A Knight Who Eternally Regresses-Chapter 167: On the Day the Moon Rises

After the hundred and eighty-sixth "today," Enkrid understood the concept of coordination and felt his body’s reactions changing.

Thud.

The moment he sensed the spearhead flying from behind, he turned his body and grabbed the spear shaft.

It was like a stunt.

The spear, aimed at his back, was evaded by Enkrid turning his body, then reaching out and grabbing the spear shaft with his hand.

It was like a scene from a well-rehearsed play.

The next moment, the sound of the blade striking the skull was enough to complete the move.

When he recognized it and visualized it in his mind, his body moved automatically.

"The technique of isolation is the foundation that allows your body to be easily controlled, brother."

Audin’s words echoed in Enkrid’s mind.

If he hadn’t spent countless repetitions training his body with the technique of isolation, he wouldn’t have been able to execute this move.

The imagined movement had been perfectly translated into reality.

Naturally, he saw the flaws in his movements.

‘Minimal movement.’

It was the realization that followed his control over stamina.

The larger the movement, the more unnecessary energy was lost.

If that happened, he wouldn’t be able to endure.

There could be no wasteful movements. Now that he understood, it was time to reduce them.

The training from the swordsmanship also helped.

‘If I can predict the movement.’

He could reduce the waste of movement.

While not even fully aware, Enkrid’s swordsmanship had improved a level.

That wasn’t his intention, though.

It was just a side benefit that came from his desperate efforts and doing his best.

After repeating today less than two hundred times, even though the smell of monsters and beast-like creatures made him nauseous, Enkrid smiled.

The joy of growth filled him.

Even after repeated failures, it was still there.

Yet, his struggle did not cease. Enkrid did not stop thinking of the steps he would take toward tomorrow.

It was the result of that thinking.

In a moment, Enkrid felt every nerve in his body go tense.

This was after more than two hundred repetitions of today.

He saw the flying blades.

It was around noon. As he moved his left foot to the side to dodge, the blade swept through the air.

At the same time, a spearhead thrust forward and an axe came flying from behind.

Enkrid bent his body, pushing the spearhead away with his palm.

He absorbed the axe with his shoulder, brushing it off.

Screech.

His leather armor scraped, but there were no injuries.

Immediately after, more spears, gladii blades, axes, and maces came flying at him.

A mutated mace, as large as an adult man's thigh, swung vertically.

He felt that his sword was in the way.

It interfered with his movement. It was harmful. Uncomfortable.

Enkrid put his sword back into its scabbard.

No, he even untied his belt while moving.

His body felt lighter.

Zoom, swoosh, swish, swoop.

Not every weapon’s movement was visible. He simply decided to observe and react one at a time.

Forgetting himself, he focused entirely on seeing and reacting.

Before long, the noon sun had passed its zenith and was setting in the west.

A cunning hyena repeatedly tried to bite his ankle.

Enkrid evaded it as well.

Sometimes he dodged backward, sometimes he advanced forward.

He swiftly spun to the side and jabbed his knee into the stomach of a hyena’s claw that had come too close.

He then threw his body into the gnoll’s embrace, using his shoulder to shove it away.

Using the reactionary force from the shove, he stood up straight.

He saw another blade flying toward him and reached out with his hand, casually flicking his wrist to deflect it.

“Ghuuk?”

The gnoll’s blade skidded off, grazing the head of one of its comrades.

“Grrrrr!”

The furious gnoll swung its hammer, filled with rage.

Thud.

The movement was large, and so was the trajectory. Dodging wasn’t hard. The problem was that such attacks came in waves—sometimes five or six of them at once.

So, what to do?

Observe and react to each one. That’s what Enkrid did.

He pushed the spear away with his hand, dodging again and again.

He focused solely on the feeling of evasion, without thinking about killing his opponents.

Instinct, intuition, and the finely honed five senses all accompanied this evasion technique.

Before long, the sunset gave way to the moon, which rose silently.

