The minotaur charged at the knight, creating a gust of wind as it did so.
It lifted its greatsword high with just its right hand and then swung it down. The knight blocked it with his shield. The sword was repelled upward from the powerful recoil.
The minotaur swung the sword down with its right hand again. It executed twenty-three consecutive attacks.
In that time, Indomitable Spirit restored the minotaur’s injured left shoulder.
I knew it.
He is incapable of attacking when he receives a strong blow on his shield.
That means I can seal off his offense with continuous strong attacks.
On the twenty-fourth strike, the minotaur added its left hand to the grip and made like it was going to strike the shield, then changed course and tried to slice through the knight’s feet. The blow looked like it had enough force to cut through the armor.
It was a sudden change-up that the knight should not have been able to keep up with after dealing with the powerful twenty-third blow. But he dealt with it skillfully.
He quickly lowered his shield and struck the minotaur’s sword to change its trajectory. The sword hit nothing but the floor.
The knight would not overlook this opportunity. He drew his sword in a horizontal arc. The minotaur had anticipated that an attack would come and activated a skill to raise its defense dramatically for a brief period.
The tip of the knight’s sword traced a perfect circle, easily cutting through the minotaur’s chest from left to right.
The minotaur swung its greatsword up from below. The knight blocked it with his shield. The minotaur’s blow lifted the shield and the knight together into the air.
Blood gushed from the horizontal line cut into the minotaur’s chest.
The knight turned around nimbly in midair and landed on his feet.
The knight’s movements were more monster than human.
The minotaur charged, ignoring the blood it was losing. Its entire body was immersed in the joy of battle, in the thrill of squaring off against a strong opponent. Pain and tactics no longer mattered.
It just swung its greatsword down on the knight with both hands over and over again.
As it did so, it made a surprising discovery.
The movement of his sword.
That unwavering swordsmanship that makes it appear as if time has slowed down.
That belonged to that man!
He uses his sword the exact same way as the man who used the thin sword.
This guy was once the thin sword user, too!
The minotaur at that time wanted to get stronger from the bottom of its heart, and it felt that there was a limit on how much it could do with brute force. It yearned for polish. It craved technique.
But the minotaur had no one to teach it. It did not know what it could do to improve its skill. After much thought, it landed on the method of recalling that thin sword user’s swordsmanship and replicating it.
That marked the beginning of a truly hellish training period.
The monsters became a resource for the minotaur’s training. Its skills were also sharpened by the humans who attacked it in succession.
Then, before the minotaur knew it, it had become able to draw that beautiful circle.
This knight’s swordsmanship was identical to that thin sword user’s.
This knight inherited that thin sword user’s technique and life.
That meant that this was a rematch with that thin sword user, and this time it would be a grand battle fought on even footing.
The minotaur’s heart leaped with joy. It attacked again and again and again.
The force of its blows had not waned in the slightest. It delivered swing after overhead swing.
The knight blocked every single blow with Ende’s Shield. But not once did the minotaur relent.
No matter how tough the shield was, if the minotaur continued to attack with power that exceeded its defense, it would surely crack eventually. That was what the minotaur believed as it continued to slash single-mindedly at the knight.
It had been in this kind of fight before, or so the minotaur believed.
Even if it took one thousand or ten thousand blows, the minotaur would keep slashing until the barrier had been broken.
The knight continued to block every attack.
Deep in the darkness, without anyone’s knowledge, the greatest fight in the history of the continent was unfolding.
✦ ✦ ✦
The knight tried a number of different attacks.
He side-strafed in quick, repetitious patterns while searching for opportunities to strike. His aim was to throw off the minotaur’s spacing.
He blocked the greatsword with his own blade, then slipped past the minotaur’s side and lunged. The minotaur diverted the attack, then jumped back and unleashed a magic attack.
Over the course of this endless battle, the minotaur noticed a number of things.
This knight could absorb the magic attacks of opponents and use the stolen energy to press the assault. Also, attacks that inflicted status ailments had no effect against him. For that reason, the minotaur quit using Howling, Burning Breath, Crushing Breath, and other magic attacks.
The knight then stopped using magic attacks, too.
They continued to trade blows.
This is bad.
My sword is going to break soon.
This guy probably won’t give me time to use my bag.
But I can’t fight without a sword.
I need to retrieve a new sword, no matter the risk.
The minotaur acted like it was going to raise its greatsword overhead, and then it jumped back. The knight pursued without delay.
The minotaur threw the greatsword. The knight deflected it with his shield.
The minotaur then puffed out its chest, boosted its physical strength, and reached its right hand toward its left shoulder.
The knight’s sword cut into the minotaur’s chest.
The minotaur pulled a longsword out of its Bag and immediately swung it down for the knight’s head. The knight blocked it with his shield.
The shield was splattered with blood from the minotaur’s chest.
The minotaur knew that the wager had paid off. The wound was superficial.
It also learned one more thing.
The tip of the knight’s sword had cut easily into the minotaur’s hardened chest before, but this time it managed only a light scratch. The knight was tired, too, and his moves were losing their power.
After that, the minotaur and the knight exchanged blows for so long that time ceased to have any meaning.
Then the moment the minotaur was waiting for finally arrived.
It swung its longsword down and broke the shield as the knight held it overhead. The minotaur was overjoyed. The knight then tossed aside the shield and charged, swinging his sword with both hands.
This was the first time in the fight the knight had performed a two-handed strike, so the minotaur was a little late to react. Despite that, it still managed to use its longsword to block the knight’s attack.
Then it happened. A shrill sound echoed as the minotaur’s longsword was smashed to pieces.
The minotaur immediately reached for its Bag with its right hand, but the knight cut the hand off with his sword.
The knight should have been exhausted. Where had he been hiding this much strength?
The minotaur, as indestructible as it had become, had used up its stamina. It stood completely still for a moment, staring at the knight with glazed eyes.
The knight’s sword swept at the minotaur’s neck.
The minotaur jerked its body backward. Its neck should have been out of reach of the knight’s sword.
But the knight’s attack extended outside his range. The minotaur’s head would be severed if it did not react.
Not caring that it was going to lose its balance, the minotaur twisted its body and dodged the sword. The knight then unleashed a flurry of slashes at the unbalanced minotaur.
The minotaur immediately twisted its head to the left. Its right horn was cut off from the base, and it went flying through the air.
The minotaur then recovered its balance with astounding reflexes, picked up what remained of the longsword with its left hand, and raised it overhead.
But before it could swing it down, the knight’s sword pierced the minotaur’s heart.