WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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◈ Sword Master of the Fallen Kingdom

Chapter 31

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The Forgotten City (11)

To Kyle, death was like an old, familiar friend. Ever since he first fell into this world ten years ago, death had always been at his side.

The boundary between life and death. A tightrope walk over the line of death. By killing someone, he bought himself one more day to live. This world had been that cruel to a university student who had just turned twenty.

Kyle struggled like a worm just to survive. The reason was simple. He did not want to die. He wanted to stay alive and go back home.

That never changed, even as time passed. In the Northern War five years ago, Kyle picked up a sword again so he could live. Still, it was not exactly the same as before. At some point, he had gained people he cared about.

Fight. Not just for himself, but to survive with them.

He crossed countless battlefields and brushed past death too many times to count. He faced death again and again. Each time, Kyle survived by no more than a paper-thin margin.

It could only be called luck.

There had been many times when even ten lives would not have been enough.

Kill, kill, and kill again. Every time he fought renowned masters in life-and-death duels, Kyle's sword grew sharper and more precise. When his life was on the line, there was a unique sensation he could only feel in that exact moment. Right now, Kyle felt that same sensation from those battlefields.

All those renowned powerhouses he had fought in the past. They had all been strong enough to kill the Kyle of that time.

That black knight was no less than them. He knew it by instinct.

There would be no second chance.

"......."

A suffocating silence settled in the audience chamber. Gripping the hilt of his greatsword, the black knight slowly pulled out the blade embedded in reverse grip.

The sound of floor fragments crumbling. The scrape of steel along stone.

Every sound rang clear in Kyle's ears. It scraped his nerves raw. They had not even begun the fight, yet his skin already tingled. Without realizing it, Kyle bit his lip.

Who the hell is he?

Kyle stared at the black knight. Guesses and theories rose and vanished in his tense, racing mind.

Captain of the royal guard. Or someone on par with the finest sword of the Kingdom of Alenos.

A knight at that level had to be at least that strong. Being a magic kingdom did not mean they had no knights. In large-scale warfare, mages dominated in firepower, but in one-on-one combat they could not match knights. The Kingdom of Alenos had been famous for its knight order as much as its mages. Naturally so. It had once been the strongest power in the south.

Either way, one fact did not change. To escape, he had to bring that thing down. Kyle gripped a Magic Stone in his empty left hand. He sharpened all five senses and settled into a stance so he could react instantly.

Wrapped head to toe in pitch-black armor, holding a dark blue greatsword in one hand, the knight turned to look at Kyle for the first time. Blue eye-fires blazed through the helmet.

Burning blue flames for eyes. They swept over Kyle from head to toe without missing a spot. That gaze alone felt like it was squeezing his body.

The dark blue greatsword slowly rose.

With an explosive roar, something black shot forward. The red carpet tore to shreds. Floor fragments flew up, and dust billowed between them.

"Kyle-ssi!"

Lena screamed from the corner where she had fallen. In an instant, the black knight was standing in the exact center of the audience chamber, where Kyle had been a moment ago. It had closed the distance and struck in the blink of an eye. Incredibly fast. Too fast for Lena's eyes to follow.

Kyle flew through the air, then reversed his grip and drove his sword into the ground. The floor split in a straight line, and bright red sparks burst upward with a grinding screech.

Goddammit.

A curse slipped out before he knew it. Kyle muttered under his breath, then slowly rose and pulled his sword free from the floor. From directly beneath the throne to the center of the audience chamber. The black knight had crossed that distance in an instant and was now lifting its head, staring at him.

His right arm, the one that had blocked the attack, throbbed. The star iron blade still had no chips at all, but the wrist gripping it ached as if it had taken a massive impact. Looking down at his hand, Kyle frowned.

If he had been even a little slower, it would have been a fatal wound. Was that really its base speed?

When he fought Nyx Varkein yesterday, he used only one Magic Stone at the end. This was different. If that last strike had only been a light probing attack, one or two Magic Stones would never be enough to keep this battle going. He might need to keep using them just to maintain Body Reinforcement.

I used three yesterday. How many do I have left now?

Kyle looked past the Death Knight to the white-robed Lich still seated on the throne. The Lich had done nothing so far.

He could not tell whether that was because it could not fight like the black knight, or because of some other reason.

One thing was certain. If the Lich and Death Knight attacked together, he would clearly be overwhelmed. Thankfully, the Lich still showed no sign of moving. A small mercy.

Kyle glanced at Lena in the corner. She flinched when she met his eyes.

Do not step in.

He said nothing, but Lena understood and gave a small nod.

Kyle turned forward again and crushed the Magic Stone in his left hand.

Psssss-

Red and yellow particles mixed together and rippled through the air.

Kyle kicked off the ground with a sharp crack. His mana-enhanced legs launched him with explosive acceleration. Harsh wind scraped across his face, and his vision snapped backward.

A black knight was charging straight at him from the opposite side. The knight's greatsword swept up from low to high. It was far longer than Kyle's bastard sword. The blade alone was easily three times wider. Normally, no one would dare take that head-on. They would evade.

