Surviving as a Knight in a Trash Game

Chapter 190

The monster’s tentacles were surprisingly fast, and the aura that touched its tentacles shattered as if it were being eaten.

‘Troublesome.’

Seeing the aura shatter upon impact, I created auras of various strengths and continuously clashed them with the monster’s tentacles.

‘It can’t break everything.’

Like a kind of shock absorption, the tentacles were breaking the aura’s energy, but they couldn’t completely break an aura that contained a certain amount of power. The proof of that was the traces of the aura touching the tentacles here and there.

However, it was literally just a trace, at a level that couldn’t inflict significant damage on the tentacles. An ordinary Master-grade knight would be helpless against that tentacle monster right now.

If I hadn’t reached my current realm, I wouldn’t have lasted long and would have had my body pierced by the tentacle monster.

‘A disgusting feeling.’

When I clashed with the tentacles, I felt the flow of my qi being obstructed. What should I say. It was as if someone had placed an obstacle in a well-flowing stream, blocking the water path and forcing it to flow elsewhere, breaking the flow.

“Hwooooooo!”

They made a crying sound like the wind. It was like a light whistle, unfitting for its size.

‘Where….’

An aura of much higher purity than before formed on my sword. I, who had swung the transparently clear golden aura, advanced my body straight towards the creature.

[Karl Meyer Style. Transcendence. Phantom Slash.]

My body and sword seemed to have multiplied into hundreds, thousands, and at some point, my body appeared on the opposite side of the gray monster.

While my body multiplied and created phantom-like images, the gray monster’s tentacles swung over a hundred times at a speed invisible to the eye.

Thud.

The tentacles, which had been swinging so fast that they left afterimages, felt like they stopped at some point, and two of the four tentacles were cut and fell to the ground.

The fallen tentacles strangely disappeared in an instant, leaving no trace, as if they had never existed in this world.

“Kieeeeeek!”

The creature, as if it also felt pain, writhed in pain from its severed tentacles with a metallic screech. Then at some point, it seemed to get angry and showed an angry expression, then began to fly towards me, rotating its body.

Its body rotated, and its tentacles also rotated, approaching me in an instant. It was a bizarre movement I had never seen before. I thought the monster’s appearance was somewhat ridiculous and lightly raised my sword.

[Karl Meyer Style. Transcendence. Earth Severance.]

For a moment, it felt as if the world was covered in my aura, and a huge energy fell downwards. The rıghtful source is Nove1Fire.net

Creeeeak.

In that instant, the rotation of the rotating gray monster gradually stopped, and its torso began to be torn and crushed.

“Kieeeee… eeeee… eeeeeeeek!”

The creature screamed and struggled to resist the energy I had dropped. But no matter how much it tried to escape, my energy pressed down and crushed it, literally squashing it.

“Hweeeeyooo.”

I don’t know when they had dealt with the gray monsters, but Bastien and the Pope, who had dealt with three monsters, whistled in admiration at the final blow I had delivered.

“You’re a real monster, you are.”

“I’m telling you, that one’s not human.”

Bastien and the Pope, I don’t know when they had gotten so close, but they were getting along well, calling each other brother.

“Let’s try to clean up the rest of them, brother.”

The Pope, wearing a bearskin and raising his iron fists, threw himself forward with the white-haired Bastien.

Kwaaaaaang!

With the sound of something exploding somewhere, the two old men, overflowing with energy, flew around, and the monsters began to be smashed by them.

***

“We won!!!”

“We wooooooon!!!!”

The people who had won the battle against the monsters, including the knights, shouted. It was the moment of the greatest victory since the monster invasion had begun in earnest, and the moment of achieving humanity’s greatest recent feat.

The news of the victory in the west soon spread throughout the continent. And people were full of stories praising me, who was at the center of the miraculous victory.

“It’ll be alright now. As long as Lord Karl is here, we will win, that’s what I’m saying.”

“The east and south will also be cleared up soon. If that happens, we can go back to how things were before.”

People cherished the hope that they would be able to return to their hometowns.

While people continued to praise me and the expeditionary force day after day, a meeting was being held in a relatively calm atmosphere within the expeditionary force.

How to stabilize the recovered west. Stories about how to continue with the personnel who would defend the west and the vacuum of a ruler in the west were the main topics.

