I Became the Dark Knight in the Game - Chapter 75: Ganiagos (2)

Ganiagos was not in its full state of power; it could only harness a fraction of its true strength.

In such a condition, the decision to draw upon its reserved energy meant that Ganiagos was prepared for a serious confrontation.

Rumbleeeee!

A powerful pressure spread out from around the demon.

Dale found himself forced to his knees by the overwhelming force pressing in from all directions.

Space magic.

The strangely distorted space compressed everyone within the cavern.

The pressure intensified the closer one got to Ganiagos. The sacrificial offerings seated around the demon were crushed into a bloody pulp.

The five heads of Ganiagos spoke.

[I, Ganiagos, the snake who discerns the laws of this world, hereby declare.]

[Those who walk on two legs shall be brought to their knees.]

[You shall never again see the light of the surface.]

The five heads continued to chant their incantations.

For the demon to recite the spellwork personally was proof that it was using powerful magic.

As if sharing a single mind of their own, the five creatures chanted the same incantation without the slightest deviation.

And the pressure in the surroundings intensified with each repetition.

It’s employing space distortion magic.

A high and powerful spell that twisted the fabric of space itself.

Dale strained the muscles in his arms and managed to swing his cursed sword, momentarily dispelling the pressure around him.

But it was only a fleeting pause. Before the pressure could crush him again, Dale created some distance between himself and the source.

The effects of Ganiagos’s space distortion magic weakened with increased distance.

Esther hastily erected a divine barrier and asked Dale with urgency,

“Are you alright, Sir Dale?”

“I’m fine.”

Pale said with a tired face.

“This is bad. The pressure is getting stronger. We’ll all be crushed at this rate.”

“Right.”

Talos interjected,

“Do you have a plan?”

Silence followed his question.

The sudden quiet lasted barely a moment yet it felt interminably long to them.

Dale broke the silence,

“We need to break through that magic and attack it directly.”

“So how do we break through that magic!”

“…. There’s no clever trick to it. We just have to endure it with our bodies.”

No, that’s not entirely true. There is a way to counter it.

Even the most formidable demons have weaknesses.

For example, Ganiagos was weak against cold and fire. Possessing a fire relic sword would make the battle somewhat easier.

But Dale wasn’t ready with such things. Facing Ganiagos tonight was something beyond his expectations in many ways.

Just as Ganiagos wasn’t in its prime, Dale was in a similar state.

Therefore, he had no choice but to confront the situation with what he had at hand.

Fortunately, Dale wasn’t alone.

Pale and Esther had painstakingly brought him this far. Talos was there too.

Dale said to the three of them,

“We need to get as close to the demon as possible. Make a path for me. I’ll handle the rest.”

No one responded.

Esther swallowed hard, and Pale bit his lip tightly. They were clearly frightened by the prospect of approaching the demon.

Talos looked at Dale with an unreadable expression on his face.

Dale then asked Talos,

“Can you do it?”

Talos snorted instead of answering Dale’s question.

“It seems there’s no other way now. I’ll give it a try.”

Pale and Esther also nodded their heads with serious faces.

Despite feeling fear, none thought of fleeing having come this far.

Dale declared,

“Let’s go. Before that creature starts using more troublesome magic.”

Talos stepped forward.

“I will take the lead.”

He then recited a prayer that created a divine barrier surrounding him.

Pale joined in the prayer, and Esther did as well.

Just like Ganiagos, the three recited the prayer without a single error.

The barrier enveloping the group shone even more brilliantly. This holy light caused Dale some discomfort.

But it was bearable.

The three who were reciting their prayer began to step forward.

Crack!

A strong pressure was transmitted to the barrier. It was accompanied by a dull sound as if logs were being crushed.

Yet, the barrier remained unbroken.

The group continued to advance forward.

And Dale who was surrounded by those three looked around the place.

Ganiagos had noticed their approach as well. The magical power swirling throughout the space now focused on the group.

The clash between magical power and divine power.

Vibrant colors engulfed the space like the auroras unfolding in the northern skies.

And even to Dale who had lost his sense of aesthetic appreciation…it was a beautiful sight.

He remembered a conversation he once had with Balton.

They had irreverently speculated whether divine power and magical power were fundamentally the same thing.

Looking at this scene now, Dale began to think there might be some truth to that idea.

But that was as far as his leisure could extend.

The closer they got to Ganiagos, the more overwhelming the oppressive force of the space became.

