Chapter 146
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: The Black Knight's Fall
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Once the dust and wind settled, everyone searched for the Black Knight, but he was nowhere to be seen.
'Where... where did he go!'
Everyone knew the Black Knight's energy was depleted. They just needed one final blow to end him.
Then, someone looked up at the sky and shouted.
"He's..."
"There! Up there! How is he even climbing like that in his tattered state..."
"He's heading up!"
"Ascetic!"
The Black Knight, who had briefly grown massive, had returned to his original size and was now scaling the clock tower right beside him.
The clock tower—the tallest structure in Ilia's western district.
"Why..."
Philia cried out in shock.
"The barrier! He's planning to cross the barrier!"
The distance between the clock tower and the barrier wasn't far.
Of course, in normal circumstances, it would feel distant, but to a monster like the Black Knight with his immense power, it was practically next door.
'If he leaps from the top of the clock tower toward the barrier at full speed...'
The citizens beyond the barrier sealing off the western district could be exposed to him, rendering the blockade meaningless.
The resentment animating the Black Knight's body had already climbed more than halfway up the clock tower.
【Run away! Run away! Those guys are tough! Let's devour the humans beyond the barrier!】
Whether he had no intention of hiding his motives or was simply cornered and repeating it obsessively, the voice of Lament echoed across Ilia.
The citizens of Ilia, evacuated beyond the barrier, trembled at the horrific voice.
Kang Seol sensed that even if he rushed up the clock tower right now, he wouldn't catch the Black Knight before he leaped over the barrier.
'I have to stop him... but how...'
At that moment, Kang Seol spotted Karuna gazing up at the clock tower.
Karuna met eyes with Kang Seol, who was looking at him. The two exchanged gazes filled with steely resolve.
"Karuna."
"...Let me go."
"...Yeah, great minds think alike."
Paht-!
Kang Seol leaped onto the roof of a three-story building and swung his right arm.
"What are you doing right now..."
Uujik! Uujijijijik!
Th-that's..."
"No way..."
"His arm..."
Kang Seol's arm swelled enormously in an instant, scooping up Karuna, who was in a stable stance.
Thud-!
"Go!"
Hwoooooung-!
Tskreeeek!
[Current mana is below 5%.]
[Mana deficiency has arrived.]
[Mana recovery speed reduced by 50% for 5 minutes.]
[Excessive mana used at once.]
[Status ailment for the day: Dizziness.]
[Ability cooldown increased by 10%.]
Karuna was hurled precisely toward the clock tower's belfry.
A height that fell just short.
"Uwaaaah!"
"Urk..."
In that instant, Karen's red hue faded while Karuna's blue deepened.
[The Twin Knights' balance is disrupted.]
[Combined stats shift to one side.]
Karuna kicked off the clock tower's wall twice. With that, he vaulted to the top.
Before even landing, he yanked back his arm with all his might.
The Black Knight turned at the presence.
【No! Don't do it!】
Karuna poured all his power into launching the sword he held.
Tskreeeeek-!
The Breath shot straight at the Black Knight.
Puhwaaaaaak-!
The Breath pierced the center of the Black Knight's chest precisely.
"Kuhheeeok..."
Kwaaaang-!
He crashed into the belfry.
The Black Knight slammed into the bell, and the massive impact made it toll.
Deng... Deeeeng...
"Cough... Ack..."
"...It's over."
The blade of Lament was badly broken. It seemed he hadn't recovered from the damage of attempting materialization too hastily.
Lament wailed in the form of the sword.
【You idiot! Run away! Run away!】
"Shu... t... up..."
The Black Knight muttered while sprawled out.
From his pierced chest, black and blue energies bubbled up. They must be his power, his memories.
"Haa... Ack... Can I... ask you something?"
"......"
"The fragments that died to me... all had different desires..."
"What?"
He continued.
"Some didn't remember Montral... others forgot Karen. Because of that, each envisioned... a different future... Urk... What do you plan to do? With this power... what will you...?"
"To Karen..."
"......"
"I'll show her the sea."
With the moon at his back, Karuna looked down at the Black Knight with impassive eyes.
"That's all for this life."
A humble wish that didn't match his arrogant gaze. Yet it resonated deeply with the Black Knight.
"Kuk... Kuk... Kuhukhu... The sea... of all things..."
"What's wrong?"
The Black Knight removed his helmet.
