Chapter 224: Frillite (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 224: Frillite (4)
There once was a boy.
Born the son of a farmer, he left home with the sole ambition of making a name for himself. But the world was colder than he had imagined.
No one would hire a scruffy commoner kid with no clear identity, and as a result, he frequently went hungry.
Just as his will was about to break from the harshness of society, he met a young girl.
“You poor thing… Do you want some bread?”
The girl, dressed in luxurious silk clothes, showed him such kindness that she seemed to dazzle him.
Thanks to her kindness, he was able to endure the frequent hardships that followed without breaking.
Time passed, and the boy grew into a man, becoming a knight. His outstanding skills earned him a place as an Imperial Knight, and there he once again met the woman who had given him bread in his childhood.
To his surprise, she was a princess.
The two, who shared a precious memory, grew close at a remarkable pace, and it didn't take long for their feelings of affection to blossom into a deep, heartfelt love.
They truly loved each other, but between them stood the immense, unbreachable wall of their difference in status.
Yet, no matter how thick the wall that stood in their way, he could not give her up.
It was then that the Demon King appeared and raised an army.
Kingdoms across the continent began recruiting for an expeditionary force to stand against him. Without hesitation, the knight volunteered. The princess tried desperately to stop him, but he took her hands in his and persuaded her.
“I love you. I want to proudly declare this love to the world. To do that, I will join the expedition, achieve great deeds, and return. And from the day my deeds are recognized and I can finally be with you, I will live the rest of my life for you.”
Having succeeded in persuading her with all manner of flowery words, he joined the expedition and entered the Demon Realm.
As expected, the Demon Realm was no place for humans.
The climate changed by the hour, the water and food were inedible, and the monsters were incomparably stronger than any on the continent.
Countless comrades fell, unable to withstand the harsh trials of the Demon Realm, but he endured. He reached the end of the realm and fought in the final battle against the Demon King's army. Though he failed to slay the Demon King, he managed to inflict devastating damage upon his forces.
But the losses on their side were just as severe.
After the final battle, the number of surviving members of the expedition could be counted on two hands. Even then, three more died before they could return to the continent.
Still, he returned.
Back on the continent, he dreamed of a happy future—a future with the woman he loved. But it didn't take long for him to realize that it was all a fleeting hope.
She had died long ago.
She had been caught in the succession struggle between the princes.
That day, he roared in grief and killed the king and the princes.
The people, who had suffered under their tyranny, hailed him as their new king. And so, he became the Knight King, both a knight and a monarch.
From a commoner knight to a king.
It was the incredible success he had dreamed of since he was a child, but he felt no joy.
What good is a splendid golden crown when there is no woman to share it with?
What good is the power to slay a dragon when I couldn't even protect the woman I love?
Overcome with disillusionment, he decided to take his own life. Before he died, he had mages imbue a ring with all of his power.
It was not an act of grand purpose, but a simple whim.
I do not know who will become the master of this ring.
But if you come to possess it, I pray you never lose someone precious because you lacked the strength.
*
The Knight King's Ring.
An item in the game that could only be used once, it pushed a character's combat power to its absolute limit.
In other words, using this item guaranteed victory in that battle.
From the description, it sounded like an incredible item, but the reality was different.
Using it to perform some great feat didn't change the NPCs' reactions. If used against Gis or Lorian, at best it would only help you avoid a single NTR event.
On top of that, you would lose it right before entering the Demon Realm in the final stages of the game.
In the end, it was an item that had no real impact on the story…
But that was only in the game.
A brilliant golden light flowed from the ring on Cloud's index finger. The light enveloped his entire body before scattering like a mirage.
The magic of an unfortunate hero who could have dominated an era was now engraved into his body.
Having assimilated the immense magic, Cloud opened his eyes. The menacing forms of the red weapons were reflected in his glowing golden eyes.
He twisted his body to the left, dodging the first three weapons that flew at him. At the same time, he grabbed a one-handed sword made of sword aura that was brushing past him and swung it.
Clang!
The spear and dagger aimed at his chest and shoulder were deflected. Cloud advanced, continuously parrying the barrage of weapons.
