The farmer who had been watching the knight’s back while comforting his daughter felt something strange.
This was a time when the sun should still be hanging in the sky. While the forest’s night was known to fall quickly, his experience told him there should still be some time before the sun completely set in this season.
Yet the forest was darkening rapidly as if someone was stealing the light.
Something like a black fog began to spread where the sunset had faded. Beyond it, two red orbs resembling will-o’-wisps appeared; they were glowing ominously.
The mountain spirit. The farmer tightened his arms protectively around his daughter.
But there was one thing the farmer failed to notice.
The black fog was spreading like smoke from the mountain spirit, but it was also seeping out from beneath the knight’s feet.
***
It had arrived.
I found myself face-to-face with the Bicorn with its crimson eyes gleaming in the darkness. For most people, its form would remain blurry until their eyes adjusted to the dark, but the eyes of a Dark Knight could see clearly in the shadows.
It was one of the few useful traits of the extravagantly named Dark Knight class; we could clearly see things like spirits and specters. Though there was the minor inconvenience that the other party could also see me just as well.
The Bicorn too seemed to realize I could see it. It kept its distance and refrained from coming too close for now.
The creature appeared somewhat confused. After all, a Dark Knight was a commander of a legion wielding the power of darkness, and the Bicorn had been the steed most suited for them to ride.
The Bicorn might have assumed I had brought the father and daughter as sacrificial offerings to seal a contract with it. To some extent, I had indeed borrowed from the formalities of such rituals to protect them.
The circle enclosing the father and daughter symbolized that they were under my protection in a ritualistic sense. The moment the circle was broken or they stepped outside, they would become the Bicorn’s prey.
On the other hand, this also meant that if the Bicorn wished to avoid conflict with me, it couldn’t simply claim them at its whim.
[How strange….]
A low, resonant voice echoed as if vibrating through the air. It was an unexpectedly refined voice for a mere man-eating beast.
[You’ve gone so far as to set up an altar to the Abyss, even if only in a crude form, yet your sacrifice carries no trace of dark energy. If I hadn’t seen you myself, I would’ve thought this was a trap laid by paladins.]
A dry, guttural noise that felt like half laughter, half scoff rippled through the foggy forest.
[How exceedingly greedy you must be for power. Did you refuse to give even a single drop of dark energy to bless your offering?]
“Bless, you say? It’s nothing more than a shackle to prevent them from escaping. You put far too much value in empty rituals.”
The truth, of course, was different. While “dark energy” was a term used to lump together various sinister forces, the type commonly wielded by Dark Knights shared one unfortunate trait.
The more it was used, the more likely it was to drive one insane.
I preferred to live a healthy life with a sound mind.
[Oh? Then what means did you use to bind them in place?]
“Love.”
[Love? Now that is an interesting answer! Explain further.]
I took a step forward and moved cautiously. The Bicorn was a greedy yet cunning creature. Had I not been a Dark Knight, or had I not piqued its interest in this way, it would have fled the moment I approached.
“I told them I’d spare only one member of their family, and I made it clear that if they ran, even that one would die. Such a touching display of familial love.”
[Indeed, your words ring true. Love is their shackle. You are both greedy and cunning!]
The Bicorn marveled at me, but hearing praise from a man-eating beast was far from something I could take joy in. My sensibilities were still intact, after all. I cast a brief glance at the father and daughter pair behind me. They were still in place.
It was fortunate that I had issued my warnings beforehand. They would likely think the conversation we were having now was nothing more than hallucinations.
“I possess the strength and intellect worthy of you. Come to me.”
The Bicorn approached me cautiously. Once it lowered its head and I offered them as sacrifices, the traditional contract between a Dark Knight and the steed of the Abyss would be complete.
At last, the Bicorn bowed its head, as if urging me to bless its horn. I solemnly nodded my head in return.
And then I swiftly drew my sword and swung it down.
***
The farmer who was standing inside the circle was horrified by the ghastly voices of the conversation he overheard. The sounds were far too vivid to be dismissed as mere hallucinations.
Had the knight not warned him beforehand, he would have believed those words all to be true. From the first moment he saw him, the knight’s suspicious demeanor stood out. Perhaps this was proof that appearances didn’t lie.
The farmer and his daughter hadn’t fled yet, partly because of the knight’s prior warnings and partly because the knight had seemed unexpectedly kind on their journey here.
The knight approached the mountain spirit. Slowly, the creature lowered its body beneath the knight. Was this another illusion? Should they run now, before it was too late?
As the farmer wrestled with his doubts, the knight drew his sword.
