Chapter 137 – The Black Knight (1)

I had become much stronger than when I had last seen the Dragon Knight long ago.

The experience of traveling as a free knight, fighting against the Demon Army, and the growth I had achieved since coming to this world—all of it had made me stronger.

At a glance, I had grown to the point where other knights might mistake me for a sword master.

Yet, when I faced the Black Knight, I didn’t feel like I could win.

His skills, which were close to that of a sword master, didn’t seem to have diminished even after becoming undead.

Moreover, since he was undead, he wouldn’t care about injuries and had endless stamina.

For me, who could only use sword energy for a brief moment, he was a difficult opponent.

But it was fine.

I hadn’t planned on winning in the first place.

I channeled mana into the new sword I had acquired.

*Whoosh.*

A faint light began to flow through the sword.

As my sword began to glow, the Black Knight’s sword started to darken.

*Boom.*

The sword began to exude a sinister aura.

As I pointed my sword at the Black Knight, I remembered the first time I had seen him.

Back then, the knight stood against the backdrop of the royal palace, riding a dragon and inspecting the troops.

A knight of the kingdom, riding a flying dragon and inspecting the soldiers—how could I, who had just become a free knight, not look at him with admiration?

And now, that same knight stood on the rooftop of an old apartment, pointing his sword at me.

Clad in black armor and shrouded in a dark aura, he had become an enemy of humanity, trying to kill me.

Perhaps because I was facing someone I had known when he was still sane, I couldn’t shake off my emotions until the very end.

However, my body moved steadily, despite my feelings.

I took a large step forward.

My mana-infused leg closed the distance of over ten meters in an instant.

At the same time, I swung my sword.

Unlike before, the new sword accepted my mana as if it were a part of my body.

*Swoosh!*

With the sound of cutting through the air, the sword moved like a beam of light.

*Grind.*

I had aimed for the Black Knight’s neck, but before my sword could reach its target, it was deflected by his blade.

The counterattack followed immediately.

A gauntlet-covered fist flew toward my head.

I dodged the blow and pushed him back with my mana-filled body.

*Thud.*

A body slam similar to an iron mountain.

The Black Knight was pushed back, scraping the rooftop floor.

“You’ve lost a lot of weight.”

“When you become undead, you lose moisture from your body. But more than that, your skills are impressive. It’s not just your mana that’s increased.”

“You haven’t changed since back then, Knight.”

Even though he had become undead, the Black Knight hadn’t weakened. He was frozen in time, just as he had been when I first saw him, at the moment of his death.

“It’s ridiculous for a non-mage to grow stronger after becoming undead. But you’ve really changed.

Even though time feels different as an undead, it hasn’t been more than ten years, has it? How did you get so strong so quickly?”

The Black Knight stretched his body, seemingly pleased, and raised his aura even higher.

The black energy, his aura, began to envelop his entire armor, rippling ominously.

“This is a joyous occasion. I’ll get serious now.”

“No, I don’t think that’s necessary…”

I immediately refused, but there was no way he would stop.

The undead knight swung his sword, and the black aura flowed out from the blade, striking the spot where I had been standing.

*Slash.*

The water tank behind me was split in half.

I knew that aura could be used like mana to create sword energy, but I hadn’t expected it to be so effortless.

If this had been before I came to this world, I would have been hit by that attack.

Fortunately, thanks to my preparation, I was able to dodge the sword energy created by his aura.

Feeling the water pouring out from the split tank, I swung my sword.

Unlike when I had first met him, I could now use sword energy as well.

I couldn’t do it as naturally as the Black Knight, but I could manage it for a short time.

*Clang! Clang!*

I swung my sword, releasing sword energy, and the rooftop of the apartment was destroyed as the energy clashed with his aura.

Water poured out from the destroyed tank, and the walls and floor were cut apart, causing the apartment to sway slightly.

I released sword energy, destroying what remained of the floor, and leaped to the next building.

The next building was about 40 meters away, but for a knight who could control mana, it wasn’t an impossible distance.

And the same went for the Black Knight.

*Crash!*

The sound of the apartment collapsing behind me echoed, and as expected, the Black Knight followed me.

*Clang! Clang! Clang!*

I continued to exchange blows with the Black Knight.

I focused entirely on defense.

I retreated as much as possible, blocking his attacks.

I had to move my sword frantically, but thanks to my heightened senses and mana detection, I was able to block and dodge his strikes.

I had definitely improved compared to a few days ago.

My mana hadn’t increased much, but the numerous sword fights I had at Count Sponheim’s mansion had helped a lot.

My swordsmanship had changed as well.

However, the apartment complex was in ruins.

The first apartment had collapsed, and three others were half-destroyed.

All of it was the result of the battle between the Black Knight and me.

Well, to be honest, it was mostly the Black Knight’s doing.

