Beneath the earth, shadows advanced. Beasts that devoured light appeared ravenously, lunging at Yujin. Without hesitation, Yujin cut them down with his sword.
He assumed a stance. It was different from usual.
Tola, who had unleashed the beasts to observe Yujin‘s sword, had only one assessment. As if filling in a missing piece, the completed swordsmanship shone brilliantly.
Though he did not inherit the Nearl name, the knight affiliated with them led the golden light. His eyes shone transparently, revealing platinum.
But his movements were sluggish, his reaction speed slightly delayed. Fatigue from continuous battles was eating away at Yujin.
It wasn't that he hadn't experienced prolonged combat before, but he had fought risking his life, burning his very existence to kill his enemies. He hadn't slaughtered ordinary foes; he had faced equals, overcoming walls.
Their gazes crossed. The red glow visible even under the pressed-down helmet resembled a beast in the dark, desiring to tear Yujin apart. An unprecedented pressure weighed down on Yujin, making his senses scream warnings.
He had felt this only from the Darkiron, Netsalem, and the Silverlance Pegasi he had just encountered.
But in terms of individual pressure, Tola possessed an ominousness similar to the man who had patted Yujin‘s shoulder when he met the Silverlance Pegasi.
Proof that he, too, was a man who had overcome trials.
He drew the twin swords at his waist. He wouldn't let the beasts attack the knight alone.
Though not as large as Buldrokk, he wielded the twin swords with his imposing frame. His hair, burning with Arts, resembled vivid crimson, and the shadows were not content with devouring the earth; they spread fog across the world.
As the twin swords flashed, fear abruptly raised its head. Darkness where not an inch ahead could be seen. A hunter desiring to kill his prey.
Yujin did not retreat. He chose to break through. Gripping the silver spear, he ran across the earth, leading the light. His entire body engaged as he thrust the spear.
A strike that crumpled even a shield like paper clashed with the twin swords. Tola, who blocked it by crossing his blades, was pushed back slightly but remained unharmed, unlike the others.
It felt like standing on a battlefield where death lurked, where a single mistake meant the loss of life.
Yujin steadied his stance and smiled. His body was pushed to the limit, but his mind was clear. Getting here had taken immense strength, but he had no intention of blaming it or making excuses.
It was what Yujin had chosen to do, and with it, he had saved people.
Then, it was natural to have no regrets.
Even if he went to Sector Zero, fought the Darkirons, was driven to the brink of death, and was exhausted.
One step. He advances, cutting through the darkness. The darkness was already eating away at the light, but it didn't matter. Yujin put great strength into his advancing step and continued forward.
Tola‘s chain of slashes was split by Yujin‘s sword. The slashes divided, and he broke through with his spear.
Kaaaaah!
They kicked off the ground and rushed at each other. Stark contrast. Deep shadows and vivid starlight clashed.
But the more their swords clashed, the more he realized. This man, too, stood at the extreme. He was on the verge of breaking out of his shell.
Overpowered, Yujin was thrown back. Pushed back, Yujin drove his spear into the earth to control the recoil.
The warrior and knight‘s sword didn't just watch Yujin being pushed back. Like a beast biting, the twin swords rushed in, drawing sharp circles.
Ignoring even recoil, changing trajectory with strength honed to the limit—Yujin knew this fighting style well. Buldrokk fell into this category.
Because the opponent couldn't predict it, they often fell for it, but Yujin, with his senses and thoughts elevated by accelerated thinking, could dodge. He wedged his spear into the trajectory drawn by the sword to block the attack, but his body bent sharply from the impact he couldn't fully absorb.
"Ugh, gah...!"
"Is this all? Show me everything, knight."
Yujin, unable to offset all the impact even after blocking with the spear, rolled roughly on the ground. The distance widened, but Yujin had no time to rest. He wasn't alone.
Shadow beasts, emerged to kill and take blood, bit Yujin‘s forearm just before he could dodge. He immediately drew his sword and cut them down, but a punctured wound remained on his forearm, bleeding.
The darkness deepened. To the point where even the stadium lights dimmed. The audience could see Yujin, but Yujin wiped the flowing blood.
But watching Tola, who wasn't attacking, Yujin suddenly realized. It was just faintly visible, but Tola had already taken a stance.
Distance meant time to gather strength.
Tola, having drawn in the darkness, swung his sword. A sword strike thrust at a speed the eye couldn't follow split the ground. Seeing the strike advancing toward the entire earth like a beast going berserk, Yujin gripped his spear.
Unlike the sword, spearmanship specialized solely in breaking through.
From the legs planted on the ground to the thighs, from thighs to torso, from torso to the arm connected to the hand. Yujin envisioned a spear thrust he could deliver with all his might while rotating.
'Crazy, when do I have time to think about all this!'
Thinking wasn't enough. He had to make his body react instantly, as soon as the thought occurred.
He didn't know how many days it took, but Yujin embodied it. To be able to use it in any situation.
Dozens, hundreds of times. He didn't know how many times he had died. What Yujin tried to learn was a technique passed down unchanged for hundreds of years. A technique that couldn't be obtained by seeing it for a moment.
Adjusting and adjusting so there wouldn't be even a minute difference.
Twisting the spearhead, the spear rotates. The spear blade, harboring a storm, shines gold. Toward the myriad of pouring slashes, Yujin threw his body and thrust the spear.
