313 - A Knight Who Eternally Regresses

313. There's something that, while unknown, remains shrouded in darkness, but becomes light when recognized. Understanding had been reached and awareness achieved. Thus, having glimpsed the path made of light... Today was more about intention than the impulse to evade. That was the best way to save the child. This time, intuition and intention needed to blend. 'The notion that one must win through force.' A narrow perspective. Abandoning such thoughts. Walls are free. Not everything that confines today is a spear or a blade. Sure, spears and blades are direct weapons. They are physical entities that have sliced through flesh and bone. But was that everything? Was that the only reality? What truly imprisoned was the strategist's mind. It was like dancing in the palm of his hand. 'Then, where should I start?' As today repeated itself, Enkried awoke with one task in mind. How to escape from today? The answer lay in the experiences already lived. Enkried realized now that his mind wasn't as clever as it thought. It felt like repeating the same mistakes. Before, he was swayed by the boatman's words, narrowing his view. Had the boatman not helped this time, he couldn't have faced the true wall beyond the false one. Or perhaps, it would have just taken longer. Is there a problem with that? There isn't. Even without the boatman's help, even experiencing this day tens or hundreds more times... He would have done so. He would have struggled endlessly. He wouldn't have known how to give up. Eventually, he would have overcome. Suddenly, he wanted to see the little herbalist boy. Though saved, he never saw the child again, receiving gratitude only from the mother. Were his words then just an offhand remark? Or did he truly want to live harvesting herbs? A question about his dreams—wasn't it strange? Discussing dreams while living in such a world could be a luxury. “Interesting.” Yet I would still discuss them. Yet I would still ask. Muttering to himself, he got up and immediately sighted the enemy soldiers. A rare late start for the day. "Here-!" He never finished his sentence. In a flash, Enkried had clamped his mouth shut. Instead, the soldier beside him called out. "Ambush!" No ambush, as they came while I was sleeping well, Enkried mused, dislocating the jaw of the enemy soldier with his grip. He felt the sensation of the jaw dislocating through his fingers. Such feats Audin might display have become second nature. With repeated days, the techniques honed and mastered. "Hmph!" The enemy struggled. He swung a fist even with his face held. Enkried twisted the incoming wrist while turning and wrapping the enemy soldier from behind. Snap. A bone dislocation noise echoed from the captured wrist. "Guh!" With the jaw dislocated, the enemy couldn’t even scream. Drool streamed down his chin. His complexion turned pale, as expected. Would a hostage situation work? Already attempted; it would not. "Fire!" As expected, it didn't work. Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Dozens of bolts flew towards him. Enkried flung the soldier forward and dashed to the side. Thump thump! A dozen bolts embedded themselves in the body of the jaw-dislocated soldier. The drooling enemy soldier fell lifeless. Enkried drew his sword as he dashed. The wide-eyed enemy ahead saw him. He immediately swung the sword. A blue afterimage formed a short semicircle. Shing, crack! Ending a vertical slashing motion, the helmet and skull were split simultaneously. Like an orange split with the peel still attached to the fruit inside. Only instead of fruit, it was brain and blood filling it. Splatter, blood spattered across his face. Enkried didn't bother about it. Instead, he sharpened his sense of evasion, the blades of intuition and perception. Experiences taught him well. He had faced a similar day before. At least for Enkried, it felt so. The underground of the shoemaker's house in the Boder Guard market, where the wizard once resided. That day it was. 'Pure intuition.' He needed to sense the spell traps purely by intuition. Though larger in scale and different in scenario compared to then— He was also different from before. Very different. Was it thanks to the boatman's advice? Or merely good fortune? Enkried understood one, yet realized two. Adding something beyond pure intuition and perception enriched the process. 'Force is necessary too.' It's not only about deciphering the enemy's strategies. Understanding and avoiding them isn't the end. Adding force is the key. That was the answer. Sharpening his sense of evasion to achieve his objective, Enkried embraced the sense of foreboding throughout his body. He instinctively incorporated his combat prowess into his calculations. 