Chapter 146 : The Dark Knight of Famine
The Dark Knight of Famine
With Serena's arrival, the Dark Knight was thrown mercilessly to the ground.
When he slammed into the stone wall, it caved in. The impact seemed to make the dungeon tremble, and something resembling blood trickled down heavily from the ceiling.
Is that really human strength?
I knew firsthand how powerful the Dark Knight was. After facing him several times, it was clear his strength was far from ordinary.
But to throw him like that...
"It's simple!"
Seeing my incredulous stare, Serena continued as if she'd read my mind.
"You just have to use your opponent's strength against them!"
Was it really as easy as she made it sound?
And for that to even be possible, you'd need to be incredibly strong yourself.
Suddenly, I recalled Barkal's words.
Gorilla.
Creeeak.
Yet, the Dark Knight stood up as if nothing had happened.
He turned his head, joints groaning with rusted sounds, his demeanor showing that such an impact was insignificant to him.
"You're still sturdy as ever."
Shaking out her wrist, Serena muttered to herself.
"If it were a person or an ordinary monster, just that throw would have easily broken a bone or two. No, it should have been enough damage to snap its neck."
Enough damage to break the neck...
At her words, I looked toward the Dark Knight again.
Strange.
I'd long known of Serena's monstrous strength. An attack like that would have crumpled most armor, and whatever was inside would have been wrecked.
But this guy was totally fine.
Flawless armor. Perfect, unshaken posture.
'Did he even take any damage in the first place?'
No, to be precise—
'Is there even anything inside to take damage?'
Suddenly, a hypothesis flashed through my mind.
"Don't tell me, there's no one inside the armor?"
Serena, hearing my muttering, nodded cautiously.
"... A-As Brother Dmihtan said, that's very likely."
"Empty inside...!"
Barkal looked taken aback, confusion all over his face. Was he flustered by the idea that what he was facing might be a 'ghost'?
"Then if I get inside, does that mean I could obtain that monster's strength?!"
There he goes again, spouting nonsense.
"After so long, let's see who wins, monster!"
Barkal proclaimed, facing the Dark Knight.
"Your strength! I'll take it all for myself—consider it a privilege!"
Hoisting his axe on his shoulder, Barkal burst into hearty laughter.
At that moment, a crimson glow flashed between the Dark Knight's helmet visor.
His gaze moved from Serena to Barkal, and finally locked onto me.
* 〈Descendant of the fallen king.〉
Wavering, sacred script shimmered into sight.
No doubt about it.
The Dark Knight was speaking to me.
* 〈Bearer of the Shard of the Crown.〉
The Dark Knight spun his halberd, pointing its tip in my direction. The Shard of Vespers I kept at my chest began to glow.
Why was this lighting up?
Did it have a glow-in-the-dark feature or something?
* 〈Gather the Rune of the Abyss and rebuild the resplendent kingdom.〉
A resplendent kingdom?
What is he talking about?
While I was questioning the text, the Dark Knight began spinning his halberd, readying his stance.
Any trace of courteousness he'd shown up to now had vanished.
Smash!
Hardly had he finished speaking when the Dark Knight charged.
He's fast.
That physique, moving at that speed?
It was shockingly fast, both before and now.
― Dodge low to your right, master!"
In my confusion, chunsik gave advice from my hand.
Before I could process it, I bent my right knee, dropping to the right just as he said.
Just then, the Dark Knight's halberd whooshed past my head. The gust alone sent chills down my spine.
"Who are you looking at now?!"
While I dodged the halberd, Barkal dashed in at the Dark Knight.
Wielding the World's Precipice without hesitation, he struck the Dark Knight squarely in the side with his axe.
Clang!
A massive blow.
Back in Iushil, Barkal's attacks had landed but didn't deal damage.
But this time is different. The Dark Knight, tottering atop his black horse, had clearly felt the shock.
There was no doubt about the impact.
"Kuhahaha! Now that's a proper hit!"
While Barkal laughed, the Dark Knight steadied himself and swung the other end of his halberd at Barkal's torso.
*【Skeleton exoskeleton activated.】*
Luckily, the skeleton exoskeleton absorbed the blow. Though the exoskeleton cracked and Barkal was knocked back, he was unharmed.
"Kuhaha! Brother! I had faith in you!"
"Enough thanks, attack again!"
"My specialty indeed!"
