Chapter 252 : Chapter 252
Chapter 252. Overloading (7)
An unsharpened steel sword had stabbed him from behind.
A powerful impact pierced through his entire body. Being a dull training sword called a blunt, it hadn't inflicted a through-and-through wound, but the pain was no less severe, and his wavering vision soon tumbled helplessly to the ground.
He had been stabbed from behind, but as he staggered while falling forward, his body spun around, and before he knew it, his vision was facing the sky as he lay sprawled on his back.
"......"
The girl with water-colored hair, scattered and flowing, blinked as she lay fallen on the ground.
On the ground covered with fresh grass in the early morning, the scent of earth mingled with the clean smell of morning dew, permeating the air.
The smell of the Rhodes lake suddenly pricked his nose.
The moment Enoch caught that familiar scent, he realized it at once. The scenery unfolding before his eyes was that of the Inner World.
Before he knew it, he had been watching the past of the Sword Saint of the Waves.
The soft morning sun shone down upon her incomparably blue, wavy, water-colored hair, making it shimmer and sparkle, while casting a small shadow beside the girl who lay fallen in her silver armor.
A vast training ground of white stone pillars, with enormous blue banners fluttering here and there. Knights clad in silver helms and armor clashed with blue cloaks draped over their shoulders.
The clear ring of steel armor and the clash of swords embroidered the past of Rhodes, and at the very center of it all—
The girl lifted her fallen body, braced herself against the longsword in her hand, and barely managed to kneel.
The Sword Saint of the Waves.
Yet contrary to the title that would one day be bestowed upon one who had reached the pinnacle of the sword, the state of the girl now lying on the ground was covered in dust and wounds.
As if overlapping with the Magical Beast's lance that had just pierced Enoch, the Sword Saint of the Waves had taken a heavy blow to the abdomen and collapsed during training.
Before any strange emotion could well up toward her, understanding of the situation came first.
He had lost consciousness briefly after being stabbed.
Since the erosion had already been resuming, perhaps the moment he was stabbed from behind in reality, he had lost consciousness for just an instant and entered the Inner World.
He already knew from experience that losing consciousness meant entering the Inner World, but he hadn't expected that mid-erosion, he would see memories of the past the moment he entered.
Just then, a dark shadow fell before the girl's eyes, and a pair of feet clad in silver armor approached. Soon, the dignified voice of a woman rang out.
"I was surprised when a young lady of a noble house suddenly decided to enter as an apprentice knight. But this is how it ends."
"Instructor......"
A young and beautiful female knight of Rhodes, her dazzlingly bright red hair bound together and draped over one shoulder, her white skin exposed in places beneath her silver armor.
She strode up to the fallen girl.
Among the Guardian Knights of Rhodes, she was an instructor who trained new knights one-on-one, and the red cloak that symbolized a courageous knight who led the vanguard fluttered in the wind.
"Let me be clear, my lady."
The female knight planted her sword into the ground, straightened her back, and looked coldly down at the girl.
"You have no talent for knighthood — no talent as a swordswoman."
"......That may be so."
"You possess an exquisitely feminine and beautiful body praised in unison even by Victoria's noble society, and a brilliant mind, but those are not the talents that make for an outstanding knight."
The female knight's eyes gleamed with sincerity as if trying to persuade her, and she continued in an upright voice.
"My lady, you know this, don't you? It has been three months since you applied as an apprentice knight and joined the order, yet you have not once properly received even a single blow of my sword in our sparring sessions."
She raised the longsword she had been bracing against the ground up before her eyes.
"The foundation of swordsmanship is physical strength. Among that, the grip strength to handle a sword and withstand an enemy's attacks is critically important. But you, my lady, are far too weak in the strength needed to wield a sword."
"I know."
The female knight shook her head at those words.
"I have trained many knights, but this is the first time I have seen someone whose muscles simply refuse to develop to this degree. Having watched you train with such diligence, I can only conclude that you are constitutionally incapable of building muscle."
