Eternally Regressing Knight Chapter 731

731. Imperial Swordsmanship

Coercion, the unique skill of those who deal with will.
Where does it begin?
Cats spray a killing aura that makes the mice standing in front of them unable to move. Monsters can do something similar.
They instill fear in intelligent beings, including humans.
It is not difficult to imagine a human being who is gripped by fear in front of a monster and cannot take his eyes off it, trembling and dying.

‘Even if you become a monster of a certain level.’

Know how to handle fear. Coercion starts from there.
It is about crushing the other person’s mind and controlling them with fear.
If you think back to the first time you experienced coercion, it is easy. It was a pressure that felt like your throat was going to be cut at any moment.

“Just like with pressure, if you go back to ancient times and look at the beginning of Will, it would be similar. This is what the scholars of the Empire have deduced, but the first knight was obsessed with where the monster’s immense power came from, and then he awakened Will. There’s another one coming at you?”

As he spoke, Balmung’s lips twisted.
Before leaving, Rhinox had said that Balmung was a bad-tempered person.
Even Schmidt seemed not too pleased with the two of them leaving, as he spoke at length.

“I must return to the Empire immediately. I must report this matter. The fact that the legendary alchemist was transformed into a monster and died while pretending to be a god is no small matter.”

It was partly because he had injured his leg and couldn’t keep up with Encred and Balmung right away, but he also said that reporting this to the Empire was no small task. Still, Schmidt had asked Balmung several times.

“Encrid of the Border Guard will be the pillar of the Empire.”

It was something that Encred didn’t particularly agree with.
He had never said he was going to the Empire, nor had he shown any interest in it, so he wondered why.

“I?”

So I interrupted and interrupted.

“That’s how much I value it.”

Schmidt spoke again, and Balmung twitched his ear. But that didn’t mean Schmidt could continue to nag him.
The hierarchy between the two was clear.
Balmung was above Schmidt, and he was below.
And the reason he said he was bad-mannered was because of his current appearance.

“It’s a ghoul.”

Balmung loves the sound of bones breaking.
He jumped forward, kicking the ground without saying a word, and grabbed the ghoul’s arm, snapping it with a crunch.
Before the ghoul could stretch out its arm. A few more monsters attacked, but they all suffered the same fate.
Their limbs broke, they writhed on the ground, and finally they were stepped on, breaking their neck bones.
All that could be heard were the sounds of crunch, crunch, and crunch.

“The devil doesn’t have a good taste.”

That’s what they say.
Balmung didn’t hide his desires. He even said it out loud.

“The most enjoyable thing is the bones of giants. The sound they make when they break something that doesn’t seem to break is truly magnificent.”

When you hear someone say that when a giant’s bones break, it makes a sound like a stone pillar breaking, it’s clear that this author wasn’t normal either.

“The beginning of the pressure was an imitation of the monster’s killing intent, and the beginning of the will was developed based on the monster’s large body showing an absurd amount of strength?”

Encred finished the story he had been telling.
The dry road and the hot sun, the green grass that had already peeked out and filled the road underfoot. Flowers were showing their faces here and there, but the road itself was rough because it was not a road that people easily walked.
It was an unorganized, wild road. Because of the rocks sticking out here and there, the ground that looked flat from afar was bumpy and rough. They
climbed over a few ridges, but it was not the Border Guard side.
Although they had not found any traces or heard any information in the middle, Balmung decided on a direction without hesitation.

“Some say one thing, and other scholars say something else.”

The empire unified the language and currency of the continent. It once tried to rule over the entire central continent, but now it has stopped.
I don’t know why. That’s why even Krang must always be on edge about the empire’s movements.
Encred also told some of his story. Isn’t it a virtue to give what you receive?
Even if you can’t necessarily put the two on a scale and make them equal.
Some of the stories feature Count Molsen and Dmul.
They talk about the process of making chimeras into knights by force, etc.

