༺ Infiltration (2) ༻
What is a knight?
This was the question Hegrion pondered throughout his life.
He was the heir to the cold, northern country of Oben.
The guardian of a vulnerable land constantly under attack.
Born with an incredibly heavy burden, this was the question he always thought about, and the answer was always the same.
‘A stronger power.’
Someone with a strong body, an unbreakable will, and someone who took pride in their duty.
In his mind, these three things were what a knight needed.
Therefore, he never neglected his training, and he was proud of himself.
That was why he was so displeased with Albrecht.
— Nice to meet you! I am the Commander of the Imperial Knights, Albrecht van Freich!”
He had unattractive muscles, wore a flirtatious smile fit for enchanting a girl, and donned armor laden with too many ornaments that seemed superficial.
And his personality?
He had a weak spirit that could crumble at the slightest flaw, and narcissism that took pride in himself rather than his duties.
He felt despair at the fact that such a person would be the next generation’s leading figure.
In Hegrion’s eyes, Albrecht lacked everything needed to be a knight and was a fool he could never acknowledge.
— I have reached the next stage!
Even at that moment, nothing changed.
Hegrion could not acknowledge him.
He only had questions.
How could such a fool reach the realm of Intention before him?
Was he inferior to him?
It would have to be called jealousy, and also a sense of shame.
“Klugh…!”
A bloody cough burst out of Hegrion’s lips.
He looked down at his stomach and his expression crumpled.
‘I dodged a fatal blow.’
Although he couldn’t completely dodge it, the sword that was aiming for his heart stopped at his abdomen.
Pain surged and his vision started to blur, but he was still okay.
Hegrion twisted fully and swung his claymore.
In response, Albrecht quickly stepped back.
The hole in Hegrion’s abdomen was being healed by Theresa’s divinity.
After recognizing all this, he looked at Albrecht with a bated breath.
“What happened to you…?”
It was a sight beyond description.
Nothing about the Albrecht he knew could be seen in those frenzied eyes, the blood-stained body, and the blazing blade.
His usual dignified demeanor was replaced by a manic gleam in his eyes.
It was a sight Hegrion didn’t want to see.
— Get out! You have to report to the barracks!
The sight of Albrecht, who reached enlightenment before him and shone brightest in times of crisis, now ravaged by madness was unbearable.
And he couldn’t shake off the thought that it was his fault.
Hegrion tightly gripped his claymore with both hands and swung it towards the charging Albrecht.
Clang!
There was a dissonance.
Refusing to harmonize with Hegrion’s sword, the red-blazing sword twisted itself and shot at him again.
Fortunately, Hegrion wasn’t caught off guard this time.
Swish—
The pure white mane around his body deflected the sword. Albrecht’s sword bounced off with a thud, but even that was a momentary event.
It was only natural.
The sword he wielded governed the flow of space, and the Intention that he reached shaped a reality only for himself.
Swoosh!
An indescribable sword stroke from Albrecht struck Hegrion’s body, too fast to be perceived. His body soared upwards before crashing back down.
Theresa was about to step forward when Hegrion raised his hand to stop her.
“Please wait.”
“You…!”
“I can handle this.”
Hegrion got back up.
His gaze was fixed firmly on Albrecht.
“…I will handle it.”
Hegrion couldn’t accept it.
‘Yes…’
I couldn’t do what even that fool did.
I fled in a moment of crisis, pretending to be rational.
I found myself trying to erase the shame that emerged with the thought of saving him.
That shallow heart of mine.
Woooong—
A silver aura enveloped Hegrion’s body.
His finely honed physique made his silver mane bristle.
Albrecht’s sword shone mysteriously, distorting the flow of space once more according to his Intention.
If this continued, he would get caught up in it again and be hit by his attack.
Hegrion gritted his teeth and raised his sword.
Then, he planted his feet firmly on the ground.
He looked not just at the source of his simple aura, but at something deeper.
He confronted himself and exposed his weaknesses.
An unidentifiable wind wrapped around him.
Following that wind, a red sword shot towards him.
Hegrion swung down the claymore he had raised high.
Clang—!
The flow became broken.
His mane blocked the aura fragments scattering in all directions.
A long breath hissed out of Hegrion’s mouth.
‘I can see it.’
Although blurry, he could now see the flow.
Hegrion could tell.
He was now standing in front of the narrow door that led to the realm of Intention.
However, he felt no joy.
What came instead was a bitter laugh.
He was disgusted by the self he finally confronted. It was just a pitiful, unremarkable man, one who sought the reasons for his inadequacies outside himself.
‘Damn you.’
Hegrion now understood.
The reason he had not reached Intention, and why only Albrecht had, was because he lacked the eyes to see himself.
Until now, he had been focusing on the burdens he carried rather than on himself.
‘You wretched fool.’
Albrecht’s sword created another flow.
Hegrion felt like his body was being sucked into the tip of Albrecht’s sword, and then he scattered it.
Clang—!
The clash of swords was accompanied by a dull noise.
Standing before the narrow door, Hegrion tensed his muscles and blocked all incoming sword strikes.
