The Great Sword is not the Main Body!-Chapter 70: Black Knight Kalt (3)
The game’s Kalt was strong.
Despite being set as the weakest among the masters, he was incredibly strong.
Still... Kalt in Phase 1 was manageable.
The ridiculous health bar was a problem, but the attack patterns themselves weren’t difficult to deal with.
Of course, the issue was that even a single hit would leave you at death's door.
But for an experienced player like me, that's not a problem, so let’s move on.
A few seasoned players, including myself, could defeat Kalt in Phase 1.
Yeah.
Phase 1 could be beaten thousands, tens of thousands of times.
In fact, we’ve won so many times that we lost count.
The problem was Phase 2.
When Kalt’s health drops to 20%, an animation triggers.
It shows Kalt driving a sword into his own heart, screaming for the goddess.
The goddess responds, granting him power in exchange for his lifespan.
Kalt, having received the power, makes a simple gesture, and the sky is torn apart.
Then, through the split sky, the black sun appears.
That marks the start of Phase 2, and thousands of shadow tentacles charge at you.
There’s no place to avoid them.
You have to parry all of them.
What about mages, you ask?
The cowardly mages just die.
Or they parry with their staves.
Anyway.
You had to memorize something like this:
Up, left, right, right, top-right diagonal, down, underground, up, bottom-left diagonal...
Like a periodic table or pi... something like that.
Yeah... you had to memorize hundreds of directions, and somehow figure out how to break this hellish pattern.
Then, the damn attacks start.
Shadows spread out, and your health starts draining at a rate of 3% per second.
The sword and the shadows move as if they’re operating on a frame-by-frame basis, swinging at the player.
Well... health can be solved with potions.
And absurd attacks could be dodged with invincibility skills or tricks.
Because, after all, it’s a game.
But, the real issue wasn’t Kalt’s attacks.
The biggest problem was...
That none of the attacks worked.
Physical attacks, of course, but even magic, priestly powers imbued with divine energy, and summoned creatures' attacks...
None of them had any effect.
It was already absurd trying to approach Kalt while avoiding thousands of tentacles and the crazily swinging sword...
But even after breaking through all the patterns and reaching Kalt's front,
the fact that none of the attacks worked brought despair to many players.
There was even a rumor that Kalt would beat the End if it fought against it in Phase 2. It was that ridiculous.
In the end, some players asked the operators a question.
“Can we defeat Kalt?”
There was no answer.
It was the first time the operators didn’t reply to a player’s question.
Afterward, a certain player made a speculative post.
They guessed that if Kalt was defeated, there might be an ending where the priestess doesn’t die.
That post moved the hearts of many veteran players.
Dozens of us, including me, took on Kalt again.
And then, just once...
Out of thousands of attempts, just once...
My character managed to drain Kalt’s health.
It was only 1%, but... it worked.
I replayed the video, again and again.
I watched it dozens of times.
And finally, I figured it out.
How to drain health.
How to defeat Kalt in Phase 2.
The method was...
I slashed through the thousands of tentacles coming at me and rolled backward to create distance.
Tens of tentacles erupted from the ground where I had just stood.
I dashed forward again, slashing through the incoming tentacles.
At times, I used the greatsword to brace against the ground,
twisting my body as I surrounded myself with bloodlust,
taking hits,
cutting through flesh and breaking bones to move forward.
Even now, Karpeng’s lingering thoughts attempt to devour me.
Each time, I remembered Rubia being trampled by Kalt, forcing myself to stay focused.
The sound of my skin being ripped apart echoes in my ears.
My hearing and touch return.
The blood mixed with my internal organs bursts from within me.
My sense of taste returns.
The bitter smell of blood floods into me.
My sense of smell is stimulated.
My blurred thoughts are awakened.
Forty meters ahead.
I unleash my bloodlust, resisting the swaying shadows around me.
I step on the ground, extending my arm to deflect the shadows pouring at me.
Thirty meters.
I reverse the recoil from the greatsword and accelerate.
Delos charges with my body.
I tear through shadows,
biting through them as I move forward.
Ten meters.
My arm is pierced.
My movement is restricted.
I twist and break it,
tear off the leather, and keep running.
Five meters.
Two steps forward.
I sharpen my senses to the extreme.
I erase unnecessary information.
I erase ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) the shadows rising from the ground.
I erase the tentacles pouring from the air.
I need nothing else.
Only Kalt’s information matters now.
Behind my skin.
Inside my muscles.
Inside my blood vessels.
My body, filled with shadows instead of blood and magic.
I draw it, accept it, understand it.
I recall past memories.
I recall the sensations.
The shadows writhe.
They flow through my veins.
They spread through my entire body.
My heart contracts.
My muscles tense.
My skin stretches.
My waist twists.
My arm raises.
Through that arm...
The shadow is released.
Now.
As I absorb the shadow with my body, I swung my greatsword.
A strike that carries no power.
It didn’t feel like cutting.
It didn’t feel like it was hitting anything.
But...
Fwosh-
I cut.
At the moment of the strike.
When Kalt’s body, made of shadows, solidified its form...
I took advantage of the only moment where my attack could land—
The 0.2 seconds gap.
Blood bursts from Kalt’s waist.
The thirst remains.
Kalt’s expression turns to one of shock.
My lips curl into a grin.
Through my raised lips,
blood bursts out.
My body, drained of life, bleeds violently.
But, Karpeng’s lingering thoughts...
They didn’t let me die.
Using my blood as nourishment, my bloodlust moves.
