A Knight Who Eternally Regresses Chapter 64

After the door opened, Rem was the first to step inside.

“Where…?”

As he entered, he tried to say sothing, but there was no ti to speak. Sothing fell from above Rem’s head.

As if he had predicted it, Rem swung his axe vertically.

A flash of light from the axe sliced through the darkness of the room. As soon as Rem swung his axe, he imdiately leaped to the side, almost as if he had been launched.

All of this was executed smoothly, like a prearranged sequence.

Thud.

The falling corpse was the only thing that indicated what had just happened.

“What the…?”

Krais peeked his head out in surprise.

It had been hiding in the ceiling. Holding short knives in both hands, the creature was split from chest to crotch by Rem’s axe, spilling its innards and blood onto the floor.

The stench of blood and death assaulted their nostrils.

“I thought it was just a petty cri guild.”

Krais muttered.

“These bastards.”

Rem twisted his lips into a grin.

“Cute.”

With that, he stepped further inside. The interior was quite spacious. Next to the neatly made walls of bricks, soil, and straw, a passageway branched off to the right.

As Rem strode forward,

“Is it you?”

He suddenly spoke and swung his axe. The rciless blow created a second corpse.

The one hiding next to the passageway had attempted to stab with sothing resembling a skewer, but it was futile.

Rem’s axe was faster.

The opposition was a cri guild. They were pickpockets and extortionists.

On the other hand, this side consisted of soldiers whose profession was combat.

Moreover, Encrid himself was an elite soldier, and the rest were even better fighters than he was.

‘I thought we had the advantage.’

Seeing it firsthand gave a different impression.

The criminal gang had hidden discreetly and thrust their knives from the shadows, and their skill was not to be underestimated.

But Rem destroyed all their ambushes. It couldn’t be said that he was rampaging wildly, but there was a quiet madness visible in him.

A madness that said he would chop anyone who ca at him with his axe.

As he moved, Rem didn’t stop talking.

“Or is it you?”

He spoke every ti he killed anyone.

“Is it you?”

Slash!

“Is it you?”

He split the head of the fifth ambusher and asked.

“Dead n can’t speak.”

From behind, Encrid spoke up. Rem lifted his axe, dripping with blood, and scratched his head with the handle.

“I know, but even the living aren’t answering, are they?”

Soone else must have the answers.

After passing the right-angled corridor, they saw a room to the left, another to the right, and a space that seed to be used as a reception area straight ahead.

It wasn’t a complicated structure.

Reception room, two rooms, a place that could be used as a food storage, and a kitchen.

That was all.

And there were five dead ambushers.

None of them spoke.

“For a criminal organization, they were overly prepared. It seems these guys were indeed targeting the Squad Leader.” Krais said, examining the dead bodies. After staring at one of the faces for a while, Krais looked up.

“I don’t recognize any of these faces.”

Encrid nodded. It was a sign of agreent that he didn’t recognize them either, and that these seed to be the ones targeting him.

‘Lucky or unlucky, who knows.’

To be honest, half of it was an excuse to avoid the devil’s powder.

He knew that a cri guild was suitable for forging identities and guiding assassins.

‘But targeting a professional soldier of the Border Guard?’

It’s not sothing easily attempted if one wants to live in this city. Yet, they did it.

They must have had their reasons.

Of course, those reasons didn’t matter to Encrid.

It was a shot in the dark.

A roughly aid arrow hitting a wild boar between the eyes.

“Is this it?” Rem, who was searching the inside, said. There were no more answers, just five guys attacking with knives.

It was all over with just one rampaging Rem.

“That can’t be. With this level of preparation and if Jaxon got the information right.” Krais said. He took out a flint from his pocket, apparently because it was dark, and lit the straw lying around.

With the clink of the flint, the straw caught fire.

A fla flickered in the cold air of the house.

Using a makeshift torch made of bundled straw, Krais ticulously searched the surroundings.

Soon, he stomped his heel on one side of the reception room floor.

Thud.

There was a hollow sound. The inside was empty.

“Let handle this.”

Audin stepped forward. A cheap fur rug was spread on the floor with a chair placed on top of it. He grabbed the end of the fur and threw it to the side.

The chair wrapped in the fur hit the ground with a heavy thud.

Then, Audin gave a hearty knock once more.

Bang.

His fist, driven vertically from a sitting position, punched a hole in the wooden door.

Audin reached through the hole, inserted his arm inside, and unlocked the latch.

