Eternally Regressing Knight Chapter 826

826. Blocking the way

The city was preparing for a festival, marking the end of the salamander season and the return of the harvest.
This meant a time when people would flock together in droves. What if the city suddenly heard news of a salamander and a monster?
Everyone would scramble to escape, and some would be trampled to death by the crowd rather than the monsters.

‘It is impossible to evacuate in an orderly manner.’

Chrys’s judgment was correct.
The Border Guard and the surrounding cities expanded like never before. Within the swollen cities, a correspondingly large number of people gathered.
From the safe passage to the trade route known as the Stone Road, to trade with the trading cities—
everything drew people here.
What would become of this country if this large population were forced to flee en masse?

‘It’s going to be a disaster, I guess.’

There’s nothing to see.

‘It’s probably a good thing this happened now.’

During the festival, crowds flocked in.
Fortunately, the festival was held in the city of Lokfried. Lokfried was built on flat ground, not in the mountains. It was originally planned as a trade center, not a military city.
Consequently, its walls were relatively low and its roads were wide. Wells were dug throughout to connect waterways, and warehouse and commercial areas were clearly divided. In short, it was a merchant-friendly city.
It was designed without the risk of invasion in the event of war.
While a city with wide roads and clearly defined districts was an advantage in peacetime, it was a disadvantage in wartime.
The wells dug here and there would be invaluable in supplying the enemy.

‘The road will be a good place for enemy troops to pass through.’

The warehouse would be transformed into their supply depot.
Well, I had that in mind and made various preparations, but a single war would annihilate the city’s function.
In any case, the important thing now is that Lockfried is fortunate. It’s a city built on flat ground.

‘If you’re not sure, you can run away.’

The gates were deliberately made wider.
So what about the border guards?

‘The Border Guard is too close to the Pen-Hanil Mountains or the border.’

That’s what Christ sees. It’s also a city built on terrain suitable for military use or fortification.
Therefore.

‘The last bastion.’

If the salamanders come down from the mountain and you can’t stop them, you’ll have to fight them here until they’re all oxidized.

‘It’s dizzying.’

My heart races, and my back feels wet. Kreis considers himself a moderately shallow, philistine person. Frankly, he finds it difficult to expect heroism.
It’s not about what others think; it’s about not having any such expectations. He doesn’t even want it. But things don’t always go smoothly. That’s why you have to be prepared.

‘If we fail, should we all die here together?’

Christ pulled himself back from his lapse into distracting thoughts. His anxiety began to rise.

“Wasn’t this meant to prepare for this situation?”

At that precise moment, Abnayer spoke from beside him. Kreis considered this man a semi-mentor.
He possessed a confidence and talent he lacked, and his depth of thought was extraordinary.

“Well, that’s true.”

Christ answered.
He was a teacher in his heart, but outwardly, they were friends, regardless of age.

“So, don’t worry. It’s just an arrow that’s been shot.”
​​“When you become a knight, you can catch the arrow that’s been shot and throw it back.”

Anxiety is something that always plagues him. Abnayer offered a clever answer to that question.

“That knight is an ally. Christ.”

Christ witnessed Encred’s growth up close. He witnessed every absurd thing he did. So, Abnayer was right.

“know.”

So, he just had to do what he had to do.
When Iri Kreis felt a little uneasy, the standing army moved. Starting with those at the safe road outposts, the men turned their backs on the city and faced the mountains, raising their spears and swords. And they fought.

* * *

At first, it was just one.
A quadrupedal creature made of flame, it stamped its feet, leaving black footprints. The stench of charred wood began to waft, and smoke rose in its wake.
Burning branches and grass turned to gray ash as flames ignited, and then the blazing flames from their entire bodies made it clear that this was no joke.
No eyes. No nose. No mouth. Just a blazing ball of fire.

“You want me to deal with something like that?”

One of the soldiers muttered.

“Then should I leave it alone?”

Another soldier answered.

“No, well, that’s not true.”

The soldier who spoke first shrugged and held out his spear. They were pike infantry from the standing army.

Kirik, Kirik.

