Chapter 51: Great of Rounds ⑧
A single drop of sweet nectar ran down the valley of the witch’s breasts and slipped into my mouth.
Awakening Water. She still had some left?
Or did the witch gather ingredients and make a new batch? I couldn’t tell.
My consciousness sharpens, like a camera lens coming into focus.
But what I felt next was the sensation of suddenly being dropped into water and sinking.
My body couldn’t move a finger. I kept sinking deeper and deeper.
In reality, the surroundings were a bluish, liquid-like space.
My breath turned into bubbles as it left my mouth, and more bubbles spilled off my body.
Even so, I wasn’t wet.
It was an indescribably strange place.
I kept sinking, yet there was no bottom in sight.
“…………”
This is inside me.
Inside my mind or soul—something like that.
And I was heading even deeper than before.
“…‘All the answers are within me,’ huh…”
Suddenly, I hit the ground.
“Ow… wh-what…?”
I slowly sat up.
Dirt. Above me, a gloomy, overcast sky.
“Where is this…?”
I looked around. It was a forest. Ahead of me was a small bridge, and across it stood a building.
It looked like a church. Someone was on the bridge.
“…That’s—”
Standing with a sword stabbed into the ground for support, legs braced defiantly, was a knight in pitch-black armor…!?
“…!”
Unforgettable. Impossible to forget. That black knight from the forest.
The first opponent to ever defeat me.
“Why is he here…?”
The black knight noticed me and raised his sword.
I understood instantly. I had to defeat him.
Defeat the black knight—wait, why is he even…?
“…………”
I checked myself. I was wearing clothes. The Silent Saint Gauntlet was on my arm, and the pouch was there.
I had my knives. They were the newest ones—not the ones from back then.
Right. This isn’t the same as before.
I walked toward the black knight at a normal pace.
He raised his sword. When I entered his range, he swung.
I blocked and deflected with the Agaro Knife—Modified.
But he immediately raised his sword and brought it down again. I dodged by a hair.
“—Yeah, this is different.”
I meant my movements. My mind was calm. I could clearly track his motion.
The black knight didn’t move from his spot. He only attacked things that entered his range.
If I stayed out of range—
That’s when the black knight moved.
He came at me, swinging his sword one-handed in a horizontal slash.
I reflexively raised my knife, but it was knocked away. My Agaro Knife—Modified spun through the air.
I retreated and grabbed another knife—a silver cross-shaped one.
I activated the relic [Deep Silent], aiming at his sword.
“Vanish.”
The black knight’s sword disappeared first—
But then something unbelievable happened.
He timed his strike and swung the sword vertically.
The Vanish was cut.
“Wha— Vanish!?”
I shot another at his sword. He immediately reacted and swung again.
With perfect timing, he cut the Vanish.
Impossible… The black knight closed in and slashed diagonally.
“Kh!”
I caught it with my knife. If the sword doesn’t work, then how about his body—
“Vanish!”
It hit him and should’ve erased him—but it didn’t.
Only his armor disappeared, and what emerged from it was… what is this guy?
“…………”
As the armor shattered, a man appeared.
Shining long purple hair. Purple eyes. Dusky skin. Wearing some sort of exotic, light clothing.
Purple hair and eyes—was he a Generous!?
The man looked at me and raised the black knight’s sword. The blade glowed red-black.
He took a stance and rushed at me. Fast.
“Vanish!“
I aimed at him, but he swiftly sliced the spell apart.
I knew it wouldn’t work, but still—what now? While I hesitated, he slipped into my guard.
Crap—
The red-black blade skewered my body.
“Gahhhhhh!?”
I collapsed. My body wouldn’t move.
What…? Suddenly my body felt lighter.
“…No wound…?”
The spot where I was stabbed was completely unharmed. How?
There wasn’t even pain. Maybe because it had been an instant kill.
“I see.”
This is inside my mind. Not reality.
So I can’t die.
No—I can die.
If I give up, that would be the death of my spirit.
I slowly stood up. The man waited for me.
He rested his strange triangular red-black-and-purple glowing sword on his shoulder.
“If this is inside my mind, I get why the black knight’s here.”
But who is this guy? Is he a Generous?
