.
Grandel's body, lunging forward like a bolt of lightning, nearly stumbled.
Even in this urgent moment, he was rooted in place like a nail driven into wood.
Because that grotesquely massive jet-black greatsword...... was a mere breath away from touching the white, slender skin like marble.
"Sheathe your sword."
The thick darkness of the new moon faded bit by bit, and finally, dawn began to break in the distance.
The long-awaited dawn was more radiant and...... beautiful than I could have imagined.