I Pull Out Excalibur

44 – Demon Knight Berenheigen (2)

What kind of existence is a demon?

Hundreds of years ago, during a time when demons darkened half the continent and flapped their wings, a certain wizard had this to say about demons.

– What kind of existence? A creature that should be killed without questioning or hesitating. Ah, burning them to death is preferable. It’s cleaner that way.

Don’t ask, don’t hesitate, just kill them.

In fact, it was a sentence written at the top of the knight’s code, imperial law, and the doctrine of the Holy Church. It made sense; demons were the enemies of humanity.

– Are there good demons?

– If there were, would their names include “evil” and “magic”?

Arthur, the hero who opened the era of humans by sweeping away countless demons that had darkened the continent, burned many demons by his side. Merlin, who had burned more than five digits of demons alone, chuckled bitterly.

– Even among the demons I burned, there wasn’t a single one I could talk to. They were just born that way.

Merlin said.

– Those who repay bestowed mercy with betrayal.

It was advice and an anecdote.

Najin nodded. He never doubted the fact that demons were wicked. What mattered was how to deal with such demons.

Demon Knight, Berenheigen.

Before pursuing him, Najin was determined to prepare thoroughly. Facing an opponent stronger than himself required thorough preparation.

“According to the information found in books…”

Books, and the tale of Merlin.

Jinjin began jotting down the necessary items by combining them. The Holy Water infused with the blessings of the altar, a silver dagger, resistance-enhancing objects against antidotes and magic…

There, the list was complete.

Now, all that remained was to obtain these items.

– Well, well.

Merlin’s voice echoed in Jinjin’s ear.

– Do you really think you’ll find those here? You’ll have to go to the altar to get what you need. You can’t just find them anywhere, you know.

“True, isn’t it?”

– Yes. And besides…

Merlin said in a deep tone.

– Didn’t you originally not need things like this?

“What do you mean?”

– What’s the most annoying thing when dealing with demons? It’s magic.

The evil aura emitted by demons or things related to demons. It contaminates the surrounding air and mana, even staining the environment black. For ordinary beings, magic is like a severe poison.

The culprit, of course, and even unmanned areas are the same.

If an unmanned being reaches a high level, they might be able to resist magic completely, but that’s a story only possible for Swordmasters or higher. Magic continues to accumulate, staining the body and soul black.

– At first, it’s not noticeable.

– But if it continues to accumulate and reaches a threshold, it goes beyond the point of no return. There’s no way to resist magic unless you regularly receive baptism at the church. Even that is not perfect.

That was the reason why humans and demons couldn’t coexist and why the Empire waged war against demons. However, Jinjin, who was listening to Merlin’s story, just chuckled.

“If you put it that way, aren’t the items listed here even more necessary?”

– Look at you. Have you forgotten what you have?

Merlin chuckled.

Things like the blessings of the altar, the Holy Water, and silver weapons are on a different dimension from what you possess.

– Excalibur bestows purification and healing blessings upon its owner. A blessing so sensitive that it even reacts to your mood… There’s no way it won’t respond to magic, right?

Jinjin muttered in disbelief.

Merlin nodded in agreement with that disbelief.

– You are completely immune to magic.

– And as long as you possess Excalibur…

You are like a natural enemy to demons.

Merlin muttered those words. Na Jin didn’t immediately understand what Merlin meant. Surely, in the fairy tale, King Arthur killed several demons… Wasn’t it just because King Arthur was exceptional?

In response to Na Jin’s monologue, Merlin could only smile wryly.

It seemed that this boy didn’t understand much about the legendary sword “Excalibur.”

2.

Just before dawn.

Na Jin began to pursue.

Although the request had a rough estimated route, it wasn’t very helpful. It only provided a vague direction.

But that was enough for Na Jin.

As Na Jin followed the trail, he suddenly felt a surge of unease. His heart pounded, and sharp intuition moved his body unconsciously. It was as if he was reacting to a hidden energy. When he turned his head, he saw traces of demonic knights in the direction his instincts led him.

– Becoming the owner of Excalibur.

While Na Jin felt uneasy about that fact, Merlin whispered in his ear.

– It’s like you will become the sheath of Excalibur.

Becoming one with Excalibur.

Sharing its nature.

Merlin spoke like that and took a deep breath.

– It’s also a reaction to evil. It’s still weak, but… Chasing after someone who openly exudes such energy won’t be an easy task, right?

Just trust your senses as always.

Merlin said that, and Na Jin nodded slowly. After taking a long breath, Na Jin quickly moved his steps towards where the trail continued.

In the forest before the sunrise, Na Jin ran.

