Chapter 67 : The Pitched Battle of the Jupenheim Plains (2)

Chapter 67: The Pitched Battle of the Jupenheim Plains (2)

Alfred was confident.

He was confident he could crush the insignificant knight before him.

Of course, since the man claimed to be mercenary-born, there was a need to be cautious.

Those 'peasant' knights, who were granted knighthood through sheer luck, usually had some kind of hidden technique.

'It won't matter much though.'

The true essence of a secret technique was the power of time.

It was about generations of refinement, compensating for weaknesses and maximizing strengths over a long period.

That was the knight's secret technique. The sharp, hidden blade of a mercenary-born like him would be nothing more than cheap trickery.

'I'll combine all my secret techniques and deal with him in one blow!'

From atop his horse, Alfred raised his sword overhead and leaned sharply forward, like the angry horns of a bullfighter's target.

It was truly an extreme posture.

It was the secret technique passed down through his family, the one that had earned Alfred the title, the Knight of the Flash.

It was a swordsmanship focused on extreme speed, one that most knights of moderate skill couldn't even react to before being struck.

He would approach like a storm and strike like thunder.

-Hyah!

Thinking so, Alfred spurred his horse.

-Neighhh!

That served as the signal, and the horses charged toward each other.

-Dugugugugugu.

The distance, which had been at least ten meters, was instantly closed.

The faces, which had been the size of a fist, were now as large as a watermelon.

They would soon enter each other's striking range.

And at that moment.

-Squeeze.

"I'll finish this in one blow!"

Alfred's sword, filled with strength and fueled by the horse's momentum, shot forth like a flash of light.

It was so fast that it created the illusion of slicing through space.

'You bastard! It's over.'

Alfred smiled as he looked at Shatien's face.

Look.

The face of that rookie peasant knight was utterly unchanged, showing no reaction to the speed.

He would only realize how his neck was severed after his head was separated from his body. But that was only Alfred's misconception.

-Swish!

Suddenly, the space in front of him flickered.

-Ka-kang!

It was blocked by Shatien's sword, which suddenly thrust up from an unseen angle.

"?!?"

And it was done quite easily at that.

"Is that all?"

"????????????"

Alfred's eyes widened.

* * *

Alfred's skill was measured in that single blow.

'He is very fast.'

He was called Alfred the Knight of the Flash, and he certainly had the speed to match. Especially that Angry Bull stance, like the horns of a bullfighter, truly suited such a flash-like sword strike.

Of course... he was no match for Shatien.

Shatien twitched the corner of his mouth and lightly tapped the tip of his sword.

"Is this all? Knight Alfred? Did you dare insult His Excellency Count Bellua with merely this level of skill?"

Shatien spoke while maintaining a noble posture atop his horse. He was here as the champion of Count Bellua. He had to clearly show the thousands of soldiers and nobles watching the duel.

He needed to show them exactly who he was, and how that arrogant Alfred would fall by his hand.

At that insulting display, Alfred yelled out in rage.

"How dare you! You bastard worth less than a dog bone! You only casually blocked my strike by sheer luck!!"

It was not a secret technique to be blocked by a mere peasant knight. Alfred fueled his anger into his sword.

It was more forceful than ever.

-Clang!

He poured all his strength into it.

-Ka-kang!

-Kagagagagang!

He continued to swing his sword from atop his horse, as if he intended to literally slice Shatien into pieces.

'Die-! Die!!!'

But Shatien remained unshaken by Knight Alfred's fierce sword strikes. On the contrary, Shatien's eyes sparkled with interest, as if he was enjoying the situation. Knight Alfred's swordsmanship was quite decent. They say every knight's path of the sword is unique, right? Indeed, just as his teacher had said, there were things to learn from every knight.

-Ziiiiiing.

Following the mysterious ability granted to his bloodline, Shatien began to absorb Knight Alfred's swordsmanship in real-time.

The stance was purely for rapid offense.

The trajectory of the sword was designed to utilize the shortest distance to the opponent.

'Hmm?'

However, the swordsmanship Shatien felt from Alfred was slightly different.

-Clang!

-Ka-kang!

-Clang!

Even if the first wave was blocked, the second and third waves followed, rushing in like a tide. That felt more natural. This Alfred's swordsmanship must not have originally been a single flash strike.

'Ahh, I see. So that's what it was.'

A wave.

Yes, it was a wave.

An endless, sweeping tidal wave. Alfred's ancestor might have created this swordsmanship upon seeing that.

Had it not evolved into a fighting style for relentlessly throwing continuous strikes?

"U-Ughh!!"

As his attacks continued to be blocked, Knight Alfred was thoroughly provoked. He desperately wanted to end this maddening situation.

"Bastard! Let's see if you can block this too-!"

Thick veins popped out on Alfred's forearm.

-Swoosh!

Simultaneously, the sword lunged toward Shatien with a tremendous whooshing sound.

-Ka-ka-ka-kak!

But that was all.

The sword was again blocked by Shatien's defense, stopping dead in the air. This time, it was firmly fixed, blocked by the crossguard.

"Damn it! When... when will you stop only defending! Crack."

For a peasant knight to have such a solid defense like that. Knight Alfred was consumed by anger.

"If you are a knight, then try attacking back! Is defense all your swordsmanship consists of!"

"Haha."

