The Death Knight was strong.
At the very least, on par with the Skeleton Giant I had met on the 1st floor.
No, in terms of how hard it was to take down, it was probably even harder.
A mindless bag of bones versus the strongest knight of an empire in life.
The difference was stark.
Even so, I had believed I could win.
‘This is all I amount to?’
WHOOOOSH—
The dark red greatsword came crashing down toward the crown of my head.
I let go of Eclipse.
“Transix—”
Shaaa—
Black light shot out from the back of my right hand and condensed into the shape of a long spear.
Mana spread along the spearhead, and a heavy resonance shook the ground.
In that moment, the descending black-iron greatsword made contact.
CRASH—!!
I raised Transix at an angle and caught it with the spear’s tip.
The sharply angled spearhead acted like a brace, diverting the greatsword’s force and deflecting it.
Along with a roar, sparks scattered in all directions.
<…Hoh. You still had a move left?>
The Death Knight’s red eyes wavered with interest.
I immediately pulled back and widened the distance.
My breathing heaved roughly, but my mind sank even colder.
“Until now, I underestimated you.”
<…Hm?>
Monsters I had faced hundreds of times in the past.
I knew their habits and weaknesses like the back of my hand.
I had thought I could kill them anytime, so I hadn’t been wary.
Swish—
Pointing Transix forward, I held the spear’s tip straight and looked at it.
“Who would’ve thought I’d feel this way about a mere monster?”
<To lump me in with those other inferior things—>
“I know. You’re definitely on a different level from other Death Knights.”
It was laughable.
A monster that would once have died if I so much as breathed on it was now threatening my life.
That was how weak I was right now.
“You. What’s your name?”
A brief silence.
The Death Knight looked into my eyes, then spoke.
<Your eyes have changed.>
Then it answered, slowly but firmly.
<I am the Fifth Knight of the Great Irebron Empire. Karhen.>
“…Karhen.”
As I repeated the name as though chewing on it, he asked in return.
<This time, allow me to ask. I wish to know your name.>
“Seo Kang-yul.”
I answered shortly and decisively.
‘Thank you. Thanks to you, I’m feeling my current level all over again.’
Then, gripping Transix low, I said.
“From now on, I’ll regard you as a worthy rival.”
<The fledgling is quite self-assured. Those are good eyes.>
The reed field was torn apart.
I thrust the tip of Transix out long, aiming for Karhen’s neck.
SHK—!
But before the spear’s tip could reach him, the black-iron greatsword whipped in and cut across its trajectory.
TAP-TAP—
I quickly stepped back to dodge.
‘As expected… his speed is no joke either.’
I steadied my breathing and aimed for his flank again.
Using my advantage in reach, I repeated thrusting and pulling back.
<Attacks of that level cannot pierce my armor!>
Karhen’s red eyes flashed.
In an instant, he stepped in deep, and his massive body surged forward as if exploding.
CRASH—!
“Kuh!”
A breathtaking charge.
Its speed and power tore through and swallowed the air itself.
SHWOOK—
The black-iron greatsword swept from left to right like a storm.
‘From low to high. A horizontal slash that’s almost an upswing—’
WHOOOSH—!
I raised Transix diagonally.
The moment the spearhead met the greatsword.
SKREEEEEEK—!!
Sparks flew, and a heavy force was transmitted to my arms.
The greatsword shot upward along the shaft.
Just before the blade reached my hand.
SHFT!
I let go with my right hand and quickly regripped the lower part of the shaft.
Bending my lower body deeply, I lowered myself.
I snapped the spear’s angle the opposite way.
CHAENG—!
The greatsword bounced back the other way and lost its balance.
Karhen’s stance wavered greatly.
‘Now!’
Swsh—
I lowered the spear to my waist and condensed all the mana in my body into its tip.
The tip of Transix blazed blue.
[Original Skill activates.]
“Raaaaaah!!”
《Pulverize》
CRUNCH—!!
A thrust loaded with explosive power slammed squarely into the black-iron armor.
A shockwave burst out, and the earth groaned.
Karhen’s body was pushed back, and his armor crumpled, spewing a metallic shriek.
<Kuh…!>
Karhen’s eyes blazed red.
Even with his breastplate dented, he quickly corrected his stance.
As if his battle instincts were awakening even more deeply, dark red aura shot up explosively from his entire body.
