Chapter 2086 – 2086. The Fallen Empire
This was a forest. Evading the charging soldiers was no easy task. And I had no intention of evading them.
I swung my sword, imbued with sword energy. The body of a charging soldier was cleaved in two.
Clang!
The soldier’s sword and spear struck my armor. I felt the impact, but the armor remained intact.
“Strip off his armor!”
“Aim for the joints!”
“His eyes! Stab his eyes!”
The enraged soldiers, though fearful of me, did not stop. It was as if they would die if they didn’t kill me.
I swung my sword.
Swish.
Covered in their blood and entrails, I continued the slaughter.
‘Where is he?’
While grabbing the head of a soldier who was trying to poke my eye with a small skewer and crushing it, I kept scanning my surroundings.
I couldn’t sense the knight’s aura. Perhaps perfectly concealing one’s aura was a knight’s secret technique.
‘It’s hard to find him by sight. They’re all dressed like bandits.’
Even using the Heavenly Eye was the same. Even if I could see through things with the Heavenly Eye, I didn’t know the knight’s face.
Looking at the flow of mana? Useless. He had already perfectly concealed himself.
‘I’ll just kill all the ones I see. I was going to kill them all anyway.’
I stopped thinking complicated thoughts and focused on the slaughter.
I swung my sword.
If an enemy raised a shield, I cut through the shield. If an enemy raised a sword, I cut through the sword. No one could evade my blade.
There were also those who tried tricks. Those who fell to the ground pretending to be dead, even though they hadn’t been hit. I personally stomped on their heads, crushing them.
I was killing and killing, and the pool of blood beneath my feet had risen to my ankles when I felt a burning sensation in my right shoulder. My grip loosened, and my sword fell.
The man who had stabbed his sword into my shoulder was grinning, his mouth wide open.
“Impressive. Even a fellow knight would be in awe of your strength. But what a pity. This sword ignores armor, and the blade is coated in poison, you see?”
“You’re not a knight, but an assassin. Aren’t you ashamed as a knight?”
“I tend to pursue practicality. Actually, I am an assassin. I’m also a knight. By the way, you’re holding out quite well. This is a potent poison that a normal human wouldn’t last 10 seconds against… Indeed. They said you were a strong knight, and they weren’t wrong. But even that has its limits now.”
I could definitely feel my body heating up. My right arm was completely numb. I could feel death approaching.
“I’ll slowly savor your death. And I’ll take your secret technique as a bonus. Heh heh. A knight of your caliber’s secret technique… I’m really looking forward to it.”
[Activating Heavenly Heart. Duration: 1 minute.]
“You can take someone else’s secret technique?”
“With the help of a mage… Wait, why are you still talking?!”
“Because I’m not poisoned right now.”
I grabbed his head with my left hand and slammed it into the ground. His head burst, and he died. For someone who claimed to be an assassin, his durability was weak.
‘I was curious about the secret technique… Well, whatever.’
I was stronger than a knight even without a secret technique.
I killed the rest of the soldiers as well. In my mind, I was thinking about how to kill Count Morc.
“This can’t be…!”
Cotton appeared, looked around the gruesome scene, and was shocked. A true knight, he took a deep breath, dismounted his horse, drew his sword, and pointed it at me.
“Sir Daycart! I have witnessed your strength! Now is the time for us to settle things!”
I held my sword with my left hand. My right hand was too injured to grip the sword properly. I planned to treat it with a potion after the battle. Other attackers might appear. I couldn’t let my guard down.
“You could have escaped, yet you didn’t. Do you have the confidence to defeat me?”
“No. We already fought. If we only consider physical strength, we are evenly matched… But your experience, your secret technique, and even the quality of your equipment are all superior. There is virtually no chance of me defeating you.”
“Knowing that, why?”
“Because I am a knight!”
Sword energy blazed like flames from Cotton’s sword. At the same time, a third hand sprouted from his left shoulder. Cotton’s secret technique. The third hand took a short sword from Cotton’s waist and held it. Cotton charged.
I decided to end the battle as quickly as possible.
[Using Acceleration. Duration: 10 minutes. Remaining stacks: 11]
I quickly ran forward and deflected his greatsword with a glancing blow. It was a kind of trick technique that subtly redirected the force and center of his attack.
Depending on experience, this trick technique, which I had somehow acquired, was effective against the knights of the Empire. After all, most of the Empire’s knights’ swordsmanship relied on brute force.
His third hand moved. It was natural since the third hand was for such moments.
[Using Time Acceleration. Remaining stacks: 6]
My time sped up. Conversely, his third hand felt slow. If he couldn’t keep up with this speed, the battle would end in my one-sided victory.
Clang!
Cotton blocked my sword. It wasn’t a coincidence. His third hand was gradually getting faster. He was accelerating as well, as if drawn to me during time acceleration.
