I Became the Black Knight

Dale stared into the dim forest.

From within the shadows emerged a monster, its body bristling with spikes like a hedgehog.

But it wasn't alone.

There was a creature leaping about on three legs, another resembling a snail oozing corrosive slime as it slithered forward, and a bat-like being flitting through the air with a dozen blinking eyes.

Dozens of monsters appeared, all with grotesque forms that had nothing in common—no rhyme or reason to their shapes.

There was only one force on the continent known for commanding such a chaotic army.

"Demons. These are monsters mutated by demons."

"What?!"

Estelle's eyes widened in shock.

For demon-spawned creatures to appear near Irene—it was unthinkable.

Haken raised his shield, his expression hardening.

"Demonic bastards… So that's why the one-eyed beast and the owlbear fled. What do we do, Sir Dale? Feels like we're screwed."

"What else?"

Dale picked up the spike that had been hurled at Haken.

It was denser and heavier than it looked. Holding it tightly, Dale swung his arm with all his might.

Whizz—Thud!

The spike struck the hedgehog-like monster squarely in the head. With a sickening pop, black blood gushed out.

Dale spoke calmly.

"We fight."

That was the signal.

The swarm of grotesque monsters charged at them all at once.

Dale raised his longsword and gave instructions.

"Estelle. Cast a blessing on Haken."

"W-What about you, Sir Dale?"

"Blessings don't work on me."

Estelle nodded and quickly recited a prayer.

A gentle light enveloped Haken's body. He felt noticeably lighter.

"Haken, protect Estelle."

"Understood. What about you, Sir Dale?"

Dale didn't reply—instead, he kicked off the ground with force.

The massive black knight soared into the air, drawing the attention of every monster in the clearing.

He landed upright in perfect form.

Squelch!

Using the momentum from the fall, Dale crushed one of the monsters beneath his armored boots. He glanced around.

Right in the middle of the horde.

A perfect spot for a rampage.

"I'll get to fight to my heart's content."

"Kyaaaaaah!"

A monster with a leopard's head and a centipede's body lunged at him first.

Dale raised his longsword and brought it crashing down.

Crunch!

The creature's skull shattered with a sickening crack, and filthy fluid splattered in every direction.

Dale immediately drew his longsword and thrust it to the side. The blade pierced clean through the mouth and brain of a serpent-like monster.

As the creature's green blood dripped onto the ground, it sizzled and bubbled on contact.

At that exact moment, a heavy blow struck his back.

Thud!

Dale turned around.

A hulking creature, proud of its mass, was swinging what resembled a weapon.

The hammer struck his backplate, denting it slightly. The creature let out a guttural, gurgling noise.

It wasn't clear, but it seemed to be laughing.

"Don't laugh."

Dale responded with a punch.

Once. Twice. On the third strike, the creature's jaw shattered completely. It would never laugh again.

Even so, its body didn't collapse right away despite the broken jaw.

So Dale hoisted its massive torso and hurled it at the approaching swarm.

"Kyaaagh!"

From the side, a monster with the head of a crocodile lunged with its gaping jaws wide open.

Dale twisted his waist to dodge the bite, then grabbed the creature's snout and wrenched it sideways with brute force.

With a sickening crack, the monster's head twisted halfway around. Unsatisfied, Dale applied more force to his arm.

Crunch!

The creature's head was torn off—spine and all.

Blood sprayed in all directions.

The blood that splattered onto Dale's body was absorbed instantly. His dented armor restored itself without delay.

A gruesome, horrific sight.

Any ordinary enemy would've hesitated in fear.

But these were monsters created by demons.

Fear was not a luxury they were allowed.

More monsters were already preparing to charge. Watching them, Dale thought:

"This is endless. I really need to learn some kind of area-of-effect attack."

Dale, too, was without fear.

In fact, the blood-soaked body was elated by the carnage.

The number of enemies didn't matter.

For a Black Knight who could gain limitless stamina through vital energy, this kind of battle was nothing more than a pleasant mealtime.

There was a reason Black Knights were called the nightmares of the battlefield.

Dale continued his slaughter.

Swinging his newly acquired warhammer with tremendous force, he tore through the swarm of monsters.

The creatures struck by the massive hunk of metal were sent flying through the air.

Roaring toward the sky, Dale brandished his warhammer.

The frigid howl of a half-undead pierced the nerves of the living.

Monsters that had been trying to retreat changed course and rushed at him even more blindly.

Watching the scene, both Haken and Estelle wore horrified expressions.

"I-I heard he was half human, but I'm not sure I believe it now…"

"…Haken, didn't you say you've been to the front lines a few times? Are all Black Knights like that?"

"Most Black Knight folks are definitely strong fighters, but Sir Dale is more… monstrous—Ack!"

Haken hurriedly swung his shield.

A monster's teeth clashed against it with a loud clang.

Even though most enemies were focused on Dale, not all of them were.

While Haken blocked the monster with his shield, Estelle swung her mace and struck its head.

Thanks to the blessing that enhanced her abilities, Estelle was able to shatter the creature's skull with ease.

Blood splattered in every direction—some even got into Estelle's mouth.

"Ugh! Ptooey! Ptooey!"

"Hahaha! What's this? You're actually pretty good! Maybe you should've been a warrior instead of a priest?"

"Don't say such disgusting things!"

