Eternally Regressing Knight Chapter 878

878. Boyish Smile

If you’re wondering if it’s comfortable to sleep on, it’s not. But that doesn’t mean I can’t close my eyes and sleep.
A swordsman, after all, must know how to rest even in a thorny field.

‘Should I sleep a little?’

How long would it take? Half a day, perhaps? Even a few hours of sleep would make arriving at the battlefield in better condition.
Encred decided so and closed his eyes. The
one-eyed creature didn’t flap its wings or fly. Instead, it spread its wings, larger than its body, and caught the wind. It rode the wind like an eagle larger than a man. The
cloak given to it by the Drues clan in the elven city of Kirhais covered its back and head.
The fierce wind blew like a wizard’s spear, forcing it to bend down tightly.
Encred closed his eyes in that state. The sound of the wind, constantly striving to pierce his eardrums, was a lullaby.
To anyone watching, this alone would have been a truly remarkable feat, an acrobatic feat, a feat of skill. Encred was good at falling asleep anywhere, but he hadn’t expected to find himself sleeping on a flying horse.

‘It’s warm at least.’

The back of the ogre was warm. That warmth, along with the fairy’s cloak, kept him warm. And so Encred fell asleep.
It was right after he fell asleep.

Slosh.

A place where black river water filled all sides. Encred, sitting on a boat, opened his eyes and looked ahead. He
held a purple lamp, his fingers like the gray wasteland, and his face, darkly shadowed by the lamplight filtering through his hood, was difficult to see.

“It’s amazing how you can fall asleep on top of it.”

The boatman said.

“I couldn’t miss the opportunity to sleep on a flying bed, as it wouldn’t be easy.”
“……Is that so?”

Today’s captain was polite and easygoing.
Encred noticed this immediately and spoke to him in a way that suited his audience.

“Should I say you’re a truly interesting person, or a prison that imprisons us all? Or what are you?”

Encred saw that today’s captain had something to add besides being polite and easygoing.

‘Today’s boatman is a little.’

Is it sentimental?
I wouldn’t know just from the tone, but if you think about the content, it seems so.

“You’re not asking if I’m human, but that’s all I can say.”

The Border Guard’s response, “Encred,” was inappropriate for the boatman’s question. It spoke of his affiliation and name.
Furthermore, Encred had never lost his identity, so there was no need to utter the word and cast anchor to avoid being swept away by the turbulent currents.

“Take it as a warning or advice.”

Encred saw a woman’s face inside the boatman’s hood. He wasn’t sure. When he tried to look closely, a dull darkness covered the boatman’s face like a veil.

“It will come when you are least prepared.”
“What will it be?”
“It will come in the form you least desire.”
“A wall?”
“It will be nothing more than a wall.”

It’s the boatman’s prophecy. The boatman’s words, when recited in connection with misfortune, have a high accuracy rate. Otherwise, it might have been intended to instill fear in all future generations.

“I still want you to stay here today.”

Until now, the boatman’s speech had been calm and composed, but only the words referring to himself were overlapped and resonated.

“Fall as hard as you can. That’s definitely advice. You’ll need it for ‘the near future.'”

Encrid had no chance to answer.

yes-.

A drumbeat or something sounded somewhere, and he awoke immediately.
From the sky, everything beneath the earth was perfectly visible. Encred looked down to gauge his position as soon as he woke.
Night had passed and morning had passed. He had been flying all night. In between, he chewed on the long pieces of jerky Aurelia had prepared for him, and he munched on the fruit dish called Fairy Grace that Shinar had given him. There was actually a fruit dish called “Fairy Grace” in the fairy city of Kirhais, and he had eaten it a few times, but Shinar’s fruit was more nutritious than other fairy fruit dishes. It was incredibly sweet, and
even just one piece warmed his stomach.

‘Marcus gave me a car like this once.’

It was when he was a battalion commander.
It was a tea made by boiling dried berries from the mountains. It was dark in color, and he said it was a method he had learned and improved in the north. To be honest, it tasted terrible. It was bitter and spicy.

“It’s meant to be drunk hot.”

