Chapter. 21. Another Solo Play (23)
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Combat is the act of avoiding the opponent’s attack and targeting your attack at the opponent.
Buwaaagh-!
In order to avoid the mace swinging with a terrifying sound, you must observe where it is aiming on your body. If the battle has reached a level where the weapon being wielded leaves an afterimage, the observation will be focused not on the weapon but on the person wielding it.
Whoops!
“You’ve gotten really bad.”
This means that in order not to end up like the other knights who were crushed before, they had to keep in mind everything about Frauk, who was completely destroyed.
For example, he swings his broken body like a broken doll with enough force to hit the hard flagstone floor and shoot it out like a buckshot.
Blood is gushing out like a fountain through the distorted armor, or
it is an image of the mace being raised once again while muttering an incomprehensible prayer.
‘I cannot handle power as delicately as before.’
I remembered fighting with him in Yongin City. The triple strike, which smashed the three small flowers that appeared on the cursed knight’s body by swinging them from different directions almost simultaneously, was enough to elicit admiration even in that urgent situation. It occurred to me that the human body could be controlled to that extent through training.
It was different now. The precise power that had been used to bend the trajectory of the mace three times at a right angle, which was being swung with all its might, was all being poured into one attack.
Quaaaang!
Patter!
Another attack missed, and pieces of shattered flesh were scattered all over my stumbling body from the shock wave.
‘It’s a body about to collapse. A little shock will be enough to subdue him…!’
The reason I took out a cheap bomb to suppress him, who had already gone crazy, was to lighten my burden.
Toad!
A round magic bomb fell at my feet.
‘The basement of the temple was accessible only through narrow stairs.’
It has been about 18 hours since I left the temple.
If Frauch had been able to deal with the incoming imperial army for 18 hours, it was quite possible for him to have survived. No matter the number of opponents, you would only have to deal with the one person you encountered on the stairs.
Huh!
While my hands were free for a moment, Frauch’s gauntlets flew towards my people.
‘They said that when Nigmi’s legion moved, all the forces in the castle city headed toward the canyon.’
The emperor would have ordered to strike Mutt in the back. When I stepped back into the darkness of the canyon, Frauk must have encountered the imperial army retreating from the temple, exhausted.
Kwasik!
The sound of bones breaking inside a thrown gauntlet. Instead, the paladin’s mace swung towards my wide open body.
‘And Frauch headed towards the imperial castle.’
A battle that ended suddenly.
I am left alone among the saints and brothers whom I crushed with my own hands.
What did Frauch, who did his duty and gave up life, think in that quiet devastation?
If only I had stayed with him instead of leaving him alone. Has something changed?
Buuuuung-!
The mace swings. To the place where the bomb was dropped where I was.
This is a ridiculous assumption. The reason he survived was because I moved the Mute Army, and even if that wasn’t the case, remaining in the temple basement with him was an absurd choice.
But I realized that there was also a selfish thought in my head, ‘I have to live to complete my plan.’
If killing him here was the result of another choice I had to make, I wanted to run away.
I just wish the paladin caught up in this tragedy would survive. If only the cheap magic bomb had damaged him enough to collapse from exhaustion.
Crack.
It feels like time has slowed down. The magic tool crushed by the mace was crushed, and magic light came out through it. A cheap and unusually dark magical power that poor Pathfinders like to use.
‘…How many bombs have I prepared?’
The moment when the distorted shape of the magic tool feels familiar yet unfamiliar.
『Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-!!!
? Old memories came flooding back with shock.
‘Crack, tick, tick.’
I am sitting on a cliff on a remote island, biting my nails and fiddling with a piece of metal.
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‘You can go out. I have to get out. ‘I’m going out!’
‘I saw the continental line crossing the horizon from Gull Rock to the southwest. If only I could get there, this island…’
‘We should capture the ship. ‘You’ll have to use some force.’
‘That’s right! ‘It’s dangerous to wander the world alone, so I should have the means to protect myself!’
‘There may be more monsters than there are under the sea. There might be someone more monstrous than him. More more more more….’
.
.
