Chapter 309
Chapter 309
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 309
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
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Getting stronger feels like climbing an uphill road.
>When you pursue strength of a higher realm, you face an even steeper incline.
And finally, when you attain strength beyond a certain point, what appears is no longer an uphill road.
It's a flat plain.
You have to walk on firm, even ground.
There's no end in sight, no sense of progress.
Without a compass, you can't even tell if you're heading the right way, and inevitably, you'll grow weary.
If you keep walking through that torment without giving up, and if luck is on your side, you'll encounter it.
Stairs.
A wall.
"Here, you rascal. Hurry up!"
"...Rain?"
"Karuna, did you catch him?"
"Yes, Sir Rain."
"Where were you?"
"Hiding and sleeping in the squire quarters."
"Skipping afternoon training and making everyone wait! Karen!"
...Huh? Where is this...
My mouth moves on its own.
"Rain, group training is... too outdated."
"You rascal! Trying to get stronger all by yourself! That's cowardly!"
"...I don't get it."
"And you can do that stuff anytime! The Guardians are ten strong! The ten must become as one."
"Ugh... Lame."
"...Enjoy the time you can spend together while you can."
Rain's expression carried a hint of regret.
Karen somehow thought that look seemed a bit sad. Why hadn't she understood this feeling back then?
Karen whispered to Karuna.
"Karuna, let's just wait for Rain to get weaker. If we endure until his old age, it should be fine."
"......"
"You rascals! Chatting over there! This won't do... I, Rain, declare today's training begins with villain play."
The moment "villain play" left Rain's mouth, the other knights erupted in protest.
"No!"
"Anything but villain play... please...."
"Karen! Get on your knees! No, slam your head to the ground!"
Rain twirled his beard around his finger and laughed.
"Heh heh heh... Form up. I'll move in exactly 30 seconds."
"Damn it! Everyone, prepare!"
"Karen! You're dead after this!"
A bizarre training unique to the Montla Guardians. Called villain play.
In villain play, the Guardians split into two groups.
The strongest one becomes the villain and faces off against the other knights.
And always... the villain is Rain.
Because he was overwhelmingly strong, he always volunteered for the villain role.
Before long, 30 seconds passed.
Rain shouted and drew his greatsword.
"Knights are the empire's blades! Shields for His Imperial Majesty! I am the heinous villain come to crush you—Black Sun Rain!"
The Guardians gritted their teeth.
To an outsider, Rain's antics might seem utterly ridiculous, but those who had actually faced him knew that this act only heightened their fear.
Karen shouted.
"Rain! Why am I always a knight! Let me be the villain too! I want to be the villain!"
"Heh heh heh... Defection? But you're not ready yet! Karen, you don't qualify to be a great villain!"
"Why...!"
"Because you're weak! Villains have to be strong! Tsk... Dragging out time with words—here I come!"
Baaaaang-!
Why does it sound like a cannon firing when a person moves?
"Stand straight! You could get hurt!"
"You're gonna hurt us anyway!"
"Figured me out!"
Kwaaaaaang-!
"Ah...."
The first knight to clash with Rain flew back with a massive boom.
"I need to hold back a bit."
No one who collided with Rain first ever came out unscathed. That's why everyone edged away cautiously.
Sparring disguised as real combat.
Many-on-one fights dramatically showcased one's ability to handle crowds when that skill was exceptional.
Kaaaaang-!
Kaaaaaaaang-!
Kaaaaaaaang-!
"Ugh...."
"Fall back!"
Puuuung-!
"Ugh...."
Montla's sun wove fearlessly through the Guardians.
His power and movements, turning the impossible possible, greatly stimulated the knights facing the villain.
"Come on, make me kneel! Guardians of Montla! Is this all the justice you have?!"
"The captain's evil is too overwhelming!"
"Quiet! I'm an old fogey who ignores his subordinates' opinions! That's villainy too!"
Karen faced Rain's momentum crashing like a tidal wave.
And she watched endlessly.
The Karen here was the Karen from far in the future.
The Karen who endured harsh trials and awoke after Montla's fall.
That's why she could observe Rain's movements now in even greater detail.
Things she hadn't known then, things she hadn't realized then.
Rain was the epitome of knighthood.
