Kai: “You’re… the Awakened Knight. The final boss of this exam?”

A black wall, through which no light could pass. Out of it emerged a knight in stark contrast: dressed in white armor, but with a bit of yellow decoration.

His build is about the same as mine. The knight, clad in western armor, walks toward me with a clank.

I activate my Eye of God. The magic power surrounding the knight is tranquil and completely controlled, gently swaying back and forth. It’s similar to the magic of Tendou-san and chairman Kagetora. It flows like the magic of a master who has complete control over his power.

Kai: “Just by looking, I can tell this one’s on a whole different level…”

Even against three high-level jobs, I can win without much struggle.

However, I can’t imagine winning against this opponent. Even if I bet everything, I don’t know if I can reach him. I can feel the refined skills and the pressure.

Kai: “…Lightning.”

I instantly check his status with my Eye of God, and I am speechless at the amount of his magic power.

−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−

Name: Lightning

State: Weakened

Job: Awakened Knight (Thunder) [Awakened]

Skill: Lightning Magic power: 300,000

Attack Power: Reflection Rate ▶ 75% = 225,000

Defense Power: Reflection Rate ▶ 25% = 75,000

Speed: Reflection Rate ▶ 50% = 150,000

Intelligence: Reflection Rate ▶ 50% = 150,000

Equipment ・Emblem of the Knight

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Kai: “300,000 magic power… stronger than anyone else I’ve faced so far, excluding Tendou-san and others.”

My magic power is 250,000, and this knight’s is 300,000. Although the difference of 50,000 doesn’t seem much given the large values, it’s not like that. If I were to face the Dragon King or Demon King with 50,000 power at level 0, I’d be completely outmatched.

Even so, this gap doesn’t seem that hopeless. Of course, if I fought barehanded against a knife, I’d lose for sure, but if I fought with a fruit knife against a military knife, I might be able to win depending on the strategy. Both of us have enough firepower to take each other’s life.

Besides, thanks to the reflection rate, if we just look at the status numbers, I seem a bit stronger.

Kai: “Thanks to Aya… I’ll have to give her a thankful hug when I return alive.”

I tighten my grip on the sword of the Dragon King I hold. A pure white sword filled with Aya’s love. I wonder what kind of face she would make if I hugged her tightly, given how cool she usually is. Would she blush and get flustered, showing a cute face?

Kai: “I must see that… So, I will survive!”

I stay alert and face forward.

The difference in magic power isn’t that great. So, the difference in skills will determine the outcome. That’s why I try to look at the details of the skill written as 『Lightning』.

The knight, clad in white and yellow armor, stands in front of me with eyes shining golden. As I watch his every move without letting my guard down and try to check the details of his status, he slowly lifts a sword that’s as white as mine. He goes into battle mode, pointing the tip towards me.

Assuming this is the start of the battle, I too raise my sword and prepare myself.

With the Eye of God activated, I should be able to deal with anything.

Or so I thought.

Zap.

A dry sound hits my ears. Like static electricity, like electricity popping. It happened in the split second I blinked.

I really just blinked, for less than a second. With the Eye of God activated, I can see the flow of magic power. Even if they move at the speed of sound, I shouldn’t lose sight of them.

Yet.

“!?”

I lost sight of that 『white lightning』.

Frankly speaking, it was luck. My consciousness, my thoughts were not working, yet my body moved reflexively. It was because I, who have faced death many times over these months, have more experience with the sensation of death than anyone else.

The sound of armor rubbing from behind.

The sound of a sword breaking the air from the right.

The sound of death, as if a knife was pressed against my nape, closing in.

Because I’ve always survived by the skin of my teeth.

Kai: “Guh!!”

In my unconscious state, my body defended my life.

The sword aiming for my nape – between it, I managed to squeeze in the Sword of the Dragon King. The sword held in both hands feels like it’s been hit hard from the side. The impact sends a numbing vibration through my body, almost making me lose balance, but I manage to brace myself.

Unable to understand what happened, I still desperately try to think. I regain my balance and swing my sword at the knight who appeared behind me.

The knight, trying to dodge my attack, jumped back.

For a moment, I’m given time to think.

Kai: (What was that… just now… what happened…)

I look at the status of the white knight. I have to look quickly, understand what happened quickly, otherwise…

Kai: “…What’s that skill?”

Die.

−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−

Attribute: Skill

Name: Lightning

Acquisition difficulty: –

Effect: • Enables movement to any shadow within sight at the speed of lightning. (Failure results in a cooldown of 1 second.) • Can also move to the shadow of a marked target at the speed of lightning, even if they are out of sight.

※Marking involves stepping on the target’s (a living being’s) shadow once.

 • Can move with objects that one is touching.

−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−

I instantly read and understood the words. Basically, he’s going to move into any shadow within my line of sight at the speed of lightning, which means the speed of light. Plus, if he steps on my shadow once, I’ll be marked. It seems that he can move to the shadow of a marked target from anywhere. But this seems to exclude inanimate objects as the word “target” is mentioned along with “living being”.

Kai: “Damn, isn’t this a cheat!”

Move at the speed of lightning?

That’s equivalent to moving at the speed of light. Although light does have a speed, there are hardly any places on Earth where light can ‘perceive’ distance.

In other words, it’s synonymous with teleportation.

In any creative work, past or present, East or West, teleportation is definitely a cheat. I shout out that a skill with this dream ability of mankind is cheating.

With a crackle!

At the same moment as my soul cried out, the 『Lightning』 was activated again. It completely disappeared from my sight, moving to the shadow behind me with the sound of lightning. Knowing the ability, I managed to block the attack by turning around the moment it disappeared. He used his skill again to move to a nearby shadow and keep his distance.

For the time being, I just ran away.

I had to run from his attack first before I could come up with a strategy. But soon I realized the real horror of “Lightning”.

Kai: “I’m panting… damn, I can kind of tell when he’s going to teleport by the movement of his magic power… but I have no idea where he’s going to teleport to.”

Just before “Lightning” is activated, the magic power shakes as if it’s been electrocuted. So, I know when it’s going to be activated.

I took a temporary refuge behind a pillar.

But I realized the moment I ran away.

Kai: “…No! Even if I run away!!”

As soon as I realized, he appeared in front of me. In the blink of an eye, he appeared on my shadow at the speed of light and raised his sword.

Another power of 『Lightning』. Once you’ve stepped on the shadow of a living being, you can teleport to it no matter where you are.

Even if you’re not in sight.

Kai: “Damn it! I can’t even hide!”

I just barely manage to block the downward swing of the sword right in front of my face. The sword I catch is so close it almost touches my nose.

The power of light illuminating the darkness. A streak of lightning that illuminates the night will always fall into my darkness.

No matter where I try to run.

 

—————————–

 

Afterword

So, the Nightmare was Lightning-san. There was a character like that in Final Fantasy. From darkness to light, from shadow to lightning.