Eternally Regressing Knight Novel - Chapter 869
Chapter 869: Chapter 867 – Exchanging Taunts
Chapter 867 – Exchanging Taunts
“So you’re saying you want to fall from the sky, break your head open, and die?”
Rem said.
“Ho ho, brother, if you wish to see the God of War, is there a need to take such a difficult path? There are many easier paths.”
Audin provided his words.
“Hmm, even for you, that is…”
Even Krang’s pupils trembled.
“They have to come down eventually, so why bother?”
Ragna said with a yawn. He had interest in what Enkrid was doing, but not much involvement. He was originally that kind of guy.
“If he was the type to listen just because he was told not to, I wouldn’t have fallen for him.”
Luagarne said.
It was the Frog’s cheer, left with a gu-reuk and a puff of her cheeks.
Whatever anyone said, Enkrid thought of her words as a cheer.
“Am I riding with you?”
Shinar wanted to ride along on Enkrid’s stunt.
“He’s serious. He’s serious. His will is unchanged.”
Themares was just admiring him again.
According to the history books, it is said that Dragonkin are a cold race that does not easily show emotion, and it is surmised that their flowing blood must be cold, but seeing one in person, it was not like that at all.
He makes a habit of tactlessly reading others’ inner thoughts, seems to have considerable interest in humans, and often shows his admiration.
Of course, all of that was limited to the human named Enkrid.
“That one smells good.”
Dunbakel had no interest in what Enkrid was saying.
She approached Weird Eyes and sniffed.
Weird Eyes stood unfazed.
Was Enkrid his only comrade?
No.
These people also see Weird Eyes as a member of the knightly order.
Therefore, Weird Eyes must also think of them as comrades.
“Your wings are cool, you bastard.”
That is why it answered Dunbakel’s words just now with a Heeigh-.
“I will pray that the Lord watches over you.”
Theresa left a prayer.
“He says things that anyone would call crazy, so casually.”
Fel spoke as if muttering and let it pass.
“Rem was dragged off by a bird before and came back alive, so it will probably be fine.”
Ropord showed his faith.
“Commander. If you’re thinking it’s fine because of me, that’s a bit different. I called the spirit of the eagle to come down. You don’t know how to do that.”
He had never learned sorcery, so those words were correct.
Rem spoke up to that point and met Enkrid’s gaze.
“Tsk, those aren’t the eyes of someone who will listen just because he’s told.”
These words were also correct.
Enkrid was not disappointed that they did not recognize his ingenuity.
Rather, should he say it was fun?
“You can’t know what you can accomplish without trying.”
Enkrid spat out a maxim.
At those words, they all stared at him blankly.
In those gazes, there was no criticism or condemnation.
Even if their words were like that, what they showed was faith.
What they subtly revealed was trust.
Naturally, Enkrid had also calculated, and he had stepped up because he had a plan.
But to some, his words would sound like bullshit.
On a certain day that now felt like a long time ago, thanks to the repetition of today, there were so many who had shaken their heads at his recklessness.
Now, having passed all those days, Enkrid smiled.
“If I die, hold a grand funeral.”
At the line-crossing joke, the elf followed.
“If you die, I will follow you in death, so it must be a joint funeral.”
The Dragonkin’s eyes sparkled as he added his words.
“She is also serious.”
In their midst, the vision of the ferryman spoke.
“It’s bravado you can show only because you know you’ll repeat it if you die.”
Was this a part of the worry in his heart being revealed?
Or was the ferryman struggling to reveal his will?
Whatever it was, the ferryman’s words were wrong.
If he had lived with repetition in mind, he could not have dreamed of tomorrow.
He could not have advanced even one step.
He would have stayed in one of those “todays” that the ferryman desired.
Therefore, he did not listen to the vision’s words at all.
“Well, if you want to do it, you have to do it.”
The words of Ragna, filled with boredom.
He leaned against a nearby wall, fiddling with the grip of Sunrise.
Separate from his expression, he seemed to be feeling a thirst from the desire to struggle.
Having been around them so long, he could now vaguely see their psychology from their attitude, not just their expressions.
“If he won’t listen, you have to at least cheer on the bastard. If you die, I’ll hunt down those bastards floating in the sky one by one and smash their heads in.”
Rem added with a cackle.
***
“What is your name?”
Simlak asked.
Even with the Kwooo-ah, Kwooo-ah sound of the griffon’s wings spreading, a knight would be able to hear his opponent’s words.
He had thrown the words knowing that.
Enkrid was in the middle of exchanging various words with Weird Eyes to get in sync.
Still, he had heard, so he raised his head.
“Enkrid of the Border Guard.”
Simlak knew that name.
In truth, it would be strange for anyone who used a sword on the continent not to know that name.
“The Madman?”
The one who built a reputation as high as Cypress’s in a short time, the one who made his name with the moniker “Madman.”
“You’re that bastard who’s busy seducing any woman he sees, elf or not? The demonic womanizer, they call you? They say you can’t tell front from back when you see a woman?”
Rumors get distorted.
In particular, Lihin-Stetten of the South and Naurillia of the center were enemies who constantly fought small-scale battles and were wary of each other.