Kyle did not.

He slammed straight into it.

A sharp metallic clang rang out. The recoil from their exchange pushed Kyle slightly back. He took exactly one step and frowned.

Heavy.

Not just because of the greatsword's mass. The one wielding it was the real problem. The black knight handled a massive blade far larger than Kyle's as freely as a one-handed sword. Even after enhancing his body with mana and striking, Kyle was losing in pure strength.

It's coming again.

A knight who maintained Body Reinforcement as naturally as breathing could move several times faster than normal. The black knight recovered the rebounded greatsword at once and slammed down as if trying to split Kyle in two. Kyle twisted his hilt diagonally and let the strike slide off his blade's flat.

Bang!

The dark blue greatsword bit into the floor. A tiny opening appeared for a split second. The black knight did not give him even that. It lifted the sword while it was still lodged in the ground.

The wide blade tore upward, ripping up chunks of floor as it came for Kyle's neck. Kyle had already gauged the black knight's level in the first exchange, so he did not meet it head-on. He used inertia to guide the greatsword aside smoothly. Each time, the black knight yanked it back and rained down another blow. Violent, yet fluid sword paths.

A harsh scrape of metal burst out.

Sparks flew. Steel shrieked again and again. Nearly ten exchanges in a single second. Between Kyle and the black knight, afterimages of a silver blade and a dark blue greatsword blurred through the air.

Kyle's eyes moved fast. He blocked incoming blows.

He redirected the barrage. He knocked away thrusts. Amid sword strikes too fast to follow without mana-enhanced physical ability, the black knight also attacked with its empty left hand and both feet.

Kyle reacted to all of it and blocked in kind. Close-quarters combat continued nonstop between crossing blades. And he thought:

It's keeping up with my reaction speed?

Against Nyx Varkein, even without Body Reinforcement, Kyle could still defend while being pushed only slightly. Not now. Even with Body Reinforcement active the whole time, he could not take the upper hand. If anything, he felt himself being driven back.

I'm losing in power. Reaction speed is about even. Speed is equal too.

But Kyle had kept using fresh Magic Stones ever since the first two.

And unlike the undead black knight, Kyle was a living human. His body was flesh and blood. Even with mana reinforcement, there was a huge difference between that pitch-black armor and Kyle's bare limbs in how much shock they took. In terms of endurance, he was far behind.

If it's this strong after becoming undead, how strong was it when it was alive?

Kyle snapped out of the brief thought. At this rate, he was at a disadvantage.

He needed one move to turn the tide. Kyle made a quick decision and struck the black knight's greatsword as it climbed along his blade, knocking it wide to the outside. It lasted only an instant, but the black knight's right arm was pulled back.

Kyle kicked backward. The black knight immediately reset and chased him. Kyle intentionally showed a tiny opening.

The black knight did not miss it. The greatsword shot toward Kyle's back at terrifying speed. The corner of Kyle's mouth lifted slightly.

As expected.

Kyle gripped yet another Magic Stone. He squeezed until it shattered, and white particles spilled between his fingers. Pure mana surged through him.

He turned. The greatsword was already right in front of him.

A strike that could kill him in one hit. Kyle did not panic. He simply raised his sword in a smooth arc.

Asherad Royal Swordsmanship, Fifth Form.

Ashen Storm.

Released mana roared around the blade like a storm.

Unlike Sword Aura, the white light did not cling to Kyle's blade. It coiled around it like a cyclone.

Sword and greatsword collided. Without knocking it away, Kyle kept the blades locked and spun in a wide circle. The sword path drew a perfect half-circle and guided the greatsword aside. At the same time, the storm wrapped around his blade burst outward in a raging gust.

A seven-form sword style. One of its counter techniques.

Kwaaaaa!

The storm blasted the black knight backward. Lifted off the ground, it could not resist and slammed into the far wall of the audience chamber.

With a thunderous crash, the finely carved wall exploded apart. Broken stone fragments rattled down. The black knight's body fell from the wall and rolled beneath the throne. For the first time, the dark blue greatsword tumbled from its hand.

The short but fierce exchange fell into a lull.

[This cannot be... This cannot be happening....]

Silence filled the audience chamber again. A very low voice came from behind the helmet. Catching his breath, Kyle narrowed his eyes. The fallen black knight was trying to rise, bracing itself with its right arm.

Creak, creak.

A harsh, discordant noise came from its full plate armor. Half-risen, the black knight barely lifted its head. Blue eye-fires flickered like flames behind the helm. A rasping voice, clearly not human, rang through the audience chamber again.

[I am the king's sword. This is the king's court. How dare traitors set foot here? Oathbreakers who betrayed your vows and committed rebellion...!]

A voice that sounded ready to tear enemies apart at any moment. Dense resentment and grief bled through every word.

[I will kill you all. I will kill every last one of you...!]

For a moment, Kyle and even Lena stared at the black knight in a daze. It kept pouring out rage regardless.

From that desperate cry, Kyle understood. The Death Knight before him was a ghost bound to this world by hatred too deep to pass on.

