They were less than fifty meters from the border now, but there were still more than forty meters of open plaza left to cross.
Lucien and Ava retreated step by step while keeping pressure on the Knight from both sides, circling from the right and left diagonals to stop it from focusing entirely on one target.
The Knight seemed to understand what they were trying to do.
Rather than charging recklessly, it began adjusting its positioning with unnerving awareness, constantly turning to keep both of them within sight. At the same time, it subtly angled Lucien toward the shield side while forcing Ava closer to the sword arm instead.
Up close, it looked even worse.
A cold chill crawled slowly down Lucien’s spine as his eyes traced the armor more carefully between movements.
...That armor.
His expression tightened slightly.
Is it fused to its body?
It was.
Now that he was this close, he could see flesh twitching faintly between the gaps in the silver-blue plates, darkened muscle and corrupted tissue stretched unnaturally beneath the armor as though the metal had grown directly into its body.
The sword wasn’t separate either.
It had completely fused into the Knight’s right hand, metal and flesh melded together around the grip in a grotesque mass, while the heater shield had grown directly along its left forearm.
Ugh. That’s disgusting.
Lucien glanced briefly toward Ava.
Her posture had lowered slightly, crimson eyes locked completely onto the Knight while her rapier remained poised forward. At some point, she had also drawn the stiletto dagger from her thigh sheath into her off-hand.
Without warning, she burst forward in a sudden dash, her rapier shooting toward the Knight’s torso in a lightning-fast thrust.
The Knight reacted instantly, answering with a brutal horizontal slash meant to force her back.
With the sheer weight and speed behind that blade, trying to block it directly would’ve been suicidal.
But Ava never intended to.
Lucien’s brows twitched slightly as he watched her move.
Her footwork shifted in a way he could barely follow, almost like her body slipped around the attack rather than avoiding it normally. In a single fluid motion, she stepped outside the sword’s path and flowed straight past the Knight’s flank before appearing behind it instantly.
There, she thrust again.
SHRK—!
Her rapier drove into the gap near the back of its neck.
The Knight reacted by spinning its sword in a wide arc to force space, the reach easily extending over two meters as the heavy blade tore through the air with a deep metallic WHOOM—!
Ava dipped low beneath the swing gracefully, silver hair whipping behind her as she slipped under the blade and immediately answered with another thrust toward the side of its neck.
CLANG—!
The rapier scraped against armor this time, but it still forced the Knight’s attention fully onto her.
Its shield snapped upward to intercept her next strike, driving toward her with enough force to crush bones if it landed cleanly. Ava caught it partially with her off-hand dagger while twisting her body sideways, though the impact still shoved her backward half a step.
With the Knight’s back turned toward him, Lucien immediately closed the distance with both daggers at the ready.
He drove one blade straight into the back of the Knight’s knee, aiming precisely for the narrow gap where the plate connected to the greave.
SHRK—!
The dagger sank in deep, causing the Knight to react.
Lucien had expected that much.
What he hadn’t expected was how fast the retaliation came.
The massive sword swung toward him in a wide horizontal arc. But because of the Knight’s enormous frame and the weapon’s length, the blade itself couldn’t properly reach him at such close range.
The real danger was the hilt.
“—!”
Lucien immediately ducked low as the heavy pommel tore through the air toward his head. It passed just inches above him, the sheer force behind it stirring a violent gust that scraped across his face and yanked at his coat.
Too close!
Ava instantly took advantage of the opening created by the failed swing while Lucien quickly retreated a few steps.
She closed in again with frightening precision and drove her rapier beneath the Knight’s arm this time.
THSSK—!
The blade slipped into one of the exposed gaps between the plates.
The Knight visibly faltered afterward, its body jerking slightly before it pulled back a step.
It was clear how they worked together.
Ava handled the real offense. Her speed and precision let her strike at the weak points whenever opportunities appeared, while he played interference around the edges, forcing reactions and pulling attention away long enough for her to move safely.
Technically…
His eyes flicked briefly toward the Knight’s back.
I could probably climb onto it and attack the upper gaps directly with both daggers.
The idea lasted less than a second.
Lucien immediately remembered how close that simple hilt swing had come to taking his head off, and a cold chill ran down his spine.
...Yeah, no.
He tightened his grip on the daggers instead.
I’m way too terrified to even try that.
One clean hit.
That was all it would take.
Neither of them had the luxury of making mistakes here. They still didn’t fully understand the Knight’s fighting pattern, which meant every exchange felt like gambling their lives against an opponent that only needed to be right once.
Lucien’s jaw tightened slightly as he circled alongside Ava, keeping his daggers raised while watching the Knight’s movements as carefully as he could.
He still had the Deflection Band.
At most, it could probably soften two more lethal hits before giving out completely.
He didn’t know what kind of protection she had.
Then again, she looked far more experienced in direct combat than he was. Her movements stayed sharp and controlled even under pressure, while Lucien felt like he was surviving purely through panic, timing, and luck.
If anything, he was the weak link here.
At least Ava had the speed to evade attacks consistently.
What exactly did he have?
...Should I just run?
The thought surfaced for barely a second before he killed it himself.
No.
Ava would probably stab him personally if he abandoned her here, and honestly, he wouldn’t even blame her for it.
We’re supposed to hold this together, after all.
Besides, running wouldn’t even solve anything.