“Where does this lead?”

“The headquarters.”

Jaxon answered Krais’s question, as if he had expected this outco.

Rem looked at Encrid.

Thanks to the burning straw torch, Rem’s eyes, which were originally gray, appeared red.

“Let’s keep going.”

Encrid spoke before Rem could even ask.

They had to see this through to the end.

This wasn’t just about eliminating a petty criminal gang but dealing with a guild-sized adversary.

It wasn’t just a ragtag group calling themselves a guild; they were organized.

If these were indeed the ones targeting him, he had to deal with them accordingly.

No fool would quietly leave those who threatened his life. Fortunately, Encrid was no fool.

“Of course!”

Rem took the lead again. The tunnel wasn’t long.

Within half an hour, they saw a passage leading upwards.

Though it was bitterly cold, Rem had already discarded any blankets or coverings when he t the beggar.

Watching Rem’s shivering back, one could sense the rage emanating from him.

“There’s soone up there.”

Jaxon, walking right behind Rem, spoke. It ant there was a guard.

“They’re expecting us.”

Krais, bringing up the rear, said.

“We can’t let these bandits run rampant within the city.”

Audin spoke again. He seed adept at breaking down doors.

It might have been his hobby.

He climbed the poorly made dirt steps two at a ti, twisted his body upwards, and hit the door with the edge of his shoulder and back.

It was a unique technique.

Encrid’s eyes sparkled as he watched.

Bang!

The sound was like an explosion. Perhaps it was an exploding fire spell.

Simultaneously, the door flew upward.

“Argh!”

The startled cries of those waiting could be heard.

Then it was Rem’s stage once again.

“Is it you!”

He leaped upwards with his enigmatic question. With his first step on the stairs, his second on Audin’s thigh, he soared through the air, swinging his hand axe. All Encrid could see from below was Rem’s backside.

But the outco was clear. With the sound of bodies hitting the ground, blood flowed and spilled over the edge of the gaping hole.

“That brother has bad manners, stepping on soone else’s thigh like that.”

Audin dusted off his thigh and climbed up first, followed by Jaxon and Ragna. Encrid and Krais climbed up after them.

Fwoosh.

As they ascended, they were surrounded by torches.

“I was wondering what kind of crazy bastards you were.”

A voice echoed around them.

Encrid looked around. He saw at least thirty n.

Each of them was ard with sothing.

Spiked clubs, short swords, spears, and even blackjacks filled with sand in leather pouches were visible.

They were well-ard.

The torches illuminated the area.

Krais tossed the straw torch, which had served as their light source until now, into the hole they had erged from and marveled.

“Wow, that’s a lot of them.”

Yes, there were indeed many.

Encrid thought the sa.

“Soldiers, right?”

Among the thirty n, one stood out. He wore a fine silk shirt and trousers, and over them, a coat made of beast leather.

He was standing with a cane.

It wasn’t the kind of cane used for a leg injury.

It was a cane with a jeweled handle, carried by nobles or wealthy rchants as a symbol of their wealth.

With two perfectly good legs, the cane was rely a symbol of vanity.

“Are you the Gilpin gang?”

Encrid answered the question with another question. The aristocratic-looking man frowned. It was clear he was offended.

“Why is everyone so eager to die?”

“We’re here to ask about the ambush incident that happened within the Border Guard.”

Before Encrid finished speaking, Rem opened his mouth.

“Was it you?”

A short but pointed question.

Encrid realized he was asking about the ambush on him.

But would they really get an answer just by asking like that?

It suited Rem’s style, though.

‘Even I wouldn’t answer that.’

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The opponent wasn’t flustered, instead, he was rather confident. That confidence made him even more suspicious.

Encrid’s squad mbers needed no more than suspicion to act.

“It’s that bastard.” Jaxon muttered.

“Hmm, so it was him.” Ragna said, looking at the man with the cane. Considering Ragna’s usual deanor, this was akin to a glare. He was staring directly at the man with wide-open eyes.

Normally, he walked around with his eyes half-closed.

“Brother, did you really target our Squad Leader?” Audin stepped forward and asked. A few n nearby flinched.

In the dark night, with the shadows cast by the torches, Audin’s figure seed even larger.

Encrid was nearly 180 cm tall, and Audin was a full handspan taller than him.

He was just shy of 2 ters.

It wasn’t just his height. Up close, his entire body was muscular. His forearms were thicker than most won’s thighs.

