CHAPTER 299

Laikanos watched as the advance of the Cultists was halted.

There was a man fighting a Dire Wolf with his bare hands, so it was impossible not to notice him.

"Roar!"

The man took the Dire Wolf's front paw to his chest but responded with a booming laugh.

"Hahaha! That feels refreshing!"

What kind of body could withstand the blow of a beast's paw with only a few bruises and scratches?

Though his chest was bruised yellow, it seemed even more unnatural.

Under normal circumstances, he should have been crushed.

Nevertheless, after withstanding the beast's blow, the man used his own paw.

Bam!

"Does that feel refreshing too?"

What exactly was refreshing about that?

It was astonishing to see the beast stagger from the man's strike.

'Is he insane?'

And he wasn't the only one. The advance of the Cultists was chaotic.

They were unable to fight properly.

What was the reason? Laikanos could sense it.

There was a problem with their command.

The Cults were one thing, but this side was filled with formidable individuals.

There was that guy, Encrid, whom they failed to kill.

There was also a swordsman who single-handedly slaughtered and slashed through the unit Laikanos had personally trained.

'That guy is also no joke.'

He had fought him once, and it was clear he wasn't inferior to him. Would the quickest sword work on him?

Laikanos had his doubts but didn't feel like testing it.

Whether it worked or not, he didn't want to exchange his final strike with that man.

Was this his last selfish desire?

Or was it the warrior's fighting spirit that he had long denied?

'What does it matter?'

He never imagined his end would be like this.

"Let's finish this just between the two of us."

Laikanos spoke, addressing Encrid, who had stepped aside.

It wasn't that the blonde opponent wasn't worthy, but he wanted to choose his end.

'The first one who blocked my sword.'

The one who had kept up with his quickest sword remained in his mind.

He had resolved to kill him, but this was the first time he had failed.

No, the second time. But the first one who escaped wasn't a swordsman.

So it felt like the first.

The Knight should be considered an exception.

Encrid stared at him blankly.

Laikanos saw him stand on unsteady legs, gripping and regripping his sword.

What did that posture and attitude reveal?

It was the image of a man who wouldn't retreat and continued to move forward.

'I shouldn't have left him to my subordinates.'

That was the mistake.

'Let's fight.'

It wasn't that he was determined to kill Encrid because it was his last.

He was just someone Laikanos wanted to face again.

The fighting instinct, the youthful vigor he thought he'd forgotten, awakened within him.

Had Encrid imitated his speed? A genius, they said?

If so, let him face the sword Laikanos had honed. Let's see who is faster.

That was all.

Laikanos' eyes gleamed. They sparkled like stars. These were not the eyes of a man who had given up.

Encrid, having caught his breath, gripped his sword once more. Now he was ready. It was a simple preparation.

"Let's do this."

Encrid did not refuse. There was no reason to.

He too wanted to clash once more.

As Encrid stepped forward, Ragna cut down the surrounding subordinates, ensuring no one else would approach. That was enough.

Encrid stood, limping. His leg was already far from normal.

Laikanos wasn't in perfect condition either.

He had rushed to block Ragna's sword and had his right shoulder slashed.

Blood was dripping profusely.

The two stood facing each other.

Between them, sleet began to fall. The snowfield was growing denser.

"You're still keeping that thing wrapped around your stomach?"

Laikanos asked. Encrid nodded.

He had a wrapped item that had saved his stomach from being pierced several times.

Laikanos nodded back, his thoughts focused.

'The target is set.'

He lowered his arm. With explosive strength, he would strike in a single thrust. One point, just one point. He would mark that point with the most optimal movement. That would end it.

End? Would that be the end? To win and then die? Now that he saw him again, this opponent didn't seem so formidable.

So, should he end it here? Why should it end?

Laikanos changed his mind.

'After it ends, I'll pick up the pieces again.'

He never thought of an end as truly final, and that was why he had survived until now. The will to live, the things he had achieved, the things he had yet to achieve, what he had left behind, and what would become his in the future.

Laikanos' eyes grew cloudy.

Just as the pure white snow mixed with the blood and dirt on the ground to become murky, so too did his vision.

