CRUNCH.

The demonic sword tore through the floor as it swept upward.

WHOOSH.

Twilight cleaved the air as it plunged down.

BOOM!

The swords collided, scattering fragments of sword light in every direction. The flying shards of light confused my vision. Beyond them, a chilling gleam flashed in his eyes.

GRIND.

His sword began to push Twilight upward.

A moment earlier, I would have been too busy dispelling the invading pulses. By now, I would have withdrawn my sword to wait for another opening.

But not anymore.

"Hup!"

I drew a short breath and tightened both hands. Immense power rose from my heart and raced toward them, entirely unimpeded. I gathered that power at my fingertips and channeled it into the blade.

The demonic sword, which had proudly raised its head as it forced Twilight upward, began to falter. Not content with that, I pressed my sword down harder.

Twilight descended. Down, farther down, like dawn driving out the night and settling over the earth.

At last, it reached the Black Knight's shoulder.

SCREECH.

The oversized pauldron screamed as it was sliced apart. The Black Knight heaved against Twilight, but it held fast, its teeth sunk into his shoulder.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before his shoulder was severed. But he was no easy opponent who would simply stand there and let it happen.

All at once, the resistance against my blade vanished.

SWISH.

Twilight dropped in an instant. Having lost its target, the sword struck the blameless ground instead.

BOOM!

Stone fragments flew.

PATTER.

I lifted my head as the flying stones pelted my body. The Black Knight had been inspecting the sheared-off corner of his pauldron; just then, he turned to look at me.

"I meant to take your shoulder off. Looks like I didn't cut deep enough."

I spoke as though disappointed.

Of course, I wasn't truly disappointed. I had never expected to wound him mortally so easily. Nor did I want him to fall that easily.

Chances to fight one of these vaunted Penta Knights were rare.

The fight was only just beginning.

["How dare you..."]

He growled at me in a dull metallic voice, like scrap iron grinding together.

["Do not expect any more mercy from—"]

"Exactly ten paces."

["What...?"]

"We're back where we started."

The Black Knight glanced sharply down at his feet, then back at me. His mouth closed.

Apparently, he had only just realized that I now stood on the very spot he had claimed as his domain, and that he had been driven out of it.

"I do hope you can hold your ground this time."

With that, I stepped forward again.

The instant I entered his domain, tremendous pulses began to bear down on me. But they could no longer stop me.

I drove my feet hard against the ground, advancing toward him. Once I reached him, I brought my sword down again. He lashed out with his greatsword, knocking Twilight aside.

I slashed again. Thrust and cut again.

BOOM! BOOM!

Our sword strikes clashed countless times in midair. Heavy impacts that seemed to shake my very guts battered me without pause.

But at that moment, pain did not matter in the slightest.

My blood boiled. My body burned. It felt as though a fire had ignited deep within me.

The sensation delighted me so much that I laughed aloud.

BOOM! BOOM!

I never let my hands rest for an instant. Swinging my sword like a madman, I advanced.

The Black Knight brought his greatsword down. It narrowly missed me, shearing through my collar.

He swept his greatsword fiercely across. A few severed hairs drifted before my eyes.

He lashed out with the greatsword again. My face burned as though it were being torn off.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The front of my clothes was cut away, my sleeves torn apart. The ornaments dangling from my collar were ripped off.

My palms were wet. The skin of my hands must have split.

I tasted blood in my mouth. The residual force of the sword strikes I had failed to fully dispel had injured my insides.

My body was a wreck. He was little better. With his armor shattered and dented beyond recognition, he retained none of the imposing majesty he had first displayed.

None of his composure remained, either.

["Graaagh!"]

Monstrous howls were now the norm,

["You're an utter madman!"]

with insults thrown in for good measure.

I was enjoying myself.

It was immensely satisfying to see the man who had affected such lofty airs, looking down on the world from on high like the master he served, now barking and snapping his teeth like a rabid dog.

It delighted me beyond measure.

Having an enemy I could clash with at full strength sent my spirits soaring ever higher.

"More! More! More!"

I shouted in exhilaration, swinging my sword like a madman. I fought and fought, losing all track of how much time had passed.

When I finally came to my senses, I found myself, of all places, in the middle of the palace garden, far from the banquet hall.

["Wait!"]

The Black Knight swung his sword fiercely, driving me away. His greatsword drooped as he heaved for breath, shoulders rising and falling. He looked wretched, as though clad in scrap metal.

As I watched him, I suddenly glanced back.

An ugly trail cut through the devastated garden. Distinct footprints marked the gouged and churned earth.

It was all too obvious who had made that ruined path, which could never have belonged in this beautiful garden.

"I'm going to get an earful for this."

Having laid waste to the painstakingly tended garden, I could hardly escape the resentment of those responsible for restoring it.

I could already picture them berating me, asking if I intended to bankrupt the kingdom.

As I dwelled on regrets that had come far, far too late, I felt eyes upon me and raised my head.

The king, Maximilian, and most of the people who had been in the banquet hall were watching me from a distance.

Their expressions were astonishingly familiar. This was exactly how people looked at Adelia when her Trait took hold.

Being stared at like a lunatic made me deeply uncomfortable.

"Brother..."

