The moment Rynox felt an invisible force constricting his body, he lightly struck the swords in both hands together.
It was just the level of using the sword in his right hand as a support and tapping the sword in his left hand.
Ching!
The light noise of metal friction spread like a sharp blade cutting through the storm.
The small noise would soon be buried in the rough roar of the storm, but sound didn't matter to begin with. He wasn't trying to sense anything through sound.
His specialty was waves—the two swords that collided loaded with Will spread waves that only Rynox could perceive and detect.
Those waves were his secret technique that gave him Zaun's greatest reconnaissance ability.
'Look at these bastards.'
He quickly found three Scalers using psychokinesis. All three were extending their hands toward him, and a large-bodied Scaler with a hard torso was blocking in front of them.
They worked in pairs, and as if they had trained, their coordination was perfect.
'Did you train them? Heskal?'
Did monsters even understand speech? It was curious, but it seemed there would be no chance to hear an answer. It was a sudden premonition.
Rynox thrust the sword in his right hand into the ground as if throwing it. Thunk—the blade was half-buried in the earth.
Using the ground as a sheath, he left it standing at an angle, then drew the third sword strapped to his back and threw it forward with all his might.
With a whoosh sound, the forearm-length sword flew straight. No matter how fierce the storm, it couldn't do anything to a piece of metal thrown with a Knight's strength.
Catch!
The large Scaler caught the sword Rynox had thrown out of mid-air. The hardness and strength of the scales covering its body were amazing, but its athletic ability to catch something large thrown from a distance was astonishing.
"Like hell."
Rynox then pulled back his hand extended in the air.
Snap.
Then the blade escaped from the Scaler's hand and returned. His sword was one that came back when called.
Whoosh, thud.
The spinning sword was caught in Rynox's grasp again.
The ones using psychokinesis were continuously playing tricks.
He felt the force constricting his body was considerable and annoying.
Just because nets were tangled on his arms and legs didn't mean he couldn't move, but it was naturally irritating.
Rynox threw the sword in his hand again. But this time, he didn't just throw it.
While throwing, he left the sword stuck in the ground and drew a new sword. The sword that had been behind his right back. It looked like an ordinary long sword, but if you looked closely, it was a sword without a sharpened edge.
It looked like a training sword. When he dangled the drawn sword toward the ground, the sword tip touched the earth.
Scrape scrape scrape!
As he ran like that, a long furrow was carved along the path Rynox ran. Of course, it was a trace that would quickly disappear due to the raging storm.
This time, instead of catching the blade, the large Scaler blocked it with the back of his hand. The blade dug into the back of his hand but couldn't penetrate. The creature used its fist as a shield to block the sword.
This should be called excellent judgment.
Or perhaps it was innate combat instinct.
The creature blocked the sword with its left hand and gripped the blade with its right hand. This time it intended not to let go even if Rynox called his weapon back.
But this time, instead of calling back his sword, the sword's owner had run right up to its face.
Thwack!
The double attack of throwing a sword and charging was one of Rynox's favorite tactics.
Moreover, just getting close wasn't the end of it.
The first thrown sword was named 'Prey.' The sword now in his right hand was named 'Hunter.'
Prey always does its best to escape from the hunter.
The unsharpened long sword traced a short trajectory as it moved forward.
Clang! Bang!
The sword Hunter didn't need an edge because it was meant to strike Prey.
When he hit the back of the previously thrown Prey near the broad pommel, waves overlapped and exploded, shooting Prey forward twice as fast as before.
Boom!
It was a blade-sized arrow tearing through air and cutting through the storm.
Half the head of the large Scaler that had been awkwardly caught in the blade's path exploded, with blood and flesh swept away by the storm.
Since Prey had originally targeted the psychokinesis user behind it, Prey, which had penetrated the back of the hand, also burst the head of the creature in a straight line.
The gesture of the one trying to block by bringing both hands forward was useless.
When you hold Hunter, Prey won't come even when called. This was a method of using engraved weapons utilizing a Knight's oath. It was one of Rynox's secret techniques.
Everyone has at least one technique that's hard to use in sparring matches, right?
Rynox swung the thin sword, another paired weapon in his left hand, and cut the neck of the Scaler with half its head remaining.
Crack, scrape.
It cut even without much force. Considering the strength of a Scaler's body, it was impossible, but Rynox's sword had cutting power several times superior to ordinary swords.
