I Became a Dark Knight in the Game

13 – In the Abyss, the Knife Wields the Man (2)

The horn knife, made from the processed horn of a Bicon, was longer than an ordinary dagger but shorter than the longsword held by the corpse mine.

The length of a weapon was usually a decisive factor in determining the advantages and disadvantages of close combat. It was natural for Kriel, who had a shorter weapon, to be at a disadvantage.

In most cases.

Just as the corpse mine had disarmed Kriel’s greatsword with its longsword, in this world where mysteries and supernatural abilities roamed, phenomena beyond ‘normal’ or ‘common sense’ could occur.

And Kriel was also an existence that deviated from the norm.

A dark knight from outside the abyss. An anomaly whose very existence was close to a paradox.

There were many ways to respond to a common-sense crisis.

Kriel unleashed the suppressed blood energy. The horn knife emitted a strange resonance as it condensed the blood energy.

Unlike the greatsword, where the blood energy clung messily like cobwebs, the blood energy gathered on the horn knife was smoothly refined. It looked as if a new red blade had been overlaid on the original blade.

[Kieeeek! Damn it, Kriel, what is this energy!]

“Endure it, you fool.”

With Orisin’s undignified scream as a signal, the corpse mine and Kriel rushed at each other.

*

The corpse mine was different from Kriel. It did not need to worry about any side effects from using supernatural abilities. Its head, which should have been concerned about its life, had long since dried up.

A magic circle unfolded in the corpse mine’s left hand. The entire abyss vibrated as if resonating. With a crackling, ominous sound, a fissure appeared in the space.

A rupture spread out from the corpse mine like a fine crack. From the gap, a blue light resembling the harsh cold of winter sprouted.

A chillingly cold wind blew. In the next moment, the wind began to grow into a glacier.

An ice barrier rose along the entire path Kriel was approaching. The cold rising from the ground slowed the knight’s steps, and the ice spikes sprouting from the walls on either side lunged to constrict his wrists.

The red blade danced through the blue bars. The movements were swift and even felt light, replacing the heaviness of wielding the greatsword. A quick charge, lightly leaping and using the ice spikes as footholds. The ice branches on the walls could not keep up with Kriel’s speed.

While preparing for the collision, the corpse mine formed another hand seal with its left hand. A giant ice spike formed from the crack in the ceiling. A fall aimed at the blind spot.

But this too was blocked. The right hand holding the horn knife drew a smooth curve. Following the guidance of the blade, the falling path twisted. The end of the trajectory led to the corpse mine.

A chunk of ice the size of a human torso hurtled towards the corpse mine. The blade wielded by the mine sliced the ice chunk, which filled its entire field of vision, into pieces with an upward slash that didn’t even properly set its stance.

But behind it was Kriel. Red blood energy and blue cold air collided.

With a roar, beams of light shattered into thousands of fragments and scattered. Now, the shorter length of the horn knife was not a disadvantage. Close combat, much closer than the distance originally induced by the corpse mine. Without giving the mine a chance to move properly, Kriel continued his offensive.

The corpse mine actively used magic instead of sticking to the disadvantageous close combat. Every time Kriel aimed at the right hand holding the magic sword, the ice forming in the air skillfully blocked the attack, buying time.

Orisin, who had crashed into the ice chunks several times, screeched.

[Kieeeek! Hot and cold! I’m not dried fish!]

It seemed as if it was just screaming endlessly, but in fact, Orisin was fulfilling its role as a spirit. The coldness brought forth by the dark knight did not simply end with creating ice.

A magical chill that permeated the entire space. Orisin offset the grip of the severe cold and assisted Kriel’s acceleration.

Kriel counted the remaining blood energy. He had accumulated a considerable amount of blood energy while slaughtering the monsters near the village of Lorant to lure Orisin, but there was no opportunity to replenish the blood energy during the battle with Orisin and the confrontation with the dark knight.

‘Can I barely maintain it until the end of this fight?’

There was enough blood energy left to engage in combat three or four more times. But beyond that?

Regret suddenly surged up, wishing he had gathered more blood energy, but Kriel shook his head.

‘A diligent dark knight is quicker to fall into corruption.’

Unlike Kriel, who had a limit to his blood energy, the corpse controlled by the dark knight seemed to have no limit to its dark power. The storm of ice that accompanied the sword strikes was gradually slowing down Kriel’s offensive.

Crunch. One of the ice crystals pouring down like raindrops dented his shoulder guard. Fortunately, the plate armor was damaged, but the attack did not reach the flesh underneath.

[You block like a pro when I try to cut your wrist. You must have been praised for being good at fighting!]

Orisin’s grumbling accurately reflected Kriel’s feelings. He needed to separate the corpse from the dark knight to subdue it, but the moment he tried to cut off the hand, the dark knight would redirect all the magic power used for attack to defense.