Bloodlust supports my collapsing body.
I rise again.
I cut through tentacles, swatting them away, and push forward.
I increase the distance.
I shorten it.
I dodge.
Then charge again.
I cut.
Blood droplets rise into the air.
Is it my blood?
Is it Kalt’s blood?
Judging by the thirst that remains, Kalt’s blood is probably mixed in.
This is the second time.
If I do this 18 more times...
I’ll win.
I cut through shadows, slicing through the tentacles attacking from all sides.
More wounds appear on my body.
The bloodlust swells even stronger.
If the thirst ends, what will happen to my body?
Will I live? Will I die?
Will it hurt? Or not?
I don’t know.
I decided to stop thinking about it.
I gave up.
Whether I lose or win,
Death will be the same.
I just accepted it.
I stood up.
And moved forward.
This isn’t about some hero’s desire to save Charlotte and Uria.
There’s no sense of justice about saving the world or killing the villain.
I just...
I just...
I want to beat the opponent in front of me.
The one I couldn’t beat for 8 years.
I want to win.
The one that no one has ever succeeded in.
I want to be the first to succeed.
Maybe it’s Karpeng’s lingering thoughts messing with my mind.
But I don’t care.
If I can defeat that bastard.
If I can kill it.
If I can change the ending of this story with my own strength.
I can be broken thousands, tens of thousands of times.
"Impossible!"
Kalt’s roar rings out.
The shadows that covered the sky pour down on me.
They fall like rain, with each drop carrying a lethal energy.
I ignored it.
My body is pierced.
But I move forward.
All my fingers are shattered.
Thick bloodlust becomes my hands.
Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.
And I cut.
This is the eighth time.
Only twelve more to go.
"You... pathetic beast! How dare you challenge me, a mere beast, to compete with her!"
As the explosive sound rips through my eardrums, my body is sent flying through the air.
I crash into the ground, landing dozens of meters away.
But I immediately rise.
My staggering body is supported by bloodlust.
It moves instead of me.
In exchange, it drains my blood.
It tries to swallow my consciousness, my very existence.
I raise my finger.
I pierce my eardrum.
I don’t need the sound.
It’s distracting.
I shake off the blood on my finger and grip my greatsword.
Again.
I move.
I kick the ground and leap into the shadows, threading my way through the perfect trajectory.
I swing my greatsword.
Not a millisecond of delay.
Any touch, any hesitation,
will allow thousands of shadows to devour me.
I can’t stop.
I must keep moving.
I twist the greatsword, swing it, scatter it.
I draw a full moon to secure space.
Stretching my leg, I stand straight.
Raising my arm, I swing the greatsword.
Stepping into the final stance, I cut through shadows.
I didn’t stop breathing. I held onto my lifeline.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than
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When the greatsword wasn’t enough, I swung bloodlust.
When bloodlust wasn’t enough, I reached out with my hands.
If my hands were too weak, I bit with my teeth.
If my teeth failed, I used my body.
If my body wasn’t enough, I scattered even blood droplets.
I stopped the shadows.
I pierced through them.
I overcame them.
And reached Kalt’s front.
And I swung.
I cut, cut, cut.
Kalt’s face contorts in agony.
The depth of shadows thickens.
Bloodlust’s movements slow.
My body becomes heavy.
I tear through my skin with my nails.
Blood pours out.
Again, the bloodlust thickens.
My body lightens.
And I cut again.
Five times left.
The end is in sight.
The final moment is near.
My thoughts blur.
I want to see Rubia.
I want to smell her scent in her arms.
I want to fall asleep.
When it’s all over...
Will Rubia hold me?
I want her to see me win.
And with a victorious smile,
talk about what we’ll do tomorrow.
What we’ll eat.
How she’ll scold me.
I want to talk about such trivial things.
So.
Let’s go.
Let’s go.
End the fight.
Let’s save Rubia.
With heavy steps, I avoided the shadows pouring down, cutting and parrying.
I kept moving forward.
And then.
I raised my battered arm.
I cut Kalt.
At that moment,
my right arm was severed.
I dropped the greatsword.
My senses faded.
Nothing was formed in my mind.
No longer,
could I feel the thirst.
Only one more time.
Just one more hit.
Fingers, teeth, bones,
I just need to touch it.
A pain that cannot be described shatters my mind.
My body halts.
My thoughts stop.
I reach for the surrender.
Death forces itself upon me.
No.
No.
Please.
Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please.
Move.
Move.
Step forward.
Stab Kalt’s heart.
Kill him.
Save Rubia.
Endure. Endure the pain.
I can endure.
I took a step.
I moved.
My body crumbles.
I lean on my elbow.
I hold on with my shoulder.
I crawled.
I dug my teeth into the ground, crawling.
My teeth cracked, and fell out.
Using my gums, my jaw, my forehead.
I crawled forward.
The sharp sensation tore through my body.
Pierced, shredded.
I couldn’t go any further.
My neck twisted.
At the same time,
something wriggled from underground.
A root-like object rises and surrounds my body.
The hot heat warms my cold body.
A soft energy supports my body.
I fumbled for my remaining arm.
My hand, hardened with calluses, holds out the sword.
It wasn’t a greatsword.
Not a branch either.
Just an ordinary.
Old.
Worn-out.
Cheap.
But.
It was a one-handed sword that had cut through the world.
The root supporting me breathes life into me.
The hot heat prevents my death.
The warm energy lifts my arm.
I smiled faintly.
And swung the sword.
