Book 2: Chapter 462
Lukas knew the kinds of beings that he needed to be wary of in this world.
They could be grouped into three main categories.
The Twelve Void Lords, who could be considered the most powerful Lords or Rulers of the World of Void.
Next were the Rulers, who had snuck into the World of Void with some kind of goal, and were cleverly waiting for opportunities.
And finally were the Four Knights.
It was still uncertain if he should add the Void King, whose identity was still a mystery, to that. This was because Lukas didn’t even know what kind of being they were, let alone how powerful they were. Did they even exist in the first place? That person called the Void King.
Lukas clicked his tongue. Deeply contemplating things wasn’t important when there was a real threat in front of him.
This was without a doubt, one of Lukas’ flaws.
What Lukas had to do now was pay attention to the current situation, not to an unsolvable question.
‘Generally speaking, the Four Knights were stronger than the Twelve Void Lords.’
This was a clearly recognised fact.
At first, he’d encountered it as knowledge, but he had later experienced it with his body. Nevertheless, this information could not be considered as an absolute fact.
Lukas hadn’t yet gained a complete understanding of the Twelve Void Lords. So far, he had only met a small part, and it couldn’t even be said that he had a full understanding of the power of the people he’d met.
He glanced at Yang In-hyun who was right beside him. This person was probably the one that Lukas knew the best out of all of the Twelve Void Lords, but he had yet to see and couldn’t even imagine his full power.
Sama Ryeong, a member of the Seven Flowers, had said that his swordsmanship had reached a divine level, and the Everlasting Plum Sword had up four moves, but that didn’t mean that Yang In-hyun didn’t have any other secret means.
The Four Knights were the same.
‘…will Lucid also become this strong?’
Enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with Pale, and this White Knight in front of him? It left a bitter taste in his mouth. He knew that his beliefs hadn’t changed, but apart from that, everything was a mystery. The reason he was working together with Diablo, and what happened to make him the Black Knight.
He came to bring death to the World of Void? Lucid? Knowing just how much he cherished life, Lukas found it difficult to understand.
“…”
—Unlike Lukas, who was immersed in his various thoughts, Yang In-hyun was focused on the being in front of them.
‘They’re not in the mood to talk.’
Yang In-hyun couldn’t help but feel deep doubts about the situation. As far as he knew, among the Four Knights, the White Knight was the most moderate, easy to talk to, and reasonable. Because of this, some people called them the ‘Leader of the Knights’.
Of course, Yang In-hyun knew there wasn’t any kind of hierarchical relationship between the Knights, but he couldn’t erase the feeling that the White Knight had the strongest voice among them.
But that being was now silently exuding fighting intent. No light was visible beneath their helmet. There was only gloomy darkness. This appearance didn’t suit the name ‘White Knight’ at all.
‘…however.’
They weren’t fake. At least that much was clear.
In this infinitely large world, the number of beings that could make him feel so much tension that sweat covered his hands was extremely limited.
“…Everlasting Plum Sword, First Move.”
So there was no need to probe.
Yang In-hyun immediately showed his own intent from the first move. Even though his strength was limited, he hadn’t used the Everlasting Plum Sword in the brief fight with the Lightning God, a Ruler.
This was natural.
After all, the being in front of them was incomparable to a Ruler borrowing the body of a puppet.
“Murim Annihilation.” (TL: Previously ‘Martial Annihilation’, I changed it to fit the context.)
Paht-
Centred around Yang In-hyun, colourless buds began to bloom. Each bud flickered as if they would disappear at any moment. This refined technique that was unfolding was the scene that had once bewitched Lukas, and the extreme of swordsmanship that he couldn’t help but praise.
The blooming buds were just a simple phenomenon.
There was no special meaning behind them apart from Yang In-hyun’s wish to annihilate the Murim. He wished that beautiful flowers would bloom in this desolate world.
This phenomenon was a manifestation of the resolution he’d made at that time.
What had emerged was an amalgamation of history originating from that image, memory and technique.
And the season when Murim was annihilated didn’t unfold from those buds. It was an actualisation of every technique from the sword.
That was why the Everlasting Plum Sword was a sword technique.
“—”
Lukas felt like he’d fully grasped what Murim Annihilation was. It was a slash of karma brought about by Yang In-hyun’s history.
Deep-seated hatred, resentment. And, at the same time, he could feel the opposing feelings of longing and sadness.
Perhaps, Yang In-hyun hadn’t wanted to annihilate the Murim with his own hands. Of course, this was probably a very rude thought. So he’d never reveal it. Yang In-hyun probably wouldn’t talk about it either.
If it wasn’t for the faint traces of emotion in his swordsmanship, Lukas probably wouldn’t have thought about that possibility in his whole life.
