The Immortal Knight Episode 6

The one who is hit remembers the one who hits.

The pain of that time seeps into their eyes and skin, firmly taking a place in the vast realm of memory.

To Rian Keide, Gerard was the one who gave him his first death and awakened his immortality.

He couldn't forget him even if he wanted to.

On the other hand, the one who hits doesn't remember who they hit. They are too busy focusing on their own emotions, injecting violence and fear into the other person.

Moreover, it's a battlefield.

They are busy killing the enemies rushing at them, so would they keep the ones they killed in their memory?

To Gerard, Rian was just one of the humans who died by his sword.

'But it seemed like he remembered me at the end…'

There was a hint of bewilderment in his turning gaze.

That was quite pleasing.

What kind of expression would Gerard have when they met again someday…?

Rian briefly imagined it in his head and then focused on the changes in his own body.

He should have been unconscious for at least a day, but now he was still conscious and his ears were open.

He could even make eye contact with Gerard as he left the battlefield as the Dark Curtain lifted.

Even though the piercing of his heart was slight, it was clear that it was a definite death.

'Is this a change in adaptation?'

It felt like taking his first steps.

The first time is difficult, but from the second time onwards, the process becomes easier.

He had vowed not to rely on immortality, but beneath that vow, there was a faint awareness that he wouldn't die even if he died.

Perhaps both his body and mind had adapted to the prerequisite of being immortal.

Squirm-. Squirm-.

He felt countless earthworms intertwining in the torn, cut, and punctured wounds.

It was the process of the wounds healing.

In that process, the sense of pain, which had been lost, was revived.

'Ugh…!!!'

It was a different kind of pain from the process of recovering from excessive bleeding.

It was like an instantaneous explosion of pain, not a cumulative one.

Perhaps the reason he lost consciousness for a day during his first death was because of the permeation of that explosive pain?

Whatever the reason.

Thump-. Thump-!

His heart began to pound.

And he felt it.

The power that settled in his whole body as the pain reversed was improving more than before.

'Is this also a talent, if you can call it that?'

He couldn't deny that death brought meaningful results.

Feeling the slowly permeating death resulted in a temporary physical enhancement.

After a definite death, the arduous experiences he had gone through until just before death seemed to melt into his body and accumulate, showing an unchanging physical enhancement response.

So, it could only be seen as an innate talent.

Then, should he regard immortality as a blessing, rely on it, and seek physical enhancement by using countless deaths?

If he did that, would he be able to gain the talent to manifest Aura and rise above the knight?

'No, I can't rely on it like that.'

He doesn't know if immortality will last forever yet.

He doesn't know if he can manifest Aura by enhancing his body through death yet either.

Even if immortality is eternal and his body is enhanced by death so that he can manifest Aura, he knows that he cannot become ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a knight.

Knights are those who demonstrate superhuman abilities through their own beliefs and will.

Were there any among them who relied on their talents?

"The manifestation of Aura and the size of its vessel cannot be achieved by talent alone, it's more like… their beliefs and will are extraordinary? You can see that in the Azrion knight commanders. Something untouchable…."

Rian recalled the words of his father, Ellen Cade, who had joined the knighthood with only his swordsmanship talent and had lost his Aura and retired because of him.

"That's right. I can't rely on talent."

Not dying is definitely a talent. But the process of dying and coming back to life was accompanied by a fierce struggle to survive.

That fierceness must have created the meaningful death of physical enhancement.

So, the talent of not dying is only a part of the constant struggle of life.

He must somehow live and endure and rise above the knight with the sum of effort, belief, and will, not talent.

Crack-.

Rian made that resolution and broke one of the spears that had been spat out in the process of regeneration and held it in his hand.

And he scratched the area of the wound that had been completely healed, leaving only bloodstains.

Trickle-.

He deliberately made a wound that was neither deep nor shallow.

Thwack-.

He even stabbed the place where he had suffered a penetrating wound, creating considerable injuries.

'Ugh…. Certainly, unless it's a fatal wound, the wound doesn't heal immediately.'

It wasn't that he wanted to check the limits of his regeneration ability.

Clatter-. Clatter-!

Mongclay, the battalion commander who had crossed Trevor Bridge, was coming this way with his escort.

It was clear that he was rushing over to see with his own eyes the cause of the reversal in the desperate situation.

So, should he honestly report the situation to the battalion commander?

'I can't do that. He wouldn't believe me, and even if he did, he would hand me over to the inquisitors and I would become an experimental subject of the Order.'

Even though he had become a soldier as Ellen's adopted son, having been granted the Cade surname.

The stigma of being the only survivor of the witch would not disappear.

Swish-.

Rian got up as he was, took off the useless Imperial Army armor top, and saluted Mongclay, who was approaching.

"God!!"

Mongclay cried out to God as he watched the Imperial Army collapsing while crossing the ice.

He was so happy with the sudden reversal that he wanted to dance naked.

But he couldn't let the army rest if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he wanted to seize a proper victory.

"Don't leave alive those who have set foot on our territory!!"

He annihilated the hundreds of Imperial soldiers who had come ashore full of arrogance.

"Chase the fleeing Imperial bastards!! But, who knows what tricks they might pull again!! All troops!! Advance!!"