On the brink of death, the helmet had become mere scrap metal, suffocating him.
Soon, his tear-streaked face was revealed.
It was smeared with tears, snot, and blood.
"I... can't remember the sea... Damn it... What I'd forgotten was that memory..."
"......"
"Is that... greater than Montral, than our revenge...?"
Karuna described the sea to the Black Knight, as if telling a fairy tale.
"The whole world filled with blue water... Haha... Lies..."
The Black Knight couldn't stop his tears as he spoke.
"...Why are you crying?"
"Because of regret..."
"Regret? If it's remorse for your wrongs..."
"No, not that. That all I could give you... all I could leave for your future... is this hideous hatred. That's what I regret so deeply."
Step... Step...
Karen and Kang Seol appeared at the clock tower.
The Black Knight, impaled by the sword, spoke without turning to look. The same dying words left by every fragment he'd defeated.
"I... acknowledge my defeat. I give you my power and memories... Karuna, may you be the mirror that reflects the truth..."
Hwoooooung...
With those words, the Black Knight's body began dissipating into smoke from the extremities.
【No! No!】
Whoosh...
The smoky energy lingered in the belfry.
Lament trembled, then seized the chance to latch onto the smoke.
But something grabbed hold of Lament.
Whiririk-!
【Let go! Let me go!】
"No, you mustn't take all the power. My hatred and this demon... you mustn't claim them... Please, don't be tainted by hatred like me... Lament, they don't need black where they're headed. You stay here with me..."
The pitch-black light—the root of the Black Knight's power—seized Lament's dark energy. He intended to perish with Lament.
"No need for that."
Tok.
Kang Seol snatched Lament's energy from the Black Knight's grasp.
"The path I'm on needs black too."
The black light turned to Karuna. Karuna nodded.
"We're going together."
The black light, which had truly wished for that, shattered and scattered into the air.
Whooooooo...
Then it began getting sucked into the Breath that Karuna had raised.
A blue glow emanated from Karuna's eyes. Strange, ancient memories seeped in.
Memories floating like fragments.
These were both complete memories of the one Karuna and vivid recollections etched into the hatred-filled fragments.
Churuk... Churuk...
Ching...
Karuna, fallen off the cliff, was pulled up by someone in a rowboat.
"Got him!"
"...Well done. Let's go."
The rowboat held only an old man and a young man.
Time passed.
Karuna lay on a stone etched with geometric patterns, his consciousness hazy.
Occasionally, the old man, the young man, and temple followers came and went.
"What I'm saying is..."
"Silence! How could the guardian..."
They argued.
The old man mostly scolded, and the young man listened quietly. As time went on, the arguments grew more frequent.
It took quite a while for those arguments to turn into screams.
"KyaAAAAH!"
"Kwaaaak!"
The surging magical energy and stench of blood did much to awaken Karuna's consciousness.
"Huff... Huff..."
A disheveled, half-mad young man approached where Karuna slept.
His body was soaked in blood, and his revealed age had passed middle age.
"You think... I'll die keeping some stinking oath? No... I was so wrong..."
Oath.
The word he uttered first felt both unfamiliar and nostalgic.
"Heeheehee... Foolish knight, why did you enter the truth's embrace? With such... immense power, why chain yourself?"
The man was off somehow.
"I'm different from the truth. He let treasures in his grasp slip away unknowingly. But I'm different! I'll... be reborn using you!"
Grab-!
The man seized Karuna's hair and growled.
"I'll shatter you into pieces and make an army! Heeheehee... No one... no one can stop me. Having power yet having to protect? That's so boring, right? Right?"
Something clenched in Karuna's chest.
This was a moment he'd experienced countless times.
Hatred. Hatred toward the man sprouted in his heart.
"Haha... Not much time left..."
And soon, that hatred bore fruit.
Puhwaaaaaak-!
The man before him tried to stem the blood gushing from his throat, but it was too late to survive.
"Gulp... Guh..."
He glared resentfully at Karuna.
No, not at the complete Karuna. At the fragment of hatred left in the temple, who had slain all who plotted this.
The Black Knight.
Thus, the Black Knight left the temple.
He wandered in search of awakened fragments. They could sense each other and knew instinctively they must fight.
The fragments of hatred were strong.
- Defeated. Everything to you...
- I lost. You...
Oddly, before absorption, the defeated fragments left their own wishes.
