Eternally Regressing Knight
Chapter 376 - There is None
"That crazy bastard."
Watching Enkrid smile, Asia almost lost her composure but quickly regained it.
If she wasn't planning to kill him, she had to stop him here.
Her younger sibling was being held hostage.
The unexpected person behind her.
Complicated thoughts stacked up in layers before fading away.
With that smile in front of her, she had nothing to say.
"There must be a reason you need to break through. I have my reasons for stopping you."
These words came out of her without thinking.
Why?
Why was she saying this to Enkrid?
She didn't know. The atmosphere was just urging her.
And that made her harden her face even more. Hiding her expression, she started the conversation with her sword.
Her specialty wasn't just pointing the tip of her sword.
In terms of technique, she would never fall behind. The gap between her and Enkrid couldn't be closed in a short time.
She acknowledged that Enkrid had superior strength, but the gap in technique would be hard to fill.
He was good at both strength and tactics.
But no matter how good he was at tactics, if he lost in the finer techniques, it was useless.
Enkrid closed his eyes again.
"You'll die like this."
She wasn't trying to kill him, but it would still be dangerous if she let her guard down.
"Try if you can."
Enkrid wouldn't back down. For a moment, Asia felt frustrated by that.
"Not now, but if we wait for the next time, we won't have to fight with risks."
Even as she said this, Asia knew the answer. She knew exactly how Enkrid would respond.
Although they hadn't seen each other for a few days, she understood him clearly.
"If it's not today, then tomorrow; if not tomorrow, then the next time."
Enkrid said this with his eyes closed, pointing his sword.
"If you had thought about next time, you wouldn't be standing in front of me right now."
Asia gritted her teeth.
The two continued to fight. In the end, Asia made two holes in Enkrid's arm.
She also left a deep wound on his thigh, deep enough for a finger to slide in.
In the meantime, Enkrid lost Silver and, like sparks, left a long cut on Asia's cheek.
"If I really wanted to kill you, it would've been easier."
Asia took a breath as she spoke.
By now, the sun was tilted toward one side.
The blade of rebellion that had started in broad daylight had surely pierced through the entire palace by now.
And sure enough...
"It's done."
A voice came from behind Asia, from a shadow where the light didn't reach.
"Get rid of that."
The voice spoke again.
Enkrid, still on the ground, turned his gaze behind Asia. There was no light. He couldn't properly see the opponent. Only a silhouette stood, dark and intense.
Even in the dark, he could feel the color of that person strongly.
Who was this?
Just by the aura and Asia's attitude, it was clear—this person was above her.
It was the darkness created by not lighting the candle. From beyond that, a man stepped forward.
As the silhouette gained color, he walked closer. Looking at him, it seemed like an unstoppable boulder was rolling toward them.
'Not a knight.'
Enkrid instinctively knew. Hadn't he faced something like this before?
Though it was only one swing, he had experienced what it was to face a knight.
This man was not a knight.
With dark hair, he wore a longsword at his waist and held a bloodstained dagger in his hand.
Asia turned her body. Despite knowing she had enough strength left to strike Enkrid, she turned around without hesitation.
She raised her sword toward the back and spoke.
"Senior, let's stop here."
Enkrid could see the man's front now, towering over Asia and showing the weight of his presence.
The man with the dagger tilted his head. His dark brown hair moved with his gesture.
"Asia?"
"It's enough for now. What will you do when the master returns?"
Enkrid felt no persuasion in Asia's words.
She herself couldn't believe what she was saying.
"If you can't do it, then I'll do it."
The man spoke as he walked forward confidently, and Asia once again displayed her overwhelming presence.
A wall.
The wall that had blocked Enkrid now turned in the opposite direction.
"You should stop now."
Enkrid muttered. It was hard to gauge the opponent's strength. Was it a lack of insight?
He wasn't sure.
It felt like seeing Ragna or Rem.
"Do you think all knights are the same?"
Asia's words suddenly came to him. Could it be that she said that because of this man? He wondered.
The man ignored Asia's pressure. His pace didn't change.
"Asia."
Enkrid called her name again from where he sat. Asia didn't respond.
Instead, she raised her sword and pointed it.
The swordpoint stance.
And Enkrid once again saw the answer to her sword.
Following Ragna, Rem, and Jaxen, this was the fourth.
As soon as Asia pointed her sword, the opponent took a large step forward and struck her sword's surface with his dagger. The swordpoint stance became useless.
In that instant, Enkrid understood what the opponent had done.
It was the fourth time he saw the answer, and the realization naturally dawned on him.
'Just because you point the sword doesn't mean the real intent goes anywhere.'
The sword stayed where it was. As long as you could overpower it, you could break the swordpoint stance.
If Asia swung her sword or blocked, the technique would be broken anyway.
So, by stepping in and swinging his dagger, the opponent would either deflect the attack or block it.
But to prevent Asia from using her deflecting techniques and to cut off her chance to counter, it required more than one condition to be met.
But how was that even possible now?
He saw the answer, though the whole process was unclear.
'Normally, you'd deflect and strike again.'
The momentum faltered.
To display such a technique with just one dagger meant an entirely different level of skill.
Not all knights were the same.
That sentence resonated deeply within him.
Enkrid used his sword like a cane and stood up. He could probably strike a few more times.
If he just waited and watched, he was sure Asia would die, but it wouldn't be as simple as it seemed.
Once he stood up, Enkrid didn't care whether his sword hit or missed.
It was only because he could that he did it.
"Don't act like an idiot."
The man holding the dagger spoke again. His gaze never shifted towards Enkrid. It was solely focused on Aishia.
