Originally, a whip is faster than a sword. This is because it utilizes centrifugal force through a flick of the wrist.
When a whip is properly powered and reaches a certain speed, it emits a ripping sound in the air, but that doesn’t change just because it gets bigger.
Boom! Crash!
It sounded as if thunder had struck right next to them.
Even Luagarne could swing a whip and make a similar noise, but back then, it was more of a pop or crack.
'Monster.'
Pel judged it as such, and Luagarne realized that if they were hit properly by that steel whip, no chest armor could withstand it.
That was clear.
While the two of them were processing and analyzing the situation, Encrid, with accelerated thoughts, knew that failing to see the whip’s movements or predict its trajectory meant losing an arm or a leg.
'Fast.'
There was a time when Rem's arm seemed to swing like a whip, and his axe felt like a streak of light, but this was far worse.
The Giant laughed as he pulled and swung the whip again. He handled the whip with expert skill.
Boom! Boom! Crack! Boom!
Four more thunderous roars echoed.
If there had been anything in the path of the whip, it would have been utterly shattered.
For instance, a human body would easily be split into several pieces and scattered everywhere.
"Into the forest!"
Luagarne shouted, suggesting they use the environment to their advantage. She felt blood flowing from her ears as she yelled.
'My eardrums are gone.'
Pel experienced the same thing. Just the sound of the whip being swung had ruptured their eardrums.
Pel and Luagarne increased the distance further. This was a monster that wouldn’t even allow them to get close.
Encrid, however, did not move an inch during the four lashes of the whip. After dodging the first strike, he simply stood still with his sword, enduring. His eardrums were intact.
Jaxon had once mentioned that dulling one's senses was also a skill that could be learned, so Encrid had trained for it.
Through repeated practice, he had learned how to protect his body instinctively, and this naturally extended into the Knightly technique of Endure.
Knights could use techniques to withstand considerable damage. That was how he protected his eardrums. Encrid used that time to organize his thoughts.
'The enemy has the advantage at this range.'
This distance favored the whip.
'If I try to close the distance, the whip will strike.'
What if he pretended to move forward and feinted?
'Not a good idea.'
His instincts told him that. Encrid couldn’t find a way to break through with any method he knew.
It was an opponent that couldn’t be outplayed with tactics. That whip was both offense and defense combined.
Its speed alone allowed it to move twice while a sword moved once.
What if he sacrificed an arm to grab it?
Could he still win after losing a limb?
Even a Knight would struggle to maintain balance after losing an arm. It would take time to adapt, and during that time, he’d fight off balance.
Encrid instinctively regulated his breathing, long and thin.
'My mind can't keep up.'
Then, he’d have to let his body carve a path forward.
Interestingly, before leaving, there was a specific lesson during training with Jaxon.
"What do I do if I don't have time to think about tactics?"
Encrid remembered what Jaxon had said.
"Feel with your body and react. You can do it. Sharpen your senses."
It was advice to fight not by rational thought but through instinct and intuition.
His words resonated with Rem's teachings, too. While it was clear Jaxon intended to help Encrid’s training, he never admitted to aiding Rem's methods.
That’s why he only taught him secretly at night. When Rem found out, his snide remarks led to another fight between the two.
Ironically, this was exactly what Encrid wanted to teach Pel.
'If you rely on logic, you'll fail. React with your body so the enemy can’t predict you.'
Encrid held his breath as he inhaled and exhaled slowly. He didn’t chase the whip with his eyes. Instead, he sensed it.
In this, Encrid felt fortunate.
Thanks to Luagarne, he had plenty of experience facing whips.
Whips move at high speeds. That is, they strike quickly using wrist snaps and centrifugal force.
For that reason, they tend to form a rhythmic pattern and flow.
The Giant silently swung his steel whip again. His massive arms transmitted monstrous strength through the weapon.
Boom!
The steel weapon twisted through the air, tearing and smashing it, slashing across Encrid’s body in a diagonal arc.
It was not easy to dodge.
Clang!
That’s why he didn’t dodge but instead raised his sword to block the whip.