The black greatsword came down toward the spirit’s crown with a speed that was like a flash of lightning. It was too fast for the eyes of a mere villager to follow.
[Krugh-aaah─!]
But the mountain spirit was faster. It twisted its head and its horn caught the blade aimed at his head. The impact sent the sword flying, and with it, the knight’s body was thrown off balance.
[You deceived me!]
The Bicorn’s furious cry rang out. Yet the knight did not waste that opening. Though his sword had been flung aside, the recoil shifted his body just enough to maintain his momentum. With a powerful step forward on his right foot, he regained his balance.
The blade, which had arced high into the air, swung back down toward the Bicorn’s neck.
There was no time for words. The second strike came before the Bicorn could even react. At that moment, it realized the knight had never intended to negotiate from the beginning.
Should it flee?
The knight had already seized control of the battle. Continuing the fight here would only lead to its loss.
As the Bicorn’s dark instincts quickly evaluated its chances of survival, something else began to rise from beneath it.
The Bicorn’s reason, which was another facet of its intelligence that had previously prevented it from feeding properly, now acted differently. Unlike the convulsions that had stopped it from taking action before, this time it urged the creature to do something.
Its reason, aligned with the fury of its dark instincts, incited its body to tear into the knight’s heart.
***
Kriel had a bad feeling things wouldn’t go as planned. Bicorns were notoriously cunning. If you failed to capture or kill one outright, they would use their four legs to torment you endlessly.
When he imagined a drawn-out chase with the Bicorn through the Black Forest, a wave of dizziness overtook him.
Yet the Bicorn’s reaction was far different from what Kriel had expected. Like a maddened bull charging a matador, it went into a frenzy and barreled straight toward him.
Its charge was covered in black fog rising from beneath its hooves. It looked like a storm cloud streaking forward in its path.
If this were an ordinary monster, Kriel would have been thrilled by its straight trajectory and would have chopped off its head with his greatsword on the spot.
But the Bicorn was no ordinary creature. Its speed was far too great. Sensing that the creature’s charge would outpace his own attack, Kriel pushed off the ground in retreat.
He managed to dodge its body charge, but his greatsword remained in the path of its charge. The blade collided with the Bicorn’s golden horns and flew from his grip before embedding itself into an ancient tree nearby.
Kriel had the strange impression that the Bicorn smirked at him. If it were truly a creature beyond a simple beast, then it wouldn’t be surprising for it to express emotions like mockery.
Once more, the Bicorn’s body became shrouded in fog. That mist didn’t merely obscure vision; it seemed to play a role in the supernatural speed it had just displayed.
Kriel made his decision quickly. He had to stop it before it could accelerate.
The “darkness” a Dark Knight wielded was divided into three categories. The first was Bloodlust, which came from physical pain. The second was Resentment, which came from mental pain. The last was Abyss.
Each grew more destructive to the mind as they progressed. When Kriel first used Bloodlust, he endured three days and nights of hallucinations. When he used Resentment, it was accompanied by imaginary pain. As for the Abyss, he hadn’t dared to wield it properly even once.
The side effects were too serious, so Kriel chose to rely solely on skills based on Bloodlust when forced to use his powers.
Fortunately, most Bloodlust abilities focused on physical enhancement, which made them ideal for situations requiring greater speed and strength, like now.
He unleashed the Bloodlust he had accumulated by slaughtering the monsters of the forest. The refined essence of their blood and flesh materialized as a crimson energy that enveloped his body.
Boom!
A red glow erupted from the darkness beneath his feet, clinging to his armor like a web. The resounding roar marked the first step of his charge.
Before the Bicorn could begin its own dash, it collided with Kriel.
Kriel grabbed the Bicorn’s two horns with both hands. The Bicorn charged forward and tried to skewer him through his armor.
The two forces met in the middle, and neither gave an inch. Their strength was equal, and the ground beneath them screeched and started cracking under the strain.
At first glance, it appeared that Kriel had been the one to falter. His left hand, which had been holding one of the horns, slipped free. The Bicorn didn’t miss the opportunity; it twisted its body violently in a frenzy.
As the Bicorn lunged to pierce his heart, Kriel struggled to deflect its trajectory with only his right hand. It was at that moment when the Bicorn’s head ended up resting on Kriel’s shoulder.
His free left hand wrapped tightly around the Bicorn’s neck, and the force in Kriel’s right hand grew even stronger.
The Bicorn immediately realized Kriel’s intent. He was trying to snap its neck.
Now the battle had become a battle of strength, with the Bicorn straining to resist with bulging veins in its neck and the Knight using every ounce of his strength to break its horns and crush its neck in one decisive move.
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