Instead, even though it was an engraved weapon, it had the disadvantage of breaking frequently, but that could be compensated for with technique.
He had even changed his swordsmanship to make use of his weapon's strengths.
The defensive swordsmanship that continuously deflected attacks with a sharp sword and gnawed away at opponents' blades came from this.
It wasn't ordinary tactics or ordinary skill even within Zaun.
"Next one's coming."
Rynox said as he sheathed Hunter again and extended his hand.
When Hunter was recovered, Prey would return. Prey's blade, responding to the Will dwelling in his hand, trembled and returned to his grasp.
Prey could only be thrown, return, and be struck by Hunter to fly—nothing else.
So he had put effort into the sword tip.
The blade tip made of True-Silver was separately crafted and diamond-coated, which naturally took a lot of work and couldn't be made by just anyone, and could also break if struck wrong from the side.
But Rynox thought it was enough to use this only when stabbing and throwing.
Prey was a sword more suited to be called a blunt weapon.
The tactics themselves were unique and peculiar. It was a feast of techniques that had long built walls against the ordinary.
Rynox eliminated the remaining two Scalers that had been binding his body in the same way, then returned to where he had stuck his sword while also dropping a winged creature targeting the Family Head's back by hitting it with Prey.
Meanwhile, he could see Tempest Zaun crushing three monsters whole with crude swordwork.
He struck heads with the sword's flat side and slammed them to the ground. The head and upper body of an Owlbear that had sunk knee-deep into the soggy ground were torn, burst, and shattered, swept away by the rainwater.
Watching this, Rynox struck his swords together again.
Clang!
When you drive waves narrowly instead of spreading them wide, you can see farther places. Rynox thus checked on Enkrid's side.
Having roughly grasped the situation through waves, Rynox spoke.
"I should have gone there."
Seeing the trap Heskal had laid, he could see the aim. He seemed to have used various means to counter the techniques he possessed.
Border Guard's Enkrid—a friend with promising prospects. Did he have the strength to break through the trap that fox Heskal had laid?
He didn't know.
Whoooosh.
The rain continued, but the wind had lessened somewhat. Though the amount of falling rainwater was still considerable, even this much was twice as good as before.
"What's in front of us isn't easy either."
At Tempest's words, Rynox turned his gaze forward. Then suddenly, sour vomit rose from his throat and he retched it onto the ground.
Just because wind and rain were blowing didn't mean he couldn't recognize vomit mixed with blood.
"Can't hold out long."
Rynox said as he rubbed the vomit with his foot.
The medicine Anne had given allowed his body to endure, but there was a time limit. That's why he had deliberately stepped further forward than Alexandra or Tempest to fight.
By showing off like that, he had drawn the ones with supernatural abilities to himself.
Thanks to that, the burden on his body had increased.
Though he seemed to have easily defeated them, each one was a considerably troublesome monster.
Because of those hiding their presence and targeting from behind, he had to constantly generate waves and stay alert.
"This won't become your grave, Rai."
Tempest said as he took his stance. Four monsters could be seen walking steadily toward them.
Rumble!
Lightning struck, scattering white light. No matter how dark the surroundings, these were Knight's eyes. So he could roughly see their forms, but the lightning illuminated the opponents' appearance more clearly, allowing him to definitely perceive the enemies.
They were four Scalers.
Black and red scales were mixed half and half, and from Rynox's fighting experience so far, when the proportion of red scales was high, their supernatural abilities were superior.
Then those four were more troublesome opponents. Until now, at most there had only been ones with red scales on one arm.
"Tempe, it's time to keep the promise from when we were children."
Rynox had no talent for seeing the future, but he knew that even if he survived this battle, there was no way for him to live.
"You need time. If you have half a year, I can cure it. But your current physical condition..."
These were words Anne had said after examining his body and giving him various medicines.
Yes, he already knew.
His condition had rapidly worsened after taking a hit from that bastard Heskal.
He had fever, his heart ached, and he vomited blood as if his organs were torn.
Wow, I'm going to die from this? He had even thrown such jokes, but inwardly he recognized this was his end.
What was left now? There were many things, but right now the childhood promise came to mind.
If it came time to die, he would go first before Tempest.
Hadn't they sworn like that?
It was an oath made as friends who had once quarreled over a woman and had spent most of their time together since birth.
"You go help Alexandra."
Since Tempest couldn't put emotion into his words, he simply spoke with sincerity.
"Not necessary!"