"That, too...... I know."
"Then allow me to ask you outright, my lady."
The female knight lowered the longsword she had planted in the ground and aimed it at the girl on the ground.
"Why would you choose to become a Guardian Knight, whose limitations in talent are clear, rather than entering noble society as planned, where you could comfortably receive recognition and esteem?"
The girl hesitated for a moment, averting her gaze, before seemingly making up her mind and raising her head decisively.
"The truth is, it's because there's someone I admire."
At that, the female knight widened her eyes slightly in surprise.
"......Admire? Could you possibly mean the current Knight Commander?"
"Yes. I admired that he possessed the strength to protect himself. When the invaders from Suleiman harmed those I wished to protect, I could do nothing."
"Then, my lady, are you saying there are things you wish to protect with those very hands?"
The image of her Nanny flashed through the girl's mind, and she shook her head. Then, looking up at the female knight who still silently gazed down at her, she spoke with resolve.
"I want to protect this city — at the very least, so that no one else in Rhodes has to go through what I went through."
"Wearing a dress instead of wielding a sword may also be a way to protect the city."
"That's not what I want to do."
The girl, her water-colored hair trailing down her back, slowly shook her head.
"If I truly want to protect the people I wish to protect, then I believe the right choice is not a dress but armor and a sword. That is what I decided."
"Admirable, but foolish."
The female knight lowered her eyes coldly.
"People are born with a thing called talent. And that does not change easily. Accepting your own limitations is also important."
The girl slowly closed her eyes, gripping the sword braced against the ground. She knew better than anyone that the female knight's words were not wrong.
She had admired the knight who saved her, and from that moment resolved to take up the sword and joined the order.
She had judged that in order to truly become someone who could protect others, she needed to grow strong herself, rather than set foot in the world of noble society, rife with pretense and facade.
But she was a human being innately unsuited for combat. She possessed talent in endurance, mental fortitude, and motor reflexes — but that was all.
The muscle strength most crucial for a knight simply would not take hold, and her exceptionally feminine, slender body was not fit to bear armor rather than a dress.
Regrettably, she had been born with talents unsuited for wielding a knight's sword.
And because she knew that better than anyone, the girl lowered her head. Her water-colored hair slipped past her delicate, pale cheeks and cascaded down her neck.
Looking down at the girl whose expression was hidden by her hair, the red-haired female knight continued.
"Among the Guardian Knights of Rhodes, there are female knights like myself. All of them are knights of exceptional skill, and their grip strength is powerful as well. Had you been the same, my lady, I would not be saying this."
"Yes, I'm well aware."
"For that reason, the Guardian Knights, who must defend the fortress city of Rhodes with desperate resolve, are paradoxically the strongest knights — those furthest from death. If one falls in battle, that gap puts the other knights in danger......"
"Instructor."
At that, the girl slowly raised her head.
"I understand the point you're making."
The girl with water-colored hair looked straight at the female knight with her blazing hair, her eyes shining.
"You wish for me to give up, Instructor."
"I will not deny it. You already know, don't you, my lady, that will and ideals alone cannot make everything come true?"
"That may not be the case."
The girl raised her head.
"I've heard about the realm known as the Sword Saint."
"That's......"
"I was told they are swordsmen who reached that realm through a will so strong it could even sever and overturn their own fate."
Beneath the sun of Rhodes, the girl leaned slightly forward, her water-colored eyes sparkling with hope.
"I've heard that among those who reached the Sword Saint's realm in the past, many succeeded in transcending the limitations of their circumstances and their own talent. If only I could reach that realm...!"
"But such ideals are dreams one chases after first becoming a proper swordswoman, my lady."
At the cold words of the female knight, the girl averted her gaze briefly, as if struck at a vital point. Above her, the Guardian Knight of Rhodes pronounced as if passing judgment.
