Eternally Regressing Knight Chapter 840

840. Elimination, decline, and downfall

“How often have they fought?”

Esther was once known as the “Fighting Witch.” Why? Because among those who wield magic, she was a special breed.
It was rare for a sorcerer to risk their life to test their skills. While accustomed to exploitation and exploitation, a life-or-death struggle felt strange to them. They were the type of people who avoided even the slightest danger.
That’s why the nickname “Fighting Witch” was so special. That’s why sorcerers treated Esther as a special breed.

“I probably haven’t fought properly in decades.”

She spoke with confidence.

“They are eliminated.”

Esther knows their physiology.

“They don’t trust each other, so they’re busy hiding things. Sparring? Out of the question. They don’t share their skills with each other, and only know their own vision.”

If you only live in the shade, flowers will wither, and a still spring will dry up. Therefore, the decline of the magicians is inevitable.
It’s a grave they’ve dug themselves. Only they don’t realize it.

‘If we were in a group, we had to share what we had.’

Encred raised the standard of the Border Guard standing army, even if it meant releasing his own. He shared everything he had learned with those who followed him.
He was not stingy with learning, nor was he stingy with teaching.
Astraille? They are stingy with learning and teaching. All they desire is plunder. They see the world only through their own lens. They are frogs in a well. Their world is nothing but a small, round sky.

“Astrail doesn’t know the knights. To be precise, he doesn’t know the level of the Border Guard knights.”

Even if Esther herself had planned and prepared, she couldn’t face the entire order of knights.
The group of them, drooling and drunk on greed, would simply perceive them as swordsmen. They don’t understand the differences in skill even within the ranks of knights.
To borrow Encred’s words, they’re a bunch of foolish wizards and witches. Esther smiled as she spoke.
And Chrys suddenly looked at Esther, who was laughing, with a strange gaze.

“They’re just a bunch of foolish wizards and witches.”

Esther said.

“It would be a headache if those fools rushed in and took the city hostage.”
“They won’t.”

Esther understands the nature of wizards. As wizards who protect the city dwellers, you’d think such a being wouldn’t exist.
They aren’t people who look out for others, but mere servants consumed by the demon of knowledge
. Therefore, they shouldn’t be taken hostage. There might be those who target the city for their own purposes, though.

* * *

“Come.”

As he began this mission, Saxon moved Geor’s daggers scattered throughout the city.
This was the word of one of the guild members. They were first-class assassins, capable of sensing danger with their keen eyes and ears, as well as their sixth sense.

“Thank you, brother. You must be running so hard that your feet are sweating.”

It’s a large creature. Up close, you have to raise your head to meet its eyes. The guild members knew exactly what they were talking about.

‘Audin the bear.’

Although not actually a mermaid, its body was large enough to warrant its name. Up close, it was even more devastating. The guild member, too, was someone who trained hard. He saw the dense muscle lines woven throughout Audin’s body.
The bear mermaid clasped his hands together before his forehead and muttered.

“Lord, today I want to send someone to you.”

The prayer was quite brutal. As he raised his hand, part of his abs were revealed beneath his loose-fitting shirt. His sculpted abs were a piece of armor in themselves.

‘Muscle armor.’

Perhaps it was a form that shattered the limits of what the human body could possibly possess.
Its skin was so hard it appeared to be as hard as the scales of a monster scaler.

‘Paladin.’

The image of the paladin in the guild members’ minds shifted.
Audin finished his simple prayer, released his clasped hands, and looked down at the person standing before him.
He supposedly attributed it to the Information Guild’s assistance, but the footwork of the person approaching him was enough to tell.

‘A walk with a habit of killing sound.’

Audin already knew his opponent’s identity. Yet, he seemed oblivious, offering his usual grin, like a rock or a bear.
Teresa, standing beside him, similarly finished her prayer and spoke.

“I guess I should go.”

It was inside the outpost guarding the Lockfried Gate. The city is vulnerable to attack, and Lockfried even more so.
Fighting here would be a headache. Therefore, the basic plan of Chrys’s plan this time was to intercept.
However, he couldn’t know the movements of all the mages approaching from different directions.

“Of course we must protect the city. We’ll just have to stay within the walls and gates. If we follow Esther’s advice.”