BOOM!
With a loud explosion, the earth shook. Seeing the sight where even light was devoured, people were afraid, but the heat of the duel overwhelmed the fear.
Since the beginning of the Sport Knight system, the fiercest fight.
People cheer. And they yearn. For those who have reached a height they can never reach. Those in Kazimierz who envy knights were watching this battle.
Of course, those who weren't, too.
"Yujin..."
Theresa couldn't find Theresis and Buldrokk, but watching the match from a corner of the stadium, she murmured his name worriedly.
Having spent a lot of time together, she knew well. Yujin's body had reached its limit. Fighting any longer might leave permanent scars.
Kalaisha was the same, fingering her staff while watching the duel. Overcoming trials is the work of a hero, but there is a limit to everything.
On the other side of the stadium, Larin and the others were the same.
'Don't do it. In your current condition, you can't even fight.'
It was what Theresis had said after coldly analyzing the situation. Bleeding from the thigh and side. Excessive use of Arts. Having even used the Stars, there couldn't be anything left.
'But what if I have to?'
'Do you want to become a laughingstock?'
The reason there was little criticism of Yujin was that he had appeared like a rising star and only grasped victory.
But if he lost? And lost unsightly without even showing proper skill? Knowing what words and criticism he would hear as long as he had the race of Sarkaz, he said it.
'No, I promised.'
'...You.'
The eyes Yujin looked at Theresis with were the same as in the past. The eyes that once wanted to change the world. Seeing his friend unchanged, Theresis sighed.
'Fine, go. You stupid bastard.'
That was the end. To make it in time, they ran here, and Yujin's condition was still bad. Even if his body were fine, Yujin was continuing a tough fight.
Buldrokk watched quietly. What was he fighting for? Although he was a close friend he had watched for a long time, he still couldn't understand Yujin.
One who is not a Sarkaz, using the name of a Sarkaz, fighting for the Infected.
A fight with nothing to gain. A world unfair to Infected and Sarkaz. Why does he take the side of the weak?
Although Buldrokk possessed strong power, he still couldn't understand Yujin. Even when asked why, Yujin only smiled lukewarmly and said this.
'The world needs at least one person like me to turn properly.'
Still, he couldn't understand.
Raquelamalin looks at Yujin. Faintly, but in her eyes, clearer than anyone else's, she sees the starlight.
At the end of the starlight is Yujin. He was there. A knight swinging his sword, responding to the duel.
Yujin does not compromise. For the sake of the next time, he does not give up the present. He did not run away with the excuse of for the future.
So he went to Sector Zero and saved the Infected. Even as his body crumbled, he protected the children, Larin, and Sona to the utmost.
Even though he could have escaped alone.
Clasping her hands. Larin clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, praying.
Please, if there is a God.
Leave an honorable result for that knight, and help him return with a smile and victory.
Crunch, grind! Crack!
How many rupturing sounds were heard, how many times did he roll on the ground? Yujin's body was covered in wounds, but Tola didn't have a single scratch. He was still looking at Yujin with eyes of pity.
Now, engaging in an honorable duel risking each other's lives, he knows. Yujin's body is at its limit. To the point where fighting any longer would endanger his life. The knight drew his sword and fought Tola.
Standing before Tola, Yujin staggers up.
'Should I... give up?'
Blood flows before his eyes. His head spins from the accelerated thought. His body screams. It was the result of facing the Armorless Union, the pinnacle of Kazimierz as hunters, head-on.
His right arm holding the sword was already shaking irreversibly. It was the result of blocking meteor-like arrows and squeezing his whole body to thrust the spear.
His left leg, pierced through the thigh, had no sensation now.
But.
Even so.
He came here and grabbed the sword. Only by his own will did he respond to this duel and stand on this arena.
「 Can I become a knight too! 」
「 Master is my hero and knight. 」
"Heh."
He sees the faces of the nameless boy and Kiril.
What those children said and the ideal Yujin wished for coincide.
"After hearing those words... how can I give up."
He looks at the sky. The sky was dyed pitch black by the Darknight Knight. The darkness that even ate the sky waited for Yujin like a guillotine.
However.
The image of the boy asking with an innocent face if he could become a knight as he left the sewers.
The image of the boy in the pile of corpses who couldn't even close his eyes without achieving his dream.
Because it still flickered before his eyes.
"I can't lose. No, I must not lose."
To endure what I have shouldered.
To keep the promise that still looks like a distant dream.
I grab the sword again.
And even if I am hurt and fall again.
I couldn't let go of the sword I held.
The sword stretches forward. The stars that seemed to have lost their power and were emitting weak light shine fiercely once more for the last time.
Two stars connect with a line.
Now before his eyes, there is a path surrounded by hardship and darkness, where the front cannot be seen.
There, there are enemies to defeat and trials to overcome.
「 Where is the Chivalry? 」
「 You already know the answer, Yujin. 」
The third star rises. Clearing the darkness, illuminating the path. The darkness could not swallow the light emitted by the third star.
Stars connect, becoming a constellation. Though still faint, the clearly shining stars were illuminating the arena.
Seeing that, Yujin thinks. He already knows the answer.
Then it is time to say the answer.
「 Fear neither hardship nor darkness. 」
My Chivalry is here.
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