It’s especially meaningful when you drink it when it’s so hot your tongue feels numb. It’s called a medicinal tea that naturally brings warmth to those staying in cold places.
That tea tasted terrible, but there were many excellent teas served on other days.
He was the only one around who enjoyed tea and brewed it well, so I didn’t want him to die. I also didn’t want the orange-haired woman who followed him to die.

Kwaaaa-

The wind, still aiming to rip my eardrums, blew past my ears.

“Let’s go faster, you little bastard.”

Talking while flying alleviates the worry of biting your tongue. Simply gliding doesn’t involve bobbing up and down.
Well, it’s hard to convey words, but the only member of the Mad Knights who had previously specialized in quadrupedal walking and now specialized in gliding was able to convey Encred’s thoughts.
In fact, it was also thanks to Encred’s generous supply of Will in both hands and his powerful pull on his mane to express his thoughts.
And so, after soaring and soaring, he arrived at his destination. Encred didn’t take in everything, nor did he focus on assessing the situation.

Asia.

He confirmed the presence of the orange-haired knight, saw the positions of Marcus and his allies, and saw the positions of the two calamities with hands and feet.
That was enough to determine the direction of movement. Encred then braced his legs and wrapped them around the one-eyed creature’s stomach.

“From there.”

He spoke simultaneously. It was a message for Marcus to hear, and also a way to convey his will to the enemy knight.
It was a technique for conveying his will through his voice. All the ceaseless practice had paid off.
Encred was certain his voice had reached Marcus and the spear-wielding Calamity approaching ahead.
As Encred braced his legs, the clever member of the group, One-Eye, immediately understood his intention. He lowered his altitude with a sharp drop from his gliding stance. He felt his internal organs surge upward, but for them to actually escape, they would first have to pierce through trained muscles and skin, and even the leather armor of the warrior, made from the hide of a Balrog. All he
had to do was watch his internal organs escape, so Encred simply gritted his teeth.
Of course, there was no actual loss of his internal organs. There was only a steep descent, almost like a fall.
A javelin hurled at him as he flew. He calculated the speed of One-Eye’s impact, a skill that seemed to be a familiarity with javelin throwing.
If he left it, intervention would be delayed, and his orange-haired friend would only be seen as a tombstone.
Encred recognized the situation and threw himself. The stray eye twisted around, helping him fall.
His cloak flapped loudly, then clung to his back.
As his fall increased, the javelin thrown from below came crashing down before his eyes like lightning.

‘Fall as hard as you can.’

Encred heeded the boatman’s advice. He struck the lightning-like spear that Dawn had already drawn.

earth!

A simple slam would have been a remarkable feat, but Encred used the force of the javelin to launch himself.
Spinning in midair, his descent accelerated. His target was the head of the sword’s owner, barely touching the orange-haired neck.

‘The best defense is a good offense.’

I don’t know if this is the right word to use here, but I think anything is fine as long as it makes sense.

‘I guess you could say the best salvation is attack.’

A thought that had crept into my slumped thoughts. If I ignored the dawn I had swung, Asia would die. Instead, the master of the greatsword would have to sacrifice an arm or be prepared for a rather deep wound.
If I trusted in the strength of my shoulder pads and armor to endure, that would indeed happen, but the master of the greatsword was being reasonable.
Knight Mattia didn’t blindly trust in defensive techniques solely based on armor. Instead, she trusted in the thick blade that always served as a shield. Her faith was rewarded.

Bang!

Dawn swept across the greatsword. Knight Mattia adjusted the angle of his greatsword appropriately, channeling its power.
It was the blow of a being that fell from the sky like a meteor. It would be foolish to rely solely on strength to deflect the blow without regard for one’s own body. It was the right answer.
Encred’s dawn flowed through Mattia’s rock-cutting blade.

Kagagagagak!

The two engraved weapons rejected each other as soon as they met. The meeting was brief, and the parting swift.
Machia let out a spurt of force, then thrust her greatsword forward, pushing her opponent back.
Encred, not resisting the force, flew backward. Falling back first would have been painful, but if it had saved Asia, it would have been a good deal. However, Encred’s expectations were slightly off.
Instead of falling back, someone placed a hand on his back, lessening the impact. That was enough, and Encred used the force to plant both feet on the ground.