“Marquis Nigel will have to work hard.”

Out of the 2,000 knights of the west, 1,000 had volunteered to accompany me on the expedition, and the remaining 1,000 were deployed evenly throughout the west to contribute to the stability of the west.

In case they exploited the domain residents of the west or caused problems, the Arthur Domain army, Count Vito’s army, and Skoshi and the existing knights of the Marin Domain, who had entrusted themselves to Count Vito and then joined my expeditionary force, were organized to move for stabilization.

Marquis Nigel was to oversee all of them and lay the foundation for the west to be stabilized once again.

“This should be enough, I think.”

When the foundation for the stabilization of the west, which had continued for nearly a month, was somewhat laid, Marquis Nigel left a single word. At his words, I decided on the southern expedition three days later without a moment's hesitation.

“Those who want to rest more can rest. Those who want to go back can also go back. If you want to go together, the departure is in three days, so keep that in mind.”

I, who had finished speaking plainly without adding or subtracting anything, turned my body. The leaders present let out a short, deep sigh and began to pack their gear for the expedition.

“Are you going too?”

A western army knight who had shared a room for a long time in the barracks where the knight order was staying asked a senior knight.

“Of course.”

“Anyway, no one will recognize you later.”

“That might be so.”

“Then why are you going out of your way to suffer?”

“After becoming a knight, you know. I lived without knowing why I became a knight until now. These days, I think I kind of know.”

“…You’re not a child, is this the time to be looking for romance? If you settle down in the west now, you might be able to secure a small domain lordship, you know.”

“That wouldn’t be bad either. I’ll visit later, so don’t give me the cold shoulder.”

“Senior….”

The junior knight in the barracks, Aliang, sighed as he looked at his senior, Frank.

‘That’s just bravado. If you die like that, no one will recognize you. In the end, after the expedition, you’ll be broke. There’ll be nothing left. Aliang, just get a small domain somewhere. Let’s eat well and live well. You’ve done a lot, even doing the western expedition.’

Frank did not think that Aliang’s thoughts were wrong. He himself had thought of doing so countless times and had reversed his decision again and again.

In fact, even while packing his gear now, he was also wondering if living like Aliang was the right thing to do. There was also the thought that, as his junior said, in the end, no one would recognize him.

Everyone will only remember Lord Karl. They won’t remember the knights who were with him.

Still, Frank did not stop packing his gear. When he thought about what he would regret more, he thought he would regret not being with me now.

“Phew… do as you please. It’s your life, senior….”

Aliang sighed as if he was frustrated, but Frank, who had already finished packing his gear, leaned his head on the bed with a light heart. And so, the promised day of departure dawned.

“You’re going too?”

“Hey, Frank. You’re going?”

“It turned out that way.”

Frank smiled as he saw the familiar faces of his comrades.

“Aliang?”

“No, I thought you were going to get a small domain and live comfortably. Why are you here again?”

His comrades grumbled and approached Aliang, who had packed his gear, and poked him in the side.

“No, well. I couldn't sleep properly because my heart was uneasy after sending all the old folks off, so that’s why.”

As Aliang spoke curtly and awkwardly, the senior knights around him ruffled his hair and embraced him tightly.

“Ah, what are you doing, you grown men, so creepy?”

“Honestly, so dishonest.”

Even though he said he didn’t like it on the outside, Aliang’s expression looked brighter than ever.

“Well, I’m here too, so don’t even think about dying first. You have to live for my share too.”

“Stop talking nonsense and just stick to the back.”

Frank patted Aliang on the shoulder, smiled brightly, and turned his body. And so, with countless named knights, my western expeditionary force had at some point changed its name to the southern expeditionary force and began to ride towards the south.

***

“Did you hear this time? The number of people who departed with Sir Karl towards the south is a whopping 2,000. And they’re all composed of knights.”

The domain residents of the central, northern, western, and eastern regions tilted their glasses as they talked about me going down to the south. The atmosphere of drinking in a tavern, I don’t know how long it’s been, the situation on the continent had been that serious.

“I heard there’s talk that His Majesty the Emperor will grant him a title?”

“Huh? Isn’t he already a Count?”

“So that means he will be promoted, I guess.”

“Then will he be a Marquis now, not a Count?”

“I suppose so.”

