I Became the Black Knight

"You thought you could kill me just by piercing my head? Aren't you underestimating me a little too much?"

Of course, Dale hadn't expected that much in the first place.

He didn't even know how much power the device Valton had given him would actually exert.

Still, he had thought—even if it wasn't a fatal blow—it would at least inflict meaningful damage.

But it didn't.

The demonic power and the spell of the stars flowing through Hashina's body immediately regenerated the wound.

'She's stronger than I thought. And clearly, she's invested excessively in toughness too.'

He figured this fight might turn out to be more difficult than expected.

When no one answered her, Hashina spoke with a face drained of excitement.

"This is getting annoying."

She pursed her lips. Dale sensed something off.

He grabbed the nape of Haken's neck, who was standing there dazed, and leapt away with all his strength.

The next moment, purple flames burst from Hashina's mouth.

Fwoooosh!

The flame shot out in a straight line, aiming directly for Dale and Haken as they retreated.

It was fast.

It looked like it would engulf them any second.

Thankfully, that didn't happen.

A faintly glowing barrier blocked the flames from reaching them.

Hashina muttered as she pulled the hand axe embedded in her forehead.

"A protection miracle? How pathetic."

But that pathetic little miracle had bought Dale and Haken just enough time to escape.

Haken, looking like he had just cheated death, muttered,

"What the hell was that, breathing fire from her mouth? Does she think she's a dragon or something?"

"It's a demon spell. More importantly, Estelle. Are you alright?"

The demon's flame had been fiercer than expected, and Estelle had to expend a lot of power to block it.

Sweating coldly, Estelle nodded.

"I'm still okay."

"How many more miracles can you manage?"

"I think I can still use a few healing and blessing miracles. Anything beyond that would be difficult."

"I see."

Haken and Estelle looked anxiously at Dale.

The situation was clearly not in their favor.

Could they win if they kept fighting?

The problem was, even if they tried to run, that demon's minion wouldn't let them go so easily.

After a moment of thought, Dale muttered bluntly.

"I'll fight alone. You two, run."

"W-What?!"

"W-What are you saying?!"

To the two who were clearly flustered, Dale spoke calmly.

"I told you before the mission, didn't I? That I'd at least make sure you don't die. I'm just keeping that promise."

"B-But still—"

"And honestly, you're no help in a fight against that minion. If anything, your presence is just getting in the way."

Up until now, Dale had been mindful of Estelle and Haken's positions the entire time—but now, he wanted to focus entirely on Hashina.

Only then could he bring out the full extent of his abilities.

Estelle looked unconvinced. She tried to argue with Dale.

But Haken was quicker to grasp the situation. He grabbed Estelle's arm and pulled her back.

"Let's go."

"But—!"

"We're just a hindrance. You know it too."

"..."

After a moment of inner conflict, Estelle nodded.

The two quietly retreated, only bowing their heads toward Dale without saying a word.

Dale simply waved a hand back, indifferent.

Once they disappeared, Hashina, who had been watching with interest, spoke up.

"Sacrificing yourself for your comrades, huh? You—are you really an undead? You feel very different from the ones I know."

"I just got rid of some distractions."

Dale raised his warhammer and assumed a stance. Hashina burst into laughter at the sight.

"Hahaha! You couldn't win with three people, but now you think you'll win alone? For an undead, you sure know how to make me laugh."

Hashina didn't seem tense at all. She acted as if she had already won.

Dale felt a twinge of irritation.

More than anything else, the way she kept calling him "undead" was starting to get on his nerves.

So Dale stomped the ground and swung his warhammer.

"Let's see you laugh now!"

Hashina's tentacles surged at Dale from three directions.

Dale read their trajectories. There were almost no openings—so he decided to make one.

Like a baseball player swinging a bat, he twisted his waist and swung the warhammer with all his might.

Thunk!

Two of the tentacles collided with the warhammer, producing a dull impact. A few scales clinging to the tentacles fell to the ground.

The tentacles stiffened from the shock. Dale used that opening to thrust the warhammer forward.

The pointed head of the warhammer pierced into Hashina's chest like a spear.

"Kyah! You bastard—!"

Hashina shrieked and tried to counterattack immediately. But by then, Dale had already retreated far away.

Enraged, Hashina lunged at Dale.

Wriggling all six tentacles, she moved at an incredible speed.

Dale quickly considered how to respond—and made his decision: he would use the space to his advantage.

Dale began running wide circles around the square-shaped room.

Hashina chased after him, using the suction cups on her tentacles to stick to the walls and ceiling.

The distance between them repeatedly narrowed and widened, barely maintaining a delicate balance.

And every time the gap closed, Dale's warhammer came flying without fail.

After being repeatedly struck by the lump of metal, Hashina shouted,

"You damn bastard! You're a knight! If you have even a shred of honor, stop running and fight me fair and square!"

"I don't have that kind of thing."

As he sprinted, Dale suddenly kicked off the wall, twisted his body, and delivered a powerful kick to Hashina's chest.

Struck by the full force and weight behind his iron boots, Hashina recoiled violently.

She tried to counterattack, but Dale had already widened the distance again.

Through the repeated exchanges, the two began to understand each other better.

At the very least, Hashina now accepted that Dale staying behind wasn't just an act of sacrifice.

'He's moving completely differently from before.'

It was different from when Dale had to worry about Haken and Estelle.

Now, Dale was moving forward with a single goal: victory—by any means necessary.

His movements were like those of a machine built solely for battle.

