Squire Asia.
She was a mber of the Knight order that ca with the Frog Luagarne.
The technique she used was called ‘Intimidation’.
It was an art based on willpower, and what the swordsman before him now displayed seed similar.
No, it was even superior.
Encrid saw intangible blades that slashed, pierced, and cut through his body. There were more of them, and they were faster than Asia’s had been.
Even knowing it was false, he couldn’t ignore it.
Instinctively, he knew it stemd from the opponent’s willpower, triggering his Sense of Evasion.
He almost reflexively stepped back, but Encrid gritted his teeth.
His body flinched, his shoulders trembled. To avoid the approaching blades, he had to steel himself internally.
It was the sa as before.
If he couldn’t break through, it would be retreat and evasion.
It was the sa as Asia’s Intimidation.
If he couldn’t overco it, he would be crushed against the wall, admitting defeat without even fighting, without reaching out once.
The ferryman’s laughter ca to mind. It would surely mockingly ripple the river.
Encrid suppressed his instincts.
“You might die.”
The rapier swordsman spoke as Encrid stood his ground.
Encrid didn’t listen.
Even in the days when death was the end, he risked his life.
Not struggling to die, but scrambling to move forward.
So should he retreat now?
Should he?
“Step back.”
The rapier swordsman repeated.
And Encrid began swinging his sword at the approaching blades.
Transforming the Sense of Evasion into an attack form, he unleashed the Heart of Great Strength, opening the Gate of Sixth Sense.
Focus Point activated, imrsing him entirely in the mont.
He could see all the approaching blades, the intangible swords.
Slowly and surely.
Encrid swung his sword.
He struck and neutralized them one by one, deflecting and breaking them. The shattered blades vanished like phantoms, breaking like glass.
And for each blade he broke, a new one appeared.
“Foolish.”
The rapier swordsman said.
That was the last thing Encrid heard.
He missed one blade. It curved in, speeding up like a swift hawk. It was easy to miss.
Encrid felt the blade cut his neck.
It felt real.
It was horrifying, with a sensation of heat. It felt like certain death.
Encrid closed his eyes.
But he didn’t et the ferryman.
When he opened his eyes again.
“You’re awake? Crazy Commander?”
He heard Rem’s voice.
Encrid, overwheld by Intimidation, swung his sword wildly at the air like a madman, then soon showed only the whites of his eyes and collapsed.
Even as he collapsed, his sword form was precise and clean, showing proper training.
Afterward, he fell silently, like a puppet with its strings cut.
Right after Encrid fell.
Bang!
Soone kicked the ground. One, no, several people moved.
Audin ran like the wind to catch Encrid.
Rem drew his axe. Ragna stood beside him, blocking the space between Encrid and the rapier swordsman.
Jaxon was already behind the rapier swordsman.
“If I wanted to kill him, he would already be dead.”
The swordsman said.
Rem understood. The opponent before him was soone even he couldn’t guarantee victory against.
“Well, if I were serious about killing, I could do it alone too.”
But was he alone here?
There was no need to reveal his hidden tricks.
“If he’s dead, cut him.”
Ragna said. There was no doubt in his words. If he said he would cut, he would cut.
That belief made Ragna’s sword strong.
Rem, devoid of his usual smile, spoke expressionlessly.
“Let’s be careful. Okay? My axe tends to act on its own. It’s got a mind of its own, an ego-axe.”
The joke was said without emotion, making it more chilling.
“His body is fine. As for his head, we’ll have to see when he wakes up.”
Audin, after checking Encrid’s breathing, spoke. The usual term ‘brother’ was absent.
Intimidation affects the mind. It is a force that pressures and constrains.
When he awakens, he could beco a simpleton.
Of course, Audin wasn’t worried about that.
Encrid wasn’t soone who would crumble easily. He wasn’t the kind of person who would fall apart over sothing like this.
However, if the blade of fear had taken root in his heart?
That’s what the opponent did.
Not physical chains, but leaving a wound in the mind.
It’s sothing that could be called psychological trauma. Once fear is engraved, it doesn’t easily fade.
“Let’s see after he wakes up and we check his condition.”
The word ‘brother’ was still missing from Audin’s speech.
That was how the fight ended.
When Encrid woke up, he listened to the story of what happened right after he fainted and nodded.
“I see.”
Intimidation, a technique based on ‘Will’.
So the opponent was at least a Squire.
Moreover, soone who knew how to use a sword properly.
“Interesting.”
Encrid murmured.
Interesting?
Everyone’s attention focused on him.
If he ant it, there was a problem. It ant his head was broken. They all knew that. But then again, it seed possible with Encrid.
Isn’t he a total madman?
That thought flashed through everyone’s mind.
A short silence passed.
Wondering if he was really okay, or if he was bluffing, or if he could still act like this after seeing a real sword.