They weren’t in a truce, but actively fighting; would the fame of such an opponent sound only good?
Malice was ample enough to twist the truth.
However, Enkrid, who had experienced similar things a few times, had an untimely misunderstanding.
“Was this a rumor spread by the elves? Unlikely, but it’s not a rumor that spread from the mages’ side, is it?”
The Golden Flower and the Black Witch.
Even within the Border Guard, jealousy was rampant towards Enkrid, who had “claimed” the two beauties.
Some of the thoughtless nobles had fallen in love with Esther and Shinar, who were passing through the city, and had spread false rumors about Enkrid.
He had also seen Shinar and Esther enjoy it and distort the rumors several times, and he knew Jaxen was secretly helping for fun.
“What are you talking about? Is that horse a female too?”
Simlak spat out the words that came to mind and was satisfied with his taunt.
This would surely shake the enemy’s psyche.
Was it not a criticism that he lusted even for beasts?
It was a sharp taunt asking if he was a retard swayed by desire, feeling lust even for a beast.
Now, show me your trembling eyes.
Simlak looked straight into Enkrid’s eyes with anticipation.
His specialty was feeling the opponent’s wavering momentum.
‘No wavering?’
Far from wavering, there wasn’t even a faint tremor.
The man named Enkrid patted Weird Eyes’ head and opened his mouth.
“Whoa, no. I know you’re a boy. Reacting to every word that comes from over there makes you a novice. Calm your heart. Use that emotion when we fight.”
Simlak narrowed his eyes.
He’s brushing it off calmly?
His composure isn’t bad.
It was a trick to calm his own insides while pretending to talk to his horse.
It was a funny story, but in a fight between knights, it was rare for them to shut up and just swing swords.
Making personal attacks to secure even a small advantage was a common-sense tactic.
He opened his mouth again.
“Talking to a horse? Are you trying to imitate the legendary Dragonkin?”
This, too, must be a truly appropriate taunt.
If he asked what a Dragonkin was, he would dismiss him as an ignorant fool, and if he knew, he would berate him as a guy full of clumsy bravado.
The plan was perfect.
Originally, everyone makes a plausible plan.
Until they get hit.
Enkrid opened his mouth.
“I don’t particularly want to imitate a Dragonkin.”
It was sincere.
Not many people would want to live like Themares.
He gets insulted all the time for not getting along with people.
Of course, Themares, being a Dragonkin, was always just indifferent, even when insulted.
It was rare for emotion to be held in his vertically split eyes.
Only when he was admiring something did a light enter his eyes; usually, they were no different from the eyes of a frozen fish.
No vitality, and his resolve was faint.
The existence on the opposite side of Enkrid, perhaps.
“As expected, it’s really not for me.”
Enkrid continued to deny it and observed his opponent carefully.
It was an opponent he was seeing for the first time.
If you don’t know each other, taunts are not easy.
At times like that, it’s right to go simple.
Meaning, you have to speak based on what you see.
His opponent was wearing a helmet.
It was a helmet with wings that shot up from the sides of the ears.
It covered his head, but the ear area was cut out.
It seemed to be a device to mitigate the dulling of the senses that comes from wearing a helmet.
Any knight would have experienced their five senses dulling from a helmet covering their ears, so it seemed they had taken that into account.
Was it for knights only?
Looking at the finish and form, it didn’t look mass-produced.
Then again, it was common for knights to have custom-made equipment.
“The thing on your head, did you put it on because you want to be an elf?”
The spiky wings on the helmet were reminiscent of pointed ears.
A light taunt.
If it didn’t land, he’d move on, but it was material worth poking.
“…What?”
Enkrid saw his opponent’s reaction and continued.
“It’s impossible with that face. I know because I frequently visit the city of elves. Absolutely impossible. It won’t work. Give up on being an elf. Aim for a Frog instead. That much should be achievable.”
Rem, as well as all of The Madmen Knights, say that Enkrid’s way of speaking is strangely grating.
The reason?
His tone is so calm and his voice so heavy that if you listen without thinking, it sounds like the truth.
Even knowing it’s a taunt, even knowing it’s absurd, it puts a crack in a calm heart.
That was the reality of Enkrid’s taunts.
“This helmet is the pride of the Amethyst Knights.”
Simlak said.
He tried to look calm, but his eyebrow trembled slightly.
It was in the sky, a distance that could barely be reached by two long spears, but he saw it.
Besides, didn’t he have a habit of sensing an elf’s faint expression changes without even realizing it?
Compared to Shinar, reading the change in his opponent’s expression, who was sitting on a griffon, was far too easy.
“Right, to struggle because you want to be an elf.”
“When did I say that?”
“Elves are difficult. It’s impossible even if you beg. It’s impossible with that face.”
“I have never wanted to be an elf.”
“If you want to fix your face, I can introduce you to a skilled witch I know, but no matter how much it’s magic that pursues mystery, hmm.”
Simlak’s appearance was not outstanding.
But it wasn’t to the point of making one frown at first sight. He was decent enough if he dressed up. In some ways, he was plain; in other ways, he was clumsy.
If anything, he was on the handsome side within the knightly order.