Most uncomfortable of all was Maximilian's gaze, filled with his usual adoration.

Pretending not to notice, I turned away and roared.

"How dare you reduce the royal palace to this!"

["What nonsense are you..."]

"I will make your master pay for every bit of this!"

Shouting, I readjusted my grip on my sword. The Black Knight backed away.

["How long do you intend to continue this meaningless fight?"]

He was proposing a truce.

I snorted.

"Just because this fight is meaningless to you doesn't mean it is to me."

Though my excitement had briefly made me forget its true purpose, this battle was more than mere amusement.

"I wanted to know."

It meant more to me than that.

"How far humans can go through Rings."

A means to gauge humanity's strength before the coming Great War.

That was what this battle meant to me.

"You were far stronger than I expected."

The Black Knight was certainly powerful.

"But compared with them, you're nothing remarkable."

The problem was that his strength fell woefully short of what it would take to face the monsters that would soon burst forth into the world.

Even so, I was deeply satisfied with the potential of the Rings.

I glanced around. The kingdom's knights stood there, having opened their eyes to new possibilities without even realizing it.

I was certain that before long, they too would understand what they had grasped and what they had gained.

Their understanding was not yet deep enough to pass on to others, but it would not take long to reach that point. And when that day came, the Knights of the Ring would gain new power.

Then, I thought, we would stand a chance.

Thus, I had found the answer to a question that had long troubled me.

"It's all thanks to you."

Had he not appeared before me, I would have spent much longer wrestling with that question. My gratitude was entirely genuine.

Unfortunately, however, I had no intention of letting him leave.

"Since you've come all this way, you'll have to help me a little more."

There was still a role for him to play.

"Through you, I shall prove myself."

I raised my sword upright.

"I shall break your five Rings and show the world that the age of the Mana Heart is not yet over."

As I spoke, I unleashed the full stature of my being.

["After taking so many cuts from Eclipse, you still have strength left to fight?!"]

Faced with my presence, the Black Knight cried out in astonishment. He could not believe I remained unharmed after being cut by a demonic sword that severed souls.

So that was why he had been stalling. Apparently, he had been waiting for Moonveil's curse to take effect.

Yet even dozens of cuts and thrusts could not have left so much as a scratch on my soul.

I sneered at him.

"Let me give you my first and final piece of advice."

My warning was cold.

"From this moment on, you had better give it everything you have."

Then I added,

"If you can't block this, you'll die."

If he wanted to live, he would have to muster every last ounce of strength.

The Black Knight dared not dismiss my words. He hastily raised his power, and brilliant light gathered around his sword.

GRRRRR.

Moonveil began to growl ominously. Even as it did, the light continued to gather.

I waited quietly. I waited and waited, allowing him to draw out every bit of strength he had left, allowing Moonveil to gather enough light.

After a long while, when his power ceased to grow,

"Cleaving the dragon's scales, which no treasured blade could sever."

I softly recited the Martial Spirit Hymn as I swept Twilight downward.

At that instant,

SHHHH.

The world split in two.

The empty air, the solid earth, the fierce sword light, the infamous demonic sword, and the black armor.

Everything. Without a single exception.

The Black Knight raised a hand and felt his helmet.

CRACK.

A faint fissure appeared in the black helmet. At first no wider than a thread, it slowly spread until the helmet split completely.

The helmet fell away. Snow-white hair spilled out, revealing the deeply wrinkled face of an old man.

The old man looked at me and spoke.

["So this is the Dragon Slayer's... that His Majesty the Emperor spoke of..."]

A red line appeared down the center of his face as he spoke in something like a sigh. His face began to distort along that line.

Very slowly. Little by little.

Until its halves slid completely out of alignment.

The left half of the old man's body collapsed. The remaining half crumpled after it. A moment later, blood gushed out.

The corpse twitched in its pool of blood.

For all the mastery he had achieved, his end was nothing but pitiful.

I flicked Twilight clean and turned around.

Dizziness suddenly swept over me. My overheated body cooled in an instant. The pain I had forgotten in my excitement came flooding back all at once.

My legs gave out. My knees buckled.

My body tilted.

No, not this. After finally defeating a Penta Knight, the last thing I wanted was to fall flat on the ground so disgracefully.

Despite my wishes, the ground kept drawing closer.

But then, a firm hand suddenly caught me.

I turned my head. Through my blurred vision, I saw ebony hair and a pale face.

I thought I knew who it was.

"Arwen."

"Yes, Your Highness. What is it?"

As my lips moved, she leaned her face close to mine.

"It hurts like hell."

She smiled, revealing even teeth.

"You enjoyed yourself to your heart's content. Surely you must accept that much in return."

I laughed at her words, conceding that she had a point.

"Ian."

Then I heard the king's voice.

"Was that the royal family's Martial Spirit Hymn you spoke of?"

I gave a small nod. The sound of the king's sigh reached my ears.

But it did not last long.

"Let us leave the details for another time."

His voice filled with concern, the king soon urged me to rest.

"Leave the rest to me and get some proper rest."

My vision was already fading anyway.

"Well done, Ian."

The king's voice rapidly receded.

"...my... proud... son..."

Then even that faded beyond hearing.