A Knight who Eternally Regresses - Chapter 368

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Abstract

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A KNIGHT WHO ETERNALLY REGRESSES

Chapter 368: A Fight That Ends the Moment You Cross Paths

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The South Gate Guard Captain adjusted his hat. That feathered hat was his trademark. After tipping the brim a few times, he looked up at the full moon lighting the area.

What was his duty?

To protect the capital.

It was not a sudden revelation.

He had always known it, but recent events had stirred it up again.

A man had become royal nobility, a bastard son called the prodigal returned.

That man, blood of the queen, had shown his duty and responsibility.

So the captain had to do his own job where he stood.

In the end, he could not keep letting that thing called the Moonlight Beast run free.

So he did what he had to do. He heard a squire had gone down, so he moved out fully prepared.

"Let's go this way."

The captain spoke to his men.

"But Captain, are you sure it'll come out?"

One subordinate asked, his face unkempt from not shaving his beard.

"Of course."

There were people in the capital who had taken a real interest in the Moonlight Beast itself. The South Gate Guard Captain was one of them.

He had questioned people, checked the area, and predicted where the creature was most likely to appear.

In other words, he was thinking along the same lines as Enkrid.

Full moon.

Far from noble residences.

Here.

If he was wrong, he could start over. They did not have enough manpower to check this whole district.

He had brought only three reliable soldiers from his command.

Himself plus three men should be enough to bring down one lycanthrope.

He still did not know how it hid in the day and appeared only at night.

Some strange magic, probably.

A spell cast by some mad mage.

The South Gate Guard Captain watched the moon and scanned the area.

Would it really show up?

His expectation was fulfilled.

Thud!

There was a wet flesh-tearing sound, and the thick smell of blood spread. It came from deeper in the alley. He sprinted at once.

"Captain?"

"Follow me!"

He shouted and ran, and sure enough, inside the alley there was a blood-soaked Demon Creature.

Pointed ears stuck up high, and steel-like feathers covered its whole body instead of fur.

It stood twice as tall as a human. Its forearm was as thick as a thigh.

It looked like it could fill the entire alley.

The lane was wide enough for three adult men to walk through side by side.

The captain swallowed hard. If fear got into him, he would lose even a winnable fight.

He steadied himself and spoke.

"So not a wolfman, but an owlman?"

He drew his sword as he said it.

Chring.

The drawn blade reflected moonlight.

The captain gripped the sword with both hands and stared straight at the enemy. He saw the side profile of the owlman, the Demon Creature Owlbear.

Red veins showed between those round eyes. They were visible even under moonlight, which meant the veins had to be thick.

He had to tilt his head up to meet its gaze.

His eyes started there, swept over the whole body, then dropped to the ground.

Blood pooled thickly on the floor. A corpse lay sprawled to one side. Sharp Demon Creature claws, and tangled intestines caught between them.

Torn flesh, broken bone shards, all of it a dull dark red even in the moonlight.

Each claw looked like a thick blade honed for slaughter.

The Owlbear ignored the captain's stare and shivered all over.

At that sight, the captain understood by instinct that this dog-bastard Demon Creature was enjoying itself. It was drunk on ecstasy. It took pleasure in killing.

"You were enjoying this?!"

Protect the city. Protect the citizens. Killing a Demon Creature that stained moonlit nights with terror was the guard's duty.

He kicked off the ground and drove his sword down vertically.

A downward slash launched in a single step. He did not aim to cut off an arm or split the torso in one strike. But with the right angle, he could carve out flesh.

One-Blade Gouge, his specialty.

The Owlbear blocked it with one swing of its arm. It read the incoming angle and twisted one index claw to meet it with the outer face.

One claw met the blade.

Bang!

Sparks burst as if the moonlight itself had shattered. The moment his sword was blocked, the captain leaped back fast.

He might never become a knight, but he had the skill to kill most opponents.

At minimum, he judged himself to be at squire level.

Was that not why he became a guard captain?

Then what was this?

Wasn't that squire only barely defeated?

I didn't even swing at full power, but still.

The force of that deflection almost tore his grip apart. More than that, what was that movement just now? The angle and defense looked like trained swordsmanship.

He was getting pushed back. If he fought alone, he would die. He would end up like that squire.

Thankfully, he was not alone.

Cold sweat poured down him, but instead of collapsing in fear, he jumped back and shouted.

"Surround it!"

The Owlbear's eyes turned to him. Ecstasy, desire, killing intent, hostility, all mixed in those brown eyes.

The bulging red veins stirred dread. Even with its beak closed, he felt like one catch from that pointed hook would skewer him.

Those eyes in particular looked human, and that made them even more grotesque. He had no time to dwell on it.

As he retreated, the Owlbear followed with a loose, prowling walk.

When he reached the alley mouth, his three men leveled their spears.

Moonlight hit the front of the alley just right. That made the interior look even darker.

One tense soldier aiming his spear swallowed.

By then the captain was drenched in cold sweat.

The Owlbear came out slowly. Its steps were unnaturally quiet for something that big.

If it chose to hunt your back, you would not even sense it.