Somehow having heard, Alexandra shouted from a position over ten steps away. In front of her, black soot gathered and a hand wearing black iron plate gauntlets crawled out from among the monster corpses.
Death Knight.
It was the pinnacle of necromancy made using a Knight's corpse.
Even Death Warriors inferior to them were nightmares to most people. Death Knights were manifestations of terror beyond nightmares.
"I go first. You're the Family Head."
Rynox said again, and Tempest's gaze briefly reached his wife.
That wife said:
"Trust me, Tempe. I am Blitzklingen, Lightning Blade."
Yes, there was a time when Tempest couldn't even dare to defeat her. Such times had existed.
"Support Rynox from behind. I'll say it again—this won't become your grave."
Endure. Such resolve needed to be strengthened.
The Family Head believed all fights had flow. When reversal came to that flow was when to decide victory, so now was the time to endure.
Four Scalers stood before Tempest and Rynox. Two held short clubs and the remaining two wore katars on both hands. Katars were weapons with sharp blades and horizontal grips connecting crossbars between two parallel rods, used for pushing and stabbing.
Just from their weapons, they could glimpse the creatures' tactics. The two had come through that many battlefields.
Their weapons were short and the muscles attached to their bodies were dense. Rainwater falling on their scales seemed to bounce right off.
Attacks using athletic ability approaching that of Knights would be their main strength.
And poison would be applied to their weapons too.
"Hoo."
Tempest regulated his breathing.
Just as his wife trusted him, he too should give her his trust.
"Just guard the back, Rynox."
Medusa observed the battlefield from afar. Because of that, part of his Will had been mortgaged since earlier.
Tempest lowered his head. It was enough to avoid Medusa's gaze and see the enemies' feet.
Since childhood, learning various skills had been difficult for him.
Instead, he had strength enough to handle straightforward, heavy swords. That hadn't changed even now.
Tempest Zaun's great sword thrust diagonally into the air. He was ready.
As Rynox stood as if guarding his back, a familiar voice was heard from among the four Scalers.
It was a message from Heskal somewhere on the other side. It seemed he was conveying only his voice through sorcery or spells.
"Tempe, these four are special monsters. They're chimeras among chimeras, prepared to face Knights. They're creations that an alchemical genius and monster of the previous generation spent a full seventy years perfecting."
What was with the sudden explanation?
"Stay bound by them. I'll go kill your son. I don't know where you've hidden Odinkar, but I'll find that child too."
Heskal had read part of the Family Head's inner thoughts. Therefore, he could shake his heart.
Rynox felt a bit of anxiety and glanced at the Family Head's face, but he remained unchanged.
Emotions didn't show outwardly. That was his deficiency, but at times like this, it became a mask that seemed unshakeable.
The moment the voice disappeared from the air, the four Scalers kicked off the ground.
Thud.
Rynox, who had narrowed his eyes, also turned his back while avoiding Medusa's gaze.
From now on, guarding his friend's back was his job.
Even if nausea rose from his boiling insides, he had to endure it.
Otherwise, his throat would be cut.
"Since childhood, you always had 'next' on your lips."
Andante was also Alexandra's old friend.
Now that friend had rejected the rest called death and risen again, harboring black blood.
Having lost reason and possessing only combat instincts.
Andante—that old friend of hers had rejected both love and children.
All she desired was only the next step, thoughts of climbing higher.
"What's next? I can do more."
It was a dream easily corrupted by misguided desire. But it was a dream that Zaun could embrace.
Looking at her current state, it wouldn't be wrong to call it failure.
"Someday I'll surpass you, Alexandra."
It was Alexandra who had held her back.
Whether on the continent or in the empire, nowhere could they release a swordsman born with instinctive bloodlust.
Andante had to cut something with red blood once a month and kill a person at least once every three months.
She always craved murder.
"Now you can kill to your heart's content, Andante."
Alexandra said.
Hissssss.
The Death Knight born from monster corpses was silent. Instead, it only expelled black steam through the visor filled with black soot.
Even the wind and rain couldn't dissolve that steam, so the vapor pierced through the rainwater and swirled around the helmet.
It wasn't a mystical sight. It was a sight that brought terror that made your legs weak just by looking.
When a Knight dies intoxicated by omnipotence and a mage deceives that death, the Knight becomes a Death Knight.
Then that Knight possesses combat abilities far superior to when alive.
So this could never be an easy fight.
This was the blade Heskal had prepared for Alexandra.