A Knight who Eternally Regresses - Chapter 105
Chapter 105: A Gamble Where You Know How to Win
“Catch them!”
The enemy soldiers’ shouts echoed, and naturally, they began their mad pursuit. Enkrid glanced back and subtly changed direction.
Thud.
A pile of dirt fell in the spot where he was about to pass. It wasn’t a sign of a collapse, just a symbol of bad luck.
‘Or maybe today’s my lucky day.’
After all, the quarrel had only grazed his head. In that sense, he was fortunate.
The tips of the spears, raised at an angle, scraped against the ceiling of the tunnel as the enemy soldiers charged forward with terrifying speed.
They had already been through a battle, but,
‘We haven’t lost much stamina yet.’
The only problem was the lack of light. Finn, however, was a Ranger, and a former Pathfinder renowned for being able to navigate by instinct alone. She wasn’t about to trip over some darkness.
Neither was Enkrid.
He had spent enough time mimicking Finn’s footsteps while traveling with her, and although he wasn’t perfect, he had developed a rough sense of the terrain beneath his feet.
Besides, how many times had they run this same path?
If he were to trip and smash his nose now, it wouldn’t be a lack of talent— it would be proof that his skull was better suited as a helmet rack.
With his sharp memory, Enkrid could run without issue through the darkness, just like Finn.
“Shit.”
Only Torres struggled. Every time he stepped into a depression, he flinched in surprise. Still, his athletic reflexes were sharp enough that he quickly regained his balance and kept running.
Whoosh.
The sound of torches.
Scratch, scratch.
The occasional scrape of spear tips against the ceiling of the tunnel.
Huff, huff!
Other than that, only the sound of labored breathing filled the tense chase.
Finn and Torres were the lightest on their feet, but they couldn’t increase their speed enough to lose the soldiers. It always felt like they were just about to be caught.
As they ran, moonlight started shining ahead. It was the entrance of the doghole.
Finn sprinted up the incline first and tossed one of the crossbows she had been carrying behind her.
Enkrid, thinking it would be better to use it as a throwing weapon rather than just abandon it, picked it up and hurled it as hard as he could.
One of the soldiers, who had been hot on their heels, saw it coming and raised his shield just in time.
Crack!
The crossbow, not made of the sturdiest material, shattered. It sent splinters of wood flying as it ricocheted off the shield.
It slowed the pursuit slightly, but not significantly. Enkrid had only thrown it to help Torres, who was falling behind.
Torres, seeing this, nodded toward Enkrid in thanks. A grateful look in his eyes and a nod of acknowledgment.
‘In the middle of this, giving thanks.’
Finn was the first to make it outside, and Enkrid followed, grabbing the edge of the entrance hole and pulling himself up. As dirt and dust crumbled down, Torres ducked his head to avoid it.
“Hold up.”
Suddenly, Torres spoke, drawing a dagger with his left hand and jamming it into the slope as he twisted his body to face backward.
‘Oh, this is new.’
Leaning against the partially slanted wall, he flicked his hand back. Unable to balance on his feet alone, he used the dagger as leverage.
And then, he flung the dagger behind him.
‘This is something I haven’t seen before.’
It wasn’t surprising, though. After all, every day might repeat itself, but they weren’t always exactly the same.
Whiz! Thunk!
The dagger flew behind him, aimed at the pursuers. Even without the torchlight, the enemy soldiers easily blocked the incoming dagger with their shields.
“Those bastards.”
Two of the soldiers cursed as they blocked the dagger. Their eyes gleamed coldly, and it was clear that if they caught up, death wouldn’t come easily.
Enkrid had been caught before. And when they caught you, it never ended well. You’d either end up skewered by spears or with a blade in your skull.
Frankly, there wasn’t any kind of death you could look forward to.
“Damn.”
Torres clicked his tongue, impressed by their defense.
Even with the faint torchlight and moonlight casting shadows in the darkness, they still managed to block it.
You couldn’t train soldiers like that with ordinary drills. From this, Torres realized something.
‘These are Frontier Guard-level soldiers.’
In other words, getting caught meant certain death. Even though Enkrid was right next to him, lending a hand,
‘I can’t let that happen.’
“How many do you think we can take?”
