TWEM Vol. 6 Chapter 14 Part 1
Chapter 14 – Black Knights
Returning to the arena, I drew my sword and started to sprint.
On noticing this, the countless black hands started attacking.
I tried to find a way to deal with the approaching black hands by cutting them down and at times avoiding them.
It was a rule of thumb in this world to use light magic to deal with dark magic.
Alternatively, holy magic worked against demons, but I was unsure if it would work against this opponent.
Since I didn’t have holy magic to begin with, I wrapped my sword in light magic and slashed.
However, the hand that was cut regenerated immediately.
“Is the amount of magic power that can be put into it too little?”
I could not deny that possibility. The first thing to do was to try out different things.
If it didn’t work, I could always think of the next move.
I moved closer while avoiding the approaching hands, and swung the sword with light magic that was twice as powerful as before.
“..How is it?”
The sword cut through the black hands, but it still regenerated.
However, the regeneration speed was slower than before.
If I acquired holy magic here, I could verify it…Yeah. It seems like I couldn’t do it after all.
I suddenly couldn’t think of anything, so I decided to ask Ellis.
What should I do about this Supper of Madness? Is holy magic more effective than light magic?
《As Master correctly assumed, holy magic poses a threat to that thing. Unfortunately, Master has not been able to acquire holy magic.》
I tried it earlier, but why can’t I acquire holy magic?
《Without the title of “Hero” or “Believer,” Master cannot acquire it. Since Master does not have either title, it is not possible to acquire the skill “Holy Magic.” 》
I see. In that case, is there any other magic that is its weakness?
《It’s light magic. 》
Light magic, as I thought.
It was impossible with the previous output, so how can I stop it?
《The method is―》
Ellis told me how, and the method was quite simple.
《Master can stop this magic by destroying the starting magic circle using light magic or holy magic.. However, attacks other than light magic and holy magic will be ineffective.》
I see…
The point was to cut off the black hand with all my might using light magic and head for the center, simple as that.
I rushed out with my beloved sword in my hand.
Countless hands, seemingly sensing my intention, swarmed in to reap my life.
In front of the approaching hands, I clothed my sword in plenty of light magic and moved forward, slashing away at them.
“I see it! That’s it.”
As I advanced to the center of the stage, I could see an eerily glowing, geometrically patterned magic circle.
“―This is the end!”
The moment I was about to swing the sword, which was covered in more light magic than before, the magic circle’s brilliance increased.
“What!?”
As I instinctively held my hands in front of my face, all the black hands gathered in two places and formed two black knights.
The black, ominous sword in their hands reeked of danger.
“What the hell is that…?”
I jumped back and looked at the two black knights, muttering to myself, and checked their status.
|
Name : |
Black Knight |
|
Level : |
280 |
|
Skill : |
Sword Arts Lv10, Darkness Magic Lv10 |
|
Title : |
Knight of Darkness, Death Carrying Knight, Keeper of Death, Blessing of Darkness |
No no no! It’s too strong!
The unexpected appraisal result made me want to escape from reality.
Still, I am concerned about the lack of skills considering the high level.
Both Sword Arts and Darkness Magic have the maximum skill level of 10, so there was no doubt that they were strong, but with such a small number of skills, it would be easy to defeat them.
But there was also a possibility that the great sword in their hands might have some kind of ability.
I then used appraisal and took a look at the great sword in the black knight’s hand.
|
Name : |
Great Sword of Darkness |
|
Rarity: |
Unknown |
|
Remarks: |
A weapon made with Darkness Magic and exclusive to the Black Knight. It has the ability of weapon transformation, mass manipulation, and gravity manipulation. It doubles the power of the wielder’s Darkness Magic and also provides Physical Boost. |
It was a more normal weapon than I expected, but the two things that particularly caught my attention were “Weapon Transformation” and “Mass Manipulation.”
I guess they’re capable as the name suggests, but it’s best not to think of it as just a great sword.
So I’m going to face two of these…?
Faced with an unexpectedly strong enemy, I couldn’t help but sigh.
“But if I don’t do it, who will? I guess it can’t be helped.”
I started running toward the Black Knights who were standing there.
In a fight against two opponents, if I entered the enemies’ gap, they might attack their allies, so their movements would be restricted.
In other words, it should be easier to fight in close combat here.
…Well, I’m not sure if these two have the will or intelligence to think that far.
The moment I entered one of their ranges, a sword was right in front of me.
I quickly repelled it, and another great sword was immediately swung down to bisect me.
“Tsk!”
By taking half a step back, the great sword that was swung down passed directly beside me, cutting into the ground.
Another black knight was swinging his sword at me as I was slightly thrown off my stance.
I looked closely and saw something like a black aura clinging to the great sword.
I had a bad feeling about this, so I reacted by putting a light attribute on my sword and raising it above my head.
Then, to my surprise, the black aura tried to erode my sword.
However, the erosion seemed to have failed due to the light magic that had been wrapped around it.
“What is that?”
The black knights did not respond to my question. Or maybe they could not speak.
And that’s when my crisis-sensing skills sounded the alarm.
It wasn’t the black knight in front of me that responded, but the one behind me.
The other black knight, who had moved before I knew it, was swinging his sword in a large arc.
I just move my body, keeping the sword in the same position as our swords were pressed against each other.
