I Became a Dark Knight in the Game

27 – It’s easy to die fighting, but hard to lend a path (6)

Orisin’s muttering, disparaging Kreel’s appearance, had no effect on him.

At least, that’s what Kriel thought.

‘Did you think I never wanted to play the knight in shining armor…?’

The problem was his job as a dark knight. He had always liked cool things. The dark knight was his favorite job because it combined the two cool words, dark and knight.

Of course, in the real world, pursuing the ‘coolness’ of a dark knight would surely get him labeled as a creature of the abyss. So Kriel aimed to equip himself with the dignified gear that a model knight would wear. But the dream of becoming a paragon of chivalry was always just a dream.

The weapon was the first problem. It was a perfectly fine sword when he bought it, but as he used it, it gradually turned a dull color as if it had been scorched by fire. By the time he had chopped up his hundredth enemy, it had completely turned black and was exuding an ominous aura.

The armor was the same. Kriel remembered the first time he bought the shiny silver plate armor that could be called a knight’s formal wear. The clear reflective light unique to well-forged metal, the subtly engraved luxurious patterns. He had spent a fortune to buy the armor.

Silver, my foot. It didn’t take long for it to turn into armor full of marks resembling bloodstains, as if it had been rolling around on a battlefield.

If he got hit and bled a bit, it seemed to dye the armor, gradually turning it a dark color like dried blood.

He had tried bleaching the armor and sword a few times.

It was a meaningless struggle. With tears in his eyes, Kriel consoled himself with the thought that ‘chivalry is proven by the inner self, not the outer appearance.’

After several such frustrations, Kriel was able to cultivate a calmness that wouldn’t be shaken by comments about his appearance.

[Honestly, even Morigina would flinch at this.]

This stung a bit.

“You haven’t seen Morigina fight properly. If you saw her smashing skulls with a mace in each hand, stabbing a heart would seem gentle.”

In the early days of the war, Morigina didn’t show her true nature. When she acted like an ordinary priest, no one could predict her violent side. Comparing himself to such a person, Kriel ignored the horse-head’s nonsense and asked Tuon.

“How is it? Do you have a sense of it?”

[Faintly, but I see it. In a dark underground….]

[There are countless underground dungeons in the mountain range. Explain in more detail, or show me directly with a vision.]

Hearing Orisin’s rebuke, Tuon’s sword vibrated. The drop of blood at the tip of the blade defied gravity and moved towards the hilt.

Soon, the drop of blood absorbed other blood and grew to the size of a small bead.

[Swallow it.]

“Are you talking to me?”

[Master. Orisin is a ghost and cannot physically consume anything.]

Tuon’s answer carried a hint of ‘how do you not know this’ emotion. Kriel, who hadn’t really asked because he didn’t know, opened his mouth with a subtle expression.

The blood bead melted away the moment it touched his tongue. The magical residue in the wyvern’s blood began to materialize in Kriel’s vision. The thin red line led deep into the mountains.

*

The wizard scratched his head. There was still no news from his foolish comrades.

He had left a coded message in the hideout just in case, but the wizard had a feeling that his comrades would not return here.

‘Did they run away?’

Even after accepting the power of the abyss, they might have been scared to actually oppose the empire. It was a ridiculous act. Once you step into the abyss, there’s no turning back.

‘Fools. If everything had gone according to my plan, I would have secured a key position in the Gateway City.’

The task of returning the wyverns to their original habitat and hiding them was in its final stages. With the commands firmly imprinted, it would not be difficult to summon the wyvern herd again when the time came.

Now, the mage intended to slip out of the Gateway City under the cover of night and head to another frontier of the empire. If he waited, the opportunity to reclaim the Gateway City would come again.

At that moment, the mage felt a searing pain coursing through his body.

“Ugh…!”

The illusion magic concealing the cave was forcibly shattered. The shock to the magic circuit shook his entire body.

The mage turned around with difficulty.

There, a knight clad in black armor was approaching silently.