On the other hand, Dale was gradually becoming more accustomed to Hashina's combat style. He was beginning to read her movements.

'She's got a good body, but her instincts are terrible. Her sense of distance is weak too. Must be because she's a mage after all.'

Dale tightened his grip on the warhammer. Hashina definitely had monstrous toughness and regeneration.

But that didn't mean she was invincible.

'If I keep hitting her until she dies, she'll die.'

It would surely be a long and annoying process. But Dale had limitless stamina. At this rate, he could definitely pull it off.

Yes—if it stayed like this.

Hashina swept her hair back with her hand.

"Seriously. What a pain. Fine, I admit it. I'm no good at using my body."

"Mages never are."

"I'll admit that too. So I'll go with something a bit more brute-force now."

After finishing her words, Hashina took a deep breath. Then, her body began to swell like a balloon. Her grotesque form rapidly expanded, filling the room. The tactic was simple. She intended to crush Dale by covering the entire space with her body.

A simple attack, but incredibly difficult to counter.

'So she was still hiding some strength.'

He had to come up with a plan.

The exit was already blocked. He needed to puncture that balloon-like body—fast.

Dale swung his warhammer. But it was useless. Instead, the warhammer got stuck to a suction cup, and when Hashina's tendrils wrapped around it, the metal bent with ease.

'Damn it.'

His longsword and warhammer were broken, and the hand axe was nowhere to be seen.

Fight that monster barehanded? Not a chance.

'I need something sharp.'

Dale looked around. Then he found it.

A jet-black longsword stuck right in the center of the altar.

It was the item Hashina had been toying with when they first entered this place.

He didn't hesitate for long. Dale threw himself toward the sword.

Noticing Dale's intention, Hashina sneered.

"Haha! Do you even know what that thing is before grabbing it?"

"What is it?"

"You've at least heard of it, right? A sacred sword forged by the Unbeliever Dwarven Kingdom—one that rejects all divinity and miracles?"

Dale made a sour face. He had never heard of such a thing.

Though… now that she mentioned it, he did recall something recently about the Unbeliever Dwarves…

Already convinced of her victory, Hashina decided to gift Dale a sense of despair.

She began to explain mockingly.

"Only a true unbeliever—someone without even a shred of faith—can wield the Holy Rejecter! Or should I call it a cursed sword instead? Either way, it's not something an undead like you, a servant of the Goddess of Night, should be able to handle!"

Dale gripped the longsword's hilt. He pulled the sword out from the altar with all his strength.

The cursed sword named Holy Rejecter was black from blade to hilt.

Not a dull ink-black, but a cold, gleaming black, like it had been carved from obsidian.

At the top of the hilt wrapped in unknown leather, a large, protruding cross guard.

A straight blade tapering to a sharp point.

And along the blade, white letters engraved in a mysterious script.

Dale couldn't take his eyes off it.

He didn't know whether it truly was a cursed sword or not—but there was one thing he could tell.

This was a sword like no other. A once-in-a-lifetime weapon.

Dale gripped it firmly. It was a bit longer and heavier than a typical longsword, but for Dale, it posed no problem.

Sensing something strange, Hashina's eyeballs rolled restlessly.

"You're touching the sword and you're completely fine? Was the legend fake? No, that can't be. When I touched it, it definitely—"

Dale wanted to test his new weapon.

Fortunately, there was a perfect target nearby.

He casually swung the sword at one of Hashina's enormous tentacles.

Slash!

Hashina's tentacle was sliced off effortlessly. The sword was unbelievably sharp.

"KyAAAAAAH!"

Hashina let out a piercing scream as blood gushed from the wound.

She immediately tried to regenerate it.

With the demonic power flowing through her body and the spell of the stars, the wound should've closed right away.

That was what she believed.

But that belief was shattered. The wound didn't heal.

With trembling eyes, Hashina stared at Dale.

"You… you drew out the power of the Holy Rejecter? That's impossible. Only unbelievers can wield it…"

Dale replied flatly.

"Then I guess half the people in my country could use it."

"What? What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Hmm."

Dale was about to explain further… but gave up. It was just too much trouble.

Instead, he swung the sword. Hashina's tentacles were chopped off one by one with clean cuts.

Now that she had lost her regenerative ability, Hashina was nothing more than an oversized prey.

"Argh! Aaagh!"

Her screams quickly turned savage, her eyes filled with ferocity.

Even as she shrieked like a madwoman, Hashina sensed her impending defeat. But her pride wouldn't allow her to die quietly.

"If it's come to this… I'll take you down with me!"

Hashina gathered all her remaining strength into her mouth. She was prepared for mutual destruction. From her puckered lips burst a wave of flames—a purple blaze.

Dale stared coldly at the oncoming flames. If he were to take a direct hit from that, even his armor—his entire body—would melt away. But even in this moment, his stilled heart did not beat. There was no fear whatsoever.

Dale raised the longsword. His gaze locked onto Hashina, who lay beyond the wall of fire. He kicked off the ground. His heavy body soared forward.

The flames drew nearer. The heat licked at his armor.

Dale swung the sword down toward the fire. The blade met the blazing torrent—and in an instant, like a lie, the flames split cleanly in two.

As the fire parted, Hashina's face came into view. It was full of shock. And fear.

A stark contrast to her usual arrogance.

"Much better this way."

Dale felt a sense of satisfaction at the sight.

And before Hashina could scream anything, he brought down the raised longsword like a bolt of lightning.

Slash!

Hashina's head was split cleanly in half. The uncontrollable flames raged wildly throughout the room.