RUMBLE—!
<Quite something for a fledgling! Now this can finally become a true fight!>
Karhen’s dark red presence spread out as if exploding.
At the breathtaking pressure, I reflexively stepped back.
TAP-TAP—!
But the pressure didn’t allow even a moment’s opening.
His red eyes flashing, Karhen charged straight ahead.
The aura enveloping his entire body churned like a storm.
‘Fast—’
Gritting my teeth, I raised the spear’s tip.
But contrary to my expectations.
Halt—
Karhen stopped, leaving a slight distance.
Then, lowering his body to evade the spear, he thrust the black-iron greatsword forward like a stab.
“Kuh!”
My heart sank.
A thrust using a heavy greatsword.
For a moment, my thoughts froze.
However.
Swish—!
My body reacted before I could even think.
Raising Transix upright, I caught the greatsword’s trajectory with the slender shaft and snapped my wrist.
SKREEEK—!
The tip of the greatsword slid off.
I rotated the shaft half a turn, diverting that massive force to the side.
SHK—!
But the tip of the blade grazed past.
My skin was sharply scraped away, and a burning pain spread.
A shallow trickle of fresh blood spread along the side of my face.
“Haa—”
Though it was only a light scratch, a chill ran down my spine.
Had I reacted even a little later, my eye would have been pierced and my head blown off.
<Your dynamic visual acuity is astonishing.>
Karhen’s voice echoed from within the dark red aura.
“Thanks for the compliment.”
Grin—
My lips curled up on their own.
My heart was pounding like mad.
I had fought many times since regressing, but this was the first fight that had me this much on the edge of my seat.
‘This is it. This is a real fight.’
KAANG—!
Knocking the greatsword away with the shaft, I immediately dove forward.
He also stepped back and tried to widen the distance, but.
‘Not a chance!’
I thrust Transix toward the nape of his neck.
<But you are hasty.>
Karhen raised his greatsword and blocked it.
A metallic ring flashed and spread outward.
And then, as though he had been waiting for it, a counterattack.
The black-iron blade came sweeping in fast from the left.
‘I see i—’
I twisted my body to dodge.
However.
[C-rank Skill Hex of Rage deactivates.]
Snap—
In that instant, the fire that had been running hot through my veins disappeared.
The strength built up in my muscles unraveled all at once, and my body creaked.
Like a broken doll, my limbs wouldn’t obey me properly.
“Damn it!”
WHOOOOOSH—
It was too late to dodge.
Karhen’s greatsword swept in like a storm from the right.
Swish—
I instinctively raised Transix.
Sword and spear collided head-on.
CRASH—!!
“Kup!”
The impact slammed through my entire body.
At the same time.
Crack—
‘My arm—’
The sound of something snapping.
Whether a muscle had torn or not, a ripping pain surged through my left arm.
<Hmph!>
Because of the tremendous impact, my body flew through the air.
THWACK—! THUMP! THUD!
My body rolled across the ground.
Reeds snapped, and dust kicked up.
My breath caught, and blood boiled up in my throat.
“Khuk—!”
THUP—
Gritting my teeth, I raised my body again.
My knees were shaking, but I used Transix as a cane and barely managed to support my body.
“Haa…, it’s always like this when I focus.”
Tingle—
The moment the skill deactivated, fatigue rushed over my body like a wave.
As if I were moving underwater, every movement lagged half a beat behind.
But he was just as exhausted.
Karhen’s attacks had grown much weaker compared to the beginning.
Swish—
Behind him.
A red-tinged light was spreading over his black silhouette.
“Whew—, it’s about time to end this.”
My voice was cracked, but my gaze alone had sunk cold.
<Just what I was hoping for.>
Karhen bared his dark red teeth and laughed.
His footsteps, as he gripped his greatsword, rang heavily.
I took a deep breath and gripped Transix.
Then I poured half of my last remaining mana into the spear, as though spewing it out.
Tak—
Bending my knees deeply, I crouched low.
Twisting my waist, I pulled one shoulder back and drove my left foot hard into the ground.
My muscles twisted and pulled taut.
“Haaaaat!”
Waist, shoulder, elbow, even wrist.
Detonating the strength of my whole body in a chain, I hurled the spear as though a bowstring had snapped.
WHEEEEEEEEE—!
