"I knew it!" Lynn growled through gritted teeth. "Miyazaki definitely had something up his sleeve!"
His previous smooth sailing and effortless clearing were nothing more than an appetizer. Now, the true trial—or rather, the true suffering—was finally beginning.
"Come on then!"
Lynn cleared his mind of stray thoughts, his gaze becoming laser-focused. He shoved his emotions to the back of his mind, leaving behind nothing but pure combat instinct.
The Banished Knight spotted him. It didn't let out a roar; it simply raised its longsword in silence, lowering its center of gravity into the starting stance for a thrust.
Here it comes!
Almost the exact millisecond the knight moved, Lynn was already rolling to the left.
A sharp whistling sound grazed his back as the tip of the longsword gouged a trail of sparks across the stone floor. Having missed its mark, the Banished Knight didn't pause for a second. With a flick of its wrist, the sword swept out in a horizontal follow-up, creating a lethal arc of cold light.
Its combos were rapid and flawless.
Lynn had just finished his roll and stood up when he faced the sweep. Instead of trying to block it, he decisively took a step back, letting the blade whistle past his nose by a hair's breadth. He could feel the stinging pressure of the wind against his cheek.
This was the combat rhythm he was familiar with!
Without giving him time to think, the Banished Knight took a step forward. Its massive kite shield, looking like a literal wall, slammed toward Lynn with crushing force.
Shield Bash!
Lynn's eyes narrowed. He knew the power behind that strike; if he took it head-on, he'd be sent flying, leaving him wide open for a ruthless follow-up combo. He didn't retreat this time. Instead, at the moment of impact, he performed a forward roll toward the knight's right side—the side where it held its sword.
Thud!
The shield slammed into the spot where he had been standing a moment ago, letting out a dull boom. Meanwhile, Lynn had rolled to the Banished Knight's flank, and his cheap straight sword lunged without hesitation toward a gap in the armor.
Clang!
A crisp metallic sound.
The sword tip only left a faint white scratch on the sturdy plate armor. The massive recoil sent a numbing vibration through Lynn's hand.
His poise is too high!
Lynn's heart skipped a beat. Realizing the strike hadn't broken the knight's posture, he immediately disengaged.
Sure enough, it was as if the Banished Knight had eyes in the back of its head. While Lynn was attacking, it had already begun to turn, lifting its right foot and slamming it down into the stomp that had terrified countless Tarnished.
Storm Stomp!
A howling gust of wind exploded outward, sealing off all of Lynn's escape routes.
"Tch!"
Lynn cursed under his breath, performing two consecutive back-rolls to barely clear the effective range of the Storm Stomp.
This guy was different from the "honest" mobs he'd fought earlier. This was a battle-hardened knight. If he had been caught in that storm, he would have been served a follow-up thrust or shield bash. Given his current set of beginner cloth armor—which provided zero defense—taking either of those hits would likely cost him half his life.
However, there wasn't a trace of frustration or fear on Lynn's face. Quite the opposite—the corners of his mouth twitched upward uncontrollably.
This was more like it!
Being pushed to the edge by a powerful foe, dancing on the tip of a blade, and hunting for a sliver of hope in a near-death situation—this was the kind of battle that actually made his blood boil.
"Again!"
Lynn let out a low growl and initiated a charge. He stopped trying to force an opening and instead focused every ounce of energy on evasion and observation.
The Banished Knight's attacks were wide and powerful. Its sword, shield, and even its kicks were chained together seamlessly.
Thrust, downward cleave, horizontal sweep, upward slash...
Lynn's silhouette flickered through a web woven of steel and death. Every roll he performed was timed to the very last frame of the attack's hitbox. Every side-step let the blade graze only the fabric of his clothes.
Far above, Ais and Bete were still unsettled by their earlier encounter. They couldn't have imagined that just below them, on the ninth floor, a death-match beyond their comprehension was silently unfolding.
Lynn's brain worked at high speeds, analyzing every movement of the knight. He knew its moveset by heart, but his current physical stats were a bottleneck. A single mistake would mean total ruin. He had to find an absolutely safe window for stable damage.
Parry!
The thought flashed through his mind instantly.
Humanoid enemy, weak to parries—that was common knowledge. But not every one of the Banished Knight's moves could be parried. Some of its heavy attacks and skills carried "Super Armor," making them impossible to deflect. If he timed it wrong, the consequences would be...
Lynn licked his dry lips, his gaze sharper than ever. He would only get one shot.
He began to intentionally close the distance, baiting the knight into an attack.
The Banished Knight took the bait. It abandoned its wide sweeps and opted for a rapid double-thrust.
The first thrust—Lynn tilted his body to dodge. The second thrust followed immediately, aimed straight for his heart!
Now!
A sharp light exploded in Lynn's eyes. He stopped dodging. The small buckler in his left hand—already spiderwebbed with cracks—swung up at a speed and angle barely visible to the naked eye to meet the incoming sword tip!
DONNNG—!!!
A metallic explosion, louder and more deafening than when he had parried Bete's kick, rang through the entire hall!
Time seemed to hit a pause button.
The unstoppable longsword was violently deflected by an overwhelming application of leverage the moment it touched the buckler. The massive momentum of the strike spiraled out of control. The Banished Knight's gargantuan frame lurched forward, its heavy armor letting out a muffled, grinding sound of friction.
It had fallen into a massive stagger!
"Got you."
Lynn seized the opening. His lowered body lunged forward like a pouncing leopard. His straight sword, infused with every ounce of strength he possessed, turned into a streak of lethal light as it drove deep into the gap between the knight's chest and abdominal plates!
Riposte!
Puch—!
The sound of the blade entering flesh was exquisite. A spray of hot blood erupted along the length of the sword.
The Banished Knight's massive body shuddered violently. However, it didn't immediately dissolve into ash like a normal monster. It stumbled back two steps, propping itself up with its longsword against the floor to stabilize its stance.
Lynn landed his hit and immediately back-jumped to reset the distance. He glanced at his straight sword; the blade was now stained with an ominous, black blood.
Still not dead? That's a lot of HP.
But it was close. He could feel the knight's aura weakening significantly.
Across the room, the Banished Knight slowly raised its head. Within the darkness beneath its helm, two points of red light seemed to ignite.
It was enraged.
"Going all out now?" The smile on Lynn's face widened. "Bring it on!"
This was a real battle.
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My : https://[email protected]/AuAuMon
Danmachi: My Primary God is Hidetaka Miyazaki? (25 Chapters, Ongoing)
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