TWEM Vol. 6 Chapter 14 Part 2
“You have quick judgment too.”
From there, the battle between the black knight and me began.
Even if I got grazed, my wounds healed over time thanks to my skill, Auto Healing.
But it was the same for the black knight, whose wounds regenerated instantly.
Damn, there’s no end to this…
Then I had a flash of inspiration for a new magic spell, and I smiled.
But there had to be a big opening to unleash it. Somehow, I had to stop the black knight’s movement for a reasonable amount of time…
I took a big leap backwards and unleashed a flurry of magic at the black knight.
The black knight ran toward me and swung the great sword in his hand.
I repelled the swinging sword and struck him with a palm strike to the torso.
The black knight, who was blown away, collided with the arena wall and rolled on the ground.
The moment I thought about using new magic, something strange happened to the black knight as he tried to stand up.
Four black shadow-like arms and a great sword grew out of his back.
“Hmm… is that what you call the second form? No, if you include the dragons, how many forms does this make it? I wonder.”
I sighed at the enemy who had become even more powerful.
But I had to do it.
I braced myself again.
“Now, what’s your next move?”
When I looked at the Black Knight, holding my beloved sword, and muttered that, the Black Knight’s body seemed to tremble.
This meant that the speed of movement had become that much faster.
Before I knew it, a large sword was right in front of me.
“—Gah!?”
I quickly caught it with my arm that had activated the skill Diamond, but I was blown away by a force greater than I had imagined.
Rolling on the ground, I quickly got up and checked my arm due to the pain.
Even though I had activated Diamond, there was a deep wound and blood was flowing.
I immediately used recovery magic, but in the next moment, my body suddenly lost its strength.
I didn’t think it’s possible, but this was…
《It seems that a curse has been triggered. It will take time to dispel the curse.
》
Huh? Curse? Ellis, what do you mean?
《This is likely the effect of the demon sword Dimios, which Damnatio possessed, being mixed with the sword held by the black knight. I could break the curse of the demon sword if it was by itself, but the curse seems to have been strengthened by mixing it with the black knight’s power.》
Can the curse be lifted?
《I have already tried it. Estimated time to lift the curse is 5 minutes.》
Five minutes…
Ellis, how weak am I now?
《Currently, Master’s overall strength has decreased by 30% from the original physical capabilities. This also includes a decrease in the ability of skills, magic, and attack skills》
30% huh…I’ve been weakened quite a bit. It seemed that my ability had been reduced to the same level as when I fought Schwartz in the Holy State before.
If you ask who’s stronger now, the black knight or me, the black knight was stronger.
However, there were many cheat-like enemies in this world, such as the black knight and the devil Schwartz… Would the hero be able to defeat the demon king? No matter how one looked at it, it was like going to their own death…
I have a feeling that this world was rather finished.
“But well, let’s just hang on a little longer. Come on, Ellis, let’s get this over with.”
I felt Ellis responding to my words, as a smile appeared on her lips.
Then the black knight swung his great sword and unleashed a slashing attack.
“Ha!”
I returned the slash in the same way.
Even though I’m weakened, my slashing attack had the effect of cutting space.
As a result, the black knight’s slash was defeated by my slash. The slash didn’t stop and hit the black knight.
I had him.
Or so I thought, but when the cloud of dust cleared, I found the black knight unharmed.
The arm holding the sword that grew out of his back crossed in front of him, defending him.
“You’re kidding, right?”
The slash had a space cutting effect. No matter how strong he was, I didn’t think he would be able to block this… No, he also had space-time magic, so maybe that’s why it was blocked?
In an instant, the black knight came right in front of me, he swung his sword sideways.
I immediately caught it, but I was easily blown away by the impact and hit the wall, expelling the air in my lungs.
“Kah! Ellis, how much longer!”
《There are three minutes left until the curse is lifted.》
“Understood. Until then, I’ll try to hold out no matter what.”
I wiped the blood from my mouth and looked at the black knight hidden by the cloud of dust.
