I Became a Dark Knight in the Game

17 – What is this, take it away (3)

“Damn it!”

Criel moved swiftly.

Not only fighting for honor but also dealing decisively with enemies was a knight’s virtue. Criel grabbed her collar and slammed her to the ground.

“…Huh?”

It was a swift blow that stopped Morgina, who was approaching with a mace, in her tracks.

Morgina was even more bewildered by Criel’s reflexive attack. Criel was not someone who would act so harshly towards an ordinary person.

‘He wouldn’t beat an ordinary person like that. But now he’s started beating her up. That means…’

It means she is not an ordinary person.

Morgina increased the weight of the mace she had prepared for intimidation. The sound of it cutting through the wind was heavy.

[What is it? What is it?!]

Orisin shouted in confusion. From the outside, it looked like they were suddenly beating up some young woman.

“Come and help!”

Morgina shouted urgently. A being that had a complete human form and was enough of a threat to make Criel feel threatened?

Whether it was a doppelganger-type monster, a demon who mistook Criel for an ally and approached, or a polymorphed dragon, any being on the list of suspects was extremely dangerous. It was only right to send them off from this world immediately.

“Wait.”

At that moment, a calm voice flowed out. A beautiful voice that did not match the situation.

“Master, why do you reject me?”

In that moment, Kriel’s movements halted. He couldn’t understand who was being called master.

To be precise, he didn’t want to understand.

“Do not reject your rightful destiny. You defeated me in a pure contest of strength, thus you are the rightful master.”

Kriel instinctively realized that the being before him was the greatest threat to his project of living a long and happy life with a healthy body and mind.

“Master of the Seven Great Demonic Soldiers? As if my job wasn’t hard enough already!”

“Morghina, crush it!”

Thus, he shouted directly, without concern for dignity or nobility. After all, the only ones who could hear him around here were Orishin and Morghina.

“It is meaningless.”

The ash-gray girl explained in a slow, almost leisurely voice.

“Just as I cannot defy the will of my master, even if you damage my physical form, it will not harm my essence.”

[Wow, we’re screwed.]

Orishin, who was the first to understand the meaning of the ash-gray girl’s words, muttered blankly. Morghina turned her gaze to the horse head clicking its tongue in the air.

“What does she mean?”

[Well, it seems to me that it’s connected to Kriel’s soul.]

“What? What kind of crazy talk is that!”

[No, listen to me, you thug saint. You know Kriel isn’t exactly a standard knight, right?]

Morghina nodded, biting her lip. She couldn’t deny it, having witnessed it since the Western Army.

[And as we know… uh, non-standard knights have the ability to absorb the physical pain, mental anguish, or soul of their defeated opponents, right?]

Kriel released his grip on the ash-gray girl’s collar. There were too many things he could guess. Morghina, who couldn’t accept it, questioned him.

A being from the abyss that could say Kriel defeated it in a ‘contest of strength.’ It was easy to guess its identity.

“I bound Gratoun and sent it to the Holy City. The sword wasn’t broken or anything. So how?”

Morghina looked at Kriel with trembling eyes. Kriel’s hand naturally went to his forehead.

“Master, do you want me to explain instead?”

“Be quiet…”

At Kriel’s words, the ash-gray girl clamped her mouth shut and nodded.

[Well, as I understand it, a contest between beings of the abyss doesn’t necessarily end with physical destruction. Sometimes, it’s decided by a broken spirit.]

Orishin recounted various examples. Stories of demons serving the victor after acknowledging defeat, or a demon subduing a beast with a mere gaze to make it their warhorse.

[Like these examples, it seems Gratoun also deeply accepted its defeat…]

Morghina felt her neck stiffen. To think such a thing was attached to her great warrior. She had planned to take it to the main base of Eve Kaha and persuade it as much as possible.

At this rate, it’s not Criele but the elders of the Order that need convincing.

[But that’s strange. I’ve never heard of a sword spirit in Gratoun.]

Orisin tilted his head, lost in thought. There was little information about the Seven Great Demon Weapons, but if there had been a sword spirit that could materialize like that, it would have been hard for the record keepers of the Holy Kingdom to miss.