"If I persevere without giving up, someday I can reach the pinnacle of the sword and become a Sword Saint. To harbor such hope — are there not far too many walls of reality to overcome first, my lady?"
The red-haired female knight knelt on one knee, gently took the water-haired girl's hand, and opened her palm.
The girl's skin, soft as silk and white, was covered in scratches and bruises.
The female knight gazed at the palm that had been ravaged by training that bordered on self-abuse, her eyes pained. Then she shook her head slowly.
"Please give up, my lady. Anyone can see that you have done more than enough."
The girl dropped her gaze for a moment at those words and hesitated. Then she shook her head.
"There is one thing you need to correct."
"I'm listening."
The girl with water-colored hair slowly rose to her feet, bracing herself with the sword gripped in both hands against the ground. Then she looked the female knight straight in the eye.
"Stop calling me 'my lady.' I came here to become a Guardian Knight."
At those words — practically a declaration of intent that she would not resign herself, that she would not give up — the red-haired female knight slowly rose from her spot.
"......I can see your resolve is firm."
The next moment, the cold flat of a blade caught the girl's snow-white chin and forced it upward.
Her gaze naturally rose.
There, her eyes met those of the female knight who had lifted the girl's chin with the training longsword. The female knight parted her red lips and declared in a cold tone.
"In that case, from now on, I will treat you accordingly."
***
"D-Direct Linaaaage!!"
"Ah......!!"
April and Nano, who had likewise noticed the ambush, let out short screams that echoed through the air. Only then did Enoch realize he had returned to reality.
Turning to look behind him, his eyes met those of the Experimental Magical Beast that had lunged low and thrust upward from below.
This was no ordinary Magical Beast. It was quite large.
A humanoid Experimental Magical Beast. It wore sleek, jet-black carapace across its body and had an agile-looking build.
Like an assassin clad in armor, sinister green eyes gleamed from within the carapace encasing its dark head.
Judging by its size of roughly 2.5 meters, it was Molt Class.
Even the Carapace Lance sprouting from its arm had an unnerving shape like a sharp crescent. The instant he saw its appearance and behavior, the instinct that this was an individual specialized for assassination and ambush flashed through his mind.
"Direct Lineage!"
The moment he saw April urgently gripping and shouldering her sniper rifle, and Nano frantically waving her hand toward the drone—
Enoch, paying no heed to his pierced abdomen, swung the long axe he had been holding at his hip, whipping it up over his torso and unleashing a massive sweep behind him.
WHOOOOOM—!
The enemy was instantly sent flying, bouncing twice off the ground before the rebound launched it high into the air.
In that instant, April trained her sniper rifle's muzzle on the airborne enemy, snapped her scope into alignment, and pulled the trigger.
CRAAACK—!
A streak of pink light punched through the air and pierced the enemy's abdomen mid-flight.
It instantly generated a massive circular shockwave.
The enemy folded once more in midair under the onrushing shockwave, slamming into a wall with an enormous cloud of dust and a thunderous crash.
The recoil from hurling the enemy with everything he had left Enoch staggering for a moment as he steadied himself. He wrapped one arm around his abdomen, blood dripping in heavy drops, and looked down.
"D-Direct Lineage! Are you okay-mka?!"
Without even turning to look at Nano, who had rushed over from right beside him, Enoch spoke in the calmest voice he could manage.
"No problem. It's not bad — missed the organs."
"But the blood......!"
"It's really not a problem. Focus."
Leaving Nano, who was at a loss and reaching toward him, Enoch turned his head toward the Molt Class Magical Beast that had just been sent flying.
Only then did it occur to him.
Come to think of it, the comms said there were Master Class ones. They never said there weren't other leader-class ones.
"Of all things."
The enemy beyond the billowing dust from the crashed wall was undeniably a dangerous hidden threat.
Even if Molt was the lowest classification among leader-class Magical Beasts, it was still an individual incomparably more dangerous than ordinary beasts.