*

[Wouldn’t it have been better to sneak in without breaking the illusion magic just now?]

Orisin whispered quietly. I shook my head. Proper mages consider intruders who sneak in without breaking the illusion magic. They not only conceal the entrance but also hide traps everywhere.

Many had boasted about bypassing the secret entrance without being detected by the mage, only to be impaled by hidden blades and depart this world.

Rather than dispersing my attention by being wary of potential traps, it was better to create an environment where I could fully concentrate on the fight, even if the mage noticed the ambush.

[No. I can roughly sense it. Spirits are inherently sensitive to such artificial magic flows.]

“Ah.”

I humbly acknowledged my mistake. Quick acknowledgment was a knight’s virtue.

[No. The master made the right choice. A knight must always overwhelm the enemy head-on.]

[Didn’t you say the exact opposite when we were hunting wyverns?]

[The minions of the Abyss must obey their master’s commands, no matter what.]

[What.]

Tuon confidently expounded his bizarre logic. His voice echoed through the cave. The grandly resonating voice seemed to fill the entire cave. The sound was so distorted that it would be hard to understand from a distance.

At this point, I realized that even if I had aimed for a surprise attack from the beginning, things would have gone awry. Even if Orisin hadn’t spoken, Tuon would have ruined it with his words.

This guy, even at the Eve Kaha headquarters. Does he hate ambushes?

[The fault lies with the Abyss for not preparing for a duel when the master desires an honorable fight. Foolish ones who fail to recognize a rightful ruler. I am the blade of judgment upon you!]

[Kriele, I’m scared of him….]

Maybe he’s just purely out of his mind.

*

[The minions of the Abyss must obey their master’s commands, no matter what.]

A sinister voice echoed. The mage immediately recognized that the tone was not male. According to the previous report, Kriele was undoubtedly male.

Then what was this voice? A grand declaration that all of the Abyss must obey their master.

The wizard kept an eye on Kriel while preparing his magic, all the while probing the identity of the voice. If there was another enemy besides the black knight, it was inevitable that his battle strategy and escape plan would need to be revised.

The black knight approached quietly. An eerie advance without even the sound of footsteps. The voice of a woman permeated the cave, adorning his steps like the chorus of a choir.

Amidst the echoing sounds that interfered with each other, a clear warning could be heard.

[The foolish ones who do not recognize the rightful ruler─]

The wizard’s keen observation noticed that every time the woman’s voice was heard, the blue jewel embedded in the center of the cross-shaped sword glimmered.

An ego sword?

The wizard was bewildered. He was also aware of weapons with egos, such as ego swords. The records of the Holy Kingdom mentioned weapons with egos that inherited the souls of ancient priests.

However, the words of that sword were too blasphemous to be those of a holy sword. Was it not describing its master as the vanguard of the abyss?

The ashen cross-shaped sword in the black knight’s hand gave the wizard an inexplicable sense of pressure. He forcibly held onto his scattering concentration.

“Do not come any closer! You are already within the range of my magic!”

It was a bluff. The magic was not yet complete. If he allowed the black knight to approach any further, he would be struck by the opponent’s attack before the magic could be completed, so he chose an impromptu measure.

It seemed to have some effect, as the black knight stopped in his tracks. The wizard continued to prepare to trigger the magic, mulling over the words of the ego sword.

Just a little more, just a few more seconds.

He would obscure the view with a fireball – if that killed him, all the better – and summon a horde of wyverns. Then he would attack with the wyverns or, if that proved difficult, escape on a wyvern.

It was done!

Just as he was about to trigger the attack magic.

“A beast?”

The black knight’s calm remark broke the wizard’s concentration.

“A half-formed demon, causing such a worthless commotion.”

“W-what are you talking about…!”

“Your rank. You have gained power from the demonic nature but have not blossomed into spirituality. It means you are a loser who has not reached the level of a demon.”

Beyond the black knight’s helmet, red eyes gleamed like burning flames.