Enkrid didn’t notice the transition from day to night. He was too busy "handling" everything around him that was aiming to kill him.

Dodging, parrying, stepping aside, moving.

It wasn’t a fight to the death, it felt more like a game of tag.

In the repeated today, Enkrid concealed his presence countless times, settling on the roof.

She saw it, too.

‘What is that?’

It was hard to explain in words. The scene was something that didn’t make much sense.

Enkrid was evading alone in the gnoll wave. He simply endured. It was death, anyway. There was no escaping it. But why? Why? Why?

‘Why are you laughing?’

The question bloomed in Esther’s heart. It was a question that would vanish after today passed.

The things Enkrid was doing were beyond description with just the word "stunt."

He seemed to be playing with the wave of monsters, like he was playing with gnolls.

It seemed like he would die at any moment, yet he didn’t. He dodged axes, dodged maces, parried, blocked.

Sometimes he even embraced a gnoll.

How could he not?

If he stayed still, he’d be dead. So, Enkrid grabbed the gnoll’s arm from behind, using it as a shield to block the attacks from other gnolls. He blocked an incoming axe blade with the mace.

Bam!

It was madness. Instead of attacking, he focused entirely on evading.

As the sunset ended, the moon rose, and the chariot of the day reached its destination.

In the end, the day came to an end.

The moonlight gently illuminated the surroundings, brightening the summer night.

The air was thick with the stench of decay, the smell of corpses, the heat of metal, and the reek of monsters.

Enkrid spent the night.

To be exact, he ended the day.

The day ended without him seeing the leader.

‘Ah.’

Only then did his focus break. Enkrid realized what he had done.

‘Ah.’

He let out a mental sigh of recognition. It was understandable.

He had thrown away his weapon and focused entirely on evasion.

Why? Why did he do this? It was a movement driven by instinct.

That was how he obtained it. The art of evasion. The ability to see and respond.

It was a talent Enkrid had never had before.

A change in his reflex speed and physical ability.

With the technique of isolation to build it up and the feeling of evasion to fill it in, the repeating today, the poison, the blades—he had built up a tower of endurance.

The monsters that rushed at him numbered in the hundreds. He endured them. He couldn’t kill them all. He would have to become a knight to do that.

But to endure? That, he could do.

‘It’s possible.’

A thrilling joy surged through him.

Even the gnolls that had been coming for over a day were now dumbfounded. Of course, no such gnoll actually existed.

Enkrid’s body was covered in scratches. Blood was dripping from his cheek.

He couldn’t escape without some injuries. That was impossible.

But, there were no fatal wounds.

As the day ended, the moon rose, and Enkrid realized that today was over.

"See you again. Not here, though."

When the words were finished, Enkrid closed his eyes.

Would today end like this? By just enduring? That was impossible. It couldn’t be.

He had expected this.

So, when he opened his eyes again, the surroundings had naturally changed.

The black river, the boat, the ferryman.

"That won’t work."

The ferryman passed by.

Enkrid closed his eyes again, and when he opened them, the roof of the hut was visible.

It was today again.

With a single blink, the cycle of today repeated, and this was proof that enduring wasn’t the solution.

Of course, that didn’t matter.

Though his chest was filled with joy, this wasn’t the time to enjoy it.

The countless repetitions of today, the gathered information, the associations formed.

Enkrid immediately kicked Kraiss as soon as he got up.

"Get up."

"Ugh, what is it, early in the morning?"

What else could it be? Today was the day he had to run to avoid dying.

An idea for a slight shortcut came to him after the hundredth repetition of today.

He was about to try it out.

The original goal of "enduring today" had been achieved.

Enkrid had met the minimum conditions he had set for today.

‘The feeling of evasion.’

Along with the Heart of Might, it had now become second nature.

He had grasped the feeling. The results of his training were now embedded in his body.

Now, would he have to repeat this again?

This damn today?

There was no need. Though people around him often overlooked his disciplined sword training, Enkrid was a good speaker and a quick thinker.

He especially had no aversion to using shortcuts.