Torres asked, gripping Enkrid’s hand.
“If we catch them one by one, maybe all of them. But when they’re grouped like this…”
Enkrid trailed off, his answer clear. Yet, there was a faint calmness in his expression, as though he wasn’t all that tense.
What’s with this guy?
Torres thought, as he pulled himself up as fast as he could. Behind them, one of the soldiers mimicked Torres’ move, throwing a short sword like a throwing knife.
‘Nice throw.’
Enkrid thought, drawing his sword and deflecting the incoming short sword.
Ching! Thunk!
The short sword clashed with Enkrid’s blade before embedding itself in the ground nearby.
The gleaming steel reflected both the moonlight and the torches’ red and blue hues.
“Hurry.”
Enkrid’s words spurred Torres into faster motion.
“Get out of the way!”
Finn, who had made it out first, cranked the remaining crossbow she held and locked it in place before shouting. As Enkrid and Torres moved aside, Finn fired the crossbow.
Thwong!
The quarrel shot through the entrance, disappearing into the shadowy tunnel beyond the torchlight. A thud echoed back, but there was no time to check whether it had hit a head or been blocked by a shield.
“Run.”
This time, Finn spoke first, already on the move. Enkrid and Torres followed, with Torres in the middle and Enkrid at the rear.
Their direction was toward the main camp where their troops had been stationed. As she ran, Finn’s mind raced.
‘Where do we go?’
Back to the main camp? What if this was all a trap from the start? But heading toward the river could mean running into Azpen’s Rangers.
And even if they avoided them, moving this noisily would attract monsters. If it were just a dozen ghouls, they could manage.
But what if they were unlucky enough to encounter a colony of them? Fighting a colony of monsters with a small force was suicide.
A pack of wandering beasts was one thing, but a colony where they moved as a collective was another matter entirely. As a Ranger, Finn was well-versed in the behavior of beasts and monsters.
‘What’s the worst-case scenario?’
Getting caught. Monsters and beasts could be dealt with later.
“To the camp.”
Enkrid ended her train of thought with his decision. She glanced back. There he was, Enkrid, following from the rear.
All three of them were out of breath, but somehow, his eyes and expression showed a strange sense of ease.
‘Why?’
Why did he look so relaxed?
Wait, his mouth was shut. He wasn’t panting like the rest of them. Even she was starting to feel her breath catching up with her.
Wasn’t he carrying more gear than her? A longsword hung at his waist, yet he looked more composed while running.
Finn didn’t have time to ask why he chose that direction. She only had time to follow his lead. Enkrid didn’t interfere with her decisions either.
In any case, no matter where they went, it would feel like a dead end.
‘They’ll figure it out.’
Enkrid figured Finn would follow him to the camp. Likely retracing their previous steps. It was the Ranger’s instinct. Going back over the safest route already taken.
After experiencing countless versions of today, he knew this was how it would go. As they ran back, Enkrid’s hands moved deftly.
He unstrapped the sword at his waist and, while running, started swinging it from side to side. More precisely, he thrust it into the ground and then lifted it.
Thud, swoosh, thud, swoosh.
With each motion, flat stones kicked up into the air.
Using his sword like a club, Enkrid knocked the stones backward.
“Hmph!”
More than five spearmen were now right behind them.
These were some of the fastest men in the unit.
The lead spearman sneered, finding it laughable that Enkrid was trying to block his path with nothing more than flat stones.
He didn’t even bother raising his shield. He simply thrust his spear forward.
There was no need to dodge. He could just swat the stones away without slowing his pace.
Thack.
The spearman felt triumphant.
At least, until he saw the peculiar shadow the stone cast as it flew through the air.
Hiss!
“Agh!”
It was a snake. A snake had been hiding beneath the flat stone.
“You bastard!”
The spearman quickly drew his short sword and swung.
Slash!
The snake’s body was cut in half. It wasn’t a monster.
But it was venomous.
One of the spearmen had the bad luck of getting bitten as the snake flew out from under the stone and sank its fangs into the exposed flesh between his boots and leg armor.
It wasn’t a lethal venom, but the pain was instant, and his leg went numb. The bitten soldier quickly drew a dagger and stabbed the snake’s head.
Thunk.
Blood and yellowish fluid oozed from the dead snake’s mouth.
