*
The knight standing before the Cult Leader felt familiar.
Should I say it felt exactly like the knight I met when I went to support the dimension back then?
Similar but different power, that bastard seemed like a being from another dimension.
The black knight approached and swung his sword.
As I ducked, the massive greatsword passed over my head, creating a gust of wind.
The strength of that bastard, wielding such a heavy sword so lightly, seemed beyond comparison to my current self.
A truly desperate situation, the knight didn't stop there and swung his sword.
__KANG!!
I could feel the heavy weight of the sword, enough to make my arm tremble.
I had only blocked it once, but the impact was definitely felt.
'Was the sword originally this heavy?'
Even the sword I was holding felt heavier than before.
Unlike before, my body felt slow and heavy.
Attacking was out of the question. Just dodging attacks was overwhelming.
I felt like I had returned to those days when I couldn't do anything, that powerless version of myself.
'Right. There was a time like this.'
Like the days when everyone ignored me, when I was scorned for not awakening alone, I couldn't feel any Mana in my body.
That day.
I remember that day when Min-ji went into the dungeon with me to help me awaken, and the Skeleton Knight appeared.
The feeling of being trapped in a hell that would never end.
I feel like I miss it, but I thought it was an experience I never wanted to have again.
To think I'd be like this again because of that bastard, whether he's a Cult Leader or a Proto, I don't even want to know.
Was I such a weak being without the help of the system?
__KWAJIK!!
I thought I had dodged it, but my left arm was spinning around, as if I hadn't dodged it properly.
That light clearly enveloping the man's greatsword must be Aura.
At least it was cut so cleanly that the cross-section was neat, should I say.
I was already a corpse, but the scars remaining on the man's body showed how many battles he had fought in his lifetime.
That clean, shining sword and swordsmanship proved the man's skill.
In comparison, I couldn't adapt to the suddenly heavy body and couldn't be that man's opponent.
'Fucking feeling.'
I felt disgusted by the powerlessness I felt after a long time.
In addition, the pain was so intense that it was hard to breathe.
I was once again impressed by how much I had benefited from pain resistance.
Is this what they call reverse tolerance?
A knight I don't think I can ever beat.
It's a really dog-like situation, but why am I smiling without realizing it?
Yeah, I might not be normal either.
__KAANG!!!
Unlike what I said confidently, I couldn't even use my strength, but I was different from that time.
Should I say the situation is better than that day when I couldn't do anything and died?
The moment the sword touched, I twisted the blade and the bastard's sword twisted slightly.
I thought there was a gap and moved, but the bastard was a skilled knight.
He seemed to know my movements already, moving without a moment's hesitation.
Rather, I was tricked.
__KWAJIK!!
Time flows slowly.
I was definitely bigger than him, but did my height suddenly increase?
'There's no way. Shit...'
I tried to move my legs, but they didn't respond at all.
There's no other way.
My body was split in half.
They say you don't feel pain when it's too painful, but that's bullshit.
The cross-section feels like it's burning, shit.
I spoke confidently to that bastard, but I'm in this state.
It's a bit embarrassing, but it's not enough to give up.
This sharp pain I feel every time stimulates me.
Even though I'm dying, Proto wasn't smiling.
That bastard probably knows it too.
In this hopeless situation, I.
Won't give up.
...
[Save point loaded.]
"Still interfering... Why does it feel so familiar?"
["..."]
Proto looked around with an awkward expression, as if he felt something ominous.
The guy was grabbing his head, confused.
It would be fine if he couldn't remember, but his head seemed to hurt from the memories he felt in fragments.
Well, my position didn't change.
Whether that bastard's head hurts or not.
Because the fact that I have to fight doesn't change.
I tried to take advantage of this gap to attack, but a strange force began to weigh down on my body.
The moment my body became heavy.
The knight who killed me several times appeared.
A skilled knight who wielded a greatsword the size of a person without any difficulty.
Even though he was clearly dead, his eyes were burning like a living person.
"Ha..! Nothing will change anyway!!!"
The bastard shouted confidently, organizing his tangled memories.
Certainly.
That knight's skill was real.
The moment I jumped back and rolled, the heavy sword wrapped in Aura struck the floor.
The force was so strong that about a quarter of the sword was embedded, but the knight pulled the sword out again without any difficulty.
"Do you think anything will change by repeating it? It wouldn't be bad to experience what it feels like to be a puppet."
He was indeed confident.
However.
Is it because I keep repeating it?