The battle continued, and the number of monsters—once in the dozens—dwindled rapidly.

Thud!

Dale plunged his longsword into the chest of the last remaining monster. It let out a gurgling sound, foamed blood from its mouth, and collapsed.

At last, the fight was over.

The dim sky was now lit by a bright full moon.

Haken dropped to the ground with a thud.

"Whew… Haah. I really thought I was going to die."

A squelching sound came from Haken's butt as he sat down. Though the corpse of a monster was beneath him, there was no helping it—blood and flesh covered the ground in every direction.

Likewise, Estelle wore a tired expression but couldn't bring herself to sit on a corpse. Instead, she awkwardly crouched and murmured,

"If there are demon monsters in this area… doesn't that mean a demon is nearby, too? Shouldn't we inform the city and call for reinforcements right away?"

Dale, who was absorbing life force from a dead monster's corpse, shook his head.

"It's not a demon. If a demon had come here, these creatures wouldn't be this weak."

"Huh?"

Dale plunged his gauntlet into the corpse and quietly focused his mind.

Memories flowed into his head.

Normally, the memories of such monsters were hazy and disorganized—impossible to decipher. But now, with his enhanced abilities, he could more or less make them out.

The first image that appeared was of mercenaries engaged in a fierce battle.

'The reconnaissance unit that Garand sent.'

The mercenaries were quite skilled.

They banded together and fought valiantly against the swarming monsters. But then, among the monsters, there was a mage.

A sudden blast of purple flame flew in and engulfed the mercenaries.

Caught off guard by the unexpected strike, the formation of the reconnaissance unit crumbled.

The monsters charged in immediately.

They were about to tear the mercenaries apart but the mage stopped them. Then, instead of allowing the monsters to feast, the mage captured the mercenaries and dragged them off somewhere.

Into a deep, dark underground.

Dale muttered,

"There's a mage serving the demon."

"You mean… there's a minion of the demon involved?"

"Yes."

When the demon conquered half the continent with overwhelming power, the authority of the gods was greatly diminished.

People began to question the God of Light.

Doubts arose—was the demon perhaps a being greater than the god?

A new religion that worshiped the demon emerged.

And the demon willingly granted power to the humans who served it.

"If it's a servant of the demon, we need to call in the inquisitors."

"I agree. I think we should head back to the city first. If we die here too, there's no stopping this."

Haken and Estelle were in agreement. But Dale shook his head.

"Well… there are two points to consider."

"Two?"

"First, it seems there are survivors. Since the mercenaries that came before us were dragged away alive, there's a chance at least one or two are still alive."

"..."

The two fell silent.

They had assumed the mercenaries had already been torn to pieces by the demon's monsters—never did they think there might be survivors.

Estelle blinked in surprise, her eyes rolling anxiously, while Haken asked with a tense expression,

"What's the other point?"

"I think that demon-worshipping bastard is up to something."

"What do you mean… 'up to something'?"

"I'm not sure. Some kind of ritual, maybe. But there's no way anything good comes from that ritual being completed."

One should never give demons or their sorcerers time.

And right now, their opponent was a sorcerer who served a demon.

If the ritual were completed, there was no telling what kind of abomination might be unleashed.

Estelle, who had kept her mouth shut until now, spoke up.

"Then we stop it."

"What?"

"If we leave that servant of the demon alone, who knows how many people could get hurt? We have to stop this before the damage spreads. And besides, there are still people who've been captured, aren't there? If we hadn't known they were alive, maybe we could walk away… but knowing, how can we turn a blind eye?"

Haken frowned. Did this naïve rookie, who knew nothing about the world, even understand what she was saying?

"Do you even understand how fucked up it is to go up against a demon's servant? They all have different powers, but every last one of them is a total bastard!"

"I know it's dangerous. But as someone who serves the Light, I can't just walk away from this. Besides, we have Sir Dale with us, don't we?"

Both of them turned to look at Dale. He was calmly wiping his sword.

The longsword was smeared with blood and grease, looking far less sharp than before.

Haken cautiously asked Dale,

"Uh… Sir Dale, what do you think? You're not seriously saying we should go after them alone, are you?"

Dale glanced at Haken, then returned to cleaning his sword—as if the question itself was ridiculous.

"Of course we're going."

"…What?"

If it were an actual demon, that'd be a different story—but this was just a demon's servant.

Definitely worth fighting.

Besides, in Dale's memories, anything with "demon" in its name in the game always dropped generous rewards when hunted.

The vitality and soul of a demon's servant…

Would surely grant even greater power.

"If there's no risk, there's no growth."

"Still… even so."

"If you're scared, go back alone."

Haken scratched his curly hair.

Running away alone in the middle of a mission? If he actually did that, he could kiss his career in this industry goodbye.

He forced himself to refocus.

'Yeah… if it's that Black Knight guy…'

Whether it was a demon's servant or whatever, it couldn't possibly be stronger than that Black Knight.

And once they took down the servant, there'd be plenty of loot to go around.

Surely, he could earn a solid reward out of this.

"Scared? Nonsense. I, Haken, would never abandon my comrades and run off alone."

"…Sounds exactly like something you'd do," Estelle muttered under her breath.

Haken shot her a glare.

Meanwhile, Dale, who had been calmly cleaning his sword, stood up.

"Let's go."

Once a decision is made, there's no reason to hesitate.