“Creating a knight like stamping it out? That won’t do. A knight is, strictly speaking, a one-of-a-kind handicraft made by a craftsman. To give an easy example, a piece made of a cast-iron plate will easily break and shatter. It must be accompanied by constant training and carved out with the spirit of a craftsman to be meaningful. What about the empire? Knights lead knights.”

Balmung spoke with firm conviction and had nothing to hide.
The method of training knights in the Empire is also not easy to reveal.
They have many knights, and those knights lead other candidates.

‘circulation.’

Turn and turn, maintaining and increasing the number.
Encred learned another thing. Was this luck? He had to think so.
He thought that when he returned to the Border Guard, he could try various things.

‘Knight leads knight.’

The core content was engraved in my mind.

“Do you think the Empire is evil?”
“I don’t know.”

Don’t judge something you haven’t experienced. Balmung was secretly impressed.
He really liked Encred’s attitude.
He’d have to see more about
his skills, though. No matter how much experience Balmung has, it’s hard to judge something just by looking at its appearance. If it’s not
that good, you can roughly gauge its skills by looking at its gait, and even if it’s better, you can tell its level by looking at its reactions.

‘This guy doesn’t look very good.’

On the other hand, Encred also did not know how to measure Balmung’s skills. However, both of them knew from experience that this was natural.
Encred knew that this author was not far behind even if he used the head of the family of Zaun as a standard.
Balmung also knew that Encred was not a flower knight who had been raised with great care on the continent.

“Some people in the Empire call the Knights of the Continent the Flower Knights.”

Balmung said with a smile.
Encred walked on the sharp stones without losing his balance at all despite the lack of proper footing. He
had flexible ankles, and all he had to do was apply strength from his calves to his thighs and hips. It seemed simple, but he was walking so that he could move back and forth, left and right, and swing his sword at any time.
Walking like this would probably exhaust his psyche, but Encred was so used to walking rough roads that he asked back in a very calm tone.

“If you don’t fight endlessly, you’ll stagnate, right?”
“If you teach one, you’ll become a friend who knows ten.”

This kind of compliment was a bit awkward, since it wasn’t something I heard often.
If Encred somehow managed to keep his balance and walk, Balmung would put strength into his feet and crush a few rocks to make a path.

“The world is not simple. Encred of the Border Guard.”
“Did I say it was simple?”

There has never been such a thing. Balmung nodded obediently.
After talking to him a few times, he understood, but it was hard to win him over with words.
So what should we do now?
Balmung did not hide his interest in Encred.
It was evening, and the two had found a place to stay. It was a small cave. They lit a campfire right in front of the cave, and since they hadn’t brought a pot, they were just grilling jerky and eating it when Balmung suddenly spoke.

“Want to learn some skills?”

It wasn’t a duel or a technical exchange, but he just told me out of the blue.
Well, Encred wasn’t the type to refuse something like that.

* * *

Balmung knew a really wide variety of techniques.

“You don’t have to learn it right away, just knowing it is enough.”

To be specific, it is a very detailed countermeasure.
Depending on the opponent’s weapon and stance, he would wrestle them and break their arms or shake them off, and all of his techniques were derived from experience.
So it was not an imperial swordsmanship or technique.
In particular, the wrestling technique for fighting with a sword was a feast of techniques that did not exist in Balaf’s martial arts.
They were not all that great, but they did broaden his scope of thought.
The more small techniques he knew, the better, and the more skilled experience he accumulated.
Encred knew that, so he memorized and practiced them without missing a single one, sweating profusely.
Did that make him look very happy?
Balmung brought up his personal story.

“I’m from the Eli Mercenary Corps. Have you heard of it?”

They were talking while holding each other’s wrists. Their faces were apart, and Encred’s right ankle and Balmung’s left ankle were crossed.
Their hands and feet were entangled, but their bodies were apart. Balmung always smelled like dust. It was the smell that came when a chest or warehouse that had not been opened for a long time was opened.

“Vaguely.”

It was a famous name before the mercenary king Anu slammed the continent.
It was a mercenary group named after the author Illai, but it was said that the three white captains under him fought better than Illai.
Balmung was one of those three white captains.

