Infinite Regressing Knight

It wasn't a surprising sound.

The fact that there was some connection between this ring and the forest.

But just because it wasn't surprising didn't mean it wasn't important.

"Where did you see it?"

"When the witch appears."

"The witch?"

Hanshuya had witnessed Velicaya three times so far.

The first time, she was surprised by the indescribable evil and hid, losing her comrades, and the second and third times, she only watched from afar.

"The moment the witch opens the tower's door, a semi-transparent stele floats in the air. The same pattern as the one on the ring is engraved on that stele."

"Did you approach it?"

"No. The stele is always a certain distance away."

"Does that mean the distance doesn't decrease even if you get closer?"

"The distance doesn't increase even if you move away. Like a star."

It was a difficult thing to understand, but he didn't ask again.

"However, I felt that it was connected to another space from that stele."

"Escape might be possible?"

"We've been holding onto hope there for the past month."

He thought it was important information, but it was also information that he couldn't use right away.

The witch, who appeared every half a month, would appear in at least ten days.

But, what if he couldn't find anything on the stele?

Then he'd have to hurriedly prepare to escape by releasing the barrier...

Ten days was enough time for the food to run out.

He couldn't attempt to escape in a starving state.

"By the way, what is this heat haze in the ring?"

"Heat haze?"

"Inside the pattern..."

When he examined the ring, there was a heat haze that seemed to be visible and not visible inside the engraved pattern, as Hanshuya had said.

It didn't fill the entire pattern.

It almost filled it, but it wasn't enough.

About 80% in numerical terms?

What was clear was that there hadn't been anything like this when he first picked it up.

Besides, looking at the heat haze inside the engraved pattern, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

As if he'd felt it somewhere before...

"Ah?"

Shadow monsters.

It was similar to the energy he felt from those monsters.

As he concentrated and contemplated the heat haze, something suddenly came to mind.

-Slash!

-Crush!

The moment he dealt with the shadow monsters.

'Could it be?'

Dominic, suddenly thinking, got up from his seat.

"I have something to check, so go in first."

"What? You're going back into the forest?"

"Help yourself to the meal."

Dominic, who had moved outside the safe zone, searched for shadow monsters that were moving alone.

It wasn't dangerous.

If the shadow monsters gathered, he could take refuge in the safe zone.

After some time, Dominic was able to kill a shadow monster.

Then he examined the ring.

At first, it seemed like there were no changes.

"...!"

The heat haze filling the engraving increased in size.

Then was this heat haze really the shadow monsters he had killed so far?

The ring was absorbing them?

What would happen if he filled the pattern?

Dominic hesitated for a moment, but didn't hesitate.

Right now, death was closer than life.

If he could create variables, he had to do anything.

Dominic, who had jumped into the forest, began to kill shadow monsters.

He almost fell into crisis because his mind was elsewhere, but he wasn't injured.

When he killed five more, the pattern was finally filled.

Dominic returned to the safe zone without taking his eyes off the ring, but he didn't feel any particular change.

'Did I misunderstand?'

It was then.

Swoooooosh-

With a small sound that he wouldn't have heard if he hadn't concentrated, the heat hazes began to stir.

Like water being sucked into a small hole, the heat hazes rotated and were sucked into the very center of the engraved pattern.

When all the heat hazes finally disappeared.

Flash!

An unprecedented energy slowly permeated Dominic.

"What is this..."

Mana, the amount of which he had never possessed, was overflowing from his entire body.

* * *

The food was running out because they had eaten their fill for two days.

But no one dared to mention the food situation.

Everyone knew.

If they escaped from this unknown space, food wouldn't be a problem.

If they couldn't escape, they would all just become food for the shadow monsters.

"Throw away all non-combat items and lighten your body as much as possible. The same goes for food."

A sky where there was a feeling that the sun had risen, but a ominous darkness had descended.

Under that, the 8th Squad, who had been resting, finally got up.

It was time to attempt to escape.

"Edgar protects the priestess in the center. The rest in the determined formation."

22 members of the 8th Squad.

5 knights.

1 priestess.

The escape party of 28 people began to move.

-Kkieeeeeek!

As soon as they left the safe zone, a shadow monster that looked like an eagle shot down as if gliding.

He didn't know if it had judgment, but its first target was the priestess.

Crack!

Edgar, who had fully recovered after eating the last remaining potion, cut down the monster, and Dominic raised his voice.

"Sprint at full speed!"

From what he had explored in the forest so far, the shadow monsters shared each other's deaths.

The moment a comrade met death, it seemed all the monsters knew its location.

So, now that the first monster had been removed, was the most important time.

The soldiers began to run out, matching the priestess's sprinting speed.

When he judged that they had moved a decent distance.

-Poohyooooooo!

A group appeared.

About fifteen shadow monsters with a strange appearance that looked like half bear and half donkey appeared.

The key to this operation was endless movement.

Even if it meant going around the way, they couldn't fix their position for even a moment.

So, they had to deal with it as quickly as possible.

Bang!

Dominic threw his body.

In an instant, one of the monster's heads was smashed.

It was a thunderous movement.

Dominic's movement was so intense that the knights were surprised.

After absorbing the mana of the ring, Dominic had become a higher level swordsman.

In the usual case, skill didn't develop just because the total amount of mana increased.

Increasing physical strength didn't improve swordsmanship skill.

What mattered was mana operation, which handled mana, and swordsmanship, which handled the sword.

But Dominic's case was a bit different.

He was a person with a terrible amount of mana compared to the skill he possessed.

From the start, he had never properly performed mana cultivation since dropping out of the academy.

A high-ranking mage he had met on the battlefield once said this.

"It's the first time I've seen someone create that much spark with less than a grain of mana."