The soldier who spoke first connected the joints of the bladed and unbladed sticks by twisting them together, then raised the blade diagonally forward. The twenty soldiers ahead of him all had magical blades.
Where had Chrys poured all the gold he had earned?
He had put most of it into his armaments. Some of it was now glowing.

Bang!

As the wolf-like fireball flew in without a howl, the three spearmen, centering their weight on both feet, thrust with their spears. It was a steady thrust, born from their clean stances. They had practiced it over a thousand times, and there was no wavering.

Bubbeok.

The flaming wolf that charged was impaled on the spear blade and scattered. The flames dimmed and fell to the ground. The dripping material was so sticky that it reminded me of beast entrails.
Where the flames had extinguished, only a handful of black ash remained.
The difficulty was when weapons were ineffective; otherwise, it wasn’t a problem.
Then, from the mountain range, dozens of monsters, spewing flames and forming bodies of fireballs, began to descend.

“All forward, maintain formation. Adjust speed to the signal to retreat. No variations.”

The commander spoke. He judged the rushing fireballs to be unintelligent.
They lacked reason, being closer to magical creatures. Without the ghoul-level vulgarity, they would be even easier to deal with.
The five-ten formations were formed in five layers, crossing each other so that the back row would block the gaps in the front row.
By maintaining a certain distance to the left and right, they could also create space behind them to thrust their spears.

“Magic Unit.”

The commander called again.
Not all soldiers carried magical weapons.
Some didn’t. Here, they were the soldiers in the third line.
Ahead of them, Esther’s magical unit waved its hand. While it would be impossible to quell each of those fireballs with spells, enchanting them was relatively easy.

“The power of the blue star is infused into it.”

A spell developed by Esther caused the soldiers’ swords and spears to glow blue.
It was called the Blessing of the Stars.

“All of them are great.”

At the final command, spearheads were aimed forward. They were a force so refined that they could hold off even a determined cavalry charge. It wasn’t difficult for them to stop a charge of this magnitude.

“Poke!”
“Get out!”

Each pierced the body of the flame demon with a shout suited to their personality. The fight was one-sided.
Interestingly, within the standing army, they were more like ordinary soldiers. The true elite existed elsewhere. For example
, the Holy Martial Infantry, with Audin as captain and Teresa as deputy commander, were examples.
Despite their official name, others simply called them the Cultists.

“Those don’t seem to have souls.”
“Then even if we kill them, we can’t send them to heaven, right?”

These are those who have awakened to divinity through their devotion. Even if they didn’t know, the sacred city Legion would be terrified if they
knew of their existence. Audin has his own way of nurturing people. Within the Knights, he was the best in terms of body modification and nurturing.
There were similar combat forces within the Legion, but they were on a different track. They
were all large and muscular.
They all wore gauntlets modified by those with exceptional physiques. Their main weapons were the metal clasps that locked onto their wrists.
They also wore white cloth armor with cords binding their sleeves and ankles.

“All free to fight.”

These were the ones raised with great effort by Audin and Teresa.
A soft light flowed from the gauntlets they wore. They
had awakened to divinity, but could not yet wield it freely. So they relied on weapons, and these weapons were blessed by Audin and Teresa. Only when they fought could they embrace divinity with their fists. And so they did. They smashed and shattered the heads of the blazing fireballs that rushed at them.
The number of flaming demons and monsters exceeded hundreds. Some of them fought against Rem’s assault force, while a small swordsmanship unit under Ragna also stepped forward. Those known as Encred’s personal guard also took action.

“There wouldn’t be any kids who would get hurt to this extent, right?”

The female squire, once known as Fallen Clemen, is the commander of Encred’s bodyguard.
She was also known within the Border Guard as “Pervert Clemen.”
Rumors of her kinky hobby of tormenting her subordinates earned her this bizarre nickname.

“I’ll see you when I get hurt.”

It was a remark devoid of humor.
The guards behind her clenched their teeth. If they suffered even the slightest injury here, that madwoman would likely roll them over until they died.
If the entire standing army consisted of ten men, Kreis only used about six. The rest were for emergencies.
And even with those six, the horde of monsters descending from the mountains was completely blocked.

* * *

‘It’s unusual.’

