The Black Knights eyes ignited.

He swiftly swung his sword, knocking Seol away.

Claaaang!

Seol lowered his stance and swatted away the Black Knights hand with the back of his own hand. He hoped the Black Knight would lose his grip on his sword, but the most he did was slightly shift the angle of the sword strike, nothing more.

Fwip!

Fwip!

Seol leaped back while the Black Knight paused for a moment.

Back away, said Seol to Filia.

O-Okay.

Filia followed Seols instructions and began stepping back.

After all, she was recruited to track the Black Knight. Even if she was a capable combatant, she would only be a burden in close quarters.

His equipmen

Seol felt something ominous from the Black Knights equipment. The way the black shadow writhed and thrashed was definitely not ordinary.

Watch out! shouted Chameli.

As Chameli cried out, the voices of the Black Pilgrims began filling the village.

Envelop him!

[Snowman is enveloped in a halo.]

[Your elemental resistance is increased by 35% and your action speed is increased by 20%.]

Gloooow!

A radiant light enveloped Seol.

Fwip!

Fwip!

The two faced each other once more.

Fwoosh!

The Black Knight tilted his sword, attempting to cleave Seol in half.

Dash!

Seol feinted to the right, then darted to the left.

He placed himself in the opportune spot to strike the Black Knight.

Iron Fist Rule would be too slow.

Hrgh!

Baaam!

It worked!

Seol felt his attack properly land.

He could tell that his attacks worked on the Black Knight through that strike.

However, what followed was outside of his expectations.

[Insight activates.]

[Hope Devourer consumes the impact.]

[Hope Devourer currently has an empty stomach.]

[Hope Devourer digests all of the impact.]

...What?

Seol rolled on the floor.

Slaaaash!

Scatter!

The Black Knights sword carved a straight line on the ground, splitting the land in two.

Haah Haah

Seol was inches from having his head severed from his body.

Damn it! Why did Hope Devourer have to show up here?!

Right now, the biggest problem wasn't the Black Knight's skills or cruelty.

It was the 'Hope Devourer'. That notorious piece of armor just had to end up in his enemy's hands.

Dash!

The Black Knight, sensing his advantage, didnt hesitate to chase Seol.

If thats the case

Even so, Seol had no plans to just take it lying down.

The Black Knight continued charging at Seol, who had yet to prepare anything.

Seol remained silent as the Black Knight closed the distance.

And then

Now!

Seol focused on the Black Knights sword, trying to predict its trajectory.

Claaaang!

He then parried it with his elbow, timing it correctly, and reached both his hands out front.

The Black Knight, sensing something off, stepped back. But as he did, black energy grew out from Seols palms.

Fwiiirl!

Claaaang!

Karuna aimed to strike the Black Knight immediately as he was summoned, but thanks to the Black Knight stepping back, he didnt receive much damage.

Slaaash!

However, the Black Knight was completely unprepared for Karen, who appeared behind Karuna.

She swung her sword, aiming for the Black Knights chest.

Scraaaape!

However, instead of the sound of flesh being cut, it was the sound of metal scraping against metal.

[Insight activates.]

[The Black Knights Hope Devourer consumes the impact.]

[The Black Knights Hope Devourer currently has an empty stomach.]

[The Black Knights Hope Devourer digests all of the impact.]

Even that didnt work?

It was a ridiculous level of defense.

The Black Knight was practically an iron fortress.

Jamads voice was transmitted into Seols head.

- This ones going to be a bit difficult.

Seol was a bit dejected after seeing his scheme fail. Even so, he moved immediately. The fight was still continuing, after all.

Gloooow!

The light from the Black Pilgrims began glowing even brighter, compelling the Black Knight to retreat.

The strategy was for Karen and Karuna to take turns attacking the Black Knight whenever the light stopped, while Seol looked for openings whenever he could.

No one made any mistakes during this strategy.

Claaang!

Karuna, spotting an opening, swung his sword.

Scraaape

[Insight activates.]

[Hope Devourer consumes the impact.]

[Hope Devourer currently has an empty stomach.]

[Hope Devourer digests all of the impact.]

Fwip!

Following Karuna was a flurry of blows from Seols Shadow Hand.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

[Insight activates.]

[Hope Devourer consumes the impact.]

[Hope Devourer currently has an empty stomach.]

[Hope Devourer digests all of the impact.]

It was only then that they realized their strategy was flawed.

Our attacks arent working on him at all.

Wh-what should we do, vicar? We need to change our strategy

Chameli scowled as she focused on channeling more divine power. She knew there was nothing more she could do in this situation.

Seol, who had assumed the most important role at this moment, calmly analyzed the situation.

...We lack damage.

Hope Devourer was renowned as an item that countered melee classes. Not only did the armor completely ignore small amounts of physical damage, but it was also capable of absorbing significant amounts of damage from powerful attacks.

To inflict damage on someone with Hope Devourer, you needed to deal a large burst of damage. Alternatively, you could opt to stack accumulating damage.

However, the problem with this approach is that if it takes too long, the Hope Devourer could absorb the damage faster than it is dealt. If that happens, the situation would simply revert to its initial state, making all of the efforts for nothing.

Still, if I use Iron Fist Rule no, thats too dangerous.

Seol wasnt confident in Iron Fist Rule. In truth, Seols attack patterns thus far have been far too simple.

His pattern so far had been to enter the Night Crow Form and either overwhelm the target with his stats or kill them in one hit with Iron Fist Rule.

Though this method had worked up until now, it wouldnt be effective against opponents who had similar stats to Seol or were swift enough to dodge Iron Fist Rule.

Iron Fist Rule boasted incredible damage but it also came with just as many risks. And against a quick opponent, landing it was difficult.

