How to Live as a Knight After the Ending-Chapter 282: Urban Legend (1)

The meteor that descended to the ground struck Carbel's body.

Although slender, Carbel's massive frame, made entirely of machinery, boasted considerable weight.

Therefore, to achieve graceful movements, it had to endlessly jet-spray steam to withstand the load.

Even though Carbel anchored himself to the ground and deployed his force field to maximum, he couldn't stop the meteor's charge.

-Crack!

A heavy destructive sound echoed.

As Carbel's torso was dented, his steel limbs broke. No matter how sturdy, it was useless.

The backpack, unable to withstand the impact, shattered and scattered its internal weapons and ammunition in all directions.

-Thud thud thud.

All sorts of fragments scattered. The torso of the machine with all limbs broken slid across the ground.

Following its trajectory, the solid ground was scraped and overturned.

-Zzt. Zzzzt.

Circuits and electricity sparked from Carbel's half-destroyed body. Ether water flowed like blood between broken parts.

The precariously flickering red eye light turned toward Osian.

[How, could this, happen.]

Carbel was considerably shocked that his all-out defense was breached so effortlessly.

It was inevitable.

Everything had been replaced with the latest technology. Carbel thought of himself as a beacon toward the future, and believed without doubt that he was an unprecedented existence but he was defeated one-sidedly.

What dealt him this defeat wasn't a weapon secretly developed by the city government and military, nor was it some experimental subject created by a major corporation but a knight wearing old-fashioned armor and riding a horse.

Truly a symbol of the old ways, a fairy tale symbol that only children would appreciate.

That's exactly what Carbel had been defeated by.

[This can't, be. I, to think I'd lose, to someone like this.]

Carbel lamented in a broken voice.

Over 80 percent of his functions were broken. He was effectively beyond half-destroyed, damaged beyond recovery.

Though his brain responsible for cognition was barely intact, even that didn't seem like it would last long.

The life support system would soon cease functioning. When that happens, he would meet eternal rest, unable even to think.

"My goodness. He really took him down in one hit."

"Mm."

Malina and Kudan couldn't help but marvel at what Osian had accomplished.

What they saw was Osian and his warhorse becoming a streak of light that struck Carbel.

Carbel had been difficult for even the two of them to handle together.

Despite differences in compatibility and prior information, even excluding those factors, Carbel was strong.

It wasn't for nothing that he had confidence in calling himself the beacon of the future. He was fully qualified to make such claims.

Yet Osian shattered that in a single strike.

It was so satisfying that they were left speechless in disbelief.

"Not bad."

Mounted on his warhorse, Osian nodded with satisfaction as he observed the scene he had created.

The technique Osian used was similar to when he previously destroyed the main gate of North Blinders.

More precisely, it was an upgraded, superior version.

'When unlocking expanded versions of existing skills, they become available.'

While previously it was just a charge, this technique required charging up.

It could be charged in three stages total, and as the charging stages increased, the power increased considerably.

'It was one of the quite useful techniques in the game too.'

Without mounting, one would charge with their own two legs while holding a shield. That was powerful too, but when riding a warhorse, the effect increased several times over.

It showed particularly monstrous performance in fields where mounts were possible.

Although it took a long time to gather energy, once gathered, it could easily blow away one-third of most bosses' health bars.

As a result, many knight users, when facing field monsters, would gather energy before the monsters could aggro them, and announce the start of battle with a preemptive charge.

'That's why the meme spread that wandering knight users would charge first whenever they met anyone in the field.'

Thinking about it now, it wasn't really a meme. Most really did that.

This three-stage charge often showed quite vicious results in PVP too, as it delivered tremendous knockback when used against players.

It's hard to use in proper one-on-one duels because opponents can see it coming and react accordingly.

But in cases of [Invasion] where opponents barge in randomly, one could prepare in advance.

So whenever someone invaded, Osian would complete the three-stage charging timed to when they would appear, and send them away with one hit.

'Otherwise, I was the one doing the invading too.'

While playing the game, when there was nothing else to do, he would invade various places and commit all sorts of mischief.

Especially when used in narrow paths with cliffs, opponents would be absolutely delighted to death.

When they called in allied companions to resist the invasion making it 3 versus 1, making all three fall to their deaths off the cliff in one hit is now a fond memory.

Because the gif spread on gaming communities at the time, later when invasion situations occurred, if opponents saw a knight's face near cliff terrain, they would choose to run away without exception.

'Such a vicious technique has now become even stronger.'

Carbel was closer to a boss monster, if anything.

From the firepower he unleashed, to his means of protection, and his basic class.

Even objectively speaking, he was by no means an easy opponent.

Yet he was defeated in a single strike.

Though Kudan and Malina helped buy time, Osian hadn't expected this charge skill to show this level of performance.

'Feels like there are no limits.'

Following the Starlight Barrier, the charge customization showed effects beyond expectations, making him feel good.

If it were a game, performance limits would have been imposed due to balance or system limitations, but that wasn't the case here.

The strengthened Starlight was possibility.

Moonlight and Sun Ring could also show stronger power if enhanced like this.

Osian approached the fallen Carbel and brought his Starlight Sword to the machine's body.

-Swoosh.

The compressed white light easily cut through the armor, revealing its contents to all.

In what could be called the machine's heart was Carbel's brain, suspended in special fluid.

Osian was about to cut it with one stroke, but slowly withdrew his sword and stepped back as Malina took his place.

"I told you, didn't I?"

