Chapter 211: The Tin Knight and The Forest of Deception (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 211: The Tin Knight and The Forest of Deception (5)
The Death Knight’s body flew backward, struck by the sword you swung.
A great gash remained on its chest, but a black, mud-like energy seemed to fill the wound, sealing it in the blink of an eye.
You were neither surprised nor disappointed.
A boss with regenerative abilities was a common enough foe.
“Sir Knight…”
From behind, you heard your apprentice call your name.
Her voice was thick with tears.
It was the sound of a helpless child on the verge of sobbing, just as she had been when you first met.
“When my father passed away, my mother told me it must have been an honorable battle. That he died fighting proudly for his lord, for his bloodline, for the code of chivalry. She said it through gritted teeth, holding back her tears, telling us we had to do our best as well. My brother, too, tried desperately to fill the void he left.”
There was anger. There was grief. And above all, there was a great despair.
“But what if that wasn’t true? What if it wasn’t an honorable fight? What if he was just used in some dirty conspiracy? Then… what does that make us? What in the world…”
Your apprentice was lamenting.
The girl who had endured even the harsh training you’d put her through was on the verge of breaking, unable to bear the crushing weight of the past.
Had this been the you of the past, you would have brushed her words aside without a second thought.
It was, after all, just a story within a game.
You would have dismissed it as a cliché tragedy meant only to give a character some backstory, not even bothering to properly appreciate it.
But the you of now found that difficult.
While you still felt that the deaths of enemies and their elaborate, tearful tales didn't matter, you couldn't easily ignore or sever the connection when it came to a companion.
You couldn't just laugh off your companions' stories as part of a game.
This was true even though admitting this wasn't a game would mean you’d have to face your own reality.
Facing the anxiety that crept into your heart, you let out a hearty laugh.
You felt you could do that now.
[The 'Tin Knight' says that surprisingly few of the world's problems can be solved by punching the one responsible!]
[The 'Tin Knight' says that, however, punching the one responsible is surprisingly satisfying quite often!]
Cheerfully, flippantly, like a clown.
So that agonizing and lamenting beside such a character would feel foolish.
[The 'Tin Knight' says he'll let you smash the real culprit later, so you should leave this mid-boss to him!]
[The 'Tin Knight' says he'll prepare a worthy opponent for his apprentice later, so for now, just watch from the back!]
Your teacher never wavers, never trembles with anxiety, and never sinks into serious anguish. So you can entrust anything to me without burden and rely on me. It was as if you were telling your apprentice just that.
《…■■■……!》
The grudge-steeped Death Knight uttered words at you.
They were clearly human words, but you couldn't understand them.
It sounded like the lines of several people layered over one another and played at once.
Watching it, you fell into thought for a moment.
The movements the Death Knight had shown so far were remarkably similar to those of Ronnie, the knightess who had once requested you rescue Adelaide.
Judging by Adelaide’s grave reaction, the Death Knight was clearly connected to the army of the Friedel domain that was said to have died here.
That was somewhat problematic.
You were a master of combat, but your other skills were not nearly as impressive.
The 'Tin Knight's' tactical analysis informed you that the enemy had some kind of core, and that destroying it would end the battle immediately. But no matter how you looked at it, such an ending hardly seemed for the best.
Shluk!
To state the conclusion first, your worries were for naught.
A circle of blood formed, flowing out to encompass the surrounding area.
Dorothea, who had just sheathed the dagger she’d used to slice her palm, shouted while gushing so much blood it looked like she might collapse.
“Hey, Tin Can! Do whatever it takes to keep that thing inside the circle!”
You answered immediately.
[The 'Tin Knight' replies that challenges are most welcome!]
Sensing Sophia approach and help Adelaide away, you charged toward the Death Knight.
The Death Knight, perhaps sensing an ominous energy from the blood surrounding it, tried to flee, but you had no intention of letting it.
Kaaaaang!