To be precise, I am only checking the situation by using Detect Presence and Detect Mana, but thanks to these two skills, no matter how bad my vision had deteriorated or how blind I had become, I would never lose sight of the enemy.
Then, a slash from the black knight was approaching, blowing away the cloud of dust.
I managed to avoid it and launched a slash at the black knight, but it was negated.
Even in this situation, the black knight continued to deliver slashes, and I deployed the Aegis barrier to defend myself.
However, after receiving two or three blows, a crack appeared in the barrier.
This was something that I had expected, so I retreated from the scene before the barrier was completely broken.
I then approached the black knight with Ground Shrink and swung my sword.
The black knight’s arm flew in the air.
But again the black hand reached out from the wound, and the separated arms were attached to each other as before.
“Gaa!?”
I was caught in the moment, and the sword wielded by the arm growing out of his back knocked me off my feet.
I rolled on the ground, but quickly got up using the sword for support and asked Ellis, “How much longer?”
《Two minutes before I can lift the curse. 》
“Okay, let’s hold out a little longer.”
I looked at the black knight with undivided attention.
The black knight approached me, and I was able to deal with his attack.
However, it was difficult for me to deal with all of the attacks of the black knight, who had a total of six arms.
The skill Auto Healing healed me quickly, but wounds were forming all over my body.
《—One minute left.》
The black knight’s harsh attack made me look like I was in a state of anguish.
Just a little more. If I could endure just a little longer, I could turn this situation around.
As long as I could break the curse, I should be able to defeat him.
By then, either the black knight would defeat me, or I would be able to withstand it.
But then, I was blown away again by the black knight’s attack and crashed into the wall.
“Kaha!!”
I almost went down to my knees in pain, but I quickly got up.
Then, the black knight’s figure transformed again, as if he was going to deliver the coup de grace.
The arms and sword that had grown out of his back returned to his body, and the mighty magic power was concentrated in the great sword.
When the black knight raised the sword to the sky, a black aura overflowed.
If that attack was unleashed, there would be no way for me to defend myself now.
This is bad, what should I do!?
As if taunting my agitation, the greatsword was lowered.
A jet-black slash that tantamount to a death sentence closed in on me.
I took a chance and deployed the Aegis barrier, but it was easily broken, and the moment the slash came within a stone’s throw…
《The curse has been successfully lifted!》
Ellis’ voice echoed in my brain.
“Looks like I’m the victor — Extreme Break!”
Crimson magical power erupted from my body and hit the sky.
As a result, all of my magic power was restored, and I could feel my whole body being filled with power.
And the slash that was approaching me was obliterated by the shockwave from the Extreme Break.
I then raised my sword straight to the sky.
In order to activate the light magic I had in mind, I muttered its name.
“—Grand Cross!”
As the sword was lowered, light fell from the heavens.
The light engulfed the black knight and stretched horizontally at the top, creating a huge cross.
The black knight tried to escape from the light but could not move, and its body was gradually turned to dust.
Finally, the cross of light shone strongly, and by the time the light subsided, the Black Knight was nowhere to be seen.
However, the magic circle drawn on the ground remained.
The light was weak, though, and in response to my approach, black hands were extended, but they were only a few in number and did not have the power they had earlier.
With a flash of the sword wrapped in light magic, the black hands disappeared.
Then I swung my sword towards the magic circle.
A slash of light from the sword cut through the magic circle.
The barrier that had been put up also shattered in an instant, and the magic circle was destroyed.
“…How is it?”
Ellis answered my question.
《I have confirmed that the Darkness Magic, the Supper of Madness, has been extinguished.》
“I see. So it’s finally over…”
After canceling the Extreme Break, I sheathed my beloved sword and looked up at the sky.
The cloudy sky cleared up and the orange sunset started to illuminate the battered arena.
“Thank you, Ellis.”
《Everything for you, Master.》
Checking God’s Eye’s map, it seemed that everyone had evacuated to the imperial castle.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that Finne and the others were safe.
“Let’s go back to the others.”
I walked toward the castle.