'Here.' Enkried began to move. Afterwards, Enkried died six more times. He never wasted a single day, as always. Even then, seven more days were needed. That was only possible due to the nearly four hundred days already spent. Enkried had seen every tactic the opposing strategist had prepared at least once. He couldn't discern how they coordinated their moves organically. Nor did he know what kind of strategy they employed. Enkried relied solely on his instincts and intuition. He judged based on his intuition. Based decisions not on rational thought but on immediate sensations. Detected foreboding and assessed its magnitude. If the slightest gap was discovered, he pierced through it. Disguising as enemy soldiers was meaningless. Hiding was even less meaningful. If the shaman appeared, no matter how well-hidden, he would be found. If even hostages proved useless— 'As it always does.' It would be resolved through sheer physical prowess. Burn scars remained on his back, and the impact from previous battles hadn't fully subsided. The effects of what seemed like long-past fights remained in his body as well. “Truly maddening.” He inadvertently spoke to himself. Seeing the path ahead, he walked. The hairs on Enkried's skin stood on end. Thrilling. It felt like he might die of joy. He felt ecstatic, ready to go mad with excitement. Taking a step forward doesn't necessarily mean only advancement in prowess. The joy of progress and growth surged through every fiber of his being. Upon realization, he was simply filled with delight. "Chase him down!" Such were the results of his continuous struggle. At the onset of another confident day, Enkried knew his first move. He moved through the trees. Surveying all around to find his target. It wasn’t easy to find. "There he is!" Being pursued. "Where do you think you're going!" Kicking down on the head of the approaching enemy soldier, he swiftly sliced the head of the nearby archer with his sword. Fighting relentlessly, wandering and enduring, eventually, it appeared before him. "Gh!" The sorcerer. Upon confrontation, invisible shockwaves enveloped his body. His heightened sense of evasion activated, showing Enkried the sorcery employed. He perceived it not with his eyes but through instinct. It was thanks to his sense, sharpened to the point of breaking. After witnessing it once or twice, his sense's blade became so refined it allowed him to visualize the enemy's trickery accurately. Having detected the approaching invisible pressure precisely, ducking away at the last second was effortless. He dodged the sorcerer’s scheme by ducking down. Without pause, the sorcerer’s lips began to move. The moment Enkried bent down, he had already gathered strength at his toes. Concentrating power at his toes. The frozen earth slightly sank beneath him. A moment's "will" erupted. Bang! Breaking through the ground, he charged forward. As Enkried pushed off the ground, earth shot up like a fountain. Debris shattered and sprayed in all directions. It was a charge worthy of being called monstrous strength. It was comparable to the charge of a semi-knight he faced recently. With a whoosh, everything was pushed back. He slashed with the gladius as he charged. Relaxation, contraction, explosion. Transferring the force through his torso muscles after striking with his feet, delivering it to the sword, executing a full-force steel slash upon the sorcerer’s torso. Boom! A thunderous noise accompanied the slash. The sorcerer’s upper body blew up, soaring skyward. Thanks to the strike which followed staggering speed. Although not fully perfected, the attack's power was overwhelming. 'One down for now.' This was just the beginning. Sorcerers always brought ominous effects. Without this one, there would be a next step. Thus, this was utilizing force. Next— Within the tightening ominous aura, Enkried stepped towards the area with the least intensity. To an observer, his actions might seem half-mad. It looked as if he was deliberately running towards a section heavily defended by armored soldiers. Rushing towards a denser concentration of soldiers appeared insane to anyone. "Block him!" A commander’s command split through the day. A single day for some, hundreds for others. * * * "Nilf, status report!" Abnaiye pressed Enkried hard. Indeed, he did. He had killed him hundreds of times. Yet for one repeating the day, death was merely a postponed chance. Enkried nearly became trapped at points. Abnaiye’s prepared traps were merciless. Invisible blades always tucked into the heart. Yet, there is always one who would pull it out and move forward. "Not good. Not even an eel could escape this tightly, but it's like he knows everything we’ve set up." Reports on Enkried’s real-time location continued. He was determined to kill Enkried. Abnaiye's brow twitched. A habit when things didn't go his way. His fingers tapped against his thigh. Was it anxiety? No. It was a movement born of concentration. Abnaiye had no intention of letting his prey escape. "Push him hard, don’t let him slip away. Where’s the Grey Dog?" "Chasing. Oddly lost the trail amidst a soldier-dense area." ‘Is he moving with strategy?’ Could that be? Countless soldiers are pursuing. Naturally, one would move through gaps. Feet lead to perceived openings. Advertisements Human instinct. That’s how Abnaiye commanded. Exposing slight openings, positioning Grey Dog and setting wizards and sorcerers there. Random arrangements atop the board. Abnaiye quickly rearranged the pieces. ‘If he’s reversing strategies for himself?’ Then move in reverse here too. Originally kept the guards of House Hurier stationed where density was low. Reversed now. Moved them all to chase Enkried. ‘You aren’t a knight.’ Thus, cannot alone breach walls made by a thousand soldiers. What about barricaded engineer strongpoints? Cliffsides? More than eighty dug trap locations. The slow advance wasn’t without reason. Thud! Abnaiye’s hand struck the board. “We’ve done so much; it's absurd if he gets away.” Everyone possesses a sense of foreboding. Enkried’s intuition and perception leaned closer to premonition than rationality. It wasn't Abnaiye’s intent he figured out. 