Unlike ordinary undead, a Death Knight was made when a soul with too much lingering attachment became a vengeful spirit and settled into an inanimate shell.

And this black knight, likely once the royal guard captain or greatest sword of the kingdom, had failed to let go even at the very end. Most likely, the cause was tied to the civil war that destroyed the Kingdom of Alenos. There was only one reason a healthy king and his knight would die.

[On the day I swore loyalty, I promised to offer my life. The time has come to keep that oath....]

The black knight reached out. The greatsword rolling nearby moved on its own and stabbed into the ground before him.

[The price of treason is death alone. I will take your blood and flesh, sever your heads, skewer them on spears, and hang them in the streets.]

A pitch-black gauntlet gripped the greatsword's hilt. Using it as support, the black knight straightened both legs.

[Betrayers blinded by power. Garbage that knows no honor. As long as I stand, you will take nothing you desire. Rather than let you steal it, I will destroy it all with my own hands. Even if this body burns away. Never....]

"Too late. The Kingdom of Alenos already fell."

[...What?]

The black knight stopped mid-mutter.

Staring at the now fully risen knight, Kyle continued.

"The kingdom is gone. Hundreds of years have passed. We are mercenaries from the Kingdom of Brendel, and this ark and underground city your side built has become ruins over three hundred years old."

[Impossible....]

"Impossible? Look again. You and your liege died long ago. Same for the oathbreakers who rebelled. The civil war around the throne had no winner. Everyone was annihilated. You should know your own condition better than anyone."

Kyle jerked his chin toward the Death Knight's body. An undead being that could not truly die.

The Death Knight, stripped of human blood and flesh, glanced at the throne behind him, then looked down at itself with trembling eye-fires.

[Ah....]

Under the pitch-black armor covering its whole body, there was nothing at all. Inside the hollow iron shell, only an unpurified vengeful spirit clung to it. The moment it realized that truth, both of the black knight's arms began to tremble. Blue fire behind the helm flickered in confusion.

[I... am dead? The kingdom fell?]

"......."

[So that is it. I could not protect it. I could not fulfill my duty to the end....]

The black knight clutched the faceplate with both hands. Bent over, it let out a grief-stricken scream from inside the helmet.

[You there... what is your name?]

After weeping for a moment, the black knight straightened again. Until just now it had denied reality, but the blue eye-fires now burned in quiet calm. Not an undead that had lost reason and acted on instinct, but a clear light of intelligence. After a short pause, Kyle answered evenly.

"Kyle."

[Kyle, Kyle, Kyle... do you have a family name?]

"Kyle Baldrick."

[Kyle Baldrick... as I thought, a descendant of the first Northern King. It has been a very long time since I faced an opponent of this level. Unlike Alenos, the line of Hailen has not been severed.]

"I'm not a descendant of the Northern King. I did not inherit royal blood."

Kyle corrected him. By now even his identity as a Korean had grown faint, but the fact that he was born on Earth had not changed. He had received a royal surname, yes, but he could not change the blood flowing through him.

[Not of the direct line? Yet that swordsmanship is surely that of Asherad, the Northern King.]

"......."

[I once sparred with a Hailen knight in the past. Even if you did not inherit the king's bloodline, if you fully learned that swordsmanship, then you too are the Northern King's descendant. Human legacy is not limited to blood. That is more than enough to say you inherited his will.]

After those words, the conversation ended. As if lost in thought, the black knight stared at his own hand for a long time. Kyle and Lena quietly watched him.

[Knight of Hailen, I have one final request.]

A fair amount of time passed before the black knight spoke again. He curled the right hand holding his sword, then lifted his head to meet Kyle's eyes.

"What is it?"

[When I was young, from the moment I pledged loyalty to the king, I vowed to live my whole life as a knight. Though I died without completing my mission and remain bound to this world as hatred, I am still the sharpest sword that protects the king. And this is the king's court. Therefore.]

The black knight continued in a clear voice unlike before. It was no longer rasping, no longer unnaturally low.

[Even now, I will fulfill my duty at last. Only then can I sever my lingering attachment and leave this world. Even if defeat awaits me. Even if I die again. Even if this iron body crumbles. In the end, I wish to die as a knight, as I swore when I was young.]

Even if it was only the stubborn pride of a dead ghost.

[Will you grant me this?]

The eye-fires beyond the helmet looked straight at Kyle. Instead of answering, Kyle tightened his grip on his sword.

[Thank you.]

The black knight pulled out his greatsword. He raised it one-handed and set his right forearm vertically before his face. The large hilt crossed in front of the helm, and the massive blade extended straight beside his face.

Like formal courtesy before a duel.

[I salute your honor.]

Facing him, Kyle also raised his sword. Unlike the black knight, Kyle held his one-handed sword upright with the blade pointing skyward. The silver edge covered one side of his face. His free left arm drew back near his waist, fist clenched as if behind his back.

The sword salute used in the north before a duel. Kyle bowed his head slightly. A cold blade stood before him. The star iron sword gleamed faintly. Eyes lowered, Kyle spoke in a low voice.

"May your final moment be filled with light and rest."

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