Side Story: Darkest Warrior – 3
The Darkest Warrior’s face contorted as he looked at the rusty, broken sword.
His hand gripping the sword trembled violently, while the other hand clenched so tightly that he seemed about to dig his nails into his palm. The joints were turning white from the strain.
“What did you just say?”
“They said they’d send me to Sol Kaelum. What’s the problem?”
“Are you trying to insult me?!”
A scream filled with all his might echoed through the air. The ground cracked with the force of it. The defensive magic circle separating the arena and the audience area wavered vigorously.
Crack! A faint crack appeared on the surface of the magic circle.
“……”
The hands of the Knight Commanders who were munching on pizza froze. Kaiquilia squinted her eyes, while the Pope Sisters and the former Judge paused their filming, and Minerva silently reinforced the magic circle.
I had heard explanations of what the Darkest Warrior was, but hearing it with my ears and experiencing it firsthand were completely different.
The only ones who weren’t flustered were me, Aurora, who lacked the ability to accurately gauge the power, Parnari, who was too busy eating pizza, Nix, who was ominously rubbing the sword hilt between her legs, and myself.
“I clearly said I wanted an honorable death! Using such a shabby weapon is an insult to me! I thought you could understand me, yet you are even more trash than I expected! Asking for a duel with you was a mistake from the start!”
Judging by the veins popping out of his neck, it seemed he was truly enraged. His manner of speaking had turned much stiffer.
“You thought I could understand you?”
“Certainly! Don’t you know the feeling of having nowhere left to go, nothing to achieve, and losing your direction and goals in life? And yet, you…”
“Not at all.”
“…such a thing…?”
As I easily denied his beliefs, his words trailed off. The anger that had enveloped him began to melt away. Shaking off the rust from the broken sword, he continued.
“You must have experienced it to know. How can you understand feelings you’ve never even encountered?”
In my ten years of playing Brightest Darkness 4, I had never felt the urge to quit because I was tired of the game.
Having reached maximum level and having nowhere else to go? After defeating all the bosses, there’s nothing left to achieve? Having seen all the stories and all the endings and losing my direction and goals?
Just start a new character from scratch. Just as I had done hundreds of times before.
After all, just recently, this being had awakened right after I checked my stats. Its actual active time had not even been a week. And then it talks about loss? It was laughable at best.
‘Well, it’s not entirely incomprehensible…’
Why do all sorts of restrictive plays like Barehanded Runs, Blindfolded Breaks, Kicking Breaks, 30-Frame Breaks, Rolling Breaks, Parrying Breaks, and Non-Consumable Breaks exist?
Those arose because players had exhausted every aspect of the game and had nothing left to do. If the game had stayed original without mods, those words would have applied to me just perfectly.
Yet eventually, the Darkest Light Mod was released, and I had never felt tired of Brightest Darkness 4 until I logged nearly 30,000 hours. So, those words were somewhat misplaced for me.
And one more thing.
“Where do you get off talking about having nothing to do when you haven’t even tried a Barehanded Run?”
Upon hearing my words, the Darkest Warrior, who had been momentarily bewildered, responded in a completely calm tone, his expression hardened.
“I thought you would understand me. But it seems I was mistaken.”
It appeared his rage had hit a climax, causing him to pivot completely. His red eyes, filled with murderous intent, locked onto mine.
“You do not deserve to bestow upon me an honorable death. No, it is even more dishonorable to die by someone like you. I will not forgive you, Knight Commander of the Dark Night Order.”
“Coming here claiming you want an honorable death, yet now saying I’m not worthy of that? Don’t push your luck, or your personality will only worsen.”
Still, I could understand him. He had only been in the world for less than a week. Expecting a normal mindset from someone like that was unreasonable.
I glanced back at the audience. Laksia was trembling, her face flushed red.
—Don’t worry, Laksia. He’s the one set to go through a more pathetic ordeal than you.
I sent out my thoughts. Laksia, startled by the voice echoing in her mind, looked around and then confirmed my smile and shouted back.
“If he hadn’t pulled out that broken sword in the first place, it would have been fine! Is that your version of comfort?!”
Laksia stood up, crying out in indignation.
But that indignation didn’t last long. As the focus shifted to her, she slowly sat back down. Several vice commanders chuckled and patted her head.
‘She’s got a point.’
If the broken sword hadn’t been pulled out, Laksia wouldn’t have been the target of mockery.
However, I had my reasons for fighting with this weapon.
‘To give that guy the honorable fight he desires, there’s no other choice.’
Didn’t Eclipse herself inform me of my stats? Saying every stat easily surpasses 500? With that kind of stat, any normal weapon wouldn’t even hold a fight.
Instead of an honorable death amidst a glorious battle, he would instead set a record for the fastest death.
A few counters and a special skill, and he would die in an instant. But the Darkest Warrior didn’t want a fight that ended so one-sidedly.
