Chapitre 174: Chapter 322 -How do you block lightning?
Today repeated itself.
Whether the ferryman watched or not, Enkrid remained consistent.
It was always the same, unchanged.
Whether it was when he first grabbed a sword and set out as a mercenary, or when he had swung his sword at a tree after being beaten, nothing had changed.
Well, there was one difference.
His vision had changed.
What he focused on had changed.
The way he thought had improved.
His body had changed.
The sword he held had changed.
His dream had come closer.
Still, Enkrid was Enkrid.
He continued to think relentlessly.
"How do I block it?"
It was a question without an answer.
Of course, there was no problem.
It was always the same.
It was rare for Enkrid to come up with an answer.
Everything around him suggested giving up.
It urged him to settle for today.
The way to give up also came to mind.
Was it the ferryman's trick, or was this how things always were? The method to get through today was never just one.
"What if I escape with everyone?"
What if, upon waking up in the morning, he dragged his aching body and fled crazily?
There were several carriages at the Green Pearl Fortress.
What if he picked one and just ran off?
Would the knights come to the border guard?
They only show up in the evening, but if he ran away in the morning, could they catch him?
Could they catch him?
He didn't know.
In fact, he didn't need to know.
Enkrid wouldn't do that anyway.
There were plenty of ways to escape, and they were easy.
Where would he go with that body? Even if Garrett caught him, it wouldn't matter.
"I should go back and rest."
Or...
"I have something to do right now."
He could just say that.
Who would dare say anything to the hero who led the battlefield to victory, the greatest achiever?
Inside the fortress, there was already a subtle atmosphere of excitement.
When Aspen withdrew, there would immediately be a party.
They would feast on meat and drink.
Could he look forward to such a tomorrow?
"Despair."
The ferryman's words, which he had been muttering, stirred in his mind.
"You cannot overcome it."
The ferryman repeated the same words.
It was just a passing thought.
But it didn't change anything.
Enkrid continued to swing his sword in his mind.
He sought a solution.
"What if I move back and let it slip?"
How could the sword shake and bend like that?
How could he make his blade meet that one?
Enkrid thought of today's repeating curse as a privilege.
The pain of death would be the same no matter how many times he experienced it.
But he endured it for the thrill that came after the pain.
So he faced the knight's sword again and again.
It was a day of intense focus.
Because of that, Enkrid could see more.
"For my honor."
It was when the knight came and said, "Just block it once, for my honor."
For a moment, everything in the scene seemed to break apart.
This was partly due to the ominous shackles that had tightened around him when he first started today.
The sense of evasion was triggered to the extreme.
That feeling pushed his focus to the highest point.
"The blade?"
As he tried to move back and let it slip, the blade accelerated.
The speed changed.
Before the blade accelerated, Enkrid saw something.
It shivered.
It clearly appeared like that.
At the same time, he tilted his sword against the knight's blade.
It was a desperate effort, feeling as if his whole body's muscles were being torn apart.
He was so focused on the blade that he didn't see the knight's face, but there was a hint of surprise on the knight's face instead of the usual boredom.
Of course, it disappeared quickly.
Cling.
The moment the blades met, the knight's rugged sword split the dwarf forged gladius.
"Weapon advantages?"
None.
Thud.
His heart was pierced.
Enkrid died.
And today repeated again.
This time, a slightly different strategy was added.
As he blocked with the gladiolus, he activated "Momentary Will," even if his left arm muscles were torn apart.
Half of it was a gamble.
"Will" was, in the end, a force that came through the body of the person using it, a mystery.
It wasn't something to do with a body that hadn't properly recovered.
He felt the muscles of his left arm tearing, but Enkrid pushed the spark in the direction he wanted.
It was thanks to that.
The knight's sword trembled and bent, piercing his heart, but it didn't completely split it.
Just a little, but he bought himself some time.
For a moment, death was postponed.
"Cough!"
Enkrid staggered back and spat out blood.
At the same time, his body collapsed.
He tried to reach the ground with his left hand, but his strength failed, causing him to fall forward.
Just as he was about to fall...
Thud.
Someone caught him as he was about to hit the ground.
Looking down, he saw feet.
Shinar had supported Enkrid's body with her thigh.
Enkrid didn't repeat the same mistake.
He used his right hand to reach the ground.
He didn't have the strength to rise.
Blood kept flowing from his mouth, the shock to his heart unbearable.
"What is this?"
Shinar asked.
At that moment, something flew straight toward the knight's head.
It was Ragna.
