Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner-Chapter 593: Headless Knight

BOOM!!!

The knight charged at Noah with its blade drawn, the sword coming around in a horizontal swing aimed at neck height. Noah dropped, his body flattening against the stone floor, the blade passing overhead close enough that he felt wind displacement against his hair.

His palms hit the ground, supporting his weight as both legs pistoned forward in a double kick that caught Ironside center mass. The impact sent the headless knight skidding backward, his armored boots carving trenches through stone.

Noah flipped back to his feet, his body moving on pure reflex. The knight recovered instantly, his posture resetting like the impact hadn’t fazed him at all.

They charged simultaneously.

The distance closed in seconds. Noah’s right arm cocked back, his entire body coiling like a spring, preparing to deliver a punch that would cave in the knight’s chest plate and finish this fight before it really started.

Ironside’s left hand moved. The one holding his severed head by the chain.

The head swung forward like a wrecking ball, meeting Noah’s extended fist.

KRIAAKKK!!!

Pain exploded through Noah’s hand. Not just impact pain. Breaking pain. Shattering pain. His knuckles collapsed inward, bones fragmenting, skin splitting open as the combined force of his punch and the swinging head created pressures that exceeded what his skeletal structure could withstand.

His wrist followed. The radius and ulna snapping like dry wood, the jagged ends punching through skin, purple bone visible amid the sudden spray of blood.

"ARGGHH!" Noah’s scream tore from his throat involuntarily, his body stumbling backward from the sheer trauma.

’-187 HP’

’Health Points: 3,533/3,720’

’What the hell is that head made of?’ Noah thought through the haze of pain. The severed head was swinging back to Ironside’s side, apparently undamaged despite just destroying Noah’s hand. The skull looked normal, human-sized, but it had just tanked a full-power punch like it was solid steel.

His enhanced regeneration kicked in immediately. purple light flickered around the ruined hand, tissue beginning to knit back together, bones realigning themselves with sounds that made Noah’s stomach turn. But this level of damage was severe. Complete structural failure of multiple bones, torn ligaments, shredded muscle tissue. This wasn’t healing in seconds.

’How long?’ Noah thought desperately, watching the purple light work. ’Ten minutes? Thirty? An hour? The system never tells me healing times for injuries this bad.’

Ironside wasn’t giving him time to figure it out. The knight advanced, sword raised, that damned head swinging from the chain in lazy arcs.

Noah backed up, his right arm hanging useless, his left hand coming up in a defensive guard. One functional hand. Two legs. That’s what he had to work with until regeneration finished.

’Can’t use power moves, can’t grapple effectively, can’t block heavy attacks with one hand,’ Noah thought, forcing himself to focus through the pain. ’Need to rely on footwork, evasion, kicks. Make this a war of attrition and pray my hand heals before he kills me.’

Ironside closed distance in a burst of speed, his sword coming down in an overhead chop that would split Noah from skull to pelvis if it connected.

Noah sidestepped, the blade hitting stone where he’d been standing. The impact cratered the floor, stone chips spraying outward with enough force to draw blood where they hit his exposed skin.

Ironside’s head came around in a follow-up swing. Noah ducked, felt the chain pass overhead, and drove his left fist into the knight’s ribs.

THUD!

The punch connected solidly. Ironside stumbled sideways maybe two steps before recovering. No visible damage to his armor, no sign that the strike had done anything except annoy him.

’Level 65 means his stats are higher than mine,’ Noah realized, dancing backward as the knight pursued. ’Which means I can’t win through raw power with one hand. Need to be technical, exploit openings, survive long enough for my hand to heal. However long that takes.’

The sword came at him in a horizontal slash. Noah jumped, his legs propelling him upward, clearing the blade by inches. He twisted mid-air, his left leg snapping out in a kick aimed at Ironside’s helmeted head.

The knight raised his severed head, using it like a shield.

Noah’s kick connected with the skull.

CRACK!

His ankle protested, ligaments straining, the impact reverberating through his entire leg. The head absorbed the force without breaking, without even cracking, and Ironside used Noah’s momentary contact to grab his leg.

His grip closed around Noah’s calf like a vice.

Then he swung him.

Noah’s world inverted. He saw the ground, then the sky, then the ground again as Ironside used him like a club. His body slammed into the stone wall with force that drove the air from his lungs.