《─■■■■■!!》
[The 'Tin Knight' declares that it has to play with you!]
*
“That’s a Death Knight. Why didn’t I realize until we were this close?”
Dorothea frowned.
A being synonymous with powerful undead, on par with a lich.
One of the monsters that countless necromancers wish to make their minions, but whose creation and control are so difficult that seeing one in the flesh is extremely rare.
Of course, Dorothea was an exception.
Her master had several, and Dorothea herself could create them at will if she chose to.
It was just that their mere presence spread a massive debuff of mixed curses and pressure, so they were off the table for Dorothea, who was conscious of her reputation.
And knowing how to create a Death Knight also meant knowing how to revert it to its previous state.
“Witch, I…”
“Don’t force yourself to speak. Just sit and wait. But don’t lose consciousness. From what I can see, the state of their souls is pretty bad. They probably won’t last long even after I separate them. You’ll have little time to talk.”
Her voice was cold, but her words held warmth. Adelaide quietly acquiesced.
Dorothea turned her gaze to Sophia.
“Sophia, can you wrap the separated souls in your holy power?”
“You mean protect them so they don’t perish? I’ll try.”
“Good. Just hold on until the ritual is over.”
With that, Dorothea closed her eyes.
As she began to chant in a low voice, the blood barrier surrounding the two knights began to change.
A part of the barrier transformed into threads that shot out toward the Death Knight, attaching to its body.
The Death Knight tried to sever the threads as if they were a nuisance, but the blood threads merely wavered for a moment, never breaking.
A moment later, like a fish being pulled from a lake, a blackened soul was drawn out from the Death Knight’s body along with a thread.
《─■■■! ■■!!》
As if the act was incredibly painful, the Death Knight went berserk and thrust its sword toward Dorothea.
Tentacles of concentrated curse energy surged forward, aiming to pierce through Dorothea’s body.
Dorothea didn’t open her eyes, stop her chant, or move to evade.
In her stead, the Tin Knight moved.
[The 'Tin Knight' exclaims that looking away is bad manners!]
The Tin Knight’s sword cut through the air several times.
It was a sword strike far from elegant or beautiful—infinitely crude and focused on efficiency.
But its effect was absolute, as the black tentacles were torn apart in an instant.
The black soul, dragged outside the barrier, struggled to escape, but as time passed, the black staining it gradually faded, turning white.
As Sophia clasped her hands and offered a prayer, a light emanated from her body, gently enveloping the soul.
When Dorothea’s necromancy and Sophia’s holy magic collided in the same space, the two powers roiled as if repelling each other, but the blood Dorothea had shed acted as a buffer between them, allowing them to coexist without issue.
A moment later, another new red thread attached itself to the Death Knight’s body.
The Death Knight struggled to either escape the barrier or harm Dorothea’s party, but the Tin Knight thwarted its every attempt, forcibly holding it in place.
《─■■■■!!》
Realizing that escape was impossible without dealing with the enemy before it, the Death Knight swung its sword with all its might.
The attack of the Death Knight, which had devoured several top-tier mages and absorbed their mana and souls, was ferocious, and its skill, forged from excellent knights, was superb.
Above all, the Tin Knight was under the constraint of not defeating his opponent.
Clang! Kaaaang!
However, the Death Knight’s attacks never reached the Tin Knight.
Sword strikes that could split a massive boulder in a single blow were deflected as lightly as a gentle breeze.
The aura that could make people’s knees buckle and poison them with malice just by being near inflicted no damage on the Tin Knight’s metal body.
Even when it unleashed magical attacks, wielding curses and mana as if they were its own limbs, the Tin Knight responded nonchalantly, as if it had expected as much.
When it threw a punch, its arm was twisted. When it tried to create distance, its foot was stomped on. When it tried to unleash an attack by spewing black tentacles like thorns from its entire body, it was kicked into the air just before activation.
Overwhelming.
