Being afraid wasn’t a bad thing. If anything, not feeling fear at all was far more dangerous. People who didn’t understand why something should be feared usually died faster because of it, even if the danger itself should’ve been obvious.
The real problem was when fear froze you in place and stopped you from doing anything at all.
The Knight lunged with a long thrust, and this time Lucien managed to sidestep it cleanly, helped by the extra distance they’d bought themselves moments earlier.
As if in sync, Ava slipped into the Knight’s guard and drove her rapier straight into the gap beneath its arm again.
The Knight’s elbow shot backward toward her head.
Ava twisted at the last second, taking the impact on her shoulder instead. “—gh!”
The blow still sent her stumbling back a few steps, pain flashed briefly across her face.
“I’m fine!” she snapped before Lucien could say anything, one hand tightening around her rapier. “Keep hitting it and fall back!”
Lucien was pretty sure that was not fine at all, but the Knight gave them no time to think about it. It pressed forward again, sword rising in both hands.
He instinctively expected another overhead smash, but the attack came differently this time.
WHOOOSH—!
The blade swept horizontally from left to right at waist level.
“—!”
Lucien jerked backward fast enough that the edge missed his stomach by barely a few inches. But the Knight didn’t stop there. The moment the swing finished, it reversed the motion immediately.
SWISH—!
The sword came back from right to left at almost the same speed.
Ava seemed to know the pattern already. She dropped low beneath the second swing just as the Knight spun with the momentum and brought the blade crashing downward to complete the combination.
BOOOOM—!
Stone exploded apart where the sword landed.
Dust burst across the plaza, but by then both of them had already scattered away from the impact zone. Lucien used the opening to retreat several more steps..
How many patterns does this thing even have?
His brows tightened slightly, but the Knight showed no concern at all. It slowly pulled the sword free from the cracked plaza floor with a heavy KRRRK—! before facing them again.
This time, however, it didn’t attack immediately.
Instead, the Knight planted its feet firmly against the ground and raised its shield to chest level.
Lucien tensed at once, expecting another explosive charge.
But it never came.
The Knight simply stood there in silence, armor creaking faintly as if waiting for them to make the next move instead.
“Is it baiting us?” Ava asked under her breath, eyes fixed on the Knight without blinking.
Lucien frowned slightly. “…Let’s try backing up slowly and see how it reacts.”
Ava gave a small nod.
Keeping his daggers raised, Lucien carefully edged backward across the cracked stone. The moment he moved, the Knight’s posture shifted. Its shield lowered just a fraction while the sword arm tightened, metal creaking softly as its body leaned forward like it was preparing to burst into motion.
Lucien immediately stopped.
The Knight settled again at once, returning to that guarded stance with unnatural stillness.
“…So it reacts when we pull back,” Lucien muttered. “Do we keep testing it?”
Ava shook her head faintly. “Let’s wait a bit.”
“Alright.”
Lucien kept his eyes on it while running through everything he’d seen so far, keeping himself to stay calm.
There are six distinct attacks so far.
The airborne leap attack. The grounded overhead strike with the long recovery afterward. The thrust that briefly overextended it if it missed. The absurdly fast dash. The triple slash combination. And now this guarded stance.
Each attack had timings, openings, and habits.
The airborne leap and overhead strike left it vulnerable for roughly three seconds. The thrust gave them maybe one. The dash had a slight delay before acceleration despite how terrifyingly fast it was. The triple slash followed a rhythm he could already recognize: left, right, then the spinning overhead finisher.
And this guard stance…
He still couldn’t tell what it was waiting for.
Still, the longer the fight went on, the less incomprehensible the Knight felt. Dangerous, absolutely. Terrifying, definitely. But not impossible to read.
Lucien exhaled slowly through his nose before briefly checking his condition.
My body’s still holding together.
Everything hurt, especially his ribs and shoulder, but nothing felt serious enough to waste another Standard Healing Compound or Pain Suppression Tincture yet. The Deflection Band probably had one left before it expired.
It’s really unfortunate that the Hollow Disruption Compound shattered…
He clicked his tongue quietly.
That would’ve helped a lot here.
He still had Sorrow Dust, but he had no idea how a Stage 4 Hollow Knight would react to it—or whether it would even work at all. The powder was meant to interfere with vision and perception, but looking at the thing standing across from them, Lucien wasn’t even sure the Knight saw the world the same way humans did.
His fingers brushed the small pouch at his belt anyway.
If I throw it now and it doesn’t work…
The thought alone made him wince. Even if the Sorrow Dust managed to interfere with its vision, there was no guarantee the thing actually relied on sight alone. A Hollow at this level could easily be tracking movement, sound, or something else entirely. If the powder only irritated it without properly disorienting it, they might end up dealing with a faster, angrier Knight while still stuck out in the open.
But maybe I’m overthinking this.
Lucien let out a slow breath and glanced sideways at Ava instead.