Then, the black knight behind me swung his sword straight down… slicing the black knight who was in sword fight with me in half.
“Friendly fire?”
I shouted in surprise.
The black knight was cut in half vertically, but instead of blood, a small black hand grew from the cross section. Then, just as the hands connected, the black knight’s body attached together as if nothing had happened.
The regenerated black knight immediately swung his sword at me.
“Isn’t that cheating!?”
It’s not fair that he can regenerate! I mean, he didn’t have the skill to regenerate himself!
I wanted to say many things, but Black Knight was not human.
While parrying the enemy’s sword, I remembered that there was a certain title among Black Knight’s ominous titles, and I used God’s Eye to investigate the details.
<Blessing of Darkness>
A title given to a powerful follower of darkness.
Many of them have the ability to regenerate using darkness.
It was there after all.
Did this regeneration mean that they could attack their allies along with me?
There were many things I didn’t understand, but it was clear that this was not an easy opponent to defeat.
To be honest, it was a hassle to fight an opponent with regenerative ability.
“Why are there so many troublesome opponents?”
I was trying to find a way to defeat them while avoiding the approaching sword.
The Black Knight was probably a magical creature, similar to a dragon.
Ellis, what is Black Knight’s weakness?
《Black Knight’s weaknesses are light magic and holy magic.》
They’re like a collection of those black hands, I guess… Do you have any other ideas?
《I presumed that it would be difficult to defeat the black knight with fire magic. I recommend Master to use light magic to defeat them.》
Understood.
After finishing my conversation with Ellis, I deflected the black knight’s greatsword and took a big step back.
“Ha, I wish I had an opponent that I could defeat easily.”
I wrapped my black sword, Benizakura, in light magic and ran toward the two Black Knights.
Both of them swung their large swords down at the same time, trying to cut me down as I approached.
“That’s a bad move, isn’t it?”
I dived between the swords and used my absolute cutting ability to slice through the torso of one of the black knights.
I then threw a spinning kick to kick the other black knight, but it was blocked by the great sword, so I leapt backwards.
I confirmed the black knight whose torso was severed.
The severed black knight extended something like a black hand and tried to attach itself to it, just like when it regenerated. However, perhaps the light magic that I had applied to my sword had an effect on it, its movements seemed weak.
Speaking of the other Black Knight, he was pointing his great sword at the Black Knight who was cut in half.
What are you planning to do…?
As I was thinking that, the fallen Black Knight was absorbed as if being sucked into the great sword.
A black aura leaked from the other Black Knight’s body, which had absorbed everything.
“I didn’t hear anything about absorption.”
A powerful presence could be felt from the black knight.
Without a doubt, the black knight was getting stronger by absorbing the fallen Black Knight.
I decided to check his status.
|
Name : |
Black Knight |
|
Level : |
350 |
|
Skill : |
Sword Arts Lv10, Darkness Magic Lv10, Space-time Magic Lv10 |
|
Title : |
Knight of Darkness, Knight who carries death, Keeper of Death, Blessing of Darkness |
He was getting so strong! It’s almost at my level now.
And he’s even acquired a new space-time magic.
As I was astonished, the black knight raised his great sword and swung it down.
This was despite the fact that there was a considerable distance between us.
《Master, please avoid!》
I heard Ellis’s impatient voice and quickly evaded.
Then, a slash passed right next to me.
If I looked closely, I could see that the space where the slash had passed through was distorted.
“Space cutting, huh…?”
《Apparently so. It’s best to refrain from using Aegis barrier.》
Does that mean that slash has the potential to break the Aegis barrier as well?
《Affirmative.》
“No way… but we have no choice but to move with that in mind.”
If I’m going to defeat an opponent who’s been strengthened this much, I might have to use a skill that raises all my abilities, Extreme Break.
However, considering the repercussions of using it, it would be better to use it after reducing the enemy’s strength a little more.
If that were the case, I would activate another skill.
“―Pandemonium.”
Crimson magic overflowed and clung to me.
The black knight’s movement seemed to stop for a moment, as if he had noticed my change.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, I used my Ground Shrink skill to approach the black knight and slashed at him.
With a high-pitched sound, sparks flew and we were in a close fight, but the black knight used his physique to try to crush me from above.
The area around my feet cracked like a spider’s web, as if the black knight had concentrated his strength on his great sword.
“But it’s still a long way off.”
When I said that and swung my sword as if to mow down the black knight, he was blown away and rolled on the ground.
I approached the black knight, who was lying on his back, and squeezed my free hand to wrap it in light magic.
“Hmph!”
And with my fist, I hit the black knight in the abdomen as hard as I could, as he was trying to raise his body.
The ground around his feet caved in and became a crater, and the arena ground cracked around it.
I immediately tried to unleash the finishing light magic, but I felt a shock in my abdomen.
“Gah!? What?”
I was blown away, adjusted my posture in the air, landed, and looked at the Black Knight.
I saw a black aura emanating from Black Knight’s body.
That black aura was the same as Physical Boost, or perhaps it was strengthening the Black Knight’s body like the Pandemonium I am using right now.
The black knight’s speed of movement increased and he was approaching right in front of me.
I dodged the great sword as it swung down and went for a counterattack, but it was evaded.