- Protect the good ones.
- Stop the world's evil...
- Karen... please...
The hatred-filled fragments couldn't understand them.
'Fools.'
Did they think a strong one who crushed the weak would honor a weak one's request? For what reason?
The Black Knight couldn't comprehend the defeated fragments. He saw their requests as burdens.
He presumed he was the strongest among the remaining Karuna fragments, closest to the original.
But that judgment was wrong.
He realized it upon encountering a special fragment.
Kaaaang-!
"Urgh..."
"Filthy and ugly."
"Bull... shit..."
"...Begone."
The hatred fragment collapsed, vomiting blood.
Another Karuna crushed his hand and vanished.
'...Who...?'
Thump.
It felt like some eyes were watching this place right now.
Karuna sensed sinister energy from those eyes.
Tsupat-!
The Black Knight's memories ended there.
The light faded like a curtain drawn.
Then, the black light approached.
The fragment of hatred.
"Now... I think I understand."
"......"
"Why they left those wishes."
The black light flickered.
"Karuna, never forget Montral. Wholly reclaim your sister, prosper together, and build a good world. ...These are the wishes entrusted to me by those who went ahead."
Karuna gazed into the distance and replied.
"...And your wish?"
The black light faltered.
"......"
"Your wish?"
"Someone like me could hardly..."
"Your... wish?"
The black light wavered.
It seemed to be crying.
Seemed regretful.
"...Don't repeat my mistakes. Don't... hate the world..."
"Impossible. The world is still full of evil."
"...Hatred and anger are different."
"Be angry..."
"And be happy with your sister, no matter what. That's my wish."
Karuna nodded to the black light.
"I'll remember."
Swooooo...
With that, the black light seeped into Karuna's chest.
Having reclaimed the Black Knight's memories, a blue light enveloped Karuna's body. Another change, if it could be called that.
Tszuzuzuzu...
And yet another change.
'A pattern... is engraving on the sword.'
A strange, mystical pattern was etching onto the Breath that shaped Karuna's Moonlight Sword.
Messages related to it flooded up, blocking Kang Seol's view.
And the changes weren't over yet.
Suuuuu...
The moment Karuna opened his closed eyes, a murky energy rippled in his pupils.
'What's this now...'
Kang Seol wanted to dissect every detail right there. But circumstances made it impossible for the moment.
For now, he looked at what was in his hand.
In his grasp were the remnants of Lament.
【Yes! Yes! You want power?】
"Of course."
【That idiot lost because he's an idiot! I won't lose!】
"Yeah?"
【I'll grant it! What do you want! King? Wanna be king? Or something else? Anything!】
"Yeah? Then..."
Lament spewed honeyed words like candy.
Hard to believe these were the same babbling nonsense from before—tempting offers that could sway Kang Seol.
All while radiating demonic energy nonstop.
To corrupt Kang Seol's mind. To make him fall like his previous master.
Lament was confident.
Until Kang Seol's cold retort.
"Can you shut up for a bit?"
【...Huh?】
"That's your way to survive. So shut your trap."
"Wai..."
Pook...
Kang Seol shoved Lament's materialized slime into a suitable bottle and corked it. Lament could shatter the bottle anytime, but Kang Seol's words made him hesitate.
Meanwhile, Count Brispin called from beyond the barrier.
"What happened! The situation!"
"Hm..."
"Quickly! What's the status?"
Kang Seol pondered his reply, then struck the nearby belfry.
Deeeeng...
Count Brispin panicked at the sudden tolling.
"What..."
Deeeeng...
As the bell rang again, Brispin realized it was the answer.
"...I see."
The count addressed his subordinates.
"Ring all the bells in Ilia now."
"...Pardon?"
"Hurry!"
The order spread swiftly, and the bells in the clock towers of all districts—east, west, south, north—rang out.
Deeeeng...
Deeeeng...
Deeeeeeng...
Bells tolled across Ilia.
The nightmarish night was ending with the bells. A night no one would ever forget.
"Waaaaaaah!"
"The Ascetic won!"
"Open the barriers quick, you bastards!"
As the city erupted in cheers, Kang Seol instinctively glanced at the chest forming at his feet.
Carrying the chest down would be awkward, so he handled it there.
Thud-!
His kick opened the chest.
Kiiiik...
'Please, let it have that...'
[Checking Black Knight's relic.]
......