Her left shoulder was bleeding, and the arm itself moved a little stiffly whenever she adjusted her grip on the rapier. Her expression remained composed, but there was a faint tension around her eyes that hadn’t been there earlier.
“You need a Pain Suppression Tincture?” Lucien offered. “I still have one.”
Ava snorted lightly. “Thanks for the offer, but no.”
She reached into her own coat, pulled out a vial nearly identical to his, and bit the cork loose with her teeth. After swallowing it in one go, she grimaced faintly before tossing the empty vial aside.
Lucien blinked once. “...Right. Forgot you probably came prepared too.”
“I’d be dead already if I didn’t.” Her lips curled into a faint grin, though it looked more tired than amused. “Honestly, I’m more surprised you’re still standing.”
“Hm?”
“That charge earlier should’ve broken half your ribs.” Her eyes narrowed slightly at him. “You’ve got some kind of Weave Instrument reducing impact force, don’t you?”
Lucien hesitated for half a second before giving a vague shrug. “Something like that.”
Fortunately, she didn’t press further.
Instead, Ava rolled her shoulder once, winced slightly, then exhaled through her nose. “Still hurts like hell, though.”
Lucien studied her for another moment before something else crossed his mind.
“Now it’s my turn to ask a question,” he said. “You haven’t used your bloodline abilities even once. Any reason?”
The grin on her face faded into something more bitter.
“They're not very useful in an open area.”
Lucien frowned faintly.
“That bad?”
“For this kind of fight? Yeah.” She tapped the side of her rapier lightly against her shoulder guard. “My bloodline works better in enclosed areas, places with more shadows and obstacles. The plaza’s basically the opposite of what I want.”
Lucien nodded slowly before lowering his voice again. “I’ve got something called Sorrow Dust. It messes with vision, supposedly.” He glanced toward the Knight. “You think I should use it now, or wait until we’re closer?”
Ava followed his gaze for a brief second, thinking.
“Closer,” she replied. “If it works, we’ll want to capitalize immediately. If it doesn’t...” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “...better not waste time finding out from a distance.”
“Fair point.”
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke again.
The Knight remained motionless ahead of them, shield raised, standing in complete silence like some rusted executioner waiting for them to slip first. Wind drifted faintly through the ruined plaza, carrying dust across the cracked stone between both sides.
After about a minute, the Knight slowly lowered its shield. It wasn’t fully relaxed—the sword still hung ready at its side—but the tight defensive stance from earlier had loosened.
Of course, understanding the patterns didn’t mean they were winning.
It only meant they had stopped fighting completely blind.
Lucien and Ava slowly backed away across the cracked plaza, step by careful step, never lowering their weapons. The Knight mirrored them just as slowly, its heavy armored frame advancing with measured footsteps that echoed against the stone.
CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.
The thing never rushed them immediately. It simply kept pace, shield raised and sword hanging low at its side, maintaining the pressure while forcing them to continue giving ground.
Lucien’s eyes stayed fixed on its posture the entire time, watching for even the slightest twitch.
Then, without warning, the Knight lunged.
CLANG—!
Its sword shot forward in a violent thrust aimed straight for Lucien’s chest.
“—!”
There wasn’t enough time to retreat. Lucien reacted on instinct and stepped in instead.
The blade rushed past his side close enough for him to feel the wind scrape across his coat as he slipped inside its reach. Both daggers snapped upward at once, driving hard into the exposed gap beneath the Knight’s arm.
KRRK—!
He felt the blades sink deeper than before.
At least four inches.
The Knight’s shield whipped sideways with terrifying speed.
“Ugh—!”
The shield rim smashed into his ribs and launched him sideways across the plaza. Pain exploded through his chest as he crashed against the stone and rolled twice before stopping.
“Ghk—!”
For a second, he couldn’t breathe.
His lungs locked up completely while sharp pain pulsed through the right side of his torso. He curled slightly on instinct, coughing hard before finally dragging in a ragged breath.
Ava immediately darted forward to pressure the Knight before it could follow up, her rapier flickering toward its neck and shoulder gaps fast enough to force it to refocus on her.
Lucien pushed himself upright several meters away, one hand clutching his ribs as his expression twisted.
…This is exactly what I meant.
His chest burned every time he inhaled. Something in there was probably cracked now.
He wasn’t built for direct combat like this. Against a monster on this level, he needed someone who could properly hold the frontline while he struck from the back instead of getting dragged into close-range exchanges head-on.
Ava could keep the Knight’s attention on her, but not consistently. Worse, her attacks still weren’t strong enough to seriously cripple it. They were damaging the thing little by little, yet not fast enough to end the fight before their own bodies gave out first.
Lucien forced himself back to his feet again, breathing shallowly through clenched teeth. That helped a little. Every deep breath sent a sharp stab through his ribs.
He glanced behind him.
About fifteen meters to the border now...