Transix, having left my hand, tore through the air.
The trajectory it left behind split like a blue flash, shooting forward as if to smash everything in its path.
<Pathetic!>
THUD!
Karhen charged head-on and swung his greatsword.
Transix struck the black-iron blade and was knocked away.
However—
SHAAAAAAA—
Light poured down.
Tearing across the eastern sky, the first rays of sunlight covered the battlefield.
In that instant, I could feel Karhen’s presence noticeably diminish.
His dark red momentum creaked and was dying out.
<Kuh—! So this is what you were aiming for?>
His red eyes wavered.
But at the same time, he glared at me and let out a ferocious roar.
<Even so, there is nothing you can do!>
CRASH—!
Karhen leapt high.
His red afterglow traced a trajectory, and the black-iron greatsword soared above his head.
And then it came slamming down with all his might, as though to split heaven and earth.
WHOOOOOSH—!
The greatsword fell hard from above my head.
But even this was intended.
As an undead monster, a Death Knight’s very rank dropped when morning came.
I squeezed out every last bit of my remaining mana.
“Transix!!”
Black light bloomed from the back of my hand again, and in the blink of an eye, Transix was summoned into my hand.
Swsh—!
I gripped the spear short.
Lowering my body, I twisted my left foot wide and spun.
The greatsword grazed past above my head and cut across my left shoulder.
SHRAAK—!
Hot blood sprayed.
But I deflected it by a hair’s breadth, and the greatsword buried itself deep in the ground.
CRASH!
“Croak!!”
Twisting my body, I drove the short-gripped Transix forward.
Putting all my strength into the spear’s tip, I dug into the gap in his torn breastplate.
CRUNCH—!!
Shards of iron burst out, and the spearhead dug in deep.
Karhen’s red eyes wavered greatly.
<Kuaaaaaagh!!!>
Along with his scream, dark red aura burst out as if exploding.
Mixed with the sunlight, the giant shadow wavered and split apart in all directions.
FLOP—
His right knee hit the ground.
The black-iron greatsword was helplessly planted in the dirt, and only a thin metallic ring echoed.
Tak—
I raised Transix and brought it to the nape of his neck.
My breathing heaved roughly, but my fingertips didn’t waver.
<Kuhahahat—! What a pity. Had we fought while I was still human, we could have had a far better match.>
Laughter leaked from Karhen’s mouth.
“Same here. I didn’t want to win like this—”
Swish—
He slowly raised his head and looked straight at me.
<I am glad my final battle was against you.>
Even amid the ceaseless battle, he held his head upright, as befitted a knight.
<It is not a satisfying outcome… but is it not a perfect death for a knight?>
His red eyes slowly closed.
I hesitated no longer.
SHK—!
Transix traced a half circle, leaving behind a flashing trajectory.
<For… the Empire….>
As Karhen’s last cry echoed, his head, along with his black-iron helmet, fell to the ground.
In that instant, pitch-black smoke burst out as if exploding, then scattered into the air in the blink of an eye.
Shaaa—
His face, glimpsed for just a moment inside the helmet, looked strangely at peace.
Not the face of a resentful spirit left behind, but of one who had fought as a knight to the very end.
The being that had been a great knight vanished completely, just like that.
DING—
[You have killed the Death Knight.]
[Heroic Grade item Death Knight’s Mana Stone has been granted.]
[Points: 1 → 1501]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
…….
‘Among the island’s publicly known monsters, the one that gives the most points is the ogre.’
Even that was only 30 points.
But from this one fight, 1500 points.
The numbers alone made it clear just how weighty this battle had been.
“…Is it over?”
Han Ji-won, who had come running over, panting, asked cautiously.
I nodded without a word.
‘Struggling this hard against a mere Death Knight.’
I had killed a Death Knight on the 5th floor.
It was certainly something other players couldn’t even imagine.
Even compared to past runs, I had never raised myself to this level by the 5th floor.
But it wasn’t enough.
‘The previous run was stronger than any before it. If I keep growing like this, I’ll reach a similar level by around the 70th floor, at least.’
But what that bastard said kept bothering me.
-But at that level, you can’t clear it.
Whether his words were true or not didn’t matter.
The remaining nine had been taken down by that one bastard without being able to do a thing.
‘More, I have to get stronger. So strong it can’t even be compared to before.’