“You’re older than you look.”
“When you awaken your Will, you age slowly. Will is a power that comes from will, but it’s also a life force that fills your entire body.”

Sometimes, the words that came out of Balmung’s mouth were also esoteric. It was practical and esoteric.
If you say it like this, two conflicting concepts overlap.

‘The world is not simple.’

You can’t judge a person by only looking at one side.
Encred just accepted it as it was because he hadn’t forgotten what he had learned from seeing Hascal.
Is the Empire evil?
He could answer that question the same way.
You don’t know until you experience it.

Hot, bang!

I thought he was going to lose his balance when he bent his wrist and put strength into his ankle, but he shook off the hand that was holding him and moved away.

“This is my main weapon, so there’s no need to engage in close combat, right?”

As Balmung spoke, he tapped my waist. The blunt, angled object revealed its presence on my waist.

‘Since blunt weapons are my main weapon, I prioritized keeping distance.’

If you know what a person’s purpose is, it’s easier to read his actions.

‘The essence of the inspection.’

The more he understood his opponent, the easier it was to read him. That’s why he had to hone his insight.
Of course, he could use the opponent’s mind, who believed he had understood him, to his advantage.
Whatever it was, if he knew his opponent, he could gain an advantage
. That was probably why Balmung offered to teach him techniques.
Balmung was now assessing Encred.
What was his specialty? What was his habit?
The funny thing was, in this situation, Encred could make Balmung’s head very complicated.

‘Jeongjunghwankwaeyu, not bound by five.’

The more I looked at Balmung, the more I thought he was an unknown man.
After talking for about three days, while teaching and learning techniques, I found my target.
It was a wide basin-shaped land in the middle of the mountain range.
It was a place where only short grass grew, and it felt desolate.
There were almost no trees around, and the sunlight did not shine well. Looking around, there were a few mountain peaks that were just blocking the sunlight.
Instead of the summer heat, a coolness had descended, and I saw a man holding a longsword. He
had scars on his eyebrows and lips, and even without that, his appearance was enough to say that he had a ferocious impression.
Judging from the long right arm, he must have trained with his right hand for a long time, and his appearance was not too shabby for someone who had been on the run for a long time.

‘I ate well and lived comfortably even while running away.’

The conclusion is this.

“You bastards, you keep chasing me.”

He said. Balmung opened his mouth with a big smile on his face.

“I swear.”

What followed was something Encred had never expected.

“If I can beat this guy standing next to me, I’m free. Gelt.”

The name of the man who was chased after causing various troubles as the leader of a group of bandits is Gelt.
He was originally an imperial soldier and rose to the rank of knight.

“Well, didn’t you say you wanted to see the Imperial Sword? I sprained my ankle earlier and it’s hard for me to fight.”

Although he made an excuse that didn’t make any sense, Encred was able to accept the joke.

“Then you should rest.”

Four-legged race.

I walk on low-lying grass, like moss, that holds moisture.

“What are you? Are you from the Empire?”

The opponent asked while sitting on a blunt, large rock. Gelt took up his sword because he liked the taste of cutting people.
It was hard to feel the taste of cutting when fighting a strong person. He liked hearing the screams of women and children more.
That was what Balmung had told him on the way.
Gelt must really be like that. There was no reason to add a lie to this story.

Slurp.

Encred took out the three irons and stood them up, looking at Gelt.

“No.”
“The punk I used to carry around with me when I was a mercenary?”
“No.”
“Then what?”

Gelt speaks, lifting his butt off the rock and aiming his sword. The tip of the sword pierces the sky diagonally, while the blade covers his body. That’s how it feels. So, the pressure takes shape.

“In the Empire, that’s the basis of dealing with coercion.”

Balmung’s voice was heard from behind.
Imperial swordsmanship was a step ahead of the continent’s.
I could tell just by listening to him.
I would know even more if I experienced it now.
I focused and looked ahead. The blowing wind, the sunlight, the shadows that were cast, the feel of the ground beneath my feet.
I put everything into the realm of my senses. Encred prepared the Sword of Chance.