As he spoke, Christ paused for a moment. He seemed to be gathering his thoughts, as if something had occurred to him. After a moment of deep breathing, he paused to reflect and finally spoke.

“An arrogant person has no way of hiding his true identity.”

Audin agreed. Now, those words had become reality.
Just in case, he even moved Geor’s dagger, but the wizard remained confident.

“What is that?”

Some of the soldiers at the outpost frowned and said.

“What is it?”

Two soldiers observe the area ahead. They hear screams from afar, and they see people running here and there. They even see the upper class abandoning their cart and fleeing.

“then.”

Audin and Teresa stepped out of the guard post. Some of those fleeing were members of the standing army.
They weren’t simply fleeing; they were scattering left and right, grabbing weapons and forming formations.
Audin, too, had participated in the standing army training. He noticed something odd about their movements.

“It’s not a large force that deals with a small number of elites.”

Teresa spoke. Audin nodded. The standing army, having dispersed and retreated, gathered and gathered among themselves, and watched the two large figures approaching from the rear.
Even without a word, relief was palpable in their eyes.

“Please retreat in formation to the wall.”

Audín, too, was excellent, even if we only considered his vocal volume, regardless of his cadence. His voice resonated widely. Some of the standing troops saluted and moved back.

“Knights confirmed. We’re maintaining our formation and falling back. Mercenaries, you too, fall back.”

The standing army spoke to the mercenary group that had been mixed in by accident. They were southern country bumpkins who had joined the peddler group.

“You’re leaving those two alone?”

One of the mercenaries asked back.

“Didn’t you come here after hearing rumors about the Mad Knights?”

A soldier from the standing army said, stamping his feet.

“but…….”

The continent is vast. Many people wouldn’t believe it if they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, even if they’d heard the rumors.
But what could they do? Fighting here would mean risking their lives.
They retreated. One of the mercenaries’ complexion was still grim. He was a native of Zaltenburg, the duchy of Okto, and had been a mercenary in the southern border region.
He’d heard rumors of the Mad Knights, but he couldn’t believe it. It was so different from the world he lived in. He was busy with local wars and hunting demons in the south.

‘Is this okay?’

And then, what the mercenary had been worried about appeared before him.
A swarm of undead swarmed in. Resurrected monsters, called draugrs, charged in droves.
It felt like a giant boulder made of flesh and bone was rolling down the wall.
Oozing skin tore and fell to the ground, and a rotting stench stung the nostrils. It was as if the rotting corpses were rising to fight.
Among them, skeletal soldiers supported themselves with rattling white bones, and skeletal knights clad in armor made of rotten flesh. Their shields were human heads, their weapons swords carved from bone.
Dozens of flash golems—
draugrs, the collective name for those who could not die—surrounded the place, resurrected by necromancy. At its center, a figure sat on a chair made of bone, looking down on everyone. The chair was supported by four skeletal soldiers.

“I won’t say much. Just bring me the Star Child. Then nothing will happen. At least we’ll avoid something terrible. You know who the Star Child is, right?”

The wizard on the bone chair spoke.
Audin watched the horde of undead swarming in.
How could these creatures continue to appear, no matter how many times they were crushed, broken, and sent to the Lord’s side? Could
it really be that only by crushing the head of the “father of all the dead” within that demonic realm could they vanish?

“I hear the songs of the dead.”

Teresa says. Audin can hear their cries. They want to die. The corpses cry out for eternal rest.

“Let’s clean it up.”

Audyn said. Today, the collection of items to be sent to the Lord has increased. The necromancers are the ones the Lord desires most.
We must send them to the Lord immediately.

“Lord, I lift my fist for your glory.”

Teresa begins to sing. A white light begins to slowly spread outward from her center. The wizard, seeing this, speaks.

“You insist on drinking the punishment. I am the master of necromancy, capable of summoning the ghosts of the White Knights.”

