Eternally Regressing Knight Chapter 797

797. Killing the remaining fire

Ragnar knew he was reaching his limit. If he continued like this, he would wither and die.
It was a fight like a precariously built stone tower. The slightest gust of wind would cause it to crumble, and even a passing child, marveling at its charm, would simply tap it with their fingertips. If even one person lost their balance or collapsed, the Balrog would become enraged and go wild, and that would be the end.
Yet Encred remained the same. His expression remained unchanged, his eyes still round and round.

Phew!

Moments ago, Ragnar’s sword pierced Balrog’s stomach. And it was a solid blow. The resistance transmitted through the blade of the sunrise signaled that it had pierced the entity.

‘why?’

Ragna was determined to stab, but in the end, he felt it wasn’t his intention, but Balrog’s.
In other words, he was deliberately stabbed. All those questions condensed into a single word, “Why?”
It wasn’t like he had the space to open his mouth to speak.
Ultimately, Balrog, apparently not content with simply enduring, threw in an unexpected move.
While they say you can trade flesh for bone, the creature saw a gain in giving up flesh for bone. And
so he did.
With a hole ripped in his stomach by the rising sun, he attempted to crush Encred’s shin. While the attack pattern was similar, this time, the unexpectedness was Balrog’s bold and resolute judgment. Even
with his abs ripped and his intestines spilling out, Balrog’s thigh muscles still worked properly. His toes aimed for Encred’s shin once again.
To keep the delicate gears from breaking, no one must forget their role.
Audin mustn’t block beyond the realm of balance, and Rem, who had been keeping watch from afar, mustn’t suddenly rush in.
At this point, there was no one to block or take Encred’s kick. Shinar, who had been watching, instinctively tried to leap, but the elf lacked the skill to close the physical distance.
In other words, Encred would inevitably lose a leg.
And so, he saw this fight as it would end.
Encred’s two swords had already been extended to block the Balrog’s Urt and part of the Salamandra’s split whip.
So, instead of drawing his swords back, he lifted his foot and blocked the Balrog’s kick with the sole of his foot.
He balanced on one foot, draining his strength. No matter how skilled his technique, it was already a weak defense.
Even if he had blocked it, it seemed inevitable that his shin muscles would twist or his bones would be crushed.
But this time, Encred held on. He even muttered.

“Endure.”

That day, Balrog’s words were fulfilled.
The transformation of Will, from Endure to Iron Armor and then Indules, took place, and it manifested outside of his body. If he could unleash Will with a sword, why couldn’t he do it with his body?
Encred imitated the Holy Glow Armor of Audin, which he had witnessed countless times. Maintaining it would have made his Will heavy enough to hinder his fight, but it was useful for a single moment of defense.
That’s how he blocked it. Of course, if he had blocked it head-on, his shinbone would have shattered, but he drained as much force as possible and minimized the impact.
Thanks to that, he was able to release the power of Balrog’s kick, with only a momentary soreness in his muscles, and endure.

‘He’s a genius.’

Ragnar was secretly impressed.
In reality, it was more a matter of time, effort, and experience than talent.
Encred still managed to fend off Balrog’s attacks. He literally managed to fend them off.
It wasn’t a long fight, but the price of enduring alone was starting to show, like scars all over his body.

bang!

Urt, who had swung his sword so that it was parallel to the ground, blocked it, and Penna shattered and bounced away.
Had the elven craftsman seen this, he would have screamed.
Part of his cloak was torn.
Blood splattered. It wasn’t black fog, but red blood vaporized and dispersed into red smoke.
This was the result of the high-speed exchange of attacks. Even that, though, was merely a blur between the torchlight.
Thinking back on the entire process, what happened next couldn’t be called a coincidence. This was destiny. It
was an opportunity earned by persevering.
Rem fired two bullets simultaneously, using both Spirit and Descent, breaking two of Balrog’s regrown horns. The third bullet, launched in quick succession, struck Balrog’s forehead. This was more than a distraction; it was a single, all-out attack. Rem, who had previously fired one bullet at a time, now threw not two, but three in quick succession. He unleashed his secret energy.
This was the price of his sheer strength. Balrog’s hands and feet tangled. The gap widened.
Encred was barely holding on. He was so focused on blocking every thought that he didn’t even fully realize what Rem had done. He
was simply focused on Balrog’s reaction.

‘If you miss it, it’s over.’

There was no time to look away.
Audyn turned away from the whip for a moment and turned to Balrog’s right. He’d been fighting on the left side all along, occasionally extending his fists and feet in that direction, so this was a deliberate choice of position to create a sense of surprise.