'If I go here, something bad might happen.' Such simple, brute thoughts guided his movements. It was what baffled Abnaiye. Time passed, reports continued. “He’s retreating again.” What kind of move is this? Prepared traps for the one who reached the outskirts, now returning to the center? Already outside the sorcery range, surely his direction was identifiable. Yet he reportedly headed back to the original encirclement. Of course, it was a trap. Readied for capture if he rushed back in. But how did he sense and avoid it? “Injuries?” “Quarrels embedded in his back.” “Poison?” “Not applied.” Selected expert shooters, provided poisoned arrows, but not to all. ‘Was it intentional?’ Did he intentionally avoid the lethal shots? ‘Paranoia.’ An exaggerated assumption. Idle fantasy. No human could entirely grasp it. ‘Or perhaps, is he truly knighted?’ No, that was not it either. Listening to the reports, he indeed showed clear progress compared to yesterday. However, he is no knight. And yet, they couldn't catch him. Even when he seemed to be in the palm of their hand, he slipped away as if greased, vanishing between the fingers. How is this possible? The news that followed left Abnaiye even more baffled. "Captain." Nilf's voice was urgent. "Speak." After hearing the report, the smile vanished from Abnaiye's face. Though Enkried was seemingly trapped, he managed to worm his way out of the clutches. But this wasn't the end. He still had more plans in reserve. "What about Garlaf and the semi-knight?" "I sent messengers." "Tell them to come immediately!" Garlaf was a magician hired at the cost of a fortune. It wasn’t just coins poured into this venture; numerous promises had been made to make this happen. He was a valuable asset, borrowed with permission from the king. Yet, as the commander here, they had an agreement; he would come when called. He wasn’t meant to just send his apprentices and wash his hands of it. Garlaf, along with the semi-knight, were prepared as the second line of defense if Enkried broke through. Beforehand, however, each had tasks to fulfill. Abnaiye was sharp-minded. Clever and quick-witted. He never left his forces idle. And he saw beyond just eliminating elite squads including Enkried. ‘Turn everything upside down.’ Change the tide of the battlefield. Invert the outcome. Victory to defeat. It would happen if each did their part. That was Abnaiye’s intention. "Call in the assassination unit too!" Using everything prepared, following Garlaf and the semi-knight. Abnaiye's resolve was clear. Still, not everything in the world proceeds according to one's plans. Advertisements * * * 'Everything feels ominous.' Yet, there is a path. Even if it’s barely a gap, it doesn't matter how small it is. Just enlarge it with force. Sensing danger while simultaneously applying power. Enkried deliberately targeted the stone wall. Swinging his gladius upon the man-made barrier built by enemy soldiers. 'This shouldn't break, right?' Though the dwarf who crafted the sword wasn’t overly confident, Enkried was about half sure. This gladius in his hand was the strongest he had wielded so far. Thud! Not striking with the blade but with the flat side. Part of the wall crumbled. He kicked it, then pulled it out with his hands. Some arrows from approaching archers were dodged; others met his body. Trusting only his intuition. This was better than trying to dodge everything. Wasn’t this the lesson from a week of failures? Indeed, it was. Looking to the side, he saw several longbow elves with poisoned arrows. If he had rashly dodged, he would have added more arrow adornments to his body. Fast enough to escape pursuit and a nuisance to chase down. That place was inherently ominous. All the insights and materials gleaned from hundreds of today’s and deaths contributed to his intuitive solutions. A tower built on experience. The source of his intuitive detection of danger. Enkried struck the wall again. Thud! A second thundering explosion. With great perseverance, he pried open a gap just wide enough to crawl through, repeatedly striking at the artificial stone barricade. More soldiers closed in during that time, but eventually, Enkried found an opening. A poorly constructed outer wall crumbled with a rumble where it met the cliff. It was the moment that made Abnaiye think he had slipped away from his grasp. As the stone wall gave way, dust rose up. The northern winter consisted of dry, warm days. Soon, the dust obscured everyone's vision. "Mage!" Leblanc Hurier shouted. They had just lost two of their comrades. Two out of four surviving mages remained. The battle back then had been awkward. Enkried could have easily killed the remaining two mages with a bit more effort yet chose to withdraw. Of course, hesitation might have resulted in being captured, but— Advertisements How could he decide to retreat at that precise moment? Amidst the dust kicked up by the crumbled wall, Enkried's eyes shone a bright blue. Senses combining and paving a new path of evasion. Thus— ‘I see the path.’ Merging and blurring the senses, creating a visualized outcome. A virtual line vividly appeared before him. It was a path made of blue light. The path to ending this extraordinarily long day.