Yet his determination remained as sharp as a well-honed blade. Razor-sharp and keen.

Laikanos also wielded his 'Will'. His 'Will' was focused in his arm.

At the moment when the strength in his extended arm was imbued with willpower, it became the quickest sword.

Laikanos realized he was ready and began to swing his sword back and forth.

The strange, pendulum-like movement drew Encrid's attention.

Encrid, however, was slightly different from usual.

'How fast was it?'

There was a time when Rem's axe seemed as fast as a bolt of lightning.

But his opponent's sword surpassed mere lightning speed, it pierced through in a flash.

Thanks to that, Encrid could no longer use his right arm properly.

Suddenly, Encrid recalled the moment he saved a child.

A child who wanted to become an herbalist.

He had saved that child thanks to a skill that concealed his intent.

Should he do the same now?

No, that wasn't it.

No. Encrid wanted to cross swords.

He wanted to test his sword against the quickest, the fastest sword.

'To embrace it.'

To grasp, internalize, and master it.

Today's repetition had its purpose.

It had allowed him to chase down two rabbits running in opposite directions, one after the other.

Now was the time to catch the second rabbit.

The Heart of the Beast began to pound. The moment he recognized his opponent's speed, his tense muscles relaxed.

It was a feat possible only with courage.

His arm and hand, properly tensed, gripped the sword softly and aimed it forward.

The tip of his longsword rose diagonally from below, pointing toward the sky.

Next was the technique of senses. He added intent to the Sense of Evasion. The intent he needed to apply now was singular—to thrust.

The focus sharpened through single-point concentration would explode in force the moment he swung his sword.

The body, honed through the Isolation Technique, was the foundation supporting all of this.

Encrid recognized, understood, and then let go of all this.

He erased everything from his mind except for the opponent before him.

Who he was, who his opponent was, and what this was for—he erased it all.

Only the fast sword remained.

Whoosh.

The wind surged. A sword faster than the wind was already at Laikanos' throat.

Thud!

A sound like flesh being torn echoed, and Encrid collapsed as if his body were crumbling.

As he fell to the ground, the ferryman appeared before him like an apparition.

Hovering in the air, with only his upper body visible between the falling snowflakes, the ferryman asked:

"Does it feel that good?"

A smile had already spread across Encrid's face.

At the very last moment, as he thrust his sword, he felt something akin to a refusal.

It was a will, a 'Will'.

But it wasn't imbued in his arm. This time, the 'Will' had imbued itself into the 'moment'.

For just an instant, it traveled from his toes up through his knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, and finally to his fingertips.

In that single moment, Encrid's sword was faster than Laikanos'.

* * *

Graham did not hold back even in the face of the assassin's attack. He did not retreat from the battlefield and displayed great valor.

"Don't fall back!"

In the midst of the chaos, Dunbachel had stormed in, turning the battlefield upside down, and Sinar was slitting the throats of the enemy's mercenaries.

They were caught up in the frenzied battle.

"There, that's the enemy Commander."

His bodyguard and adjutant spoke, pointing. Behind the adjutant, who had his helmet pressed down low, Graham indeed saw the enemy Commander.

And standing before him was Encrid.

The two facing each other, with Ragna cutting down the surroundings in a frenzy, created an atmosphere that instantly drew all attention to them.

Graham, who had been driving back the enemy, paused.

They weren't crossing swords, nor were they holding blades to each other's throats.

Yet, just looking at them made Graham's hands sweat.

The tension made the hair on his body stand on end.

The sweat running down his face felt cold.

He couldn't see the falling snow. Unconsciously, Graham focused on the two of them.

Half of the soldiers watching were in a similar state.

It was as if a storm was drawing in all their attention.

This was the result of the 'Will' of the two, but few knew the reason why.

'Ah.'

Graham felt a sense of dread. The enemy Commander's sword was terrifying.

'He's going to die.'

He could almost see Encrid's death.

Though they hadn't moved yet, it was clear that if the enemy Commander did, it would be Encrid who would be skewered. Without a doubt.

'No!'

He had to intervene.

This wasn't where Encrid should die. They needed to save him. Was there any need to risk his life in this fight? There wasn't.