He couldn’t block it perfectly, but he could withstand a few strikes. He predicted the whip’s falling path and blocked it based on instinct.
Clang! Clang! Boom!
Encrid blocked three more strikes that way. His hands faintly trembled. Fortunately, the silver sword was strong enough to endure the steel whip.
"How long do you think you can keep blocking?"
The Giant shouted. Encrid’s half-open eyes met his.
The whip came flying again. A moment of death accompanied by thunderous sound. Encrid leaped, forward.
It looked as if he was leaping to his death.
Even grazing him would tear flesh, and Endure-enhanced armor would likely shatter.
The Giant felt victory. Then, he felt betrayed by his instincts.
The whip passed over Encrid’s head.
Was it luck?
The Giant thought so.
Encrid closed the distance between them. Within sword range, he swung immediately.
The Giant blocked with the steel gauntlet on his left wrist.
Clang!
Sparks flew, leaving a dent inside the gauntlet. Some metal pieces chipped off and scattered.
'Blocked it.'
The Giant saw it as a lucky strike that missed its mark.
He stepped back using his massive stride, widening the distance again. He swung the whip without giving Encrid time to recover and lashed downward.
'Will luck save you twice?'
Blocking repeatedly would break the sword, and the next strike would crush limbs.
'I’ll shatter them one by one until he pisses himself.'
That was the Giant’s thought.
Encrid once again closed the distance.
He stayed low, evading the whip’s range.
Boom!
The wind generated by the whip scattered Encrid’s hair, nearly tearing it out.
The gust revealed his bright forehead and blue eyes.
'Not luck.'
Of course, it wasn’t. Encrid had read the rhythm of the whip.
Between the two, the gap in skill was clear.
If not for the whip’s unique properties, the match wouldn’t even be close.
"You’re different from what I heard!"
The Giant shouted.
He was twice the size of a human, and up close, his overwhelming presence was even more apparent.
Encrid swung his sword toward the Giant’s neck, just as he had earlier. His light, swift blade stabbed like a swallow.
The Giant raised his left hand, clad in a steel gauntlet, to block once more. However, Encrid’s blade curved and slashed the Giant’s upper right arm.
Slash.
The sound of flesh being cut and torn filled the air. Compared to the whip’s roar, it was closer to the whisper of a lover.
But the size of the sound did not determine the weapon’s power.
For ordinary people, a sharpened blade was enough to cut flesh. And for Giants, a strike imbued with Will was more than sufficient.
The Giant’s thick skin split open, and blood gushed out. It was unlucky that a vein had been severed.
No, Encrid had deliberately aimed for the tendons and veins.
"The more you know about the human body, the easier it is to defeat it."
That was Audin’s teaching. Encrid had practiced it countless times every day.
Experience, realization, and learning born from attentive listening, everything had come together in this moment.
His blue eyes foresaw the future, while his sharpened senses read the whip’s rhythm and traced the weapon’s trajectory.
"You’re not just a regular Knight."
The Giant spoke grimly. After all, no one wishes to die.
The Giant’s name was Hatun. From what he had heard, Encrid was a man who had become a Knight purely by luck.
He also heard that Encrid was difficult to handle because of the people who always surrounded him.
That’s why he had been waiting for a moment when Encrid would be alone.
Previously, whenever they sent assassins from the Border Guard, they all ended up dead or missing, which had been a problem. Then, word came that Encrid had gone out alone, and that’s why he came.
"Above the level of a Battle Apostle."
The Giant continued speaking.
In the brief moment between those words, Encrid severed the Giant’s hamstring and partially cut through his wrist. Blood poured out from the nearly severed wrist.
It was obvious that a whip could no longer be wielded with such a mangled hand.
The Cult of the Demon Realm Sanctuary had skilled Battle Apostles, but Hatun saw Encrid as even more dangerous.
"They should have sent a Spirit Apostle."
Hatun spoke again, as if trying to relay information to someone.
Encrid ignored it since there was nothing to be gained from it at the moment.
"It’ll be hard to deliver the message without knowing the cult’s location."
