After hearing about the ‘Death Knight’ from Jakus, Leo immediately called Minatos so he could depart for Rutoa.
Leo smiled brightly, delighted to see them again after three days, but the first words out of Minatos’s mouth were quite shocking.
‘Leo! Why did you wait until now to call me?! You stupid idiot! Your father has already arrived in Rutoa!’
‘My father? Already? How do you know?’
‘I heard it from Adite when I met her in the Spirit Realm.’
Adite was the High-Grade Wind Spirit contracted to his mother. If the information came from her, it was almost certainly true.
Thus, Leo immediately used Minatos’s power to fly nonstop from Ril Village to Rutoa.
And it took exactly three days to arrive.
‘I’m glad I’m not too late.’
He had arrived in the forest near Rutoa yesterday, and while searching for his father, who had left the fortress, he saw the massive storm from a short while ago and came here.
He had been filled with worry that his father might have died because he was too late.
Fortunately, he had managed to arrive by the slimmest of margins.
HISSSSS-
The Death Knight withdrew the sword it had been about to bring down on Magenta and immediately turned its horse toward Leo.
“Y-Young Master…….”
Magnis, who was being supported by Leo, laboriously opened one eye.
“Get ahold of yourself, Magnis Tylo.”
At Leo’s words, Magnis slowly pulled away from his support and planted his trembling legs on the ground.
HISSSSS-
The Fear emitted by the Death Knight carried killing intent even more vicious than before.
“I’ll lure that thing away. Save my father and your comrades in the meantime. Their lives depend on you. Understood?”
“Yes…… Young Master.”
“I said I’d remember your name, didn’t I? This is another chance to engrave it in my memory. You can do it, right?”
Magnis cut Leo off, his expression resolute.
“I will see it through without fail.”
The instant Magnis answered, Leo put his fingers to his mouth and gave a loud whistle.
Then.
NEEEIGH-
Responding to Leo’s call, a white horse burst through the undergrowth.
HISSSSS-
[One who has defied the will of Heaven…… I came to find you.]
The horse ridden by the Death Knight reared and let out a mighty roar.
The bastard slowly began to pick up speed toward Leo.
After winking at Magnis, Leo quickly mounted his horse.
Then, while channeling mana into the horse so it would not be crushed by the Fear, he spoke.
“You’re not tired after flying all this time, are you? Run. At a speed it can never catch.”
NEEEEIGH!
As if it had understood Leo’s words, the horse gave a loud cry and began racing through the undergrowth.
And so, the pursuit between the two began.
***
Before long, Leo had fled quite a distance from where Magenta lay.
‘It’s getting closer.’
Unlike Leo’s horse, which was gradually tiring, the Death Knight’s horse was still overflowing with strength.
Naturally, the distance between them was steadily shrinking.
Its bright crimson glare and the grotesque sight of white steam billowing from its nostrils with every breath.
HISSSSS…….
And the Death Knight’s Fear, which reached him intermittently.
‘Is Minatos still far away?’
Before coming here, Leo had parted ways with Minatos.
He had not sent them to the Spirit Realm. Instead, he had told them where Zenix was and ordered them to retrieve it.
Leo had wanted to go himself, but the situation here was too urgent for him to do so.
‘I have no choice. Since it’s come to this…….’
Watching the Death Knight draw closer and closer, Leo seemed to reach a decision and began moving atop his galloping horse.
He rummaged through the hanging pack, took out the potion Hans had given him, then unfastened the rest of the pack and dropped it all to the ground.
Once the pack fell away, the horse’s movements became far lighter.
‘I’ll face it head-on.’
He had not discarded the pack to flee.
It was to carry out the method Jakus had taught him for confronting the Death Knight.
‘If it loses its horse, the Death Knight will effectively lose half of its power. But the horse possesses a will of its own, so it can evade attacks…….’
Leo had answered the worried Jakus like this:
‘Then I just have to attack in a way it can’t dodge.’
And his actions now were preparations for that unavoidable attack.
‘Hans. Thank you.’
Looking at the potion he had taken from the pack, Leo recalled Hans’s face and immediately drank it down.
His mana was already scraping the bottom after flying all the way here.
He had planned to take the potion and fight together with Minatos once they arrived, but judging by the distance now, he had to revise his original plan.
GULP!
Leo swallowed the potion.
At that moment, the exhaustion that had been weighing heavily on his body vanished, and vitality coursed through his Mana Circle.