Shatien chuckled at the outburst.

"Very well. Then you try blocking my attack this time."

He had witnessed enough of Knight Alfred's swordsmanship. This was quite sufficient time to learn it. Shatien raised his sword overhead, imitating the stance Knight Alfred had just taken.

"?!"

At that sight, Knight Alfred's eyes widened.

'That lunatic!'

It was clearly his Angry Bull stance, recognizable to anyone.

The posture looked plausible, but it was not a swordsmanship that one could dare to simply imitate. After all, a style that leaned forward like this hardly existed.

Knight Alfred decided he would make this arrogant knight pay dearly for his ridiculous behavior.

"You arrogant—!"

But contrary to his spirited shout...

-Swoosh!

The moment Shatien's sword shot out, Knight Alfred was astonished.

It was literally a flash of light.

Shatien's sword was fired out, exactly like Alfred's own strike.

"You craz...!"

There was no time to reply.

Shatien's sword had been launched too quickly.

-Clang!

Knight Alfred barely managed to block Shatien's sword, but that was not the end. The second wave followed immediately.

-Ka-kang!

And following the second wave, the third.

-Clang!

And following the third wave, the fourth. The fifth.

-Clang!

-Kagagakang!

Like the fierce waves of the sea, Shatien's angry sword strikes, flowing with the momentum, began to torment Knight Alfred.

'How! Just how!'

And Alfred screamed internally at the merciless, tidal wave of strikes. To anyone watching, the swordsmanship being performed by this young knight was close to the original form of his own great ancestor's technique, one that his family had forgotten.

The very one they had tried to restore but had failed to.

'Ah, I must…! I must tell them!'

This was clearly a monstrous talent.

The Emperor's knights needed to know about this lunatic. That way, they wouldn't fight alone and could somehow prepare. However,

-Crash!

"Cough!"

Regrettably, Knight Alfred did not get that chance.

Finally unable to block the sword, Alfred was struck on the head and stumbled on his horse. Fortunately, he managed to raise his head and block the blow with his iron helmet, but that was all.

-Slice!

Shatien's sword plunged deep into Knight Alfred's neck, whose posture had been broken.

-Pshoooooooo!

Blood gushed from Knight Alfred's severed neck, flying high into the air. It scattered across the plain like crimson petals.

-Waaaaaahhh!

-Victory! It’s our victory!

-Shatien! Shatien!

Simultaneously, deafening cheers erupted. Everyone had witnessed the victory they had desperately longed for with their own eyes.

"Phew."

Receiving the cheers, Shatien took a deep breath. The metallic smell of blood filled his mouth.

The living remain, and the dead vanish.

Honor is passed from the dead to the living.

"It wasn't bad, Knight Alfred. I shall carry on the direct lineage of your swordsmanship."

Shatien held up Knight Alfred's head and shouted.

"I, Shatien Aizenfaust, have defeated Alfred the Knight of the Flash!!"

Exactly three times.

Shouting that, Shatien clearly imprinted his family name upon the tens of thousands of people gathered there.

-Aizenfaust!

-Shatien of Aizenfaust!

-Praise the Honorable Knight Killer, the Swordbreaker! Uwaaaah!

Meanwhile, gasps of dismay erupted from the Emperor's army.

"No, what kind of nonsense is that…?!"

"K-Knight Alfred lost?"

The Imperial faction nobles and knights looked horrified. In fact, they had deliberately sent out Knight Alfred right from the start to crush the enemy's spirit.

Knight Alfred was a knight famous throughout the eastern Empire as a skilled duelist.

He was a knight who had achieved outstanding military success against the cunning and crazed nobles of the East.

Yet, he was killed so miserably, unable to even put up a proper fight.

In an instant, their will to fight plummeted to the floor. Nevertheless, there were always brave men.

"I—! I will avenge Knight Alfred!"

Like a moth leaping into a flame, an Emperor's knight quickly mounted his horse and charged toward Shatien.

-Neighhh!

But Shatien no longer wished to play with them. Having already learned an excellent swordsmanship, this was enough.

All he intended to display next was cruelty and shock.

"Shatien! I challenge you to a duel."

The knight, who had approached within a few steps, shouted that as he charged.

"My name is Vonsc... Kugh!"

And Shatien answered him immediately by swinging his sword.

-Slice!

It was the sword strike he had just learned from Knight Alfred. The knight, who had introduced himself as Vonsc something, couldn't even react and was instantly killed by a severed neck.

-Neighhh.

Only the horse, carrying its headless master, cried mournfully.

"......"

"......"

The shocking and overwhelming sight caused both sides to fall silent for a moment.

How could a knight's neck be broken as easily as snapping a twig?

It was at that moment that people realized why this Shatien had earned the new nickname, the Knight Killer.

Meanwhile, Shatien was thinking.

'Hmm... this should be enough to claim all the spoils of war, right?'

He thought that while looking at the equipment of the fallen knights on the ground.

Perhaps selling the armor of these knights could fill his pockets quite nicely.

'They say you need three things to wage war, and it's exactly that.'

-Money, money, and more money.

To properly raise pikemen and halberdiers, there were truly countless expenses.

-Waaahhh!

-Shatien! Shatien!

-Knight Killer Shatien!

Thus, Shatien reveled in the rights of the victor, receiving the passionate cheers of the Count's army.