Lucien wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, only to feel the sticky smear of blood. His breath came out ragged, shoulders rising and falling unevenly as his vision swam for a split second. He forced it back into focus and risked a glance over his shoulder before widening his eyes.
Right then, the Knight prepared a dashing move.
CLANG—!
And it burst forward straight toward Ava.
“Ava—!”
Ava reacted instantly. She planted one foot and twisted her body sideways, shoulders tightening as she raised both the stiletto dagger and rapier at once, clearly trying to catch the impact and redirect it instead of stopping it head-on.
But the moment Lucien saw the angle, his stomach dropped.
—That’s not enough.
The deflection worked, but only partly.
SKRK—
Ava’s footing slipped across loose rubble the instant the force transferred into her stance. Her heel scraped violently against the stone as the Knight powered straight through the redirection by sheer momentum alone.
“—gkh!”
The impact slammed into her and threw her flat onto her back. Air burst from her lungs as she hit the ground hard, her rapier skidding half a foot away before she snatched it back into her grip.
The Knight immediately raised its sword overhead. The point aligned directly with her chest.
Lucien gritted his teeth
‘I won’t make it.’
He was too far away. His legs wouldn’t carry him there in time.
For a split second, his mind locked up.
Should I use it? No time—
A dark ripple suddenly spread beneath his feet.
SHHK—!
A black tendril burst upward from his shadow and lashed across the plaza, wrapping tightly around the Knight’s sword arm before locking it in place mid-motion.
Shadow Tendril.
The blade halted inches before it could descend.
“—what the—?!”
Ava’s eyes flew open in shock, but survival instinct kicked in faster than confusion. She twisted sharply onto one knee and shoved herself backward to create distance.
The moment she cleared the immediate danger, Lucien released the tendril at once.
The Knight turned toward him, its empty helmet snapping in his direction with a jerky motion that looked startled.
Ava blinked once, confusion briefly flashing across her face as she glanced between Lucien and the Knight, but the hesitation lasted less than a second.
She lunged.
Thunk—!
Her rapier drove straight into the gap behind the Knight’s knee. The armored leg buckled slightly as black ichor splattered across the stone.
“Use the Sorrow Dust!” she shouted.
Lucien didn’t hesitate. He immediately yanked the small pouch from inside his coat, rushed a few steps closer, then flung a cloud of fine gray powder straight toward the Knight’s helm and upper body.
The dust burst across the armor.
For the first time since the fight began, the Knight froze.
Its movements turned strangely rigid, the sword twitching faintly in place as if something had disrupted its senses.
Lucien didn’t wait to see anything else.
He spun around and sprinted toward the border immediately, pain tearing through his ribs and ankle with every step.
Ahead of him, Ava kept pushing forward despite her uneven breathing, still moving fast enough to stay several steps in front.
“Keep moving!” she snapped over her shoulder.
“I am—!”
The border towers loomed ahead through the haze of dust and ruined buildings, their dark silhouettes growing larger with every second. The faint silver markings carved into the ground beyond them shimmered weakly beneath the dim light overhead.
Ten meters.
Eight.
Behind them came the harsh scrape of metal shifting across stone.
CLANG—!
Lucien risked a glance back.
The Knight had frozen for only a moment after the Sorrow Dust struck it, its movements turning strangely uneven as its empty helm jerked from side to side. But even slowed down, it was still trying to get them. Black ichor dripped from the gaps in its armor as it lurched forward again, dragging its sword behind it with a horrible metallic screech.
Still coming?!
His stomach tightened.
“Don’t slow down!” Ava barked, already pushing herself harder.
Five meters.
Lucien’s breathing turned ragged. His vision blurred at the edges as exhaustion and pain finally started catching up to him.
Three.
Two—
They crossed the border at the same time.
Lucien stumbled forward the moment his boots hit the marked stone beyond the line, nearly collapsing before catching himself on one hand. Ava staggered beside him, one arm clutching her injured shoulder as she fought to steady her breathing.
Behind them, the Knight stopped.
A few meters short of the border, it stood motionless with its sword hanging at its side. The thing remained there for several long seconds, empty helm pointed directly at them while black ichor slowly dripped onto the cracked plaza beneath its feet.
Lucien stayed tense anyway, chest heaving as he stared back at it.
Please don’t tell me it can cross...
The Knight took one slow step forward.
Then stopped again right at the edge.
Its head tilted slightly.
After another moment, it simply turned away.
CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.
The armored figure began walking back into the Southern Ruins without another glance, dragging its sword lightly across the stone as it returned toward its patrol route as if none of the fight had mattered at all.
Lucien stared after it for a few seconds in disbelief before a shaky laugh escaped his throat.
“…We’ve made it.”
Ava let out a breath somewhere between a laugh and a groan before dropping heavily onto the ground beside him.
“Yes, we are…”
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
They just sat there beyond the border, battered, exhausted, and aware of how close that had been.