With that remark, Encrid kicked the Giant’s thigh, leaping upward and swinging his sword.
The silver sword traced a wide arc and struck the Giant’s throat.
Thud.
The Giant raised his left hand to block his neck, but the sword had already passed.
The Giant clutched the wound on his neck with his hand and asked,
"How did you dodge the whip?"
What a curious fellow.
It wasn’t hard to understand. When death approaches, questions tend to multiply.
His eyes were filled with regret.
"The rhythm was simple."
"...Insane."
Simple rhythm? This lunatic. Did he think simply seeing it meant he could dodge it?
It wasn’t so different from facing a Holy Knight who had joined the Gray Holy Army before.
This time, however, the gap in skill and experience, reinforced by training, made the difference even greater.
Encrid stepped past the Giant’s lifeless body.
With a loud crash, the corpse fell to the ground.
Dust scattered, and the pool of blood forming beneath the Giant looked vast enough to be a lake.
Of course, a lake couldn’t drown the Giant, and a dead man couldn’t die twice.
Encrid stepped back to avoid the spreading blood.
"Looks like the Cult of the Demon Realm Sanctuary sent assassins."
He spoke casually about the assassin.
"That Giant didn’t come here to make friends."
Pel responded to his comment.
Encrid, being Encrid, kept walking even after killing the Giant.
"Let’s go."
"Won’t there be more ambushes?"
Pel asked anxiously. It was a serious matter.
"Even the Cult of the Demon Realm Sanctuary can’t afford to send assassins like this in bulk."
Luagarne said, examining the Giant’s whip carefully as she spoke.
Indeed, while the Cult might influence the entire continent and potentially be the strongest military force, they couldn’t dispatch assassins like this in large numbers.
Luagarne was right. With Hatun’s failure, the central continent’s sects would be forced to withdraw.
'Hatun failed?'
The Archbishop sighed upon hearing the news.
He wasn’t fond of someone standing in his way, especially someone so insane that they called themselves a madman.
Keeping such a person alive was out of the question.
Hatun’s death had allowed them to gauge Encrid’s strength.
If they could track his movements again—
'It’s rare for him to be without his Knights.'
They would have to target him when he was separated from his order.
"Gather all remaining forces in the sect. I will go as well."
The Archbishop, also known as the First Apostle, declared.
He believed there was still another chance.
If Encrid left, he would have to return at some point.
By guarding the route, they could catch him then.
It was a logical plan.
But the First Apostle missed one detail, he assumed Hatun had died in a prolonged fight.
No amount of intelligence gathering could uncover every truth.
Another cultist who had observed the fight from a distance did hear Hatun’s final words.
From his perspective, Hatun had dominated at first.
A tragic misunderstanding caused by poor judgment.
So many men had died trying to capture Encrid that the lack of manpower created this disaster.
* * *
Far away, unaware of those scheming against him, Encrid kept walking.
By the fourth day, he had grown closer to Luagarne, exchanging lessons and revisiting his own techniques as they walked.
They crossed a river.
On the way, they passed the territory of a noble Encrid knew, but they didn’t stop.
It wasn’t out of concern for the ferryman’s dreams, but—
'Doesn’t seem like he’s having a good time.'
If what Sinar showed him was true, that was the case.
Following the route Esther had imprinted in his mind, Encrid crossed the southern river, moved eastward, and traversed several mountains.
After Hatun, they encountered monsters and bandits, but Encrid didn’t need to step in.
"You’re robbing people? Are you insane?"
Pel stepped in, and Luagarne dealt with the situation.
Eventually, they reached their destination, what Esther called the Ghost Forest.
Green mist hung over the forest, making it seem as though ghosts might appear at any moment.
There were no signs of human activity. The forest stretched down from the deserted mountain path.
Encrid had just finished splitting the skull of a wild boar beast.
As he took two steps toward the forest, his thoughts accelerated.
Sound, smell, even the faint movement of air against his skin, everything fell into the realm of heightened senses.
Encrid saw the incoming projectile.
A hiss cut through the air as an arrow flew toward him.
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