Chapter 32
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Knight of Light
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Knight of Light
The world, myself included, began to move in slow motion.
The people fleeing from Envy looked as slow as crawling slugs.
Fwooo.
Envys fist and spear were right in front of my nose, but their speed was so slow it was almost yawn-inducing.
My thoughts remained clear, but with time moving this slowly, there were countless ways to evade Envys attack.
First, I ducked to avoid the incoming fist, then rolled to the side to dodge the spear.
BOOM!
A sound like a cannonball exploding erupted from Envys fist as it struck the floor instead of my face. The ground caved in as if a real cannonball had hit it.
"Grrrr!"
A strange light flickered in Envys crazed eyes. It was a look of confusion, as if they couldnt comprehend how I had dodged that attack.
"Uahahahaha!"
CRACK!
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
The moment Envy stomped the ground, stone spears erupted from the floor in eight directions while their main body descended from above for a crushing blow.
Normally, it would have been an inescapable, fatal attack, but for me, who could see the flow of the assault while time moved slowly, it was riddled with openings to exploit.
KABOOM!
I escaped the spot just before Envy landed, and dust billowed from the point of impact. But with the Creators Eye active, I could see their movements perfectly.
Woooong!
As I filled Agnes with internal energy, a white, haze-like shimmer began to rise from the blade. The haze gradually gathered to form a single line.
Vwooom!
Light burst forth from the sword as if a second blade had been layered over the first.
Sword Ki? Sword Aura? I dont know what it is, but!
Stab!
I gripped the sword and charged at Envy. The glowing blade pierced through their black armor as if it were tofu.
"Kuaargh! An attack like this won't!"
"I know."
After that simple reply, I transformed Agnes, still embedded in Envy, into a hidden weapon, let go, and retreated.
"Farewell."
Click!
KABOOOOOM!
An explosion so tremendous rang out that my ears, protected by internal energy, still suffered from tinnitus.
"Did it work...?"
I had turned Agnes into a Black Iron Bomb, shoved it into their body, and detonated it. Perhaps because I had packed in more internal energy than usual, both the sound and the force were more than twice as powerful.
"Guhhh..."
As the dust settled, Envy's form was revealed. A hole the size of a car tire had been blown through their right abdomen. A viscous black liquid, not blood, dripped from the wound.
"You, human, you bastard, kill..."
Envys speech slurred as their body began to melt like liquid, sinking to the ground.
"Grrrk..."
Outwardly, it looked as if Envy was slowly dying, but the option of finishing them off didn't even exist in my mind.
They only looked that way; in reality, they were gathering power.
A Phase 3!
Honestly, I hadn't expected it. My original scenario was to hold out against Phase 1 Envy until the knights and guards arrived, at which point the creature would flee, and I would slip away in the chaos. I never dreamed of a hellish situation like this.
"Kihik! I'll kill them all! Everyone will die!"
Envy's muttering reached my ears. Convinced that Phase 3 was activating, I was about to flee when something like a cloth flew toward Envy.
Whoosh!
"Kuaargh! You damn bitch! Don't interfere! I'll kill every last human!"
The black cloth wrapped around Envy dozens of times, sealing them.
"No way!"
I looked up toward the source of the cloth. Atop a tall spire, a beautiful woman with flowing black hair had the cloth extending from her hand.
I had no idea why she was here, but it was the same woman I had met on my way down from the Divine Dragons Den.
"Over here!"
"Hurry!"
"You lot, form a perimeter!"
"Yes, sir!"
As I watched the woman, I heard the sounds of knights and guards approaching.
The woman seemed to have no intention of fighting; she was simply pulling Envy toward her.
"Damn it."
I met her eyes for a moment, then fled in the opposite direction of the knights voices. If I got caught by the knights here, I might be mistaken for the terrorist.
"Kuaaaargh!"
"Aargh!"
"Wh-what are these threads!"
"She's getting away. Get her!"
It seemed the woman was killing the knights, as I could hear their screams from behind me.
The Ascension State is deactivating.
"Gah!"
The Ascension State wore off while I was running, and I nearly tumbled to the ground. A wave of unbearable pain crashed over me.
"Ugh!"
I bit my lip to offset the pain and kept running. With my internal energy depleted, my stamina was all I had left to rely on.
Once I felt I was far enough away, I removed the Agnes mask, reverting to my original face, changed into the clean clothes I had in my pocket, and emerged onto a main street.
"Whew, I survived..."
I was still getting goosebumps, and I shook my head vigorously.
"I need to rest."
I asked a passerby for directions to the Dragon's Tear Inn, our meeting place, and made my way there.
"Grand Prince!"
At the inn, only Giranox was present; the other two were nowhere to be seen.
"Where are the others?"
"They said a terrorist appeared and went out to catch him."
"What? Hah, those idiots..."
Catch him? They would have been flattened in an instant...
"What about the departure application?"
"I'm not sure. Prince Collin was handling that."
"Is that so?"
Seeing Giranox, the reality of my survival finally sank in, and my strength drained away.
"Ah, what a shame. If I had run into him, I would've killed him with a single stroke."
"Judging by the damaged buildings, he didn't seem like someone we could handle."
"Nah, I can do that much."
Collin and Raon were entering the Dragon's Tear, deep in conversation.
"Huh? Where on earth have you been?"
"Just went to look around. Did you file the departure application?"
"That's not what's important right now. The assassin who killed the Crown Prince showed up."
I know, you brat. I was just fighting him a little while ago.
"They say the assassin is a monster beyond human capabilities. He summoned stone pillars from the ground, turned into a monster, and smashed everything. It was insane."
Raon's eyes sparkled as he spoke, as if he had witnessed it himself.
"Just when many people were about to be killed by that thing, bam!"