Chrys suspected that even among the members of Astrail, there must have been someone who specifically targeted the city. As Esther had said, their penchant for raising corpses to fight couldn’t have changed in the meantime.
Chrys mobilized his knights based on the information she had provided.
Their fight took place right in front of the city.
This meant many eyes were watching. The standing troops and mercenaries retreated, merchants fled, those lining up to enter the city walls, and those running stalls outside.
Before everyone could see, five flash golems moved simultaneously.
With a loud crack, the ground exploded, and they pounced on the large man.
The mercenary’s eyes widened. He couldn’t even see the five golems move. He hadn’t even blinked, but they had surged forward and charged.
The scene was a blur in his eyes. Golems leaped upward, charged from the front, and slammed into him from the left and right.
He watched, not even breathing, let alone swallowing.

‘I’m dying.’

The five flash golems were no ordinary monsters. They had been brought in to fight the knights. They were monsters that had undergone countless modifications.
And the mercenary witnessed a sight that shattered his expectations.

Bubbeobbeob!

The compressed air burst. The process was invisible. All he could see was flesh being rolled up by a white-tinged waterspout.

Pitter-patter.

It rained rotten flesh.

“……What is it?”

The mercenary muttered and the standing army soldier next to him spoke.

“What is it? It’s a full-body article.”

Audin, a fanatic or full-body knight under the Mad Knights,
is already renowned among the standing army. Next to him, a half-giant, sword and shield drawn, moves. She
swings her sword and shield, leaving behind a trail of afterimages disproportionate to her size. Where she moved, a horde of draugr, their bodies crushed and bursting, fall to the ground.

“I’m not the master of ten thousand ghosts. This isn’t enough.”

Audin muttered, recalling the civil war in Naurilia.
The wizard, known as the master of the White Ghost, trembled.

‘What is this?’

How could my five flash golems explode so easily?
Dozens of his minions vanished simultaneously. He called himself a one-man army. It’s only natural, since he alone wields the power of a hundred spirits.
Even those who, though similar to him, adhere to a completely different method, acknowledge this. The symbol of his power exploded and shattered.
As Esther had said, they had come without assessing the might of the knights. The result was disastrous. From a wizard’s perspective, that was the case.

* * *

“My name is Warhop. I don’t hold any grudges against you, but this is such good stuff that I’m tempted to buy it.”

Lawford, Fel, and Dunbakel moved together. They faced the mage on the other side of Encred, at the foot of the southern ridge that blocked Greenpearl from the edge of the mountain range.
The creature emerged from the summer grass and brought two
death knights behind him. One was clad in pitch-black armor, the other in pure white.
The mage, Warhop, didn’t often deal with ghosts, and instead only accompanied these two death knights. He
could be considered a descendant of the comrade knight who had faced Audin in the Balrog battle.
Indeed, Warhop had traced the comrade’s remains in the ruins, learning and training his magic.
He had even transformed his own body with magic, making him a confident battle mage of knightly prowess.

“I don’t think the three of us will be needed.”
“Sir Christ is worried.”

Dunbakel interjects between Pell and Lawford.

“The one in the middle looks like the most stubborn one. That’s what it smells like.”

Warhop coveted the Starchild, but he also coveted the Mad Knights themselves. He was the only one among the Astrails who valued the Mad Knights’ skills. It was only natural, given their specialty was the magic of the Death Knights.

‘If not all of the Knights, but three.’

Warhop licked his lips.
If Astrail hadn’t come, he wouldn’t have come this far, but since he was already here, he wanted to expand his collection.

“I think I can handle them both by myself.”
“Is that really necessary?”
“I don’t think that’s something to discuss about honor.”

Regardless of what the three said, Warhop hid his left hand behind his back and pulled the strap of the pouch hidden around his wrist.
With that gesture, the powder scattered and spread into the air. At the same time,
he summoned a breeze with a spell. That’s how he secretly released the poison. His specialty was to spray invisible poison while pretending to use his sword.
The three men were muttering something. In other words, it was the perfect opportunity to spill the poison.
The three suddenly stopped talking and turned their heads simultaneously. They looked at Warhop, and all three of their eyes seemed to shine.

“It smells bad.”

Among them, Suin spoke, while the two humans quietly retreated.
These three had endured countless blows from Rem, endured Saxon’s harassment, and been honed through sparring with Encred.
Their intuition was different. Knights, after all, were those who overcome their limits through repeated training, so in a way, it was only natural.
In truth, Warhop had never encountered a true knight in his life.
The two death knights he wielded were merely relics from his past explorations of the ruins.