His sword sliced through the tent's roof with great force.
Screech!
The sound of the tent tearing echoed as the blade in his hand was unleashed with terrifying speed.
The blade, faster than an arrow, plunged from above to below.
When asked, hadn't he mentioned lightning?
It wasn't without reason.
His blade had become lightning.
After infusing it with the "Slash Will," he demonstrated the swordsmanship of the Northern Yohan family.
It was the Yohan family's sword technique: Thunderstrike.
Crash!
That was the sound coming from Ragna's blade.
Then, the knight thrust his sword upward.
What about the Thunderstrike?
This knight was no ordinary knight.
He was no stranger to manipulating "Will."
There were things the knight could do that couldn't be achieved with just the fragments of Will.
He caught Ragna's blade with the palm of his left hand and thrust his sword forward.
Enkrid took it all in with his eyes.
He didn't relax his focus for a second, determined not to miss anything.
It didn't matter that his body was dying.
'Ah.'
Even Enkrid could vaguely see it.
For a moment, it seemed as though the knight's sword multiplied into dozens.
"Cough."
Enkrid not only spat blood but also foamed at the mouth.
Seeing this, Shinar, standing next to him, spoke.
"Fairies who lose their mates never forget their vengeance."
Wait, when did we become mates?
What kind of relationship is this that we're talking about revenge?
It sounded reassuring.
To joke in such a moment, this fairy would do anything.
Ragna was stabbed and rolled on the ground.
It was a fatal wound.
His eyes had gone dark.
His heart was punctured, but it was only natural.
"Damn."
Krais blocked Enkrid's path again.
This time, Dunbakel was with him.
Growl.
Was Esther any different?
Ah, are these guys not planning to run away?
This time, it was actually Ragna who had died.
Maybe it was because he had tried a big technique in his excitement?
Still, there was a change in the knight's body as well.
Through the gap between Krais and Dunbakel, Enkrid saw the knight inspecting his palm.
Blood from the shortsword dripped onto the floor.
Blood also flowed from the knight's left hand, dropping onto the floor.
The blood was a deep crimson.
"Was I cut?"
The knight muttered to himself.
It couldn't be helped.
Even though it contained Will, the opponent was still only an incomplete fragment.
The knight was, after all, a knight.
But could he cut through the palm infused with Will?
Could this even be called cutting?
"Did I get cut?"
The knight muttered again.
It was the sound of shock.
Whether by misfortune or luck, Enkrid had to close his eyes right there.
The time he spent sacrificing his left arm had come to an end.
"Ugh."
He tried to hold it in, but Enkrid let out a rather uncomfortable scream as he collapsed.
It was his limit.
He closed his eyes, dying, waking, and starting today once more.
The shaking blade, the bending blade.
Above all, the knight's appearance when facing Ragna was vividly etched in his memory.
He changed his stance and footwork.
He changed the blade he wielded based on the opponent's skills.
And Enkrid managed to see it.
"Good."
"What's good?"
"It's good!"
"What do you mean by that?"
Is it normal to shout about something being good like a madman first thing in the morning?
Krais asked repeatedly, but Enkrid was deep in his own world.
It was an immersion like no other before.
"No, did you hit your head?
You really seem to have injured yourself this time."
Krais muttered beside him.
Shinar, too, seemed to be thinking something similar.
He was already a strange person, but now he was getting even stranger.
Well, that was part of his charm.
Enkrid went through a few more iterations of today.
Afterward, he began to sort out what he had realized.
In the most recent "today," he had seen something quite extraordinary.
By chance, Ragna and Shinar attacked together, and the knight's sword, which faced them, cried out.
Wooooo!
The sword cried out, trembling and vibrating.
It was called a Blade Echo.
The blade was crying, and from the knight's two eyes, a visible white light poured out.
It was the materialization of Will.
Whoooo—thoom!
The knight's shortsword literally drew white light lines to the left and right.
The trajectory of that light sliced through Ragna's sword in half and cut through Shinar's sword as well.
Enkrid, who had been the first to attack, also temporarily gained a reprieve.
He could see clearly.
"With an old shortsword?"
At this level, it wasn't just skill—it was divine technique.
Both the Fairy's and Ragna's sword were cut.
One was a famous sword, and the other seemed like something that should never be cut, but both were split in two.
Not even a single spark flew.
'Like cutting through a rotten branch.'
Is it possible only with the power of 'Will'?
What is 'Will'?
What is willpower?
Enkrid pondered but could not find an answer.
His thoughts shifted to a more progressive and sound direction.