’-95 HP’

’Health Points: 3,438/3,720’

Noah hit the ground hard, rolled through the impact, came up coughing. His ribs were screaming, at least two of them cracked. His right hand was still healing, purple light flickering around the regenerating tissue, but the bones were barely starting to realign. Still completely useless.

’Stay defensive,’ Noah told himself, watching the knight stand. ’Use kicks, use movement, don’t commit to anything that leaves you vulnerable. Buy time for regeneration.’

Ironside charged again. His sword came around in a wide arc, the blade singing through air.

Noah didn’t dodge away. He stepped inside the swing’s arc, getting close enough that the blade passed behind him harmlessly. His left elbow drove upward toward where a normal person’s jaw would be.

Hit empty air. Because Ironside didn’t have a head on his shoulders.

The knight’s knee came up, caught Noah in the ribs. The same ribs that were already cracked.

’-67 HP’

’Health Points: 3,371/3,720’

Noah stumbled backward, tasting copper. His enhanced regeneration was working on multiple injuries now—the hand, the ribs, various cuts and bruises. But healing had priorities, and the hand was taking the bulk of his body’s resources.

The sword came at him again. Noah sidestepped, grabbed the blade with his left hand despite knowing it would cut his palm. The edge bit into his skin, blood running down the steel, but his grip held.

He yanked, trying to disarm the knight with one hand.

Ironside’s strength exceeded his compromised pull. The sword didn’t budge, and the knight used Noah’s grip as leverage to pull him forward into a headbutt.

Except he used his severed head for it.

The skull slammed into Noah’s face with the force of a sledgehammer.

CRACK!

Noah’s nose shattered. Blood exploded across his vision, his eyes watering involuntarily. He lost his grip on the sword, stumbled backward with his hand going to his ruined face.

’-112 HP’

’Health Points: 3,259/3,720’

Through the haze of pain and tears, Noah saw Ironside raising his sword for what would probably be a finishing blow.

’Still not healed,’ Noah thought desperately, glancing at his right hand. The bones were realigning but tissue regeneration was slow. ’Can’t keep taking damage like this while fighting one-handed.’

His chi flared. white energy erupting around his left hand, visible even through the blood and tears blurring his vision.

Ironside’s sword came down.

Noah’s palm caught the flat of the blade, chi reinforcing his grip. The edge stopped maybe six inches from his skull, held in place by pure force of will and energy manipulation.

They stayed frozen like that for maybe three seconds. Ironside pushing down with enhanced strength. Noah holding him off through chi and desperation with one hand.

Then Noah twisted.

His hand rotated, taking the sword’s momentum and redirecting it sideways. The blade carved through empty air beside his head, and Noah’s foot came up in a front kick that caught Ironside square in the chest.

BOOM!

The knight flew backward, his grip on the sword loosening.

Noah didn’t try to grab it with his one functional hand. Instead, he created distance, using the momentary opening to back up and reassess.

Ironside recovered quickly, retrieving his sword. He seemed to be evaluating Noah differently now, recognizing that despite the handicap, his opponent was still dangerous.

They circled each other. Noah’s enhanced regeneration had fixed his nose, stopped the bleeding, though his face still ached. His health was climbing back up slowly, regeneration working on the accumulated damage to his ribs and various cuts.

’How much longer?’ Noah wondered, checking his right hand. The bones had realigned, but the tissue was still regenerating. purple light continued flickering around the injury. ’Five more minutes? Twenty? No way to know.’

Ironside moved first. He closed distance without committing to a full attack, testing Noah’s defensive capabilities with probing strikes.

The head came at Noah in a horizontal swing. He ducked, came up with a spinning back kick that caught Ironside in his wounded flank from an earlier exchange.

Black blood sprayed. The wound reopened, and Ironside actually made a sound—a grinding noise that came from somewhere in his torso rather than a throat he didn’t have.

’His weak point,’ Noah realized. ’That flank wound. If I can keep attacking it, keep it from healing, maybe I can do enough damage to slow him down.’

But exploiting that weakness required getting close, and getting close with one hand meant risking devastating counters.

The sword came around in a horizontal slash. Noah jumped, his legs propelling him upward. Instead of kicking at Ironside directly, he planted his foot on the knight’s shoulder and pushed off, using him as a springboard to gain distance.

He landed ten feet away, breathing hard.

’Getting closer,’ Noah thought, checking his hand again. The tissue was filling in now, the purple light becoming more concentrated. ’Just need to survive a little longer.’