While rumors were circulating that Ellenhower had held a meeting about my promotion, I and the southern expeditionary force continued to move south, defeating monsters.

The south had fewer knights than the west, but instead, there were quite a few unknown individuals such as monks from monasteries, inquisitors, and holy knights.

As it became widely known that the Pope was at the forefront of this southern expedition, these people constantly flocked to join the Pope.

And so, another 10 months passed. A much larger number of monsters had appeared in the south than in the west, and now the number of gray monsters called Gray Demons was also incomparably larger than in the west, so the expedition took longer.

“The southern expedition is slowly coming to an end.”

Everyone nodded at Kelvin’s words, which felt like a world of difference.

“When we finished the western expedition, I thought we could go back soon.”

Out of the 2,000 personnel who had departed at that time, 200 more knights had been sacrificed. Of course, with the people who had joined from the south, the number of personnel had grown to a whopping 4,000.

In memory of the victims, I had a lily engraved on all their armor and also had a lily engraved on their surcoats. And I declared that I would provide a pension to support the families of the fallen with a certain amount of money.

All the western knights agreed to this decision, and all the western and southern knights, nobles, and commoners who had participated in the expedition gathered to create something called the Lily Foundation.

All these ideas started with me, and the Lily Foundation developed into an organization that received a certain amount of support from its members and took care of the families and people of those who had participated in the war.

Thanks to that, people were able to know who had participated in the expedition, and since their lily emblem was only recognized if it was the lily engraved by the dwarf meister of the Arthur Domain, it gained a value that could be proudly passed down for generations.

So much so that the value of clothes or armor with a genuine lily emblem engraved was traded at a price several times more expensive than an ordinary dwarf-made full-body armament.

Anyway, thanks to that, the knights were able to fight with the pride that even if they died here, it would not be a meaningless death, and with the sense of security that their families could spend the rest of their lives comfortably.

Boooooong!

A huge horn sounded, and led by me, the southern expeditionary force rode towards the final battle. Among them were Frank and Aliang, who had been together since the start of the western expedition.

“Brother! See you after the battle!”

The two, who had gone from senior and junior to brothers, charged towards the enemy without hesitation. The final battle in the south, unlike the other battles before, developed with utmost ferocity.

And a considerable number of knights also fell on the battlefield.

“Aliang! Watch your back!”

“Brother! To your side!”

Aliang and Frank, as if they had been in sync for a long time, complemented each other’s sides and rears and steadily cleared away the endlessly surging monsters.

“Aliang, Frank, dodge! It’s a Gray Demon!”

A Gray Demon could take the life of even a Superior-grade knight in an instant if they were not careful, so when one appeared, they had to get out of the way somehow.

Having been in sync for a long time, they kicked off the ground and moved to get out of its range as much as possible before the Master-grade or higher knights came out.

“Frank!! No!!”

The demon that had fought with me in the west in the past raised its tentacles and extended them towards Frank. Seeing the tentacles heading towards him, the knights shouted in distress, but it was already too late for Frank to dodge.

“Brother…!”

Aliang also confirmed the tentacles flying towards Frank along with his comrades. As soon as he realized that there was no way to get Frank out of the tentacles’ path, he threw himself in that direction.

“Keoook!”

“Aliang!!!”

Frank, seeing the tentacle that had pierced Aliang’s torso and was sticking out, momentarily dropped the weapon he was holding and grabbed Aliang’s torso.

“Uh… ugh… uh…!”

Frank held the crumbling body of his younger brother and choked, unable to speak.

“Bro…ther… ru…n….”

Aliang uttered one last word to Frank. Frank couldn’t leave his younger brother and stopped in his tracks. His comrades thought that Frank too would be lost tragically.

In that instant, a golden aura split the tentacled Gray Demon, designated as a grade 3, in half in an instant.

Even in a situation where he should have felt a sense of relief at being saved, Frank’s gaze was only on the fallen Aliang. He held the now breathless body of Aliang and sat down blankly on the spot.

I, who had cut down the Gray Demon and had looked at Frank for a moment, quietly turned my body. I knew better than anyone that no words would be of use right now.

Frank remained frozen on the spot like a stone statue for a long time. And so, after the fierce battle ended, amidst someone’s sacrifice and someone’s sorrow, the terrible monster wave also came to an end.