.
.
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For the magical engineer who was going crazy trapped on an island, all he could cling to and rely on was preparation for an uncertain future.
He had been accumulating a mountain of magical explosives and all kinds of tools, and after two years, the moment he saw the shadow of a ship over the horizon, he went out to sea with all his work.
His efforts ended with a small fishing boat caught in the waves.
The sea carried his body and hope on a small boat to those who waited for him.
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‘Subspace cloak?’
‘yes. Atlaheba told me to give it to you.’
‘Uh… I don’t know how to use magic or anything.’
‘You don’t have to know. If you roughly put it in, it will go in, and when you take it out, all you have to do is put your hand in your pocket while remembering the items inside. ‘I put all the things Hyde lost in there, so if you remember, take them out and use them.’
‘I didn’t lose anything.’
‘There is such a thing.’
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‘Remember what’s inside and take it out.’
‘Aspace can only take out items recognized by the user.’
‘recognize. memory.’
Unbelievable.
Why?
now.
.
.
.
.
Bleep-
“Ugh ugh.”
I felt like I lost consciousness for a brief moment due to shock.
Even when I opened my eyes, I couldn’t see clearly and my head hurt because of the tinnitus.
As I forced my dry eyes to blink, I saw that the mashed flesh and corpses that had filled the front of the castle had disappeared cleanly. You were probably in shock and thrown all over the place like me.
“Cruk, croak…”
Frauch was stuck in the pile of buildings opposite me.
….I thought I saw something wrong.
“What on earth did I make when I was on the island?…”
As the thought came to mind, Metal enthusiastically lectured on how to make high-quality magic ores and seagull droppings nitrate chain reaction explosives, which are more abundantly deposited in the sea than on the island’s iron ore land. The image of Joe and the professor overhearing it passed through my mind.
The whole body was shattered to the point where it was difficult to express. In particular, the arms and upper arms, which were close to the center of the explosion, were injured to the point where most of what was on the outside had been removed.
My ribs throbbed after being brushed by the mace. Is it broken?
‘I can’t live.’
Frauch was dying. I didn’t mean to do this.
‘The road has been cleared.’
Without realizing it, my eyes caught the road leading to the open castle. It’s a good thing. Faster than expected.
“Frauch.”
“Mercy…”
Even as I approached him, whose body was half blown away, I still had no idea what I was thinking.
All I can do is ask for my forgiveness.
“Why… is that so?”
“Cough!… I met another person on the way out of the temple and toward the imperial castle. “Heading to the same place as me.”
Frauch’s voice was unusually clear for a dying man. How can someone whose chest is half exposed talk like that?
“I was trying to rescue the emperor…. “The knights.”
“…That’s all?”
“That’s it.”
“They killed so many people with just that.”
Along with the blood escaping, the bloodshot eyes were regaining their original color. Frauch reached around his neck with his remaining arm and held the Mark of Mercy in his hand. A sigh mixed with blood flowed from the paladin’s mouth.
“okay. “That’s all.”
“That’s all I have dedicated my life to.”
The red eyes become clear and blurry.
Lifeless eyes met me.
“The Goddess of Mercy says, ‘Man wears out.’”
“The bishop too.”
“Priests too.”
“Paradise too.”
“Me and you too.”
“The human heart wears out. “Bad memories accumulate endlessly.”
Perhaps because of his quiet nature, the words that he had kept in his heart his whole life came out to the world only when his heart opened.
When I risked my life to stop a horde of monsters in a remote mountain village, I felt unfair when, instead of being grateful, they got angry at me for destroying the fence.
Anger at those who endlessly try to take advantage of their kindness because it is free.
Nevertheless, their belief is to only give. A feeling of self-doubt about trying to give infinitely to those who want it infinitely.
Those who embrace and endure all such filth-like emotions are granted the higher divine power of mercy.
He said that those who cannot endure and eventually have all their ‘mercy’ worn away become saints whom the world describes as ‘merciless.’
