A Knight who Eternally Regresses - Chapter 25
Chapter 25: Tall Grass Field
“Let’s push through this grass field and follow the recon team’s trail. What do you think?”
When I looked again, the recon squad leader’s eyes were shining as he said this. Expectation, confidence, and a hint of tension mixed together. It was a new day. To cut to the chase, the escape failed. Enkrid opened his eyes and faced the new day by reflecting on yesterday.
‘Where did it go wrong?’
Going east might have been a mistake.
‘No, it seemed fine up to that point.’
Reviewing was Enkrid’s habit. While fleeing east, he encountered the crossbow unit again and fell, bolts piercing his body. He writhed on the ground and died when a bolt lodged in his head.
He hated recalling the pain from that moment, but if he didn’t replay it, he would keep dying and that was worse.
Review and continuously search for the problem. Enkrid repeated his thoughts.
‘Since I could hear it, I get the first opportunity.’
He caught a strange sound. What he learned from Jaxon helped. Afterward, the Heart of the Beast made him view the situation calmly. He had to choose one side and break through. He failed, though.
‘If I do it again.’
He felt he could do it. He had been unlucky to run into the waiting unit rather than being caught by the pursuing one.
‘I just need to find the right path.’
As he was lost in thought, someone tapped his shoulder. It was Enri. Enkrid realized he had been too deep in thought.
“Just look around quickly and move on, please.”
What does he keep asking me to endure?
“You don’t look well.”
Enri pointed ahead with his eyes. When he turned his gaze forward, he met the eyes of a rough-looking soldier following closely behind the squad leader. He looked like he was glaring, but he probably wasn’t trying to start a fight.
‘Considering he wants me to understand the squad leader, he seems to have some sense.’
He was probably thinking of finding an opportunity to talk to me properly. Judging that it wasn’t the right time to speak, the rough-looking soldier averted his gaze first. Enkrid nodded at Enri and walked. He pushed the grass aside with his hand and entered. Soon, a familiar sight blocked his view. The tall green grass drastically limited visibility.
Certainly, facing an ambush in here was bad. Risking your life to come in here was not something anyone would usually do.
‘What if we didn’t go in here in the first place?’
That wouldn’t work. The reason this unit was here was to recon the tall grass field.
What could they say if they returned without doing that?
They noticed the enemy’s ambush before entering?
Even if they changed the reconing direction. The ten men here would never agree with that. It was unavoidable. Most of the new ‘today’ was always like this but if you ask if it was troublesome.
‘Not bad.’
He had only fought properly once. Enri had asked him how he could be the lowest-ranking soldier. The squad leader had belittled himself.
‘Actual combat.’
It was just one battle, but that one experience was valuable. The Heart of the Beast didn’t leave any room for panic. He used every opportunity to wield and stab with his sword. He predicted the enemy’s actions and moved accordingly. He applied what he learned in between.
Thump.
His heart pounded. It felt like something thrilling pierced through his body.
‘It’s a good opportunity.’
Before setting out on the reconing mission, Rem and Ragna had alternately evaluated his swordsmanship. What he learned from them. What he realized on his own.
It was the perfect time to digest it all.
“Do you see here? The bent grass?”
“Beast footprints.”
Enkrid was a man who knew how to use what he learned. He acted like he knew. Enri looked at Enkrid, rolled his eyes, and asked.
“You have hunting experience?”
He didn’t. He had learned it from Enri.
“I just heard things here and there.”
He had heard it from Enri.
After honestly answering, they continued with trivial conversation. While doing so, he quickened his pace and moved forward. He was right behind the squad leader.
Enkrid was now assessing the recon team’s formation. It was something he hadn’t paid much attention to before. The squad leader was in the front, two on the right, two on the left. Right behind the squad leader was the rough-looking soldier. The remaining members followed behind like a rear guard.
‘They’re not just idiots.’
The formation was plausible. If the enemy appeared, it was a good shape for a response. It wouldn’t help much if they met a unit armed with crossbows. In the failed ‘today,’ the recon squad leader had stopped acting foolishly. He silently followed Enkrid’s lead.