Ganiagos too was exerting all its power.

[Slaves who follow the light!]

[How presumptuous.]

[Do you think, even in our weakened state, we would fall to insects like you?]

Dale could sense fear in those taunts.

A demon feeling fear?

Ganiagos had experienced death once. And since it knew death now, it feared nothing more than dying again.

The idea of a demon feeling fear!

An enemy who feels fear is no longer to be feared.

As Dale had once boastfully claimed, the enemy before them was now just a slightly stronger monster. It was just a more troublesome one too.

Dale gripped his cursed sword tightly.

At that moment, the group’s advance noticeably slowed down.

The closer they got to Ganiagos, the pressure increased exponentially.

Even the seemingly unbreakable barrier of light began to show cracks.

“Ugh.”

Talos, Pale, and Esther gritted their teeth and endured that power.

Beads of cold sweat formed on their foreheads.

Their eyes were bloodshot, and a trickle of blood ran from their noses.

Dale realized they were reaching their limits.

That’s why he tightened the grip on his sword, stepped forward, and spoke.

“Step back. I’ll go on from here.”

Dale aimed his cursed sword at the barrier. The moment he broke through the barrier, it became a race against time.

Would Dale reach Ganiagos and manage to slay the demon?

Or would he be crushed and brought to his knees before then?

If Dale were to fail, everyone present would perish.

Moreover, the resurrected demon would ravage this already declining world before turning it into a wasteland.

This could not happen.

Dale had not descended into this dark, damp underground space to be defeated.

He steadied his mind one final time.

He focused solely on Ganiagos and started envisioning the fleeting battle that would follow.

And in the next moment, Dale charged forward with his cursed sword tearing through the veil.

A formidable pressure bore down on him.

Crack!

Dale found himself kneeling on the ground from the pressure as all the magical power converged upon him.

The weight was immense, as if a giant boulder rested on his shoulders, making it nearly impossible to stand.

The pressure intensified, and the ground beneath him was cracking and sinking.

But Dale did not sprawl helplessly on the ground.

He slowly straightened his knees and, overcoming the immense pressure, stood firmly on his feet.

With great effort, he raised his unresponsive arms and brought them down with force.

Whoosh!

Ganiagos’s magic was sliced through and the crushing pressure that enveloped him vanished momentarily.

Dale kicked off the ground and started rushing towards Ganiagos with all his might.

[Impossible!]

Once again, the magical power converged on him.

Dale who had been in the air was slammed back to the ground with a bang.

“Sir Dale!”

“!”

Esther and Pale’s eyes widened in shock but Dale rose again.

One step. Two steps. He steadily closed the distance to Ganiagos.

Ganiagos grew flustered and raised his massive tail in the air. The demon figured that since its magical attacks weren’t working on him, it would finish Dale with one simple but decisive blow.

And then with full force, it brought its tail down towards Dale.

Esther who was watching the spectacle from a distance clenched her eyes shut.

Boom!

A loud crash followed, but the feared outcome did not occur.

Dale narrowly dodged the tail. He had activated his relic gauntlet to its maximum output and rolled to the side with the force of the shockwave.

Ganiagos was taken aback and it tried to retract its tail.

But by then, Dale was too close.

Dale raised his sword and severed the tip of Ganiagos’ tail in one clean cut.

Snap!

Blue blood splattered and Dale stretched out his hand to absorb it.

It was the blood of a demon and a powerful life force filled his body. Strength surged within him once more.

Dale roared and climbed on Ganiagos’ tail. He forcefully stepped on the reptilian knobbly scales.

And when he reached the creature’s neck, he swung his cursed sword horizontally with great force.

Slash!

[Arrgh!]

The blade sank halfway into the first head’s neck.

Dale firmly clung to the neck with his legs before sawing the sword up and down like a lumberjack.

The grisly sounds of bone being shaved and flesh tearing away echoed chillingly until, with a final snap, the head fell off.

Dale had finally succeeded in severing one head, but he knew.

He knew well that it would regenerate in time. He had to cut off all the remaining heads within the time limit.

Dale raised the cursed sword above his head and tried to strike it with all his weight.

He brought it down in a crude, simple motion which was a far cry from the refined swordsmanship Kristen had displayed in their duel.

Against such a monster, however, brute force was the only option.

Dale was set on cleaving the second head in two.

But Ganiagos was not just a passive observer. Its third head opened its jaws wide at Dale.