"Waaaaah-!!!"

At Mongclay's command, the soldiers rushed towards Trevor Bridge.

The Imperial soldiers who had broken through the defensive line on the bridge had fled as soon as the ice collapsed.

The soldiers rummaged through the corpses piled up like walls by the Imperial soldiers and dealt with the remaining Imperial soldiers.

Clatter-! Clatter-!

Mongclay broke through the main force crossing the wheat field and rode his horse towards the place where the mage had been.

'This must be a miracle!!'

To be able to freeze the Trevor River and create an ice sheet, he must have been at least a lieutenant-level mage.

Their defeat was clear.

He wished the prepared reversal had arrived before the defeat, but he couldn't rely on news that wasn't coming.

He was going to choose to withdraw the troops and defend the castle instead, but if there was a mage who could freeze the river, would there be any point in defending the castle?

The fall of Northheim was only a matter of time, and the supply route for the main force was cut off, so the Twin Canyon battle was bound to lead to defeat.

So, it would be more reasonable to either hold out here and die, or wait for news from them in preparation for an emergency.

'But to face a reversal like this!'

It was as if the goddess of victory had forcibly lifted our dying hands.

There was no way that this miracle was created by a mage hired by the enemy changing his mind.

He could observe from afar that there had been a small commotion.

It was clear that the reversal was the result of someone killing the mage.

'Whatever it is, he is definitely the hero of this battle!'

Mongclay was convinced in his own way that the mage had been killed by someone and spurred his horse on breathlessly.

When he arrived at the scene, he witnessed someone throwing off his armor and saluting him.

'A soldier?!'

Black hair and black eyes.

A body made through constant training.

Traces of battle smeared on it.

The blood still flowing from the wounds seemed to tell the story of the desperate situation at the time.

Anyone could see that the shirtless soldier was definitely the protagonist who had created the reversal.

Thud-.

Mongclay got off his horse and approached Rian.

The soldiers who were escorting him hurriedly got off their horses and escorted him.

Swish-.

Mongclay raised his hand to stop the escorts and narrowed the distance with Rian.

"Did you kill the mage?!"

"3rd Company, 1st Platoon Leader Rian Keide. Reporting to Battalion Commander Mongclay."

Rian, already recognizing that he was on their side, revealed his identity first to Mongclay's direct question.

Then Mongclay made an even more unbelievable expression.

"That's impossible. How could you, when you were surrounded on all sides…?"

He died but came back to life.

In a situation where he couldn't report like that, one of the escort soldiers frowned and spoke.

"Could it be… that he pretended to be dead while his comrades were dying!?"

In fact, it would be more reasonable to let them misunderstand that he had survived until now.

Rian was silent.

If he was going to be blamed for surviving on a battlefield where he should have died, he would gladly accept it.

If only he could soothe the dog's deaths of his comrades.

"Rian Keide, you said? Hmm……. Sir Ellen's adopted son?"

But instead of blaming him, Mongclay asked about his lineage. His expression seemed to be calculating whether the existence to be praised as a hero had the appropriate rank and bloodline.

Rian answered Mongclay's question as if he didn't know what his intentions were.

"Yes, that's right."

"Huh…. This is something. I heard he survived the witch of the century, so did that luck work on this battlefield as well?"

Mongclay thoroughly hid his intentions and stroked his chin, organizing his thoughts.

Rian did not respond to Mongclay's words, which he muttered to himself.

Mongclay continued the question.

"You didn't answer my question about whether you killed the mage?"

The question seemed to be demanding a detailed answer as to how he could have done that.

"I miraculously survived the battle on the plains and disguised myself in Imperial Army armor. When the battle was ripe, I approached the mage and cut off his head."

Mongclay checked the bodies of the Shadow Unit members scattered around and said.

"The escorts must have been formidable?"

Rian answered calmly.

"As you can see."

He spread his arms and showed the wounds on his body. He had disguised himself in Imperial armor, so he had easily infiltrated the Imperial headquarters, broken through the encirclement, and killed the mage, showing it with actions instead of words.

But Mongclay still looked at Rian with suspicious eyes.

The only child who survived the witch's lair.

It was definitely a miracle, but an ominous child who made those around him unhappy in return for escaping death.

That's why Mongclay thought that this time, in return for escaping death, he might bring some unhappiness to those around him.

'Could it be that he was born with a curse that makes those around him unhappy instead of dying?'

Mongclay had no choice but to think that way because the person standing in front of him was Rian Keide, and Rian added words to escape from Mongclay's suspicion.

The mage was defenseless.

The elite troops recognized him as a spy and tried to send him away, linking him with someone from his unit.

Suddenly, they fought among themselves and died, so he was able to end it with this much injury.

"Hmm……."

Mongclay listened to Rian's detailed report and stroked his chin.

'Should I believe those words?'

No, whether I believe it or not is not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠important. It is important to judge how to use him to my advantage.

Should I promote him as a hero and keep him by my side for propaganda?

Or, should I get rid of him by handing over the strangeness of surviving alone in the battle on the plains to the inquisitors, along with the cursed event of his birth?

Mongclay, who had been contemplating for a moment, opened his tightly closed mouth as if he had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠organized his thoughts.