I Pull Out Excalibur

20 – Honor, Pride, and Stars (1)

Another star rose in the underground city.

It may not be as bright as when pulling the sword out of the rock, but Excalibur’s light cannot be concealed by the mist and darkness that cover the underground city.

The starlight shot up into the sky.

The residents of the underground city.

The shadow pursuing the boy.

The knight who believes in his own righteousness.

The mercenary who chooses loyalty over money and power.

And.

“Ha…”

The knight who had been chasing the star also saw the starlight held by the boy. Ivan exclaimed in admiration, gripping his sword tightly. He was grateful that the glorious opportunity to clash his sword with the legendary sword from the stories had arrived.

Ivan’s sword spirit soared fiercely. In response, the boy’s sword also wrapped itself in platinum sword spirit.

The sword spirit of the star wrapped in the starlight. Ivan smiled at the light of the star that had fallen in this underground city, which he had never forgotten. His dream that he had let go of was there.

“Come.”

Ivan said, and the boy ran.

The boy with the star and the knight who chased the star collided.

2.

Najin showed his best.

Lowering his stance, propelling himself forward, wielding a sword that gained speed without any defense skills. It was not something that someone specially taught him, and it was ambiguous to call it a skill…

But this was clearly Najin’s best strike.

Thud, Najin struck the ground.

With each step, Najin’s body accelerated. When Najin took his third step, Ivan momentarily missed Najin’s movement, and when Najin took his sixth step, his movement surpassed Ivan’s.

Najin’s movements were not visible to Ivan’s eyes. Only the trajectory drawn by the star sword he held in his hand came into view. And that was enough for Ivan.

“Come and see.”

Ivan did not step back.

“Meet me head-on.”

The star sword is approaching.

The starlight is approaching.

Thud!

As Najin took his final step, he lunged at Ivan. Excalibur, which could reach the highest speed that Najin could achieve, accelerated. Ivan moved in front of the rushing sword, spreading the starlight.

Ivan, the knight of Atanga.

The essence of the skill he had honed throughout his life.

It is a swordsmanship that symbolizes the Artanga.

To intercept the opponent’s skill head-on and negate the opponent head-on, that is the method of Artanga. Ivan never retreated and successfully parried Najin’s sword.

Kaaang!

Swords and sword, sword techniques and sword techniques clashed.

The moment Ivan parried the sword, he thought. It was a sword that was simple yet straight and heavy because of its straightness. The weight carried by the sword swung by Najin surpassed Ivan’s imagination.

His strong, planted feet trembled.

His knees were about to buckle.

However, as a knight of Artanga, Ivan never bowed or retreated, even if he was on the verge of breaking. He exerted more strength in his knees and pushed back his foot that was about to be swept away, and Ivan released his inner energy.

Ka, gaga gag!

Little by little, Ivan’s sword moved forward. Najin still lacked an understanding of the sword as a weapon. He hadn’t properly learned swordsmanship. Ivan’s sword, which had been swung for years honing his skill, penetrated that gap.

Ivan’s posture seemed to receive Najin’s sword, but at some point, it had turned into a form of flicking and pressing Najin’s sword.

Ivan’s knees, which were about to buckle, straightened. His steps, which were about to be pushed back, took a step forward towards the front instead. As Ivan moved forward, Najin was pushed back.

“Ugh!”

The situation had reversed.

It was the moment when Najin’s sword strike, which had been gradually pushed back, was about to be completely broken. Najin opened his eyes wide. He struck Excalibur forcefully against the flow of energy flowing through his body.

He knew he was falling behind in skill.

In that case, he would rather decide the victory in power output.

Like responding to his master’s will to win at all costs and using everything he had, Excalibur flashed fiercely. In an instant, the density of the platinum-colored sword technique increased, shattering Ivan’s technique head-on.

“······!”

Ivan widened his eyes.

Najin’s sword completely pushed back Ivan’s sword. Ivan’s hand holding the sword rose above his head. It created a fatal opening. Ivan had no room to endure the following strike.

He hastily pulled back his sword, but the fatal blow was inevitable. It was the moment Ivan sensed his own defeat.

Sarok.

Najin’s sword that was about to swing towards Ivan disappeared and turned into starlight. The flickering blade of the sword only scratched Ivan’s body, but the fatal blow was avoided.

“Ugh!”

Rather, it was Najin who suffered the fatal blow.

Najin remained in the position of striking with the sword. He had not yet been granted the power he desired. The boy pulled out Excalibur, but both his body and soul were not mature enough to wield it properly.

Because he didn’t have enough power to maintain Excalibur, he was left unable to swing the second strike.

“······.”

Ivan fell silent.

A drop of blood fell with a dull sound from a wound that grazed the cheek. Among the falling droplets of blood, something thudded and dropped. It was the eyepatch that covered Ivan’s right eye.

The fallen eyepatch. The fallen blood.

And, a boy lying in front of him.

Staring at all of it with one eye, Ivan realized.

He had won, and at the same time, he had lost.

Ivan, the ruler of the underground city with the external eye, had won against the boy. He was the last one standing, and with a swing of his sword, he could kill the boy right away.

But Ivan, the knight of Ahtanga, had lost to the boy. Ahtanga’s way was never yielding or retreating in the face of an opponent. However, pressed by the boy’s momentum, Ivan had stepped back at the last moment and yielded, breaking Ahtanga’s tradition.

Victory as the ruler with the external eye.

Defeat as the knight of Ahtanga.

Which one should he accept?

Ivan groaned in front of the choices laid out before him. In the very last moments, the world asked Ivan once again.

What will you choose?

What will you remain as?

3.

