Future Knight

Chapter 49

From that moment on, Elradian, having lost all ten of his Elven Knights to Arcshadow, found himself in a critical situation.

The battle had already ended.

Now, the only task left for Nemitz was to grant eternal rest to his old friend, together with his disciples.

『Farewell, my old friend.』

『Nemitz…….』

At the moment when Arcshadow’s sword was about to pierce through the shoulder of the Elven Knight.

Then.

A massive object plummeted onto Arcshadow.

*Shoooom* *Boooom!*

Arcshadow, which his most cherished disciple was riding, was shattered beyond recognition from the tremendous impact.

And in front of them appeared an enormous Gigantes.

It was a Gigantes they had never seen before in their lives.

『W-What is that gigantic Gigantes?!』

The enormous Gigantes didn’t give them time to be surprised and launched a second attack.

-Die!

With a weapon they had never seen before, the enormous Gigantes completely destroyed the shoulder of the second Arcshadow.

The power was unbelievable.

『Gasp! What incredible power! To shatter a magically protected Gigantes so easily!』

The second Arcshadow, sacrificed before Nemitz’s eyes, slowly crumbled.

Those sacrificed to the enormous Gigantes were all top-tier Sword Experts, the two pillars of Arcshadow.

They had lost them in an instant.

Nemitz felt immense fury towards the unidentified Gigantes.

Soon, the enormous Gigantes aimed its formidable weapon at him.

『You!』

Nemitz unleashed his Aura Blade and sliced off the right arm of the Gigantes.

Then, he swung his sword with the intent to completely cut through the shoulder where the enemy knight would be riding.

However, the enemy’s skill was considerable.

Using the sword from its remaining left hand, it blocked Nemitz’s Aura Blade.

Without even using an Aura Sword.

But there was no way an ordinary sword could withstand his Aura Blade.

There was no metal in the world that couldn’t be cut by an Aura Blade.

As expected, the enemy’s sword blocking his was easily severed.

Nemitz intended to continue and cleave through the enemy’s shoulder.

But then, a blinding flash suddenly burst in front of his eyes.

He momentarily lost his sight and screamed in agony.

『Aaaaagh! My eyes! My eyes!』

Kang Chan, hearing the screams, evaded the terrifyingly swinging Aura Blade of the enraged Gigantes and approached Elradian.

-Master! Master!

Kang Chan supported Elradian’s Elven Knight, who was on the verge of collapse.

The once-beautiful Elven Knight was now in complete disrepair.

Soon, Elradian’s extremely exhausted voice could be heard from inside.

『Huff! Huff! Huff! This voice, could it be? Chan, is that you?』

-Huff, huff… Yes, Master….

Kang Chan’s voice, too, was extremely fatigued.

His skin, beginning to necrotize, had wrinkled more than an old man’s.

It was a sign that he didn’t have much time left.

『W-Where did that enormous Gigantes come from?』

-Huff, huff, it’s a long story… Let’s first deal with the enemy in front of us.

『Alright, fine!』

Kang Chan knew he had less than five minutes left.

Therefore, he had to quickly eliminate the formidable enemy in front of him.

Only then could he save his master, Elradian.

With Kang Chan’s arrival, Elradian, regaining strength, poured all his energy into his Aura Blade.

Kang Chan, too, picked up a saber from the fallen Elven Knight with his remaining arm and ignited his final resolve.

At that moment, Nemitz, having regained his sight, shouted in a voice filled with rage.

『Damn you! How dare you pull such a trick on me!』

Compared to Elradian, who seemed on the brink of collapse, the enemy Sword Master showed no signs of exhaustion; his Aura Blade blazed even more intensely.

『…He is much stronger than I am. Be very careful.』

-Yes, Master… Huff, huff….

Kang Chan answered Elradian with difficulty.

Blood, tainted with death, continuously flowed from his mouth.

Just then.

Bwoooouuuu!

A low trumpet sound echoed in all directions.

『What? Is it already dawn? Damn it! Consider yourself lucky! I will definitely kill you next time we meet!』

The dawn was rising beyond the horizon.

Dark Elves, who lived deep underground without a speck of light, were powerless during the day.

The same was true for the Black Scantipedes.

The Dark Elves’ Gigantes had a function to block sunlight, allowing them to fight even during the day.

However, they couldn’t continue the war alone without the regular infantry and Black Scantipedes.

Therefore, Nemitz decided to retreat with tears in his eyes.

『Retreat!!』

As Nemitz began to retreat with the remaining Ark Shadows, all the surviving Dark Elves also started to withdraw.

When the dark summoners blew their flutes, the surviving Black Scantipedes also retreated along the invasion route.

