Purge
After following for quite a while, Gregory was able to catch up with those who had fled. The distance between him and them was still starkly obvious, though.
This was thanks to the enemy's carriage—specifically, the tracks left by the horses.
"Can't you bastards stop?!"
Gregory lashed the reins even harder, urging his horse forward.
The enemies, glancing back, were clearly terrified of Gregory's pursuit.
They desperately tried to flee, but a carriage loaded with cargo couldn't possibly outpace a galloping horse.
"S-spare us!"
"How did he catch up? Jehar was supposed to..."
"H-he isn't dead, is he?"
"Don't say such ominous things! There's no way that guy defeated Jehar. Absolutely not."
Before long, the distance had shrunk, and the enemies' encampnt appeared ahead.
If Gregory lost them, the operation would fail.
He climbed onto his horse's back and, with a leap, soared forward.
Red mana burst from his Durandal. In an instant, he wildly slashed with the tip of his blade.
As a result, not only did the enemies lose their lives, but even the supplies loaded in the carriages were utterly destroyed.
There were seventeen carriages in total.
He had cut down every single one of them.
'With this much commotion, the enemies are bound to notice.'
With a thunderous roar, the enemy horses stumbled and toppled over, losing their balance. Gregory swiftly mounted his horse again and began to retreat.
***
So ti later, Gregory headed for the ferocious battlefield where he had fought Jehar.
He could see his comrades from afar.
Fearing he might get swept into another sudden battle, Gregory slowed his pace.
From a distance, he could spot the vigilant knight order mbers keeping watch for enemies.
Scanning the combatants up ahead, Gregory's expression grew serious.
Wounds marked his comrades all over their bodies.
There was no doubt they had crossed swords dozens of tis.
"You bastard...!"
Gregory quickly dismounted and joined the fight. Upon witnessing his comrades' ghastly state, his vision reddened with rage.
Noticing Gregory's presence, jehar looked his way with a bewildered expression.
"Could it be... all our soldiers are dead?"
Jehar himself, finding it tough to face Dawn's knight order, was gasping for breath.
With Gregory's return, his comrades' faces brightened.
"Gregory, you're back!"
"You must have completed the mission, right?"
Amid the warm welcos, Gregory spoke quietly.
"Thanks to you, it's finished safely."
He knew that his successful completion of the mission would raise morale, but his comrades' bodies were already battered beyond recognition.
Gregory continued calmly.
"Step back. From here on, this is my fight."
Gregory stepped forward. At his words, the knight order mbers of Dawn cried out urgently.
"What are you saying! We can still fight!"
"Yeah... Don't we need to kill that bastard?"
Despite his comrades' protests, Gregory didn't budge. He was resolved to end what he had started himself. Kylas, pressing a finger to one of the stab wounds scattered across his body, spoke.
"Everyone, stop. Tend to your wounds first. The disadvantage is on their side."
Garneth couldn't accept that decision. It was true that Gregory, too, bore serious wounds.
And it was impossible to say for sure that he could defeat Jehar.
If Gregory had already proved himself able to surpass Jehar, people wouldn't have questioned the order.
"But... isn't this reckless?!"
"Gregory isn't the reckless type. He must have a plan. That confidence cos from having found a way to win."
"... Understood. I'll follow the deputy leader's orders."
Seria took Garneth's arm and added,
"Don't worry too much... If you look at his accomplishnts so far, he's sure to seize victory."
"Understood."
anwhile, Gregory thought that, despite the deputy leader's command, his comrades might still jump in.
But he himself had already realized a way to deal with Jehar.
If his comrades joined the battle now and got hurt, the injuries could be fatal.
To prevent them from intervening, Gregory held his arms wide and raised his sword horizontally.
"I'll finish this with my own hands."
Then Jehar stepped forward, facing him. With eyes brimming with bloodlust, he glared at Gregory. The humiliation Gregory had brought using Durandal seed unforgivable to him.
"I'll make sure you regret coming alone."
"I'll finish this before you even get the chance."
His comrades, bound by Gregory's stubbornness, said nothing further. Instead, they moved back and focused on tending their wounds.