This instinctive defense was the reason Kriel could still maintain his offensive despite the superficial attacks of the blizzard. Whenever the initiative of the offensive was about to shift to the dark knight, he could reset the situation by targeting the hand holding the sword, even at the cost of taking damage.

But now, even that was reaching its limit. After exhausting all his blood energy, Kriel would be forced into a defensive stance or compelled to draw upon his grudge.

‘Neither option is desirable.’

Kriel thought. How could he overcome this predicament?

‘I wish I could awaken a new technique that doesn’t use blood energy or grudge, but my profession is a dark knight. Even if I awaken, it would be an abyss technique.’

Having fulfilled his quota of disdain for the dark knight, Kriel considered other possibilities.

‘Morikina comes to save me. It’s possible, but I don’t know how long it will take to destroy the core of the abyss. Since I was confident I could buy time, they might try to purify the core in a more stable way rather than physically destroying it, even if it takes longer.’

Can’t I avoid this?

It was the moment Kriel seriously considered using his grudge. He saw his greatsword, swallowed by the abyss. The sword, trapped and unable to move.

Seeing the trapped blade, Kriel smiled with satisfaction.

Slowly, Kriel’s offensive slowed down. The precision of his fiercely swung sword diminished, and the balance of attack and defense reversed once again. The red glow that the horned sword had held also faded, and the abyss was now filled with a chilling blue.

The horned sword was now wielded more to defend against magic than to face the sword. And the dark knight did not miss that gap.

A blade enveloped in blue energy shot towards Kriel’s heart. The vital spot most suitable for absorbing life force while instantly severing the enemy’s life.

Kriel knew where the dark knight would aim. He quickly withdrew his body and swung the horned sword. However, the blades did not clash. The dark knight dodged Kriel’s horned sword and continued to thrust.

The tip of the dark knight’s sword touched the plate armor covering Kriel’s chest. At that moment, the extreme cold spreading from the sword tip seeped into the plate armor. The armor, unable to withstand the sudden temperature change, shattered into pieces.

It was the moment the blade was about to pierce through his chest.

Kriel twisted his body at an odd angle. Crack!

The sound of scraping between ribs echoed. The dark knight’s blade did not reach the heart but got stuck between the ribs.

Blood dripped between the ashen blade. The bloodstains were clear, frozen before they could even flow. The dark knight immediately tried to swing the blade to sever Kriel’s body along with his skeleton.

However, Kriel had transferred all the blood energy wrapped around the horned blade into physical enhancement for this very moment. Simultaneous use of fighting spirit and blood energy. In this instant, Kriel’s body became tougher than steel.

The blessing of Orishin struck the demon, who was closer to Kriel than ever before. Originally, spirits, the embodiment of nature’s authority, could offset the abyss’s providence. The demon’s arm shook, breaking free from the control of the dark soldier.

The dark soldier swiftly moved other parts of its body. It intended to escape from Kriel and reorganize its stance by throwing its entire body. At that moment.

Grab. Kriel’s left hand seized the demon’s right arm.

And the horned blade swung. Hastily activated magic erected several layers of ice walls between the horned blade and the arm.

But even if it blocked the first strike, there was no way to pull the arm out this time. In an instant, Kriel reversed the grip on the horned blade and stabbed through the ice wall as if hacking it. Through the shattered ice fragments, the final blow followed.

The horned blade pierced through the joint between the shoulder and the arm. The firmly clenched hand twisted the hilt.

The blade that penetrated the demon’s joint rotated, drawing a semicircle. It took less than a second for about three-quarters of the shoulder to be severed by the eerie blade.

However, the angle was not good enough to rotate the hilt a full circle. At this rate, it would soon regenerate. Finally, Kriel showed the improvisation of a seasoned warrior.

With a sound like bursting air, a lightning-fast kick struck the demon’s abdomen. The demon’s arm tried to follow its body, but Kriel’s left hand, which held it, did not allow it.

As a result, the arm remained in place, but the rest of the body was flung far away. No blood spilled. The demon’s blood had already frozen.

A few strands of red frost fell from the torn wound and melted as they touched Kriel’s eyes. Only then did Kriel pull out the demon’s right arm.

It was still holding the dark soldier, but the grip was slowly loosening. Finally, as if it had exhausted its strength, the fingers relaxed, and the ashen sword slipped out.

The sharp metallic sound brushed Kriel’s ear. Seeing the dark soldier fall pathetically, Kriel threw the right arm far away and sat down.

“Wow, I thought I was going to die. Are you okay?”

As soon as Orishin confirmed the fight was over, he chattered. It must be his way of making sure Kriel didn’t collapse and stayed conscious. Kriel muttered, clutching his chest.

“It hurts like hell.”

“Wow, you seem fine if you can still curse! When you suddenly went ‘I’ll catch the blade with my ribs, yap!’ I thought you were crazy!”

Kriel let out a hollow laugh. At that moment, pain surged from the wound. A sound somewhere between a scream and a cough escaped.

“Which knight order taught you such a crazy technique?”

“I read it in a novel.”