Infinite Regressing Knight

Chapter 12: Stage 2. Celestial Stone (5)

‘Should I retreat?

Or should I go in?’

The dilemma was fleeting.

Lower, and faster.

Dominic’s body, lowered as if sticking to the ground, burrowed under the monster’s kick.

At the same time, the sword flew.

It was a daring move to slash at the opponent’s Achilles tendon.

But the opponent’s response was equally formidable.

Realizing he didn’t have time to adjust the angle of his kick, the monster pushed off the ground with both hands that had been supporting his body.

Then, he spun once in the air with an acrobatic motion.

A typical somersault involves drawing a circle in the order of head-back-waist-lower body in the form of a forward roll.

But the somersault the monster showed was the opposite.

Because he pushed off the ground with his hands, his lower body floated up first, and his upper body rose drawing a circle.

And at the same time.

Whoosh-!

The monster’s palm, propelled by centrifugal force, aimed for Dominic’s head.

An attack in the form of scooping up from below with a fully opened palm.

At the unexpected attack, Dominic bit his lip and detonated Mana Burn.

Bang!

The shockwave went off, stopping the monster’s palm attack, and Dominic quickly retreated.

At first glance, it was a successful defense.

But in reality, there was damage.

Because he detonated Mana Burn close to his head, the shock was transmitted to his head.

A beep sound rang in his ears.

‘Crazy bastard.’

Since he was using his arms like legs, I thought his lower and upper body had opposite roles.

But that wasn’t the case.

He had no distinction between lower and upper body.

He moved according to the situation at any moment, without a fixed posture.

It was a movement that couldn’t be imitated without tremendous flexibility, a sense of balance, and strength.

Moreover, he seemed to have good instantaneous judgment in both offense and defense.

The fact that his upward strike was a palm strike meant he intended to sweep a wide range, keeping Dominic’s quick speed in mind.

–Kheuheung, kheuheung!

As the battle began, the central monster, as if his bestial nature had been stirred, charged again, spewing out strange noises.

Dominic also rushed out, pulling up as much mana as possible.

At that moment, the monster’s advance became subtly cautious.

‘He senses the mana.’

Perhaps because of that, he even mixed in feints.

He slightly raised his right shoulder, but the real attack was with his left arm.

Whooooosh-!

His left arm, stretched out like a spear, flew aiming for Dominic’s heart.

But this time, I didn’t avoid it.

With this kind of freewheeling type, you shouldn’t give him time to unleash his full power.

Even if it meant engaging in an exchange favorable to the opponent, I had to take the initiative in distance.

Just as the way to catch cavalry was to sacrifice spearmen to slow down the horses’ speed.

Clang!

Dominic and the monster’s attacks collided head-on.

His right arm felt like it was shattering from the tremendous impact.

But he felt the sensation of cutting flesh.

Perhaps it even reached the bone.

Sure enough, the monster seemed quite surprised.

He didn’t expect a life form so much smaller than himself to unleash this much power, and he retreated awkwardly in shock from the pain.

That was the monster’s mistake.

And at the same time, my opportunity.

Dominic, who had seized a favorable timing for the first time since the battle began, started to pour it on.

***

Dominic’s swordsmanship had stopped in his academy days.

Moreover, he hadn’t learned any specific swordsmanship even in the academy.

He had simply honed the basics relentlessly.

This was discrimination Dominic suffered because he was a ‘fake noble,’ but it was also something he himself wanted.

At the time, Dominic couldn’t understand swordsmanship that involved practicing specific sword forms.

Wasn’t a sword just meant to protect your weaknesses and stab the opponent’s weaknesses?

So why should I memorize fixed sword forms?

So he didn’t learn swordsmanship from anyone, and only asked questions to professors when he needed something.

Because professors within the academy had a duty to answer students’ questions.

Dominic always asked questions to a swordsmanship professor named Rodbalt.

Most students didn’t like Rodbalt, who spouted nonsense, but Dominic thought he was an excellent swordsman.

Then one day, Professor Rodbalt said this.

“Dominic.”

“You’ll be able to complete your own sword just by honing the basics and gaining practical experience.”

“Of course, that’s assuming you don’t die while gaining practical experience.”

I asked for the reason, but Professor Rodbalt never told me.

He said that if I knew the reason, I’d be trapped by that thought and it would hinder my growth.

I found out the answer while living as a mercenary.

“Dom, when I watch you fight, I think the opponent must feel screwed.”

“Why?”

“You only pick the things the opponent hates the most. No habits, no quirks. How can a guy who makes a living with a sword have no habits?”

“Did I?”

“Yeah. Yesterday, the day before, and today too.”

The one who told me that died in Dominic’s hands not long after.

He was caught betraying the mercenary group after taking a reverse commission.

“Damn it. It’s a fucked up sword after all……”

It was the same now.

Dominic instinctively fought in a distance and in a way that the monster hated.

He advanced as much as the monster retreated, and retreated as much as the monster charged.

Large attacks flew in succession to shake off the annoying human, but he didn’t resist.

He retreated out of the attack’s range, and then surged back into the fray at the timing when the monster’s attack was being recovered.

It sounded easy, but it was a very dangerous acrobatic feat.

Because the physical difference was so great, he would lose his life if the timing was off by just 0.5 seconds.