They decided to swiftly help if Jehar proved too dangerous.
A long standoff. Jehar and Gregory stayed rooted, searching for the other's weak points.
The outco would be decided the mont a vital spot was struck.
And then, a subtle glint flickered in both of their eyes.
Tak–!
The mont Gregory drew his sword from its sheath, the distance between them closed in an instant.
Boom!
It was a head-on clash from the start.
Jehar brought his blade down in a vertical strike, which Gregory t head-on.
Shwing!
Klang!
Jehar's blade slipped side to side, swinging in an unorthodox arc. Gregory imdiately dropped his body and aid an elbow at Jehar's chin.
Thwack!
Jehar, struck cleanly, was forced back.
"Gah...!"
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Jehar wiped it away with his sleeve. Gregory responded with the sa cold stare.
"As expected, the reputation of the Fourth Knight is well earned."
"... So you knew from the start... you knew I was the Fourth Knight! If I die, I die here. I'll take your life with !"
Thunk!
In a flash, Gregory kicked off the ground and took to the air.
His Durandal flew towards Jehar's chest.
Jehar barely twisted his body and dodged—
Slice!
—but his thigh was slashed. In an instant, his center of gravity collapsed. Yet he didn't retreat. He gathered blue mana, and spoke.
"Even if I'm exhausted... to have pushed this far is impressive."
Bang!
Again, jehar's figure vanished. His image blurred before Gregory's eyes.
But by now, that trick no longer worked on Gregory. His comrades had fallen prey to that phantasmal speed, no doubt.
Then Jehar's sword erupted with explosive mana. The blade shattered, but a new one ford from clear blue mana.
A lightning-fast strike. A trendous shock swept the area, dust montarily veiling everything from sight.
'Alright... I see my chance of winning. Earlier I let him have it easy. In his exhausted state, I have the upper hand.'
Within the dust, a sword slashed through.
"...!"
Thunk!
Jehar tried to dodge, but his shoulder was torn open. Gregory was already inside his guard.
"This is the end."
With a single stroke, Gregory raised his sword high.
Red mana flared fiercely, the air around them shuddering.
Jehar wasn't done, either. With his last bit of strength, he raised his sword, his blue mana threatening to devour everything around.
Crash!!
The two swords collided.
Gregory's red mana and Jehar's blue mana clashed with a shockwave.
A violent wind erupted, tossing his comrades' hair wildly in all directions.
"... So that's what it was. This thing called red mana..."
Jehar, crossing swords with Gregory, looked as though he had reached an epiphany.
He questioned the red mana, which he had never seen before—
but concluded it didn't have any special abilities.
"Ahahahaha!!!"
He burst into manic laughter.
Gregory, on the other hand, was finally confident of victory. During their first clash, jehar's condition was good—just exchanging swordstrikes made Gregory's arms tremble.
But it was clear Jehar hadn't been going all out. He hadn't wielded mana directly.
'The reason I can win is because of the red mana!'
When one uses mana after their strength is spent—
That mont was the opportunity.
The blade Jehar had ford from mana shattered in a blink. It was overwhelming.
That alone was enough to shatter Jehar's resolve.
The red mana devoured the blue mana, and as the blast of wind faded, the outco beca clear.
"Farewell."
For an instant, even the air seed to freeze in silence.
Gregory swung his sword downward, wiping the blood from the blade.
Imdiately after, jehar's breath rasped to a halt and his body collapsed to one side.
He could not utter another word, struck down by death.
Gregory let out a deep sigh and turned away.
The knight order mbers rushed over to check what had happened. Upon confirming Jehar's death, their mouths hung open in shock.
"G-Gregory, a-are you alright?"
The first to run over was Alessandro. Having sensed the overwhelming power from afar, he'd been deeply worried for Gregory.
"I'm alright."
Kylas ca over to comfort Gregory.
"Well done. Once again, your achievents are trendous. With this, we've managed to eliminate four of the enemy's renowned knights."
"That's right. Let's discuss the rest after we return to the knight order. There were many loud noises, and we're bound to be discovered by the enemy patrols."
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