Although it did not replenish all the mana he had possessed before, more than half that amount gradually began to fill the circle.
‘That’ll do.’
Once he finished recovering, Leo immediately pulled on the reins.
NEEEEIGH!
At the same time, the horse reared high and stopped in place, and Leo slowly turned it around.
HISSSSS-
[……Stop running and die.]
“I wasn’t planning to run.”
SHIIING.
Leo drew his sword with one hand.
HUMMM!
The Mithril sword he had received from Exile vibrated with a mighty hum as it took on a blue glow.
HISSSSS-
After letting out a low, spine-chilling sound, the Death Knight also drew its sword and began urging its horse forward.
Leo gripped the reins with his remaining hand and slowly charged toward it as well.
Only the sound of hooves echoed through the silent forest as the two horses accelerated further.
‘It’s here.’
Leo’s grip on his sword tightened as the Death Knight drew within range.
Then.
“I’m sorry.”
The instant it entered his range, Leo quickly ducked and rolled down from his horse.
CRACK!
NEEEEIGH-
WHIIIIINNY-
The brutal sound of bones breaking echoed through the forest, and the horses’ anguished cries sent the birds perched in the trees flying.
Leo had intended from the start to make their horses collide, which was why he deliberately rolled off his mount at the moment of impact.
HISSSSS-
The Death Knight let out a loud cry as it fell from its horse.
‘It worked!’
After rolling across the ground for some time, Leo sprang to his feet and looked toward the collision.
The Death Knight slowly rose between the two fallen horses.
Pitch-black cloth and a crown-shaped helmet that covered its entire face.
Inside the helmet, there were no visible facial features, only darkness so deep that its end could not be seen.
“Enough with the hissing. Let’s fight properly now, you damn bag of bones.”
Smiling, Leo drew the other sword from his back.
The swords in both of Leo’s hands simultaneously radiated the blue light of mana.
The Death Knight also gripped its sword straight in both hands and slowly began approaching Leo.
Then it suddenly accelerated, closed the distance, raised its sword overhead, and swiftly struck at Leo’s head.
CRAAAAASH!
Leo crossed his two swords into an X and caught the blow, unleashing a tremendous roar and a storm of dust.
“Ghk…….”
Groaning, Leo looked at the knight’s lower body.
‘What was that? Did it fly over here?’
With both feet hidden beneath its pitch-black robe, it looked as though it were floating in midair.
More than anything, the speed at which it had rushed Leo was fast enough to make him think it had flown.
“Hrrraaah!”
With a roar, Leo shoved the knight’s sword away.
Then.
SWISH! CLANG! CLANG! SWISH!
Leo’s body moved with springlike agility as the swords in both hands flew one after another toward the bastard’s vital points.
CLANG, CLANG! CLANG!
Under the merciless assault of the Dual-Wielding Swordsmanship, the knight that had not yielded at all to Magenta’s attacks began stepping backward.
Of course, it had also lost its horse, but Leo’s attacks truly were far faster and more threatening than Magenta’s had been earlier.
SWOOOSH! CLANG! CLANG!
‘Minatos, why are you taking so long?’
Judging only by the appearance of the battle, Leo seemed to hold an overwhelming advantage, but that was not the reality.
More precisely, his assault was meant to buy time until Minatos arrived.
He was trying to deny the bastard any chance to attack. And the strategy seemed to be working better than expected.
Until the other sword, the one that was not made of Mithril, broke.
CRAAACK!
HISSSSS-
‘Damn it!’
The instant Leo’s sword broke, the Death Knight swiftly thrust its own sword at his neck.
THUNK!
But Leo discarded the broken sword, quickly pulled out the shield strapped to his back, and blocked the attack.
“Ugh!”
Thanks to the Wyvern Hide, the shield did not suffer so much as a scratch, but a heavy impact traveled through the arm holding it.
HISSSSS-!
[You bastard-!]
As though flustered by Leo’s defense, the Death Knight unleashed a harsh Fear.
SWOOOSH!
Leo’s sword flew swiftly toward the bastard’s heart.
RIIIIP!
The Death Knight missed its chance to evade the swift attack.
As a result, the tip of the sword caught on the robe covering it and ripped it wide open.
[SCREEEEEECH!]
“Just shut up and fight, okay?”
The Death Knight, which had retreated several steps, looked at its torn robe and let out a spine-chilling scream.