Encred, clutching the dawn, moved forward, pondering. He
was heading into the Fen-Hanil Mountains, more precisely, toward the spot Garrett and Finn had observed. A
fire giant met him midway. Larger than Audin, its blazing flames were scorching even from over twenty paces away.
Instead of incinerating the surrounding trees, it simply stopped. Then, perhaps recognizing Encred, it turned its head in his direction.

‘Standing on two feet.’

It was a shape resembling a human. And that wasn’t the end. Flames erupted from its hands and formed a shape.

‘Greatsword?’

It is a long stick held with both hands, with a round lump at the end.

‘It’s a hammer.’

Encred didn’t run. He walked, his left hand gripping the scabbard and his right resting on the grip of dawn.
His pace was neither fast nor slow.
The Flame Giant formed a large flame mace in each hand. It was large enough that even Audyn wouldn’t feel awkward carrying it.

Hurruk.

It’s all made of flame.
Walking fire comes to mind, and so does Balrog. As these thoughts raced through his mind, Encred transformed the Will swirling within him.

‘Suitable for an explosion of goodness.’

Like the wind or like a storm.

Liar-

Hearing an explosion from within, he simultaneously applied force to his feet
and kicked them. Encred sliced ​​through the cracks in time as he advanced. Anyone who had seen him would have been astonished.
Acceleration was a constant, almost like a walking motion. His center of gravity hadn’t shifted significantly, and there were no warning signs. He didn’t even pretend to gather strength in his thigh muscles.
What could possibly explain such an unusual maneuver? Of course, it was Will.
Encred had already improved his skill in handling Will. In fact, if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t be standing here now.
His experience killing Balrogs hadn’t left him. He simply became a blue line and passed the flame giant.

Huang!

The wind is blowing.

Bboo-bboo!

The sound of compressed air bursting echoed through the space where Encred had passed.

Hwaruk.

And the flame mace swung futilely through the air.
Encred watched as flames rose above the Blade of Dawn, extending past the fire giant, before dissipating.
A single stroke.
The flame giant, split in two, crumbled to ash.
The blast of heat ruffled her hair. Her black hair exposed her forehead, revealing two jewel-blue eyes.

‘I feel light.’

No injuries. It was a strange feeling. Not omnipotent, though.

‘It feels like anything could work out.’

His body moved as it pleased.
Encred simply walked. He simply moved his feet back and forth, appearing leisurely, but with each step, he pushed forward, pushing the ground. His speed was faster than most people could run. While not quite a gallop, it seemed as if no one could stop him.
Yet, Encred stopped walking. The path was uphill, and since it was not a path for humans, branches and thorns blocked his path, but he ignored most of them and continued on, jumping over them.

“who?”

Encred asked.
A man stood blankly beside a tree that had grown to the right. He was dressed in thin cloth, wielding a long, white, unguarded staff sword in his hand. His eyes were narrow and his pupils were slit vertically. To
anyone who saw him, he didn’t look human. He stared at Encred for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“I’m dying. Go. Here I am. I can die.”

The pronunciation wasn’t particularly awkward, but the content was truly awkward.
But who was Encred?
Wasn’t he a master of listening, someone who could somehow extract the teachings of his knightly order?
He instantly grasped the meaning behind his opponent’s words.

“Are you saying I’ll kill you? Or are you saying I’ll die if I go behind you?”

The man thought for a moment and then answered.

“You die. I die.”

It’s still awkward, but the meaning is a little clearer.
If there’s one thing that’s unusual.

‘There is no speculation or murderous intent.’

But the author will keep his word. It was purely a feeling, but it seemed that way.

“Does that sound like a threat?”

Encrid answered and drew the dawn.

Chiring.

The blue blade aimed at the opponent. Until then, the opponent had been staring at Encred.
Then he spoke again. Encred was about to say something.

“Stop, stop.”

Those words froze my body.
Everything was unexpected. The other person’s words forcibly stopped my body in a completely different way than the pressure Balrog had been applying.
The Will swirling within Encred resisted the force trying to suppress it, and a reflexive Will of rejection triggered, shaking off the other person’s words.