Additionally, his swordsmanship was quite decent. The rough-looking soldier was a very skilled soldier.
‘At least mid-level or higher.’
By Naurillia soldier standards, that’s what he seemed. Both the squad leader and the rough-looking soldier. Both had good skills.
Enri wasn’t bad either. He walked with a short bow in his left hand and could shoot rapidly. Not that it was a level where he could survive a volley of bolts.
‘Avoid the crossbow units at all costs.’
Enkrid deliberately stuck close behind the squad leader. The rough-looking soldier, perhaps watching the squad leader’s reactions, didn’t speak.
Rustle. Hiss! Crackle.
And he heard the same sound again.
“Duck.”
He grabbed the back of the squad leader’s neck and threw him back. Last time, only four survived to escape. This time, he would save a few more.
“Ugh!”
The squad leader let out a cry as he fell backward.
“Enemy!”
The enemy shouted. Bolts flew in immediately. Meanwhile, Enkrid kicked the backs of two allied soldiers’ knees in succession. Bolts whizzed over the heads of the fallen soldiers. Enkrid also spread his legs and lowered his body. A grasshopper, startled, jumped away in front of him. Enkrid rose using the rebound of his thigh muscles and erector spinae while throwing a knife.
Ping!
The knife cut through the air. It hit nothing, but the enemy flinched momentarily. A brief gap, enough.
Whack.
He lightly tapped the squad leader’s forehead with his elbow.
“Pull yourself together.”
He said as he dashed forward. Pounding the dirt and grass underfoot, he drew his sword. He got into position and performed a one-handed thrust.
‘All out.’
With the determination to pierce through, but without letting his muscles relax after the stab. How to keep strength while thrusting with full force?
“You need a sense for that. How do you get a sense? Keep doing it. You’ll get it eventually.”
This was something Rem had said during training. Enkrid was now internalizing that here and now.
Thwack!
The tip of his sword pierced the enemy’s chest. He twisted and pulled it out. The blade that sliced through muscles, nerves, and heart was withdrawn. He feigned a horizontal swing, then closed the distance and kicked the shin of another enemy soldier.
The soldier was just about to aim with his crossbow.
“Ugh!”
The struck soldier involuntarily lowered his head, and Enkrid struck the back of the soldier’s head with the pommel.
Crunch!
The move was like hitting a clumsy leather helmet with a blunt object. It felt like splitting solid green wood. After taking down two, he saw a third charging, wearing a thicker cloth armor and holding a large round shield.
Ping, ping, ping!
Enri shot three rapid arrows. But the arrows didn’t penetrate the armor. No blood seeped from where they struck. One poorly lodged arrow wobbled and fell to the ground.
In his haste, Enri hadn’t used the bow’s full draw strength. Enkrid quickly switched his sword to his left hand and swung it.
Clang!
Sparks flew as the blade met the shield’s edge. While it dented the shield frame, Enkrid’s hand went numb.
“Haaargh!”
The enemy roared, bringing the shield down on Enkrid’s head.
Thump.
A moment’s distraction could mean death here. Panic led to death. That was the battlefield. The Heart of the Beast shone in moments like these. Its courage kept him calm in the heat of battle. Enkrid could clearly see the shield’s downward trajectory.
“Observe carefully, evade skillfully.”
This was Rem’s teaching. Observe and evade.
“There’s no useless part of a sword. Use everything, from hilt to tip.”
This was Ragna’s teaching. Enkrid watched carefully and dodged at the last possible moment.
Whoosh— the shield brushed past his nose, causing his hair to flutter from the wind.
“Huff, huff!”
The enemy, exerting his strength to raise the shield again, breathed heavily. Through the shield, he could tell the enemy was tense. The enemy’s eyes, peeking over the shield, glared at Enkrid. Clashing with the shield would prolong the fight.
Enkrid threw the sword, catching it with the hilt up and the blade down. He swung with full force, using his waist and knee rotation. Before the shield bearer could react, the move was executed.
Whoosh, thud!
The blade’s tip jabbed into the enemy’s eye. Blood and clear fluid streamed from the wound.
