Fall of the Pale Knight
Kaang-!! Sparks flew as the Pale Knight's body staggered. Kaaang--! The sword whipped through the air once more.
Slaughterer
Baek Yiheon's eyes flashed red, his breath reeking like blood-soaked iron. Skak...!! His blade assaulted the Pale Knight at a speed too fast for the naked eye, even quicker than before.
Clangk rang--!!! The moment it clashed with Kangtal's sword, the defending blade shattered into pieces.
Kangtal's Wail can now be used.
Uses remaining: 3/3
Baek Yiheon seized the opening in the staggering Pale Knight's guard without hesitation.
"Krahaha!!!"
Like a rabid dog, he hounded the bastard relentlessly. Sek-- In that instant, Kangtal's sword flashed from the darkness, piercing straight through the Pale Knight's thigh.
"What the hell is this guy? Just gotta catch him, right?"
As the Pale Knight's body tilted with one leg severed in a blink, Baek Yiheon didn't let up, swinging his blade again.
Struggle Sword Lv2
The moment his leg was lopped off, Baek Yiheon's stamina surged back via the Slaughterer trait, and he triggered the skill on the spot.
"Feels damn good!!"
The blackened blade scorched the Pale Knight's shoulder clean off.
"Kuh...!!"
In that instant, a gaping hole punched through the bastard's shoulder like it'd been drilled out, twisting his face in agony.
"Watch closely. This one's mine."
Whooping in triumph, Baek Yiheon pressed the assault without pause. It was like the ferocious swordplay from his mad dog days had fully revived—he kept hammering the Pale Knight.
Incredible...
I was briefly stunned by his combat prowess, far exceeding expectations, but then a strange thought struck me.
He was weak.
Baek Yiheon's strikes were ferocious, but the majesty of the Pale Knight I remembered utterly overwhelmed such attacks.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, heralds of calamity. They fell short of the Destroyer, but each was a monstrous calamity in their own right. Not just their individual might—their powers were disasters unto themselves.
The Pale Knight's moniker among the Horsemen was Pestilence. He exuded ceaseless poison from his entire body, turning kilometers around him into a land of death in moments.
But unlike the Pale Knight in my memories, this one's display of power felt underwhelming.
Fast. Too damn fast.
The game timeline had three more years before calamity fully descended. That's when the omens began: Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death. The Four Horsemen's disasters would ravage the continent to ruin before he arrived.
Yet here stood the Pale Knight, defying the history I knew.
The Horsemen are mere preludes to the Destroyer's apocalypse. Perhaps they've always existed in this world, preparing these omens.
If so, it made sense why the Pale Knight was weak now.
And it fits the fragments of major and minor events over those three years.
Then the "89-Day Drought" in the Land of Savages, the "Druid Poison Marshes," or the inexplicable "Sudden Plague" in the north weren't random—they could have been these bastards' doing.
The Horsemen grow by devouring humanity's despair and lives. By the time the Destroyer awoke, their strength had slowly accumulated that way.
And... much as I hated to admit it, the continental war I waged to unite the land against calamity might have been their greatest feast.
But right now, I can take him.
If the Horsemen strengthen via continental disasters, they're still larvae, not yet full-grown.
Destroyer. When you open your eyes, it won't be your knights welcoming you—it'll be me.
Kwak-- I gripped my sword tighter.
"This is our chance."
Paat-!!! I launched toward him.
"A level-up opportunity."
This Pale Knight wasn't the Horseman who terrorized the continent—he was just another monster.
If he's merely a checkpoint on the path, then yeah. I'll kill you and hit level 50 today.
Kwaggrgrk---!!
"Insolent fool!!"
The Pale Knight hurled his shattered shortsword aside and drew the massive bow from his back.
Chrrrrlk...!! Misty fog billowed from the holes in his thigh and shoulder gouged by Baek Yiheon's attacks.
The Pale Knight uses Pale Regeneration.
Bubbling, bubbling... The toxic mist foamed over the Pale Knight's body, healing his wounds clean in seconds.
"Blind worms dare...?"
He nocked his bowstring. In that moment, bone-sharp arrows materialized.
Pang-!! The taut string snapped, firing the arrow—which split into two, then four in an instant.
"Watch out!"
Spotting it, Baek Yiheon charged in, blocking the arrows hurtling my way.
Kwaaang-!! Even fragmented, the arrows' power was immense—Baek Yiheon's body flew back like a ragdoll.
"Guh...! What the..."
Savagery Lv1
Baek Yiheon's stamina recovers.
Not just stamina recovery—blood trickling from his mouth after slamming into the wall stopped abruptly.
"Kim Do-hyun!! Dodge no matter what! Don't try to block..."
Sek-- Baek Yiheon wiped the blood from his lips mid-shout and froze.
