The Knight King Who Returned with Gods : Chapter 9
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 9 Chivalry (2)
As Dullahan dismounted, Leon saw that his hunch was
correct.
"Indeed, an honorable knight."
Leon summoned a sword from thin air. A battered yet
sturdy metal blade.
He wore no armor. The armor forged by Heto, the god of
metal and blacksmithing, had crumbled after so many years of war.
Leon looked at Dullahan, who held the greatsword in one
hand and had his head tucked into his waist, and offered a word of consideration.
"You can place your head aside. Your swordsmanship,
by nature, is two-handed. A true duel is not complete unless it is conducted
properly."
"......That, Your Majesty."
Just then, Hari cautiously approached.
"What is it?"
"That... Dullahan, he won't die if his head isn't
damaged."
"So?"
How the hell are you going to defeat a Dullahan without
hurting his head?
"It doesn't matter. It's a knight's honor to settle
the score."
No, so you didn't even want to kill him? Having casually chewed
Hari's words, Leon looked at Dullahan, who left his head to a skeleton and
gripped his sword with both hands.
"First Knight of Arianna, the goddess of light and
justice. Grand Duke of Dragonia and King Lionheart. I now grant the honorable
knight the challenge."
No sooner had the anachronistic introduction and
misguided proclamation ended,
Despite his creaking armor, Dullahan closed the distance
in an instant and slashed his greatsword downward.
There was a dizzying clang, but Leon was unscathed by the
greatsword. Blade and blade pushed against each other in a contest of power.
"Are, are their strength equal?"
Hari inwardly denied Chief Kim's words as she collected
herself.
Leon's sword was an ordinary longsword. Whereas
Dullahan's sword was a greatsword that could have easily weighed twice as much.
And despite the advantage of the top-heavy stance, Leon doesn't falter in the
slightest.
'What
power.......'
In terms of power, Leon was outclassing Dullahan. If
anything, Leon had the advantage in this situation.
Dullahan gripped the handle of his sword and was about to
deliver a solid slash. But in the blink of an eye, Leon twisted his blade as if
to brush it aside, and in a flash, he sword-wrestled the Dullahan to the
ground, pointing his sword at his heart.
"One kill."
There was no mistaking what that declaration meant.
Dullahan took two steps back and then spun.
He swung his heavy greatsword with all the force he could
muster. A blast that would shatter any defense.
It seemed to be parried by the blade at first, but then
the pommel was struck instead. The greatsword was driven deep into the ground,
while the longsword remained upright.
-......!
The next moment, a kick landed on the Dullahan's chest. It
was more of a foot thrust than a swift kick. Somehow, though, Dullahan's stance
collapsed, and he landed on his rear.
The sword immediately pointed down, and Leon said,
"Two."
Watching the whole exchange, the hunters didn't
understand what had just happened.
Leon's kick seemed more like a light shove, and yet
Dullahan's stance crumbled.
To anyone watching, they'd surely expect Dullahan to be
the one to go easy on Leon.
"What the hell happened?"
"......It's crazy."
"Hari?"
Of all of them, Hari was the one who had just grasped
what had happened.
She had been an aspiring kendo practitioner since she was
a child and had been training with a sword for a long time.
You'd think that with boxing and swordsmanship, you'd
just need to be good with your fists and swords, but in any martial art, there
are certain things that are emphasized.
It's about how to shift your center of gravity and the
footwork that comes from your lower body.
Whether it's a light jab or a parrying wrist strike, it all
starts with the lower body's center of gravity.
What Leon did was to disrupt that center of gravity.
'At
first glance, it looked like he was putting most of his energy into his right
foot, which was the one that was kicking, but it was actually his left foot
that was on the ground. And he was using his momentum to create a small
vibration in a 2.5 meter radius.'
A technique that shook the ground with just the force of
the footfalls. It was a double-edged sword, as it disrupted the opponent's
stance while also disrupting your own.
Leon does it so effortlessly that it broke Dullahan's
stance.
A kick launched while the center of gravity collapsed was
like a slight nudge to a person standing on the edge of a cliff.
It was an exquisite maneuver, executed effortlessly in
such a short moment.
"Regain your stance."
Dullahan hobbled back to his feet. The same thing was
repeated afterward.
* * * * *
Dullahan, the commander knight, was a knight who sought
only honor and glory.
But he was cursed by a necromancer who made him the
commander of an army.
Now free of his bindings, all he can do is stay in this
unknown place and repel invaders.
He repeated that boring task, commanding an army to repel
invaders again and again.
Some of the invaders were moderately strong, but none
were great.
"Excellent!"
Except for one man.
A man who called himself Leon Dragonia Lionheart.
He demanded a duel as chivalrous knights.
It had been a long time, indeed.
A knight calling him a knight, asking for a duel.
But it was likely just a ploy to get him out of his
current predicament. Anyone who had heard his offer for him to dismount would
have judged the man as such.
But Dullahan would have been furious at such foolishness,
telling them not to sully his knightly honor.
Look at him.
Look at that knight.
The bearing and uprightness of a veteran of countless
battlefields. The eyes of a warrior who seeks honor and prestige.
He is the epitome of what knights strive for.
The king of knights, the one all knights should fear and
challenge.
How can you look at him and think of such a ploy?
"That's three times. Will you try again?"
-.......
The third death. A casual observer would have said it was
pointless, that the armor would have protected him anyway.
But Dullahan knew that if this man wanted to kill him, he
could have done so at any time.