[Fool!]

Venomous fangs smoothly dug into his breastplate.

But Ganiagos could not have known. That Dale had intentionally allowed the attack just to immobilize it.

He ignored the poison spreading through his body, drew an axe from his holster, and struck it down onto the creature’s skull.

Thud!

The axe that dug into the tough flesh was blocked by the solid bone.

Dale then raised his fist high and forcefully hammered down on the embedded axe.

Crunch!

The blade finally pierced the bone and delved into the brain.

The jaw that had bitten Dale now loosened its grip.

Dale, breaking free from the jaws, landed on the ground and looked up at Ganiagos.

Though poison coursed through his body and his figure was battered, his eyes shone with an undiminished light.

It was a fierce gleam that even Ganiagos found unsettling.

At that moment, Ganiagos realized it could not engage in a physical battle with the dark knight before it.

Even though it was an experienced demon, it had never encountered a warrior who fought with such brute force yet with such skill.

The remaining three heads began to hurriedly chant a spell.

Dale took out his hook and fastened it tightly to the cracked neck. Then he pulled on the rope with all his might.

After he managed to get to Ganiagos’s eye level, he lifted his cursed sword high above his head.

At the same time, Ganiagos’s spell was completed. Instead of weighing down a wide area with its magical power.

The demon chose to focus on a single point.

Their target was Dale’s right arm. The space around it twisted strangely, and then, snap!

Dale’s right arm was cleanly severed.

“……”

It didn’t matter. Dale still had his left arm.

With the tip of his sword pointed downward, he drove his cursed sword with all his might.

Crash!

The cursed sword plunged deep into the middle of the third head and pierced through its jaw. It was clearly a fatal wound.

But there was no time to confirm the kill. There wasn’t even time to withdraw the sword. The space around Dale continued to distort.

Crack!

The area below his left knee was completely crushed, making it difficult to walk properly. Yet Dale still clutched the rope.

Using the elasticity of the rope, he swiftly changed positions. And he used that speed to latch onto the fourth head.

With his remaining arm and leg, he tightly wrapped around the creature’s neck.

[Let go!]

The fourth head thrashed wildly and started smashing into the ceiling and floor in a frenzy.

But Dale did not let go. Far from it. He retrieved the rope and wrapped it tightly around the creature’s neck.

Then.

He drew every weapon he could from his arsenal and furiously stabbed beneath the creature’s jaw.

Blue blood sprayed everywhere, and Ganiagos slowly collapsed to the floor in agony. Dale discarded the pouch hanging on his holster.

Then he used only his remaining right leg and leaped with all his strength.

Ironically, throwing away his weapons and losing his limbs made his body feel lighter. This allowed him to jump higher than expected.

Higher than Ganiagos’s last remaining head.

Now there was only one thing left to do. If he could just use the descending force to drive his weapon in…

No.

A problem had arisen.

In the midst of the battle, he had used up all his weapons.

It was a situation he hadn’t anticipated, and that brief moment gave Ganiagos an opening.

The demon had completed its magic.

Crash!

The space warped again and Dale’s remaining right leg was completely severed.

Ganiagos opened its mouth wide beneath him as Dale’s body fell, drenched in cold blood.

And it spoke with a voice tinged with fear.

[I acknowledge you, knight. Your soul is not the only thing that’s special. I recognize your strength and will not forget you.]

It sounded like the end. A declaration of victory.

Pale sighed, Esther tightly shut her eyes, and Talos lowered his head.

It was over.

Everyone felt it.

But no

It’s not over yet.

Nothing was over yet.

Though he had lost three limbs, his body could still move.

It was too early to give up. He had to find the path to victory.

I need a weapon.

Dale frantically searched his belongings and felt something blunt catch his hand. This heavy object was…

A Bible?

What a coincidence.

In his hand, Dale barely grasped the thick Bible that the priests had given him as a token of gratitude in the past.

Dale had tried to refuse it, but the priests insisted on giving it to him anyway.

Annoyed, Dale had accepted it…

And then, a spark of inspiration flashed through Dale’s mind.

The Bible is made of paper, and paper burns well.

Dale knew this from burning the Bible of the Night Goddess before.

He knew there were few things as good for kindling as a Bible.

And Ganiagos is weak to fire.

Dale took the flint remaining in his pocket and placed it on the Bible.

Now, he could see Ganiagos’s teeth right in front of him. In the moment that would decide the outcome, time seemed to slow down.

