A Knight Who Eternally Regresses

Rem turned around and struck a spear with his axe.

Clang!

The spearhead bounced off into the air. Though the troll was a monster with tremendous strength, Rem was also a human with superhuman power.

Audin, running toward it, grabbed the flying spear mid-air with a whoosh.

The spear, heavy as it was when it flew, came to an abrupt halt as soon as it touched Audin’s hand.

What was once flying dynamically now stopped with surprising ease.

It was an abnormal scene created by abnormal strength.

It almost seemed like the laws of physics were being ignored.

There’s a saying that strength beyond limits can seem like magic.

That was exactly the case here. It was strength trained to the point of being mindless.

In terms of sheer power, it was even greater than Rem’s.

The Troll Brothers didn’t have the time to feel the strangeness of it all.

“Hahaha!”

Audin laughed, and as his feet hit the ground, a loud boom sounded, and dirt spurted up like a fountain where he stepped.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Not once, but three more times, dirt shot up from the ground in fountains.

Audin’s body traced a long arc, leaving an afterimage in its wake.

That large body shortened space at an unimaginable speed.

To an ordinary person, it would have seemed as if he had suddenly vanished. The powerful leg muscles, honed through rigorous training, combined with his complete control of his body, created this unstoppable charge.

It was comparable to the charge of a knight. Enkrid thought this the moment he saw it.

Audin charged forward and swung the spear like a club, smashing a troll’s skull.

With his faster movements than ever, the troll couldn’t even dodge.

With Enkrid adding the “Moar Turtling” technique he had learned, it was only a matter of time before the skull shattered.

Crack! Boom!

The skull broke, and black blood shot up into the air. The fragments of the skull, including the bones, scattered everywhere. The blood sprayed in a radial direction from where the spear hit, moving diagonally across the opposite side.

The surrounding area began to darken as the sun started to set, but it wasn’t dark enough to affect anyone’s sight.

So, then.

“Don’t let it escape.”

Enkrid said.

Dunbakel and Teresa rushed out.

Audin, still laughing, kept smashing the trolls.

The iconic regeneration ability of trolls didn’t even get a chance to show, as one of the troll’s arms was ripped off, and its eyeballs popped out and squished.

Enkrid didn’t need to take further action.

The five trolls didn’t even have a chance to think about fleeing.

If they had managed to escape one, they’d likely try to hide, and from that point on, it would be like playing a game of tag. Even for Rem, that would be troublesome.

Hunting monsters that intentionally hide was a whole other issue.

So, there was no way they could escape.

And they didn’t.

Audin didn’t hesitate to disassemble and dismantle three of the trolls.

One of the five was sliced into nine pieces by Rem’s axe.

“What the hell is that?”

After breaking them down, Rem asked Audin, his question implying wonder at Audin’s excitement.

“Hahaha, it’s a good night. The Lord watches over us.”

Audin only chuckled in response.

The last troll was for Dunbakel and Teresa.

The two competed to rip, crush, and break it apart.

That was the end of it.

The trolls had no chance to show off their legendary regeneration.

Shinar had been watching but was now busy putting out the fire. Squatting down, she tilted her head and asked.

“Should we light it again?”

Enkrid looked up at the sky, gauging the time. It was past evening, and it was now time for night to fall.

If it were dawn, resting would have been the right choice, but was it absolutely necessary? There’s no rule that says things have to be done a certain way.

Enkrid wanted to wash himself and thought he could use this as another opportunity to train. More importantly, there was no reason to endure the discomfort of camping.

“Let’s go back.”

If they ran through the night, they could reach Border Guard in two days.

If they picked up the pace, they could reach it by the next night.

Would that be too much? This kind of training was necessary.

After the injury and rest, he hadn’t been moving his body as much.

So it was the perfect opportunity. Running itself was enough of a strain.

This, too, would be good training.

Through this thought process, he decided to delay resting until they reached the city.

No one had objections.

***

The news about the three low-grade magic mirrors—specifically, two colonies and the troublesome five trolls—spread quickly in the surrounding area.

“I have nothing to say.”

Kraiss’ first words upon hearing the news.

Who wouldn’t be surprised to hear about this?

It wasn’t meant negatively.

The moment Kraiss heard about what Enkrid had done, his mind began to work furiously.

If such things were possible.

If such monsters could be easily dealt with by anyone with the strength to charge in and destroy them at will, all they had to do was call for help, and they’d handle it.

