Eternally Regressing Knight Chapter 791

791. The sparring was long.

“You’re skilled.”

The small smile on Oara’s face faded slightly. She wasn’t always smiling. She
wasn’t completely startled, but the repeated blinking was a look anyone could tell.
It was only natural. Even without a few rounds, it wouldn’t have been difficult to tell she was different.
Her unwavering Will-Usuke, her swordsmanship, her attitude, even her use of Will.
Encred was vastly different from when they’d met in Thousand Bricks, the city now known as Oara.
Moments earlier, Oara had swung her sword, and Encred had deflected it with a thrust.
Oara then caught the sword, forced it back, and with a flick of his foot, dissipated the remaining force.
The knight who had renamed the city remained true to his skills. Encred confirmed this, and Oara recognized that the man before her had changed dramatically. A smile crept back onto Oara’s face. “Isn’t this more fun than I thought?”
Seeing the transformed Encred, facing this man with his sword.
It was the only moment since Balrog’s capture that a genuine smile could be seen.

“Didn’t I advise you to throw something away back then?”

The question arose from a flashback. There was no intention behind it. Encrid answered casually. Opening his mouth right away seemed like a no-brainer.

“Oh, I missed it.”

Oara smiled and accepted Encred’s words.

“……This kid is good at provocation.”

I also learned something new about Oara that I hadn’t noticed when I first encountered her in the city. This little guy has a really sharp tongue.
With a face and attitude that seem like they wouldn’t do anything, the effect is doubled when you poke at someone’s nerves. Oara has a long history of battlefield experience. She knows this well.

earth.

This time, Oara stabbed, and Encred shortened his path and swung his sword. Their swords met and parted lightly. Not even sparks flew. As if they were sparring, they swung, dodged, blocked, and deflected.
This wasn’t Oara’s will. She was simply following Encred’s lead.

‘I understand that you’ve gotten this far because your skills have improved to a certain extent.’

Was it really this much?
Oara was surprised again and again. Originally, she hadn’t intended to wield her sword like this. She didn’t want to drain this man’s strength. So she put aside sparring and just talked. For now, she was only hanging out with him because he wanted to.
Surprised, Oara knew she couldn’t surpass Balrog at this rate.

‘Does that mean I have anything to say?’

There wouldn’t be. Oara moved, looking into her opponent’s eyes. Her eyes were like a cloudless, clear sky. They
held a light rarely seen here. They also revealed a will, a determination that wouldn’t back down, no matter what. That’s why she couldn’t stop him. What right did she have to stop someone who stood here of his own free will, swinging his sword?
Even if the ending was predetermined, even if the story was already known, Oara had to read it. Even if the ending was destined to be tragic.

‘It’s not enough.’

I know this from countless battles. Balrog wasn’t just a monster that could fight well.
As always, time is finite. Whether it’s out there or inside a labyrinth, where there’s a beginning, there’s an end.
Oara decided it was time to begin, tragedy or whatever.

Thump.

Oara, who had pushed the sword away as if shoving it away, was about to declare that it was time.
Encred, obediently pushed back, sheathed his sword. The movement felt refined. It seemed safe to salute immediately. Oara muttered to herself, ”
Yes, you too know the time has come.”
Just as she was about to open her mouth, Encred struck first.

“Do you know how to do bare-handed fighting?”

Then, he suddenly extended his hand. Oara dodged the fist aimed for her eyelid with a whoosh. This time, it wasn’t a case of just laughing and dodging like before.
She twisted her waist, shifted her center of gravity, and violently snapped her neck. At the same time, she spread her palm and slammed it away. This was a counterattack, for avoiding such attacks wasn’t the end of the matter. It was a reflexive response, born from a knight’s insight and honed habits.

puck!

Encred aimed her left fist at Oara’s face, then extended her right elbow and struck her outstretched palm. The sound was quite loud, as evidenced by the force of the blow.
Oara, whose palm was blocked, leaped backward twice like a startled rabbit. Her natural specialty was the continuous sword swing, using her feet to move, and her footwork was no ordinary feat. Even from a knight’s perspective, her center of gravity shifted quickly, and her reflexes were exceptional.

“……What is it?”

Aara, who had stepped back, asked.

“Warming up?”

Encred answered calmly.

“So I’m loosening up?”

Oara realized once again how exceptional Encred’s tongue was. This kid knows how to get under your skin. He had a knack for making you irritated, regardless of his battlefield experience. The thought of Balrog vanished from my mind for a moment.

“Why? Ara, who doesn’t smile, is third-rate? Like trash? A small fry? Is that what it is?”

And while the smiling Oara was a very strong-minded knight, he wasn’t the type to give in to provocation. He was someone who would suppress his opponents with his skills, no matter what they said.

“That’s not true, though.”

The blue-eyed chick listened with a calm demeanor. That calmness was something that slowly scratched at the heartstrings.
Oara responded, and Encred smiled. Even that smile was taken as a provocation by Oara.

“Okay, let’s give it a try.”

Once, she marched through the battlefield with a single sword. This was her life before becoming a knight.

“Everyone, come at me!”