Thanks to his clean footwork and fluid sword path, not a single one of the countless weapons could wound him. In response, Frillite raised her hand and beckoned with her index finger.
Three swords flying toward Cloud suddenly stopped and swung their blades in different directions.
‘What is this now?’
He dodged the strike aimed at his right shoulder, then parried the remaining two attacks with his sword.
Clang!
He furrowed his brow at the unexpectedly strong resistance he felt from the sword. This wasn't the recoil from deflecting the strikes.
‘This is…'
On a hunch, Cloud let go of the sword. Just as he expected, the sword he had been holding moments ago came for his neck without a moment's hesitation.
Cloud let out a dry laugh.
Weapons that used swordsmanship without a wielder.
‘It's not like they're Ego Swords or anything…'
If his Ego Sword had heard that, it would have been furious, wondering how he could put a mere lump of magic with no ego on the same level as an Ego Sword.
However, Cloud was a terrible master who had no intention of humoring his Ego Sword's sensitivities.
He telepathically requested two sturdy swords from Leah.
Unlike when he had requested the demonic sword last time, Leah obediently sent the swords. Cloud pulled two swords from his subspace and held one in each hand.
Then he immediately swung them.
His targets were the weapons that had come within close range.
From the weapons that were just about to touch him to those that arrived a moment later.
Two sword paths, as if created by two different swordsmen, deflected everything that threatened his life.
With a displeased expression, Frillite deployed more weapons even faster. Despite this, she could only manage to inflict minor scratches on Cloud's body, and the more this happened, the more anxious she became.
Parasite, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, could not understand.
Parasite had read Frillite's memories and knew she had used this technique to fight against another of the Four Heavenly Kings, the Lich's undead army.
Although she had been defeated, it was true that she had single-handedly managed to halt the army for a short time.
But what was this situation now?
Her unique skill, which had once faced an army, couldn't even cut the skin of a single person, let alone an army.
And this was despite creating even more weapons than when she had faced the army.
That was the limit of Parasite, a being that relied on the memories of its host for all its judgments.
A technique is only meaningful when used in the right place at the right time.
In that sense, Frillite's unique skill, [Sovereign's Command], was not suitable for the current situation. [Sovereign's Command] was undoubtedly a powerful skill, but its essence was, after all, fighting against multiple opponents.
Of course, it was also effective against a small number of opponents.
That is, if those few were of mediocre skill.
They would be torn to shreds, unable to even react to the overwhelming number of weapons.
But if that small number was not mediocre but possessed overwhelming skill, the weapons created by [Sovereign's Command] would only serve to buy time while consuming a massive amount of mana.
And Cloud was the latter.
This was Parasite's miscalculation and its fatal mistake.
To win against Cloud, it should have prioritized quality over quantity. It should have trusted in its enhanced physical abilities and the Ferdiac family's swordsmanship and engaged in close combat.
Parasite did not, and it had to pay the price for its poor judgment.
Cloud, having grown accustomed to the barrage of weapons, pushed forward in a single burst.
Parasite belatedly tried to drag the fight into close combat, but having already consumed a lot of mana, it couldn't last long.
In just seven exchanges, Cloud's knife-hand strike plunged into the defenseless Frillite's chest.
*
As Parasite disappeared, Frillite regained control of her body. With a feeling of her body floating, Frillite regained consciousness.
“You're awake?”
Cloud's voice came from right beside her.
How did he know she was awake when she hadn't even opened her eyes?
Was it because he was paying that much attention to her?
The thought made her feel a little better.
She was just about to open her eyes for a proper reunion with Cloud when it happened.
—You? The one who broke your promise to me for another woman?
—The one who was sleeping with another woman while I was suffering, gritting my teeth and thinking of you just to endure?
—The one who went and got another woman pregnant?!
Various memories of what had happened after she lost consciousness flashed through her mind.
“...”
She closed the eyes she was about to open.
“Frillite? What are you doing, not getting up?”
Ignoring Cloud's puzzled voice, she prayed earnestly.
Please, let all of this be a dream.