‘Could it be that the warriors who wielded Gratoun so far lacked the ability to awaken the sword spirit? It’s not impossible.’

Orisin felt a sense of incongruity, but it was hard for him to pinpoint exactly what was causing it.

While Orisin and Morgina continued their academic discussion on the nature of the Abyss, Criele closed his eyes and sank into his inner self.

He was trying to connect with that something he called a system, an acquired instinct that taught him how to use his skills.

Criele’s inner self felt like a constellation. Each star symbolized a power he could use. Although there were no kind explanations like in a game, he could instinctively understand what each star represented and what result it would bring.

‘…Damn it.’

And indeed, a new star had risen, one he had never seen before. A blue star. Even the hue was new to him.

‘The skills related to the profession provided by the system were red, and the ordinary techniques, including the aura I acquired in this world, were yellow.’

He contemplated the blue light flickering within. He could feel the essence of the star. If he were to name it, it would be called ‘Ghost Sword’. It was a power that controlled the force of the demon sword.

Criele had known for a long time that this half-baked system did not support functions like skill deletion.

He opened his eyes and looked at the sky.

“Are you just pushing me to throw myself into the Abyss…?”

Damn sky. What is the Pantheon of Heaven doing, not stopping this?

*

[Tuon, make some food.]

“I do not listen to those weaker than me.”

[What did you say?]

Criele, who had given up on cursing the heavens, sought advice from Morgina on resolving the situation. He hoped that the elder priests at the main temple of Eve Kaha might have some helpful information.

Morgina was pondering with him, saying, ‘First, you need to think about whether you will get stabbed.’

Meanwhile, the sword spirit of Gratoun, who had been ordered to ‘sit still’, was sitting on a tree stump.

The reason Criele did not retrieve Gratoun into his inner self was simple. If this was judged as using an ‘Abyss Skill’, it was hard to predict what consequences it might bring. Criele decided to leave Gratoun in its materialized state for now.

Orisin, who was in charge of monitoring, was teasing the sword spirit of Gratoun and carefully observing its reactions.

[Well, this is fascinating. Did this come out of Gratoun? The sword itself should be in the Holy Capital, but I don’t feel any connection.]

“Logically speaking, the sword is not my main body.”

[What?]

“I possess all the functions of Gratoun, so I am the main body. The sword sealed in Temlis is just a shell.”

[Ah, yes. Very impressive. So, Tuon, what can you do?]

“I am weaker than─”

[This guy again?]

Orisin remembered the personality of the sword spirit. Its pride was strangely strong, usually ignoring questions, but it responded well when provoked.

Thud, thud. The sight of Kriel walking with a weakened appearance came into view.

[Hey! Did you come up with a good plan?]

Instead of the gloomy Kriel, it was Morgina who answered.

“…Well, I’m not sure, but we decided to head to our sect’s main headquarters as planned.”

[Is such a reckless strategy okay?]

“I’m guaranteeing it as a great warrior. Do you think they’ll attack us on sight?”

Morgina spoke with apparent confidence, but somehow didn’t seem convinced. Kriel looked at the sword spirit and asked.

“Can you transform into the shape of a sword?”

“If the master wishes. That is my duty.”

Blue cracks appeared all over the ashen girl’s body. They were the same color as her eyes. The blue light spread from the cracks, enveloping her entire body, and finally, when she transformed into a human-shaped crystal, the crystal shattered.

Like fragments of stained glass, or sunlight breaking on the waves, a brilliant destruction. Then each fragment gathered to form a new shape.

In the place where the light subsided, there lay a sword of the same ashen color as Kriel’s chest surgery tool.

“The shape is a bit different.”

However, the shape was subtly different. If the previous Gratuon that Kriel faced had a strangely pointed thorn decoration, the current form was overall neat, reminiscent of a cross.

It was an entirely ashen sword, but only one blue gem was embedded in the center of the crossguard.

The gem, hearing Kriel’s muttering, flickered and responded.

[Because I shed my old self. There’s no need to be the same as before, right?]

While Kriel was momentarily bewildered by the fact that the sword could speak, Orisin muttered.

[Three swords. Should I hold one in my mouth?]