***

Enkrid had set his goal, and he achieved it.

‘I endured.’

Spending the entire day and seeing its end.

He instinctively knew that, in the end, the conclusion would lead back to the original "today."

No, it was an intuition.

‘Overcoming the wall isn’t done this way.’

Endurance was never the solution.

If endurance were the answer, then the situation with the sorcerer Letsha and the werewolves would have ended with a simple escape.

Avoiding the traps of the mad sorcerer who created his lair in the city’s underground tunnels would have sufficed.

This was a curse, and thus a countermeasure was needed.

Enkrid didn’t know the exact answer, but he had given it considerable thought.

There had been time spent thinking about how to escape today, and it was from that time that the idea had come to him.

If the process of killing and being killed caused today to repeat, what would happen if he prevented that process from even starting?

‘It’s something I’ll try.’

The result follows the process.

"Did I tell you that I’ve worked as a mercenary for quite a long time?"

This was after he had gathered his equipment.

Sweat poured down from his forehead, dripping down to his chin.

It was, as expected, hot.

Just putting on his gear from early in the morning had raised his body temperature. It felt just right. Even without warming up, his muscles and joints were starting to come alive.

Today, there was no time for isolation techniques or training.

This was just perfect.

"Hmm?"

At Enkrid's words, Lua Gharne tilted her head. She wondered what he was suddenly talking about.

‘Is he having a headache this morning?’

Lua Gharne’s gaze seemed to imply that. Of course, Enkrid was only saying what was on his mind.

"I fought with the cultists once. The Malignant Holy Church."

When he pretended not to know and said it so bluntly, Lua Gharne reacted.

"...The cultists, you say?"

Her reaction was still intense. The air between them turned cold. The tension was palpable.

Enkrid ignored the atmosphere and continued speaking.

"Do you know them?"

This felt a bit awkward.

Enkrid considered that perhaps he needed to train his acting skills, but Lua Gharne didn’t seem to notice.

She was far more focused on something else than noticing the awkwardness in his speech or attitude.

The word “cultist” had been spoken. To her, they were people who had to be killed without question. They were also the ones she had sworn to destroy.

"There was one I missed back then. It only just came to me now."

As he spoke, Enkrid tapped his forehead.

It felt a bit awkward, though.

His acting skills definitely needed more practice.

He hadn’t done much rehearsing.

But, Lua Gharne was still not concerned with that.

"Do you remember the friend who was following behind a man named Deutsch Pullman?"

"The one with thick lips and an ugly face."

The frog-like aesthetic sensibilities were sharp.

Yes, he did have a face that resembled a fish.

Enkrid knew a few more people like that. He had repeated today more than two hundred times, after all.

In all that time, wasn’t he bound to learn about more than just that one?

But, the cultist disguised as a fish-faced man was certainly the most troublesome. Lua Gharne had always pursued that one during the repeated days and had never returned empty-handed.

"That's right."

"Are you sure? A cultist?"

"Yes, with my sword and everything I have."

Lua Gharne knew just how much Enkrid valued his sword. It was akin to the sacred vow he had made with his heart.

The words carried weight, unusual for a human.

It was a sign that she trusted him.

"If you don’t believe me, you can go and ask him yourself."

"Let’s go."

That was the end of it. It was more direct than expected. Lua Gharne pulled out her whip, wrapped it around her hand, and walked off with purpose.

She was likely headed to find Deutsch Pullman.

If she didn’t find him there, she would probably search elsewhere.

"What... What’s with that awkward way of speaking?"

Kraiss, who had been watching quietly, finally asked.

Had it been awkward? Probably. But that wasn’t the important thing.

"You should move too."

Enkrid said, stepping forward. Throughout the repetition of today, he had measured time over and over.

He had figured out how the monsters gathered and what the problem was.

He had searched for the cause. If you didn’t know the problem, it was one thing.

But if you did know...

‘Blocking it isn’t difficult.’

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At least, for Enkrid, it wasn’t.

He had done it multiple times before, so there was no hesitation.