“Aaaargh!”
The one-eyed soldier screamed. Due to holding the blade, Enkrid drew his short sword with his bloody hand. He then thrust it into the neck of the berserk enemy and pulled it out.
Splash!
Blood spurted in rhythm with his actions. The shield bearer collapsed with blood foaming from his neck.
“Over here!”
In a sequence of brutal scenes. Everyone watched Enkrid with their mouths agape.
How many had he killed in such a short time?
Enkrid retrieved his sword from the enemy’s eye. Blood smeared up to the hilt. He wiped it roughly and moved. This time, six followed him. He had saved two more.
“……What are you?”
The squad leader, sticking close while running, asked.
“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”
He should run instead of talking. Enkrid ran east again. Along the way, he struck and killed every enemy he saw. He ventured deeper than before this time.
‘I misjudged the direction.’
He was sure it wasn’t the east. This time, he encountered fifty spearmen. A trained fifty spearmen unit was at the platoon level. The three of them couldn’t handle that. Losing the rest along the way, only the recon squad leader and the rough-looking soldier remained.
“We were unlucky.”
The rough-looking soldier said.
“Damn.”
The recon squad leader looked around and frowned.
Enkrid.
“I’ll take five with me.”
He steeled himself and charged. From the enemy’s perspective, he must have seemed insane.
Facing fifty spearmen?
Charging at a unit of spearmen was sheer madness. Perhaps only knights or those in a knight order could pull that off.
What was he doing?
Seeing him wield the sword, they knew he could fight, but not at an extraordinary level. At best, he might be called a skilled soldier.
Charging without regard for his own life wasn’t normal. Thus, Enkrid killed three spearmen.
And then died, skewered by a spear in the belly.
Of course, it hurt terribly. He saw a long banner lying behind the spearmen unit, and that was his last memory.
“Let’s go this way. Killing the enemy beyond the grass field will be an achievement, right? Or should we capture them alive?”
Listening to the squad leader’s words, Enkrid reflected on yesterday once again.
Review.
‘There’s no way out to the east.’
Then it’s north this time.
Combat was a good nourishment. Even the two who disliked each other, Rem and Ragna, agreed on this. Even Jaxon had said the best way to train your senses was to fight for your life.
In those moments of death, human concentration broke through limits. Enkrid was proving that with his own body.
‘I’ve improved.’
It wasn’t arrogance or overconfidence. Objectively, his skills had improved considerably.
And they were still improving. In the repeated ‘today,’ Enkrid died nine more times in the north. He died six more times in the east. In the west, he died twelve more times. The battles continued.
Skill didn’t improve overnight. That was inevitable. But he could move forward step by step.
Enkrid felt joy once more. He was growing even now. Because there was a better today than yesterday.
“Uaaaargh!”
Thud!
During one of these repeated days, a fierce soldier’s spear grazed his cheek. Previously, Enkrid would have failed to dodge that strike. It was a strike similar to the spear soldier’s, but he avoided it.
He didn’t just avoid it. Countless battles had instilled good habits in Enkrid. As he dodged, he brought his sword down from above.
A vertical strike. And at that moment, Enkrid felt something strange. Though he struck, there was no sensation in his hands.
No, it was too faint.
Even though he cut the enemy’s arm, it felt like slicing through a rotten branch.
It was that easy.
On the other hand, the enemy’s arm was cleanly severed and flew through the air. There was no sound.
A flawlessly clean strike.
The so-called cut with no feeling in the hands. The strike often achieved by those called geniuses.
“Ah.”
Enkrid was so surprised it broke his concentration for a moment. It was the first time he experienced this in battle. He keenly felt the weight of the sword in his hand. The thrilling sensation left him euphoric.
“Ha, really.”
It was too exciting.
Covered in blood, he laughed. He couldn’t contain his laughter from the overwhelming satisfaction.
“Crazy bastard!”
From the enemy’s perspective, he was just a madman. Nevertheless, Enkrid died countless more times. And repeated today countless more times.
In those repeated days, what he learned from training seeped into his body.