The Minotaurus's size, combining physical bulk with intangible pressure, felt frighteningly massive.
Most of the Demonic Realm's residents fell to their knees, chanting the Demon-Lord's epithet where they sat—Black Sun, Black Sun.
But strangely, the human who was at least half the size of that bull-headed monster looked equally large in their eyes. No, perhaps even slightly larger than the bull-headed monster?
By appearances, it seemed he'd be sent flying in an instant, spilling everything inside his body like guts or blood, sprawled on the ground.
But that wasn't the case.
Clang!
A tremendous sound rang out. The scream of clashing metal became a shockwave that spread outward.
After exchanging one blow, Enkrid immediately knew.
'Knight level.'
Why couldn't they eliminate the Demonic Realm? There was a clear and obvious answer. They lacked the power.
Because inside swarmed monsters that humans couldn't withstand even after awakening Will.
The dual-wielding Minotaurus was one such creature.
After one exchange of offense and defense, one monster and one human opened distance between them. The bipedal bull retreated, pulling its right hoof back.
Enkrid stood with his sword held diagonally, covering his face. A brief standoff.
Everyone knew they'd fight again immediately.
Sunlight slanted across the purple-stained ground. The sun disappearing beyond the mountain ridge soon brought darkness.
All day long, damp warmth had enveloped the surroundings as if they'd entered the middle of a swamp. The humidity was high. It was summer, and this entire area was commonly called the Demonic Realm borderlands, which made the air feel even more unpleasant.
"...Don't we need to help?"
Roman asked from behind. Just seeing the monster raised goosebumps and made every hair on his body stand on end.
It felt like a higher existence than the Gray Forest monsters they'd faced in the city of Aura. Even more than that Ghoul Zerix.
One roar from that monster and he felt part of his body's freedom being stolen. If it had been him, he'd have died the moment they faced each other. A clear fact that didn't need a second thought.
'A monster.'
He needed to help right away. They couldn't leave him to face it alone. That's what led to his words.
"Leave him. You'll just get in the way if you interfere."
Rem said without even looking back. And his eyes too didn't leave the two continuing their fight.
Everyone was similar.
The Paladin wielding divine power.
The swordsman who looked lethal just by appearance.
The one whose presence was so faint his presence was hard to detect.
Besides the Fairy and all the others, they just watched.
Roman quickly understood that the emotions dwelling in those eyes weren't concern or worry.
'Why?'
Frog who'd approached beside him puffed out her cheeks. It meant anticipation, enjoyment, and excitement, but it was difficult for Roman to read Frog's expressions.
He had no Frog companions or friends. Frogs weren't a numerous species to begin with, and cases of them being moved to follow others were extremely rare.
The Fairy folk were also unfamiliar to him. They weren't commonly seen in the city of Aura.
That Fairy race also found him equally curious.
As far as Roman knew, Fairies were said to rarely show emotions, yet fragments of emotion showed in those eyes. Without needing confirmation, it was also anticipation.
Pel and Lawford were the same.
Though their palms weren't sweating, the way they watched while clenching and unclenching their fists or shifting their feet looked like they were putting themselves in that situation as spectators.
Defeat wasn't in the picture. That's what their actions and attitudes said.
If things went wrong, anyone would step in. They were ready to face any danger that came to Enkrid.
However, what lay deeper within them before stepping in was something else.
Anticipation for whatever the man before them, Enkrid, would show.
That atmosphere naturally settled into Roman as well.
'Just what kind of...'
It was surprising enough that he'd become a Knight, but beyond that, to receive such firm belief from others?
_'Is this also something to learn?'
Knight Aura had always shown him her back.
Until just before her death, she showed him her life, the values she protected.
She never once broke the oath she'd made as a Knight. She departed with a smile.
He remembered Aura's last battle. That fight where she burned her life against the shard of Balrog.
The Enkrid before his eyes now overlapped with her.
"Aura."
Roman murmured.
Enkrid's Dawnforge and the Minotaurus's blade met once more.
Boom!
A tremendous sound rang out. It was like a landslide with massive boulders rolling down. Dust rose from the ground and purple soil spread in all directions.
To Roman's eyes, Enkrid's sword appeared to waver.
That wavering soon created ripples, drawing out intangible Will to settle in the sword.
In the middle of the Demonic Realm's land where moonlight couldn't yet reach, light scattered along the blade. It exploded, burst forth, and drew various pictures using the darkness as canvas.
Though he couldn't see every trajectory the sword carved, Roman felt overwhelmed.
[ * * * ]
'I could die at any moment.'
Seeing the bull swordsman's skill made those words even clearer in his mind.
It was something he'd heard even before becoming a Knight. If you decided to live holding a sword, don't forget you could die to a blind blade.
Moo, Moo—!