"Is that precision innate? Or did you learn it from someone?"

"Whatever it is, how about focusing on mana cultivation rather than earning money? Young swordsman?"

Of course, he ignored it.

It was also ridiculous that Dominic, who was alive because he couldn't die, diligently performed mana cultivation.

The fact that Dominic, who had lacked such a thing, was given enough mana meant that he could realize precision and fierceness at the same time.

While Dominic took the lead and killed the shadow monsters, the knights and the 8th Squad also played an active part.

There were still individuals that hadn't been caught, but they couldn't delay any longer.

"Move south! Engage after moving!"

As the humans ran away, the remaining five began to chase after them, crying out fiercely.

A short while later.

Shadow monsters swarmed to the spot where they had left.

The monsters, loitering around the spot where their comrades had died, began to run south with a instinct akin to intuition.

Because a comrade had died in the south.

-Kkieeeeeek!

-Grrrrrrr!

The number was close to two hundred.

* * *

Battle and movement.

Movement and battle.

He felt trapped in a hell where two actions were repeated infinitely.

They hadn't even reached half of the barrier yet, but the number of shadow monsters chasing them couldn't be handled.

It was partly because the monsters they hadn't properly finished off were chasing them, but the bigger reason was that the density of monsters became unbelievably high as they headed towards the outskirts.

The moment the thought that this wouldn't work became stronger.

"Aaaagh!"

"Luca!"

The first death occurred.

Everyone was prepared to die, but experiencing it was a different story.

If death flickered before their eyes, they would be soaked in a sense of defeat, and this would easily be contagious.

He was heartbroken by the death of a subordinate who had gone through thick and thin with him for years, but there was no time to be sentimental.

He had to change the atmosphere.

"Jarrot! Protect the priestess and head north! Edgar! Lead all the knights and follow me!"

Dominic shot towards the shadow monsters without even checking the knights' movements.

The knights, who had hesitated for a moment, followed.

They also knew that they would be annihilated if they continued like this.

Dominic, who had thrown his body into the air, pulled his sword over his head and burst Mana Burn.

Bang!

"The body that had risen into the air because of the force exuding as the mana burned plunged down at once, and the head of the leading shadow monster was split."

-Kkyaaaaaaaak!

He had to kill the monsters and get away from the 8th Squad.

"Lure them south and fight defensively!"

The knights fought steadily and well.

To the point where he felt steadfastness from the sight of five people protecting each other's backs and moving south.

In contrast, Dominic seemed to disregard his life.

Repeatingly charging into the midst of countless shadow monsters and fighting fiercely, barely escaping.

But when that act went over five times, the knights realized.

'It's not barely.'

The 8th Squad Commander was fighting while managing his stamina.

After stirring up the monsters, he would approach the knights when his breathing became rapid.

Relying on the knights' defense to catch his breath, and when he regained his breath, he would run out again and cut down the monsters.

His appearance was so valiant that the knights felt a ridiculous emotion rise in their hearts.

That was, exhilaration.

An ominous forest with an unknown identity.

The humid darkness that covered all directions.

Monsters that wanted the death of humans.

If there were things that could only be seen in myths, shouldn't there also be heroes who defeated them?

That was Dominic.

He was shining alone in this ominous forest.

And so, a miracle happened.

The knights expanded the scope of their 5-man formation to the limit, risking their burdens.

Thanks to the widened interval, the monsters' gazes were dispersed, and Dominic was able to rest more stably and frequently.

It was a slight change, but it was a pretty big difference.

When he felt that he had killed enough and moved away far enough.

Crush!

Dominic, who had twisted the neck of a goblin-like shadow monster, shouted loudly.

"Full speed north! Refrain from combat! Just run! Don't stop even if a comrade dies!"

Either way, these monsters would come back to chase them.

But since he had attracted attention without rest, the overall center of gravity would be tilted towards the south.

Dominic's plan was to run north from now on, join the escape party, and reach the barrier.

The shadow monsters had stamina that knew no end, but their speed wasn't fast unless they were flying entities.

The knights who had received tactical training understood Dominic's intentions at once.

And so, the sprint began.

His breath was choking in his throat, and his heart felt like it was about to explode, but no one stopped.

How far had they run?

The forest began to thin out.

That meant they were approaching the end of the forest.

Surprisingly, they had broken through more than 50% of the forest at once.

It felt closer to a hill or a mountainous plain now than a forest.

And above all, they could see the orange barrier far away.

Along with the 8th Squad who were running towards that place.

Dominic was heartbroken to realize that their number had been reduced to twelve, but it couldn't be helped.

If it was a good thing, it was that the priestess was safe.

Also, the number of visible shadow monsters wasn't that great.

'Why aren't there any monsters?'

He had such a question for a moment, but now wasn't the time to worry.

"Increase speed and join the main force!"

Then the 8th Squad discovered Dominic in the rear and began to slow their moving speed.

It meant they should join quickly.

Having broken through the long distance, Dominic and Jarrot's gazes met.

'You've suffered.'

'I'm glad you're safe.'

The moment a feeling of relief was revealed on the faces of the two men who had confirmed each other's safety.

"...!"

An ominous something shot up from Jarrot's shadow.

It was a knight wrapped around his body with pitch-black darkness.

His height seemed to be 2M, and the bastard sword he wielded was so gigantic it didn't seem to be a human's.

Soon.

"Jarrot!"

Jarrot's head fell.

Not only Jarrot.

In the blink of an eye, the remaining survivors were wiped out.

"...Death Knight!"

As if hearing the knights' voices, the guy shot towards this side.

Dominic, who bit his lip, pulled out his sword and charged, but.

Crush!

His neck was cut by the great sword in an instant.