“I have never coveted an elf’s appearance.”
Simlak said again.
He hadn’t.
It was the truth.
But it was a natural instinct for humans to pursue beauty.
When he saw an elf, one felt they were beautiful.
Simlak was not outside that category.
He found his opponent hard to pin down.
Spouting such nonsense all of a sudden?
After coming on a winged horse?
“Rejected.”
An incomprehensible statement.
Just as he was carefully looking at his face.
The opponent’s face was shining even though his hair was all blown back by the wind.
A natural-born appearance.
He really didn’t like the eyes, nose, and mouth of the guy judging his appearance.
The reason he was angry?
Was there a need to question it?
“I’ll chop you to pieces.”
There was no subject, but the meaning got across.
“My face? You can’t. That, you can’t do.”
Enkrid spoke in a theatrical tone, twisting his opponent’s insides one more time.
A blue vein popped on Simlak’s forehead.
“Hey, a vein popped.”
Enkrid ran his mouth one more time.
If Rem had seen this, he would have admired him, saying, “That bastard really is the captain of the Madmen.”
As he said that, it was Weird Eyes who actually moved first.
Weird Eyes flapped its wings, lowered its head, and closed in on the griffon.
Enkrid tensed his thighs, fixed his posture, and swung Dawn.
A sword strike from bottom to top.
The intention was to split the griffon’s beak vertically if things went wrong.
Separate from the horse, inside his accelerated thought, he read the enemy’s move.
The enemy was the same. Simlak, even as anger surged, opened his cold, chilling eyes.
He collected his heart in an instant.
Should one say he was a formidable opponent?
The point where their insights intersected, Jjeong!
A loud roar exploded as metal met metal.
What Simlak extended was a long spear.
A shockwave erupted from the point where the blade and the spearhead met.
A fierce wind blew, scattering Enkrid’s hair as if to rip it out, and the dark green cloak shrank and shed the wind.
Parararak!
“You’re wearing a cloak and acting all relaxed?”
“A cloak suits my face.”
No matter what he said, it ended with his face.
Simlak steadied his breathing.
He would lose if he fought with words.
If he fell for the taunts, he would be starting at a disadvantage.
So, he would keep his mouth shut.
Instead, Simlak held the spear in one hand and gripped a sword in his remaining hand.
He used multiple weapons, including a sword, spear, and axe.
Simlak’s nickname was the Knight of ‘Variability’.
He could handle any weapon above a certain level and boasted decent combat ability in any environment.
In terms of adaptability alone, he was superior to anyone.
That was why he was called the Variable knight, one who adapted himself to the form or conditions.
That was why he was on the griffon.
Even if an enemy targeted him in the sky, there would be no one who could fight better in this environment than him, who had already finished adapting.
He didn’t know if things would be different with more time, but if it was an opponent fighting in the sky for the first time today, Simlak had the advantage.
He knew it, the captain had emphasized it, and the three down below knew it too.
In conclusion, Simlak’s faith was correct.
That would have been the case, if his opponent wasn’t such an extraordinary madman.
The opponent on the winged horse swung his sword exactly twice, then opened up the distance.
Simlak grasped the advantage his opponent had.
He recognized the difference in their mounts.
‘The mount’s movement is freer than a griffon’s.’
To be precise, it was faster.
The winged horse flapped its wings less and circled around.
The griffon was different.
It was more adept at moving in all directions, but it didn’t have the knack for accelerating rapidly.
Instead, its constantly moving wings, by themselves, became a factor that hindered the enemy’s approach.
‘The horse is vulnerable to my spearhead, but the griffon’s wings become armor that blocks a sword.’
He had the insight of a knight, as well as outstanding adaptability.
As Simlak was grasping their mutual advantages and weaknesses, Enkrid suddenly flew right over the bastard’s head.
“What is he doing? This crazy bastard?”
Simlak’s mouth opened on its own.
This was the artistry that everyone had called crazy when they heard Enkrid’s idea.
Weird Eyes flew over the griffon’s head, and Enkrid leaped.
That is, he fell, as if dropping, right on top of Simlak’s head.
It was reasonable for Simlak to be surprised.
There was no time to order the griffon into an evasive maneuver.
In the first place, this creature was not a monster that listened well.
It was different from a warhorse that was like one’s own limbs.
Simlak finished his split-second judgment and thrust his spear upward.
The point he overlooked was that the power in a spearhead thrust from a seated position, excluding the strength of the lower body, and the weight in a sword that came from above, fully receiving its own body weight and the throwing force of the horse, were markedly different.
***
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***
If you enjoy the series and want to get more chapters early, head over to https://payhip.com/Samowek
Next 100 chapters – 25e [Be sure to message me on discord for any information]
[SHOP BEST BUY] – 50e – Every chapter translated – Latest WN-1011 + daily chapters from monday to friday for a month.
-KNIGHT – Cost 20e – Chapters 942-1011 + daily chapters from Monday to Friday for a month
I welcome you to join our discord https://discord.gg/RY7BbJpeAZ
**ANY INFO ONLY APPLIES TO THE LATEST CHAPTER HERE ON WEBNOVEL**