Aishia retrieved the rebounding sword and thrust it in three directions.
It was a thrust resembling a trident. She had said she learned the technique from watching fishermen in a coastal village.
The man swung the dagger up and down.
It was as if stirring a ladle in a stew, the dagger moving in such a way.
Clink, clink, clink!
Three clashes echoed.
"Are you really going to do this?"
The man spoke once more. Aishia did not answer, only raising her sword. She changed her stance.
Her expertise was not limited to simply pointing her sword at the enemy.
Enkrid was well aware of this.
She focused on her toes, shifting her center of gravity. While she never neglected to train her strength, there were many who possessed greater physical power than her.
Had she not devised ways to overcome that, she might never have become a senior knight.
"Do you really want to die?"
The man's tone remained flat, devoid of highs or lows. It was closer to listing facts.
Aishia's sword struck several more times.
It curved, stabbed, and soared. It was a technique that pierced through the arm when Enkrid couldn't block it.
It was delicate and sharp. Just the speed of it rivaled his own "moment" of Will.
It should have been called a decisive strike.
Yet despite all the blades, the man simply tapped his dagger against them, blocking each one.
Eventually, the tip of her blade grazed his cheek, but naturally, it wasn't a fatal wound.
A tiny spray of blood appeared. The man dropped his dagger, the small blade falling to the ground. In the meantime, his hand grasped the hilt of a longsword at his waist.
Enkrid's eyes caught the pommel shape. It was a wolf-shaped pommel.
He unsheathed the sword. There was no blinding speed nor heavy force.
It was drawn, and it moved.
But the sword the man wielded rose at a strange angle and intercepted the path of Aishia's thrust, cutting through it.
The sword struck midway. With a loud thud, Aishia's sword was deflected.
How is that possible?
Enkrid had no answer. He couldn't understand it at all. There was nothing to learn just from observing.
Aishia pulled her sword in front of her chest. The flow was broken. With the momentum lost, the sword would be ineffective.
The rhythm faltered, her steps were off, and her breath was constricted. It was a shallow breath, one that hindered her movements.
Aishia held her breath, ignoring the flow entirely, and instead stabbed.
She cut downward from above. The vertical slash wasn't as intense as a lightning strike, but it was as fast as a beam of light. It resembled Enkrid's rare, unorthodox moves.
With a swift downward strike, the man blocked with his blade and pushed back.
Cling, cling, cling.
Sparks flew as their blades clashed in a brief deadlock.
Enkrid seized that moment to launch himself forward.
It was too much to make an explosive charge like before.
But one decisive strike was still within his reach.
He harnessed a burst of acceleration.
Rejecting the oppressive aura of his opponent.
He summoned his monstrous power, maintaining perfect focus.
His left hand released the flaring sword. The blade stretched out like a sunbeam.
The sun, the sunlight, can be felt as soon as it touches you. There's no way to avoid it.
It was a thrust that resembled that, the highest completion of technique, timing, breath, stance, and the strength in his grip.
Everything was perfectly aligned.
Yet the opponent's sword slipped through the gap.
How to avoid sunlight? You take shelter in the shade.
The flow was broken. The sword that had intercepted his thrust struck at the heart of his intended motion, deflecting the flare.
There was no overwhelming force, but with the change in direction, all the power from his legs, body, breath, and strike dissipated.
Enkrid realized that his strike had failed.
That was the result.
The man's right hand held the sword, and before Enkrid knew it, it had pierced Aishia's heart.
"Ack."
Aishia spat blood. She had swung her rapier even as her strength drained away.
The man didn't even bother to block it. He caught the falling blade with his shoulder, deflecting it easily.
His left hand stretched out, and by the time he reached it, a shortsword appeared in his grasp, stabbing into Enkrid's chest.
The bandaged armor held up momentarily, but the blade did not pierce his heart, instead grazing his side, tearing through his innards.
The man's gaze swept through Enkrid's insides. But there was no change in his expression.
It was like he was looking at a stone on the roadside. Was it because of the skill difference? No, it wasn't that.
It was a gaze as if directed at something irrelevant to him.
"I had no way to subdue you without killing you."
He spoke only to Aishia.
"Senior."
Aishia, choking on blood, opened her mouth once more with her final strength.
"My younger sibling."
"Don't worry."
The light in Aisia's eyes faded. Enkrid didn't lose his composure despite the burning sensation in his insides.
The repetition of today was a curse, and there was no blessing of adapting to the pain.
The pain felt the same whether he repeated it at the beginning of the day or now.
And yet, he couldn't take his eyes off Aisia.
He understood why she had stood in front of him, blocking his way.
He knew what she couldn't compromise on.
'Not turning away from the heart.'
After all, what was her reason for standing here?
To kill him?
No, she hadn't done that. She could have killed him at any time.
The squad members all agreed.
"If it comes down to a fight where we kill or be killed, the outcome is inevitable. But the truth that it's hard to win right now won't change."
Rem had said that.
"We will lose if we fight. At least, that's the likely outcome."
Ragna had said that as well.
As Enkrid continued his thoughts, the man stood before him. His boots came into view.
When he raised his gaze, the man finally spoke.
"It's because of you that she died."
His tone was emotionless, like stating a fact.
Then the man's sword struck at Enkrid's neck.
The pain started from the back of his neck and shot up to his brain. A burning sensation, the feeling of his flesh being torn, darkness engulfed everything.
As the world faded, the flow of water could be seen.
"Shall I show you the easy way?"
The boatman asked.
That's how it appeared to Enkrid.
"I had no way to subdue you without killing you."

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