A Knight Who Eternally Regresses

A knight’s power often shattered conventional expectations.

Take, for example, the knight from Azpen whom Enkrid had fought before.

Enkrid stood with his sword in hand, lost in thought.

‘What if I had seen that knight’s sword? If I had predicted his attack?’

Would that have allowed him to block it?

Just as important as moving the body was the time spent in meditation.

He immersed himself in his thoughts and visualized the scene.

The Azpen knight appeared in his mind, and the trajectory of his sword was vividly etched before him.

‘It wasn’t some extraordinary swordsmanship.’

It was just a swing.

But it had been too strong, too fast—impossible to block, no matter what he tried.

So, was that what a knight’s strike was?

Something that came with such speed and power that even if one saw it, they couldn’t stop it?

Would witnessing a knight’s true battle always be so astonishing?

It was a trivial thought.

***

What was a knight?

A title given to those who had surpassed human limitations.

The King of the East was not a knight, yet he possessed the same level of power.

And he displayed that power without restraint.

Not all of it, but enough that anyone watching up close would be left speechless.

A troll swung a massive stone axe wrapped in thick vines.

It was too slow.

By the time the troll’s shoulder began to move, the king had already thrust his spear.

Thunk!

The spearhead pierced the troll’s skull—no, it didn’t just pierce it; it burst it apart.

The sheer force behind the thrust was enough to make that happen.

His spear, having shattered one troll’s head, swept to the side.

With repeated thunks and cracks, every troll whose head it touched met the same fate.

To kill a troll, one had to burn its body entirely or sever its head.

Severing the head meant cutting off its connection to the body.

Smashing the skull achieved the same effect.

Anu’s spear proved it.

Thrusting, slashing, striking, and smashing.

At first, he moved as if he was merely loosening his muscles.

But within the span of just a few breaths, his spear became even faster.

Yet, every strike precisely targeted only the trolls’ heads.

Like a swift swallow plucking fish from the water.

A swallow born with an innate talent for hunting.

Not a single mistake. Not a single wasted movement.

It was a demonstration—one meant for Rem.

Anu single-handedly killed over twenty trolls in an instant.

Despite such a slaughter, barely a trace of their black blood stained his clothes.

Standing amidst the carnage, Rem, who had split open the heads of three trolls, watched him in silence.