volume 2 - Chapter 20 (1/2)
Chapter 20 – The knight of the past (1)
TL: If you want music to go along?
“Young man, your road ends here.”
The single sword in Ebdon’s hand is an ordinary magic sword named ‘The White Fang’, but it was the proof of this knight’s entire fame and honor.
Its left hand supported his right wrist, and when it finished speaking, the thin blade ignited, and a white layer of flame sprang from the sword.
[Ebdon’s famous sword’s skill, ‘White Blaze’.]
Compared to him, Ebdon was the true imperial swordsman. The former Ebdon was a knight at the age of seventeen, and when he was forty he was considered a master fighter. He spent his entire life fighting for Aouine and was considered a hero, but the ‘White Rider’ Ebdon was the name that spread throughout the continent.
In his era, Ebdon was one of four Madara’s Apocalypse Knights, and the name of ‘White Rider’ was attached to the ‘Conqueror’ Ebdon. This name alone terrified children and adults alike. (TL: Yes, that’s from the four hors.e.m.e.n of the apocalypse and the first time it ever appeared in the series, oh gosh the pain of editing every single name that I tled wrongly…)
As soon as Brendel retreated, he immediately felt the situation was too difficult for him to handle alone.
[Out of the entire forces in this region, there are two leaders I don’t want to meet. One is the Conqueror, ‘The White Rider’, Ebdon, the other is the King of Wars ‘The Red Rider’ Ladios. Looks like Mother Marsha is playing a joke on me again.]
But Ebdon moved immediately with its horse, and before Brendel was able to finish his thoughts, Ebdon had already attacked slashed diagonally from above. The burning white blade swung down towards his head, making him feel the freezing air that rushed at his face. He immediately felt his breath was stifled, and without a moment to waste, immediately rolled sideways.
The white flames blew across the ground and a blast rang out from it. Rocks and gravel flew all over the place as if an explosion had occurred there, and he saw that there was a clean cut on the ground extending all the way to a boulder that was in the swing’s path.
[The wind pressure alone is able to destroy rocks. That’s the proof of a true Silver-ranked swordsman.]
Brendel felt gooseb.u.mps rising all over his body. Even with his skill Power Break, his White Raven Sword Arte was only able to destroy wooden materials.
Ebdon did not waste any time when it saw Brendel escaping to the sides, and urged its Nightmare Warhorse forward without any regards for the undead around him, trampling the skeletons down in order to reach Brendel’s side.
When Ebdon got close enough, it made the horse jump ahead of Brendel, with another slash towards the youth’s neck.
[s.h.i.+t!]
Brendel saw that there was no escape, and he could only used the Thorn of Light with Power Break to increase his strength. A grating sound of metallic scream happened when their swords met each other. Both swords bend backwards to their utmost limits, and Brendel was finally pushed backwards by like a cannonball. He rolled uncontrollably on the ground a few times, before he managed to stop himself and crawl up with trembling arms.
[At least 25 OZ in strength. Move, you stupid hand!]
His right hand received the greatest impact, and for a moment he lost the feelings in his fingers, before pins and needles rushed to p.r.i.c.k them. Brendel felt that it was lucky of him to activate the Power Break in time, otherwise his hand would be rendered useless.
[This is getting crazy. A single slash from his sword is over a ton each.]
Brendel watched the rider that was clad in pure white rus.h.i.+ng straight at him. He wished that he had his Holy Sword card ready to use. In order to win against a monster like this, he had to rely on that type of power, but at the same time, he did not have the available earth EP to pay for it at this moment.
Ebdon and its horse was nearly in front of him —
Brendel gritted his teeth and raised his sword over his head with both hands, the blade pointing slightly downwards towards the ground as well as parallel to it, his eyes glaring at Ebdon His stance was one of the best for parrying within the military swordsmans.h.i.+p.
“The stance is unrefined.”
The White Rider looked down at him from the horse, and a cold raspy voice transmitted from the helmet. Another slash faster than the previous attacks came, with the compressed air forming from the edges of the blade.
[Incoming!]
Brendel immediately took a step forward to meet The White Fang by using the fuller portion of his blade. At the single instant where the point of contact happened, he adjusted the angle of the blade. Sparks flew, and he actually managed to make Ebdon’s blade slide away —
But the remaining strength transmitted from the blade still made him fall backwards. Brendel’s left leg immediately went back further and downwards. It was as if he had frequently adjusted his entire balance using this sword stance and became part of his instinct. His feet slid away to the sides, but at the end of it he was steady in a half-kneeling position.
Brendel’s s.h.i.+rt was nearly drenched in perspiration. He had accomplished this in the game many times, but that was with the a.s.sistance with the system to predict several things that include the path of the sword and body position, and it even aided him in correcting wrong postures.
This was done without any a.s.sistance at all.
[If I missed that by a centimeter, I’m most likely dead—]
But he actually managed to do it.
He swung his right arm a few times as he still felt that it was not listening to his command properly. The opponent’s strength was just too much. Each time he crossed swords he felt like a truck had struck him. Even if he managed to parry the blade, his muscles and bones were groaning.
Ebdon uttered a puzzled sound under its helmet. The swordsmans.h.i.+p was nothing special, but he seemed very experienced as he found the appropriate technique to defend himself as if he was a veteran.
He turned his horse back and went further away, preparing to charge at him.