It walked like a born hunter.

After stepping out of the alley, it saw what was pointed at it and inhaled. Its chest swelled.

"Strike!"

The captain judged that attacking first was better and shouted. It was the desperate cry of a frightened man.

Even after seeing strength far beyond his expectation, his sense of responsibility stayed the same.

The instant he shouted.

Ooooooo!

The Demon Creature cried out. Its howl swallowed his command and spread through the air.

The roar rode the wind and smashed into human ears.

Urgh.

The moment he heard the owl-cry, the captain felt his entire body go numb. His heart pounded on its own, his muscles tightened, and his body froze in place.

Prey that met a natural predator could not escape fear.

That was why Demon Creatures were called mankind's predators.

Among them, stronger Demon Creatures could lock human bodies with a roar alone.

The captain saw a vision of Owlbear claws tearing his throat and digging into his chest.

The moment he saw it, his body locked. The soldiers froze the same way.

I'm going to die.

Fear of death swallowed him whole.

A terror-inducing roar said to belong only to high-ranking Demon Creatures.

Like a mouse freezing in front of a cat.

The beast that had subdued those surrounding it with one cry raised its claws.

It planned to crack skulls one by one and drink the brains.

To it, there was no greater delicacy.

"Kuh."

A laugh came out.

The ultimate pleasure, something impossible to find in human life, was here.

At first he had cursed this transformed body, but not anymore.

It was joy upon joy, so why deny it?

He only needed to avoid meeting mere squires like before.

No, with the royal palace in chaos, what human could spare that kind of manpower now?

What would they send to catch him?

At best two squires? The city guard?

The men fallen before his eyes showed him reality.

Now the capital had become his restaurant.

Food to chew and swallow, more than enough of it, so how could he not be delighted?

Pleasure surged. Ecstasy consumed his body. Every feather trembled at the joy about to come.

Muscles all over his body tightened and released in springy pulses.

It was time to savor it.

"Kuhuhuhu."

Drool ran down. He was frantic to eat them.

He stopped thinking and was about to thrust his claws in.

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of feet kicking off the ground pricked his ears.

Back left, roughly twenty human steps away.

After gaining the Owlbear body, his hearing had become sharper than anything else.

Measuring distance by sound was effortless.

The Owlbear judged the footsteps were closing in.

Demon Creature instinct moved before human reason.

Shhk!

He extended his claws to nearly twice their previous length and crossed both arms in front of him.

Inside the alley, in the dark, Owlbear's vision caught the object leaping out precisely.

His nocturnal sight let him see as clearly as daylight.

A mass bursting out of darkness with a white afterimage.

The mass suddenly accelerated. Something flew in three times faster than its running sound.

Whoom!

Owlbear saw lines cut in front of him. They started from the mass's arms and sliced toward his body, two streams.

He raised his arms by reflex and blocked. Arms up level with the ground, thrust out like shields. The incoming lines struck his forearms.

Thud.

The sound was dull. Owlbear felt the impact. The feathers were as tough as steel and did not cut, but the shock remained.

The one who swung those lines retreated faster than the strike itself.

The moment Owlbear blocked, he stabbed out with his right foot where the enemy had been, and the enemy dodged.

Owlbear's claws raked through the spot the foe had occupied.

He pulled his thrusting foot back into place, looked at his opponent, tilted his head, and spoke.

"...What, was there someone besides me? Plenty of food."

A beastly form. A half-man, half-beast in full beast transformation.

Yet he opened his mouth and spoke human words without trouble.

As he spoke, Owlbear judged by smell and hearing that there was more than one opponent.

Still, he could not spare attention elsewhere right now. The pressure rising from the one in front of him did not allow it.

The one who had fired those two lines at him glared with blazing eyes.

A strangely radiant golden color. Even between shafts of moonlight, the color stayed pure.

"Hey, I'm beastfolk."

Words directed at him.

"What is different about that? I become human, then become Owlbear."

He was angry his pleasure and ecstasy had been interrupted, but there was no need to fight an ally.

Food was abundant, and the restaurant was wide.

No reason to fight over the source of pleasure.

In front of his hands and claws, old humans, young humans, men, women, it made no difference.

The golden-eyed one who had identified herself as beastfolk clenched her teeth and shouted.

"You fucking bastard, there are no owls among beastfolk!"

With that, Dunbakel charged in white lion form. Bang! She kicked off the ground and her body stretched long.

She held two curved blades.

A span shorter than a scimitar, but she was already used to them.

The blades drew lines, dropped toward his forearms, then wavered.

A technique she had built after days of hard thought, Falling-Then-Thrust.

She had watched Enkrid practice techniques and recreated one in her own style.

Cut then thrust, thrust then cut. Messy and full of changes.

But Owlbear's heightened senses read all of it. And the Demon Creature body could respond to every speed and trajectory.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He had claws harder than steel, and he swung them.

He blocked and knocked her blows aside with those claws, waiting for an opening.

Even as a human, he had spent time training. He could use most standard methods. He aimed for a gap in the beastfolk's guard and kicked out again.

