Long ago, there was a vast empire that ruled over the continent.
The empire waged countless wars to unify the continent, and on every one of those battlefields, there was a knight who always brought it victory.
Called the symbol of iron and blood, he was the empire’s blade and the strongest warrior on the continent.
Then one day, as the wars raced toward their end, he suffered the first defeat of his life and had no choice but to retreat.
“So here’s the question. What do you think the kingdom did with that knight?”
The muscular man asked a question in the middle of his story.
A defeated knight.
But he had brought the empire victory in countless wars.
“What would they do? Probably treated him and set him up with a pension.”
“Pfft!”
Whether my answer satisfied them or amused them, everyone suddenly started laughing.
“Seo Kang-yul, how are you so clueless about stuff like this?”
“A pension, he says. A pension. Kuhahahat!”
“Ah, shit! What era do you think this is? How would I know anything about knights or whatever! So what did they do?”
“What do you think? They exiled him.”
“Exiled? He only lost once.”
“Right, just once. That one defeat put a scratch on the empire’s history. The knight didn’t even voice any complaint and accepted his punishment.”
“I wondered what you were up to on the 60th floor, and you were reading some old fairy tale like that?”
A single defeat.
That one mistake had turned the knight’s life completely upside down.
“If he’d just won that last battle, the whole world would’ve worshipped him. Just one mistake, and he was sent into exile. To an island no one knew about.”
“Anyway, I asked what the necklace was, so why’s the preamble so long?”
“Ah, right. That was the question, wasn’t it?”
A necklace made of black bone.
The muscular man pointed at it and continued.
“This is the horn used by that empire’s king. The one he used to summon that knight.”
“It wasn’t a necklace?”
“It only looked like one because that guy’s body is so huge. It really is a horn.”
“What’s wrong with my body?! Muscle is the symbol of a man!”
“But is there anything special about it?”
“Not listening, huh. Tch! Take a look for yourself.”
Swish—
With those words, I took the horn from the muscular man.
[King’s Horn]
Grade: Common
-A horn once used by the king of a certain empire.
-Someone is desperately waiting for this horn to sound.
“Uh, okay. So what? The one waiting is probably that knight, so does he get summoned if I blow it here?”
“Kuhuhut! Nope. I tried it plenty of times too, but it doesn’t work that way. Looks like you have to use it in a specific place.”
“Then?”
Tak—
The middle-aged woman, who had been chiming in here and there since earlier, stepped closer and spoke.
“Based on the research, the island where that knight was exiled is… probably the 5th floor.”
“The 5th floor? What, then it’s useless anyway. If you’re going to wear stuff like this, at least put on another artifact or something.”
“Don’t you have any sense of romance? How can you say that after hearing that story?”
THUP—
The muscular man snatched the horn back and hung it around his neck again.
“Who knows? Maybe that knight’s still alive, waiting for nothing but the sound of this horn.”
***
The conditions were far too demanding.
The route to obtaining the King’s Horn was essentially random.
You had to get it by luck from rewards the System gave out.
‘Even if you get it, the next step is the real problem.’
Floors with group missions, like the 5th and 15th, couldn’t be entered again once cleared.
In other words, from the 1st to the 4th floor.
You had to get this horn within that window.
“I had a hunch, but I didn’t think he’d actually be alive. Ah, is ‘alive’ even the right word?”
[The Death Knight’s level does not match this floor.]
[Partially lowering its rank.]
‘That’s it weakened?’
The Death Knight’s red eyes flashed.
<Who…, are you.>
Raising its iron sword high and pointing it at me, it asked.
<Who are you, to hold what belongs to Him?>
The King’s Horn.
It was glaring straight at the thing in my hand.
“I’m—”
The moment I was about to answer.
CRRRACK—!
Cracks spread across the horn, and it crumbled uselessly into powder and scattered in the wind.
[All uses of the King’s Horn have been exhausted.]
“Huh?”
<How dare you…, His horn!!!>
THUD—!
The moment it kicked off the ground, the sheer force burst the earth apart.
A greatsword wreathed in black energy came flying at me like a storm.
“Ah, wait! I didn’t break it!”
BOOM—!
At the gale rushing in, the entire reed field shook at once.
CLACK—!
I reflexively drew Eclipse.
The moment the two swords clashed, the entire clearing shook.
CRASH—!!
Along with the ring of steel, intense pressure surged up my forearms.
