Treatise Of A Failed Knight

"Javier..."

The moment I hear Lucien call out my name, the calmness of his tone and the deep intonation in his voice permeating my ears, I feel an absurd surge of strength within me.

The memory of a tragedy flashes inside my head.

Aunt Leila... and the hand that he used to take her life so easily.

Rage swells within me at once.

I grit my teeth and unsheathe my blade, brandishing it within the fraction of a second.

"Frontflow!"

I instantly swap out my Second Layer with my Minute Layer, giving me a minute to execute this man within the second which he exists in.

Then—

WHOOSH!

—I dash at him with full speed.

My ambition soars as I approach his unmoving figure, and I intend to take his life in a single stroke.

Nothing can stop me!

Not even him!

Regardless of how powerful he is, he is only a Leaper.

He can’t be faster than I am!

Not in Frontflow!

Besides, we are also in the Fixed Present, which means killing him now will erase any and all machinations he intends to unleash on the world.

A part of me wonders if it will truly be this simple to eliminate this man.

After all, he is a Rank 3 Leaper while I am in Rank 1!

But I shove that thought aside.

I can do this!

’I CAN WIN!’ With that thought echoing in my mind, and the raging flames of hope swirling in my heart, I swing Golden Dawn with all my might and unleash its blazing energy.

I don’t care about expenditure.

I burn through its reserves and scorch my opponent with as much energy as I can muster within this brief moment. This douses him with searing hot energy while my blade slices through his flesh and severs his neck.

At least, that was how I envisioned it going.

However—

CLANG!

—The moment I slash at him, a loud noise surges forth, its unpleasant reverb filling the world.

As for the burst of energy, as much as it swirls around my target, not even a fraction touches his skin. Instead, the golden flames stop a few inches from him and his attire, dancing and blazing until they turn into flickers of dust.

"W-what?!"

I retry, swinging my blade with all of my strength, but the results remain the same.

Again!

And again!

Nothing changes!

It’s as though an invisible barrier is shrouding him, protecting him from all kinds of harm.

Frustrated and out of time, I retreat while brandishing my blade in the process. My determination is yet to be exhausted, and instead, I fix my observant gaze on him.

The moment Frontflow runs out, I’ll enter a cooldown period.

I’ll need to watch out for his counterattack at that point—at least until I can outpace him again.

Speaking of, I should also activate my Floating Horse Construct next time.

The faster I am, the—

"You’re rather impatient." I suddenly hear Lucien’s voice behind me.

’W-what? But I just—!’

My gaze focuses on the man in front of me, and I quickly realize he is gone.

My Frontflow is also in cooldown.

"You—!" Twisting my body in a hurry, I slash behind me.

However, I encounter the same resistance.

CLANG!

The recoil pushes my body backward, and the unleashed blazing energy completely envelops the man. However, a hand quickly emerges from the golden surge and grabs me by the throat.

"Guh!"

I swing my blade, aiming for his neck once more, but my blade is deflected.

Instead, he emerges from the golden fires unscathed.

His smile remains the same.

Calm.

Gentle and kind... yet oddly condescending.

It’s almost like he is staring at a pitiful creature no different from livestock.

It infuriates me.

I am terribly irritated, and so I swing my blade again and again.

All to no avail.

I can neither escape the man’s grip nor can I injure him with my weapon.

"Are you done now? Hm...?"

The cooldown period of Frontflow quickly passes, and I activate it once again.

This time, I switch my Minute Layer with my Hour Layer.

This gives me an hour within a minute.

I am sixty times faster than this man right now, and I have an hour to defeat him.

However, his grip on my throat is rather strong, and it’s almost like having a statue’s grip pressing against one’s flesh.

I try my best to escape his grip while also slashing and struggling.

But—

"It’s... no use...?!"

Even after several minutes of struggling like this, not a single dent is made on the frozen man’s unbroken figure. Instead, he remains still while I attack freely.

It is at this point that the futility of my actions starts to register.

"Damnit!" Even though I know it is useless, I keep on swinging my blade.

The discomfort in my throat only gets worse.

It’s as though he is tightening his grip during the one minute he has within my Frontflow state.

The process is slow to me, since I am experiencing an hour, but still...

It’s getting more difficult to breathe.

The more I exert myself, the greater the difficulty.

Still, I don’t let up.

I... I can’t!

My opponent is right in front of me.

I have to keep fighting!

Keep hoping!

I can do this—I can eliminate this man and avenge Aunt Leila.

I... can win!

But—

"U-urgh... ahhh... haaa...."

An hour quickly passes, and I have yet to make a single dent in this man.

Then, Frontflow runs out.

Time resumes normally, and Lucien Zevalis maintains his gentle gaze.

His eyes twinkle with amusement.

Almost as though they are mocking me for the futility of my actions. They seem to be telling me:

"See? I told you so. It’s useless."

I tremble.

It isn’t out of fear or despair.

But rage.

Rage and frustration.

Why am I so weak? Even now, I am too powerless to take down my enemy, even if he is right in front of me.

How pathetic!

Among mortals, I am revered as a god.

Even Kings bow down to me in fear, and my power is unmatched in their eyes.

But all of that is an illusion.

Among fellow Leviathans, I am next to nothing.

I am... simply too weak!

Compared to the Adept before me, I might as well be a bumbling child.

