Infinite Regressing Knight

People called the seven absolute beings who ruled the Western Continent the Seven Knights.

They also called the four absolute beings who dominated the Eastern Continent the Four Emperors.

It wasn't that they had really received knighthood or were emperors.

Some of them were, but most were not.

But their strength didn't need the recognition of others.

Strength that transcended humans was ordained by God, and by rising to the pinnacle of the human species, they had been recognized for their imperial power.

As the reputation of these Seven Knights and Four Emperors grew, it became a custom to group and call similar-level strongmen.

Even Dominic, for example, was a member of the Tera Defense Army's Four Swords, and was considered the first sword among them.

But this was just a title with authority within the Tera Defense Army, and it was easy to be ridiculed outside.

What Four Swords were they in a second-rate swordsman group guarding a border with no applicants?

Like this, most titles were easily ridiculed when they came out into the world.

But there were also titles that everyone recognized, like the Seven Knights or the Four Emperors.

One of them was Aaron's sworn brothers, who dominated the sea.

Nine Fiends.

Considering that the title created in the Eastern Continent was also used in the Western Continent, one could see how wide their range of activity was.

When the eldest brother of these Nine Fiends, the pirate admiral Aaron, died at Dominic's hands, the world was briefly in an uproar.

Even though the Tera Defense Army might be a ragtag group, the skills of the Four Swords were real.

Especially the skill of the First Sword surpassed that of the Royal Knights.

But Dominic wasn't a person to show off his merits, and he had no interest in invitations from nobles who flew in from the capital.

The rumors quietly subsided.

However, the Nine Fiends' desire for revenge for losing their eldest brother did not disappear.

Now they had become the Eight Fiends.

* * *

The meeting was a coincidence, but the fight was inevitable.

The Eight Fiends, having confirmed Dominic's identity, rushed at him without needing to exchange words.

At that sight, the 8th search team also quickly tried to form an attack formation, but…

"Everyone, defense formation!"

Everyone hesitated at Dominic's shout.

If the commander ordered defense, they had to respond with defense.

How many times had they saved their lives by listening to Dominic's orders?

"Form the Man-to-Man Formation!"

Jarrot, who thought so, shouted, but this time his thoughts were wrong.

Even though they listened to Dominic's orders, the 8th search team couldn't save their lives.

"Aaaagh!"

Four of the Eight Fiends rushed at Dominic, and the other four targeted the 8th search team.

The twenty-one soldiers began to be killed by those four.

The Man-to-Man Formation was a formation that eroded the opponent's stamina through rotation, but this time it was meaningless.

Children couldn't block the giant's sword.

Whenever the Eight Fiends' swords flashed, someone's blood was sure to flow.

Nevertheless, the reason why the 8th search team was able to endure was not because of their skills.

It was because of Dominic.

Dominic was not pushed back at all, even against four legendary swordsmen who had dominated the sea for decades.

Rather, he sometimes showed momentum that dominated the battle.

Bang!

Mana Burn erupted, and Dominic's sword moved in a form similar to what Edgar had shown.

But it was faster and sharper than that.

One of the surprised Eight Fiends stepped back, but this was a trick.

Dominic, who had stopped his attack by emitting Mana Burn in the opposite direction, cut forward to the side and cut off his wrist.

Sskak!

The one whose wrist was cut off was the guy who had thrown the jewel at Dominic.

As this situation repeated, the four who were attacking the 8th search team stopped killing.

Then they began to mock the 8th search team.

Thwack!

"Aaaaargh!"

Marshall screamed as the knife was stabbed again into his thigh, which had been stabbed once before.

He was a soldier who rarely liked to read books among the ignorant swordsmen, and liked to write poetry.

Thanks to that, he had told Dominic about the myth of the rebellious god.

The Eight Fiends could have beheaded Marshall enough, but they didn't, and left him alone.

This was because they could feel Dominic's state of mind, who was suffering every time his subordinates writhed in pain.

Dominic was strong enough that they had to use this trick.

'A monster-like guy.'

It was known to the world that Dominic had assassinated Aaron because of carelessness.

No one had imagined that the First Sword of the Defense Army would be mixed among the fishermen who had been kidnapped from the beach to be used as workers.

But the feeling that the Eight Fiends were feeling now was different.

This guy was strong.

Incomprehensibly so.

Meanwhile, Jarrot recognized the situation.

The reason they were still alive was for the enemies to shake Dominic's heart.

There was no point in being mocked like this.

They had to save at least the commander.

"All troops! Attack, disregarding your lives!"

Jarrot, who had given the order, rushed forward.

He swung his sword with all his might and inflicted a fairly large wound on the opponent's chest.

In return, his neck was cut off.

The other team members who saw Jarrot's death were the same.

"Die!"

It was a different dimension to be mocked by those who were focused on defense, and to face swordsmen who rushed in, disregarding their lives.

In the end, the Eight Fiends couldn't mock the 8th search team anymore and had no choice but to kill them all.

Meanwhile, Dominic had cut down one more.

It was something that everyone would be surprised to hear if it was known to the world.

The commander of the search team of the Tera Defense Army, where the ragtags gathered, had cut down two of the Eight Fiends alone.

