I Became a Dark Knight in the Game

14 – In the Abyss, the Sword Wields the Man (3)

“What? A novel?”

The feeling of ‘Is this guy sane?’ was palpable. Kriel gave a bitter smile.

Of course, it wasn’t a novel from Tirnanog, but a story he read on Earth. A novel where the protagonist was a paladin, unlike Kriel, who was a dark knight.

Kriel recalled that the character who demonstrated this technique always had a priest by his side. It was a technique too painful to endure without divine healing.

“It hurts more than I thought.”

“Wait, you think you can do that just because you read a book? Should I recommend some novels with amazing special moves?”

“My taste in novels is a bit picky.”

Passing off nonsense with nonsense, Kriel checked the state of his body. All the blood energy was depleted, and even if he activated his body with fighting spirit, regeneration was not smooth.

Was it because the weapon was created by the Demon King himself? It seemed to have an option that hindered regeneration. Criel vowed to break that damned sword.

Not now. When Morgina comes, with holy power.

Footsteps were heard from afar. Criel used the horned sword as a support – [Ouch, you’re heavy!] – and stood up.

“Seeing how quiet it is, have you already taken care of everything? If you’re done quickly, help me out…?”

“You’re late.”

Morgina was horrified and ran over as soon as she saw Criel’s condition. The plate armor, which the cathedral priests had painstakingly blessed against the abyss, was in tatters, and the left ribcage had a huge scar that exposed the organs beneath.

A wound that wouldn’t heal. It was an element that further perplexed Morgina.

“This madman with chivalry again! You don’t even respond well to holy power!”

Morgina wrapped her hands in the radiance of holy power and clung to Criel. If it were a healing miracle used directly by a saint-level cleric, new flesh should immediately grow and heal without scars where the light touched.

But holy power and the abyss are opposites.

It was common sense that pouring holy power on the denizens of the abyss would cause harm, not healing. That’s why clerics stood at the forefront of the fight against the abyss.

Criel, being a dark knight and a being half-estranged from the abyss, wouldn’t be harmed by contact with holy power like ordinary denizens of the abyss.

However, Criel’s essence, specifically the fundamental job setting of a dark knight, was deeply connected to the abyss. Instead of being harmed by holy power, the healing effect was very minimal.

Morgina had chosen an indirect method, such as increasing the armor’s strength, instead of bestowing physical enhancement blessings on Criel, for the same reason.

Objects blessed with holy power, such as a sword with increased sharpness or armor blessed against the abyss, were useful to Criel. But effects that extended to the user, like increased strength, were of little use to Criel.

The holy power, squeezed out like wringing a cloth, was poured onto Criel. It felt like the subtle pressure when wearing the mark of the great warrior.

It felt like having a pressure bandage wrapped around the entire body. Criel opened his mouth with difficulty.

“There is something more urgent than healing.”

“What’s more urgent than fixing your guts hanging out!”

“The sword itself had a curse that hindered healing. My body already has poor holy power efficiency, and with the curse added, trying to heal me is truly a waste.”

Criel raised his right hand and pointed to the sword on the ground. The sword, which had lost its swirling blue glow, looked just ashen.

“That sword is the core of the seed. The demon who used it was lacking and got killed by the sword. Wrap it up well with holy power.”

“What?”

“Don’t waste holy power on me, just seal the sword.”

Morgina cursed once and approached the ashen sword. Records of the demon weapons flashed through her mind.

Although the records were quite old, and the details like decorations were different, it was easy to recall a weapon with the same major features, modified for use as a ‘seed.’

“Tasting Sword…”

As expected, it was one of the seven great demon weapons, Orisin exclaimed. The rumors Criel had found about the seven great demon weapons were hearsay, not detailed information like those in the Grand Library of the Holy Kingdom, so the name Morgina mentioned was unfamiliar to Criel.

“Tasting (試食)? That sounds like a name that likes to gobble up everything.”

[Hey. You sound just like me.]

Morikina inwardly agreed with Orisin’s words. She glanced at Byeokchangho and opened her mouth.

“It’s not just a tasting test, it’s called ‘corpse eating’ because it devours even corpses. The Corpse-Eating Sword, Gratoun. The unwelcome guest of the battlefield.”

“Unwelcome guest?”

It was a rather common nickname for a famous demon sword. Even the original name, Corpse-Eating Sword, had a much more sinister meaning.

[Ah, I can explain that. No one is left standing on the battlefield where that sword has passed.]

Like the demon who had just become a puppet wielding the sword, the warrior who held Gratoun was destined to be dominated by the demon sword. They would swing the sword until all their vitality was drained, and eventually, they would collapse.