“Since he’s broken as always, he seems fine.”
Rem concluded.
So this was Encrid’s normal.
Scared of seeing a sword?
It was possible. They had often seen people whose minds broke after rolling through battlefields.
There were stories of a soldier who, after seeing a Giant on the battlefield, would faint at just hearing the word ‘Giant’ for the rest of his life.
However, this wasn’t applicable to Encrid.
He had already experienced real pain and survived death.
Soone who didn’t back down from real death wouldn’t suffer over being cut and stabbed by imaginary blades.
“Even when he drew the sword back then, it seed like his head was broken.”
Krais said, twirling his right index finger next to his ear, as if recalling a similar experience from when Encrid drew the cursed sword.
Smack!
Rem smacked Krais on the back of his head.
It was such a sharp hit that his eyes, befitting his nickna ‘Big Eyes’, seed to pop out.
“Ouch! Why did you hit ?”
“That’s my thing.”
What is your thing?
Encrid silently shook his head and stood up.
“Only I can do that.”
Rem grumbled mischievously. Krais pouted but retreated quietly.
He wasn’t soone you could reason with anyway.
“Are you really okay, Commander Brother?”
“I must have slept too much. I feel light.”
To the question of whether he was okay, Encrid replied that he felt light.
Audin smiled gently.
“Truly an incredible ntal strength, Brother.”
Audin found himself looking at Encrid anew.
How could he not?
In the long ti spent honing his divinity, the qualities required of everyone were patience and a stable mindset.
“Only those who do not succumb to any hardship or threat may lift their heads.”
Audin muttered a part of the scripture.
No one listened closely.
Ragna wasn’t particularly suspicious by nature, but he thought confirmation was necessary.
With a swish.
He drew his sword and stopped it just a finger’s width away from Encrid’s nose.
“…Are you asking for a duel?”
Encrid said, looking blankly into Ragna’s eyes.
A person who fears the sword cannot hide their unease.
But how were Encrid’s eyes now?
They were the sa as ever. Straight and true. The sa eyes that had unnerved even the Swift Blade.
“We can do it another ti.”
Ragna sheathed his sword.
As always, Jaxon found Encrid fascinating.
‘Feels like he wouldn’t die even if you killed him.’
Not that he would just stand by and watch if Encrid was in real danger.
Anyway, Encrid stood up unscathed.
After that, the dueling continued.
The rapier swordsman, instead of using the sa gentle and friendly techniques as before, showed Intimidation again.
Once more, Encrid fought off the intangible blades but eventually fainted. Technically, it wasn’t death, it was just fainting.
Sothing resembling death pierced and stirred his mind and soul.
But that couldn’t change Encrid.
“He’s holding on.”
The rapier swordsman said.
The Swift Blade grumbled at this.
“Why don’t you either kill him outright or stop this half-hearted torture?”
The rapier swordsman ignored him.
The mixed-blood Giant and Edin Molsen’s guard voiced a different opinion.
“Next ti, let’s do it at the end? It’s anticlimactic to have him faint before we even get started.”
The guard said. The mixed-blood Giant nodded.
They didn’t want their own opportunities taken away.
This was also curious.
The rapier swordsman saw Encrid’s limits but acknowledged what needed to be acknowledged.
‘Is it motivation?’
None of those present were the sa as they had been initially.
They all changed the more they faced Encrid.
Sumr had passed, and it was now dry autumn. The Border Guard in northern Pen-Hanil had a short autumn. Soon, the cold would co.
Autumn was already halfway through, and it had been thirty days since they arrived at the Border Guard.
“Tell him next ti will be the last.”
The rapier swordsman said.
“Do as you wish.”
Rem replied.
Encrid, who had fainted from Intimidation and then awakened, nodded.
“I want to overco that.”
“There’s only one way.”
There were always pieces of advice when they dueled those who ca to the city.
This ti was no different, Ragna spoke up.
“If you can’t fend them all off, you need to deflect the intangible blades with your mind.”
It wasn’t a vague statent.
‘Will.’
At the very least, it ant that without sothing intangible to overco Intimidation, he couldn’t win.
“Will is sothing you realize, but if it were such a force, forming a Knight order would be impossible. A Squire is soone who forcibly awakens their Will. It’s possible. However, just because you awaken it doesn’t an you can imdiately counter such Intimidation.”
The last part was like saying you can’t run imdiately after learning to walk.
In any case, based on Ragna’s words, the opponent was testing him.
Whatever the intent, whether good or evil.
Whether it was goodwill or malice, Encrid didn’t care.
He simply wanted to overco it.
Just as he always wanted to overco whatever strangled him.
But he had no intention of dying and repeating today over and over.
Another day passed, and it was a night like any other.
Bell, who was on duty at the castle gate, saw soone approaching in the middle of the night.
“Who’s there? A rchant?”