The knight had always killed Ragna, cut off his arm, or severed his leg, and muttered similar words several times.
"It's a shame."
"Shouldn't have rushed in."
The knight coveted Ragna's talent.
Enkrid reflected on how Ragna faced the knight.
He dug up the repeated 'today' in his mind.
He recalled Shinar's rebellion.
He remembered the death of Krais.
He recalled Dunbakel's struggle.
He even revisited his own death and reflected on the knight's sword.
Swordsmanship, swords, and struggles.
Everything tangled in his mind like a storm.
"That place is a swamp; anyone who falls in cannot come out."
The ferryman continued to try to drag Enkrid into some kind of abyss, but it was, of course, useless.
"Aren't you in a hurry?"
Sometimes Enkrid would ask first.
On those days, the ferryman would shut his mouth.
It always made Enkrid seem sulky.
It was a frivolous thought.
Could it not be something difficult to fathom?
Thus, the fifty-sixth 'today' passed.
'How do you block lightning?'
He repeated and pondered, then asked Ragna and Shinar again.
He didn't let any day pass by without doing everything he could.
Among those things, he had died multiple times after seeing the knight's sword curving.
He died seeing the sword tremble.
Sparks were severed, and the gladius was cut.
He couldn't see Blade Echo again.
That was something luck and chance had to assist.
To others, it would have seemed as though the goddess of fortune was stalking them, but Enkrid knew very well that he wasn't that lucky.
So, he couldn't expect the same fortune.
Unless it was pure chance, Ragna, Shinar, and he would have to cooperate.
'But I don't like that either.'
His heart didn't move.
That would have meant the death of a lazy or joking fairy.
It was something he couldn't accept.
Being allowed to live while watching someone else die was something he could not tolerate.
But being pushed himself?
'It's better to bite the sword and charge in.'
His heart and mind told him so.
Thus, he swung his sword alone, agonizing and pondering.
Endless pondering and consideration, and in that time, even advancing a fraction of a step, Enkrid's pondering returned to the beginning.
How do you block lightning?
"Start by facing it."
It was something Ragna had said.
Now, Enkrid understood it.
You have to see it to block it.
"Then, just react to the speed."
It was something Shinar had said.
React, then strike.
Block.
"So, you just have to will it.'"
It was Ragna's final word.
The one word "will" encapsulated everything.
By the way.
"Phew."
The knight's sword.
The knight's strike.
Wasn't it exhilarating?
"Again."
The words escaped his mouth.
A smile followed.
Enkrid felt an unfamiliar exhilaration fill him in the repeated 'today.'
The wall had come as the god of death, but the swinging sword became his own milestone.
That milestone felt like light descending through a dark tunnel.
What seemed like pure darkness and despair to the boatman was, for Enkrid, light and exhilaration.
Another 'today' began.
The seventy-second, his body still a wreck, but as always, Enkrid moved his body.
He had seen Ragna strike with his sword, half-dead.
He had seen Shinar's struggle over ten times.
How?
He didn't know.
Tomorrow?
It wouldn't come.
He didn't care about that.
That was why the boatman couldn't understand Enkrid.
Among the repeated days, there were some where his confidence rose without reason.
Of course, he died.
He had lived through twelve more 'todays' after that.
The sword that couldn't be blocked, the knight's sword, was as such.
"You."
On the ninetieth 'today,' the knight drew his sword and frowned.
Then he spoke to Enkrid.
"What a shame."
Enkrid didn't feel too happy about those words, but honestly, it would have been a lie if he said he wasn't proud.
Of course, right now, he didn't feel anything.
He was in a state of focus.
It was always like that.
When facing the knight, he focused and immersed himself.
The slightest distraction would have his heart split without gaining anything.
So, even though he felt like his mental strength was wearing thin, he couldn't let go of a single moment of concentration.
However, the wall that had appeared as the god of death had acknowledged him, and that was something Enkrid would never forget.
The knight spoke of honor and of once.
Enkrid exhaled and prepared.
It seemed like it could be blocked, but it wasn't.
Then something must have been wrong.
Could he reach the knight's level right here?
No, that was impossible.
Even with a fragment of 'Will,' it couldn't happen.
Then how?
Hmm.
At the moment Blade Echo, the light, the knight's sword pierced through his heart without mercy.
Thud.
It was faster than before.
'Ah.'
That was truly like lightning.
At the same time, lightning struck Enkrid's head.
The blow of lightning on his skull illuminated the path from today into tomorrow.
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