Eliphis did not pick up the Black Swordsman's charity.
Instead, he condensed a rapier from pure mana — infused with searing heat and crackling electricity. Even after consecutive defeats at the hands of Wolnir and Chameleos, his battlefield composure remained intact. The moment he registered the Black Swordsman's heavy armor, he had already decided: heat and lightning would be the optimal counters.
The choice of rapier was simply personal preference. A greatsword and a rapier were worlds apart on paper. Eliphis's skill was more than sufficient to close that gap.
He had clawed his way up from nothing, and his close-combat ability had always exceeded even his magical talent. Magic alone would never have earned the loyalty of a mercenary company.
The Black Swordsman took his greatsword in both hands. The two regarded each other across the distance between them.
"Commander, let us help—"
The instant the mercenary started speaking, Eliphis moved.
Blink Magic combined with an acceleration combat art. He crossed the distance like a bolt of lightning, his mana rapier blazing with fire and electricity arriving at the Black Swordsman's face before the sentence finished.
Bang—!
A deafening collision rang through the cavern. The shockwave threw up dust, and pebbles rained from the walls.
A fraction of a second before the rapier connected, the Black Swordsman had swung his greatsword downward — not to defend, but to trade wounds outright.
What a savage fighting style. Pure beast.
If that strike had found its mark, Eliphis would have been split like livestock. Fortunately, he had already anticipated it — or rather, moved as though he had anticipated it — and redirected his blade in time to intercept.
In that moment, the enormous greatsword and the slender rapier stood perfectly matched against each other.
Time seemed to pause.
Countless sparks drifted slowly between them as Eliphis stared coldly into the crimson glow burning through the slits of the beast-like helmet.
Bang. Clang.
Before the mercenary's sentence had even reached its end, the two had already exchanged more blows than anyone could count. The speed and intensity of it left every spectator standing in stunned silence.
The Black Swordsman fought like a berserk animal. His colossal blade and overwhelming strength meant that even a glancing contact caused injury — a direct hit meant certain death. Eliphis moved around the battlefield in measured, precise patterns, launching calculated attacks from unexpected angles, completely ignoring his opponent's apparent willingness to trade wounds for wounds. Every time the greatsword descended, flawless technique found the blade and redirected it.
Another exchange.
Eliphis thrust toward the Black Swordsman's head.
The beast-shaped helmet suddenly split open into an enormous maw and bit down on the rapier, pinning it in place.
The Black Swordsman swung his greatsword.
"Commander, watch—!"
Boom.
The greatsword found nothing.
At the last possible instant, Eliphis had released the weapon and withdrawn.
The abandoned rapier detonated violently — fire, lightning, and blinding white light erupting simultaneously, swallowing the Black Swordsman's vision entirely.
By the time he drove away the smoke with a furious roar, Eliphis had already taken position at a distance, a new mana rapier formed and ready, standing in a stance that had never been seen before.
"Pierce him."
At the whisper, the blade separated cleanly from the hilt and shot forward like a beam of focused light — straight through the Black Swordsman's chest.
But the next instant —
A primal warning of death detonated inside Eliphis's mind.
He looked up.
The greatsword was already falling toward him.
When did he throw it?!
He moved to dodge — a fraction too slow.
The heavy hilt caught his shoulder.
A clean, crisp crack of breaking bone.
"Tch!"
The Black Swordsman closed the distance in massive strides, caught the greatsword before it buried itself in the cave wall, spun, and interrupted the healing spell Eliphis was forming with a wide sweeping slash.
The battlefield blurred.
With no better option, Eliphis summoned several magical clones to fracture his opponent's focus and retreated to heal.
The first round ended in a draw. Both had marked the other.
The Black Swordsman touched the hole in his chest as though tasting the sensation.
Meanwhile, the mercenaries converged on Eliphis to apply healing.
"Commander — let us fight beside you."
"No. Stay out of this."
A broken collarbone was insignificant under proper healing magic.
He rolled his restored shoulder experimentally, and the familiar smile appeared on his face.
That brief exchange had given him everything he needed. He had already mapped the Black Swordsman's fighting style and physical ceiling.
He was not invincible.
I can defeat him.
The confidence that Wolnir and Chameleos had eroded began returning.
The Black Swordsman was unquestionably formidable — outside this dungeon, he would rank comfortably among warriors stronger than squad captains. Yet Eliphis believed he could take him alone. That victory would restore what the previous losses had taken from him.
He formed another weapon.
He spun it once — unhurried, deliberate — and his silver hair lifted in the cold air. The phantom silhouette of a Light Eagle materialized behind him.