"Bam?"
"A knight appeared."
If they saw me as a knight, then my plan was a success. It would have been easier to fight with hidden weapons from the start, but I didn't want to reveal my information to them, so I used a sword.
"That knight saved people from the monster and even bought them time to escape by fighting it alone. It was amazing! A true model of what a knight should be!"
Raon's eyes shone like a child's. He seemed to love these kinds of hero tales.
"That's not all. They say the knight's sword emitted light. He cut down the monster with his shining sword and made it explode."
"And so, he earned the honorable title of the Knight of Light."
Collin picked up where Raon left off and finished the story. Even Collin, who had seemed uninterested, appeared to hold some admiration for the Knight of Light.
"Ah, I wish I had a title like that. Knight of Light, that's so cool. I really want to see who it is."
"I know, right! I'd love to meet him just once. I want to cross swords with him!"
"They said he was wearing casual clothes. Maybe he's one of the knights on standby?"
"That could be it."
Hey, guys, that Knight of Light is right here.
Take a good look at me, slumped exhaustedly in this chair from a headache. I'm your Knight of Light.
The honorable title was nice, and warning them was good, but I don't know how many times I almost died today. It was an experience I never wanted to repeat.
"So what happened after that?"
"Then, the monster's accomplice appeared, took the dying monster away, and the Knight of Light also vanished. But they say the monster's female accomplice killed 30 knights and guards while escaping."
"That's why the Knight of Light is being praised even more. Because he fought alone."
No, I wasn't. Honestly, I survived through a series of lucky breaks. If the Ascension State hadn't activated at the end, I would have been dead long ago.
"Hah, so, the departure application?"
"It's done. As expected, mentioning the Lox name worked. But with another incident breaking out, I don't know what will happen."
"Let's go to the Magic Tower. If we delay, we might really get stuck here."
"Understood."
We went to the Magic Tower and requested a spatial transfer to the Lox Marquisate. The verification took a long time, but as no other orders had come down, the mages teleported us.
By the time we stepped out of the Magic Tower in the Lox Marquisate, the sky had already darkened, and the moon was out.
"This cool breeze makes me feel like I'm home."
"Let's go. It's getting late."
A lot of time had been spent on identity verification at the Empire's Magic Tower, so we headed straight for the marquis's estate.
With all three sons of the Marquis Lox returning at once, it would normally have caused a stir, but we entered quietly because of the late hour.
"I've returned."
"Father, I have returned."
"Your son has returned."
When we entered the mansion, the Marquis was waiting in the lobby, and we each offered a different greeting.
"Welcome back. I heard there was a major incident in the Empire?"
"Yes, Father! Shall I tell you about it?"
"It sounds interesting, but it's late, so let's talk tomorrow. I'll also tell you all why I summoned you tomorrow."
The Marquis chuckled, patting Raon's head.
"For now, rest well, and we'll see each other again in the morning."
"Understood."
"Yes."
I called a servant to arrange a place for Giranox to stay and then went to my room. Lying down on the expensive bed after so long felt like I could fly.
"This is nice."
Lying in bed, I thought about the events of my trip. It had been fun in its own way, and I had gained a lot, but today's events had definitely been too much.
"I'm never doing something like that again."
Perhaps because I was so exhausted, I quickly drifted off to sleep.
"Young Master."
"Huh?"
When I opened my eyes, morning had already arrived.
"It's been a while, Young Master."
"Arin!"
Arin was drawing the curtains, looking at me. Seeing her after so long made me genuinely happy and lifted my spirits. It seems waking up to the sight of Arin is the best way to start the day.
"You've returned even more formidable after just a short time away."
"What do you mean?"
"You earned the title of Iron Wizard in Asse Castle, and then you went to the capital and came back with the title of Rookie Slayer."
"Rookie Slayer?"
"You don't know? You single-handedly took down four Master Class students at the Royal Knight Academy, didn't you?"
"I suppose I did."
Mellai, Lula, Karic, and Collin. That made four.
"Those people are promising prospects called 'Rookies,' and since you defeated them all, you're being called the Rookie Slayer. The Marquis himself told me with a laugh."
"Hahaha!"
The amusing nickname made me laugh. Come to think of it, since I was also the Knight of Light, I had earned three titles on this trip alone.
"The Marquis has requested that you have breakfast with him and the other young masters this morning."
"Alright."
"Then I will see you later."
"Come by tonight. I have something to give you."
"Understood."
I washed up simply with the water Arin brought and put on a clean set of clothes.
"Young Master."
A moment later, Peru appeared.
"Wow, Peru, you're looking well. The dark circles are gone too."
"Huh? Thank you. You've been causing quite a stir yourself, Young Master. Ah, we don't have time for this. You must go to the dining hall. We need to be there before the Marquis arrives."
"I understand."
I followed Peru to the grand dining hall. The table was already set, and Collin and Raon were there.
"Hmph."
Seeing Collin's sour expression, it seemed he had also heard about my new title, Rookie Slayer. I smirked and took my seat.
"You're here, brother."
"Yeah. Did you sleep well?"
"Yes!"
In contrast, Raon, despite his delinquent-like appearance, was well-mannered and sharp. I decided I would take good care of this one.
A short while later, the door opened, and the Marquis entered.
"Did you all sleep well?"
"Yes."
"I slept well."
"It was nice to sleep in my own bed after so long."
"Indeed. I've been away many times myself, but home is always the best."
The Marquis smiled and nodded.
"Before the food arrives, I'll tell you why I've summoned you."
Perhaps because they hadn't expected him to get to the point so quickly, everyone fell silent. The sound of Collin swallowing dryly seemed as loud as thunder.
"I will now begin the test to select the successor."