Probing the Depths
The Black Knight was silent. A proud knight. But at the same time, this arrogant and narrow-minded death knight stared quietly at the interlopers who had disrupted his duel. A faint red light flickered in his eyes. Hidden behind his visor, his expression was unreadable, but he seemed to be scowling. A flickering red light.
Then, in a split second, the Black Knight's figure blurred like an afterimage. A streak of pitch-black light shot forward in a straight line, kicking off the ground as if detonating it.
"...!"
A surprise charge from a high-tier monster. And not just any ordinary high-tier monster, but a Named one. It was too much for me to react to. In the blink of an eye, the Black Knight's longsword swung, aiming to cleave my neck.
"Your opponent is me!"
"Watch it, you black tin can!"
But the other two were different. Unlike me, whose reactions were sluggish, Yujin and Frey responded instantly. Yujin blocked my front in a flash, swinging his Sun Sword, while Frey, a half-beat later, fired a heat ray aiming for the Black Knight's helmet.
The temporarily halted battle resumed. A clash between Academy students and a Named monster. Normally, such a fight shouldn't even be possible, but protagonists always transcend common sense. They clashed head-on with the Black Knight without retreating a single step. A dense heat spread in all directions, rapidly scorching the air.
It felt like just the other day Yujin was struggling against a single high-tier monster, so when did he grow again? Well, I suppose it's not that strange. Though I was taken aback by his rapid growth at first, Yujin's growth rate in the novel was always absurd. After all, the novel's Yujin goes from a slightly above-average Academy student to a Captain-level supernatural ability user in less than a year.
Frey's growth rate was no less impressive than Yujin's. Though her reactions were slightly slower than his, she was clearly keeping up with the Black Knight's movements. Meanwhile, I had to focus with everything I had just to barely track the fading afterimages.
But the fact that I can even track the afterimages means Lucia has been growing without realizing it. Well, it'd be a scam if she hadn't. I've been training—self-harming—ever since I became Lucia, so it'd be a crime not to grow.
Just as the human body builds muscle and grows stronger the more it's used, supernatural abilities also develop with use. If Yujin grows stronger the more fire he breathes, and Aris—Frey—grows every time she fires her heat ray... then Lucia grows stronger the more she gets hurt.
In that sense, regeneration-type ability users have a hard time growing. To train their supernatural ability, they have to use it, which means they have to get injured. Unless you're a masochistic pervert who enjoys pain, who on earth would like self-harm?
You could grit your teeth and force it. But there's a clear limit. As an ability grows, its maximum output limit also expands. To train a supernatural ability, you have to push it to its absolute limits, but there are rarely situations where a regeneration user has to push their power that far. It's hard to intentionally injure yourself to that extent, and in real combat, you'd probably just die before reaching it.
In that sense... yes, Lucia and Super Regeneration are a match made in heaven. Honestly, they're too compatible. It's just that I keep running into people stronger than me, so it doesn't show, but Lucia is steadily improving. Hehe, Lucia is getting stronger by the second!
Still, I'm nowhere near ready to face a Named monster, let alone a single high-tier one. At my current level, I probably won't be of much help in this fight. At best, my limit is being a meat shield.
But I can't just leave the fight to those two. They're holding their own for now, but in truth, this fight is only possible because the Black Knight is holding back immensely. The Black Knight is a being who only takes interest in the strong. If it's a weakling not worth fighting, he'll just slice them down and lose interest. It's no different even if they're on his side. If he thinks someone got in his way, he kills them without mercy. Perhaps the Lizardman also unintentionally got in his way?
The reason he targeted me first was likely because he deemed Lucia a worthless opponent. In contrast, he recognized Yujin and Frey as strong fighters worthy of combat. That's why he was currently engaging in a probing battle, measuring the depths of their abilities. Once the probing was done and he had gauged their skills, the real fight would begin. In short, he was enjoying it. This fight, this duel. If he were serious, he would have shed his armor and gone all out.
...At this rate, our chances of winning are slim to none. Unless you're a Vice-Captain level, the odds against a Named are low. We can never win through conventional means.
'But that doesn't mean there's no way.'
Lucia is weak. Compared to Yujin or Frey. That's why the Black Knight wasn't paying attention to me. If I had jumped into the fray, he would have tried to eliminate me first, thinking a weakling unworthy of this battlefield was ruining his fun. But right now, I was standing a step back, observing the situation. Naturally, the Black Knight's attention was focused solely on the two of them. It's only natural to focus on the strong opponents in front of you rather than a weakling who doesn't even dare to intervene. That's the key. Vigilance drops against the weak. Probably just once. It'll only work once, but... Yes, I can do it. Lucia doesn't need to play it safe. I'll create an opening. Hehe, do you think Lucia would be scared just because healing becomes a bit difficult? If so, you've severely underestimated Lucia.
The Sun Sword and the longsword clashed. The immense recoil shook Yujin's shoulders violently. A wave of force traveled up his forearms and rippled through his entire body. Yujin's frame trembled under the sheer, monstrous weight of the blow.
