I Pull Out Excalibur

21 – Honor, Pride, and Stars (2)

Najin ran through the passage.

It was the path that led outside the underground city, and it was also the path that Ivan had opened. Running along that path, Najin clenched his teeth.

The boy was not foolish.

Najin knew why Ivan opened this path, with what determination and thoughts. Najin knew. The fact that if he didn’t kill himself, Ivan would be killed. Ivan also knew that it was inevitable.

“And yet, Ivan sent Naijin away.

It meant that Ivan gave up his life.

The agony that lingered on Ivan’s face as he raised his sword, the trembling tip of Ivan’s sword, and Ivan’s figure pushing himself into the passage and blocking the entrance passed before Naijin’s eyes. Naijin gritted his teeth harder.

He felt the desire to scream.

He wanted to ask Ivan why he made that choice. Why he risked his life for him. Naijin didn’t know the reason. Ivan had never shown any signs of wanting to protect him before.

Honor and pride.

The young boy still didn’t understand the weight they held.

The young boy didn’t understand what Ivan wanted to be remembered for until the very end. He didn’t understand, but he remembered the moment Ivan’s eyes shone brighter than ever.

“Climb to the highest place.

“Shout from there.

“Let it be known that I, Ivan, a knight of Ahtanga, existed.”

The image of a knight who spoke of dreams with shining eyes took root deep in Naijin’s heart. It was the weight carried by someone’s life.

It could never become lighter.

It could never be forgotten.

With a heavy feeling pressing on his heart, Naijin ran. The passage was dark, cold, and seemed endlessly far away. Even the light from the ore lamps disappeared in the pitch-black tunnel, but Naijin ran endlessly.

A mercenary and a knight chasing the stars.

With the weight of those who risked their lives for him, the young boy looked up at the highest place. The stars were still not visible, but that was probably fine.

In a place where stars couldn’t be seen, the young boy swore.

To etch his own star in the night sky.

To hang his own star in the highest place.

2.

The pursuers chasing the stars arrived, one by one.

There was an entrance leading to the long-neglected tunnel. It was not difficult to surmise that the boy had escaped through there. All that remained was the simple task of entering the tunnel and killing the boy.

“······.”

No one moved rashly.

There was a presence guarding the entrance of the tunnel, and the force emitted by that presence was unusual. The pursuers sensed that in order to enter that tunnel, they would have to knock down the one guarding it.

Clank.

The pursuers drew their swords one by one.

They aimed their swords at the former knight, whom they believed to be their collaborator, but they made one mistake.

“I am Ivan.”

What stood before them was not a disgraced and half-broken knight fallen into the underground city. Even though he had lost his honor, he maintained his pride until the end, sacrificing his life for the distant stars that would shine brightly someday.

The one who sacrificed his life to keep the oath.

The one who wanted to be a knight until the very end.

It was foolish, yet sublime in its foolishness. Who could dare to ridicule that sublimity? What stood before them was a knight prepared for death.

“A knight of Atanga.”

In the underground city where no stars rose.

In a city of sinners illuminated only by dim ore lamps.

“A knight chasing the stars, Ivan.”

The blade of the knight’s sword was wrapped in a sheen.

A shimmering blade of purplish light. It was an ordinary color, and there was nothing special about it. It couldn’t illuminate the underground city as Ivan’s starry sword did, nor did it resemble the starlight like Ivan’s blade, which was an ordinary and mundane thing.

However, even so.

The blade Ivan held sparkled.

“From now on, not a step can be taken.”

Gripping the shining sword.

Risking his life to protect something.

In this moment, at least, Ivan could proudly proclaim to himself. That he was a knight. A knight of Atanga, and a knight chasing the stars.

At that fact, Ivan smiled.

Chasers began to rush toward the smiling Ivan. The gathering pursuers numbered more than ten, and the swords they held were sharp and unmatched. But Ivan did not take a single step back.

“Atanga’s knights do not retreat.”

Because that was Atanga’s pride.

Ivan swung the shining sword. To buy time for his seed to escape this city. To repay the time he took from the boy.

“Come. As much as you want.”

My pride is not light enough to open a path for someone who knows neither honor nor pride.

—

Knight Belro of the Order.

Belro’s face, arriving belatedly where the starlight had surged, instantly hardened. The scene before him was completely different from what Belro had expected.

Bloodstains everywhere.

Severed limbs.

And scattered corpses of cultists.

At a glance, it seemed that more than twenty had fallen. Half of the cultists deployed in this city met their end here. It was a significant loss, but considering the goal achieved, the loss was acceptable.

However, it seemed that even that purpose was not achieved.

There was no body of the boy who drew the sword of the stars here. Véro looked up slowly and looked ahead. The perpetrator who created this tragedy was standing there.

Ivan.

Véro burst into a bitter laugh at the sight of his long-time junior guarding the entrance to the gangway.

“hahahaha…”

What a foolish act.

Véro felt anger towards Ivan, who had trampled on the favor he had extended. His forehead wrinkled, and his expression became distorted.

“Ivan, have you gone mad?”

Ivan did not respond.

“Do you think this will become a fight? Will you fight against the entire sect? What a foolish…”

Véro nervously messed up his hair. Things got complicated. The mission entrusted to him by Archdeacon Orland. He was responsible for this mission, and only this way could he avoid punishment.