Like a righteous knight, he leveled his rapier toward the Black Swordsman.
"Come."
"Second round."
Inside the Lord's Chamber, Wade watched the duel through the crystal ball.
He gave a single approving nod at Eliphis's performance before opening the Dungeon Lord interface.
[Black Swordsman Strength: C+ → C++]
The next instant, something changed.
The Black Swordsman's aura shifted.
His previously upright posture bent forward. The greatsword came to rest across one shoulder. His entire bearing now occupied a space somewhere between man and predatory animal.
Eliphis noticed.
Too late.
He had already committed to a lunge, thrusting toward the wound he had opened in the first round.
Their eyes met in the moment before impact.
The crimson glow inside the beast-shaped helmet burned like something alive.
A hoarse voice scraped out from beneath it.
"…Grif…fith."
Griffith?
Is he addressing me?
No.
That was someone else's name entirely.
Eliphis's rapier punched through the Black Swordsman's chest for the second time. Multiple elemental detonations erupted simultaneously, scorching the Berserker Armor where they bit into it.
The smile appeared on Eliphis's face as he moved to finish the fight.
Then —
Two massive arms wrapped around his body.
The Black Swordsman pulled him into a crushing bear hug.
Crack… crack…
Bone by bone.
Eliphis thrashed with everything available to him.
His entire skeleton was on the verge of giving way.
He couldn't break free.
Why has he gotten so much stronger?!
The helmet split open.
Rows of fangs lunged toward Eliphis's head.
Crunch.
If you have ever seen a watermelon crushed, you have a reasonable approximation of what followed.
The mercenaries were too stunned to form words.
Eliphis's corpse dissolved slowly inside the Black Swordsman's arms.
The Black Swordsman turned toward what remained of the group.
Every mercenary took one involuntary step backward.
Nobody could blame them.
"W-We attack! Kill him!"
Someone found the words first.
Nobody moved.
The cavalry captain glared at them all with open frustration and was reaching for his spirit steed when —
A flash of light arrived.
Eliphis, back from the bonfire.
The Black Swordsman had materialized so close to their previous position that he had sprinted back the moment he revived.
His eyes were blazing.
Countless magic missiles rained down on the Black Swordsman the instant he arrived.
"I will kill you."
Rage had found him — something that rarely showed on his face.
He watched in disbelief as the Black Swordsman batted every missile aside with casual sweeps of his greatsword.
Drawing on the lesson of the first exchange, Eliphis fought with considerably more caution this time. He circled continuously. Whenever direct contact became unavoidable, he struck and withdrew immediately. He gave nothing for free.
But something had changed.
Why did his strength increase suddenly?
They had matched each other in the first round. Now, though Eliphis could still intercept the strikes, the force transmitted through each block left his arms aching with residual pain. And the techniques had changed along with the strength — wider, more reckless, completely indifferent to the wounds accumulating on the Black Swordsman's own body. He was fighting as though dragging his opponent into death alongside him was an acceptable outcome.
To anyone watching, the direction of things was becoming clear.
Eliphis was being worn down.
The mercenaries exchanged helpless glances. The duel had moved well past anything they could meaningfully enter. Simply watching it was exhausting.
Under the unrelenting pressure, fatigue began appearing at the edges of Eliphis's face. He ground his teeth against it. The negative emotions clouding his mind introduced a flaw into his technique — small, nearly invisible.
The Black Swordsman found it immediately.
He launched himself upward.
The same technique that had killed the archer captain — but this time something was different. Eliphis activated every speed-enhancement he carried simultaneously and threw himself into a full evasion.
Fortune cooperated.
The greatsword drove into the ground. The earth shattered across a wide radius.
He had cleared it.
Now — the recovery lag. If I strike—
The Black Swordsman was already airborne again.
What?!
No time for thought. Pure reflex. Still too slow.
A deep wound tore open across his left shoulder.
Before he could even process that, the Black Swordsman was still in the air — spun — and brought the greatsword down a third time.
What is happening?!
For a fractured moment, the memory of Wolnir spamming Wrath of the Gods surfaced unbidden.
His eyelids twitched.
Because the Black Swordsman was doing the same thing.
Savage Lion's Claw, chained continuously.
He failed to clear the final strike.
With a sickening sound of tearing flesh, half of his body separated from the other half.
Anyone else would have died instantly and stayed dead.
Not him.
The bracelet artifact blazed with light.
Its enhancement poured into his healing magic, multiplying it again and again.
The missing half of his body reconstructed itself before the mercenaries' eyes.