He desired to lose by a narrow margin after an exhilarating exchange, receiving the praise “You were a great warrior” in death.
‘In Brightest Darkness 4, players would curse me out if I one-shot them.’
Users had shown off gimmicks by using a one-hit kill trainer to take them out in one blow.
Normally, you’d finish a boss fight, rejoicing that you could finally head to Sol Kaelum, but if you ended it instantly, you’d insult the player, reacting in a complete opposite manner.
‘Back then, they were praised as a godly game studio for their attention to detail.’
Who would have guessed the developers were true gods?
“I will not let this go, Knight Commander of the Dark Night Order.”
A sinister presence began to emit from his body. I also gripped the broken sword with both hands, smiling.
“Don’t worry. I won’t sit idly by either.”
The Darkest Warrior was furious. He had clearly stated he desired an honorable fight, yet the weapon I presented was an unkempt rusted sword.
That was an insult and dishonor towards him. Winning would give him nothing, while losing would lead to catastrophe. It was only natural for him to lose his mind.
However, the anger that had been boiling to the brim dissipated less than a minute after we started exchanging blows.
‘What is this guy’s true identity?’
He steadied his swaying posture. It was a rusty and broken sword that seemed like it would break upon contact, yet he was effortlessly countering my every attack.
It was an utterly unbelievable situation. Gritting his teeth, he swung his weapon once more.
The first attack descended vertically from above, twisting into a diagonal slice, followed by a horizontal swing, and finally an upward thrust.
Yet all those attacks were effortlessly parried by the broken sword.
“And now we’re having an honorable fight? I’m going all out and it’s not ending quickly.”
The nonchalant voice of the Knight Commander of the Dark Night Order echoed. An honorable fight? It was ridiculous. He was not even sparing me a glance, let alone treating me as worthy of consideration.
That realization only stoked the flames of his rage further. It was as if he was looking down on me, that calm yet relaxed demeanor of his.
He drew a staff from his waist. Then cast a spell already etched into his mind. Blue flames ignited beneath his feet, spreading in a circle in all directions.
“Ah, I should avoid that.”
The flames did not touch me. I had leaped over the flames just as they hit their lowest point.
Immediately, the next spell was cast. A barrage of magical spears flew toward me, easily dodged with a few rolls. The next spell triggered a furor that didn’t even touch his body.
Magic wouldn’t work. I sheathed my staff and pulled out the Sacred Catalyst. The catalyst glimmered with a dazzling golden light. The golden light shot into the sky before crashing back down like a meteor.
“That’s a fine attack. But the start-up time is too long.”
However, the Knight Commander of the Dark Night Order was no longer there. He had vanished to a point where not even the remnants of the golden light could reach him.
I used my next sacred spell. Instead of directly targeting him, I restricted his options for evasion. As the sacred catalyst swung, the arena floor was engulfed in golden and silver flames.
The Darkest Warrior charged straight at the Knight Commander, who had nowhere else to run, executing the sword techniques ingrained in his mind, yet they were all effortlessly blocked.
‘What is happening?’
I couldn’t understand. This was a combo that was dozens of strikes long—nowhere to run or dodge.
And yet, all of it was deflected by that rusty, broken sword. It didn’t make any sense. The Darkest Warrior stared at the dwindling sacred flames and the unharmed man with a sense of despair in his eyes.
“Do you still refuse to acknowledge it?”
“Shut up.”
I stomped the ground with all my might. The additional weight on my body didn’t even register. Boom! The sound shook the very earth as the already disheveled arena shattered into pieces.
The ground cracked like spider webs, and the stone floor, unable to withstand the pressure, crushed itself together, forcing it to jut upward. The cracks traveled from the floor all the way up to the walls.
I raised my sword high above my head. Now to bring down my full force—
“You’re wrong.”
It was a voice as if correcting me. And then.
Boom!
“You shouldn’t attack when your combat fatigue is at its peak. That’s why this happened.”
The Darkest Warrior couldn’t comprehend what had just taken place.
He had surely put all his strength into that downward strike. Yet why, how, was his sword deflected by that man’s casually swung left hand, leaving him kneeling on the ground? No matter how he tried to understand it, he couldn’t make sense of what happened.
It was as if his mind had come to a standstill.
What he found even more perplexing was the man’s attitude. He was in a completely vulnerable position, kneeling, and anyone could see it was a perfect opportunity to attack. Yet the man simply stood there.
“Why aren’t you attacking?”
Unbidden, the question slipped from his lips. It wasn’t a simplistic emotion like anger or hatred; it was a far more pressing inquiry.
“Parrying isn’t based on my attack power, but rather your health. With this, two parries will be enough to kill you, and then it wouldn’t be an honorable fight. Wait, will there have been enough time when I attack twice?”
“…I’ll kill you.”
Though I didn’t fully understand his words, I could definitely tell he was still viewing me. The Darkest Warrior gritted his teeth and rose once more.
However, he didn’t notice that his voice lost the strength it once had.