Barkal laughed and struck again—targeting the Dark Knight's arm.
Clang!
This time, the Dark Knight blocked with his halberd.
But his stance wavered.
Clearly,
Unlike when we first encountered the Dark Knight in Iushil, Barkal had grown stronger.
Probably thanks to his experiences on the journey,
And his resonance with Thrag.
Of course, Barkal wasn't the only one who had grown.
"E-Excuse me!"
While Barkal unsettled the Dark Knight's balance, Serena slipped in toward the side of the black horse.
Thud!
A single punch.
That alone caved in the horse's side.
Neigh!
Losing its balance, the black horse stumbled. Yet even in that precarious situation, the Dark Knight instinctively swung his halberd.
A chilling slash raced toward Serena's vital point, precisely targeted.
― Master, his left side is open."
A voice rang in my mind. Seeing his focus on Serena, I plunged the Blood-Colored Awl deep into his thigh.
Thunk!
A solid resistance vibrated at my fingertips.
Even without the Shard of Vespers, this Blood-Colored Awl could hurt him. The sharp awl pierced in, and fierce red light flickered inside his helmet.
"Hyaaah!"
For a moment, the Dark Knight's body wavered, and Serena landed another punch to the black horse's neck.
Crunch!
A sound of bones shattering.
The black horse's neck twisted at a strange angle, and its front leg folded.
Its body collapsed, and the Dark Knight was knocked to the ground as well.
"Well done, Serena."
"Heh, hehe."
"Brother, I too gave it my all!"
"Well done, Barkal."
A brief moment of respite.
As we exchanged words, the Dark Knight rose to his feet.
Without pause, he stabbed his fallen black horse with his halberd.
From within, 'tendons' began to snake their way into the Dark Knight's body.
Was this the reason the dead black horse could rise again? Apparently, he had functioned all along using these 'tendons.'
"What in the—!"
Watching, Barkal let out a sigh of disbelief.
"That stallion! I meant to make him Krunga's companion! And to think those disgusting tendons were behind it all!"
Why would you introduce such a monster to Krunga? That can't be good for our little one's mental health.
And another thing—
Krunga is female?
* * *
Countless tendons extended out from the black horse's body.
They slithered into the gaps in the Dark Knight's armor.
The problem was, it wasn't just one or two tendons.
There were easily twice as many as those I'd seen with the barbarians.
If all of these returned to the Dark Knight's body, I couldn't begin to imagine how strong he might become.
Could he really be evolving?
Crash!
"Who waits for their enemy to grow stronger?!"
At that moment, Barkal charged and brought the World's Precipice down on the Dark Knight.
The tendons being absorbed caused the Dark Knight to falter.
"Kuhahaha! I make my own opportunities!"
Again,
Crash!
"This one's for Krunga!"
Wait a second.
Wasn't it an unspoken rule to watch quietly during an evolution sequence?
In all the comics I'd seen, the heroes always stood by as enemies transformed forms.
Thud!
"I-In the end, standing still is practically asking to be hit!"
Serena joined in, attacking the Dark Knight as he continued absorbing tendons.
"Dr-Drmihtan, you should hit him, too! The tendons will come out!"
As if I hadn't thought to do that.
"Hurry up!"
Sssht.
Ah, whatever!
Gripping the Blood-Colored Awl, I started stabbing the Dark Knight as he took in the tendons.
"Kuhaha! Is this really that monster I once saw? More like a scarecrow!"
Clang, clang!
Crash!
Thunk!
Is this a dream, or reality?
That Dark Knight—the one we'd suffered so much escaping from in the Iushil underground dungeon—
Now we were beating and stabbing him as if he were a drum. It felt unreal.
Proof of how much we'd grown. And, at the same time—
'We got complacent.'
A perfect example of why you shouldn't evolve in front of your enemies.
"Take this!"
Barkal's axe struck the Dark Knight's helmet head-on.
With a metallic crash, the helmet flew up high.
All three of us looked at where the Dark Knight's head was supposed to be.
As expected, there was no head.
Instead—
Dozens, hundreds of tendons twisted together in a throbbing mass.
No wonder he could survive having his neck broken.
And at the very center, glowing red, was a magic array—etched there as if to bind all the tendons together.
The moment we saw it, Barkal, Serena, and I realized instinctively.
That was the very heart that made the Dark Knight so impossible to kill.