This knight, the revered figure of all knights, had
taught him and honored him.
Therefore, Dullahan could not help but be impressed by
the knight.
This knight, this King Lionheart... has treated him with
respect in his reduced status.
He did possess powerful powers as a Commander Knight.
A plate of armor that blocked 80% of all physical damage.
A black magic circle that could be activated by his head.
The ability to unite skeletal soldiers.
The powerful feats he gained as a Commander Knight.
But he didn't want to use any of them.
He just wanted to be a knight, upright and honorable,
clashing sword to sword, no sorcery.
I want to cross swords with this man again and again and
again.
Just as I once did, when I roamed the world in honor,
facing off against knights of great renown.
"Ten times. Your swordsmanship is getting more and
more refined. Have you managed to retrieve your memories?"
Ah.
O, most honorable knight.
Dullahan suddenly understood the knight's purpose.
He was treating him as a knight, not as a wretched
servant of a necromancer, and restoring him to his glory days.
"Shall we go any further, Noble Knight?"
Dullahan had the skeleton bring him his head, then he
dropped to one knee and offered it up.
It was the perfect surrender, putting himself at their
mercy.
"Well executed. I am pleased to see your honor
restored."
Leon placed his hands on the offered head of Dullahan
with both hands and spoke in a reverent voice,
"I will pray for you. If there is a god you believe
in, may he give your soul rest. If not, may the Goddess guide you to the edge
of the garden."
No matter how long you've spent killing.
How many times have you fought without honor.
"May we meet at the feast of the gods, valiant
knight."
Dullahan was overwhelmed by this noble knight who treated
him as a knight, prayed for him, and blessed him.
"May you have the light."
Leon's hand glowed. The Dullahan sensed the warm glow
guiding him. In his final moments, the Dullahan dismantled all the skeletons
and prostrated himself before Leon.
-Glory to Leon Dragonia Lionheart!
His silent reverence echoed through the dungeon.
* * * * *
Dungeon Boss Commander Knight Dullahan has fallen.
Normally, that's not the end of the story. Even after
defeating the boss, if there were any minions left, you'd need to take some
time to clean up the place.
"He... kept his promise."
"It, it actually... ended with a duel."
At the last moment, the Dullahan had destroyed his army
of his own volition.
He accepted his fate, bowing down to Leon as if in
worship.
"What, what was that light just now? I thought he
said, 'May you have the light'."
"Is that ......divine power?"
There is no one with divine powers among the Awakened.
Even the survivors may have claimed the existence of gods, but they've never
been able to prove they existed.
But the power that Leon had just used to purge Dullahan once
and for all was inexplicable unless it was some sort of divine power, the
natural enemy of the undead or demons of novels and comics.
"Uh... If, if you have such a skill, why don't you
use it earlier?"
Although Hari couldn't say outright what she meant, she
did say what anyone would have thought.
"Then the honorable knight would meet his end as a
monster."
To remind Dullahan of his knighthood? To accept his own
death?
"A knight is by nature a man of honor and
reputation. Honor comes from deeds, and deeds come from the discipline of the
will. A noble knight would have done just that."
Hari didn't fully understand Leon's words.
There was so much she wanted to say.
The uncertain possibilities.
The damage of failure.
Irrational behavior and illogical arguments that don't
calculate risk.
But it didn't seem necessary to say it out loud.
Because this man, even with all that he knew, would act
as if it was only natural.
It's not reason, it's emotion.
It's not logic, it's intuition.
It's not rationality, it's the flower of irrationality.
A flower that not everyone can recognize and follow, and
that is why it is so beautiful.
"Hmm, let's go collect the spoils."
"Uh... yes?"
"If there's been a battle, there must be spoils, so lead
the way. You'll have to figure out what's valuable."
On this day, as the dungeon closed, the Association
hunters found themselves with unexpected loot.
[Dullahan's Cloak]
[Dullahan's Greatsword]
[Gem of the Necromancer]
As well as other items that were hastily picked up after
the dungeon boss died.
"Wow! Look at this gem! Even just looking at it,
it's imbued with tremendous magic power! It would be worth it if we sell
this—"
"It's a piece of trash. This kind of stuff will only
cause trouble."
-Slash!
Correction.
[Dullahan's Cloak]
[Dullahan's Greatsword]
As well as other items.
Although there was some commotion during the looting
process, the clearing of the Honam Plain Gate was a success.
Not only did the plain become free of maso contamination,
but also the blessed rice field experienced an incredible miracle, and the
scarlet-ranked gate was completely cleared.
The Phoenix Guild and Lee Yong-wan, who had been watching
the scene, returned with gritted teeth.
For now, it was time to celebrate with everyone.
However, there was a problem, and it came from an
unexpected source.
"That... Your Majesty, shouldn't you be paying
taxes?"
"Ohoh! What kind of king can tax the king of another
country? This is completely my spoils, and it's against the law to tax
it!"
"Ah, no, you don't have to pay the tax in cash. You
can substitute the tax with a magic stone from that spoils......."
"Kings don't count coins. How can you argue with a
king about what lesser men should do?"
"No, uh, then, Your Majesty, what shall we
report?!"
"There is nothing to report to your king; it is
better that we respect each other's honor."
"You, you mean you won't pay a penny?"
"Stop talking about coins. It's demeaning."
The members of the Hunter Association looked at Leon, who
was talking stubbornly and arguing, and thought in unison,
'This
man... isn't he even worse than the Phoenix Guild?'
***
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