The Tin Knight
Chapter 109: The Tin Knight and The Dark Red Monster (1)

Chapter 109: The Tin Knight and The Dark Red Monster (1)

0% When Kalidahs swung her greatsword and sent Adelaide flying, the audience cheered.

They chanted Kalidahs’ name, hailing her as the invincible champion.

But that was only for a moment.

People felt puzzled when they saw her approaching Adelaide, who had already fallen, with an ominous aura, and when she mercilessly killed the referee who tried to stop her, their confusion turned to horror.

“Deploy the guard! Stop Kalidahs immediately!”

The Lord of Thracus shouted orders with gravity, urgency evident in his expression and voice.

No matter how bloody the martial arts tournament might be, cutting down and killing an opponent during a fight was completely different from killing a neutralized opponent after the match was decided.

Moreover, if the one committing the act was the tournament’s star attraction, and the opponent was a young girl of the Lion Duke’s bloodline no less—it was unthinkable.

Even as he watched his guards move busily, the Lord of Thracus’ mind was full of questions.

Why on earth?

The lord couldn’t understand Kalidahs’ sudden action.

While she used violent and rough tactics in fights, that was purely showmanship for the excitement of the martial arts tournament.

Privately, Kalidahs was a person with a rational and down-to-earth personality.

She wasn’t the type of person to commit such a reckless atrocity.

Did she lose her mind due to a major injury? Damn it, whatever the case, this is ruined.

While the lord was racking his brains, agonizing over the aftermath to come, that worry was somewhat premature.

“M-my lord! We have a big problem! A transparent wall is blocking the arena! We can’t enter!”

“What?”

As the lord’s surprised voice rose, Franka Aglaia, who had been watching the match from the VIP seats like the lord, frowned.

It’s a barrier and an incredibly high-level one at that.

A dome-shaped wall stood as if isolating the arena and the audience seats.

The sheer magnitude of the mana felt from the wall made Franka shudder.

Even considering that it wasn’t Franka’s area of expertise, it was a level of completion that even she didn’t dare attempt to dismantle.

What was even more astounding was that despite containing such power, she couldn’t even guess the location of its point of origin—the caster.

Among the people Franka knew, only her master, the Witch of the West, was capable of such a feat.

No matter what, there’s no way my master would have come here... The likely candidate is that armor, I suppose?’

While the guards and even some spectators were trying to jump into the arena right away, they were all blocked by the barrier and could only pound against it in frustration.

The only exception was the magic doll that had rushed in by a hair’s breadth just before the barrier formed.

Franka secretly prayed that this wouldn’t interfere with her plans to find her children.

***The first thing you did the moment you burst into the arena was ram into Kalidahs with all your might.

The instant your metal body collided with her, she was flung away as if she had been hit by a speeding car.

After putting some distance between yourself and Kalidahs, you quickly examined Adelaide’s condition.

Her left arm and both legs were bent in odd directions, and about half of her long hair on the left side had been severed. Fortunately, the bleeding was minimal, so her life wasn’t in danger.

It seemed that just before she was struck down, she had instinctively moved her sword to use as a shield.

If it weren’t for that, Adelaide wouldn’t have been sent flying out the arena, but turned to mush like the referee.

You tried to move Adelaide, who was gasping without being able to make a sound due the shock and bewilderment, to where Dorothea and Sophia were to heal her, but you had to stop.

You saw the two people on the other side of the audience seats unable to come closer, as if blocked by something.

Judging by how Dorothea was hitting the air with the staff in her hand, it seemed there was some kind of invisible wall.

Clank.

Moreover, you also saw Kalidahs, who had been knocked down by you, rising to her feet.

Even as copious amounts of blood poured from the wounds left by Adelaide, the ominous mana emanating from her body only grew stronger—far from weakening.

Somehow, it looked more like the armor was moving a person rather than a person wearing armor.

The violet eyes visible through the half-broken helmet were dyed with a terrible grudge.

You first moved Adelaide as close as possible to the wall where Dorothea and Sophia were.

After gently patting Adelaide’s head, who had an anxious look in her eyes, you took up your sword and shield.

From your perspective, it was truly an incomprehensible situation.

You didn’t know anything about Kalidahs’ mysterious vitality, why she was glaring at Adelaide with such an angry appearance, or the nature of this mysterious barrier.

It was like being thrown in front of a boss and told to fight without knowing anything about the backstory or setting.

But then again...

For you—the gamer—this was an all too familiar situation.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ declares that so long as you beat the boss, most problems will solve themselves!]

Believing that others would solve the detailed and troublesome matters later, you decided to focus on defeating the enemy before you.

Neither you outside the monitor nor you inside the Tin Knight had any objection to exacting retribution for reducing your precious pupil to such a state.

***KWAAANG!

Two pairs of feet struck the ground.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the Tin Knight and Kalidahs rushed forward, swinging their swords.

The shockwave birthed from their clash sent a thunderous noise rippling into the surroundings.

Rather than the exchange of swords, it sounded more like a violent car crash.

BAAAANG!

The one pushed back in the first test of strength was the Tin Knight.

As the Tin Knight’s right hand was knocked back along with the sword, Kalidahs’ greatsword swung from left to right as if to bisect the Tin Knight.

At that moment, the Tin Knight’s left arm moved.

The Tin Knight struck upwards with his shield against the side of the greatsword from below, simultaneously lowering his body and kicking Kalidahs’ shin.