‘Insane! What kind of monstrous strength—’
CLANG!
I knocked its sword away and opened up some distance.
But the Death Knight closed in quickly.
TAP-TAP—
<Is this all you have?!>
The Death Knight hoisted its sword high.
The massive blade rose swiftly.
WHOOOOSH—
A blow brought straight down.
Wind burst out, and the clearing resounded.
Tak—
I twisted my right hand on the grip slightly and braced the blade with my other hand.
Its black-iron greatsword crashed straight down onto Eclipse, which I held up horizontally.
CRASH—!!
“Kuh…!”
There wasn’t even a moment to breathe.
It opened a little distance, and then.
Whirl—
It twisted its waist and swung its greatsword to the left.
The blade came flying in from the side like a gale.
Swish—
I ducked my body and bent my ankle.
Then immediately rolled across the ground to dodge.
As the ring of steel brushed past behind me, the sound of dozens of reeds being cut echoed out.
“Hup!”
As I rolled back up, I immediately counterattacked.
Twisting my waist, I swept Eclipse diagonally upward.
SKREEEEEEK—!
The blade scraped along its armor.
Sparks flew, and the smell of iron spread.
But it didn’t cut deep.
The Death Knight immediately stepped back.
<Brat, at least you have the basics down.>
“You’re pretty decent yourself. So this is why that bastard liked knights.”
<Decent? You dare evaluate me? How utterly arrogant.>
WHOOOOSH—
Red light leaked from the gaps in the Death Knight’s armor.
Soon after, an enormous energy enveloped its entire body.
RUMBLE—!
An explosive force burst from the black-iron greatsword.
Dark red aura flowed along the blade, and the air itself howled as though it were being split apart.
Wind swept through, and the reeds were all torn up and sent flying.
“Aura….”
Just as the name I had uttered, the monster before my eyes was displaying exactly that.
It wasn’t mana.
The pinnacle of a warrior, which even among surviving players only a handful could wield.
CRASH—!
The moment the Death Knight drove its greatsword into the ground, a shockwave spread throughout the clearing.
Its force sent reeds and dirt flying up like a storm.
<This is the foundation of a knight. Now, bring out yours too! I will teach you who the true knight is.>
Its voice echoed out from within its armor.
I slowly closed my eyes, then reached deep into my heart.
THUMP— THUMP—
With every beat of my heart, a hot energy spread outward.
It felt as though mana, not blood, were flowing through my veins.
“Whew—”
I drew in a breath.
Then, along with a pain that seemed to crush my heart, I drove the power out through my entire body.
CRACKLE—!
Blue light enveloped my body.
Every blood vessel in my body was as hot as if it were on fire.
Beneath my skin, the mana writhed as if alive and seeped into my arms and legs.
WHOOOOOSH—
The surroundings resonated from the overwhelming amount of mana.
Blue energy flowed along Eclipse’s blade.
A form of power that would have been utterly impossible for the me of the past.
<…Hoh?>
The Death Knight’s red eyes glowed brighter.
<A half-wit who cannot even use aura? Your spirit alone deserves praise, but that is all it amounts to.>
“Like I care? This is more than enough for the likes of you.”
<Brat!>
As my Mana stat passed 50, I could feel that it had undergone a change.
Never mind the amount, the density itself felt distinctly thicker than before.
“And it doesn’t end there.”
<Hm?>
[C-rank Active Skill Hex of Rage activates.]
[Rage fills your entire body.]
Creak— Creak—
My muscles writhed and swelled.
My veins bulged, and mana leapt through them like sparks.
“Kuh!”
A hot energy erupted explosively up along my spine.
Monstrous strength overflowed throughout my whole body, enough to make Eclipse tremble in my grip.
CRASH—!
The earth beneath my feet split.
As if my body could no longer endure and was letting the strength spill out, the ground cracked apart.
[Hex of Rage Effect: Strength +20 / Agility +15]
My breathing grew rapid.
The illusion that everything before my eyes was being dyed red.
‘I’ll smash it, all of it!’
A simple, primal desire burst out in my head.
At this very moment, everything in front of me.
Whether reeds, dirt, or this monster.
My heart pounded as if it would burst.
My mind grew hazy from the thrill of strength rushing all the way to my fingertips.
“Haa… haaa….”
I lowered my head and slowly took deep breaths.
I suppressed my hot, boiling blood.
The rage tried to swallow my whole body, but I pulled back the reins with my will.
