volume 2 - Chapter 123 (1/2)

Chapter 123 – Sorry, I’m not a knight.

Brendel thought he was an average human being in his past and present life. The difference between the two was that he knew the events that were to come in the future. With that basis, he had a larger ambition and desire to change Aouine’s fate, and change that ending that he bitterly regretted.

That thought did not really have anything to do with the word ‘selfless’. His wish was born out of his desires and feelings, and did not think he had become a n.o.ble person even if he saved many people in that path.

He would mete punishment equivalent to the evil deeds done, while answering with rewards to good deeds shown, and firmly believed in that principle. He had never bound himself with the responsibilities of a messiah or the likes, but at the same time he could not ignore Eke’s situation.

[Mother Marsha, did I offend you or something—]

He looked up to the sky with a helpless expression as he canceled the Silence spell.

“Stop running and come back to where you were!” He shouted to Eke.

Eke stopped running after a short while, but the Acolyte of Earth was already in the middle of the two. It first stared at Eke, before looking back at Brendel, and recognized him as the one he had been chasing all along.

“Is it really a gentleman’s behavior to steal the monster I’m hunting?” Brendel said as he looked at the monster’s many eyes, feeling like his emotions were being tied into complicated knots. He really wanted to smack the youth on the head a few times, but the latter’s actions invoked a sense of favorable impression towards him.

In the end he made a sarcastic remark.

“…… Thanks.” Eke looked back at him with a grateful smile and shouted. He knew if Brendel did not help in confronting the enemy, he would only last for a few seconds before getting shredded into pieces. The monster seemed to exceed the strength of a Gold-ranked fighter, and handling it himself was an impossible task.

It was clear that this was his fault. When he saw Brendel removing a spell, he immediately knew that it was a Silence spell; a spell frequently used by mercenaries to either ambush or infiltrate, and he was familiar with it. This was the equivalent of pulling Brendel right into danger, especially when he was clearly hurt all over from the start.

He sighed lightly and became convinced that the man on the tree was a righteous knight. Ever since he was young, he was engrossed in reading novels about knights and even dreamed of becoming one. Becoming a mercenary meant that his dream was still a little far away, but his conviction had never changed. It was also the reason why the Grey Wolves Mercenaries liked him so much.

“Ser Knight, let us work together to defeat this monster!”

Eke shouted somewhat excitedly. He knew that even if the both of them fought together they were not be able to defeat it, but if they were going to die, then they should at least have heroic deaths. He even thought it was Mother Marsha granting him a chance to fight a monster together with a real knight in his last moments, instead of seeing viewing this encounter as bad luck. (TL: This dude is absolutely bananas.)

“Huh?” Brendel obviously did not understand what he was talking about.

There was a flash of red that appeared in the monster’s eyes, and Brendel tensed up. It was a sign that it was about to attack, and he was on the verge of activating his Charge ability when he realized the monster did not move to attack him. He soon found out that it was because Eke had gone up and tried to attack it.

“Holy s.h.i.+t! Are you crazy?”

Brendel really wanted to cover his eyes at that moment. A level 30 idiot trying to hit a level 65 (+15) boss in a Berserk state. Indeed, the Boss had an increase in levels ever since it went berserk. Not only was it stronger, it even had the abilities of its added levels. Layers and layers of rock walls sprouted from the ground to form elaborate patterns that prevented him from advancing.

– Pa.s.sive ability ‘Rock Bulwark’ activated.

Green words appeared in Brendel’s eyes. Each layer of rock was six centimeters long and was formed with quartz, capable of resisting hardened steel swords. If anyone got close to it, the s.h.i.+eld would automatically activate to defend it from harm. A normal physical attack was useless against it.

Eke did not know that and he struck at the walls, and the sword only penetrated a few centimeters before it was stopped. He immediately realized that it was a bad move but it was too late to retreat.

The monster swung its arm backwards, its hardened forelimb bringing about a sharp blade made of wind, cutting and breaking its own layers of rocks to reach Eke. At that moment, he thought he had taken his last breath, but someone knocked deeply unto him with a great impact, sending the air out of him and forcing him to roll on the ground uncontrollably. When he finally managed to open his eyes from the pain, he realized that the monster’s attack had missed him.

When he turned his head to the side, he saw Brendel groaning as he got up and immediately understood what happened. After having a moment to allow his mind to function properly, he hurriedly spoke with grat.i.tude: “Thanks ag—“