Chapter 923 - Overwhelming
As the darkness receded, the pale light of dawn began to spread across the training ground.
A gray haze shimmered over Rem's shoulders, wrapping him in a cold aura.
It was steam rising from his body as his sweat cooled in the morning air.
He had worked up a feverish heat before the fight had even begun.
It was proof that he hadn't stepped into this lightly.
Enkrid walked at the same pace as Rem and stood facing him.
In his hand, instead of the broken Dawn, he held Penna.
Gripping the hilt with both hands, he held the sword vertical to the ground, then shifted only the tip slightly to point toward his opponent.
Preparations were complete.
A cold wind brushed between them.
The first move was Rem's.
The moment he kicked off the ground, a World of Silence opened.
There was no sound, only heavy air.
To overcome that oppressive atmosphere, one had to utilize the shamanic power boiling within.
Rem did exactly that.
This wasn't their usual playful spar.
The killing intent loaded into his axe was real.
If Enkrid didn't dodge, he would die.
And since Rem had infused shamanism into the axe blades, blocking wouldn't be much fun either.
BOOM!
Their weapons clashed and separated, followed by an explosive roar.
A pillar of fire surged between them, shooting up into the sky.
The flame was as large as a human body.
It was a loud start, impossible for anyone nearby to miss.
"You blocked that?"
Rem muttered as he broke away.
Instead of answering, Enkrid flexed his wrist a few times, tilting Penna and then righting it again.
He was replaying the collision he had just experienced.
Rem recognized it, too.
He had tilted and righted the sword at the exact same angle he used to block the axe.
"What are you doing?"
"Reviewing."
"In the middle of a fight?"
"Because the memory is fresh."
Was he ignoring him?
No.
Enkrid's blue eyes were shining brighter than ever.
Right.
That's the Captain for you.
As Rem thought this, he infused a new soul into the axe in his right hand.
Just a moment ago, he had swung with the soul of a Fire Devil, but Enkrid had struck it away, deflecting the force upward.
Rem perceived the entire collision but couldn't understand it.
'He blocked it and deflected it upward.'
It was a simple motion, but it felt like watching a joint bend in an impossible direction.
'How did he do that?'
He didn't know.
But did ignorance mean defeat?
"I'm going to be a little serious this time."
As he spoke, he lowered his stance further.
With two axes leading the way, he looked like a charging tank.
As he kicked off the ground, Rem's body moved so fast it left only a gray blur, reaching Enkrid's nose in an instant.
Enkrid accelerated his thoughts and circulated Will through his body.
'World of Silence.'
He stepped into a world without sound.
It was a fighting style that had become familiar to him now.
'The air is heavy.'
To be precise, it pressed down on his shoulders.
It was the moment he felt the weight of the air that had always surrounded him.
If he moved while overcoming this pressure, his sword strikes would become so fast that, to an observer, they wouldn't even leave an afterimage.
It was a realm one dared not step into without becoming a knight.
'If we enter the same realm, do we become equal?'
Enkrid asked and answered himself.
'No, we don't.'
Hadn't he experienced it himself?
The genius he met in the spring of his twenty-seventh year was faster and stronger than him when they met again.
'How?'
He had just found the answer.
He realized it from the 'today' he barely escaped with everyone's help.
'Will moves.'
It is a ceaselessly flowing river.
If Uske is an undrying well, Induless is an unstopping stream.
'Narrow it, and it becomes a brook.'
Widen it, and it becomes a river.
Enkrid burst the stream that usually trickled.
Will constantly changes.
By maintaining that state of constant flux, he could swing faster and heavier than his opponent at any moment.
The key was the speed at which Will changed.
Because it flows ceaselessly, the speed of change is vastly superior.
Enkrid thrust his sword faster than Rem's axe swing.
If Rem continued his charge, his head would be skewered.
Inside the World of Silence, intuitive strikes were more effective than flashy techniques.
After all, both of them had to fight while overcoming the pressure.
Rem didn't just take it.
He twisted his head to the side, planted his left foot, rotated his waist, and whipped his left arm around.
Even in the World of Silence, his arm appeared to bend like a whip.
'A prepared blow.'
He had likely bet everything on the strike with his left axe before he even charged.
It was impressive tactical execution.
He started by coating the right axe in flames to draw attention, then charged recklessly to make Enkrid wary of the right hand.
'He anticipated the thrust and struck with the left axe.'
He probably didn't calculate everything—that wasn't Rem's style.
He likely held only the broad framework in his mind and improvised the rest with instantaneous reactions.
Either way, it was impressive.
Enkrid pulled Penna, which was mid-thrust, against the curving trajectory of the left axe and deflected it.
The Will flowing through his entire body instantly changed properties, becoming soft and cushioning.