Even while facing four at the same time.

But Dominic didn't feel satisfaction or pride.

Rage.

Only that boiled up.

Of course, if a new life started, he would be able to meet the 8th search team, who had become healthy again.

But that fact didn't eliminate his anger.

When the battle temporarily subsided, the eldest brother among the Eight Fiends, who had stepped back, opened his mouth.

"I feel a little better now."

"..."

"It's a relief that our big brother died to someone as strong as you. He won't be embarrassed even in the afterlife."

"..."

"How about lowering your sword and joining us?"

"Join?"

"Yeah. We'll be nine again."

"…You were crazy."

"Well? We all met that way."

"Even though I cut off the wrists of two of you?"

"It's enough to take the cut wrists to the priest and reattach them."

The moment he heard those words, Dominic gripped his sword again.

He didn't know when he had been cut, but his little finger was cut in half, and the bone was visible.

But it didn't hurt.

"We didn't meet that way."

"...?"

"Those who gathered to receive their salaries, gathered because they had no choice due to the Defense Army's unit organization."

"Are you talking about your subordinates?"

"Performing unavoidable missions, eating together because they had no choice, and falling asleep together because they had no choice. For 10 years."

The search team of the Tera Defense Army was a place where three or four team members changed every month.

But the 8th search team had no personnel changes for the past 10 years.

There were only deaths during missions.

He had never said it out loud in an embarrassing way, but they were already brothers.

"So, when we end this shitty time, we have to be together, unavoidably."

At that moment, Dominic's sword began to tremble with a rustling sound.

Dominic's mana enveloped the sword.

"...!"

The Eight Fiends widened their eyes.

It was almost impossible to condense mana into a sword.

Mana was like a rambunctious 4-year-old child.

It usually never stayed in one place.

So, wizards restrained the scattered mana through complex arrays, and knights burned it all at once to turn it into energy.

But now, mana was flowing through Dominic's sword.

Like soldiers full of military discipline waiting for orders.

It felt like it would shoot out like an arrow if he ordered emission, and it would firmly protect the sword if he ordered it to stop.

And that was aimed at the Eight Fiends.

"If I can't cut you down in this life…"

Dominic rushed forward.

"I'll cut you down in the next life."

* * *

"Ptooey."

Dominic, who was barely leaning against a tree, spat out blood.

Whether his internal organs were damaged, blood bubbles came up, and he couldn't stop coughing.

After coughing for a while, he looked around.

It was all just corpses.

He had killed eight of them and had to watch twenty-one deaths.

But it wouldn't be like that next time.

Bitterness came to his mind, from which anger had disappeared.

Originally, he was going to investigate the Stele and fill the pattern on the Ring in this life.

But he hadn't even seen the Stele, and he hadn't killed a single shadow monster.

In this ominous forest that mocked human fate, only foolish human conflicts had taken place.

Was that perhaps what humans were?

"..."

He had no strength, as if all the moisture had been drained from his body.

But his mind was clearer than ever.

Questions arose in the midst of it.

'Why were there pirates?'

This was clearly the place he had used as a base camp last time.

He had stayed for several days, but no one had come except for the knights, and there was no trace of anyone staying there.

That meant that the point in time he had entered this forest had changed.

Was it a coincidence?

Or did I change something?

But what he was more curious about was…

'What was that sword?'

Condensing mana was something Dominic had done for the first time.

He had never thought that such a thing was possible.

He had come into contact with a new realm at the edge of anger. He had to make that feeling familiar.

How did he move the mana?

How did he swing the sword?

Like this?

Dominic, who had entered unconsciousness at the crossroads of life and death, wiggled his fingers.

He couldn't move his body, but his mind was free.

But that mind was flickering as if it was about to go out at any moment.

It was that moment.

A pure white hand that popped out from somewhere grabbed Dominic, and a bright light burst out.

Saaaaaaa-

Dominic's body, which was closer to death than life, began to recover.

Only then did Dominic realize that his ears had been deafened.

Because he heard a voice late.

"Hey! Hey! Wake up!"

He tried to open his eyes by blinking his slow eyelids, but then he realized again.

That he had already opened his eyes.

Not only his ears but also his eyes must have been blind.

The blurry focus began to come together, and he saw the figure of a woman shouting.

Even the men holding swords behind her.

They were familiar faces.

'Hanshuya, Edgar…'

Dominic lost consciousness.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, it was night.

This forest always had darkness, but the night was especially dark and ominous.

As if resisting that ominousness, Dominic, who was staring at the crackling bonfire, quietly got up.

There was a fire, but no people.

Did they just save his life and leave?

Even if that was the case, it wasn't something he couldn't understand, but it was a bit disappointing that he had lost his sword.

Then a clear voice was heard.

"You're awake."

When he turned around, Hanshuya and five knights were looking at Dominic not far away.

It seemed that they had discovered that Dominic had woken up while patrolling around and returning.

'My senses are a mess.'

If he was in a normal state, he wouldn't have failed to sense people at this distance.

"Are you feeling better?"

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"It hasn't been more than 24 hours, and it hasn't been more than 48 hours."

Dominic got up from his seat and bowed his head.