[Ma, lina.]

"That I would personally scramble your brain."

[I, have, information.]

Carbel requested a deal. He said he would tell them about Dead Dagger if they spared his life.

It was essentially betraying his organization to preserve his life.

Malina snorted at this sight and created a shadow dagger in her right hand.

"There's a fitting end for traitors. Don't you agree?"

[Please spa-]

-Crack!

The dagger pierced the brain suspended in fluid.

The light in Carbel's eyes, which had been flickering intermittently, went out.

Watching this with complicated eyes, Malina turned to Osian and spoke.

"Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to achieve my revenge."

"Though our first meeting was the worst."

"That's..."

Malina had nothing to say. It was true that Osian had not only saved her life but also helped her achieve her revenge.

"I'll definitely keep my promise."

Malina said this while tossing a small communicator to Osian.

As Osian easily caught the communicator with one hand, Malina said:

"Use that to call me when you need me. I'll come running anytime. All I know how to do is kill people, but if that's okay with you."

"Well, it would be rude to refuse when you're showing sincerity, so I'll accept it for now."

Osian, having deactivated his Starlight Armor, tucked the communicator into his coat's inner pocket.

Malina watched this and slowly backed away.

Her figure was swallowed by shadows until neither presence nor appearance could be seen but Osian could tell that she had left the place.

Osian looked around.

From the utterly devastated scenery, one could tell how fierce the battle had been.

"Strange. Despite all that commotion, not a single guard has appeared. Even if this is a remote area, security couldn't have been this broken."

The answer came from Kudan, who hadn't left yet.

"It's the power of the Dead Dagger folks. Similar to the power Malina possesses."

"The one taught by that woman called Sabrina?"

"Yes. Their power clouds perception. Even if right before your eyes, you can't recognize or see them. Though there are differences depending on the opponent's skill level, even their low-ranking assassins can easily deceive ordinary people."

In the game it was just excellent stealth, but now that it had become reality, things were different.

Osian nodded naturally because he had directly experienced it when ambushed by Malina.

The power to cloud perception, depending on skill level, can deceive all five senses, and beyond that, even confuse intuition.

At that level, it's no wonder guards haven't appeared even in this chaos.

If there's any consolation, it's that there were no innocent victims. They probably prevented people from approaching from the start.

"They're quite troublesome fellows."

"Yes. But that's not the only problem. Dead Dagger was a threatening organization by itself, but not to this extent."

Kudan looked at Carbel's half-destroyed machine.

"They've always stayed in society's shadows. Taking on whatever requests came down. They weren't the type to prepare something this formal."

"Someone must have attached themselves as a big supporter backing them."

"Yes. The Dead Dagger organization adapted and evolved in their own way in the city of Tirna. Messing with them means making enemies with their backing as well."

"For places that make steam suits of this level, are there any you can guess?"

"There are some possibilities. It would be among the companies classified as major corporations among steam suit manufacturers. But if nothing else, it's undeniable that they're more advanced than other companies."

"More advanced?"

"This is the result of offsetting the weaknesses of both steam suits and automatons."

Of course, their method was nothing short of madness to anyone watching, requiring the transplant of a living human brain into the machine.

But in the face of such success, such acts were merely trivial matters to them.

"If they create similar weapons using several people with high machine compatibility, they'll produce results other companies can't catch up to."

"Doesn't seem like there would be humans who want to become machines badly enough to give up their bodies."

"There probably aren't many. But we can't say there are none. High compatibility for machine transplantation isn't necessarily higher for superior and excellent pilots."

Rather than healthy people with good athletic ability, skinny street vagrants might show higher compatibility.

Meaning it's not affected by birth or environment.

"This city is full of people who would sell their own human rights for a few coins if they're poor and need to support their families. They don't even need to pay money. They can just kidnap such people and forcibly extract and transplant their brains."

"But other companies won't just stand by watching."

"Right. In the end, when one jumps ahead, others in the industry join forces to hold them back. Or the steam suit manufacturing companies might form a cartel."

"Wouldn't that be dangerous?"

"If that happens, other industries will step in to lobby legislators to interfere."

Other industries?

When Osian looked questioningly, Kudan continued his explanation.

"The automaton companies."

"Aren't they similar yet different fields?"

"They share commonality in making moving machines. And automaton companies don't just make automatons. From prosthetics to replace human body parts, to manufacturing body frames for modified humans. They're gradually expanding their influence. The same goes for steam suit manufacturers."

"I see. Major corporations won't just excel in their own field, they'll try to master other fields too."

They are monsters who survived in this city of greed.

How many rivals and others did they devour and trample to reach those positions?

It's the same even if they stand shoulder to shoulder as equals now.

For now, they might not interfere with each other, or might join hands in collaboration.

But the moment one becomes stronger or weaker, they will devour the other for all to see.

The dynamics of relationships held by those who survived in Tirna seemed complex yet contained this simple clarity.

"Then the automaton companies might be in danger now."

"Yes. The two major corporations famous for automatons might need to join hands. But they won't just take it lying down either."

There was a certain subtle nuance in Kudan's voice.

"Is there something on that side too?"

"It's still valuable information but, well, there's no reason I can't tell you. The automaton companies are desperately seeking certain information. They say it's a new innovation that will overcome the limitations of automatons as machines."

New innovation.

For some unknown reason, Osian became interested in this.

"The complete automation of automatons that can't perform detailed actions. Artificial intelligence identical to real humans. They say they're searching for that."