The wind blowing was chilly, and the air tickled his nose with the smell of blood. Na Jin frowned. A putrid smell. He knew it well.

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Thud.

Na Jin’s footsteps in the forest slowed down. Although it was still dark inside the forest as the sun hadn’t risen yet, Na Jin, familiar with the darkness of the night, could clearly see the forest’s scenery.

Trees uprooted.

Branches snapped and broken.

Blood stains scattered all around.

If you walk following those, you will see and know. The aftermath of a battle that took place here. Na Jin’s slowing footsteps came to a halt. Silently, he looked around as the stench of vibrating blood engulfed him.

Knights with exploded heads.

Knights with torn limbs.

Knights with holes in their hearts.

Knights, knights, and more knights. The corpses of beings worthy of being called strong were scattered throughout the forest. Na Jin wielded his sword to chase away the monsters feasting on those corpses.

“······.”

Silently, Najin walked among the corpses.

Broken swords and pools of blood. Helmets and armor abandoned by their owners. As he passed by the pitifully fallen bodies, he could hear it… the sound of breathing.

Labored breaths.

Breaths that seemed ready to extinguish at any moment.

Najin, having passed by the pine trees splattered with blood, soon reached the source of the breathing. There, a knight leaned against a tree, clutching his abdomen.

“Huuk, huuu···.”

At a glance, it was clear that his injuries were fatal.

The knight’s breathing was rough, and his surroundings were stained with crimson blood. His complexion was deathly pale. Najin stood before him without a word.

As a shadow loomed over his head, the knight slowly tried to lift it, but even that seemed difficult for him. He coughed, his mouth foaming with blood.

Najin bent his knees silently, aligning himself with the knight’s eye level, sparing him the effort of raising his head. In that position, Najin spoke.

“Please, let us take you to the nearby church.”

“I appreciate the offer, but…”

The knight forced a bitter smile.

“I must decline. I know the condition I’m in. There’s no chance I can survive with treatment.”

He lifted the hand that had been pressing on his abdomen, revealing a gaping hole, with rotting flesh that made one’s stomach turn. It was already too late for recovery.

“That damn Bernhagen. He used to be my comrade, but he’s heartless. He made me suffer, piercing my belly with a hole and leaving me to die, how cruel.”

The knight chuckled.

His nonchalant attitude clashed with his pallid complexion and the cold sweat on his forehead.

“Huu···.”

The knight observed Najin’s demeanor as he caught his breath.

He didn’t look like a typical knight. He appeared more like a mercenary or an adventurer, but his equipment indicated that he was a fairly renowned adventurer even in Cambria.

“Perhaps you received a request.”

Najin nodded and retrieved a scroll from his pouch, presenting it to the knight.

“Indeed, I received a request from the Attanga Knights.”

“Ah, you truly have honor. Your courage and determination are commendable…”

The knight coughed, spitting out a mixture of blood and saliva as he spoke.

“He’s not someone you should confront. The estimation of his abilities is wrong. He has undoubtedly formed a contract with a demon of at least the rank of a lieutenant, and the transformation is in progress.”

He cautioned that the information was inaccurate.

“Keep your distance and pursue him. Send regular reports to the Attanga Knights. That’s your best course of action.”

He conveyed how to deal with the pursuer who would follow. As if that weren’t enough, he barely raised his hand to point in the direction where dawn was breaking. His fingertips trembled noticeably.

“He went over there.”

Take this.

The muttering knight handed something to Najin. Perhaps a means to contact Atangawa. Najin silently accepted what the knight offered. Only then did the knight relax his shoulders and exhale, as if signaling the completion of his task.

As if he had done his duty.

It was an expression as if he had just unloaded a burden he had been carrying.

“Is there anything else you’d like to leave behind?”

The feeble breath of the weakening knight.

Having noticed it, Najin asked the question. In response, the knight only smiled bitterly. He seemed to be a keen observer. With a mumbled remark, the knight finally opened his mouth.

“Knight of the Trebache family, Gilbert.”

He slowly lowered the hand that had been covering his abdomen. Gilbert, enduring pain, was passing on information to a pursuer, someone who might arrive at any moment.

…The pain of a mage’s decaying flesh is unbearable for an ordinary person. Despite cultivating his mental resilience as a knight, there were limits.

Since the chances of survival were slim to none, it might have been better to end his own life with the dagger he held in his arms long ago. However, Gilbert struggled until the end.

To convey information to the pursuer who would follow.

To not let the deaths of his comrades here be in vain, he endured until the very end.

“Even if I can’t deliver the message to the lord, I apologize for the unreliability that will convey the information. Please convey my regards to my lord. If possible, mention that I was a knight with high pride until the end. That way, my name might be saved a bit.”