Even if Ava decided to flee separately, there was no guarantee the Knight would simply ignore her. More likely, it would kill Lucien first, then immediately chase her down afterward before she could even reach Contested Zone.
That was how absurdly fast this thing was.
While he was thinking, the Knight changed posture.
Its shield pulled inward toward its chest while the greatsword rose into a thrusting stance. At the same time, its massive frame lowered slightly.
Lucien’s eyes narrowed immediately.
That posture…
A bad feeling crawled up his spine.
Don’t tell me it’s planning to ram straight through us.
He still remembered the terrifying acceleration from earlier during the chase. The Knight’s starting burst was monstrous.
Right now, Ava was positioned closer to it than he was, but both of them were lined up within its path—Ava toward the sword side, while Lucien remained near the shield.
Ava seemed to realize the danger at the exact same moment he did.
Both of them moved immediately, trying to get out of the Knight’s line of attack before it fully committed, but it was already too late.
A second later, the Knight exploded forward.
The cracked plaza shattered beneath its feet as the massive armored body surged ahead with terrifying speed.
“Urk—!”
“Ngh—!”
The Knight’s shield slammed directly into him mid-charge and launched him backward hard enough to send his feet off the ground entirely. The collision felt unbelievably heavy, like getting struck by a speeding carriage at full force.
For a brief instant, he felt the Deflection Band activate beneath his sleeve.
Even with that protection, the hit still nearly folded him in half.
Ava got clipped too.
Her reflexes let her avoid the sword itself, but the sheer momentum behind the Knight’s charge still caught part of her and hurled her sideways across the plaza.
Lucien hit the ground hard enough to bounce.
Pain exploded through his ribs and shoulder as he rolled violently across broken stone. Somewhere during the fall, he heard the sharp sound of glass shattering near his coat.
CRKSH—!
Immediately after, his senses twisted violently for a few seconds. Sound warped strangely in his ears, his vision blurred unevenly, and his thoughts turned sluggish and disoriented like his brain had briefly stopped processing things correctly.
T-The Hollow Disruption Compound...
Right.
That vial must’ve shattered during the impact.
Lucien grimaced and struggled to force himself upright, but his body refused to cooperate properly. By the time he managed to push himself onto one knee, his breathing had already turned ragged while the entire world tilted unpleasantly around him. He needed several seconds just to steady himself enough to focus again.
When his vision finally cleared, Ava was already back on the offensive.
She darted around the Knight in rapid bursts of movement, rapier flashing repeatedly as she drove quick thrusts toward the armor gaps whenever opportunities appeared. Some strikes landed cleanly. Others forced her to retreat immediately before the sword or shield crushed into her position.
But despite the hits accumulating, the Knight didn’t seem noticeably weaker.
If anything, it still moved with the same terrifying pressure as before.
Lucien’s expression tightened slightly as he glanced toward the border behind them.
Only around thirty meters remained now.
And yet, in less than ten meters of retreat, he had already taken two impacts that absolutely would’ve killed him without the Deflection Band.
How are we supposed to keep retreating like this…?
Lucien forced himself back to his feet, breathing unevenly while trying to steady the lingering dizziness in his head.
When he looked back toward the Knight, he couldn’t help but frowned.
...What the hell is it doing?
At some point, the Knight had shifted its stance completely. Instead of continuing its relentless pressure, it raised the massive greatsword high overhead with both hands, exposing parts of its torso and lower body in the process.
The opening was obvious.
But Ava didn’t rush in.
Her expression sharpened slightly as she stepped backward instead, clearly sensing something off about the posture.
Three seconds later, the sword came down.
BOOOOOM—!
The impact shook the plaza hard enough for Lucien to feel it through his boots.
Granite exploded outward in every direction as the massive blade buried itself deep into the ground, cracks spiderwebbing violently across the stone beneath it. Dust and shattered debris blasted into the air while the Knight strained slightly, trying to wrench the weapon free again.
Lucien blinked once.
...What a stupid move.
Naturally, he wasn’t about to waste that kind of opening.
He immediately darted in from the shield side and drove both daggers toward the Knight’s hip joint in quick succession.
SHRK—! SHRK—!
The blades sank in around two inches before hitting something solid beneath the armor.
Lucien yanked both daggers free immediately and retreated before the Knight could retaliate.
The moment it turned toward him, Ava attacked from the opposite side.
Her rapier flashed forward in a clean, precise thrust that slipped directly between the rear shoulder plate and the back guard.
THSSK—!
The Knight jerked. Its sword arm dipped for the briefest moment before recovering, shield already swinging outward in a brutal horizontal arc.
Ava ducked beneath it smoothly, withdrawing her rapier in the same motion before stepping back outside its reach again.
Lucien exhaled slowly, eyes never leaving the Knight as his thoughts raced.
Did it seriously not realize how terrible that overhead attack was?
Ava was fast enough that she’d obviously dodge something that telegraphed.
So why use it?
The thought lingered for another second before something finally clicked in Lucien’s head.
...Wait. No.
That might actually make sense.
Most Hollows weren’t intelligent fighters. Even the dangerous ones usually followed simple behavioral patterns rooted in habits from when they were alive. They fought more through instinct and repetition than real tactical thinking.
This Knight probably wasn’t any different.
It only looked terrifying because of its physical ability and corrupted aggression.
Lucien tightened his grip on the daggers again, the fear in his chest easing just slightly.
It’s still dangerous, but I don’t have to let fear take control of me.