It was an impact that would have caused compound fractures in an ordinary person, but Kalidahs’ leg was only pushed inward very slightly, remaining firmly planted on the ground.

Seeing a tremendous amount of mana gathering in Kalidahs’ greatsword, the Tin Knight threw his body sideways.

Booooooom!

The moment the downward slash made contact with the ground, the entire arena building quite literally shook.

The audience staggered or lost balance and fell due to the suddenly shaking ground, and creaking sounds echoed from various parts of the building.

While the superhuman strength Kalidahs had shown so far was by no means ordinary, this completely transcended the realm of human capacity.

Of course, the Tin Knight was unfazed.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ evaluates that even an instant death skill is meaningless if the delay is long!]

Before Kalidahs could lift the greatsword she had swung down, the Tin Knight swung his sword towards Kalidahs’ flank.

Sword energy, tinged with silver and blue, slashed Kalidahs’ right forearm.

Screech!

The sound of metal scraping against metal.

The sword imbued with sword energy failed to cut off Kalidahs’ arm, only managing to scrape its surface.

While visible scratches were made, that was all.

Kalidahs’ greatsword swung once again.

An upward slash from the lower right to the upper left. A downward strike from the upper left, circling behind the head to the lower left. Ramming with the right shoulder. A horizontal slash from left to right.

Unlike before, it wasn’t an attack relying crudely on strength, but a seamless combination attack, flowing like a choreographed dance.

The Tin Knight received all of that head-on.

He blocked, deflected, avoided, and redirected trajectories.

And at every opportune moment, he never failed to strike back.

Clang clang clang clang!

The Tin Knight’s sword couldn’t bisect Kalidahs but every time the Tin Knight’s sword was swung, scars accumulated on Kalidahs’ armor.

Amidst attacks of slashing with the sword, hitting with the shield, striking with the elbow, and kicking with the leg, Kalidahs’ defense was gradually, gradually chipped away.

Crack!

Finally, pieces of armor began to split and fall apart.

Kalidahs’ defensive technique was excellent, but the Tin Knight’s sword energy was even sharper.

《──■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!!!》

A roar erupted from Kalidahs’ mouth.

It seemed more like the howl of a beast than human language.

Whoosh!

At Kalidahs’ kick, the Tin Knight’s body was pushed back smoothly.

Even though he deflected most of the impact with his shield, his feet touching the ground left long tracks, kicking up clouds of dust.

Before the Tin Knight could approach again, Kalidahs’ greatsword swept horizontally first.

Although the Tin Knight was still outside the attack range, an eerie chill ran down his nonexistent spine, compelling him to lower his stance.

Whoosh!

Light flared.

A dark red light shot out following the trajectory of the greatsword, drawing a huge crescent moon.

A portion of the Tin Knight’s helmet was cut off like paper before scissors.

When the crescent-shaped sword energy reached the wall, even the barrier that hadn’t budged no matter what was done from the outside shook for a moment.

The skilled individuals watching the fight from beyond the barrier were terrified by its power, but the Tin Knight, far from shrinking back, charged in boldly.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ marvels that firing sword waves is a technique with history and tradition!]

At that action that seemed to lack any sense of fear, the eyes engulfed in madness properly recognized the Tin Knight’s form for the first time.

《What... are you?》

[The ‘Tin Knight’ answers that he’s your head retrieval squad!]

The answer was the height of lunacy, but the sword energy unfolding from his hand was the very essence of extreme swordsmanship.

Even those who couldn’t hear the Tin Knight’s voice couldn’t help but acknowledge the danger he posed.

Kalidahs’ greatsword once again became imbued with mana.

The attack swung down after properly recognizing the Tin Knight was several levels above what she had used against Adelaide.

A fierce melee unfolded.

The Tin Knight’s sword strike pierced Kalidahs’ stomach, and Kalidahs’ punch dented the Tin Knight’s chest.

Kalidahs’ bleeding increased further, and the Tin Knight’s body recovered nonchalantly, but in exchange, his mana drained at an alarming rate.

Both Kalidahs and the Tin Knight instinctively knew this fight was nearing its conclusion.

At that moment, when the swords of the two warriors clashed and were in opposition, Kalidahs forcibly shoved the Tin Knight away by putting strength into her arm.

As the price for this forced movement, Kalidahs’ arm bone crumbled with a crunch, but in exchange, the Tin Knight was forcibly pushed back once more.

Dark red mana swirled around Kalidahs’ body, and the hand gripping the greatsword became filled with strength.

On the blade of the greatsword, something like faint violet sparks crackled and jumped up.

***You outside the monitor realized if you avoided this attack and repeated what you had done prior, victory was certain.

You inside the Tin Knight realized if you didn’t receive this now, Adelaide would be put in harm’s way.

Your deliberation wasn’t long.

You made your choice.

***As Kalidahs’ greatsword swung from top to bottom, a huge slash was spewed out.

Facing the vicious ultimate technique that plowed the earth and tore the air itself, the Tin Knight charged straight on.

The gems embedded in the Tin Knight’s shield all emitted brilliant light without exception.

The Tin Knight swung his shield towards the dark red wave that approached right before his eyes, releasing all the mana contained in the gems at once.

A flash of light.

A shockwave.

Obliterating the dark red mana head-on, the Tin Knight soared high into the sky.

From top to bottom, overlaying Kalidahs’ trajectory with his own—Severing Flash—a singular line was drawn.

Slash!

The Tin Knight’s sword cleaved Kalidahs’ upper body in two.