Huaang.

Here, with his right hand, he added and gathered divine power like never before, then burned it. The divine light transformed into a flame for an instant. It was a hidden secret. A flame bestowed by the god of war, a holy fire.
With the holy fire-clad blade, he sliced Balrog’s thigh.

Cheeeeeeek!

Instead of moving elsewhere, the Holy Fire remained, separating Balrog’s thigh from his body.
Balrog, despite his own leg being severed, slammed his elbow into Audin’s head without a single scream.

Liar!

With a roar, Audin unleashed his power and flew to one side.
It wasn’t the moment they’d agreed upon, but the balance was broken. But someone had to do it, at some point. Everyone who held on knew this. If they just held on, they’d lose.
Balrog had regenerated his entire body and didn’t tire. If you fight with endurance
, you’ll lose. Encred slammed the Dawn Forge between the two before they could get hit with his elbow. Thanks to that, Audin’s head didn’t explode. Flying to one side, Audin bounced like a water skimmer and rolled on the ground.
At this very moment, Ragnar’s sunrise, waiting for an opening, suddenly appeared and slashed Balrog’s chest.
He couldn’t stop it. That was the moment when everyone’s intuition filled their minds.
Balrog’s fiery eyes raged fiercely. A flaming whip flew through the center of Ragnar’s sword, snatching it from his grasp. That momentarily delayed Ragnar’s sword’s flight. Balrog used the gap to spin around, tensing his now regenerated abs and extending his leg. A spinning kick.

‘I’m dying.’

Through a split in time, insight revealed a glimpse of the future. Ragnar would die. The angle, speed, and timing were unavoidable.
Of course, not everyone thought so.
The man, focused solely on blocking, broke through his limitations and moved.
Encred gripped his sword with both hands, blocking the Balrog’s swung Urt. He
blocked the elbow aimed at Audin and even struck Urt.
The Balrog’s outstretched foot, spinning in the instant of his sword swing, seemed unstoppable, but Encred’s body moved through the gap.

‘Block it.’

Will, determined, shone brightly, urging Will’s transformation.
The explosion of dots erupted, and Will, transformed into Indules, gained speed.
Encred’s sword, momentarily stuck in time with Balrog, even blocked the kick aimed at Lagra.

bang!

The blade and his internal organs shook, and some of the impact grazed Ragna’s abdomen.
Still, it was blocked.
And Ragna’s sword stopped short of cracking the second crystal.

Damn it.

The crystal split and fell apart. The blade of sunrise failed to achieve its purpose.
With just a breath, this entire battle would have ended with Balrog’s victory.
Yet, Encred’s eyes remained fixed. The crumbling Ragnar could no longer use his will, and far away, Rem knelt on the ground,
paying the price for repeatedly using reckless techniques.
Audin, sprawled out, merely raised his head.
Of course, if only a breath were to pass, everyone here would pluck their hearts out and fight. Even if that end meant death or the end.
They never gave up. That’s how they were taught. Their leader had taught them so.
It was they who taught Encred his techniques and training methods, but they, in turn, learned much from him.
And in that gap of breath, that gap of time that Balrog could not control, the master assassin who had been hiding there struck.
Just as Balrog rose from Oara’s shadow, Saxon leaped from his shadow and stabbed a pristine crystal on his chest.
The dagger he held in his hand, embracing him from behind, shattered the crystal. Saxon attempted to slash the dagger sideways. At the same time, Balrog’s wings retracted and curled, transforming into a crude javelin as he swooped down, aiming for Saxon’s neck.
It was an unexpected counterattack, defying his expectations.

* * *

‘Block it.’

Encred was still preoccupied with one thought:
to perceive the attack line, anticipate it, and use his insight to block it.

‘Block it.’

We use our senses to react and prevent all coincidences from becoming inevitable.

‘Block it.’

The will to somehow stop it spurred Will’s transformation and brought about Indules.
But it wasn’t enough. So what should I do now?
There was no time to think. If I didn’t react now, someone would die.
Was he impressed by this, or was it the boatman’s whim, or perhaps just an auditory hallucination?
It sounded like the blond boatman’s voice I’d heard before. That’s how it felt.

“Fight like it’s your first time.”

It was a moment when his words became poetry and resonated deeply within me.
Today, I’d fought and fought, blocked and blocked, and the feeling had set in, but putting something into action, even if it occurred to me, was a different matter. Now, Encred had pulled at that vague intuition and brought it to reality.

‘The culmination of all skills, the sword is wielded by humans.’

The promise to stop anything is intertwined with the promise to protect my back.
The determination shines through.