I continued my attacks. Cotton retreated, blocking my sword, but eventually, he lost his grip on his sword.
[Time Acceleration has ended.]
Just in time, the time acceleration ended. I finished it off by striking his head with the flat of my sword. Cotton staggered and collapsed.
“Cough! Why, why aren’t you killing me?!”
“You are a true knight. It would be a waste for you to die here.”
I shook the blood off my sword and put it back in its sheath.
“Go back. It will be troublesome if I’m alive… Tell Count Morc that I’m dead. Hmm. He might not believe you if you just go, so I’ll give you my sword.”
It didn’t matter if Daycart’s identity disappeared. It was a hastily made identity from the start. I could just switch to another identity.
‘It’s about time to go back to Earth. I’m getting tired of living secretly on Earth.’
First, I would thoroughly disrupt Park Soo-ho’s territory war, and then I would kill Count Morc.
“…Ha. I’ve decided. I will follow you. No, I will follow you, sir.”
“Me?”
“From the moment I failed to defeat you, from the moment I failed to fulfill Count Morc’s orders, I am as good as dead as a knight. Please allow me to follow you.”
“…I, too, am dead as a knight. I will probably become a mercenary or a bandit. And you still want to follow me?”
“I have judged that I can live a more interesting life if I follow you. You have already captivated me. Bandit, mercenary… I’m fine with anything. I will gladly enter the mire. Sir. No, my lord. Your beginnings may be humble, but your end will be magnificent. I am certain of it.”
“What about your family? Will you abandon your family?”
“I have done everything I could for my family. They will live well with the wealth I have left behind, even if I disappear.”
I could tell by his eyes. Cotton was determined to follow me no matter what I said.
“……Do as you please.”
I had no intention of taking Cotton with me to the end. I couldn’t. I would just part ways with him at a suitable place.
“Thank you! What shall we do now?”
“First, we need to find a place to stay. We need to settle down somewhere nearby and plan for the future.”
“I heard rumors that bandits have settled nearby. How about we take over that place and make the bandits our subordinates?”
“Bandits? What use would they be?”
“We can make them do chores. Later, we can sell them as slaves and make quite a bit of money.”
I was impressed. Is this how a knight thinks?
“That’s a great idea. Let’s do it right away!”
We found the bandits’ hideout and took it over. Most of the bandits were criminals who had been bandits. I didn’t know what the difference was between bandits and robbers.
• • •
Two days after tearing the bandit leader apart with my bare hands and taking his place.
The bandits, who had become my subordinates without much resistance, rushed to me in a hurry.
“Boss! A knight and a barbarian have appeared and are killing us! Please help us!”
I frowned at my subordinate’s words. Cotton, who was playing cards next to me, quietly got up from his seat.
“A knight and a barbarian? An imperial and a savage appearing together? That’s quite an unusual combination. My lord. I will go and cut them down.”
“Go ahead.”
Cotton grabbed his greatsword and asked his subordinate.
“Hey. What are those knight and barbarian doing? Where are they from?”
“I, I don’t know. Those pretty ladies are not ordinary!”
“Pretty ladies? You should have said that first, you fools.”
I jumped up from my seat.
A female knight and a female barbarian warrior? I couldn’t pass this up. Most female knights were said to be burly and ugly, but… you never know.
“Let’s go. Lead the way.”
In conclusion, it was a jackpot.
The female knight was textbook. Gorgeous blonde hair and a haughty face. Even stronger aura than Cotton. A woman who was recklessly emitting pheromones that begged to be humiliated.
The female barbarian was also textbook. A large physique, large breasts, and a muscular body. But her features were quite outstanding. She wore a bear fur outfit and bone armor. She had axes in both hands and a large greatsword on her back. Her abs were full of abs, and her exposed skin had small scars and geometric tattoos. A true barbarian warrior!
‘Both of them look delicious? Why did they suddenly appear here?’
“Aaaargh!”
A bandit fell. There were more than 10 corpses around them. All of them were bandits.
“B, Boss! These women are not ordinary! Please help us!”
The women stopped killing the bandits and looked at me.
“You’re wearing armor like a knight, yet you’re a boss? …I see. A knight who ran away. A knight who became a bandit, you should be ashamed!”
The female knight said, pointing her blood-stained sword at me.
The female barbarian spun the axe in her hand and stared at me. Then she grinned. Her black hair was spiky and stiff.
“I can feel it. This one is strong. He is definitely a warrior! If I defeat that warrior, I will become stronger!”
The female barbarian threw her axe at me. Cotton deflected the spinning axe.
“Cotton. You take care of the barbarian. I will subdue the female knight. Make sure you only subdue them.”
“Heh heh. Of course. Those women are top-notch. Especially the female knight, she has an aura of nobility. She must be from a noble family. I’m looking forward to after the battle.”
“……”
Cotton, you bastard. You’re crossing the line?