He was using the bracelet against an invader.
The same resource he had committed against Wolnir.
The bracelet's constraint wasn't a fixed number of uses — it operated on total amplification applied. Strengthening the Life Sphere had consumed so much that it could only be done twice. Lower-tier applications, however, could be layered many more times.
Wings of light grew from his back.
A shield formed in his left hand.
A rapier in his right.
He cast a high-tier physical enhancement upon himself and pushed the bracelet's amplification into it.
The overload made him cough blood.
Even self-injury was acceptable.
He would bring the Black Swordsman down here.
With the bracelet behind it, his offensive output surged to something that nearly matched the Black Swordsman's current level.
"He still has quite a few cards left," Wade observed.
The reputation wasn't unearned. The strength genuinely existed to support it.
Still — at his ceiling, Eliphis could barely reach C++.
I wonder if there's something else hidden…
Regardless. Enough data. Time to end this.
[Black Swordsman Strength: C++ → B-]
"I will win—!"
Eliphis launched forward in another relentless assault.
Then —
A flash of black light.
His wings were severed in one motion.
The Black Swordsman was behind him.
Crouched low.
This time, there was no question — he had become a beast entirely.
"How…"
A bead of cold sweat traced a line down Eliphis's cheek.
In that single exchange, the strength had increased again.
The speed now exceeded what his reactions could track.
What is wrong with this creature? Does he simply get stronger the longer a fight runs?!
His arm was shaking.
The fear that had taken root in his chest finally reached his face. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He turned and committed to the thrust.
"GRIFFITH!"
The Black Swordsman, now fully animal in motion, brought the greatsword down.
From shoulder to hip —
Eliphis's body came apart.
He spun through the air and hit the ground hard.
"Commander!!"
I've been cut in half… again.
Lying in spreading blood, life draining out of him with uncomfortable speed, even his mana weapon was fading away.
He watched the frenzied Black Swordsman roaring at the ceiling while the mercenaries scattered, and the frustration inside him became something overwhelming.
Why.
Why can even an invading Dark Spirit overwhelm me completely?
What kind of monsters has the Sein Dungeon gathered in one place?
He wanted — desperately, urgently wanted — a single victory.
As he lay there watching the Black Swordsman move through the mercenaries and ignore his dying body, his eyes drifted across the ground.
The noble rapier.
The one the Black Swordsman had thrown to him as an act of charity at the very beginning.
His pupils contracted.
He reached out and took it.
The Black Swordsman's attention was occupied.
He wasn't watching.
So —
The bracelet spent its final reserve of power. His body reconstructed itself completely. Drawing on every last fraction of potential available to him, he drove the fastest thrust of his entire life straight at the Black Swordsman's head.
Please.
Hit.
He prayed.
But —
The Black Swordsman turned instantly.
The greatsword came down.
Clang.
Just like the very first moment of the fight — their weapons met, and time paused.
It wasn't that Eliphis had blocked the attack.
The Black Swordsman had chosen, deliberately, to stop short.
The bloodstained blade rested just beside Eliphis's shoulder.
Half an inch further and he would have been divided again.
Eliphis stood frozen.
Not because the strike had failed.
Because the noble rapier had shattered the instant it met the greatsword.
Clang…
The broken blade fell to the stone.
The sound repeated in his ears without mercy.
He had set aside his pride.
He had accepted a weapon given to him out of pity.
He had launched a shameful sneak attack.
And the weapon had broken on first contact.
Worst of all —
The Black Swordsman had spared him.
That greatsword hovering beside his shoulder felt like silent, unhurried mockery.
Compared to this, even Chameleos had been kind.
No one could hold themselves together after a humiliation this thorough.
A deep voice emerged from beneath the helmet.
"Impostor."
"You'll never be the Hawk of Darkness."
Eliphis trembled.
He didn't understand the meaning behind the words.
He understood the disappointment in the voice perfectly.
Thud.
Every last bit of strength left him.
He went down.
The mercenaries stopped fighting.
They stared.
[The Invader Has Departed!]
The Black Swordsman's phantom body dissolved into nothingness piece by piece.
Only after that executioner was entirely gone did anyone in the room breathe properly.
But a different problem remained.
Eliphis's mental state looked precarious.
The Black Swordsman had left a glowing item behind when he faded.
Eliphis ignored it completely, staring upward at nothing in particular.
The captains exchanged glances before hurrying over, helping him to his feet, speaking words of concern that he gave no indication of hearing.
He simply lowered his eyes.
