"Clearly, this young knight has not fully grasped the true meaning of the eight knightly virtues," Ryan said to Veronica, hiding behind a large tree. "Fighting for the Lady does not mean recklessness or charging at everything mindlessly, which shows a lack of understanding of one of the virtues, courage. And to persist in showing off despite being given a chance for a rematch and shown mercy signifies a lack of another virtue, humility."
"Isn't humility in the knightly virtues about loyalty and full of courtesy?" asked Veronica.
"Rashness without wisdom only makes one a fool, not a knight, dear. The eight knightly virtues are a very complex set of ideas and values, a spiritual core belonging to true knights that is intuited rather than expressed. That's why the Grail is so coveted. Only a strong Mission Knight who truly understands the eight virtues can find the Grail and drink from it with the Lady's approval," Ryan said, mounting his horse with a warhammer in hand. "This lad obviously hasn't fully learned them yet, but I still have to save him."
"And what about me?" asked Veronica.
"This is a battle between knights, dear. Just watch how your man defeats this Blood Knight!"
As Ryan and Veronica talked, the fight between the Blood Knight and the ranger knight was reaching its conclusion.
"Die, demon!" shouted the ranger knight, drawing his longsword. His horse seemed to gather courage with its rider, charging towards the Blood Knight in the cold moonlit night. Cybot-Le-Changell felt the powerful impact of his horse, reviving some hope in his heart. His longsword made a deadly, dangerous arc aimed straight at the Blood Knight's neck.
"Ah..."
The Blood Knight's reaction was a long sigh.
Finally, he moved.
Like lightning, the Blood Knight's figure on horseback started its motion. The remaining Nightmare horse exhaled green fog. In a flash, he was in front of the ranger knight, precisely grabbing the wrist of the knight holding the sword while blocking the charge of the horse.
"Crack!" With a little force, the sound of breaking bones came, and the ranger knight's wrist was dislocated.
His attack completely dissolved, the young knight's face still in disbelief. Enduring the pain, he looked up to finally see the Blood Knight's eyes, filled with profound vicissitudes, like a piece of ancient wood from distant years, or a fossil that had sunk for countless ages.
"The world is much more dangerous than you imagine, child," said the Blood Knight, throwing the ranger knight forcefully away. Cybot-Le-Changell felt a great force from his wrist. His body flew through the air, kicked in the abdomen by the Blood Knight, hitting a tree trunk and falling heavily to the ground.
"Uh, you... Ah~" Blood spilling from his mouth, Cybot-Le-Changell clutched his stomach, trying to stand and continue fighting, but his body no longer obeyed him. Instead, his consciousness gradually blurred.
Until a voice came from behind: "Young man, this will be the most valuable lesson of your life."
A tall Grail Knight appeared, the golden winged Grail Knight badge shining on his chest. Mounted on a purebred elven warhorse, with black hair and blue eyes, holding the reins in one hand and a warhammer in the other, he did not focus on the Blood Knight but softly said to the young ranger knight, "This will benefit your journey on the path of the Grail."
Using the last of his strength, the young ranger knight nodded, remembering these words, and then passed out.
Ryan turned his gaze back to the Blood Knight, who was also looking at him: "You've been watching all along."
"From the beginning, you had no intention of killing him." Mounted on a purebred elven warhorse, Ryan approached the Blood Knight, confronting him.
"I never kill weak opponents, nor do I engage in unequal battles," the Nightmare horse left burning hoof prints: "If he completed his trial, perhaps I'd have been willing to fight him."
"…You came for me," Ryan took a deep breath and said solemnly.
"I came for the Grail Knight, expecting a knightly duel." The Blood Knight raised his lance, pointing it at Ryan's face: "To meet a Grail Knight, Champion of the Lady, proves my luck. I've heard your name, Ryan-Macado, the 'Devout'."
"This is not your luck, but your misfortune," Ryan also raised his warhammer, not rushing to attack: "Tell me your name, Blood Knight."
"My name is Lichthe, Grail Knight," the Blood Knight opened his mouth, blood flowing from his dry yellow fangs.
"You didn't kill him not because he was weak, but because in your corrupt and vile blood, there is still something that refuses you to do something that disgraces the honor of a knight," Ryan shook his head: "I don't know what it is, but I understand."
The Blood Knight's eyes filled with age and weight showed a flicker.
He began to recall the distant years before he lived on blood.
But this Blood Knight, named Lichthe, had experienced too much over the endless years, quickly regaining composure. Laughing with yellow teeth, he said, "That's all in the past, Grail Knight. Those things won't make me waver. I came for the Grail Knight."
Saying this, the Blood Knight threw a glove in front of Ryan: "Let's begin."
"Ryan!" Seeing Ryan appear, Veronica wanted to help, but Ryan stopped her: "This is a battle between knights, Veronica. Just watch."
"Worthy of a Grail Knight, I promise, after I defeat you, I won't trouble this witch," the Blood Knight said.
"Heh, don't think I'll spare you," Ryan charged on horseback: "For the Lady, for Bretonnia, accept the judgment of the Grail Knight, vile creature!"
