A Knight Who Eternally Regresses - Chapter 526

Chapter 526: Chapter 522

When Encrid had just emerged from the world of consciousness that Aker had created, he felt the wind blow through his hair.

In terms of time, the sun had yet to fully set beyond the western mountains, so not much time had passed.

His highly developed senses allowed him to perceive the passage of time. A biological clock, so to speak.

Encrid knew from the flow of his biological clock that not much time had passed.

‘It felt like a lot of time passed inside.’

It seemed that way, but in fact, it was different.

Because it was a world where only consciousness wandered. So does that mean what he learned in there was meaningless?

No, that wouldn’t be the case. It would take some time to adapt and manifest it with his body again.

Encrid, with his eyes open, observed his state in the same posture as earlier.

He stood awkwardly, gripping his sword.

‘I’m not hungry.’

He didn’t particularly feel the need to eat more, nor did he feel sleepy. Even though he had spent a considerable amount of time in deep concentration, he didn’t feel dizzy. In other words, he was just fine.

Although he had been gripping his sword and standing the entire time, his limbs didn’t feel particularly fatigued either.

“You always manage to do something strange every time I see you.”

Rem approached and said this.

With his axe hanging at his waist, he let his arms dangle at his sides.

Due to sorcery, Rem had reached the level of a Knight and was able to catch a glimpse of some of the sword’s tricks.

Above all, he had witnessed Encrid suddenly close his eyes while gripping his sword and begin to twitch.

He had sensed that something was happening, and using his sorcery, he gauged the situation.

For this reason, Rem knew that Encrid’s consciousness had flown away. To be exact, it looked as if he had synchronized with the sword and become trapped inside it.

Not only Rem, but everyone else gauged Encrid’s state in their own way, which led to all their gazes being fixed on him.

Encrid, sweeping his eyes briefly over those gazes, spoke.

“I’m just playing with Aker.”

“That’s what it looks like to me as well.”

“Yeah. I’m heading back again.”

Encrid said this as he released his grip on the sword and shook his legs to relax his muscles. Then, he sat down on a suitable stump chair in the corner of the training field.

Normally, to enter the world Aker had created, one would need to send their consciousness downward, as if sinking below the surface of water, but Encrid had met enough ferrymen to become quite adept at this sort of thing.

Not that he wanted to, but how many times had he wandered the line between dreams and consciousness?

Without needing an invitation from Aker, he re-entered his world.

* * *

“I suppose I should be surprised, but I’m not. Time is too precious.”

Aker, in the middle of a fight, muttered as if in passing.

Normally, there should have been various questions first.

For example.

-Did I teach you how to enter the world of consciousness?

-Are you aware that your Will is like an ever-flowing spring, making it even harder to handle?

-How did you come back so quickly?

-Your mind must not be made of steel, but how is it even possible for you?

-You must have faced death a hundred times over; did you make some deal with the Goddess of luck?

Questions like those.

Things that couldn’t be explained, things that wouldn’t be explained.

Encrid was that kind of person.

But Aker decided not to ask anything. He discarded any pointless questions.

Why?

Because dealing with this guy had stirred something within him.

“I’m not going easy on you just because it’s hard.”

Aker gritted his teeth and spoke. His mental projection recognized a sense of resolve rising within him.

“Yeah, thanks.”

Encrid answered calmly, which somehow irritated Aker.

Both the tone and the content of the reply.

“You bastard.”

Aker laughed, realizing there was no need to teach him psychological warfare at least.

Despite being a mental projection, lacking a physical body, Encrid still managed to ignite a fire in this specter’s chest.

A month passed in the real world, while countless more passed in the world of the sword’s consciousness that the specter created.

There was much that the specter had to teach. It was his lingering attachment, so he gave it his all.

“What are you going to do once you’re skilled in this? Just grasp the essence. You’ll have to relearn it all when you leave anyway.”

“Yeah.”

Encrid, without a break, requested another sparring match, and Aker accepted while speaking.

By this time, Encrid realized he didn’t need to pant for breath in this world of consciousness.

The fights in here weren’t truly fought with the body.

So, as Aker said, grasping the method would be enough.

That’s exactly what he did.

He aimed only to learn the technique. Of course, it wasn’t easy. He had to repeat the same moves dozens of times, listen to explanations, and then repeat them again just to grasp the basics.

“You’re… a bit slow, aren’t you?”

Or.

“What happened to being a Knight? Why is your learning ability so poor?”

Aker could have made comments like these along the way, and it wouldn’t have been strange. Encrid was used to hearing such remarks.

But Aker didn’t.