All of Encrid’s troubleso squad mbers were well-built and muscular.

Even Krais had sculpted abs, maintained for every woman he t.

But Audin’s physique was overwhelmingly imposing.

If the thickness of muscles were the asure of a man, Audin might be one of the greatest n on the continent.

“Is it true, brother?”

“What nonsense is this? Why would we send an assassin to kill a re soldier, let alone a Squad Leader?”

The man seed to flinch at Audin’s presence and spouted unnecessary words.

“We didn’t say anything about sending assassins.”

They ntioned an ambush, not assassins.

At Encrid’s words, the aristocratic-looking man grew even calr.

“So what?”

What did they expect?

They were over thirty ard criminals. Well-ard, too.

It was clear they had known Encrid’s group was coming. Sowhere, there had been a leak of information.

So, what changed?

Nothing.

At least, that’s what Encrid thought.

The sa applied to the cris they had committed.

There was no evidence. So, whether they admitted to it or not didn’t matter.

So, nothing mattered.

That went for both the enemy and Encrid.

What use was evidence when it ca to exterminating a cri syndicate?

So, what to do now?

Even among the cri guild, there were likely those who had grabbed a weapon out of sheer desperation.

Should they all be killed?

Encrid had no such intention. So, he decided to give them a chance.

Shing.

Encrid silently drew his longsword and etched a line in the ground.

A few flinched at the sight of the drawn sword, but no one attacked.

A line ford on the frozen winter ground.

It wasn’t clearly visible with only the torches as light sources, but the aning was what mattered.

A short line appeared in the wide clearing.

Encrid pressed the tip of his sword against the line he had drawn and spoke.

“Anyone who has never killed the weak, who will quietly go to prison, who does not want to die, drop your weapons and cross over.”

This wasn’t a battlefield.

Even if they were criminals, from now on, it would be a one-sided slaughter.

The enemy might not know this, but Encrid did, and so he gave them a chance.

“Think carefully. Otherwise, you will all die today.”

He spoke of slaughter. Such was the world. It was an era where killing and being killed was not unusual. Yet, murder was never pleasant.

If this were a battlefield.

If it were for survival.

Then it might be unavoidable, but this wasn’t the case.

So, he gave them a chance.

“What did he say?”

“Huh? Who’s gonna die?”

“Has he gone mad from fear?”

“Hey, buddy. Did you piss yourself?”

The criminals mocked Encrid heartily. One even twirled his finger next to his head, mimicking madness.

In the end, no one crossed the line Encrid had drawn.

“What are you doing?”

Rem asked. Encrid didn’t feel embarrassed. He had intended to give them a chance from the beginning.

“Brother, their eyes are blinded by the devil, they won’t believe until they see.” Audin whispered.

Killing them all would be a poor choice.

Encrid chose a different approach.

“Who’s the best with a sword?”

By demonstrating his skill, he would broaden their options.

Unlike before, he was now confident.

Confident that he could win against most opponents.

Encrid stepped forward, his sword drawn.

“Co on, face .”

The guild leader sneered, as if watching a show.

A challenger stepped in front of Encrid.

“You’re pretty cocky, aren’t you?”

He looked like a forr rcenary. His long beard made it difficult to guess his age, but he didn’t seem older than forty.

“You’ll die acting like that. Just give up while you can…”

Valen rcenary Sword Technique.

Interrupting mid-sentence to strike.

That was the technique the opponent used. It reminded Encrid of his past self.

The opponent abruptly thrust his spear while still talking.

His spear-handling skill was impressive.

But it wasn’t as good as the first elite soldier’s thrust.

And it was far inferior to Mitch Hurrier, who had blocked Encrid’s path with his spear.

Encrid dodged the incoming spear and closed in on his opponent, raising his sword.

A strike from below.

Thrust!

It was a single strike.

The duel was decided in one move.

The opponent’s skill level was similar to Encrid’s past self.

Because of this,Encrid realized his own growth.

‘At this level…’

He didn’t need to repeat today. He could gauge his opponent’s level at a glance.

With the fight ending in one move,the man, impaled by Encrid’s sword, gurgled and bled. Encrid pushed him aside with force.

As he pulled out his sword with a whoosh, the man’s body, lying on the cold ground, trembled and hot steam rose from the spilling blood.

Silence descended upon the scene, mingling with the cold air. A single sword strike was enough to assert his dominance.

Everyone’s gaze on Encrid changed.

Encrid asked again,

“Anyone else want to co over?”

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