True Chilya 4th Sword
Dozens of arrows pouring toward me exploded into shards amid roaring sword ki, raining down harmlessly.
"What?"
"Nah, nothing..."
I glanced back at him, and he scratched his head sheepishly.
"But seriously, what is that? Doesn't feel like a regular field boss."
"His name's the Pale Knight. He's the source poisoning Mu-hal. If we don't kill him here, that poison spreads across the continent."
"What? That thing's that big a deal?"
"More than a big deal."
Baek Yiheon smirked, lips twitching with excitement at my words.
The real issue is the Pale Knight's link to Motram. If the leaf with narcotic ingredients ties back to him, then Motram peddling it is involved too.
After this incident, Mu-hal's domain gets granted to Motram, becoming an independent city free from ducal oversight for years.
One of the few places to prepare 'evil deeds' unchecked.
No need to overthink. Kill the Pale Knight first, then investigate Motram. If he's tied to calamity, there'll be evidence.
If he was Mu-hal's hero turned devil...
We'll end him together.
My mentor, comrade, and strategist of the Dark Army, Bazarr, once said:
'To be a wise ruler, never let mercy be abused.'
Those who must die, must.
Even if this world is virtual, I won't let it end in tragedy—not this time. The future of the world I'm building demands it.
Paat-!!
"Black Eye!!"
I shouted as I charged the Pale Knight.
"You dare...!!"
He leveled his greatbow. "νok υωγ stφϪ."
Muttering an incomprehensible tongue, the arrow on his bow multiplied into dozens.
Chiiik...!! Their tips glowed blue-green, dripping red mucus amid acrid smoke.
Black Eye blocked my path. "Pale's Contempt."
I stared at the Pale Knight's arrows, murmuring lowly. True to its name, visions flashed like a montage: countless dead piled high, the bastard standing atop them.
"Even weak, he's still a tough matchup right now, sure. But Pale Knight, you picked the wrong opponent."
You wouldn't know.
I've fought your stronger future self.
Meaning I already knew every ability he could muster.
"And I know the counters."
Extreme Ice Magic Defense – Nute
Jjeok...! Jjeojeok...!! Nute's barrier enveloped me the instant I flicked my fingers, hurling the layered ice shields at him.
"...!!"
Pang-!! Facing the oncoming barriers, the Pale Knight hastily loosed his bowstring.
Peng! Peng! Peung--!! His arrows slammed into Nute, exploding in a burst of ice shards.
The moment the frost barrier shattered, snowflakes clutched his arrows like talons, freezing them solid mid-air.
"Now!!"
At my shout, Black Eye—engulfed in blue flames—hoisted his greatsword at the Pale Knight's neck.
Beheading Sword Lv1
[Kraaaaa--!!]
The sword howled fiercely, sword wind laced with poison turning to inky blue flames, crashing toward the Pale Knight.
"You dare...!!"
But the Pale Knight snarled at Black Eye's strike, yanking his robe's cloak.
The Pale Knight uses Pale's Heavenly Guard.
A blinding white cloak enveloped him in light.
"Not on my watch...!"
Baek Yiheon slid under Black Eye's feet like he'd been there all along, slashing the Pale Knight's wrist gripping the cloak.
Kangtal's Wail
"Kuh?!!"
The final wail erupted, severing the Pale Knight's wrist. As his body swayed, the cloak lost power and fluttered limply to the floor.
Kwagagagang---!!
Black Eye's sword hurtled toward the Pale Knight's neck, but he desperately raised his bow-bearing hand to block.
Sek-!! Udrdrdrk--!!
Yet true to its name, Beheading Sword overwhelmed the greatbow, shattering it and lopping off the wrist clutching it.
"Uwaaaak!!"
With the Pale Knight's scream, Black Eye's blade buried in his neck, the impact hurling his body through the wall.
"Gek... Keheok..."
Blood gushed from his half-severed, ragged neck. Desperate to survive, the same poison that had healed him earlier bubbled over the torrent.
"Damn it... If I'd had more time to absorb life force..."
He gnashed his teeth, glaring resentfully at the player corpses scattered in the room, muttering bitterly.
"You think I'll just watch you power up?"
I strode toward the fallen bastard.
"You lot will never set foot on this continent. The afterlife awaits—I'll send your superiors there myself."
"Kuh... Kek. Is that so?"
The Pale Knight sneered up at me mockingly.
Chik- I aimed my sword at him.
That was when.
Black Eye approached, sniffing around the Pale Knight before speaking to me.
"Hm, figures. Calamity's kin to disaster, after all—embodying every natural phenomenon. They'd wield spirit-like forces from nature."
In that instant, I grasped what Black Eye meant.
The new ability he'd gained as a divine beast: Kin Devour.
For the first time, fear flickered in the Pale Knight's eyes.
I met his gaze and returned his sneer in full.
"Be my guest."