[But that sword basically tempts people, you see? Whether someone picks it up from the ground or takes it from the one who originally held it, a new slave to the sword is always born.]

Even if an army is annihilated or the battle is decided, the temptation to possess Gratoun is so strong that allies would fight each other for it.

When all the soldiers on the battlefield have offered their vitality to Gratoun and withered away, Gratoun would control the last living corpse to find its next meal.

[That’s why it’s an unwelcome guest. It devours everything and then disappears alone.]

“Why didn’t the Holy Kingdom seal it?”

“They did. They barely managed to seal it and were transporting it to Temris when a few demons deliberately attacked.”

Morikina, with a look of disgust, released her holy power. The red holy power materialized into chains and bound the ashen sword.

“Let’s get out of here. We’ve sealed the core of the Abyss, so by now, the entrance we came through should have returned to its original state.”

[But we…]

“What. Speak quickly.”

As soon as she heard this, Orisin, who had been flying around Morikina in a frenzy, quickly finished speaking when she saw Morikina’s clenched fist.

[Right now, Kriel has smashed through the weak points of the floor with sheer force and entered the depths. Is there a way to go back to the entrance? Isn’t it better to wait quietly?]

“Kriel can handle it.”

Kriel, hearing Morikina’s reply, let out a hollow laugh. Indeed, she was right. No matter how labyrinthine the structure of the Abyss was, it was fundamentally a place for the forces of the Abyss.

The Dark Knight was originally supposed to be a commander of the Abyss Legion. Just as he had sensed the weak points of the surface layer of the Abyss, he could roughly understand its structure.

“Yes. This is not a place to stay for long. Let’s get out quickly.”

*

The saints waited leisurely.

However, this leisure did not mean that the saints were indulging in vices like complacency or negligence.

The saints’ leisure was entirely due to, or thanks to, Morikina.

Morikina, who had entered the monastery with her great warrior, was better known by ominous nicknames like ‘Skull Reaper’ or ‘Harbinger of Doom’ than by her official title as the Saint of Eve Kaha.

If the clergy were evaluated solely on their combat ability against the Abyss, she would be counted among the top five martial priests. Since her companion had requested 30 minutes, the saints understood it this way:

‘Ah. It means she’ll destroy everything and come back within 30 minutes, so we should just keep watch to make sure nothing escapes!’

If Morikina did not return within that time, it would indeed be a dangerous situation, and they would all have to rush in and give the Abyss a thorough beating.

After about ten minutes of silently watching the monastery, someone suddenly spoke up.

“Does anyone know who that thug’s Grand Knight is?”

No one answered. After a brief pause, an elderly martial monk scratched his beard and spoke.

“I heard there’s a knight who matched breaths with that kid when he briefly served in the Western Army… But I haven’t heard that knight joined the Eve Kaha Order…”

“What? So they just handed the Grand Knight position to an outsider? That’s so like them.”

“You can’t just assume they’re an outsider.”

“Old man, what are you talking about?”

“Well, it’s common, isn’t it? Even if they haven’t joined the order, someone might hold a position like Grand Knight if they have family ties with the order…”

The saints’ expressions twisted subtly. Although the elderly martial monk was one of the most experienced in the current Holy Kingdom, this time he seemed to have missed the mark.

“That kid, Morgina, was raised by the Eve Kaha Order. She has no secular family. So if she were to form new family ties, it would usually mean marriage… With that personality?”

The saints nodded in agreement, one after another. Her personality was too rough to be described even as a lone wolf.

Since Morgina’s service in the Western Army was revealed, the fact that no protest letters had been sent to the Eve Kaha Order was considered a miracle granted by Eve Kaha. Morgina was the type to act before speaking.

The elderly martial monk nodded with a troubled expression. It was as if he was saying, “Let’s just say that’s the case for now.”

“Oh, they’re coming out!”

Morgina and the Grand Knight of Eve Kaha came out through the door they had entered.

However, their appearance was not the same as when they went in. For some reason, the Grand Knight had a deep scar on his chest, and Morgina was supporting him, even if forcibly.

“Don’t just stand there, get over here!”

Morgina shouted at the top of her lungs, but her unstable voice clearly conveyed her worry and concern for her Grand Knight. The saints’ eyes turned to the elderly martial monk.

He shrugged.

“I’ve officiated quite a few weddings.”

But there was something the old man didn’t say out loud.

“It seems the Grand Knight still has no particular feelings…”

It was a sign of a wandering heart that would captivate many fateful encounters.