‘Good thing it’s an inferior version of the Goblin Shaman’s skill. I almost lost my reason for a second there.’
Swsh—
As the suppressed mana and rage intertwined, the blue aura grew even deeper.
<You.>
The Death Knight’s red eyes glowed even more intensely.
The aura loaded onto the tip of its sword swelled, shaking the very axis of the earth.
<You wield foul sorcery.>
“Foul sorcery? I earned this through hard work, you know.”
<So… are you ready?>
“A knight through and through. You even have the leisure to wait for me.”
Pfft—
I smiled.
The sound of my heartbeat was so vivid it seemed to echo across the battlefield.
“Come at me.”
I gripped Eclipse with both hands.
The tendons in my forearms bulged, and my muscles twisted with heat.
My entire body was enveloped by the sensation of awakening for battle.
CRASH—!
The moment I kicked off, the ground burst.
With an explosion of mana, my whole body flew forward.
At the same moment.
<At long last, I can have a proper battle!>
The Death Knight also swung its aura-laden greatsword.
Red light burst out like a storm, splitting the air.
BOOOOOOM—
Blue light and red light.
As mana and aura collided, the entire clearing shook.
The two energies clashed above the earth, a storm burst out, and it scattered as if lightning were splitting the sky.
CRASH—!!
When the blue and red lights collided, for an instant it seemed as though the world had exploded.
Shockwaves spread out like waves in all directions, and every last reed was ripped out by the roots and scattered into the sky.
“Kuh—!”
The pressure transmitted through my arms reverberated to my very bones.
SHRAAAAAK—!
The impact pushed my entire body back, and I tried to hold my ground by putting strength into my lower body, but.
CRASH—!
My body was flung backward and rolled across the ground.
The soles of my feet scraped along the ground as I was dragged dozens of meters, until I barely managed to stop by bracing myself with my sword.
“Haa… haaa….”
My breathing was so rapid it felt like my lungs would tear.
A pain as if my wrists were snapping, and,
‘Insane! I got pushed back this much? It’s stronger than an ordinary Death Knight, isn’t it?’
It wasn’t simply a lack of strength.
Its rank itself was different.
Aura and mana.
Even if they were the same energy, the depth of their essence was different.
It wasn’t a wall I could leap over in one go just by raising a few stats.
<Just as I expected.>
The Death Knight’s resonant voice flowed from within its armor.
Red aura wrapped around its body, blazing like flames.
<That power of yours…. Its quantity is respectable, but compared to my aura, it is trivial.>
Breathing heavily, I gripped Eclipse.
My arms were trembling, but I suppressed even that trembling.
“We’ve only just started, and you’re talking like you’ve already won.”
Pfft—
Raising the corners of my mouth, I lowered my stance again.
‘There’s no winning head-on. I only clashed with it, and the impact was this bad.’
TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP—!
Keeping my body low, I sprinted quickly toward its left side.
<Outmatched in strength, so you intend to settle it with speed?>
I moved quickly in a circle.
From what I had learned through our repeated clashes, its reach was longer too.
But a longer reach wasn’t necessarily an advantage.
‘I’ll get inside!’
THUD—!
I drove my left foot deep into the ground.
And in one go.
CRASH—!
I dove toward its left flank.
<I am sorry, but—>
TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP—!
My left foot stepped forward, digging deep into the ground.
From a low stance, I twisted my waist upward.
CRASH—!
In that instant, Eclipse traced a diagonal line like lightning.
I drove the flashing blade toward its flank.
“Hyah!”
A blue trajectory that came close enough to graze skin.
A perfect upward slash.
However.
<A misjudgment.>
Whirl—
The Death Knight twisted its breastplate and turned its body in one go.
That massive movement looked like a hunk of iron, but its speed was dazzlingly fast.
Its gauntleted hand shot out like lightning.
CRUNCH—!
“Insane—”
It had casually blocked Eclipse’s blade with its left hand.
The sword trembled as if howling, but its grip never loosened.
CRASH—!
In that instant, a tremendous impact surged back up through the blade.
The ground shook, and the reed field was sent flying as if torn apart.
<For laying your hands on His belongings….>
The Death Knight raised the greatsword in its right hand just like that, and.
‘Ha, this is….’
Clack.
<Regret it in death!>
SHWOOOOOOSH—
It brought the sword straight down.
‘I’m so X-ed.’