“Because we are human, the Goddess understands. The powerful power granted to the merciless is a reward for the saints who have given everything to others throughout their lives. “It is the last message from the goddess, telling you to live as you want for the last time in your life without worrying about what anyone else thinks during your short life that is worn away along with your heart.”
A merciless knight.
A violent armed group that is violent, incommunicado, and willing to use more than just violence to achieve its goals.
Rather than educating those who naturally arose among the Holy Knights, the Church of Mercy actively protected them. They compensated for the financial damage they caused, smoothed over diplomatic issues, and tried to protect those who broke the rules and did not follow the will of the church by giving them the name ‘Knights of Mercy’ and protecting them in the arms of the church.
Most of their activities were recorded as minor problems caused by individuals, and contrary to their name, the Knights Templar, they rarely acted as a group. The only time they can do so is when they face a tragedy such as the disappearance of a saint that causes all of their mercy to wear out at the same time.
“…I hated the emperor.”
Frauch, who had used up all his heart, simply hated the emperor.
He devoted everything he had left to hating everything related to the Emperor.
Cool cool cool! Grumble!
As if he had used up the last of his divine power, Frauch began to vomit blood without stopping.
“…How narrow-minded this person is. “The knights who came here with honor and loyalty, endured all kinds of hardships and hardships, and finally got their chance, are slaughtered in a horrible way just because they were called ‘Your Majesty the Emperor.’”
Cluck cluck!
“He is truly a madman… Even at this very moment, the moment the word ‘emperor’ comes out of his mouth, I can’t stand it anymore…” Even though
he speaks in a self-mocking voice, the Holy Knight still burns his hatred towards the Emperor.
Grumble.
“…I should have returned it before this happened, but there was no one who would accept it.”
“Take it.”
He gave me his star certificate with trembling hands.
“Hyde. I saw in you something like a saint of mercy.”
“….”
“You also wear out. “The pain you have passed through is piled up behind you, waiting for the moment to break down.”
“I’m okay.”
“Look into my eyes and tell me. “It’s not painful.”
I couldn’t tell. The moment I opened my mouth, it felt like everything that had filled my throat would pour out endlessly.
To be precise, I hung myself because I remembered someone who was just as worn out.
“Take a look at yourself, Hyde.”
The dry mouth of the paladin laughed bitterly.
“Brother.”
“….”
“Mercy.”
In response to those words, I lifted my knee next to him without saying a word.
Among the scorched and strewn things around, I found Frauch’s helmet.
I wiped away the soot with my sleeve, and it managed to shine smoothly. When it was applied to the messed up face of the paladin, it looked much better on him than it does now.
Phew.
This act probably cost Frauch very little time. 30 seconds is as long as 1 minute.
“…Do you feel a little relieved?”
but. Even if it only lasted for a minute, Frauch, who felt guilty about his actions in the last moments, would have felt like a condemnation of himself.
Patter.
Crack.
I shook the blood off my sword and relaxed in place.
Slightly throbbing ribs.
My body tingles from the shock of the explosion.
Other than that, the body is close to perfect.
“…Thanks to you, it’s easy for me to come and do it for you.”
According to what the paladin said, I would have been greatly worn down by shortening his lifespan by just one minute.
I lifted the terribly heavy knife, thinking that I had given as much as I had received.
After shaking off the blood clots on my body, I raised my head towards the walls of the imperial castle towering above my head.
Even if you bring a master knight, the castle gate is said to take an hour to cut. The castle wall is said to be impregnable due to all kinds of ancient magic and symbolic defense magic. The purple cursed flower that covers it without a single gap to the point where it is horrendous.
Each one caught the eye of the person trying to move forward, but my gaze stayed far below him.
Cracking crackling….
In front of the castle gate where the tragedy occurred, someone was leisurely lighting a bonfire and warming up by the fire.
A thick black robe that covered the entire body.
A face that is hidden but recognizable even if you can’t see it.
“Are you finally here?”
I responded to that carefree voice by kicking the bonfire in front of him. The sparks that jumped up passed through his robes and body and sprayed behind him.
Darik.
The warlock who disappeared as I entered the canyon was waiting for me in front of the castle gate.
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