WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS
Translator: Hydrogen B
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
A KNIGHT WHO ETERNALLY REGRESSES
Chapter 223: The Gentleman Beaten Up by the Lady Over There Is Paying.
= = =
No one needed to call the start.
Enkrid and his opponent both took their stances, and that was enough.
The woman brought her shield up in front.
Enkrid assumed she would build the fight around defense.
That was the classic way to make a sword-and-shield style work.
Everyone with gear like that had fought that way so far.
Experience moved Enkrid first.
One step forward.
He moved to claim the better position.
The moment he advanced with his sword, the shield swelled in his vision. It grew, then covered everything in an instant.
Fuck.
The curse rose on its own in his head. There was no time to let it out loud.
A gray iron wall was suddenly right in front of him. He saw nothing else.
In that tiny instant, Enkrid crossed both arms with his sword still in hand and raised a guard over his chest and face.
Boom!
The gray iron wall slammed into his forearms.
His vision shook with the impact and a floating lurch, then a second shock struck his back. He reflexively slapped the ground with his left hand and pulled off something close to a breakfall.
That came from drilling Valaf-style grappling like a madman.
His stomach flipped, but he did not throw up.
The timing and blow were both unexpected.
He had been launched backward and hit the ground on his back first, leaving him sprawled in an awkward half-fallen posture.
"Huh!"
He blew out a breath, dragged in another to clear the shock, and tried to spring up at once, but he had no chance.
Something came down over his head with a heavy rush. He had no time to check what it was.
Naturally, he had no time to reset his breathing either.
Feeling his heart clench, Enkrid swung his sword upward from a half-reclining position.
Clang!
As he struck, he kicked off the ground with his right foot and rolled to the side.
He could not counter with Heavy Sword Style. Posture, position, timing, all of it had been stolen from him.
He tried to deflect the blade with something like a Flowing Sword Style redirection, but it only half worked.
He diverted the sword, but he could not stop what came next.
His opponent let the sword flow and used her foot.
It looked like an iron mace flying at his face.
Steel boots.
That detail burned into his eyes.
Thud!
Her toe drove into his chest.
Enkrid rolled backward with the hit, going more than twice the distance he had been pushed by the shield.
He flew far for that level of impact.
"Huh."
Still rolling, Enkrid planted his left hand and snapped his waist. Then he sprang upright in one motion, almost like a flip.
"You are nimble."
The woman warrior spoke. She had already reset her posture and drawn the shield in to cover herself, exactly like before, exactly like at the start.
That irritated him. Openings were hard to find.
More than that, her fighting method was no joke.
Skilled.
She knew how to dig into an opponent's weak points with her gear and stance.
That meant she had deep experience in both battlefield combat and duels.
Trickle.
A sharp stone must have grazed his forehead when he was kicked away. A bead of blood ran down his temple.
That long drop slid down the side of his face, gathered at his chin, and fell.
As if that were a signal, the woman warrior, likely a half-giant, kicked off the ground again.
Boom!
At once, that same gray iron wall appeared in front of him.
A circular shield big enough to cover half her body, a solid chunk of metal, and when swung, basically a blunt weapon.
Even a heavily trained fighter would find it heavy. Unless you were a giant or a Frog, it was hard to handle.
Same tactic, same sure-kill move. How do you block a wide weapon swung this fast and this hard?
If he could not block it.
He could dodge.
Heart of the Beast opened his eyes.
Focus Point pulled him into total concentration.
With his senses sharpened in that state, he moved.
Enkrid's body bent sideways, like a shadow stretching and blurring in lamplight at night. The sudden acceleration made it look that way.
At the same time, he cut down at the arm holding her sword. Heavy Sword Style downward cut.
Her shield bent sideways too, as if it warped with him.
She blocked with the shield and shoved in. Sword and shield collided.
Their strength met through steel.
Boom!
A thunderous blast erupted. One side had awakened Heart of Superhuman Strength, and the other had inherited giant blood, even if only partly.
The sound was like an explosion spell going off, and everyone watching clutched their ears.
"Ugh!"
"Aah!"
Cries burst out everywhere.
As his sword slammed into her shield, Enkrid saw her blade graze his flank.
He twisted to avoid it, but he could not avoid everything.
The cut was not deep, but blood came out. His side was wet in moments.
He wore thin leather armor, and her blade was sharp. It was no ordinary weapon.
At minimum, it cut as well as his own sword.
Even though it looked blunt as hell.
Its blade was at least twice as thick as a normal sword.
It was a modified longsword, but her build was so large it looked like a regular arming sword in her hand.
