Chapter 43

The Spear of Declaration.

This is the storm of the Warrior God Bølberg.

A power that recreates the javelin of declaration, which, when thrown, is guaranteed to pierce the enemy.

Dozens of trees were torn apart and fell with screams as the violent force penetrated the forest.

Tree bark and dust, scattered into the air, poured down like rain.

In the distance, a spear that had gouged into a cliff like a drill was seen emitting a trail of smoke.

I glanced at my throbbing right shoulder.

Just a graze, and the armor was completely shredded.

If I hadn’t reacted, my shoulder would have been torn off.

Damn. So this was the hidden power.

A holy warrior? I hadn’t even anticipated that.

A gray aura was flowing out of Knut’s entire body like a wave.

This was no time to relax.

If he’s a holy warrior of the Warrior God, each of his powers is specialized solely for combat.

Though the Church Order lacks the ability to heal their own wounds, they possess immense strength.

I don’t know how many powers he’s been granted, but if it’s more than three, he’s going to be a real headache.

The case on my back wobbled.

Inside it, my last resort lay dormant, waiting.

Should I use it?

No, not yet.

I can still handle him with my own strength.

“You dodged it. As expected, your reflexes are sharp…!”

Knut picked up the axe he had dropped while dodging the javelin.

The axe blade gleamed with a gray light.

A sense of danger awakened my body.

My rising instincts welcomed the fight, baring their claws.

I recalled Nigel’s advice.

“Entrust your body to instinct, but keep a thread of reason.”

Then that’s what I’ll do.

I released the suppressed impulse.

My unleashed nature gripped the sword and charged.

—

Blue afterimages and gray holy light intertwined.

“Kyaaaah!”

Without retreating a single step, I relentlessly unleashed sword strikes toward Knut.

I couldn’t afford to give him a chance to retrieve his spear.

A single direct hit from the Spear of Declaration could mean instant death.

Chainmail tore off in various places, scattering blood-soaked metal fragments.

Though the axe imbued with the Warrior God’s power withstood my sword, I had the clear advantage in speed.

“Hah!”

I ducked to avoid the horizontally swung axe.

A chilling sound of splitting air passed overhead.

I drew my dagger and thrust it toward his thigh.

It bounced off the axe handle.

Blocking a kick aimed at my chin, I slid to the side and swung my sword.

The blade bent like a whip, the tip whistling through the air.

Knut rolled on the ground to dodge. The longsword aimed at his waist slashed through empty air.

**[Whispers of emotion and memory grant foresight.]**

Knut, having created distance, chanted his second incantation.

A dark gray aura spread behind him, taking the form of wings and enveloping him.

Four wings.

A power that drastically heightened reaction speed and reflexes.

His attacks began to match my speed.

Strikes that had previously left shallow wounds were now all being blocked.

Not yet.

I can still go faster.

I loosened the leash on my instincts a bit more.

My blood began to boil.

My throat dried from the heat.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

Savage ferocity began to seep into my relentless attacks.

I deflected the axe aimed at my head, twisting it aside, and slashed with my left hand.

Knut’s cloak was torn apart.

I used his leg, aimed at my torso, as a pivot to leap and spin.

My descending heel strike aimed at his head was blocked by the raised axe handle.

With a resonant clang, Knut’s knee buckled.

“Kuh…!”

I pulled the axe handle toward me, drew two daggers, and slashed at both shoulders.

Knut arched his back like a bow.

The daggers scraped against his chainmail, sparking as they struck.

I was knocked back by his punch.

My left cheek stung.

My mouth was probably torn, as the spit I spat out was mixed with blood.

The daggers I held had become too blunt to be useful, so I discarded them.

Knut picked up my longsword and threw it at me.

The blade aimed at my head. Though it wasn’t a spear and lacked the gray storm, its momentum was still fierce.

I reflexively reached out and caught it.

The blade cut through my glove, leaving a deep gash on my palm.

Had I reacted even slightly slower, it would have pierced my forehead.

I gripped the hilt again and stood up.

In my left hand, I held a new dagger.

…Nine left now.

Knut was also bleeding from various cuts, but no fatal wounds yet.

His chainmail, though, was in tatters.

Definitely different from mindless monsters.

If I tried to overpower him, he’d roll away from my heavy strikes and counterattack.

I had no choice but to keep my attacks short and precise.

But such attacks couldn’t easily shatter the armor beneath.

Then, stronger. Faster.

Until he can’t react.

I raised my fighting spirit even higher.