Matching that, Penna absorbed the force of the axe blade and let it slide off.
Enkrid momentarily let go of the sword and took two more steps forward.
With that, he had burrowed into Rem's guard with a clenched fist.
Rem reacted even here.
He tried to twist his body to the side and swing his right axe.
However, he couldn't dodge Enkrid's fist, which was thrown casually as he twisted his waist around the axis of his left foot.
Thwack!
As the World of Silence ended, a drawn-out sound marked the finale.
Rem's head snapped back, his waist arching with the force.
The axe in his right hand swung futilely over Enkrid's black hair.
Enkrid's right fist had delivered the impact with a snapping punch.
Stopping in a fighting stance with his fist still raised, Enkrid observed Rem.
"Phew..."
Rem exhaled, straightening his arched back and neck, then dropped to one knee as his legs gave out.
Blood trickled down from his nose.
"The world is spinning round and round. Is the apocalypse coming?"
Rem asked, still kneeling on one leg.
"No, you just got hit squarely in the jaw, so your head is spinning."
"If you lose to anyone other than me, I'll kill them myself. Don't forget that."
Rem stayed still to catch his breath and only stood up after the shock subsided.
The gap in skill was undeniable.
The result spoke for itself.
Enkrid hadn't cut or stabbed anywhere; he had simply punched the jaw and withdrawn.
That alone proved everything.
"Next."
Enkrid said.
Rem was just the start, not the end.
He wasn't the only one who had woken up at dawn and waited.
"Incomprehensible."
Those words might imply confusion coming from a human, but from a Frog, they were high praise.
Luagarne muttered them in admiration as she watched.
Meanwhile, Shinar stood before Enkrid.
"You're going first?"
Enkrid asked as he picked up Penna, which he had dropped to punch Rem.
"I'd like to launch a surprise attack, but it doesn't seem like it would work."
She said this while watching him pick up the sword.
The Fairy observed and analyzed the situation with cold eyes.
She felt that Enkrid was different from before, but she couldn't understand how.
Nothing can be known without crossing blades directly.
That was her conclusion.
"I don't know. We won't know until we try."
Enkrid replied.
Despite his words, it was incredibly difficult to find an opening in him.
He was simply bending his waist, picking up a sword, and standing up, yet no matter how she attacked, he would counter.
She foresaw that much.
'How?'
She couldn't visualize the method.
However, the answer was already decided.
Somehow.
Her intuition fired, clearly stating what the result would be.
And the reason for that intuition was revealed right now.
Shinar drew her blade and thrust.
Winter Thrust.
It was the fastest technique among the Four Seasons, difficult for an opponent to react to.
Enkrid swung Penna to strike her blade outward, then flowed smoothly forward.
With instantaneous judgment, Shinar ducked to dodge the sword and struck Enkrid's thigh with a knife-hand chop.
A Fairy's hand might look white and slender, but it is a knight's hand.
A strike could tear through steel.
Enkrid didn't bother to dodge.
Instead, his Will became a heavy, solid rock dwelling in his thigh.
Thud!
The match was decided the moment the Fairy's hand struck his thigh.
Enkrid sacrificed his thigh to simultaneously strike the back of the Fairy's neck with a chop of his own.
As sound returned, Shinar's eyes rolled back from the blow.
Enkrid caught her falling body with one arm around her waist.
Barely holding onto consciousness before fainting, Shinar spoke.
"Holding my waist? Is this a proposal?"
"Are you really joking at a time like this?"
Enkrid removed his hand from her waist, and with amazing balance, the Fairy stood up from her falling posture and stepped aside.
Her turn was over.
If this had been a fight to the death without mercy, her neck would have been broken.
"I knew this day would come eventually, but it is truly surprising. Brother."
Audin spoke.
Shinar, having stepped aside, added a comment.
"Right. It reminds me of the first time I knocked you down with martial arts. Should I have taken you to bed back then?"
Naturally, no one answered Shinar.
Enkrid looked at the man resembling a bear beastkin clenching two fists in front of him.
"You defeated the barbarian brother and the elderly fairy sister."
At Audin's words, the front of Shinar's eyebrows gathered inward—a rare sight.
Making a Fairy show such a change in expression was an impressive feat in itself.
"Elderly?"
Audin didn't look back.
He was doing his best to control his body so his hands wouldn't sweat.
He had no room to pay attention elsewhere.
"It just happened."
Enkrid replied, shaking Penna.
The blade was slightly chipped.
No matter how much of a Fairy treasure it was, it lacked the durability to withstand a sword strike extended by a knight with full intent.
Enkrid leisurely sheathed Penna, unbuckled the belt holding the sword, and set it aside.
"Are you wearing armor?"
Audin asked.