Gulen and Sali returned not long after — knocked out by Chameleos and subsequently finished off by wandering skeleton warriors, they had revived at the bonfire and come back. Watching Eliphis being quietly supported away, Sali exhaled.
"I can't even say I'm surprised."
"This is the Sein Dungeon."
"Nothing outrageous is impossible here."
He picked up the glowing item that everyone else had walked past. A moment's thought, and he immediately took it back out of his pouch and held it directly in his hand. Given that Chameleos was still somewhere in the vicinity, he wasn't taking chances.
Inside the light was a fragment.
[Painting Fragment: Berserk — Part I]
The Light Eagle Company's expedition ended in catastrophic defeat.
Surprisingly, it never became common knowledge.
Aston had intended to publicize the operation before departure — give it proper attention, make an occasion of it. The cleverer Sali had stopped him beforehand. As a result, very few people outside the company even knew it had happened. Most members of the Light Eagle Company were aware only that the captains had been absent for the day.
Fortunate that Sali had been present.
Without him, the company's reputation would have taken another devastating and very public blow.
That said — paper has never been an effective wrapper for fire.
Those who knew fragments of what had happened let things slip in the way that people always eventually let things slip. Before long, rumors about Eliphis and the Light Eagle Company began moving quietly through the city, picking up detail as they traveled. Given enough time, they would find every street and alley.
But Eliphis no longer seemed to care.
Since returning, he had locked himself in the basement.
He refused to see anyone.
He did not mention challenging Wolnir again.
Sali worried about his mental state deeply.
But there was someone else he was even more concerned about.
"I wonder where Elsa has gotten to."
He sighed.
"If I'd gone with her, at least I wouldn't have had to witness any of that."
The Elsa that Sali was worrying about had already arrived in Bedford City.
Familiar streets. Familiar scenery. Without the Dragonslayer Armour or the Storm Dragon, the city had a peaceful, unhurried quality to it that she hadn't fully registered before.
She wandered with her backpack, looking for the Skyrim Group and finding nothing.
Somewhere along the way, she had accidentally triggered a bonfire teleport to the Firelink Shrine before eventually making her way back to Bedford City. She had heard that the Skyrim Group often gathered near the taverns, so she had come in the hope of running into them.
Instead, someone else found her first.
"Hey. All by yourself?"
A tall elf with pointed ears and green hair walked over wearing a businesslike smile that had clearly been practiced into something comfortable and natural.
"You're new here, right?"
"Heard about Sein and came to check it out?"
Since she had genuinely come because she'd heard Sein's blacksmith could repair weapons, Elsa nodded.
"Then you're in luck."
"You've just met Melga — the person in all of Bedford City who enjoys taking care of newcomers more than anyone else."
Standing before Elsa was Stella's older sister herself —
The elf, Melga.
Elsa tilted her head.
"Lucky?"
"Hehe."
Melga settled a casual arm around Elsa's shoulders.
"You probably don't know this, but the Sein Dungeon has been through a lot of changes. It's completely different now from how it started. Strategy guides everywhere you look."
"You've seen them?"
Elsa nodded cooperatively.
"Such a shame."
Melga clicked her tongue with practiced sympathy.
"If you've already read the guides, you can't experience the dungeon in its original form anymore. The real thing — the pure version."
Then she grinned.
"Which is exactly why I have a new business venture."
'Experience the Original Sein Dungeon with a Newcomer!'
"For a modest fee, I personally guide you through every trap and surprise that the very first adventurers ever encountered when the dungeon first transformed. A completely authentic experience, guaranteed once-in-a-lifetime. Teleportation crystals covered."
"…Huh?"
After a brief pause, Elsa asked:
"Can you take me to the blacksmith?"
Melga blinked.
"The old man? Or the Palico?"
"Um… probably the old man."
"No problem!"
Melga's smile sharpened into something that was equal parts genuine and commercial.
"As long as you've got coin, I'll take you anywhere. I know Sein just as well as the Skyrim Group — maybe better."
What followed was a lengthy string of enthusiastic sales pitches delivered at considerable speed.
Elsa paid cheerfully at the end of them.
"Finally — drinking money."
Melga exhaled with the satisfaction of someone who had just solved a persistent problem.
"My aunt keeps docking my wages, and Stella never spots me anything…"
She was still grumbling when she turned around and found Elsa watching her with calm, attentive eyes.
The grumbling stopped immediately. The bright professional smile snapped back into place.
"Right then!"
"Let's get moving!"
"First stop on the Original Sein Dungeon Adventure Tour — taking a bath with the Basilisk!"