Bell asked, already knowing the man wasn’t just so rchant.
Logically, it was strange for soone to be traveling alone, and intuitively, the man seed formidable.
“Is this where the forr soldier is?” the man asked.
He wasn’t wearing a black cloak or any suspicious attire.
As he approached the light of the torch, Bell saw he was young.
His skin was sowhat dark, and he had a sword at his waist.
He carried a single arming sword and three daggers on the other side of his belt, and it all looked very natural.
Despite being ard, he didn’t seem threatening.
“I was hoping to see him.”
The man spoke again. Bell tilted his head, then straightened it before responding.
“We can’t let outsiders into the city at this hour. If you want to co, do it tomorrow during the day. And you can et him tomorrow, right?”
His last question was directed at his colleague.
“Yes, that’s right.”
His colleague replied.
Coincidentally, tomorrow was the day Encrid was expected to recover and co out.
He had been dueling continuously recently.
Though he had so rest days, he would co out tomorrow. He wasn’t seriously injured.
“You’re in luck. You can et him tomorrow.”
The man bit his lip and said, “I can only make ti tonight. Can’t I see him now?”
Bell thought the man was being stubborn, but there was sothing strange about him.
‘I should test him.’
Many sought the forr soldier, but few could overwhelm Bell.
Many turned back after defeating him.
“Just a common soldier?”
Saying such things.
Bell patted his colleague on the shoulder.
“I’ll go check on this. If anything happens, sound the ergency bell.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll put an arrow in his forehead before the bell rings.”
His colleague, always carrying a bow, said while tapping his side.
He was an archer, part of Vengeance Platoon.
Bell opened the side gate and stepped out.
Several sentries watched them.
Standing in the torchlight, Bell spoke.
“If you can knock down, I’ll pass your ssage. Want to try?”
“Sure.”
Though Bell pointed his spear at him, the man faced him empty-handed.
“…Aren’t you drawing your sword?”
Bell’s voice grew gruff.
“If I cut you with this, you’ll die, and I don’t think there’s a need to kill you.”
This guy? Overflowing with confidence.
Bell felt a surge of irritation, which he channeled into his thrust.
The fight was brief. The man grabbed Bell’s spear mid-thrust.
Bell saw his movents but was half a beat too slow.
The man closed the distance and struck Bell’s stomach with his palm.
Thud!
The impact felt like it pierced his belly. Bell thought he had a hole in his gut.
Barely holding back the urge to vomit, he heard the man’s voice.
“You can take a hit.”
“…There’s a drill instructor who gets furious if you fall from a single hit.”
Bell replied, exhaling. His legs wobbled from the heavy impact.
Still, Audin’s punches were twice as heavy.
Bell made up his mind. The man was more skilled than him.
And he said he couldn’t wait until morning.
‘I’ll just pass the ssage.’
He thought he’d just inform Encrid. The decision was his.
Encrid had ntioned several tis that there could be people like this.
He said he wanted to et everyone, even if they were just passing through.
If their skill was proven, it wouldn’t matter if it was late at night.
There had been many such encounters.
“I’ll be back.”
Bell retreated obediently. The man neither showed hostility nor behaved rudely.
Bell entered the barracks and relayed the ssage to Encrid.
“Wait a mont, I’ll go see.”
He stepped out imdiately.
“Are you going alone?”
“Why?”
“No, well, I guess that’s fine.”
Bell had acted as the gatekeeper for those seeking Encrid up until now.
In his opinion, the current visitor wasn’t as formidable as those in the market.
He didn’t feel overwheld or intimidated.
After Bell conveyed this, Encrid set off lightly, going alone.
“Let’s go.”
Encrid approached, and the two exchanged words under the torchlight before clashing swords.
Clang.
Their fight ensued.
It was intense and lively.
It gave the illusion that dawn was breaking between them.
The sight seed to be infused with light.
In the midst of this, Bell noticed sothing strange.
The opponent’s sword suddenly grazed Encrid’s forehead, and the opponent shook his head as if in dismay.
Following this, Encrid’s body trembled, and he collapsed forward, falling face-first. He couldn’t support himself, which caused the fall.
Bell blinked.
‘Dead?’
Then the world distorted, tore, and changed.
Encrid’s death was like a pendulum resetting the day.
With the curse activated, Bell lost mory of the day that had passed.
Repeating the sa events, Bell went to find Encrid again.
“Commander, soone is here to see you.”
“Alright.”
Bell tilted his head in puzzlent. With no details, Encrid imdiately set off.
Encrid, stepping out, showed a wide smile. It was a rare sight, his face brimming with excitent.
“Do you know him?”
Bell asked.
“No.”
Encrid replied while walking. Though he said he didn’t know, his answer was filled with imnse joy and excitent. It was evident that Encrid couldn’t hide his emotions.
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