A month was a short time. Aker was too busy pouring out everything he knew, leaving no lingering attachment behind.

Pointless questions were ignored.

Talent? That was unnecessary.

What would change by talking about it? Nothing.

So he focused only on what mattered. The mental projection was true to its purpose.

That’s how Aker handled things.

“Show me the swordsmanship you’ve learned. You must have learned the swordsmanship that Knight Aker left behind too, right?”

The mental projection Aker, being separate from the Knight Aker, referred to him in the third person.

Encrid nodded in response. Strategic swordsmanship, Correct Sword Technique, and Nameless Sword Technique.

These were the names of the swordsmanship styles. Encrid showed the techniques he had developed and modified in his own way.

Along with that, he demonstrated the method of sealing foresight, by generating dozens, hundreds of different kinds of intent, creating confusion for the opponent.

“Do I look like some fledgling Knight to you? That kind of trick only works on amateurs.”

In Aker’s time, there were more Knights and more frequent battles than today.

The founding of a nation required more chaos than peace, and the continent of that era was more turbulent than it is now.

Anyone who fell for such methods was called a fledgling Knight.

It wasn’t an era like now, where Knights hesitated to fight, constantly reading each other’s intentions.

Historians and scholars of today refer to that period as the Age of Struggle.

While the Demon Realm was relatively quiet, humans, beastmen, Giants, Fairies, and Dwarves fought in turmoil.

Aker said this while receiving Encrid’s attacking blade.

Clang! Clang!

The sounds of metal clashing echoed between them.

The blades moving through the grass pressed forward, aiming to overpower the opponent.

“Oh? You’re going to do it like that?”

Aker murmured while dodging, blocking, and launching his own counterattacks.

“You’ve improved quite a bit? Still, wouldn’t it be better to learn the latter part of the Nameless Sword Technique? It would be good for you, right?”

Encrid had no time to nod. Just because he didn’t need to breathe didn’t mean he could stop breathing altogether, right?

Maybe it was fine for Aker’s mental projection, but not for him.

It was necessary to move as though he were fighting with his real body.

A flash of insight sparked within Encrid’s mind.

Even so, he kept his ears open to listen to Aker.

“The original name of this sword technique is Aker’s Web. Aker really liked spiders. He even raised them himself.”

As Encrid learned the latter part of the Correct Sword Technique and the method of handling his willpower.

He constantly attempted to handle his Will with a dull sense.

Time is like a fired arrow, once shot, it can’t be caught.

Time that has passed cannot return.

Except for eating, sleeping, and brief moments of rest, Encrid clung to Aker for the entire month.

They say that where there’s a meeting, there’s also a parting.

Aker knew his time was nearing its end. Every time Encrid returned to reality, he felt the sword in his hand gradually lose its light, the once firm grip softening.

Soon, he could crush the blade with just his fingers.

The once sturdy, sharp legendary sword Aker was gone, replaced by an old sword on the verge of crumbling.

Then, on an ordinary day as things flowed peacefully.

In the world of consciousness, standing in the grass, Aker’s body began to blur.

“Well, I’m off.”

Encrid nodded and looked at Aker’s face. His cheeks had started to dissolve into tiny particles of light.

From his cheeks to his hair, and soon his entire body, he began to turn into small particles. In some ways, it was a beautiful sight, but in others, it was a cruel one.

Regardless of whether it was a specter or not, watching the destruction of existence was still something to behold.

And Aker smiled gently.

Regret? Sadness?

There wasn’t a trace of those emotions on his face or in his expression. His smile was serene, showing no signs of pain or suffering.

“Thank you.”

Aker said.

Since they didn’t have much time for deep conversations, Aker hadn’t been able to say much about himself.

Though he did toss out small stories here and there, there was no room to talk about his regrets or goals.

Instead, they swung their swords. That alone was enough for Encrid to understand what Aker had wanted.

Even so, there wasn’t anything more to be said.

The human form that the mental projection had created blurred and vanished. The particles of light scattered into the sky, swirling upwards like a small vortex.

At the same time, the grass and the sunny sky split open.

From the split sky, light burst forth.

A flashing light, a vision of hundreds, thousands of shooting stars passing by, the process of waking up from the border of consciousness and unconsciousness back to reality.

Awakened, Encrid opened his eyes and lowered his head.

Crackling.

The sword Aker had wielded crumbled into dust in his hand. Looking up, he saw the sun shining brightly through thin clouds, as if asking how such a frail veil could block its light.

It was a clear day, with sunlight illuminating the surroundings.

“The midday grassland, Aker’s favorite place. This was his hometown.”