His claws extended, ready to tear open Dunbakel's abdomen in an instant.

Dunbakel pivoted on her left foot and spun. As she spun, she swung the curved blade in her hand.

Ping!

A slash twice as fast as before went level with the ground and cut through the air.

Owlbear only extended his leg and did not move in farther.

Troublesome.

She fought better than that squire. So was there a problem? He judged there was none.

Even if things went bad, he could run...

"What, so you were an owl bastard."

He could not finish that thought.

It came from behind.

On one side stood a man twirling a long-handled axe.

Familiar face.

Where had he seen him?

He searched his memory. Could not place it. But the pressure from that body was not ordinary.

Should I run?

Instinct warnings could not be ignored. Reason gave the same order.

"If you answer only what I ask, you can leave in one piece."

Then he heard a voice directly behind him. So startled, he swung his elbow by reflex.

Those steel-like feathers were weapons. A clean hit would turn a human into crushed meat paste.

The opponent did not get hit.

He spoke, then retreated. Like he had predicted this reaction. Backing away was faster than striking.

Owlbear knew from the vibration of the air.

"Who's the leader of the Black Blade?"

The man asked. Owlbear compressed air into his gut and blasted it out at once.

Ooooooo!

Bring terror, he unleashed a roar.

Demon Creature power shook the air. At least one of them should piss themselves and collapse.

Like those soldiers earlier.

The one in the feathered hat barely endured, and some other soldiers dropped to their knees and pissed themselves.

They all grimaced from the roar, but none showed the reaction he wanted.

Why was everyone still fine?

The one with the axe even grinned.

"Stop making noise, monster."

Then another human approached. One came from the side with steady steps, holding a long whip.

"What, you out for a night stroll too?"

The one with the axe asked. The whip-holder was a face Owlbear also knew.

Shouldn't he be at his post?

His name was Matthew, retainer to Kdianat Langdiers Nauril.

The man who had stirred chaos inside the royal palace by declaring he would ascend as Grand Duke.

In fact, it was thanks to that human that Owlbear had been able to enjoy his meals freely at this timing.

The more chaos in the palace, the fewer people would focus on him.

A few disappearances in the dead of night would never cause a major uproar.

At most, the guards would come out.

The Moonlight Beast preyed on commoners, and poor ones at that. He did not target nobles and invite backlash.

Unless it damaged their own territory, who would step in?

So all of this was outside his expectations. To him, it made no sense.

Yet there were people who came out not for personal gain but to protect citizens.

There was someone who shouted duty and responsibility, chased him, and risked his life.

There were men who had read his behavioral pattern through keen observation and insight.

Owlbear did not know every detail. He had simply become a creature drunk on slaughter, like a drug addict searching for another hit.

Even so, he judged himself a rational being.

So he believed he had judged on rational grounds and acted accordingly.

It was all worthless.

His reason had become a tool for chasing pleasure.

That was a side effect he did not even realize himself.

"What are you people?"

The South Gate Guard Captain pushed himself up and spoke.

He had barely overcome the fear. His jaw trembled, but he clenched his teeth and endured.

It got easier after that.

The surrounding mood helped steady him too.

The atmosphere had flipped.

Owlbear could not crush the soldiers he had knocked down.

He could not tear apart the charging white lion beastfolk at will.

The Demon Creature sensed danger. Things were moving in a strange direction.

Still, he could not just die here.

Never.

He had tasted pleasure. He could not forget it. He would survive and live that way again.

He would chew and swallow countless humans, feeding on their brains, blood, and guts.

Ooh.

With a short roar, he steeled his will and resolve.

Even if that path was wrong, his will itself was clear.

Owlbear had critically wounded a squire.

That had been possible through a blend of Demon Creature power and the reason he had possessed as a human.

"Ridiculous!"

Owlbear shouted. The meaning carried in that roar was clear.

Those who heard him reacted.

"Why does that thing speak so well?"

said the axe-wielder.

"So you moved under the marquis's order? Figures, after saying you'd handle it yourself."

Matthew paid more attention to the people around him than to the Demon Creature.

"My ears hurt, you monster bastard."

The beastfolk frowned.

The man behind them still did not even put a hand on his sword.

He only watched with indifference.

Even then, he was terrifying.

If I go near him, I die.

That was what Demon Creature instinct, not human reason, told him.

And it was right. Ragna was deciding whether to cut him down right now.

And on top of that.

"Who is the leader of the Black Blade? Speak. If you answer, I will send you off cleanly, before that barbarian's axe kills you or that crude swordsman tears you apart."

There was another one behind him, speaking calmly and boldly.

Who the hell is this bastard?

Why does he keep saying he'll send me off somewhere?

"Let's keep this simple."

He spoke. The one standing in the moonlight looked visible and blurry at once.

Then Owlbear realized why. Sound dropped only around that man, and his presence felt faint.

If you lost track of him, he felt like the type to slip behind your back and bury a blade there. He gave off pure unease.

"Speak."

"I don't know any of that."

Owlbear was losing in pressure. He answered before he realized it.

"I see."

The other man muttered and stepped back once. That alone reduced the pressure sharply.