No more powerful than a mortal.

"FUCK! FUCK YOU!"

"No need to get so worked up..." Lucien sighs, finally tossing me aside as though I am nothing but garbage.

It is only a casual throw, one that doesn’t even require a lot of strength from him.

Yet—

WHOOOSH!!!

My body is sent flying away from the square and towards one of the surrounding structures.

I gasp in shock.

The way I was thrust aside... the irreverent manner of it.

It feels unreal!

Such an absurd level of strength!

BOOM!

I crash into one of the dilapidated buildings, the brittle wood easily breaking apart upon impact.

Several more pieces of wood shatter as my body keeps crashing into them, tumbling and rolling in the air until I finally reach the other side and land on the empty street.

"Gahh... haa..."

Right as I gasp for air, barely recovering from the sudden pain, I feel a shadow cast over me.

It belongs to none other than Lucien.

"Is that enough to wake you up yet?" He asks with a sweet-sounding voice.

"You... you bastard—!"

WHAM!

Right as I stand to attack him, he sends me a slap that sends me flying in the direction I came from. Once again, after crashing into several pieces of brittle wood and devastated stone, I return to the square.

This time, my body is even more battered and bruised.

"Guargh!"

I cough up blood, feeling my vision blur.

Loud ringing sounds echo in my head, the pitch rising at a painful rate.

I shiver from the pain.

This isn’t the worst kind of pain I have experienced.

Yet—

My body grows weak as a result of the mounting pressure, and I feel Lucien’s shadow resting on my body once more.

"G-gugh..." I slowly lift my gaze and watch him stare coldly at me.

No emotion plays on his face this time.

Not even amusement.

He simply stares.

"You didn’t strike me as a fool, Javier. Don’t disappoint me now." He shakes his head and clicks his tongue, almost like he is frustrated about something.

"W-what...?"

"I suppose Alistair didn’t tell you about my Mystical Characteristics, but he must have at least warned you to flee if you encountered me. If that’s the case, then why do you struggle so much?"

"...."

"You can’t beat me, Javier. You know that, right?"

"You... killed my Aunt..."

"That’s why you’re so worked up?" Lucien sighs once more, as if he is disappointed in my response. He shakes his head while adjusting his monocle, though his gaze remains on me.

"I’ll... kill you..."

"How exactly do you plan to achieve that?" His question hangs in the air for a few seconds, but I cannot bring myself to answer it.

How exactly?

I truly do not know.

Just like the time with Zarius, it appears I am completely out of my depth here.

I don’t know how I can win this battle.

Yet—

"Look, I only came here to talk to you. Granted, it was my intention to agitate you so you could use Frontflow. After all, if you did that, you wouldn’t be able to use Tracing to escape. But you’re being more foolish than I accounted for..."

I struggle to breathe while glaring at him.

I tighten my grip on my blade.

Then—

CRUNCH!

Lucien steps on my hand, crushing all of my bones there without mercy.

"Arrghhh!"

"I wouldn’t have done that if you weren’t so stubborn. Listen, I don’t have much time to spend here. I really just want to talk. If you’re going to keep being difficult, then..."

"I have nothing to talk to you about."

"Are you sure about that?" Lucien’s grin returns. "Aren’t you curious about some things?"

Silence.

I try to refute his words, but I cannot.

He’s right!

I do have several questions, and it’s very likely that he has the answers to them.

Also—

’He said he doesn’t have much time to spend here, right? If I make him waste as much time here, I could somehow impede whatever he has in mind.’ A thought enters my mind. ’There’s also the fact that the Ouroboros Sect is tracking him. If I keep him here for long enough, maybe they’ll be able to track him to this place and rescue me.’

No, maybe that’s too optimistic.

But... at the very least, with Lucien away from the Randalorion Kingdom, perhaps they’ll be able to achieve some good results and destroy his plans.

Regardless, it’s optimal for me and the others that he spends his time here.

’Maybe during this period I can also find his weakness...’

"Whatever you’re scheming, just give up on it. It won’t work on me. I know all the cards you are able to play, Javier, and none of them will be very effective against me. Even Frontflow, your greatest offensive arsenal, is useless if you can’t reach me, right? So just stop struggling, and I’ll treat you with a little bit of decency."

"O-okay..."

Upon hearing me say this, Lucien sighs and finally takes his feet away from my shattered hand.

"See?" He smiles at me. "That wasn’t so hard, was it? If you had done this from the start, none of this would have happened."

"Is that what you told Zarius after burning down his village?" I frown at him.

For a moment, Lucien appears confused.

He stares at me blankly.

Then, after blinking a few times, he smiles and shakes his head.

"Oh, you mean the Exemplar I once got in contact with. The one I awakened, right? So his name was Zarius..."

"You didn’t even know his name?"

"I don’t imagine he would have told me..."

"He must have! The man was talkative, and he told me his name during our first meeting, so it’s highly unlikely that he didn’t tell you."

"Oh? Then maybe he did. But I truly cannot remember. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I came to see you today. I’m having trouble remembering quite a lot of things, and it’s rather vexing. I figured coming here, and perhaps seeing you, would remedy that."

Lucien Zevalis makes a helpless gesture while sighing.

It almost appears like he is in anguish.

But I can’t believe it!

This cruel man, showing some kind of weakness?

It must be a trick of some kind.