The bull let out a broken roar. Even that roar was part of its attack. Killing intent similar to Intimidation took form and tried to constrict his body.
Enkrid ignored that battle cry with surging Will, and the bull twisted its waist while swinging its arm at the same time.
The following blade strike contained a heavy and fast blow. It was the powerful yet swift sword that Ragna had always shown. Wave-Blocking. The calculation complete, he blocked with Dawnforge and twisted his body as he leaped. With his left foot as axis, his waist rotated and the blade shed the force. Using the force transmitted to the blade, his body was pushed sideways.
As their blades met, a light sound flowed.
Tidididing.
Wave-Blocking was a close companion to the Sword of Chance.
No, in reality, all sword techniques somehow fit together one way or another.
Enkrid had reached that conclusion.
It was a thought already established before.
The bull held two swords. Just as the first strike was blocked by Dawnforge. The creature swung its second sword. Reinforced with Will, even to a Knight's dynamic vision, the bull's second blade appeared blurred.
That blurred blade cut through the spot where Enkrid had been moments before. If he hadn't pushed his body sideways while blocking the first attack, it would have been difficult to block.
The afterimage following the sword it swung remained vividly in his eyes. It was like being inside a watercolor painting bleeding in water.
All the delicate and precise lines were blurry and scattered.
Enkrid too became a blurred line as he swung his sword.
Simultaneously, his thoughts split. His split thoughts looked back on past lives.
Don't let your guard down. Don't lose focus. Mobilize your attention. Don't let your body stiffen. Allow everything to win. Neither body nor mind should be rigid. Cultivate flexibility. Conscious actions are stiff, unconscious actions are smooth. Repeat and repeat until it's ingrained in your body. Don't forget that today's training creates tomorrow's you.
Everything he'd learned so far swirled through his mind.
In an instant, Enkrid knew what he could do now.
It was what Aura had shown before, and what Ragna had also demonstrated.
It was also something he'd achieved once before.
Light settled on the blade. Intangible power was molded into tangible form.
He slashed at the blade the bull swung with Vortex's method. With his left foot as axis, his waist twisted, and a rising torrent of light burst forth, splitting the bull's head. Enkrid held his breath and pulled down Dawnforge as violently as he'd raised it.
Crrrack.
The thick monster's neck bone caught on the blade was pulled by force, tearing through muscle and skin.
Thud.
One knee of the monster resisting the pulling force touched the ground first. Enkrid stepped back and shook off his sword.
Black blood splattered on the ground. The monster that had lost its head, cervical vertebrae, and part of its spine swayed back and forth like a pendulum before collapsing.
Thoom—
Even the sound of its massive body collapsing was clamorous. That sound split through the silence that had settled around them.
As the monster fell, black blood gushed through its split head and torn flesh.
Enkrid looked at the monster's corpse indifferently and thought.
'If Will's application techniques are also systematized, they could be taught, and then they'd be easier to learn.'
He systematized what he'd realized by splitting his thoughts and chewing them over just now.
'Starting by pulling unconscious Will back into consciousness.'
Ultimately, you make Will tangible so it manifests outside your weapon or body.
Just as Enkrid had just shown.
'But it's not like handling Will well is all there is to it.'
Without foundational swordsmanship and daily training, it was an unreachable path. Also, proper methods and physical training couldn't be neglected.
'In the first place, without this much effort, you can't even dream of materializing Will.'
He was slow to learn and had to walk confirming and pounding on every path to climb, so he was untalented, but such lack of talent brought Enkrid something new.
Observation and insight gained through it. Also the knowledge to systematize new things from that.
It was a fight neither long nor short.
Luagarne went beyond excitement and spread four fingers flat against her breastplate. Frog's 'that' moved and pulsated frantically.
Grrrrr.
Her cheeks inflated on their own, releasing the emotion she'd received.
Pel had half-drawn Idol Slayer without realizing it.
'I want to fight.'
If someone asked why, he'd ask back if there needed to be a reason.
Reasons didn't matter. He just wanted to fight. To clash. He only felt full of wanting to match his sword against whatever that human called Enkrid had just shown.
"Give it up. Your turn is a long way off."
Pel sensed the Barbarian's presence already behind him.
How should he describe this?
Rough and ferocious. It felt like putting his head into a lion's mouth. The Barbarian's aura was like that.
"O Lord Father."
Audin's back as he quietly recited a prayer showed some blurred form.
Divine power was boiling up to take shape. It wasn't only Pel whose desires were boiling.
Ragna asked while gripping Sunrise.
"You use it however you want?"
It wasn't a probing question but a confirming one. He was asking about materializing Will.
"Yeah."
Enkrid gave a simple answer and began wiping Dawnforge's blade. Shinar approached beside him.
"It can't even compare to when I first saw you."