‘Block it.’

The moment he recommitted himself, the path became clear.
Just before Saxen appeared, Encred had already found himself in Balrog’s embrace.
His wings were the only thing holding him back. He still had plenty of offensive tools—his hands and feet. While his hands and feet might struggle to strike back, they were more than enough to crush an approaching insect.
Balrog swung his elbow at Encred. An intangible force gathered at the tip of his elbow, transforming into a scythe, just before it flew.
Just before the attack began, Encred countered with the Dawn Forge, pressing down with a pommel, striking the mid-arm. He
then hurled the horned dagger Saxen detested, piercing the mid-wing. The wing, already rising with power, faltered. This gave Saxen ample time to escape.

‘If predicting the attack line and blocking it doesn’t work.’

All you had to do was strike that starting point. To do so, close combat was essential.
Encred’s eyes lit up with joy. He was savoring the moment when he surpassed his limits.

‘Killing the embers.’

It was a variation and evolution of the Wavebreaker sword.
It was an act of blocking the starting point with insight before the attack
even began. It was an act of extinguishing a flame before it could even ignite.
Balrog extended his leg, and Encred stepped onto Balrog’s thigh, then extended his palm toward its jaw. With the kick, the motion of striking with his horns was interrupted. One side was trying to kill, the other was blocking. It was a waltz of death, a pair dancing together.
Encred was busy striking at the starting point with everything he had.
Balrog, even as his movements faltered, finally mixed in a trick. He seemed to be aiming for Enrog, then drew a sunrise, and reached out to Ragnar, whose posture had collapsed.
The urt in his hand extended out. It was a straight thrust, so elegant it was almost beautiful.
It could be considered a textbook example of one-handed thrusting.
To do this to a human who was stepping on his thigh and running wild at close range was truly a feat of acrobatics.
There was no particular intention behind stabbing Ragna here. Encred’s movements hinted at his will to protect everything around him, so he was simply taking advantage of that advantage.
Encred had to push his limits once again.
Even if it meant breaking the timeframe, even if it meant sacrificing a part of his body, if he had to, he would do it.
Indules, the will he had accumulated within him became as light as a goose feather, not a rock. The dawn forge responded to his now-lightened body, and his sword flew.

earth!

Urt was blocked. He was knocked away by the dawn forge. But here, Balrog added another trick.
He had deliberately thrown his sword, which he never missed, as a trick. With his remaining two hands, he tried to crush Encred’s skull with a clap of his hands.
In that brief moment, Encred’s thoughts accelerated even faster than usual.

‘Why couldn’t you hit the starting point of the attack?’

If it was a stabbing, I should have blocked it. I should have stopped it before it started, but I couldn’t. The thought was accelerating.

‘Throw it away.’

If I let go of my sword, my hand will be useless. And Balrog’s entire body is a weapon.
This thought struck me like a bolt from the blue, intuition. To stop Urth, Encred let go of the Dawn Forge. He then raised his hands to either side of his head, as if to block it.
However, he didn’t gain enough time to prevent Will from turning back into a rock.

Kwaddeok!

I exerted all my strength, held on, and lifted my foot.
It was Encred’s first counterattack, the one he had blocked countless times and held on to. It was a kick that stretched beyond the realm of expectation and insight. Encred’s toe kicked Balrog’s chin. This kick, too, was something he had learned from his first encounter with Balrog.

‘Up to here.’

He had no strength to fight anymore. Balrog’s crystal was cracked, but one remained.
Balrog wouldn’t die unless all three were shattered. He even regenerated broken and twisted necks.
So should he give up now? His heart wouldn’t break. A spirit that knew no surrender made Encred’s feet move once more.
That relentless footwork kicked Balrog’s chin, but also extended his claws, and he kicked Balrog’s left wrist.
Even though blocking this meant nothing, he went for it. He knew it was his last desperate attempt, but he did it anyway.
And Encred seemed to hear the fairy’s voice.

-Good job, fiancé.

Finally, a dark green shadow, which had been merely a spectator, appeared. The owner of the movement, as stealthy as Saxon, approached Encred, pressing his palm against the ground beside her and extending his foot. The tips of his feet were pointed. They resembled spears fashioned from leaf-covered branches.

puck!

As Encred pushed himself past his limits, Balrog fought, scraping at the last bit of his vessel.
The fairy’s outstretched foot, like a tree trunk, became a spear and shattered the last remaining crystal.

Jjeng-.

Pieces of black powder scattered in the air, and the fairy’s voice pierced my ears through them.

“This is the price and revenge for daring to kick my fiancée.”