The surviving Elf Rangers knelt in despair as they watched the retreating enemies disappear like the ebbing tide.

The forest left behind by the retreating enemies was filled with the corpses of Elves.

The few surviving Elves began to collect the wounded, wailing over the deaths of comrades they had lived with like family.

As all the enemies retreated along the invasion route, Elradian, who had finally taken a breath, went to the side of his trusted disciple’s Gigantes, who had saved him.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

However, the disciple’s Gigantes remained silent and showed no sign of moving.

Worried, Elradian called out to Kang Chan.

『What’s the matter, my disciple?』

Kang Chan’s Gigantes remained silent despite his master’s call.

『Why do you not answer? Open the door!』

Elradian’s Elven Knight’s hand reached for Kang Chan’s Gigantes’ shoulder.

Descending from the Elven Knight, Elradian climbed onto Kang Chan’s Gigantes, using the arm of the Elven Knight.

It was a dizzying height of nearly six meters, but he didn’t mind at all.

Elves, who usually lived high up in trees, had a better sense of balance than any other race on the continent.

Elradian knocked on the shoulder of the Red Rabbit.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

“Open the door! What on earth is going on?”

But no matter how much he knocked, Kang Chan’s answer did not come.

It was now the final moment.

In his fading consciousness, Kang Chan felt a familiar voice calling out to him.

Surely, it was his master calling him.

But he had no strength left to respond with a final greeting to the master calling him.

His limp arms and legs wouldn’t even think of moving.

With increasingly weaker breaths, his eyes slowly closed.

The combat suit he wore reverted to its vest form.

‘Jaina, I will join you soon…….’

Kang Chan, thinking he would soon see Jaina, accepted death with a smile.

It felt like Jaina would come to greet him when he closed his eyes.

Kang Chan smiled peacefully, facing death.

But his wish was shattered with a strange noise that began inside his body.

Crack! Crackle! Crack!

‘What, what is this?’

Kang Chan’s eyes flew open as an unknown, intense energy started to spread through his body.

“Ugh!”

A groan filled with extreme pain escaped from Kang Chan, who had no strength to speak.

The mana, which had been dormant inside his wrecked body, started to rampage wildly.

In the final combat mode, Kang Chan’s body contained an enormous amount of compressed mana.

It was the mana of great nature.

The pure mana of nature, drawn by his mana, which had spun at a tremendous speed and been amplified hundreds of times.

These began to flow violently through the mana lines in Kang Chan’s dying body.

Even in his unconscious state, Kang Chan struggled to follow the mana cultivation method taught by Elradian to direct the rough mana flow.

It was almost instinctive behavior.

Then the mana clumped together and began to rapidly rotate within Kang Chan’s body in a steady flow.

Kang Chan, who had fallen into a state of selflessness.

The blocked mana lines in his body began to open one by one due to the rough flow of mana.

These were mana lines so tightly blocked that he hadn’t dared to attempt opening them before.

It seemed that as the cells in his body collapsed, the mana lines weakened as well.

Every time a mana line opened, Kang Chan’s body twitched.

As the rough mana surged relentlessly up Kang Chan’s neck and toward the top of his head, it eventually pierced through and ascended to his crown.

In that moment, Kang Chan’s mind went completely blank, as white as a blank sheet of paper.

“Ha……”

A refreshing sensation he had never felt before spread throughout his entire body.

Before long, the mana above Kang Chan’s head blossomed into a shape resembling a flower.

The fully bloomed flower of mana gradually scattered and returned to his mana hall through his mouth.

This cycle repeated several times…

Then, strange sounds began to echo from Kang Chan’s body once again.

Crack! Crackle! Snap!

With the sound of his bones twisting, necrotic cells began to revive, imbued with the mana of great nature.

Foul-smelling black liquid poured from his body like sweat.

These were impurities and waste expelled by his cells, accumulated over his lifetime.

This bizarre phenomenon, inexplicable by science, finally ended, and now, his body began to heat up with intense warmth.

The heat burned his clothing to ashes, and the hair on his body singed away with a pungent smell.

His intact teeth fell out, replaced by new ones, and beneath the blackened, charred skin, baby-soft skin emerged.

This inexplicable phenomenon continued for several hours.

Kang Chan opened his eyes gently.

He thought he was in heaven now.

The body that had been filled with burning pain now felt refreshingly light, as if it could fly.

It was a freshness he had never experienced before.

From head to toe, his entire body felt as light as a feather.

A tremendous power, previously unfelt, surged through his entire being.

However, Kang Chan concluded that this place was not heaven.

The unbearable, revolting stench permeated the air around him.