"Ah, I took it off because it's repairing itself. It tickles when the leather squirms."
The Beelrog leather armor was an artifact that regenerated on its own.
Enkrid now knew why that armor had been pierced, and he knew how to handle it.
Since he had taken off the armor and even the Fairy Cloak, he was wearing only a single upper garment.
The cold dawn wind quickly stole away his flowing sweat, but he didn't shiver.
Enkrid took off his upper garment as well.
Muscles flexed and rippled, revealing a sleek physique.
It was a body that could also be called a work of art.
"You aren't letting your guard down? I am honored."
When sparring in martial arts with Audin, wearing clothes with collars was disadvantageous.
His action came from simple logic.
"No need to carry a disadvantage unnecessarily."
Enkrid said, facing Audin.
Audin laughed heartily and tore off his own upper garment with both hands.
Riiip.
Buttons flew as his body was revealed.
Dawn broke slowly.
As the sun rose, it sprinkled a soft yellow light around them.
Audin's body, cast in shadow by the falling light, resembled a statue of a hero from the Age of Myths.
He looked large and solid, and the hidden muscles between the larger ones declared that there were no gaps in his entire body.
Both had similar physiques, but Audin was simply vastly larger.
"I won't ask you to draw your sword, Brother."
Even while tearing off his clothes and speaking, his eyes never left Enkrid.
Letting down one's guard is forbidden.
Audin felt like he was facing something overwhelming for the first time in his life.
An emotion he was feeling for the first time since childhood crept up his spine.
It was a pressure he had never felt from his adoptive father, the Ragged Saint, nor from anyone in the Holy Knights.
'Master is out of the question entirely.'
It was enough to make him recall the secret Master he served.
He hadn't felt this even when facing a demonic lion with bare hands, nor from high-ranking monsters like Manticores.
Enkrid didn't particularly show intimidation or killing intent.
To him, this was still just a spar.
But Audin found it difficult to step forward with such a soft mindset.
Telling him to be careful was a luxury.
He unleashed the fighting instinct boiling within him.
Boom!
The ground exploded, and his massive body seemed to split space as it grew larger.
In Enkrid's vision, he saw Audin charging with fingers curled, his hands looking ten times larger than usual.
'Response?'
Accelerated thought dictated the action to take.
Enkrid followed it.
He extended his hands as if to grapple with Audin's, and simultaneously lifted his left foot barely off the ground, extending it to kick Audin's leg from the inside out.
Against an opponent whose physical strength was unrivaled in the Knight Order, he intended to balance and endure on just one leg, but Enkrid didn't hesitate.
Normally, Audin would have shifted his weight and tackled, but he changed the purpose of his movement, grabbing Enkrid's left wrist with both hands and pulling.
He intended to pull him into his embrace instantly and finish it with a joint lock.
Being faster and stronger didn't mean his joints were invincible.
Audin's judgment was correct.
But Enkrid's choice was one step ahead.
The moment his left arm was grabbed, he stomped on the instep of the foot he was about to kick and drove his right fist into Audin's abdomen.
Thud!
This fight was also short.
Audin's waist buckled, his back arching.
His back shot up like a hunchback before crashing down.
"Ugh."
He even vomited blood.
"Think that'll work?"
Rem, watching, threw out a comment.
Enkrid had struck him down, but he couldn't extract his left arm.
Crack.
Before he could extend his fist, he heard the sound of a joint dislocating.
Pain spread from his elbow as it began to swell.
"At least I took one arm."
Audin said while lying face down on the ground.
He admitted defeat, as Enkrid would have won if he followed up with an attack.
But at the same time, he claimed victory in taking an arm because he had broken it.
"Crazy bastard."
Rem snorted.
He had moved aiming only for the arm without thinking of winning from the start.
"If it were a duel, you'd be dead."
"Since it's a spar, I have to use that to my advantage. Brother."
With this, Audin achieved the superior result among them.
Leaving the two, Enkrid examined his left arm.
'Won't heal in a day.'
He roughly threw his shirt back on and strapped on his belt.
As the weight of the sword settled on his waist, he felt a sense of stability.
"Are you saying a broken arm means nothing to you?"
Ragna asked.
Enkrid finished dressing in front of him and wore his sword again.
His spirit hadn't diminished in the slightest.
"We can do it when it heals, though."
Enkrid said nonchalantly.
Eventually, Ragna drew his sword too.
Their eyes met.
Enkrid drew Penna again.
Shing.
The drawn blade reflected the rising sun.
Light fell on half of Enkrid's face, casting the other half in shadow.
Time passed as they stood confronting each other.
The shadow on Enkrid's face slowly faded, and the light gradually increased.
Ragna frowned.
'Has he turned into a monster?'
That was the thought that crossed his mind.
***
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