Ironside pressed forward, not giving Noah time to recover. The head swung in patterns that Noah was starting to recognize—horizontal slashes, overhead strikes, occasional uppercuts. The knight had clearly used this weapon for years, developed muscle memory that transcended his headless state.

Noah studied the patterns while dodging. Three horizontal slashes in sequence, then an overhead. Reset. Three horizontal, overhead. The timing was consistent, the angles identical.

’This almost looks like AI behavior,’ Noah thought, sidestepping another slash. ’He’s following attack patterns instead of adapting in real-time. Which means I can exploit the repetition once my hand heals and I can properly counter.’

Three horizontal slashes came. Noah ducked the first, jumped the second, stepped inside the third.

The overhead strike came exactly when Noah predicted.

He wasn’t there. He’d already moved to Ironside’s left side, his functional hand delivering a chi-enhanced palm strike to the knight’s exposed flank where the wound was still seeping black blood.

BOOM!

The impact drove deeper into the injury. Ironside stumbled, his movements losing coordination for just a moment.

Noah’s leg swept around, catching Ironside’s ankle, dropping him to one knee.

But without two hands, Noah couldn’t follow up effectively. He backed away instead, maintaining distance.

’Almost there,’ Noah estimated. His right hand was almost healed now, the bones solid, most of the tissue regenerated. ’Just need to survive a little longer.’

Ironside stood, and his entire posture changed. Like he’d recognized that Noah was stalling, waiting for something, and decided to escalate before that something happened.

The knight charged with pure aggression, his sword coming in rapid combinations that Noah had to use every ounce of his enhanced agility to avoid.

Slash, thrust, overhead chop, spinning slash. The attacks came faster, harder, with less regard for defense.

Noah dodged, weaved, used his superior speed to stay ahead of the blade. But he was being pushed back, forced toward the corridor wall, his options narrowing.

His back hit stone. Nowhere left to retreat.

Ironside’s sword came in a thrust aimed at Noah’s heart.

Noah twisted, the blade scraping across his ribs instead of punching through his chest. The edge carved a line from his left side to his right hip, not deep but long, blood soaking through his tactical gear.

’-89 HP’

’Health Points: 3,170/3,720’

But the near-miss gave Noah an opening. His left hand grabbed Ironside’s sword arm at the wrist, holding it pinned against the wall.

His right hand—still tender, still healing but functional enough—grabbed the chain holding Ironside’s severed head.

He yanked, pulling the head toward himself, and Ironside resisted reflexively.

The tug-of-war lasted maybe two seconds before Noah released his grip completely.

Ironside stumbled backward from the sudden lack of resistance, his severed head swinging wild on its chain.

The head hit the ground, bounced once, the chain going slack.

Noah dove for it. Both hands—including his newly functional right hand—closed around the skull, feeling the unnatural density, the weight that exceeded what bone should possess.

’Finally healed,’ Noah thought, testing his right hand’s grip. Still weak, still recovering, but usable. ’Good enough.’

Ironside recovered, his sword coming around in a horizontal slash aimed at decapitating Noah while he was crouched.

Noah rolled forward, under the blade, came up behind the knight. Both hands gripped Ironside’s severed head, the chain trailing behind.

He swung the head like a flail, building momentum with both arms now, and brought it around into Ironside’s back.

BOOM!

The impact dented his armor, drove him forward. He stumbled, his coordination breaking, and Noah saw his opening.

The sword. Ironside’s blade, still in his hand but his grip loosened from the impact.

Noah’s foot came up in a kick that caught his wrist. The sword tumbled free, clattering across stone.

Both of them lunged for it simultaneously.

Noah got there first, his fingers—both hands functional now—closing around the hilt. He spun, bringing the blade up in a rising slash that caught Ironside across his already-wounded flank.

Black blood sprayed. The wound opened wider, deeper, and Ironside made that grinding noise again from somewhere in his torso.

Noah pressed the advantage. The sword came around in an overhead chop, driving down toward Ironside’s shoulder joint where the armor was weakest.

The blade bit deep, cutting through steel, through chainmail, into flesh and bone.

Ironside’s left arm went limp, tendons severed, the limb hanging useless.

’Now,’ Noah thought, his entire plan crystallizing into action. ’While he’s damaged, while he’s vulnerable.’