On top of that, since he had never seen this type of beast in the original work, it was likely a powerful mutant born during the Experimental Subject's infection process.
And now he had to face something like that with a stab wound to the abdomen — not fatal, but still — and with his vision compromised by the inheritance on top of it all.
No matter how he thought about it, it was hard to view the situation optimistically.
What's more, if he also had to protect April the sniper and the reconnaissance-specialized Nano right beside him while fighting that thing—
SCREEEEE—!
Just then, a green glow seeped through the gradually clearing dust, and the Magical Beast that had been sent crashing far behind slowly rose to its feet.
The vicious Green Gleam radiating murderous intent shone sharply through the haze.
Enoch glanced back at April, who was aiming her sniper and slowly backing away, and Nano, who was still approaching with a worried expression.
"Get behind me."
"But, Direct Lineage! With that wound......!"
Amid his senses dulled by the resumption of the inheritance, Enoch spun the axe once and assumed his stance, holding it offset at his hip.
There's no choice. I have no option but to do this.
The instant tension swelled to its breaking point and pierced down his spine, the enemy vanished from before his eyes.
"......!!"
He couldn't even register what had happened.
By the time he realized the Molt Class Magical Beast before him had kicked off the ground several times in irregular bursts at an absurd speed and leapt high into the air, it was already too late.
Tracing a jet-black trajectory like a shadow as it soared skyward, the enemy had already cleared over Enoch's head.
Enoch whipped his head around. He belatedly spotted the enemy's form dropping from the sky, targeting Nano and April behind him first.
The timing had already slowed beyond any hope of reaction.
No. This is bad — it's unimaginably fast.
"Aah......!"
Right before his eyes, April's face twisted into a stricken expression as the shadow bore down upon her and Nano from above, closing in by the second.
What would happen next was as clear as day. The savage slash of the crescent-shaped Carapace Lance would graze past the two slender girls' bodies, ripping them apart in an instant.
The horrific sound of limbs being crushed bored into his ears. Time seemed to crawl.
Upon the battlefield, more victims had been added once again.
Instead of the fate they should have walked in the Official History, it was the gruesome end that awaited the two beautiful girls who had trusted Enoch and chosen to follow him here.
"......Huh?!"
......That was what should have happened.
It should have turned out exactly like that.
"What......"
The very next moment, Nano clutched one hand to her chest, eyes wide, and let out a tiny murmur.
The source of the tremendous noise of something's body being shattered was none other than directly in front of her.
Enoch had lunged into the open air like the wind right before her, inserting himself in an instant, and was now pulling back the axe from which he had just unleashed a massive strike behind him.
A beat later, the pouncing Magical Beast, shattered to pieces by the axe's blow, burst apart.
A thunderous BOOM—! like a shell detonating rang out, and the enemy's carapace-encased head and limbs scattered in all directions, crumbling into black powder.
Time flowed as if in a strange slow motion. Enoch felt an alien sensation staining his body and glanced down at the hand holding the Magic Gear.
In a situation where he should have been too late, he had reacted.
This was something the Enoch of before could never have done. Had he grown again in this brief span of time?
No, it wasn't that convenient a story.
The instant he landed and skidded across the ground, what had happened in the Inner World just moments ago struck his mind like lightning.
'Could it be......'
The Sword Saint's past. They said the erosion was being completely overwritten by the vivid traces of her life and its memories.
Now he understood.
The reason his knowledge and instinct for handling the sword, as well as his baseline reaction speed, had all increased to an insane degree compared to just moments before.
——I'm Synchronizing.
The more his consciousness was eroded by her, the more the supreme realm the Sword Saint of the Waves had once reached flowed proportionally into his body.
The Sword Saint of the Waves, who in the past had reached the pinnacle of the sword. Feeling the pure swordsmanship she herself had achieved gradually staining his body, Enoch understood with certainty.
The card to turn everything around was revealing itself.