But Dominic didn’t make a mistake.

He continued the battle without ever giving the monster a comfortable distance.

-Kuaaaaaaah!

The monster, feeling frustrated, unleashed its bestial nature.

In fact, the situation wasn’t entirely advantageous for Dominic.

Maintaining distance against an enemy with an overwhelming physical difference also meant that he couldn’t attempt deep attacks.

Because he had to plant his feet to attempt a deep attack.

That’s why Dominic led the battle with only shallow attacks.

Like cutting down a giant tree with a dagger.

Like moving a mountain with a spoon.

As that time continued, at some point the monster felt an instinctive sense of crisis.

‘If this goes on, I might die.’

Even if it meant taking damage, he had to kill the opponent.

But another instinct refused it.

Eyes.

Dominic’s eyes, continuing his shallow attacks, were constantly targeting the monster’s neck.

The moment he tried to endure the damage, that human would cut his vital point.

That meant death.

-Kuaaaaaaah!

The monster with the instincts of a beast hesitated in a situation where he couldn’t kill and shouldn’t die.

As that continued for a full hour.

Thud!

The battle ended.

After a long and arduous fight, Dominic had nibbled away at the massive monster.

Thump.

The moment the battle ended, Dominic’s sword fell to the floor.

Cramps that started in his forearm spread throughout his body, making it impossible to hold the sword.

His body trembled like an aspen with extreme pain, and he had trouble breathing.

It was showing abnormal reactions due to excessive strain.

Frankly, Dominic didn’t think he would win either.

I thought my concentration would break before the monster fell.

I had experienced long battles before, but this was the first time I couldn’t afford to lose focus for even a single second.

‘Could I win if I fought him again?’

No, the premise was wrong.

I don’t know if I’d even want to fight that bastard again.

Because it was such a painful fight.

But, a strange sight came into view.

From the mouth of the monster who died sticking out his tongue…….

Rolling, rolling.

A black bead rolled out.

The bead, a little smaller than an adult man’s fist, writhed as if it were alive.

Dominic’s hand reached for the bead.

But this wasn’t Dominic’s will.

The Ring.

The ring worn on his right hand floated on its own and made contact with the bead.

Then, it swallowed the bead.

Swish-

The Heat Haze within the ring’s pattern churned.

The Heat Haze that had only filled a quarter of the pattern expanded in surges…….

Filling the pattern completely at once.

Flash!

Mana began to seep into Dominic’s mana hole.

But it was different from last time.

If before it had gently filled Dominic’s weak mana hole, this time it showed a ferocious movement.

A thumping sound that couldn’t be heard rang out in his head.

The energies originating from the ring were pounding on Dominic’s mana hole.

‘What the hell……’

Surprisingly, the mana hole began to widen.

Mana holes cannot be artificially widened.

The only way was to naturally widen them by steadily performing mana cultivation.

But the ring’s energy was transcending common sense.

However, the process was too painful.

“Keuk.”

External pain that started with muscle cramps.

Internal pain of pounding on the mana hole.

The two pains tormented Dominic as if they were a symphony of death.

It was at a level that even Dominic, who rarely groaned, couldn’t bear.

But, the end was sweet.

Bang!

With the distant sound of everything exploding, I could feel the mana flowing imposingly through my meridians.

Before, it had been sloshing, but now it flowed.

Sloshing meant that the vessel wasn’t properly containing the contents.

Flowing meant that the movements were organically connected.

An enormous sense of elation was felt.

I felt like I could do anything now.

Sword.

I wanted to swing a sword.

It was the moment Dominic tried to pick up the sword that had fallen on the floor.

-Kuoaaaaaaaah!

The rhinoceros-like central monster began to run towards Dominic.

Now that the battle between the two beasts was over, it was going to attack the wounded victor.

It was a common habit in the wild.

I had to retreat to a safe zone.

I had to retreat, but…….

My body, still cramping, wouldn’t listen.

“This is absurd.”

Crunch!

It was the fourth death.

***

“Commander?”

“Jarrot.”

“Yes.”

“Run.”

“Pardon?”

“Run.”

The fifth iteration proceeded without a single error from the last time.

We reached Slash-and-Burn Village Village, Squirmers appeared, and we entered the forest.

The pathfinder still disappeared, and the base camp was empty.

As a result, one proposition was definitely proven.

The time of arrival at Slash-and-Burn Village affects the time of entry into the forest.

It wasn’t random.

The search party began the search once again, and Dominic began hunting monsters.

But the entities Dominic hunted weren’t the central monster, but the shadow monsters.

This was because I needed time to refine my combat power to match the changed body.

Having a wider mana hole is different from having an increased total amount of mana.

It’s as different as the amount of water in the waterworks changing, and the waterworks facility itself changing.

To put the current situation simply, the destructive power had increased, but it had become inaccurate.

Dominic was someone who believed that uncontrollable strength couldn’t beat controllable precision.

So I needed time to readjust my mana usage, and I made up for it by hunting the easy shadow monsters.

The disappointing thing was that it was no longer easy to fill the pattern with shadow monsters.

I’d have to catch 1,000 to fill just one pattern.

As 3 days passed, Dominic was able to regain his precision.

I thought it would take longer, but it was unexpected.