‘The karma Yang In-hyun carries.’
Those who were unable to bear it would be unable to stop that slash. They wouldn’t even notice it.
Lucid always said that every slash had to be done with all your heart. And he’d also said that he had a long way to go before he could reach that level.
Those words weren’t a bluff or ideology. At that time, Lucid had still been far away from that state, but it was clear that he was dreaming of it.
Clang!
Lukas’ soul almost departed.
The Everlasting Plum Sword, Murim Annihilation had been blocked.
“…!”
Lukas’ breath hitched for a moment. The White Knight held a small shield in their right hand. He had only just noticed. This was because the shield had been hanging on their back.
It had a form that was similar to a buckler. It wasn’t very large, and seemed quite thin as well. Normally, Yang In-hyun’s Murim Annihilation should have been to slice through even a few thousand of such shields.
‘It’s hard.’
Yang In-hyun frowned slightly.
What kind of material was it made of? To so easily block his Murim Annihilation.
Of course, the defensive abilities of all four of the Knights could be described as monstrous. After all, most attacks could barely scratch the armour of Pale, the most aggressive of them all.
And among the four Knights, the White Knight possessed outstanding defensive abilities.
This was a fact that Yang In-hyun was well aware of. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but be filled with shock.
The difference between what he’d believed and what he experienced was greater than the difference between heaven and earth.
‘…I thought it would at least have some effect.’
He thought that if it was his Everlasting Plum Sword, he would be able to make a crack in the White Knight’s defences, even if just slightly.
Yang In-hyun had considered this to be calm confidence, but it turned out to just be arrogance. This result proved that.
The White Knight had blocked his attack without even moving from their spot. In fact, even the word ‘blocked’ was a bit ambiguous. The White Knight had simply raised their shield towards the incoming sword strike.
They didn’t bend their back, focus on their shield, or do anything of the sort. The feeling of being disregarded filled Yang In-hyun with humiliation.
Yang In-hyun withdrew his sword. The White Knight didn’t pursue. Instead, they just lowered the shield and continued to stand there with their sword drawn.
“This is just my guess.”
Without revealing the emotions boiling inside him, Yang In-hyun spoke.
“But I think we need to break through the White Knight’s defences in order to gain The Exile’s acknowledgement.”
Lukas agreed with those words.
He didn’t need more proof as the White Knight didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking. Even at that moment, they were just looking at them with a sword in their right hand and shield in their left hand*. (*:The shield was in the right hand before.)
“We can’t attack at the same time.”
“Right. Our power would interfere with each other.”
His magic and Yang In-hyun’s Everlasting Plum Sword wouldn’t mix. It was like oil and water. Rather than strengthening the other, they might end up adversely affecting or even directly destroying each other.
“We have two options. The first is to take turns to attack till we’re tired.”
“That’s no good. It wouldn’t be very efficient, let’s go with the second one.”
When Lukas spoke bluntly, Yang In-hyun couldn’t help but ask.
“Do you even know what the second option is?”
“Is it not taking turns to attack continuously?” (TL: A bit hard to differentiate, but I took this to mean 1. They’d each get a chance to attack until they were tired/ran out of options and 2. They’d attack back and forth continuously.)
“…hmm, yeah, that’s right.”
Yang In-hyun nodded with a slightly strange expression.
“How will we determine the turns?”
This was also an important issue. At that, Yang In-hyun spoke.
“You’ve already seen my Everlasting Plum Sword. You must have some grasp of my power. However, I don’t know much about you.”
In the battle against the Lightning God, Lukas had ended up taking the role of support. Yang In-hyun hadn’t been relaxed enough to take a good look at him.
He meant that he should show his hand this time, to make it fair. Nodding, Lukas agreed. This was because he judged that it was a fair argument.
Of course, he also had other calculations.
‘I haven’t used my power properly since [Lukases]’ voices disappeared.’
He had clearly felt himself grow stronger in the imaginary world, but he couldn’t expect the same amount of power in reality. There would still be some differences.
Just in time, the toughest training dummy in the world was prepared for him.
He’d have plenty of time to hone his skills.
[You can tell me if you think you won’t be enough. This Lightning God will help you.]
‘I don’t need it.’
He would rather die than receive help from that guy. The Lightning God let out an unpleasant laugh.
Pretending not to hear, Lukas walked up to the White Knight. Then he drew on his void power.
—.
Entering the minimal time zone was easy. The ‘Lukases’ had been right. It was now possible for him to enter it without the help of their computational ability. There was a slight dizziness at first, but that quickly faded away.
Nevertheless, the bitter feeling didn’t go away.
Forcibly swallowing the bitter taste that lingered on the tip of his tongue, Lukas looked at the White Knight.