"Fast."
She said it.
Her face and tone were still flat. He could not feel any joy from her at all.
Strong.
She fought well, cut well, and reacted fast.
He had wanted to face someone other than Rem, Audin, Ragna, or Jaxon.
That kind of opponent was right in front of him now.
Like rain after drought.
"Ah, let's do that again."
A smile spread across Enkrid's face before he knew it. Rare, but it always appeared when he was truly, deeply enjoying himself.
* * *
"Look at that expression. She's probably thinking he's insane."
This was not an easy opponent. Everyone, including Rem, saw that at a glance.
While watching their captain grin like a lunatic, Rem spoke.
"Mm, it is jarring the first time you see it."
Ragna picked up the line.
"You would not know unless you knew he has always been like this."
Even Jaxon, rarely, spoke up.
"Heh heh, our opponent lady seems offended."
Audin added that, and Rem nodded inwardly.
Yeah. Even before Heart of the Beast, he was already like that.
Even while clawing his way up things that barely looked like progress, like climbing rotten tree trunks, he still smiled like that.
As if they could not snap at any moment.
What was so fun about that?
Back then I thought he would die fast.
Now he was right behind me. The man who used to be too far away to even see was now close enough to hear if I shouted.
Ah, I do not want him catching up.
Rem kept thinking that while watching the fight.
No matter how he looked at it, that woman warrior had come to kill his captain.
Should he interfere?
In the past, he would have. If this were a battlefield, he would have stepped in.
He could not do that now.
This was a man who built his own road with his own hands and ran toward his dream.
If I step in now, he will resent me like hell.
Of course, if Enkrid got close to dying, Rem would still jump in.
He was not the only one thinking that.
Beside him, Ragna subtly closed half a step. The sly wildcat's presence thinned. Audin kept laughing but leaned forward just a little.
Crazy bastards.
I am the only normal one here. The captain is insane about fighting, dead or alive.
And the rest are all just as bad.
I have to keep my head straight. Me.
That was why he had gone and half-killed that beastkin named Dunbakel.
Beastkin were sturdy.
Beating them had a certain satisfying feel.
Well, she would recover fast.
That was why he pushed so hard.
Rem kept watching the fight.
His side had been cut, but Enkrid looked like he could not even feel pain.
Another shield charge came.
Looks like he could split it.
Not that easy, though.
Last time he dodged and aimed for an opening, but got shut down.
This time looked the same at first.
Enkrid stepped sideways, leaving something like an afterimage. It looked identical at first glance, but it was not.
The shield followed him, and Enkrid moved even faster.
People usually told him to use only about half of Heart of Superhuman Strength, but now he looked full power.
His body accelerated again.
He caught the half-giant from behind, moved with her, and swung. His sword traced a circle, following her motion.
Kagagagagagagagak!
As the sword skimmed across the face of that gray metal shield, it struck and bounced again and again, spitting sparks.
Most people could not even track that exchange with their eyes.
Then Enkrid's blade grazed her flank.
She did not just take it.
The moment she lost sight of him, she drove her sword straight down behind her without even looking.
Whoosh!
The modified longsword, thicker than normal blades, split empty air.
Enkrid, who had only brushed her flank and slipped away, was already far back.
He dodged that falling blade, then charged again immediately.
It looked like revenge for what the shield had done to him earlier.
As he rushed in, his body became the bowstring and his sword became the arrow.
That move.
It was the technique from the last opponent he had faced in Martai.
He spammed that on me nonstop.
Now he brought it out again here. It looked like a treasured sword flying straight from its scabbard.
Boom!
She blocked that too.
This time, though, she did not block it cleanly.
Enkrid's sword scraped past the shield's edge and slammed into her pauldron, knocking it off.
Naturally, it did not strike only armor.
Drip, drip.
Blood ran from the half-giant's shoulder.
She ignored it.
She flowed straight into her next motion. Instead of covering her front with the shield, she brought it forward to guard the left side of her body, while her right hand held the sword at an awkward raised angle.
Textbook sword-and-shield posture.
The half-giant did not even shout.
She must have clenched her molars, because her jaw muscles tightened.
Then she charged.
Enkrid pulled back the sword he had thrust, spun half a turn, and swung.
Heavy Sword Style spinning cut. Thrust-like speed with crushing weight behind it, close to giant class.
Boom!
The half-giant held and blocked with her shield.
Block with shield, strike with sword. That was exactly why she carried both.
Her sword dropped from above again.
The rhythm was perfect. It was a strike that stole Enkrid's breath.
Rem's right index finger twitched before he knew it.