My sword energy couldn’t cut through the floor like that.

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any living people in this apartment complex besides our party members.

I had chosen this place as the battlefield after confirming that with my heightened senses, but seeing the apartments being destroyed so easily made me feel a pang of regret.

In my past life, I had struggled so much to buy just one apartment, yet destroying them was so easy.

Still, there was some merit in destroying the apartments.

By continuing to move south while fighting the Black Knight, I had managed to get further away from Yeouido.

We were now more than a kilometer away from the National Assembly Building.

Without a dragon, it wouldn’t be easy for him to return quickly.

And I had no intention of letting him go back.

*Boom! Boom! Crash!*

As I was buying time, an explosion echoed from beyond the National Assembly Building in Yeouido, followed by smoke rising into the air.

Along with the explosion, the sounds of gunfire, arrows, and something being cut could be heard.

The main force of the diversionary unit had landed in Yeouido.

After destroying another apartment and landing in the parking lot, the Black Knight turned to look back.

He listened to the sounds and then asked me, “So it was a diversion?”

“Yes. I was trying to buy time for them to land.”

“Tsk tsk, I can’t believe I fell for that. I thought I hadn’t changed since I died, but it seems I’ve become more foolish than when I was alive.”

“You’re using aura to force your dead brain to work, after all.”

At my words, the Black Knight pointed to the apartment complex where we had been fighting.

From the apartments we had destroyed, screams, gunfire, dust, and smoke were rising.

“Was that why you separated my friend from me?”

“Yes. My comrades are doing well.”

The dragon that had fallen to the ground was just a large undead.

Even if it couldn’t be killed, my comrades could prevent it from flying again without my help.

“You’re not going to let us go back, are you?”

“We plan to hold you here until the undead in Yeouido are sufficiently dealt with after the main force lands.”

The knight nodded at my words.

“I see. It would indeed be difficult to go back. But you can’t let me go either, can you? Good.”

“Huh?”

As I expressed my confusion at his unexpected words, the knight’s stance changed.

“Since neither of us can let the other go, we’ll both have to focus on the enemy in front of us. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a one-on-one knight duel.”

I must have made a mistake.

While I was distracted talking to the knight I respected, I had exposed a weakness.

I had called him foolish, but I ended up doing the same thing.

“You’re still too young to have that kind of experience, so don’t be discouraged.”

His words didn’t comfort me. If I counted my past life, I might have been older than him.

I raised my sword.

Regardless, I couldn’t let him go.

It wasn’t just to protect the diversionary unit.

Even without the diversionary unit, I couldn’t let the Black Knight return to Yeouido, or rather, the National Assembly Building.

Because hidden beneath the National Assembly Building were gold bars stored by the Bank of Korea.

When David told me that gold bars were hidden under the National Assembly Building, I found it both absurd and understandable.

After learning that the gold couldn’t be taken to Jeju Island, the politicians must have chosen the National Assembly Building as the hiding place.

If the politicians hadn’t known, they might have hidden it in the Blue House or somewhere else, but if the National Assembly members had found out, it would have been difficult to hide it anywhere else.

I could understand why the gold was hidden under the National Assembly Building, but it was still ridiculous.

However, when I heard that the Black Knight’s dragon might be at the National Assembly Building, I felt like this was a gift from the gods.

In the vast city of Seoul, I had ended up exactly where the gold was hidden—if that wasn’t a gift, what was?

I couldn’t let such a gift slip away, even if it was dangerous.

Instead of swinging my sword at the Black Knight, who was gathering his energy, I swung it at the ground.

The sword energy shot out, cutting through the parking lot floor.

*Slash. Crash.*

With the sound of the floor being cut, the ground collapsed.

By cutting through the beams supporting the floor, the ground had given way.

As I fell with the ground, I looked around. As expected, there was another underground parking lot below.

After landing in the underground parking lot, I quickly hid in the darkness.

There was no reason to fight the Black Knight head-on.

If I bought time, I would win the battle.

I could wait for my party members to deal with the skeletal dragon, or for the main force to handle the undead.

Unfortunately, the Black Knight seemed to have misunderstood my intentions.

“I see. You had the same idea. You also wanted to fight one-on-one without any distractions.”

He followed me underground and swung his sword, completely collapsing the hole we had come through.

The beams and ceiling collapsed together, sealing the hole we had come from.

As a result, half of the underground parking lot was buried, and even with my mana-enhanced vision, the dust made it impossible to see far.

The only thing visible in the pitch-black underground parking lot was the faint glow of the Black Knight’s eyes.

I clicked my tongue as I looked around.

This made it difficult to buy time. It seemed I would have to fight after all.

I raised my sword toward the black helmet with glowing eyes.

Even though my opponent was close to a sword master in skill, I didn’t feel like running away this time.

With my shining sword in hand, I charged toward my enemy.