That single word was enough to describe the Tin Knight’s skill.
Each time a soul was pulled out, the Death Knight let out a pained scream.
Perhaps because the number of souls forming its core had dwindled, its voice, which had been a mere jumble of murmurs, slowly began to transform into something intelligible.
《…ay… do not inter…re!》
《The lord’s com…nd… must…!》
《Must ret…n… no matter what…!》
Adelaide unknowingly took a step forward.
She desperately held herself back from rushing toward the knight.
Because her teacher had told her to trust him and leave it to him.
Because her benefactor had told her that this was not her stage.
And so, she stopped.
Instead, she opened her eyes wide.
To watch this battle and engrave it upon her heart.
The battle continued.
Numerous souls were separated from the Death Knight, until at last, only one remained.
The Death Knight, Friedel, screamed.
“Do not stop me! I! We! We must return to our homeland!!”
[The 'Tin Knight' says he doesn't give a damn about that, and he won't let anyone who makes his apprentice cry get away with it!]
WHACK!
The Tin Knight’s fist slammed into the Death Knight’s face.
As the Death Knight fell, the red thread extending near its heart finally separated the last soul.
The Death Knight’s body scattered like mist, and from its center, a single seed fell to the ground.
“Huuuh.”
Dorothea let out a deep sigh.
The Tin Knight, having returned to her side, asked.
[The 'Tin Knight' asks if it's all over!]
“For now. …But their condition is as bad as I thought. Their souls were shattered to pieces even before they became a Death Knight.”
At this rate, even purifying them as usual wouldn't allow for a proper conversation, Dorothea clicked her tongue.
Just as she said, the souls could only twitch and convulse quietly, unable to move properly.
Even when Dorothea went to the trouble of creating mouths for them with her necromancy, all they did was repeat the word “return” like nonsense.
Sophia was protecting the souls with her holy power for now, but even that didn't seem like it would buy them much time.
Dorothea glanced at Adelaide.
She expected to see her looking devastated.
However, Adelaide’s expression was different from what she had anticipated.
She carried herself with a calm yet dignified air.
Not as the youngest lady of a domain to be protected, but proudly, as the heir of Friedel.
“—Knights of Friedel.”
The souls flinched, reacting.
The souls, which had been rambling aimlessly, regained a faint glimmer of reason.
When Dorothea struck the ground with her staff, their souls, which had looked like will-o'-the-wisps or writhing worms, faintly regained their human forms.
One of the souls muttered blankly.
《Lady… Adel…》
Adelaide smiled gently.
“Yes, it is I. The rightful lord of Friedel. Daughter of August von Lennart. I am Adelaide von Lennart.”
《Oh, ooh…!》
《We’ve returned… to Friedel, we’ve returned!》
《Ah, my lord. We’ve done it!》
The souls trembled with joy.
They wept with joy instead of tears that could not flow, celebrating that their efforts had not been in vain.
《Please accept this, my lady.》
One of the knights split off a piece of his soul and placed it on Adelaide’s palm.
It was a memory the knight possessed, but its form was extremely unstable.
The knight’s soul itself was already a mere fragment, so it was no surprise that the memory it held was incomplete.
And so, the others also split their souls.
As if insisting that even a torn-up picture could be restored to its complete form if enough pieces were gathered and fitted together.
They smiled without a hint of hesitation, even though doing so shortened the time they had left in this world.
And thus, a tiny orb of light took on a complete form in Adelaide’s hand.
Cradling it carefully as if handling delicate glasswork, Adelaide suppressed her trembling voice and spoke.
“I have received it clearly. For your devotion and loyalty, I offer my deepest gratitude. Truly, you have done well.”
The souls of the knights smiled.
As if those words alone were their reward, they smiled as they faded into light.
After they had all become motes of light, Adelaide bowed her head.
Her other companions silently looked away.
For a long while.
Until the tears streaming down her cheeks subsided.