Her fame began
when she single-handedly defeated ten mercenaries, each with a distinct reputation. The opposing mercenaries had ambushed her, intent on her alone. In a battlefield where tactics relying on a small, elite force were the norm, the plan was to kill her, and even if they lost one battle, they would win the war.

“I’ll let you crawl under my legs.”

The one who had been provoking was the first to be cut off, starting with his legs. She couldn’t resist the provocation. Why did he remember that moment?
Oara gathered her fragmented thoughts and grabbed her sword. The smile that had been her engraved weapon was gone. But the “me” who wielded that smile still existed.
Whether it was a fragment of her soul, a mere sliver of memory, or a crumbling thought, she didn’t know.
He asked her if she could fight with her bare hands, but she ignored everyone and reached for her sword.

Sreung.

The drawn sword rode the current. Her sword was an unstoppable line. An unending wave.
Oara’s sword traced a diagonal trajectory, and Encred’s sword, countering it, drew a similar diagonal line. It was a sword that struck in the opposite direction, as if mirroring the force of a mirror. The two blades met in midair.

earth-!

Sparks flew. Both men swung with full force. Oara was wearing wide-sleeved clothing, but the current clash had pushed the sleeves down to her elbows.
Fine muscle strands rippled across her arms, rippling like waves.

‘It’s soft.’

In the brief moment he faced the sword, Encred grasped the nature of Oara’s sword.
His ability to read the blade so quickly wasn’t due to skill. It was due to his previous knowledge of her and his training using some of her techniques as a yardstick.
He applied force and pushed the opponent’s sword to the side. He effectively pushed it back with a powerful thrust.

Kagagang!

Just before they locked in a bind, Oara realized she’d been pushed back by the same diagonal slash, and immediately retreated. Just as quickly as she’d retreated, she leaped forward and swung her sword diagonally again.
A crackle sounded as she stomped the ground, and the dull blade traced the same slanted trajectory as it fell. Whereas the previous stroke had been gentle, this time it was a forceful one. Encred raised his sword and gave a gentle thrust.

Kigging.

Their swords crossed, and they switched places. Until just now, Oara had her back to the campfire, but this time, Encred was facing it.
The torchlight was far away, the campfire close. Their shadows, standing between them, overlapped. Just as swords and bodies intersected, so too did their gazes.
Those impenetrable blue eyes remained straight, clear, and pure. Oara knew why those ten mercenaries had come to mind.
She had long since noticed their ambush. Their tactics weren’t all that sophisticated.
Yet, despite this knowledge, she played along. Just as she did now.
This was a sparring match. Oara knew that if she fought with all her might, even a shred of ideology, she would leave at least one wound, but she refused to do so.

“You’ve really grown a lot.”
“Thanks to what I overheard back then.”
“……Did you always say things like that?”
“Oh, you overheard it, Lord Oara. It was always like that.”

If there were a snarky-talking contest, wouldn’t this kid be the best on the continent?
Oara wanted to hang out with Encred and help him. She wanted to share some of the experiences she gained fighting Balrog.

‘… …Why do you know everything?’

How to use your wings, how to escape from pressure, how to kick something that flies outside the realm of calculation.

‘I know everything.’

Encred had fought Balrog over a hundred times recently, so it was understandable, but from Oara’s perspective, it was puzzling.
But it wasn’t something she could argue with.
From then on, Oara knew what Encred wanted. They communicated with each other simply by touching their swords, without needing to speak directly.
She swung her sword without any thought for defense, and Encred parried, deflected, and blocked every strike she threw. A single, chipped iron sword still clung to Oara’s hand.
Their sparring had been long. Long enough for a group of lunatics to search for the lunatic leading them.

“Ah, this is it.”

Oara, after a while of hanging out, retreated. Encred, too, naturally drew his sword and took a stance.
There was no time for another word. Oara’s body flew to the side. She bounced like a puppet on strings.
Then, a crimson foot emerged from the shadow she had been in. The positions had changed, and Oara had turned her back to the campfire. Their shadows had overlapped, and the foot had emerged.
So, it had happened right before his eyes.
Encred’s thoughts were sluggish. The air weighed heavily on his shoulders, and his visual acuity, far beyond human limits, had grasped the identity of the thing rising from the shadow. He would have known even without seeing it. Experienced insight would have recognized what had just happened.
And so, Balrog’s foot emerged. Even in the stretched time, Balrog’s foot left a hazy afterimage. No amount of thought could escape its trajectory and speed. And it wasn’t just the foot that emerged, it was also imbued with a sense of intimidation. An invisible pressure, a pressure shaped like burning chains, held his limbs.

Liar!

Encred was kicked. He was sent flying backwards, almost crashing into the wall. But that didn’t happen.

chin.

A large hand, a hand as big as a bear, caught Encred’s flying back, sending a force to the side. The giant that caught Encred spun around. The force that could have shattered a wall, or even pierced it, dissipated in the air.
A buzzing sound rang in Encred’s ears. He protected himself with Will, but it was the tinnitus caused by being suddenly blown away. That quickly disappeared, thanks to his sturdy body.
The person who had trained him to become what he was now was supporting his back.