Except for one person.

Ah, well, one was on vacation, so we’d have to exclude them. Still, it was an impressive display of power.

Rem and Audin were, as usual, taking action without hesitation.

‘Dunbakel and Teresa are not forces to be ignored either.’

There were also Esther and the one-eyed guy, but they were treated as exceptions.

“We need to meet the lord.”

Kraiss said. Enkrid gave a casual nod.

He seemed to have come up with another idea, his eyes sparkling.

He had probably figured out something that could earn them Krona.

Enkrid, meanwhile, washed, rested, ate, and then immersed himself again in the technique of isolation.

”Moar Turtling” was a technique that ultimately depended on the body.

It was all about the contraction and explosion of muscles.

If he became familiar with it, what had just happened would also be within his grasp.

Audin had shown how to defeat a troll, and with that, his grin grew even wider as he demonstrated the technique to Enkrid.

“Once you’re proficient, you can do things like this.”

He said, holding a hammer in his left hand as he approached.

The sight was unsettling, but strangely, a sense of anticipation also rose, and that anticipation was soon fulfilled.

Standing right before him, the giant-like figure loomed over Enkrid, his eyes no longer matching Enkrid’s height.

“Watch this.”

Audin said as he extended his fist, stopping just inches from Enkrid’s stomach.

It was a moment when Enkrid instinctively felt the need to dodge.

There was no time to evade. He tensed his abdominal muscles in that split second.

Boom!

The explosion, precisely from right in front of his abdomen, sent Enkrid into the air. His feet left the ground, and he was momentarily airborne before being sent back, falling a few steps.

He didn’t tumble.

He regained his balance. All the times he had been struck with a hammer hadn’t been in vain. His resilience had certainly improved.

“What was that?”

“That’s Moar Turtling.”

Enkrid’s eyes fell to the ground, where the traces of his landing were clear.

The dirt floor of the training ground had been deeply impacted. It looked like a small whirlpool had formed.

‘The rotation of the ankle.’

The contraction and explosion of full-body muscles.

All of that gathered in a small space, showing its destructive power.

It was an immense and fascinating technique.

“Impressive.”

Enkrid commented, genuinely admiring it, before once again immersing himself in thought. His body and mind were both busy.

He wasn’t just learning Moar Turtling.

Audin had continued to hammer his body with the hammer, striking every muscle except for his head.

Afterward, he began learning Dunbakel’s full-body elastic swordsmanship.

He also obtained a shield from a forge and worked with Teresa, and learned how to handle other weapons from Rem.

“Do you think learning all these random things will help?”

Rem asked.

Sometimes, depth in learning was important, but that didn’t apply to that crazy guy.

In other words, he was asking because he already knew the answer.

“It works.”

The answer was short.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

In the realm of experience and intuition, Enkrid had found his path.

Was this the way to becoming a knight?

He didn’t know.

But one thing was clear.

‘This is maddening.’

He was consumed with excitement and joy. The thrill of learning something new and mastering it. The speed with which it became second nature was extraordinary.

“The captain’s body seems a bit slow. How is it that Will is still messing around with this stuff?”

Rem’s biting criticism came, but it didn’t matter.

Compared to before, his progress was almost unbelievable.

On the side, Ragna watched lazily, though his motivation hadn’t waned.

He had seen the knight’s sword, and through it, he saw the path he needed to take. For now, he was focusing on what needed to be done.

It was all about sorting things out.

It was time to gather everything, calmly organize, and set things in order.

Ragna had spent a long time wandering the continent.

Half of that time, he had been lost, though it was unintentional, and in the process, he had crossed paths with many people.

They all showed various techniques in their own way.

Mercenaries and soldiers from trading companies were among them.

Ragna was a genius, and he quickly grasped and learned their techniques by watching them.

He only needed to see something once, and after repeating it two or three times, he would match the skill level of the original practitioner. Within two days, he would surpass them.

“You’re a demon. That’s a devil’s talent.”

A bodyguard from a trading company once said that.

Ragna realized then that he was different from ordinary people.

But that led to another question.

‘Is it worth going further?’

No one around him could keep up. Was that a path worth walking?

Doubt and uncertainty began to consume Ragna. As a result, he stopped pushing forward.

Even though his desire to progress had risen, he settled for mastering the techniques he had learned up to that point.

He needed a trigger. That trigger came in the form of a battle with the semi-knight Aya. Through that fight, he surpassed his own limitations.