A futile joke.

Chuckling, Gilbert laughed. With a final gurgle, blood spattered from Gilbert’s mouth. With a brief convulsion, Gilbert’s body slackened.

He may not have lived as a knight of high pride at all times.

But in choosing to die as a knight until the end, he faced death that way. Najin silently reached out and closed Gilbert’s open eyes.

“… .”

Najin stood up from his seat.

He looked at where Gilbert had pointed. The dawn was breaking, announcing the end of the night. Looking at the light spreading through the forest, Najin took a step forward.

A knight who faced death as a knight.

There are many who live as knights, but those who want to be knights until the last moment are rare. It’s not easy for a person to be honorable even when cornered. Moreover, it’s an age where the weight of the name ‘knight’ is lighter than ever.

Lax knights.

Knights who betray their lords and pursue wealth.

Knights who are nothing more than hired blades intoxicated with power.

Knights without honor or pride.

These are times of such knights. In an era where individuals predominantly pursue tangible aspirations like power and wealth rather than ambiguous concepts such as honor and pride.

– Because it is such an era.

Najin thought, and Merlin spoke.

– Those knights must shine.

Individuals who aspire to be knights without gaining anything. Those who, even in the final moments of their lives, wish to be knights. Najin had seen such individuals somewhere.

“Go, Najin.”

“Stand in the highest place and shout.”

“Let it be known at your starting point that you were once a knight chasing stars.”

From the appearance of the knight a while ago.

Najin glimpsed the figure of his benefactor. While Najin didn’t quite understand things like honor and pride, he could discern the fact that they deserved respect.

Because he could discern it.

“Merlin.”

Najin spoke.

“The plan has changed.”

He gripped the sword at his waist with determination.

The original plan was to observe the movements of the devil knight from a distance, and when the knights of Atanga arrived, Najin planned to grab the devil knight’s ankle.

He was a formidable opponent.

And he had no reason to risk his life.

It was just to use him as a sparring partner to gain combat experience. But his thoughts changed. They had to change. He realized that it was not something to be taken lightly.

“I guess I’ll have to catch him myself.”

Najin’s pupils were coldly determined.

This declaration was not the ambition of an arrogant genius. It was a declaration imbued with a firm resolution, a kind of determination that even hinted at a certain obsession.

“That way, I might understand what honor and pride really mean.”

Honor and pride. The knights who embraced them.

Boys admire knights. It’s because the first knight they saw planted a dream in the boy.

“I am Ivan.”

“Ivan, the knight of Atanga.”

The boy never forgets the pride he saw in the eyes of that one-eyed knight. The one-eyed knight never forgets the honor he desired until the end.

It was because that was the first star the boy ever saw.

Ivan’s eyes, shouting pride, were more radiant than anything else. Najin wanted to understand that starlight. He had to understand why Ivan staked his life on such ephemeral values.

“I don’t know why.”

Najin let out a long sigh.

His intuition was screaming.

“I think I can find out if I confront that devil knight, giving it all I’ve got.”

What kind of knight I wanted to become.

What honor and dignity were.

Paradoxically, it seemed I could find out all of that by facing someone who had abandoned them.

– You’re impulsive.

“That’s right.”

So, are you going to stop me?

Najin asked that way. Merlin only burst into laughter in response to her question.

– What nonsense is this?

Merlin shouted.

– What are you doing? Not going right away?

“I thought it would turn out like this.”

Najin moved her footsteps.

Following the traces, Najin began to run.

3.

Devil Knight, Bernheigen.

He turned around at the sense of presence he heard. There was someone walking straight towards him without even trying to hide the presence. How foolish. Not hiding the presence and openly revealing oneself?

Another knight?

Thinking such, Bernheigen turned his head. However, there was no knight there. There was only a young man dressed in what seemed to be a attire woven with demon’s leather, not shining armor adorned with the family crest.

– Is he a mercenary?

Passing by near Cambria, perhaps he has a commission in the city. What a useless gesture. Bernheigen sighed and opened his mouth.

“Hey, you mercenary brat…”

“Name.”

The young man interrupted Bernheigen’s words. He drew his sword, making a clang noise, and aimed it at Bernheigen. With the tip of the blade pointed at him, he asked the question.

What is your name?

In a manner reminiscent of asking for the opponent’s name before a duel, Bernheigen burst into laughter.

“It’s Bernheigen.”

The devil knight revealed my name.

If that’s the case, the young man facing his sword should also disclose his own name. Soon, the young man’s mouth opened.

“I’m Naja.”

What was pronounced through that mouth was the real name, not a false identity.

“A knight of Atanga, the descendant of Ivan.”

A shimmer emanated from Naja’s sword.