Then, he peered into that door.
What he saw in the reflection was himself, and also his opponent.
No, it was himself, who was clinging somewhere in the world of his opponent.
He was an ordinary person struggling in the world of a genius.
Hegrion finally accepted it.
Everything he had ignored was rooted in Albrecht’s talent, and his refusal to acknowledge it was mere jealousy.
He didn’t want to acknowledge himself as an insignificant figure lost in the vast world.
Thud—!
An even more dull noise followed.
Every time their swords clashed, the space made of flesh shook, and fragments of the broken aura were sharply embedded on top of it.
Albrecht’s entire body reddened further, and Hegrion’s mane became dyed in red accordingly.
Hegrion swung his sword, forgetting everything else.
If he was an ordinary person who could only hang in a vast world, he decided to accept it.
He decided not to care.
He chose to believe in the effort that brought him to this point in the first place.
After all, his efforts were the only aspect where he didn’t fall short compared to that genius.
Kwoong—!
Training and perseverance were Hegrion’s forte.
All he had known while growing up were those who constantly tested their limits and stood up again, and his world was one of enduring in front of unbeatable foes.
Kwoong—!
He decided to accept even his ugly jealousy as part of his nature.
He knew that he could even sublimate that jealousy through effort.
Kwoong—!
If he was just hanging on, then that was enough.
At least he wouldn’t fall.
He could keep his place by hanging on like this forever.
Clang—!
A clear sound rang out.
The two blades that had always created a dissonance finally began to face each other at the same height.
For the first time, Hegrion stepped forward.
From the feet firmly pressing the ground, through his thighs, waist, back, shoulders, and arms to the fingertips.
He used every muscle in his body to bring down his claymore.
Two things were reflected in his eyes.
One was the flaws within himself that needed to be cut away, and the other was the flow that had awakened him to this.
Saaak—!
The sound was too modest for a sword strike.
Then, Albrecht fell.
***
Vera opened his eyes.
[For true liberation! The end of false freedom!]
Someone cried out.
Along with that, he saw a large fire and a cross.
Dozens of people had gathered in front of the cross.
All of them wore black robes with inverted crosses hanging around their necks.
‘Apostates.’
They were apostates.
Vera looked around.
‘This place is…’
What he saw all around were walls, and right in front of him was a huge castle and a tower that was too large to take in at a glance.
It was a castle Vera knew well.
There was no way he didn’t know it.
How could he not?
It was the same castle he had been staring at the past few days, and now he had entered it.
Vera then realized.
‘…The castle’s past. This is the history of the castle.’
His eyes were keen.
The world he was immersed in now was showing him a part of the history of the castle.
‘What in the world…’
Is the dagger trying to show me?
More importantly, why had this ordinary-looking castle become like this in the present?
Vera’s expression turned serious with those troubling thoughts.
Feeling the need to find out something, his feet began to move on their own.
‘…Inside the castle.’
Vera decided to explore the place.
He thought that it would be much easier to enter the depths of the castle if he could find out its structure or peculiarities, especially since he couldn’t collect any clues in the real world because it was covered in flesh.
Suddenly…
[Who is it?!]
Someone’s voice called out to Vera.
His body flinched, and he quickly turned towards the direction from which the voice came.
What lay before his eyes was this.
The dozens of figures who were burning the cross just before were now staring at him.
Vera quickly understood the cause.
Wooong—
The ring of Terdan, which carried the power of binding, was wailing.
‘…This place is not an illusion.’
It would be correct to assume that the ring that had activated on its own and had sucked his soul into this world.
Having had a similar experience during his fight with Gorgan, Vera’s bewilderment didn’t last long.
‘If the flesh that makes up this place belonged to the people who lived in this castle.’
Then this would be the world where their souls are imprisoned.
Srrrrrrng—
He unsheathed his Holy Sword.
Then, Vera’s body glowed with a brilliant golden divinity.
The bodies of the apostates shook greatly, and the one who seemed to be their leader growled.
[A servant of heaven!]
The apostates began to go berserk at this.
“A servant of the false Lord!”
“Tear and kill the evil one!”
“Burn him! Burn him!”
Kkududuk—
Red arms sprang out from between their robes.
Those who looked unmistakably human transformed into grotesque creatures with six red arms. The apostates charged at Vera with heavy thuds.
And then…
Fwaaaak—!
Vera cut them all down in one move.
‘Their power is not worth mentioning.’
Vera made a rough estimate and tensed his muscles.
He then launched himself towards the hesitating leader.
Swish—.
The apostate leader’s head cleanly rolled off.
Vera frowned upon seeing the bare face revealed from under the robe.
‘Eyes…’
There were eyes in every hole on his face. Not just the eye sockets, but also the nostrils and the mouth. As well as where the hair should be, and right in the middle of his forehead were bulging, rolling eyes.
Vera, openly disgusted, crushed the head under his foot.
‘There’s definitely something inside that place.’
He turned his gaze turned once again toward the castle.
With sunken eyes and a vicious energy around him, Vera moved forward.