Those were the words of the mental projection Aker. He claimed to know nothing, but he had ended up saying quite a bit.

For a being who supposedly knew nothing, he was quite the chatterbox.

“Did you also learn Valen’s swordsmanship?”

“Valen Mercenary Sword Technique?”

“Why would you think he was a mercenary?”

“Wasn’t he?”

“He was a Knight. And one of the top ten, at that. Do you think those sword techniques are just tricks? They may be, but if you dig deeper, you’ll feel something else. They’re sword techniques premised on the control of Will.”

It was surprising enough that Encrid’s ears perked up, but at the time, he hadn’t had the capacity to pay full attention.

He had a lot on his plate.

Aker’s teachings were one thing.

But Encrid also had to wrestle with what he knew and realized. He had to swing his sword relentlessly, never resting.

In any case, everything that Aker left behind was passed on to Encrid completely.

Now there were no regrets. Aker had left without any regrets, meaning that Knight Aker’s lingering attachments had been resolved.

With that, the royal treasure, Aker, had fulfilled its purpose.

No, it had gone beyond its purpose.

What does it mean to go beyond one’s purpose?

Encrid realized that his method of handling his Will was still clumsy.

To overcome that, he had to reach his limits multiple times.

That’s why he had fought Aker over and over again, constantly pushing his Will to its limits.

While battling in the world of consciousness, Encrid had replaced the bricks he had previously stacked with even sturdier stones.

‘I feel like I should have been the one to say thank you.’

Encrid thought to himself as he looked at the falling sunlight, silently speaking to Aker.

Before he knew it, it was autumn.

Autumn, a good season for fighting and war.

With the heat gone, food wouldn’t spoil as quickly, making it easier to preserve provisions. And if there were nearby forests or fields, it would be easier to procure local supplies.

The cool breeze felt more refreshing than chilly, and with this being the season with the least rain, the days would often be cloudless or lightly clouded. Therefore, the sky would be high, and visibility would be clear.

The stage for war was set in Green Pearl.

If the battleground was an open plain, it wouldn’t be an ideal environment for tricks.

A full-scale war was anticipated. At least, that’s how it appeared.

While Encrid spent the month playing with Aker and working on incorporating what he had learned into his body, Aspen had declared war.

“Hand over half of Green Pearl and two of the newly expanded cities, and we can avoid a fight.”

That was what the envoy who came to the Royal Palace said.

“You don’t say that thinking I’ll accept it, do you? Let’s see what Aspen has that gives you such confidence.”

Krang, seated on the throne, neither rebuked nor got angry at the envoy but spoke calmly, displaying his dignity.

Aspen’s envoy was from the Ekins family, which symbolized governance and administration.

He left, thinking the King of Naurillia was quite magnanimous.

Aspen stirred up a lot of noise. Thanks to that, the entire continent was abuzz.

They fully utilized rumors.

Many believed that Aspen would win this battle.

At first, it was just the talkative peddlers.

Later, even the heads of the large merchant guilds were talking about the war.

Some even bet on Aspen’s victory.

They had seen the grand army, one that had sucked the Kingdom’s marrow dry.

In contrast, Naurillia’s response seemed passive, at least on the surface.

The plan seemed to be to let the Border Guard hold them off for now and then mobilize the army later.

Naurillia was not easily revealing its full strength, while Aspen was making no effort to hide theirs.

It was as if they were saying,

‘Stop us if you can.’

Amidst this, Krais also set his strategy in motion.

“We’re ready to set out.”

A man with large eyes, destined to run dozens of salons in the future, spoke as he looked at the gathered warriors in the training field.

Everyone was fully armed.

Encrid had obtained a single solid steel sword from Valery Mountain to replace Aker, and he still carried three swords.

On top of that, he had a throwing spear slung diagonally across his back, making it a total of four large weapons.

Underneath a blue gambeson embroidered with gold, he wore drake-scale leather armor, and instead of a gauntlet on his left wrist, he had leather straps wrapped around it, connected by hooks at the ends.

Eitri had made this wrist guard for him from the leather he had obtained from a Giant merchant.

Fully armed, the Mad Company gathered around Encrid.

Rem, with his axe, Ragna, with his greatsword slung over his shoulder, Jaxon, standing with his arms crossed, and Sinar, standing expressionless right behind Encrid.

“It’s unsettling, yet reassuring.”

Krais said as he watched them.

According to his plan, Audin, Teresa, and others would remain behind.

The rest of the forces had to move.

“Just accompany us for the departure and then make your move, right?”

Encrid asked for confirmation, and Krais nodded.

The beginning was now.

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