I picked up my fallen Agaro Knife—Modified.
I took my stance—and froze.
Diamond-shaped Vanishes filled the sky.
I instantly realized this was his Phantasmagoria.
If it’s come to this, I’ll have to become a Generous too.
I turned into a Generous—
Wait?
“—Huh? I can’t transform?”
No matter how many times I focus my consciousness, I still can’t use 【Generous】.
Before I can even say, “What’s going on—”
I’m blown apart by the rain of 【Phantasmagoria】.
I regenerate immediately as if nothing happened… but seriously, what is this thing?
“…What do I do?”
The only option left is 【Knife Magic】, but as things are now, it won’t work.
“…Then…”
That thing. I guess there’s no choice but to use that.
【Silent Auto-Move (Half): Guarantees success for one quick, precise, high-difficulty action. Consciousness remains during the action.】
【Deep Silent One】 is about to run out. I just have to do it.
“—【Silent Auto-Move】”
The moment it activates, my body springs forward.
With a speed I can’t even believe myself, I move behind that thing’s square shape.
I raise Agaro-san’s Modified Knife and slice its arm.
I did it.
But my body can only move so much.
I’m caught in that opening and cut down by its triangular sword.
Night.
The rain was still pouring hard.
Occasional flashes lit the sky, and the rumble of distant thunder could be heard.
She watched him, gently stroking Wof’s head as he slept in the bed.
Seen like this, he looked like he was simply sleeping.
In truth, it was close to that—though the dreams he saw were not guaranteed to be happy.
“Hey, hey, Kon believes in you, okay?”
She filled her words with hope and prayer.
“So, so, make sure you come back. Wof boy.”
She placed a soft kiss on his forehead.
Please, please—let this feeling reach Wof.
I stand up.
Ah… how many times have I died now?
I don’t know, but I’ve been killed by that thing more times than I can count.
That thing… it’s strong. Is 【Generous】 really that strong?
I can’t help but give a wry smile, realizing how much of a cheat I’d been up until now.
But even though I’m in tatters—
I can still stand. Still… still. Still stand up.
“…Haaaah.”
And it’s not like I’m out of options.
Just a bit more… a little more… I feel like I’m about to grasp something.
“—【Silent Auto-Move】!”
I’ve used it over and over now.
Honestly, there’s no way I could pull off those acrobatic moves. I only can because the “auto” is doing it.
But… if I could do those moves not automatically, but by my own will—
If I could…
Then I can win.
I try to catch and redirect its triangular sword, but fail. I’m cut, and cut again.
What a heavy sword…
“You—you can use that too!?”
I get punched by “Cosmic Arm” channeled through its 【Vanish】.
I disappear. And then, within seconds, I’m back.
“…I don’t know if this is convenient or inconvenient.”
Luckily, there’s no pain, so recovering is easy.
And that thing waits for me, too.
Well, since this isn’t reality but inside my mind, I guess anything goes…
Anything goes.
“…Wait a second.”
I look at the Agaro-san’s Modified Knife I’m holding.
It shifts into the Elixir Knife—a knife coated in elixir, once an undead-specialized weapon.
“Knew it.”
Why hadn’t I realized something so simple?
This is inside my own mind. It’s me.
If this is my heart, of course everything benefits me.
Not dying, not feeling pain—that’s why.
This space, that thing, even the current me—
all of it exists inside me, created by my heart.
And that’s possible because of the awakening water’s effect.
“If that’s the case…”
Then there’s nothing I can’t do inside my own mind.
Ah, right now—I can become 【Generous】.
Now that I’ve realized it, I understand it’s possible.
But I’ll beat that thing like this.
Otherwise, it won’t mean anything.
I see.
I wished to fight the Black Knight again because I had never defeated him like this before.
In some corner of my heart, it must’ve been regret… or lingering attachment.
“If that’s the case, first—this place is way too gloomy.”
There’s a proper place for times like this.
A landscape from my previous life floats into my memory.
Instantly, the gloomy forest disappears.
Blue sky and clouds stretch endlessly, and the same blue sky and clouds reflect endlessly beneath my feet.
“Uyuni Salt Flats.”
I smirk fearlessly.
And then—
I feel a gentle warmth on my forehead.