If there wasn’t a faint glimmer from the eye holes of the helmet and the armour’s paint was a bit gloomier, they could have been mistaken for a Ghost Knight.
But his opponent was just as much of a monster as Pale. So he had no doubt they could perceive this time zone.
‘I wish I could test if I could use the Thorn of Pain…’
Of course, it would be impossible to manifest to the same extent as in the imaginary world, he still wanted to know to what extent he could use it.
‘Clearly a bad idea.’
To use the power of a Ruler in front of none other than one of the four Knights. Considering Pale’s reaction, it was tantamount to suicide. If that happened, the White Knight might abandon their defensive stance and rush to take Lukas’ life.
It was a shame. The power of a Ruler would certainly have been able to deal a valid blow to the White Knight.
‘…then, what should I use?’
Lukas flicked his finger in thought. Chwak, several spaces expanded in front of him.
Even using the power of space was less of a burden. There was a slight delay when compared to the imaginary world, but that was it.
Clearly feeling his own progress, Lukas decided to send a spell through them.
Woowoong-
It was a weaker version of the amplification magic he’d used in the battle against the Demon God.
The silent, enhanced spell bombardment hit the White Knight’s armour. Armour, not shield.
In other words, they hadn’t moved or reacted in any way, standing still like a training dummy and enduring Lukas’ spell.
They didn’t even need to block it?
His pride took a small hit, but Lukas calmly accepted it. This was because he didn’t think the magic he used was in any way superior to Yang In-hyun’s Everlasting Plum Sword.
At that moment, the White Knight moved. They began rushing towards Lukas’ position.
…Weren’t they just standing still and blocking attacks?
Although he was a bit surprised, he wasn’t shocked.
Nevertheless, he did still need more time. For now, he needed to slow them down, even if only slightly. There was no point in using ordinary spells. Lukas placed a space trap in the White Knight’s path.
This was the same trick he’d used in the battle against the Lightning God. Even if it only worked once, it would be considered a success. And even if it didn’t work, it wouldn’t be that bad for Lukas since he would still be able to earn the smallest amount of time as they went around his trap.
He didn’t expect them to fall for his trap. The Lightning God had only fallen for it because Yang In-hyun had been drawing most of his attention, but now, the White Knight’s attention was entirely focused on Lukas.
So that meant he’d have to find another way…
Shuk!
The White Knight’s right foot fell into the space trap Lukas had created.
“Mm?”
Yang In-hyun, who was watching from the side, furrowed his eyebrows. Surprised, Lukas did the same.
Did they not notice that? The White Knight?
Just as he questioned this scene, an even more shocking scene unfolded. Without even the slightest hint of surprise, the White Knight stabbed their sword into the space that had swallowed their foot. Then, they twisted the blade.
Crack!
The sound of the space cracking could be heard. Lukas’ expression became stiff.
Even when the White Knight had fallen for his trap, he’d been more confused than glad, but now, he couldn’t help but feel anxious.
‘They forcefully expanded the entrance of the space.’
With just their physical strength.
Then, the White Knight jumped into the expanded space.
“…!”
For the first time, Lukas couldn’t help but feel flustered.
“What’s in there?”
“…it’s a space where almost nothing exists.”
The only things in that universe were a few enhancement spells that Lukas had placed to amplify his spells. Naturally, there was nothing there to support living beings. It was an empty world that could be described as empty space.
‘…if I close the entrance to that space.’
It might mean the capturing or sealing of the White Knight.
‘It doesn’t make sense.’
If it was the White Knight, it wouldn’t be strange if they were able to escape on their own, and even if they couldn’t, there was the possibility that the Exile* would take them out after. He wasn’t certain of the level of power he had over space. (*: The author used a different word here which is almost the opposite of ‘exile’, but from the context, I’m assuming it is.)
‘I’ll follow.’
Just as Lukas made up his mind, Yang In-hyun asked.
“Should I join you?”
The White Knight had already displayed unexpected behaviour. If they weren’t simply responding defensively, then they couldn’t afford to leisurely take turns to attack.
But Lukas shook his head.
“No. I’d rather go alone.”
“I see.”
“Worst case scenario, I’ll immediately get rid of the space, then you’ll immediately attack the White Knight.”
“Alright.”
Then, Lukas stepped into the space that the White Knight had entered first.
—A world without anything. In this world filled with nothing but darkness stood the lone White Knight, emitting a pure white glow.
As if feeling Lukas’ presence, they turned to look at him as he entered.
Then, just as Lukas was about to call upon the power of void once more. The White Knight once again did something completely unexpected.
But no matter how one looked at it, it couldn’t be seen as an act of aggression.
Churk-
The White Knight removed the helmet covering their face.
“…”
And Lukas frowned as he saw the revealed face.