How to move.
How to deceive with those movements.
How to draw out the deceived movements into the next one.
He hammered it all into their eyes with absurd power.
"What's with that half-assed stance! You think that'll block this injustice?!"
Puuuung!
"Kehek-!"
Most could count themselves lucky just to respond with a few moves—such overwhelming might. Karuna had already been sent flying.
"What heinous villainy is this! At this rate, Montla will fall!"
"It's you doing the destroying, Rain!"
"Villains only say their piece!"
"That's the same as you, Rain—."
Kwajiiik-!
"Guh...."
Strength surged into the hand gripping the sword.
Even pouring in power, it felt insufficient.
Doubt kept demanding more—could this sword face that monster?
"Hrah! Feels great!"
"Aaah!"
Karen admired it.
That power.
Villain play with Rain as the villain usually ended like this.
A fleeting movement.
Light flickering within.
Sparring with him birthed countless abstract thoughts.
Like homework.
It forced you to think.
Forced you to accept.
Food that didn't suit your taste yet, but one day you might enjoy—he shoved it right in your face.
Terrifying.
The unprecedented monster Montla had forged.
Humanity's greatest prodigy.
Perhaps the strongest knight since history began.
That was Montla's sun, Rain.
Kwaaaaaang-!
After sending all the other knights flying, it was Karen's turn.
Karen was last.
She was tenth among the Guardians, and Rain always gave her extra, grueling training under the guise of special guidance due to her behavior.
Whoosh!
Rain moved.
Some people could do so much in an instant—you realize that.
Rain's gaze seemed to say.
- Karen, dodge.
Karen replied with her eyes.
- ...No.
"Guardian! ...Fall before evil!"
She saw it.
The massive wall bearing down.
She saw it.
She had to see it.
To become that massive wall herself.
'I have to see... I must see....'
Kwajiiiiik-!
The world shoved her away.
At the end, Rain's casual praise.
"That's it, Karen. ...Good eyes."
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Karen flowed back into a world without Guardians.
"Hah... hah...."
Empty.
No Rain to rely on—just bespectacled Urman watching her.
"Hm... Right on the verge of breaking the wall."
"Hah... hah...."
"If it's frustrating, you can try another way. You don't have to leave now...."
"No, I'm almost there. It's not about time—it's...."
Karen's eyes gleamed as she peered beyond the darkness.
"Resolve."
"...Then prepare yourself."
Today, Karen would step outside.
It felt like she'd spent quite a long time in emptiness.
To say she hadn't grown attached here would be a lie.
Even so, finding answers here would take time.
So, she would go.
From her prepared position, Karen spoke to Kang Seol.
- Master, can you hear me?
'Yeah.'
- I'm ready. You just run forward.
'That's all?'
- Yeah, just think about running. That's enough.
Huuuup...
Karen inhaled deeply and tensed her thigh muscles. On the verge of explosion.
Paat-!
Kang Seol started running toward the sword sheath.
Paaaang-!
At the same instant, Karen dashed forward.
Flames lingered in her wake.
Urga watched Karen's traces vanish into the darkness and muttered.
"...Ridiculous."
Hwaaaaaak-!
The door of emptiness, far from Karen, rushed in. Meaning she moved at tremendous speed.
Cross this door, and she'd reach the instant.
She'd fought such flashes long ago.
She reclaimed past sensations.
Hwaaaaaaaaak-!
Light seeped in, heaven and earth split open.
Lungs and heart filled with the sense of reality.
The moment she exited emptiness, Kang Seol's body had already accepted Karen.
Pazzzzt-!
Now Karen moved the Night Raven. Kang Seol's movements became hers.
'Instant.'
She saw Baek Kyung's movements.
'Kahaha!'
Fast.
The opponent seemed to be a phantom beast.
But.
'...Rain was faster.'
If, in the clash, you could think beyond primal instinct, it wasn't faster than Rain.
'Accelerate... accelerate!'
The moment Kang Seol's power and Karen's merged, accumulated insights exploded inward.
Jling...
The goal from the start wasn't the sword—it was the bell.
Paaaang-!
Chiiiiii...
She took in the red-hot ground.
Her path.
"...This far."
Fusing with Kang Seol brought warmth.