I saw things I didn't see before.
"Keep struggling powerlessly!!! Nothing will change anyway!!!"
Proto gestured, mocking me.
"But why are you trembling so much?"
"Wh..Who says I'm trembling?"
As I rolled back, the knight's sword was embedded in that spot.
I felt a stinging sensation on my cheek, as if fragments had splattered.
"But why are you so anxious?"
The bastard's hand was trembling slightly.
"Shut up!! Kill that bastard right now!!!"
__Kung.. Kung..
Proto probably isn't normal either.
'He probably summoned that knight with his last strength.'
If his strength was normal, he would have tied me up and killed me several times.
Why doesn't he do that?
Proto also meant he had a limit.
He bet his last, everything.
If he loses here?
'That bastard will be finished too.'
That's why he's so anxious.
If I just kill the knight in front of me, that bastard will be finished.
'It's such an end...'
The problem is, this knight is a monster.
The way he wields that heavy greatsword freely.
In addition, he accurately understood his weapon and never gave me a gap.
He knew how to use the overwhelming distance advantage, and he maintained his Aura without wasting any Mana.
He was a strong being to the point where it wouldn't be strange to call him a monster.
'Still... it's not the worst.'
The abilities I received from the system disappeared, but not everything disappeared.
I can't use Mana, but the body strengthened by Mana still remains.
The stamina I increased by repeating training every day, and the experience of fighting with my life on the line every time, also remain.
As I reflexively raised my sword, the bastard's ruthless sword flew at me.
__KKIGIGIGIGIK!!!!!
The moment Bluestar Blade touched the bastard's sword, it made an ominous sound and began to tremble.
It was making a sound as if it would break, but it was holding up somehow.
"Feel your powerlessness!!! You are nothing without the power of the system!!!"
"Shut up, you coward!!!"
"I am not a coward!!!"
The knight swung his greatsword mercilessly.
It felt more like he was hitting me than cutting me.
__KKIGIGIGIGIK!!!!!
My arm ached from the shock that remained even though I had slightly deflected the attack.
In a situation where the power of the system has disappeared, there is no movement correction by skills or danger detection that tells me of danger, but it doesn't matter.
Because the experience I've accumulated remains intact.
__CHAENG!! CHAEAENG!!! CHAENG!!!
At first, I couldn't adapt to the changed body, but now I felt like I was getting used to it.
As I got used to my body, the knight's swordsmanship felt overly familiar.
How he's holding the sword, what angle he's swinging it at, and how the next move is linked.
There were some differences as the weapon changed.
I'm not human if I don't know this.
'Elenen Empire's swordsmanship. Was he a knight from that world?'
Is it because I know what kind of swordsmanship it is that I feel like I can see the bastard's movements little by little?
If that wasn't the case, I wouldn't have been able to parry like this.
'The next attack is on the left!'
I predicted the attack and twisted the blade.
The bastard's attack was twisted as I twisted the sword slightly at the exact timing.
I aimed for a very brief gap and stabbed the sword in.
"Was it not enough."
A disappointing result compared to the blow I put my heart into.
A scratch remained on the defenseless bastard, but I didn't have enough strength to cut through the thick armor.
"Lo..Look!! You can't cut anything with that sword!!!"
Elenen Secret Swordsmanship.
Perhaps because it was created with the use of Mana in mind, it didn't exert much power without Mana.
'Damn it... If only I could use Mana.'
The knight was more wary of the previous attack and swung his sword, and now it seemed difficult to create a gap.
"Keep struggling forever!!! Realize your powerlessness!"
If only I could use Mana, I would have yearned to be able to use Mana like those days when I couldn't awaken.
Perhaps because he was experienced, he didn't fall for the same trick twice.
Rather, I had no choice but to retreat little by little.
"Keuek..."
I was caught off guard and was hit back, and my body flew away.
I managed to defend somehow, but the shock to my wrist was enormous.
"Hahahahahaha!!!! Nothing will change anyway!!!!"
The bastard who's scared and hiding behind the knight is still noisy.
"Wait...Imperial sword.."
Swordsmanship that uses the Danjeon as its center.
I closed my eyes and checked my body condition again.
Still an empty Mana heart.
The Mana circuit with a wide passage thanks to Seo-ah's help, and the Danjeon I created with Aria's help.
If the power of the system is neutralized, what will happen to the power I obtained from another world?
'If I use Mana Simbeop...'
I closed my eyes and recalled Aria's teachings.