He almost threw his axe.
He was not the only one.
Ragna, Audin, and Jaxon were the same.
Still, they held.
No need to step in yet.
At the moment it turned dangerous, Enkrid drew a second sword.
Clang!
The middle of that blade cracked from a single block, but it had done its job.
The sword he drew in his other hand had stopped hers.
"...Left hand?"
The half-giant spoke as their blades locked. Enkrid nodded.
"One of my specialties."
"You have others?"
"Plenty."
"It might end before I see them."
She was telling him to show everything he had.
For someone who seemed blunt to the core and usually spoke only what was necessary, this was her first long exchange.
Enkrid smiled and answered.
"I cannot show all of them. Seducing women is on the list too."
Rem heard that and snorted.
He has a talent for running his mouth too.
Enkrid's tongue was one of the sharpest treasured blades he owned.
"So you are a crazy bastard."
The half-giant gave a brief, accurate diagnosis, then swung again.
Sword and shield, straight orthodox pressure.
If one had to classify it, it was the Correct Sword with shield techniques layered over it.
Enkrid threw away the half-broken blade and brought only one sword forward.
Dual swords were only for the moments that needed them.
Good method.
Their fight ended around sunset.
As for who won.
Enkrid lost.
You could see it with your own eyes.
One of Enkrid's cheeks had been cut.
When that cut landed, or more precisely after it landed, because more than half the people there could not follow the exchange itself, several women in the crowd let out shrieks.
Enkrid's reputation in the city was at its peak.
Top husband material, to the point that some women said they would sell everything they owned for a chance to date him.
That same Enkrid had his cheek cut, and several ribs were broken too.
His whole body was covered in small wounds.
After forcing close range, he landed eight and gave back one, and that one cost him ribs.
His opponent took consecutive hits to the jaw and solar plexus, but endured.
Giant durability.
Enkrid had not underestimated her.
Still, no matter how trained a body was, you could not block everything against overwhelming violence.
Lost on points.
Everyone probably reached the same conclusion.
Enkrid breathed hard. His rhythm broke. That meant he was exhausted and near his limit.
The half-giant realized she could not finish him.
Mission failed.
No matter how wildly he fought, she had judged it would not be difficult since he was not even a proper knight.
Strong.
The man in front of her was strong.
His skill, his resolve, and most of all that mindset.
Is he strong because he is crazy?
As that question spread through the warrior's heart, Enkrid calmly assessed his own condition.
He looked himself over once, then raised his head and checked her condition too.
She was not in good shape either.
"Let's do this again tomorrow."
"...What?"
For the first time, she openly looked baffled at Enkrid's words. Before she could say more, an axe slipped cleanly between them at just the right moment.
"Did you not hear him? If you want more, tomorrow or the day after. Get your body back together first. Ah, the inn is free, food too. The gentleman who got beaten by that lady over there is paying."
Rem said it while hooking a thumb toward badly injured Enkrid.
Even if she rushed now, she could not kill him.
Her only chance was during the fight itself.
Now there were several dangerous people around her.
Including the one in front of her with the axe.
The warrior fell into thought, and Rem spoke again.
"If you just want to leave, you can."
His tone said he did not care at all. She had turned his captain half into a blood-soaked mess, and he still sounded like this.
Of course, that bloody mess was still standing upright.
Terrifying toughness.
Not equal to a giant, but different, like he had been born with something else.
In reality, it came from the Isolation Technique and the demon called Audin, but the half-giant had no way to know that.
"So you plan to interfere in the fight."
The warrior asked.
"No. After watching today, I do not think that is needed."
The warrior could not easily read what that meant.
She did understand one thing.
She had another chance.
And she had no position to go back right now.
Fail the mission, then return with all limbs intact?
They would call that betrayal.
Every action she took would be questioned.
"Then."
The warrior silently stepped back.
"Well, all settled then?"
Rem turned and looked at his captain.
"Yeah, settled."
Enkrid sounded satisfied. Could a body covered in wounds heal in one day?
Audin had said it, Renewed Body. The more you healed after being broken, the tougher you could become.
For now, all he could do was rest.
"I learned a lot."
"You like that so much?"
Rem supported Enkrid, whose legs were giving out. Enkrid threw an arm over his shoulder and answered.
"Moderately."
Moderately my ass, he looked ready to drool.
Rem cursed inwardly and helped him walk.
Then the next day came.
The woman warrior realized she was no longer in a position to easily get what she wanted.
And Enkrid wore a smile twice as bright as yesterday.
Anyone who knew him would know how rare that smile really was.
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