Like everyone else, a person values their own life the most. If you die, that’s the end of it. Death is fearful. It is the fundamental fear that every human possesses.

Therefore.

In the face of the threat of death, a person can become submissive, cruel, and paradoxically transformed. No one would dare to mock the act of abandoning the desire for life. It’s a universal aspect of humanity.

Ivan was no exception.

Ivan wants to live.

He didn’t want to die in a place like this.

He wanted to see the stars once again, see the sun again, and become a knight once more. The probability of that happening was infinitely low, but…

If he survives, there’s a chance.

But death is final.

Ivan gritted his teeth. He had to kill the boy lying in front of him to survive. So, it’s right to wield the sword and end it. He understood this fact in his mind.

He understood, but.

The sword didn’t move. The raised sword did not advance even a bit. The fallen boy, Najin, lifted his head and looked at him. Ivan’s expression distorted the moment his eyes met Najin’s.

A boy different from himself.

A boy holding a star.

Looking at the boy with a light he should never trample on, Ivan groaned. What will he remain as? What will he become? Faced with the question thrown at him, Ivan had been postponing the answer, but now he had to decide.

I would have preferred it if Nagine’s sword had cut me instead. I would have preferred it if I could face death like that. Ivan groaned.

“Swear on the Knight of Atanga, Ivan’s pride.”

What resonated in his ear was a story sworn on his own pride. The moment he swung down his sword, he loses his pride.

One who has lost honor and pride.

Can such a person be called a knight?

Of course, there are many knights in the world who do not know honor or pride. Many, but at least Ivan couldn’t consider such a person a knight. The moment he loses even his pride in this position, he is no longer a knight.

Ivan knew that fact.

Even if he manages to survive in this position.

Can he still pursue the stars, embracing false honor and losing his pride? Can he confidently say that he is a knight of Atanga?

“No.”

No, he couldn’t.

What he desires is to possess stars as a knight.

Not as a tarnished and dishonored waste.

“As a knight who carries pride and honor.”

That was his dream as a knight.

“······.”

Ivan pondered.

He agonized.

Until the very end, he hesitated.

······Everyone values their own life.

“But as a knight.”

The knight he wanted to become.

“The foolish people who risk their lives for honor and pride.”

Foolish, but because of that, they lead lives that shine brighter than anything else. Remembering the dream he cherished as a child, dreaming of becoming a knight, Ivan made his choice.

“Curse it.”

Ivan messed up his hair.

“Damn it, damn it.”

Cursing, he unsheathed his sword.

With the sword at his waist, Ivan reached out his hand towards the fallen Nagine. Nagine blinked dumbly and then grabbed Ivan’s outstretched hand, standing up from his spot.

“Can you move?”

Living disappeared.

In response to Ivan’s question, Nagine slowly nodded her head. Ivan opened and closed his mouth repeatedly. It was as if he had something to say but found it hard to speak.

“Uh, Nagine.”

Ivan slowly opened his mouth.

“When descending the waterfall, be careful of the moisture. The stepping stones are slippery in that area, so pay attention to it. You might slip. And… no, that’s not it. No, it’s not.”

After letting out a long sigh, he spoke again.

“Nagine.”

“I’m listening.”

“Do you remember the words I always used to say?”

“Don’t cross the line?”

“Yes, that’s it.”

Don’t cross the line. Understand the topic.

Don’t reach for what you can’t touch.

“That’s what it means.”

Ivan covered his lost right eye with a bandage.

It had been over ten years since he arrived in this city.

During those years, Ivan abandoned his dreams and trimmed himself as a knight. He lived by the words of not crossing the line and living according to what was given, but… it was also a story he told himself.

Words thrown at himself, who could no longer climb higher.

“Do not correct.”

Today, Ivan decided to correct those words.

“Listen well. I know you dislike me repeating myself.”

Ivan chuckled.

“Cross the line, Nagine.”

He said with a smile.

“Reach for the inaccessible. Stick a fist in the faces of those who mutter about understanding the topic. Only you know how far you can go.”

Ivan denied the words he had uttered.

“Look up at the heights and run. Rise higher than anyone else. Because you have that talent. Believe in the talent you possess.”

Even though he only had one eye.

He had no eyes that could see the future, no sharp sense to anticipate the future.

“When you reach the highest point.”

Ivan was sure.

The boy in front of him would climb to the highest place. He would hang his own star in the highest place of the night sky. Ivan was certain that this future would surely come.

Because he was certain, Ivan said,

“Shout from there.”

What?

“That I was here.”

At the starting point of your story, that I was here.

“The knight, Ivan of Atanga, was here.”

If he could decorate the prologue of a hero’s story, wouldn’t it be an overwhelming honor as a knight chasing after stars? To pursue glory with pride. Where else could there be a more splendid ending than this for a knight?

“Go.”

Ivan nudged Jin’s back inside the passage.

With trembling eyes, Ivan no longer looked at the hesitant boy. He stood, guarding the entrance of the passage, with his back turned to the boy.

To make up for the time he took away from the boy.

“…Thank you, Ivan.”

The sound of the boy’s footsteps growing distant. Before that sound even faded, a new sound of footsteps started to approach from ahead.

They’re coming. The pursuers who were drawn by the light, who sought to erase the light, are coming this way. They were agents of the Order, and also knights of the Order, and they were his seniors from a long time ago.

Listening to the fading sound of footsteps.

Letting the approaching sound of footsteps flow away.

Ivan drew his sword once again. This time, not towards the retreating boy, but towards the pursuers who followed the boy.

“Not the outsider Ivan.”

Ivan crushed the blindfold that had fallen to the ground.

“But as the knight of Atanga.”

The knight chasing after stars smiled.

It was a laugh lighter than ever before.