He had to continue the pursuit alone.

Nervously drawing his sword, Véro took a step forward. In silence, Ivan, who hadn’t moved a muscle, opened his mouth.

“Sen…seonbae.”

Ivan coughed.

Facing more than ten enemies at once, his body was covered in wounds, and blood was flowing from the long-slashed shoulder. His exhales were rough, and his breathing was irregular.

Exhausted to the point of exhaustion.

However, Ivan’s posture did not waver at all, and the sword he held still shone.

“What’s with your appearance?”

“What?”

“What’s with your appearance? I asked. You gave up your honor and pride and left the Order… I wondered how amazing it must have been.”

Ivan sneered.

“It feels more like being caught on a leash than catching something, right? How are you any different from the corpses hanging here? In my eyes, you’re just another hunting dog of the same sect.”

A clear mockery and ridicule.

Blood rushed to Véro’s eyes.

“I can’t just let that go. This is an insult to the Order. I will give you a chance to withdraw that statement.”

“hahahahaha!”

Ivan burst into laughter.

“After leaving the Order of Attanga, it seems you have forgotten the mindset of a knight. If you’ve forgotten, this insignificant junior will have to remind you personally.”

An unwavering posture.

A gaze that remained unwavering.

A sword that still retained its gleam.

“Insults are cleansed through duels. Honor and dignity are proven through the blade. That is the code of chivalry. You filthy hounds of the clergy.”

“Hmph!”

A blatant provocation crossed the line. Berilo drew his blade, laughing in response to the fiery words that inflamed his mind. It was a blade as sapphire-hued as Ivan’s, yet lacking the same brilliance as it wrapped around Berilo’s sword.

With the sword wrapped around, Berilo moved towards Ivan. Still, Ivan remained motionless.

He looked as though he might collapse with a nudge, but Berilo knew better than to underestimate him. Even cornered, Ivan’s pupils still shone, radiating an eerie intensity that Berilo could feel.

The aura of someone prepared for death. The determination of one who vowed not to relinquish their blade until the very end.

In the darkness, the clash of swords echoed. Sparks flew from the clash of blades, and droplets of blood sprayed. It was the blood spilled by a knight, a representation of a knight’s life. As their swords clashed, Ivan smiled.

But Berilo could hear no more.

Footsteps fading into the distance behind him.

“Well, that’s that. A cursed seed, that fellow.”

Where could one find those who make knights I must protect lay down their lives for their own sake? Regardless, cursed wretches like him…

Until the very end, Ivan smiled.

Because until the very end, he could still be a knight.

3.

A waterfall cascading down.

Driving stakes into the steep cliffside, Najin descended toward the ground. Despite hands slipping on the slippery cliff and droplets of water, Najin gradually made their way down, utilizing the rope tied to their body and the body’s momentum.

Their body fatigued from consecutive battles, but Najin squeezed out the last remnants of strength.

Even in the seemingly endless cliff, an end was in sight. Najin glimpsed the waterway extending far ahead. Carefully, Najin descended the cliff.

Thud.

As Najin landed on the ground, they gasped for breath. Gripping the stake tightly had peeled the skin off their palms. Najin bound the bleeding palms with a makeshift bandage and glanced back one last time.

The descending waterfall.

As if unable to ascend, Najin silently gazed at the waterfall pouring in one direction. Memories of the underground city where they were born and spent their youth flickered as Najin contemplated it for the last time, then turned their head.

The direction to look was towards the flowing water.

Once they began running, there was no stopping or turning back. Najin couldn’t predict where the flowing water led. Unknowable as it was, Najin was certain that there would be stars there.

They ran along the water’s path.

That’s how they arrived at the end of the road.

The path had ended, a wall blocking Najin, yet the water still flowed. Offen had said, hold your breath and dive at the end of the road. Beyond that, what lay ahead was unknown, and Najin felt fear…

“…Phew.”

He immediately adjusted his breath and jumped into the water.

He entrusted his body to the rushing water. The rough currents swept over him, sweeping him away. In the swirling currents, Jinjin opened his eyes slightly.

Nothing was visible. Nothing at all.

Unable to resist being swept away, he began to feel as if his body was sinking. His breath gradually started to run out. And so, when he reached his limit, Jinjin raised his head. The only thing he could see was the surface of the flowing river.

And something was being reflected on the surface.

It was a sparkling light.

Jinjin moved towards the light. His seemingly sinking body slowly started to float up.

“Whoosh, cough…! Phew…”

Jinjin, who lifted his head above the currents, took a deep breath. Taking in the rushing breath, Jinjin slowly moved towards the riverbank. Failing several times to grab onto the rocks that emerged by the riverbank, and scraping his body against them, Jinjin was finally able to barely escape the currents.

His whole body was aching. Unable to stand any longer, Jinjin lay down on the riverbank, drenched in water.

As he lay on the field, breathing heavily, Jinjin realized what the light he saw on the surface was. Blinking his eyes several times, Jinjin looked up at the sky for the first time in his 18 years of life.

An expansive night sky spread out before him.

Countless stars were shining there.

A scenery that couldn’t be described with any sentence from a fairy tale was unfolding there.

The night sky he looked up at for the first time was beautiful.

More than anything else.