But, of course, Graham had no chance to step in.

Without any sign or signal, the enemy Commander and Encrid suddenly moved.

They crossed swords in a thrust.

No, they passed by each other. Even though Graham didn't blink, he couldn't see their swords executing their intended moves.

The battle was over as soon as it started.

He couldn't see the process, but the result was clear.

"Ah."

Graham let out a small gasp.

He was that surprised. It was that unexpected, and there was also a mix of relief.

For he saw Laikanos, that man, collapse.

Encrid wasn't unscathed either. Blood was pouring from his neck. But he calmly stemmed the bleeding with one hand and turned his head to show he was still standing.

"Good!"

Graham instinctively slammed his fist against his thigh.

"Mad Company Commander!"

"Ugh, Commander of Agony!"

The soldiers and Graham's bodyguards, who had been watching, let out something akin to cheers.

Everyone's hearts were swelling with pride.

They had won!

Graham thought the tide of the battle had turned in their favor.

It was over.

Perhaps the complacency was natural. No, Graham wasn't the one who let his guard down. It was his bodyguards who did.

Bang!

Suddenly, dirt exploded behind Graham.

Three assassins who had been hiding in the ground emerged.

Swoosh!

The three assassins simultaneously thrust their blades toward Graham's back.

Out of the three, only one succeeded in their mission.

Thud!

The three assassins burst out of the ground simultaneously, but two of them had their heads sliced off by a sword resembling a leaf.

When she had appeared was unclear, but a Fairy Company Commander had soared through the air, swinging her sword. The leaf-like blade arced through the air and swiftly severed the heads of two assassins.

"Never let your guard down."

It was the Fairy Company Commander who spoke as she wielded her sword.

She had stayed close to Graham at Krais' request.

The Fairy had fulfilled her duty.

However, the third assassin was tenacious. He sacrificed his arm to the Fairy's sword, allowing him to thrust a short spear with his remaining hand, stabbing Graham in the back.

Thud!

The tip of the spear was coated in poison.

"Damn it." 

Graham cursed, gritting his teeth as he staggered back.

Though the wound wasn't a full penetration, it was deep.

"For a new world."

The assassin uttered his final words. Without hesitation, Sinar swung the leaf-like blade again.

The Fairy's blade beheaded the assassin.

* * *

Laikanos, still collapsed, witnessed it all.

He felt the approach of death.

The reasons he had come this far, the circumstances, the process—none of it came to mind.

He was only left with regrets.

'Brother.'

He spoke inwardly.

His throat was pierced, so no words escaped his lips.

Lying there, he watched as his subordinate stabbed the enemy Commander in the back and then died. Naturally, his gaze turned upward, and he saw the snow falling heavily. Even his eyes filled with blood, turning the white snow crimson. Everything around him began to be stained red.

As he was dying, Laikanos recalled a moment from the past.

"If you're going to be a thief, be one who steals the throne. We'll create a new world. We'll seize freedom."

Did being born a serf mean he had to give his life too?

Should he accept oppression as a given just because he had nothing?

Was it inevitable to be robbed by those with power?

If that was the case, then he would live the same way.

"We will become Kings."

A band of thieves stealing the throne.

The beginning of the Black Blade Bandits.

Laikanos was the sworn brother of the leader and the symbol of their strength.

As he lay dying, he thought:

'Is this the world we dreamed of, Brother?'

The corruption happened quickly. Once they gained power, Krona, and influence.

They had vowed to steal the throne and open a new world.

The promise to ensure that no one else would suffer the same pain had long since disappeared. It had melted away like snow.

Laikanos saw a shining door through the falling snow.

As the door opened, he saw his sister, who had died young, and his siblings and parents.

His sister had been taken by the lord and killed because they couldn't pay the taxes.

His parents were murdered by robbers simply because they had nothing.

All of them, with blood streaming from their eyes and noses, welcomed him.

"It's too late, my son.Go to hell."

Laikanos' eyes closed.

Just beneath where his family stood, he saw where he was destined to go. A river of dark red flowed beneath the shining door.

He surrendered himself to the river leading to hell.

The blood river that surged beyond the door welcomed him.