Admiration was mixed in her words too.
"Someday."
It was Lawford muttering. If Pel was swept up in desire, Lawford realized he wasn't a match right now.
But that didn't mean he'd be consumed by frustration or despair.
Most of the people in this place knew the path Enkrid had walked. That the start of that path was at a low-grade level even within the soldier grade system Naurilia created.
The path he'd walked was, to put it kindly, a thorny road.
It was after moving his body to his heart's content. He'd also sweated appropriately. Looking around with a clear mind, he saw the Eroded staring with wide eyes in surprise.
The Ferryman had asked.
Was guarding them truly the right thing to do, or should he just kill them all?
'People gradually changing under the demon's sphere of influence.'
However, all that hadn't happened yet. If they escaped the demon's influence, perhaps their purple skin would return too.
For treating the Eroded who'd survived long in the Demonic Realm.
'Anne would love this too much.'
Her dream was an elixir that would eliminate all the world's diseases. Her eyes blazed whenever she saw a new illness.
Watching from the side, you'd think Anne too was worthy of the title madman.
Also, Enkrid didn't seek repentance or atonement from them.
He thought he couldn't hold those bound to this place by their ancestors' choices accountable.
Various thoughts crossed his mind, but only one was clear.
'Can I save them?'
He was only trying to answer that question.
Even if he failed, he wouldn't despair or give up. He'd just try something.
Attempts you could call struggling or flailing—things like that.
At a crossroads where only two paths were forced, Enkrid chose a third path.
He walked steadily toward the village center. There, a symbol depicting the Black Sun was brazenly positioned.
Everyone's gaze turned to him.
The one who'd just killed the Demon-Lord's Janitor.
No one could say anything, and no one stepped forward before him. They only stared in surprise.
Enkrid looked at the Demon-Lord's symbol indifferently.
'If serving a subject changes both mind and body—'
Then just change those underlying conditions.
Whoosh— Dawnforge cut the Demon-Lord's symbol. The round wooden board painted with the Black Sun fell to the ground.
This was merely a statue, after all.
"Ah, ah."
A few shocked residents let out sounds like screams, but what was done couldn't be undone.
Enkrid had cut the Demon-Lord's symbol.
"Audin, let's dispose of the buried relic."
"...Let's do as you say."
He then decided to burn away the relic the demon had planted with divine power. Now this village was thrown into danger.
The Demonic Realm's residents stared at Enkrid with stunned expressions, facing the terrible reality.
"What are you planning?"
Pel asked in passing. It was too obvious what would happen if you cut that down, and he wondered if maybe he was using the monsters' hands to kill these residents since killing them directly felt uncomfortable.
The Shepherds of the Wilderness were a group that hated monsters. Using monsters to scheme? If that was his intent, beyond disappointment, he'd immediately consider leaving.
A group that used monsters to kill people.
And Enkrid uttered words no one expected.
"From now on, this land is mine. I'll make this place Border Guard Territory."
It meant changing the subject of protection.
If serving the Demon-Lord was the problem, then he himself would become this land's symbol.
Indeed, it was something an ordinary human couldn't think of.
Rem tilted his head. Though he'd grown somewhat accustomed to seeing Enkrid's crazy acts, this was again something of a different scale.
What did he just say? Border Guard Territory? This land? It couldn't be called the heart of the Demonic Realm, but it also couldn't be said not to be part of it?
"Um, so worship the Captain instead of the Demon-Lord?"
Rem muttered, and Enkrid blinked.
Was there a need to interpret it that far?
"That intention was..."
He was about to say something when Audin's voice rang out, enveloping the surroundings.
"May the Lord protect."
He respected his leader's will. With a serene smile.
"In place of Lord Father, you shall be the center of this place."
No, it's not quite that much.
Enkrid couldn't bring himself to say it. All the panicked residents around watched him. Hundreds of eyeballs were focused on him.
Ragna wasn't interested. He'd handle it himself. It wasn't Ragna's concern.
Whether they lived or died was outside Ragna's interest.
What mattered more was what Enkrid had just shown.
The village representative expressed shock at the symbol being cut, trembling.
But what needed doing was done. Now the Demon-Lord's symbol had been cut and the Janitor he sent was dead.
Zoroslav knelt and bowed his head.
It was to survive.
If Krais had seen this situation, he'd have really questioned what Enkrid was thinking, and even if Krang saw it, he'd have been dumbfounded.
If you wanted to play king here, he might have said he'd give up his own throne instead.
Regardless, Enkrid completely ignored the Ferryman's intention and declared himself ruler of this village. What mattered hadn't changed.
If guarding them was the problem, then eliminate that problem.
"Indeed, my fiancé is a madman of a different caliber."
Shinar's admiration was everyone's sentiment.