Not fiery heat, but the warmth of home.
The long-awaited embrace.
[Knight 'Crimson Lotus Knight Karen' takes Night Raven form.]
[Absorbing 'Crimson Lotus Knight Karen's' stats.]
[Job: Knight status.]
[Shadow Hand is changing.]
[Can use Star.]
[Can use Montla Swordsmanship.]
[Can use Haze.]
[Continuous: Can use Pair.]
[Continuous: Can use Fear Fire.]
[Can use Dark Heat Bullet.]
[Ultimate: Can use Sunset Drawing.]
...
[Insight! Awakening new ability.]
[Awakening Goblin Step.]
* * *
While Karen and Kang Seol chatted in reunion after so long, the others had their own conversations.
"Where did something so terrifying pop out from? Shouldn't we check pockets? Feels like there might be more."
"...First time seeing her?"
"...Yeah, first time."
Jin Ryeo, Chiu, and Seol Hong found the new woman's presence utterly alien.
And understandably so—the woman had color, unlike Jamad.
She felt like fire striding about.
Her red hue, plus her shining appearance, felt out of place.
Standing next to Baek Kyung, no one could tell which was the phantom beast in disguise.
"You're doing a rematch... Yo! I was off guard... Yo!"
"Hohoho... Kyung-ah, did you just explain the reason for your defeat?"
"That's... Ugh...."
For Baek Kyung, this score was unprecedented.
Once.
The opponent tried once and succeeded on the first try.
If it'd taken hundreds of tries for one success, she wouldn't feel this way.
Infuriating.
Baek Kyung whispered to the dragon.
"You know, that human... something's off about her."
"She's extraordinary."
"No... I mean, she definitely stopped by the afterlife last time too. Back then...."
"...Back then?"
"I mean...."
Baek Kyung couldn't continue.
'I can't say she blocked my sorcery then too!'
That would admit defeat twice.
"Anyway! No human can be faster than me!"
Sssk...
The dragon smiled.
"Kyung-ah, you're not the one who sets their limits."
"But...."
"Not even I, a dragon, set their limits."
"...Then who does? You gonna say gods?"
"They do— themselves."
"...Frustrating."
"I know."
Flick-!
Baek Kyung strode toward Kang Seol. Karen stood in a strange spot, watching Kang Seol and Baek Kyung.
That position grated on Baek Kyung's nerves.
She could intervene between them anytime.
"Haa... Fine. Here."
Clank...
Baek Kyung unfastened the sword sheath and handed it to Kang Seol.
Kang Seol reached with both hands.
Or tried to.
Clunk...
Clunk...
The sword wouldn't move.
Drip...
Drip...
Drops fell onto Kang Seol's hand.
Tears.
"Sob... Hic... It hurts... Having to hand this treasure to someone... Never done this... Hic... before...."
"Kyung-ah."
"I know!"
- Trash!
- Snowman trash! Cried! She cried!
- ??? : W-Wait, then I'd be the trash!
- Seems like a good kid lol, total pure sword otaku....
Finally, the sword sheath reached Kang Seol's hands. Baek Kyung turned away, regret behind her, but her gaze lingered somewhere.
"Wait, hold on...."
"Hm? What...?"
"Just a sec, lemme look."
Her gaze fixed on Karen's sword, Ember.
Since she was so insistent, Karen undid the sheath for inspection.
Shing...
"Haa...."
Crunch... Crunch...
Baek Kyung breathed on the blade, inspecting Ember closely. Moments later, she concluded.
"It's Orgo! Orgo made this!"
"...Orgo?"
"You don't know Orgo? This elegant curve, perfect balance. Has to be Orgo's work!"
Hamura cut in.
"I made it."
"...You?"
"Yes."
"...You're Orgo's descendant, right?"
"...Yes."
Baek Kyung paced left and right, hand on chin, thinking. Then tossed a few curt questions.
"Maybe this is your life's masterpiece or something...."
"No."
"You look younger than you are, with health that could give out any day...."
"My lifespan is incalculable, but I doubt I'll turn to dust tomorrow."
"Or maybe you're this guy's slave or whatever...."
"Horrid assumption."
Baek Kyung seemed to resolve something and clapped her palms.