There was only one chance.

Lifting his severed right arm, Dale struck down hard toward the flint.

Clang!

The armor hit the flint and flames were sparked.

And in the next moment, the Bible was ablaze with fire.

Like the goddess of light who lit up the whole world.

The Bible radiated brighter light than anything else. It was an unbelievable sight, so astonishing that even Dale who had initiated it was taken aback.

Suddenly, Dale remembered the words the priest had uttered when handing him the Bible.

“When you lose direction in life, it will surely provide you with an answer.”

And he thought to himself,

Yes, it does provide an answer.

Dale thrust the burning Bible into the maw of Ganiagos.

Ganiagos who had been about to devour Dale using its fangs was startled by the sudden heat and opened its mouth wide.

Dale landed inside Ganiagos’s mouth.

The creature’s mouth was dark and sticky. Within that darkness, the light from the Bible blazed fiercely.

Before Ganiagos could close its jaws, Dale spread his arms wide. He grabbed the top of Ganiagos’ mouth as if embracing it.

Ganiagos could not comprehend Dale’s intention.

But in the next moment, Dale slowly started to apply force and twisted his body.

Slowly, very slowly, the upper jaw of Ganiagos began to turn.

Realizing what was happening, Ganiagos panicked. Its worst fears were being realized.

He couldn’t be left unchecked. Dale had to be shaken off by any means necessary.

However, strong power was surging within Dale’s body after absorbing the demon’s blood.

Once he had his grip on the upper jaw, Dale never let go.

In that moment of panic as Ganiagos attempted to utter something,

[Wa…!]

Snap!

A sound that should never have emerged emanated from the scales and bones barely holding on.

Dale gave one final push. He gathered all his strength and focused his energy on his arms.

And at last,

Creak!

The upper jaw twisted. With the jaw still twisted, Dale pulled back forcefully.

As a result, Ganiagos’s upper jaw was torn apart. Thick bones were pulled out.

Thud!

Dale threw Ganiagos’s upper jaw onto the ground.

The body of Ganiagos, with its mouth torn open while still alive, slowly fell downward.

Dale savored the joy of his victory as Ganiagos’ blood rained down on his face before letting out a roar.

And as he did, countless eyes watched Dale in stunned silence.

***

Riddel was an old man who had spent his entire life in the castle of Kaelum.

This venerable elder was a skilled tanner and he was renowned throughout the castle for his unrivaled leatherworking in the city.

Moreover, Riddel was also famous for his deep faith. Whenever he had the time, he would visit the church to attend worship.

He had a son, a kind daughter-in-law, and a grandson who was the apple of his eye.

But one day, his son and grandson were tragically taken from him in a grievous accident.

The depth of his sorrow at that time was immeasurable.

To this day, Riddel could not find sleep without the aid of liquor.

Yet he never lost his faith.

He regarded this misfortune as a trial given to him, and the kind daughter-in-law left to him as a precious gift sent by God.

Today, as always, he offered prayers of gratitude to God. After wishing his daughter-in-law a good night, he fell into a deep sleep.

But when he opened his eyes, he found himself in an underground cavern.

A priest with wide-open eyes and a beautiful priestess were explaining something but he couldn’t make any sense of it.

“Am I dreaming?”

No, it wasn’t a dream. Riddel had a vague recollection of it.

He had walked to this place as if he were bewitched. His daughter-in-law desperately tried to hold him back. And then there was the assailant who attempted to kill her and the dark knight who stood in her defense.

Riddel turned his head.

In the place where the roar was heard, a terrifying snake-like monster was glowing.

Even to Riddel who was far from knowledgeable about such matters it was clear that this creature was no ordinary being.

And that knight bravely faced that monster.

It was the dark knight who had protected his daughter-in-law earlier.

And this knight was surely…

A knight who follows a heretical faith.

The dark knight fought fiercely with the monster. It was a battle that seemed almost impossible to win.

But then, a miracle occurred.

Holding something burning in his hand, the dark knight plunged into the monster’s jaws and, unbelievably, ripped open the hideous beast’s jaws while it was still alive.

Riddel shuddered.

“O Goddess, I am in awe. O Goddess! To have such a formidable knight protecting us! Could this be Your will?… Surely not, for he is a knight of a heretical faith.”

For the first time in his life, Riddel felt his faith waver.

And this moment marked the beginning of an increase in the followers of the goddess of the night.