Damn it

There was a reason behind his simplified attack pattern.

It was because he lacked base damage.

Seols Gallottas Tongue had low damage since it was a summoner-exclusive item. While Jamads Mountain Fists, although a Divine Relic, also suffered from low base damage due to insufficient investment.

This meant that even though Seol had a high Strength Stat while in the Night Crow form, it wasnt efficient to attack since his weapon damage was low.

His issues became clearly revealed during his fight with the Black Knight.

Still I have to try for now.

This wasnt the time to pick out his own weaknesses.

It was a time to pick his opponents weaknesses.

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

Fwiirl!

Karen spun wildly before aiming for the Black Knights legs.

She fought with determination, as she always did in battle, while wearing her helmet.

Claaaang!

The Black Knight was pushed back once more.

An opening.

It was much too far for Seol to reach.

Dash!

Staaaab!

But just within range of Karunas sword.

The Black Knight couldnt ignore this attack either, as it was aimed squarely at his helmet, not his armor.

Rumble

Fwoosh!

The Black Knight was skilled.

He slipped off Karunas attack with the side of his helmet before using the power of Karunas stab to twist his body. He raised his leg and kicked, landing perfectly on Karunas head.

Baaaam!

The only knight who had their helmet taken off was Karuna.

N-Not yet!

Dash!

Fwip!

The Black Knight leaped back to not allow any more attacks.

Fwoosh!

Seol emerged from the Black Knights blind spot, seeing it as an opportunity to push him back further.

However, the Black Knight proved to be more formidable than Seol anticipated.

Fss

As the Black Knight pointed his sword at Seol, a chill ran down his spine.

- Dodge it!

Jamad shouted in Seols head.

Seol gave up on the attack and immediately dropped to the floor, rolling away.

[The Black Knights Agony used Meteor Point.]

[The Black Knights Agony pierces through a designated path.]

[All enemies in Agonys path are dealt 170% of the weapons damage.]

[Those struck by Agony are afflicted with the Corrupted Wounds status.]

Fwoooooosh!

A black line of energy zipped to where Seol stood before he dropped to the ground.

Seol barely managed to dodge it by a hairs breadth.

Did it just say Agony?

Agony.

In Pandea, there were items known as 'Demonic Weapons', which consumed the user's mind, craving blood.

Despite their ominous nature, countless people in the world desired them, as they were powerful enough to make the risks seem insignificant.

'Agony...? Isn't that the lowest-rank demon sword?'

However, getting too caught up on the lowest-rank part would be a mistake.

A demon sword was still a demon sword.

There was a reason it was still categorized as a Demonic Weapon.

Swirl!

Agony returned to the Black Knight and laughed.

[It missed! Hahaha! It missed!]

......

The pilgrims, Karuna, and even Karen... all couldnt react after witnessing a talking sword.

Agony might have had the weakest performance out of the demon swords, but its unique effect made up for it.

The sword was capable of thought and evolved on its own.

I cant believe he acquired Agony as well

The Black Knight was clearly not an ordinary monster. Not only did he wield Agony in his hands, but he also had the Hope Devourer equipped.

Seol tried using the Eyes of Perception to look at the Black Knights information.

[An ominous energy casts over like a curtain.]

[Perception is repelled by the curtain.]

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What are you?

Not only was Seol unable to acquire any information, but he also couldnt defeat him at all. At this rate, there would only be more massacres.

Seol found himself backed into a corner.

But then, one of the pilgrims cried out.

Brother, get out of the way! We will be using that! shouted Chameli.

Seol recalled the plan they had agreed upon before arriving here.

The plan they devised to subdue the Black Knight.

- I have a Holy Relic that can subdue evil.

- A Holy Relic?

- The Black Knight definitely has an evil disposition. If you could buy us some time, we will be able to land a blow on him.

- Then for now, lets save that as our last resort.

Seol, recalling that conversation, leaped back.

As he did, Chameli reached out her hands and activated something in her hands.

[Chameli used Extinguish Evil.]

[Pillars of light descended from the heavens onto the target.]

[The pillars of light deal a fixed amount of damage, dealing bonus damage if the target has an evil disposition.]

Gloooow

"Let light rain from the sky upon this evil being!"

BOOOOOOM!

Fwip!

The Black Knight contorted his body in an attempt to evade the pillars of light but was ultimately unable to avoid them entirely. They were simply too large.

Aaaaaargh!

As the pilgrims focused their energy onto Chameli in unison, the pillar of light grew bigger and bigger.

It had grown to the point where a massive crater was formed at the center of the town.

The attack clearly would have been dangerous for Seol too if Chameli hadnt warned him ahead of time.

However like before the situation did not go the way they wanted it to.

Faaade

As the pillar of light disappeared, nothing had changed.

The Black Knight managed to endure the attack. All it had managed to do was knock off his helmet.

In other words, it was for nothing.

No way

How How does it not have an evil disposition?

Seol knew about Extinguish Evil as well. He knew about the weapons strengths and weaknesses.

If the target doesnt have an evil disposition its not that powerful.

Unless the Black Knight somehow managed to endure Extinguish Evils bonus damage, it simply meant that the Black Knight wasnt inherently evil.

Then who are you?

The Black Knight dusted off his helmet and peered ahead.

The moment Seol, Karen, and Karuna saw his face, they froze.

A cut-off ear.

Black veins all over his face.

Eyes tinted in a red hue.

Huge knife wounds covering his face.

But beneath all that a handsome face.

...Karuna?

Click!

The Black Knight equipped his helmet once more.

His body then began radiating a new, different kind of energy. A chill ran down Seols spine as the cool energy poured out, bouncing the rain away.

Gloooow

[The Black Knight has entered the 1st Stage of Soaring Moonlight, Crescent Moon.]