No time to hesitate.

With a growl, I leaped again.

Sliding past the dark trajectory, I thrust both hands forward.

-Clang!

Blocked.

Not yet.

Faster.

More fiercely.

I exhaled the heat I had been holding.

Steam rose with my breath.

It got mixed in.

I surrender my body to the intensifying fighting spirit.

My body accelerates even further.

“Kyaaah!”

I thrust my dagger like lightning toward the descending left arm.

The dagger tore through the chains, shattered muscle and bone, and dug in deep.

Knut’s expression twisted.

I grab the kicking leg and swing it back.

Knut, losing his balance, staggers but still swings his axe down.

“Haaah!”

“Kaaaah!”

I grip the sword hilt with both hands and block with all my might.

A gray light shatters as the blade digs halfway into the axe’s edge.

“Monster… you’re just like one…!”

A horrified Knut shakes off the axe.

My body is pushed back.

I pull out another dagger and throw it.

The dagger lodges into Knut’s shoulder as his armor falls away.

“Ugh…!”

Even with the power of the warrior god, he’s still just a man.

The continuous bleeding is making his body sluggish.

Meanwhile, my instincts sharpen, endlessly heating up my body.

“Kyahaa…”

I exhale the breath I had been holding.

The scent of flowing blood felt sweet.

My heart, beating as if I had met a lover, supplied endless vitality throughout my body.

“You really are a beast…! You’re no different from the monsters lying around here!”

Knut gritted his teeth.

I gathered my fading reason and replied.

“You seem pretty angry at what I said earlier…! Was it so unpleasant to hear that I fight to survive…? That I’m not a warrior…”

“Unpleasant? Ha, yes! Look at them!”

Knut pointed passionately at the kobolds around us.

Drops of blood flew from his red-stained beard.

“Without reason or conviction. They fight to eat, kill for pleasure! How are you any different?”

Knut, raising his axe, charged at me with fierce momentum.

I deflected each swing of the axe with my sword.

The sword vibrated with a clear resonance.

The gray glow on the axe’s edge blurred like a heat haze.

“A warrior, a person, must become strong to protect, fight for their beliefs, and die for honor!”

“Ah, is that so…!”

Such an outdated warrior’s view. And a narrow one at that.

Is fighting to survive not a belief?

Do you fight while caring about such things?

It doesn’t seem that way to me.

I twisted my body to dodge the attack aimed at my shoulder and kicked him in the stomach.

The remaining chains shattered as Knut flew backward.

Knut collided with a tree trunk and spat out blood.

“Grrr… it’s not over yet…!”

Knut, gritting his teeth, recited his final incantation.

[Greed and hunger shall bring eternal strife!]

Einherjar.

A blessing that ignores the pain and hindrance of wounds, drawing out power to the limit and maintaining combat ability until death.

A power for the holy warriors of the warrior god, who have no miracles to heal injuries, to wield their swords until death.

Knut sprang up and charged.

His movements were faster than before the battle began.

The broken axe and longsword clashed violently once more.

The battle intensified, and stray attacks began to tear through the surroundings.

Shattered rocks fell to the ground, shaking the earth, and severed trees collapsed, shedding leaves.

“That power…! With that savage power that mutilates everything around you, you can’t protect anything! You probably never intended to protect anything but yourself!”

The axe blade lodged into my thigh. The armor shattered, and blood gushed out.

The longsword tore through Knut’s left arm. The bone peeked through the gaping wound.

“To survive? You killed thousands of Danes just to survive? That’s not even a belief, just sophistry!”

The thrown daggers lodged into Knut’s body.

My left arm, blocking the counter-kick, tingled.

“You probably never had anything honorable to begin with!”

I leaped back, kicked off a tree, and swung my sword.

The axe handle, trying to block the longsword, couldn’t withstand it and was cut in half.

“Bølberg!”

A gray storm enveloped the axe handle, now turned into a metal rod.

Oops.

The spear of war shot toward my head once more.

I barely blocked it with my longsword, which tore through my grip and was knocked away.

I was thrown back, smashing through trees.

The back of my breastplate seemed shattered, metal fragments stabbing into my back.

I vomited the blood that surged up.

Damn… a sharply cut metal rod is no different from a short spear…!

As I got up, Knut summoned the spear he had thrown at the beginning of the battle.

A vortex began to form again in the spear held in his left hand.

“That’s why you’re neither a warrior nor a person. Even if you speak like a person and look like one. You’re just a monster!”