At the same time, Leo sensed vile evil, utterly unlike a Mana Sword, within the pitch-black aura flowing along the bastard’s blade.
The instant Leo saw the aura enveloping the sword, his instincts screamed.
‘It’s dangerous.’
SWOOOOSH!
As if it had cast Blink Magic to cross space in an instant, the knight closed the distance in the blink of an eye and brought its sword down hard at Leo’s head.
Leo threw himself to the side and barely evaded the attack.
CRAAAAASH!
A tremendous cloud of dirt erupted, and the ground it had struck began turning pitch-black.
‘This is insane…….’
Leo’s pupils trembled faintly.
He had thought he could win as long as he reinforced his equipment and had Jakus’s information.
But the Death Knight was a far more formidable opponent than he had expected.
[SCREEEEEECH!]
With another scream, the bastard closed in on Leo in an instant.
Then.
SWOOOSH! CLAAAAANG!
It swung its sword swiftly as though trying to slash Leo’s neck, and Leo immediately raised his shield to block the attack.
THOOOM!
“Ngh!”
The heavy impact wrenched a groan from him.
‘Damn it……! Huh?’
Leo had been gritting his teeth when he felt his body rise into the air, and a puzzled expression crossed his face.
An instant later, that confusion gave way to a tremendous impact.
CRUUUNCH!
Rather than withdrawing the sword blocked by the shield, the Death Knight simply blasted Leo away with brute force.
“Ugh…….”
Leo flew at tremendous speed and slammed into a tree.
HISSSSS-
The Death Knight approached the fallen Leo and brought its face close to his.
[Foolish one…… Did you think you could kill me……?]
A bitter cold poured from each word, one by one.
‘My face feels like it’s freezing.’
Leo furrowed his brow.
[Those who are alive…… can never kill me…….]
Leo smiled at the Death Knight’s words.
“Is that so?”
[It seems you do not fear death.]
At its words, Leo’s smile deepened.
“Yeah. I’m not afraid. I’ve already died once. It…….”
Trailing off, Leo swiftly rose and shoved the Death Knight away with his foot.
“It wasn’t a big deal.”
Then.
“Minatos!”
The moment Leo called out, a sword abruptly dropped from the sky, and Minatos’s shout rang out.
-Fire Escape!
FWOOSH!
Enormous flames instantly blazed up around the Death Knight, which Leo’s kick had driven back.
A prison of fire.
According to Jakus, the Death Knight was weak against fire.
After hearing that, Leo had also instructed Minatos to use the power of fire.
The Death Knight trapped within the prison of fire let out a scream filled with agony.
“Nice timing!”
[SCREEEEEECH!]
Watching the screaming bastard, Leo slowly picked up the sword that had fallen from the sky.
‘Zenix…….’
It was Zenix, the sword he had wielded in his previous life.
-Leo, I’m late, aren’t I? I’m sorry.
‘You made it before I died, so I’ll forgive you.’
Holding Zenix in one hand and the Mithril sword in the other, Leo slowly walked toward the Death Knight screaming within the flames.
Then, at a certain point, he broke into a run.
Before long.
HUMMMM!
The two swords resonated fiercely and began to glow a vivid blue.
SWOOOOSH!
Leo leaped high, spun his body flamboyantly, and flew toward the Death Knight.
CLANG!
The first strike from the Mithril sword knocked aside the sword raised in defense.
SLAAAASH!
Zenix followed and sent its head flying.
After severing the Death Knight’s neck, Leo slowed his spin and landed steadily on the ground.
At that moment.
THOOOM!
The ground around the beheaded Death Knight began to crack.
WHOOOOOSH!
Then an enormous black hole formed behind the headless torso and began forcefully sucking in everything before it.
-L-Leo! Save me!
Minatos was no exception.
Seeing Minatos being sucked into the black hole, Leo shouted.
“Go home!”
-Thank y…….
FSSSH.
At Leo’s shout, Minatos dispersed like smoke and safely returned to the Spirit Realm.
After sucking everything in for quite some time, the black hole subsided, and the Death Knight crumbled into powder and vanished, leaving only its head behind.
“Phew…….”
Leo slowly walked over and picked up the knight’s head.
“Maybe living bastards can’t kill you. But I’m not just another living bastard. I’m a bastard who died once and came back to life.”
Then.
-Hey. Did you kill that bastard?
At the voice from behind him, Leo turned around.
“Uh…… What?”
The horse that had died from a broken neck was speaking to him.