My final conflict began.
In my right hand was a sword, and in my left, something else that had been in my pocket.
In the dimly lit room, I looked at the light source on the ceiling that clearly cast my shadow.
I began to run straight ahead.
As expected, the 『Lightning』 moved around at quite literally the speed of lightning, making it hard to track. This was as expected, a normal instantaneous movement to other shadows, which I couldn’t stop.
But I knew its direction.
I quickly turned in that direction. If I lost sight of it even for a moment, I wouldn’t know the direction of the next teleportation.
The 『Lightning』 thundered, repeating instantaneous movements like teleportation. I won’t lose my concentration.
In a battle where even blinking could be fatal, my body was covered with wounds from the hit-and-run attacks of the white knight. But I didn’t look away, determined not to miss the timing that would come at some point.
Because I already knew that just by doing so, the world would seem different.
I don’t know if there’s a limit to its concentration, but it’s a test of endurance. I’ll never give up, I won’t lose focus until the very end, even if it means burning out my brain.
The moment the 『Lightning』 teleported to my shadow next, that was the turning point of the game. I just single mindedly waited.
Maybe it knew that too.
10 seconds.
20 seconds.
And then 1 minute.
It never teleported on top of my shadow, instead, it attacked me from all sides. I lost track of time and was fully immersed. The sensation of time slowing down was probably similar to one’s life flashing before their eyes.
Kai: (My body feels light…)
I was fully in control of my body. I felt like I could make any move right now, and I diverted all the attacks away from my vitals.
That was a dream-like time that only top athletes who have put in momentous amounts of effort could experience. A closed door that only opens on a whim, no matter how much one longs and wishes for it.
On the brink of death, I was laughing and opening that door.
My world was slowing down, slowing down the flow of time. I didn’t know if it was the power of the Eye of God or my own power.
I felt like I could keep doing this all day now.
That’s how much my movements were being refined.
The long battle, the exchange of life and death, and then the time came. The 『Lightning』 that was moving around me at the same speed as real lightning.
The four pillars in the room stood between me and the white knight, threatening to put me in the white knight’s blind spot for a moment. I thought, this is it. It must be here that he will make his move.
And the 『Lightning』 went behind the pillar. At the very last moment, I saw the magic power enveloping the knight’s body rising above it.
Probably behind that pillar, the white knight is activating 『Lightning』 to move to my shadow.
Therefore, I ran at full speed to the same point as before. That’s why I had been running around this point.
Perfect timing, my shadow disappears for a moment. He should have failed the 『Lightning』 skill and entered the one-second cooldown.
I ran with all my might.
Behind that pillar, a one-second reprieve. This is the only chance to catch him. I raised my sword at the stationary knight behind the pillar.
Kai: “Ahhhh!!”
Not even a second had passed. It worked, I could catch him, I bet everything on this one blow.
Kai: (I can do it!)
I was about to hit him with my sword. Another second of cooldown time is coming, but I’m sure not a second has passed yet.
I won.
That’s what I thought.
The white knight, whose face was hidden by the armor and completely unreadable, said only one thing.
White Knight: 『Too bad… 』
Immediately afterwards, the pure white magic that covered the knight pointed towards the sky. It was a preparatory action for 『Lightning』 to teleport to my shadow.
I opened my eyes wide. Not a second had passed yet.
In other words, the white knight had won our game of wits.
His pretending to activate 『Lightning』 to my shadow when he was in the blind spot was a bluff. So, he didn’t fail, and there was no cooldown.
He must have read that I was waiting for 『Lightning』 to come towards me. I was lured in, and I was fooled into stepping out.
The sword I swung down, I can’t stop it now. If he teleports behind me now, I have no way to defend myself.
Kai: “Ahhhh!!”
I screamed, holding my sword in my right hand alone. The white knight looked disappointed as his magic stretched towards the sky.
Laughing, I blurted out,
Kai: “It’s my win.”
I held the sword with my right hand alone.
Why?
Because in my left hand I had an item that would turn the situation around.
I activated what I had been hiding in my left hand. This was my strategy, a strategy like walking on a tightrope. A strategy I came up with when I saw my shadow shrink in the light earlier.
I wasn’t sure if it would work.
Still, I absolutely had to make it work.
Click.
What I pressed with my finger was the LCD screen. The one on my 『smartphone』.
A modern weapon. The main function of this modern weapon is probably communication. It couldn’t be a tool for fighting, and in the first place, radio waves don’t reach inside the Cube.
Kai: “But there’s one feature this thing has that is effective only here and now. An auxiliary function that’s not really the main feature, yet it is displaying its greatest power right now.
It’s a once great weapon that humans had in their hands.
The light of science that defeated the world’s largest shadow, the vast darkness that covered the world for tens of thousands of years, the night.
Lightning is terrifying. Humans are weak creatures that have been afraid of it since they were born, so they can only tremble without resisting.
But humanity has overcome that. Through the will passed down over many generations, we have transformed even lightning into the power of electricity. What the diligent geniuses revealed through their efforts was technology.
The light of wisdom that has been passed down—.
White Knight:『!!?? 』
—dispels even my darkness.
The smartphone is activated, and the light turns on immediately. I drop the smartphone towards the center of my shadow behind me. The dazzling artificial light illuminated from the smartphone erases the center of the shadow behind me, separating the shadow it was about to teleport to.
At this moment, the destination shadow did not become big enough for 『Lightning』, and the skill failed.
The magic power of the white knight who failed to teleport starts to tremble, creating an eternity in a second for me.
My eyes glow golden and illuminate even the darkness of the world.
Kai: “Ah!”
I grab the sword in my right hand, spin it in mid-air and skillfully switch it to a reverse grip. With the same speed, I thrust it into the nape of the white knight, who is frozen and trembling.
I quickly throw my smartphone, grab the white knight’s right hand with my left hand to prevent him from escaping, and thrust the sword deeper.
Free from cooldown, he’s teleporting here and there with 『Lightning』, but this is also expected. Living things in contact will teleport simultaneously. I’ve confirmed this with my Eye of God, so I can teleport simultaneously from this state. The world is changing at a dizzying pace, I can’t tell up from down, heaven from earth.
But I never let go.
Kai: “Ah!”
This is my last chance; I scream from the bottom of my soul. If I can’t finish him off here, there won’t be a next time, I’m losing too much blood and my consciousness is hazy.
So, I’m going to end it here, no matter what.
I thrust my sword with all my might. The power I put into my left hand is to prevent him from escaping, to protect my life. The power I put into my right hand is to defeat the enemy, to carry through my determination.
I squeeze out every bit of my strength until the very last moment.
And then the time comes.
The white knight drops his sword and slowly falls to the ground. When I check his status, it’s changing to dead.
The fallen knight turns into particles of light as he lies on the ground on his back. Unable to understand whether I’ve won or not, I just stare vacantly at the knight as he speaks. But his voice, unlike the disappointment of earlier, seemed somewhat happy despite his defeat and death.
White Knight: 『You did well… knight of this era.』
He praised my victory.
The motionless white knight turns into particles of light and completely vanishes.
Kai: “Haa…”
I sat down on the spot.
Kai: “I won… haa… so exhausting…”
It seems I have won. I managed to win the tight battle against this enemy with a cheat skill like lightning.
Announcer Voice: 『Ascended Knight Test, Clear.』
Kai: “I’m glad… it’s over…”
With a sigh of relief, I lie down flat and quietly close my eyes.
Right now, I’m just relieved to have won this deadly battle, even as my body is being scorched by the pain of the wounds all over.
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