Why was he able to reach this point?

Because, at some point, the doubts that had been eating away at him disappeared.

“When will you stop fooling around? Let’s spar.”

Yes, it was because of this person.

Enkrid, standing in front of him, casually held his sword and waved it.

Ragna nodded.

His mind was made up, and he had finished organizing the chaotic techniques that had accumulated over time.

Like Enkrid, Ragna was now starting to forge his own path.

This was the birth of Ragna’s own swordsmanship.

Rather than being confined to traditional swordplay, Ragna had opened a new path.

“It’s a heavy and fast sword.”

At the same time as his words, Enkrid suddenly thought of the knight’s sword.

With a whoosh, the sword vanished and reappeared, folding through space.

It was different—both fast and heavy in its own way.

At the moment Enkrid raised his sword horizontally to block, a powerful shockwave passed through his entire body.

‘A cutting strike?’

It was similar in power to Moar Turtling, though different.

By simply watching the technique, Enkrid absorbed it into his own swordsmanship. He adapted it to fit his body.

This was the mark of a genius.

“You crazy bastard.”

Rem laughed from the side, raising his axe.

“Alright, now I’ll smack your ass.”

After seeing Enkrid retreat from the blow, Ragna spoke to Rem with a grin.

“Lazy bastard, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying I can hit you without killing you. Don’t you get it? Should I show you more hand gestures?”

“Fine. Let’s try it. Come at me.”

Soon, Ragna and Rem clashed.

Enkrid, having retreated, didn’t intervene.

This fight was different from before.

Rem was on the backfoot. Ragna had crossed a certain line.

But Rem wasn’t just backing down.

Enkrid watched the sparring match, feeling goosebumps all over his body. It was so exhilarating he couldn’t contain himself.

He couldn’t stand it any longer.

“Are you just going to watch?”

Enkrid asked, as Shinar appeared beside him.

Her delicate swordsmanship, he thought, was something he wanted to watch and learn from as well.

“Greedy fiancé, if I give this to you, what will you give me in return?”

Except for the engagement, anything else was up for grabs.

“One date, perhaps?”

The fairy asked, and Enkrid couldn’t hold back his desires.

“Alright then.”

A date in exchange for swordsmanship. It seemed almost like a joke, but both Enkrid and Shinar were satisfied with the arrangement.

***

“Are we going to clear the swamp?”

Count Molsen asked, and the servant reporting to him lowered his head.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize we would act so quickly.”

It was Count Molsen himself who had planted monsters in the swamp.

He had used the Bell creatures and bloodsucking flies to block people’s access, conducting magical experiments there.

It was also a good place to gather rare magical materials, such as herbs.

Enkrid had known about the Gray Ghoul Forest after he left the city. Intelligence was never for nothing.

Even if that bastard Frokk was rampaging, surely some information had been gathered.

So he knew, but...

“They also dealt with five trolls.”

“Those bastards...”

The count was stunned. Were they not sleeping at all?

The terrain was so rough that even a carriage couldn’t travel. Did they really run around in places that weren’t even paved?

It was so ridiculous that for a moment, he couldn’t speak. He felt an uncomfortable emotion briefly, but soon shrugged it off.

‘This is unbelievable.’

It was too late to take action now.

There was no way he could admit to releasing the monsters.

After all, once he got what he wanted, it would all become irrelevant.

“The guild that’s trying to restore the kingdom’s language has infiltrated the territory.”

“Deal with it.”

“There are a few troublesome mercenaries involved.”

It meant that the local security forces wouldn’t be enough to handle it.

The count erased the thought of the mad squad from his mind.

Then, with a sharp mind, the answer came.

“Send Mats.”

“Yes, sir.”

The servant bowed.

The count sat back in his chair, quietly lost in thought.

Preparations were still lacking. He would have to wait. How long should he wait?

At most, it would be one or two years.

Is it human nature to want to rise to the top? Or is it the desire of someone born and raised as a powerful ruler?

He didn’t know. He’d understand once he reached the top.

But until then, he didn’t care to know. His current ignorance would provide him with the enjoyment of later experiences.

Until then.

‘Will I survive?’

The mad squad, Enkrid.

Such a peculiar human, isn’t he? Impressive, indeed. He couldn’t afford to stand on the opposite side of him later.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to spare him.

The count preferred to keep him alive for as long as possible.

After all, a person who had piqued his interest this much was rare.