“It’s a viper!”
The soldier wrapped a torn dagger sheath around his leg to slow the spread of the venom.
Naturally, he had to stop running. Of course, the rest of the soldiers slowed down as well.
“Shit, a viper? These bastards.”
The soldier gritted his teeth and glared ahead. Meanwhile, Enkrid continued his odd trick, batting stones backward with his sheathed sword.
Some of the stones had snakes under them. Some were just ordinary stones.
But if the enemy couldn’t tell the difference, they had no choice but to dodge or block them all.
“Goddamn bastard.”
The pursuing captain, seeing the situation, growled, eyes blazing. They had almost caught that wildcat of a woman.
“Raise your shields and keep running!”
His order was the right call. Whether it was stones or snakes, there was no stopping a soldier who blocked with his shield and pressed on.
Of course, Enkrid hadn’t expected to defeat them with vipers alone.
‘That lesson from Enri really paid off.’
Enri had once told him about the flat, clay-colored stones that often concealed snakes.
Since they were passing through that area, Enkrid had put that knowledge to use. It had worked quite well.
One soldier was down, and the rest were slowed.
“Huff, huff, why are we heading to the camp?”
As their pursuers slowed down, Finn matched pace with Enkrid and asked. Torres, equally curious, also moved closer. Enkrid glanced back and replied.
“Because to fight that many, we need allies.”
Finn’s face twisted into a grimace.
“Haah… ha… There’s no one there. My squad already moved camp.”
Finn misunderstood. Torres misunderstood as well. Enkrid feigned surprise and said.
“Well, it’s too late to change direction now. We’ll pass the camp and decide where to go next.”
Now speaking casually, he even took the lead. Finn and Torres realized they had no better option. They had no choice but to keep going.
Their spines tingled. Behind them, they could hear the soldiers breathing heavily, their pace closing in.
How could they still maintain such perfect formation while sprinting? It was impressive. What kind of elite training must they have undergone?
Only now did Finn realize who they were facing.
“Shit, those are the Gray Hounds, aren’t they?”
The Gray Hounds, a.k.a. the Gray Dog Unit.
More commonly known as relentless hunters. They had a history with Enkrid.
Hurrier Mitch was part of that unit. They had even wrapped a Whistling Dagger as a “gift” for him, packaged by a half-elf.
That meant they were an elite force, on par with the Frontier Guard. Enkrid already knew, of course, but he pretended to be surprised.
“Oh, really?”
Though, something about his tone made it seem as if he wasn’t all that shocked.BNot that Finn or Torres had the time or energy to question his attitude.
The stronger the enemy, the better.
That’s what Enkrid thought. Before today, there had been seventy-eight other todays. And in those days, what had he learned?
He had sharpened his ability to make split-second decisions when facing dozens of elite soldiers.
He had gathered information from Roger by asking him all sorts of questions, slowly extracting valuable intel.
Now, he was putting all of that to use.
All three of them picked up speed. Seeing the soldiers getting closer behind them, their legs moved instinctively.
“Huff! Huff! Huff!”
Torres controlled his breathing as he ran.
“You dogs, you filthy bastards!”
Finn cursed as she ran. The fact that she still had the energy to trash-talk said enough about how much she hated those soldiers.
As they neared the camp, Enkrid deliberately veered off the main path.
Finn noticed but didn’t say anything. Though Rangers typically took the lead in these situations, Enkrid confidently led the way.
So, they followed.
They arrived at the camp.
There were the dug-out holes they had buried and concealed under dirt, a few scattered trees, and a small hill.
And beyond that, something unexpected awaited.
Howl! Awoooo!
A pack of lycanthropes.
“Shit!”
Monsters, and not just any monsters. A pack of over twenty lycanthropes— creatures that no sane person would willingly engage in combat with.
The one leading them stood at the front. It was clear they had formed a colony.
‘This is the worst.’
For a brief moment, Finn almost gave up on life. Torres’ eyes darted around as he tried to process the situation. Only Enkrid, only him, took a deep breath, preparing for what was to come.
‘This is the turning point.’
It was half a gamble, but the countless iterations of today had taught him that a gamble doesn’t remain a gamble when you know how to win.
And so, Enkrid took the first step.