The longsword danced in a dazzling display. Sharp slashes expanded, threatening to sweep away the entire surrounding area. *Screeech!* With an ear-splitting screech, the Sun Sword slid. He gently deflected and parried the pitch-black slashes that poured in, swallowing the surroundings.
"...Tsk!"
A red light flashed. Frey, slipping in from the right, unleashed her heat ray to burn the Black Knight. Though she had adjusted it exquisitely to avoid hitting Yujin, some collateral damage was inevitable. But Yujin simply powered through it. He had a resistance to heat. As long as it wasn't a direct hit, it was bearable.
Unlike before, when he was entirely on the defensive, he was now holding his own to some extent. It was thanks to Frey joining the fight. The Black Knight, who would normally tank mediocre attacks with his armor, actually dodged or blocked Frey's heat ray. Thanks to that, Yujin was able to break free from the Black Knight's relentless onslaught and transition from defense to offense, but the overall situation hadn't changed much.
'His attacks seem straightforward yet they're highly irregular. The trajectory bends abnormally, making it incredibly difficult to react.'
A downward strike that seemed to fall at a right angle would suddenly curve sharply, or conversely, turn into an upward slash. Every attack was unpredictable. When a diagonal swing of the longsword suddenly snapped into a horizontal slash with a flick of the wrist, he had almost been cut down.
'But he's not completely matchless.'
He had managed to hold out on his own somehow. As expected of a Named monster, his strength was terrifying, but he wasn't completely untouchable. Though the fight was dragging on and no clear path to victory was in sight, if he kept fighting like this, an opportunity would surely present itself. Yujin pressed forward doggedly. Ignoring minor cuts, he poured even more attacks onto the Black Knight.
'...He's strong. This guy,' Frey thought.
She was referring to the Black Knight, but at the same time, it applied to Yujin as well. She had watched him fight the lizard-like high-tier monster before. She had suspected it then, but witnessing it this close made it feel all the more real. The endless flurry of sword strikes. The thrusts cloaked in flames. The stance that didn't yield an inch as he blocked and parried the Black Knight's slashes. He was certainly impressive. If nothing else, she could never replicate that level of skill. For some reason, it annoyed her, but right now, it was a blessing. Because Yujin was keeping the Black Knight occupied with that skill of his, Frey's heat ray was able to land directly on him.
"..."
The pitch-black armor glowed cherry-red. Busy parrying Yujin's Sun Sword, the Black Knight had no choice but to use his left arm as a shield to block Frey's heat ray. The Black Knight was pushed back, carving deep furrows into the ground. Seizing the opening, Yujin's Sun Sword drew a smooth arc. Though it whipped as flexibly as a soft sword, it carried a devastating weight.
The Black Knight's longsword formed an iron wall to block, but with one hand occupied holding off the heat ray and his footing compromised, a slash he failed to parry grazed his helmet. *Clink.* With the sound of metal scraping metal, the Black Knight's head tilted slightly.
"Yes! It connected!"
For the first time, a clean hit landed on the Black Knight. No, it was barely a graze, so calling it a "clean hit" might be an exaggeration. Still, it was the first time the Sun Sword had touched the Black Knight's body. That fact alone was incredibly encouraging.
"Don't stop! Keep pushing!"
Frey shouted, ramping up the power of her heat ray. Her eyes throbbed with pain, but now was not the time to worry about that. Despite wearing such heavy armor, the Black Knight's movements were abnormally agile. Even when she aimed for openings, he blocked or dodged every single heat ray. This was the first time a direct hit had landed. Now, with his movements restricted as he blocked the heat ray, was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"...Lag."
It didn't take long to realize that thought was an illusion. A wind blew. A terribly dreadful wind, thick with the stench of death. The longsword, shrouded in deathly energy, unleashed a fan-shaped wave of sword qi. That single strike, though swung with only one hand, was sharp enough to cleave the world itself.
Yujin, who had been pushing in close to the Black Knight while enduring the heat of the ray with his resistance, was blown back. He hastily aborted his thrust to block the sword qi, but he was sent flying several times faster than his charging speed. The heat ray was sliced horizontally. The massive beam of energy was severed in two in an instant, unable to offer even a shred of resistance.
"...!"
The sword qi didn't stop at merely splitting the heat ray; it surged forward to cleave the head of Frey, who had been firing it. She ducked her head in a panic, but a portion of her silky, navy-blue hair was ruthlessly sheared off. Rage flared within her at the sight of Aris's precious hair being cut. She knew how much that girl treasured her hair. Frey gritted her teeth, but it was still better than having her head split in half. A shiver ran down her spine, making her tremble slightly.
"Ees I. Level ruoy."
The Black Knight spoke in a voice like scraping metal.
"Derugif evah I."
Yujin and Frey couldn't understand the Black Knight's words. It wasn't human language, so it would have been stranger if they did. But even without knowing the exact meaning, they could guess the general gist of it.
That what had been a desperate struggle for them was merely a warm-up for the Black Knight.
And that the real fight was only beginning now.