Ddddddd-

The remaining force was held by the soles of his boots. Encred and Asia, who had reached out from behind, were pushed back. Four furrows were dug where they had stood.

“you.”

Asia asks from behind. He looks quite grim. He’s covered in cuts and tangled hair, his left forearm particularly mortally wounded. He should immediately wrap himself in bandages, seek out a high priest, and offer three times his usual offering. He should kneel and sing of God’s mercy, praying for his divinity.

“If you don’t take care of your appearance, there’s no way you’ll get married, Acea. A man won’t fall in love with you just because you beat him up.”
“……damn you bastard.”

The greeting she sent to her orange-haired friend, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time, rekindled her fighting spirit. It was a truly appropriate move, as they were about to face the enemy and fight.
Asia had just crossed the line of fire. More than three times.

‘I was lucky.’

The fickle goddess of fortune was on her side today. The first stroke of luck was that she’d recently been inspired by some new techniques and was honing them.

‘It could have been the wrong direction.’

If all inspiration were right, there would be no one in the world who wasn’t a genius.
As the famous philosopher (whose name I don’t recall) put it, this inspiration was a suit that fit her body perfectly, and the knight seemed like a signpost with the letters erased, indicating a destination.
It didn’t show the way forward, but it was a signpost that showed the path she was on was the right one.

‘Strangle and tighten.’

Using her heavy sword as a base, she applied restraint to the enemy knight’s entire body. She went beyond activating her Will to materialize her murderous intent, spreading an intangible, sticky web. She used
her momentum to push forward, using her will to buy herself a bit of time. Her first stroke of luck was grabbing the trouser leg of one of the disasters. Her
second stroke of luck was the enemy knight’s interest in her. She didn’t immediately slash her sword with all her might. She swung it out as if testing it. That alone threatened Asia’s life, but luck was luck. Her
third stroke of luck was even purer.
She channeled her opponent’s power during the attack and attempted to distract him by shaking the tip of her sword. The woman with the greatsword immediately saw through this and kicked her ankle.
Asia used the momentary kick to swing her sword in the air, sending it flying. The tip of her sword created a greater vibration and trajectory than her own.
The technique, half-risking her life, effectively blocked her enemy’s limbs. Then, for the first time, I discovered the greatsword’s usefulness for stabbing, and with that, my left arm almost said goodbye to my body and left.
To be honest, I didn’t even realize when the gash on my neck had appeared. A knight is a knight. It was a miracle that I had lasted this long.
Just then, as I was about to face death, a final stroke of luck struck me like a meteor. At an
unexpected moment and in an unexpected way.
At his next words, instead of laughing, Asia erupted in anger. That was exactly what the other person was hoping for.
Perhaps it was Encred’s way of encouraging me not to give up.
It seemed unlikely that words like “Cheer up,” or “This isn’t the end,” would ever come from that man’s mouth.
He was a madman who would fight to the death, and crawl
forward, even if it meant crawling. Asia caught her breath and focused on the two standing before and behind her.
In front was the knight with the greatsword, and behind him, the man who had gone ahead had returned, wielding a long spear. In other words, there were two knights. If someone asked if they were sieging with just two, she would tell them the story of how a single knight surrounded a thousand soldiers.

“What is it, Pegasus? Did you come riding that?”

The knight with the greatsword asked. With his short hair and sharp jaw, he possessed a muscular physique that could easily be mistaken for a man at a glance.
Asia was inwardly surprised to see Encred riding in, but it wasn’t the time for surprise, so she ignored it and focused on the essentials. So, she asked herself if she could buy herself some time.

‘No way.’

Even when I had both arms intact, I was able to survive on luck. Now, that’s no longer the case.

‘What if I risk my life?’

So, would I really be able to buy enough time to swing my sword? Even that felt difficult. The momentum the two knights were wielding wasn’t quite the same as before.

“You’re out.”

Encred spoke. Asia gritted her teeth. She spoke.

“There are two opponents.”

Encred answered in a nonchalant manner.

“Yeah, there are two.”

He turned, leaving Asia behind. He positioned his enemies to his left and right. He subtly placed Asia behind him.
Among the same knights, two was a significant advantage. It was a given. But in this situation, Encred smiled. The corners of his mouth lifted. It was the smile of a boy anticipating what was to come.