He kept the severed head in his left hand, both hands gripping the sword now. The blade came around in a thrust aimed at Ironside’s chest, right where his heart would be if he had one.

The sword punched through his breastplate. Not all the way—Noah’s right hand was still weak from healing, couldn’t generate full force—but deep enough that the blade sank maybe six inches into his torso.

Ironside grabbed the blade with his functional hand, trying to push it out, trying to prevent deeper penetration.

Noah’s left hand released the sword, grabbing the severed head from where he’d momentarily set it down. Fingers closing around the skull, lifting it, feeling the impossible weight and density.

Ironside realized what Noah was planning maybe half a second before it happened. His eyeless sockets seemed to widen, his body tensing.

Too late.

"HIIAAAAGGH!!!!"

Noah screamed, his entire body rotating. His right arm held the sword embedded in Ironside’s chest while his left arm swung the severed head in an arc, building momentum, using his torso rotation to add force. The skull became a hammer, accelerating, the chain trailing behind like a tail.

The head connected with the sword’s hilt.

BOOM!!!

The impact drove the blade deeper. Not smoothly, not cleanly, but with catastrophic force that punched the sword through Ironside’s torso completely. The blade erupted from his back, black blood spraying, and the knight’s body went rigid.

Noah didn’t stop. He swung the head again, and again, hammering the sword hilt like he was driving a nail into wood. Each impact pushed the blade deeper, wider, creating trauma that exceeded what even a level 65 enemy could survive.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Ironside’s body shuddered with each strike. His armor cracked, his chest cavity collapsing inward around the embedded blade. Black blood poured from the wound, pooling on the stone floor.

The knight’s hand released the sword, fell limp to his side.

His body swayed once, then collapsed. Knees hit the ground first, then his torso folded forward, the sword still embedded through his chest pinning him to the stone floor.

Silence fell over the corridor.

Noah stood there, breathing hard, the severed head still gripped in his left hand. His right hand ached from the stress of combat before full healing, but it had held. Blood covered him—his own and Ironside’s mixed together until he couldn’t tell which was which.

The knight’s body began dissolving. Not into light particles like the previous enemies, but slowly, deliberately, his form fading like smoke dissipating.

Text appeared.

[XP GAINED: 1000]

’QUEST STAGE COMPLETE’

The black flame lamp descended from overhead, stopping at eye level. A third key materialized beneath it, more ornate than the previous two, clearly meant for whatever final gate waited ahead.

Noah grabbed it with his left hand, then collapsed to his knees.

His health had climbed back to maybe 3,200 through continuous regeneration during the fight, but he was exhausted. Mentally, physically, completely drained in ways that went beyond simple fatigue.

’Fighting with one hand for however long that took,’ Noah thought, staring at the key. ’Against something four levels above me. And there are still two more defensive layers ahead.’

His right hand flexed, testing its condition. Fully healed now, no lingering weakness. His ribs had mended during the fight. The gash across his torso was closing, new skin forming over exposed muscle.

But healing took energy. Took resources his body was burning through at unsustainable rates.

’I could turn back,’ Noah thought. ’Exit the quest, recover, come back when I’m stronger. Nobody would blame me for retreating from something this difficult.’

Except he would blame himself.

The thought of Kruel came unbidden. The four-horn Harbinger who’d torn through the eastern quadrant like it was made of paper. Who’d killed two million people in less than three days. Who was still out there somewhere, still a threat, still waiting.

’If I can’t finish this quest,’ Noah thought, his jaw tightening, ’what hope do I have against Kruel? What chance do I have of protecting anyone if I quit now because one headless knight was too difficult?’

He looked at the key in his hand, at the path ahead, at the castle that still held whatever secrets this quest was designed to reveal.

"Fuck it," Noah said aloud, pushing himself to his feet despite his body’s protests. "I’ve come too far to quit now."

His enhanced regeneration finished healing everything, his health climbing past 3,500, approaching full.

Noah started walking toward the next gate, the key gripped tight, his expression set with determination that bordered on stubbornness.

Whatever waited ahead, he’d face it. Whatever boss controlled this castle, he’d fight it.

Because turning back wasn’t an option. Not for someone who’d declared war on Harbingers. Not for someone who’d promised to protect Earth against threats that made normal humans look like insects.

Noah inserted the key as he got to the gate and felt the lock disengage, and pushed the gate open.

Time to finish this.