"Forward!" The Blood Knight also pulled the reins.
The purebred elven warhorse, Grape, like a whirlwind, charged towards the Blood Knight. The green flames from the Nightmare horse did not seem to frighten it. The Blood Knight held his lance high, intent on defeating the Grail Knight.
Under the bright moonlight, Ryan held the warhammer in both hands, the hammer ablaze with red flames, and fiercely struck the Blood Knight's shoulder.
The Blood Knight fought back just as fiercely, his lance with blood-red runes glowing with profane light, the sharp tip piercing towards Ryan's chest with earth-shaking force.
"Boom!" The two knights clashed, a blinding flash of light erupting, forcing Veronica to shield her eyes.
Passing each other, the sound of the lance breaking and the hammer striking rang out.
In the thick dust, Ryan's face was serious, a red mark on his shoulder where the enchanted armor was scratched.
The Blood Knight's dragon wing helmet was shattered by Ryan's warhammer.
"Again!" The Blood Knight's face showed a pathological and neurotic excitement. He laughed loudly: "This is it, a real knightly duel! Come again, Grail Knight!"
"For the Lady!" Ryan raised his warhammer again, quickly spurring his horse, seizing the opportunity before the Blood Knight could take out his lance, and charged towards him.
The Blood Knight's eyes were fierce as he instinctively reached for his lance. However, his vast combat experience told him there wasn't enough time. So, he immediately raised his shield emblazoned with a blood-red evil dragon. The warhammer, ablaze with red flames, struck heavily upon the shield, causing the Blood Knight to cry out in agony as he was forced backward.
After the strike, Ryan turned his horse around, his face still stern. His full-strength attack had been blocked by the Blood Knight, whose shield's durability exceeded his expectations.
"You are strong, Grail Knight. I admit, I lost the mounted combat. I promise to leave this forest; you've saved this land and its serfs. Your honor remains intact," the Blood Knight, first placing his left hand on his chest, gave Ryan a knight's salute, making a solemn promise: "But our battle will not end here; only one of us is destined to remain!"
"It must be so!" Ryan also dropped his warhammer, his powered armor still as bright as new, reaching for the Goddess of Vengeance on his back.
The holy sword resonated, the Goddess of Vengeance unsheathed, emitting white flames and pale blue light in the darkness.
The Blood Knight felt the terrifying might pressing down like thunder. He stood up, drawing his longsword to strike at Ryan's unprotected head. The longsword, covered in blood-red power, swung in a tricky angle but missed.
Ryan's speed was astonishing, much faster than a normal Grail Knight. In the blink of an eye, he dodged the Blood Knight's frenzied attack. The Goddess of Vengeance, blazing with white flames, slashed down, slicing open the Blood Knight's impenetrable chest armor. The sword's edge was now at the Blood Knight's throat.
The Blood Knight's reaction was swift as he parried with his sword. Sparks flew as the two swords clashed.
The forest became the arena for their duel. The Blood Knight's sword was like a venomous snake, quick and agile, with each attack aiming for Ryan's vital points. Veronica, watching from a distance, was inwardly alarmed by the fierceness of the fight.
The Blood Knight's power was at least at the legendary mid-tier, plus his terrifying regenerative ability and unparalleled combat experience. It's no wonder the young ranger knight couldn't defeat him.
But Ryan was different. The faster the Blood Knight was, the slower Ryan became. The Goddess of Vengeance, following Ryan's wrist movements, blocked every attack from the Blood Knight.
After a series of swordplays, Ryan retreated, creating distance between them.
Now was the chance. Ryan's eyes glowed with blue psychic energy. A powerful psychic storm, like quicksilver, penetrated the gaps in the Blood Knight's armor, causing him to scream in agony. The psychic storm was destroying his decaying body and burning his corrupt soul.
Then the Goddess of Vengeance swung down, cutting open the Blood Knight's throat. As he clutched at it, retreating, he desperately tried to use his regenerative ability to heal his throat wound.
It was futile. The purifying white flame remained on the wound, and as the Goddess of Vengeance pierced his chest, the Blood Knight knew his end had come.
As the Blood Knight bled profusely, Ryan prepared to pursue, but under the full moon's light, a golden badge fell from the broken chest armor of the Blood Knight.
The knight's badge was so familiar that Ryan's eyes widened, his pupils shrank, and he exclaimed in shock: "You... you are..."
Under the full moon, a golden Grail Knight badge twinkled faintly.
This Blood Knight, was he once a Grail Knight?!
"Cough, cough, cough~ Finally, it all comes to an end." A look of relief appeared on the Blood Knight's face: "Ryan-Macado, Champion of the Lady, it's an honor to die by your hand. If possible, please tell the Lady, I'm sorry for her teachings, sorry for her trust, but I had no choice. When he resurrected me, this heavy curse accompanied me, until now."
"You?!" Ryan's voice was full of disbelief: "Why? Who defiled your soul and body?"
"I can't say, I can't speak his name," the Blood Knight clutched his throat and chest, feeling the imminent release from his painful life: "He set a spell; I can't utter his name, but... but... uh uh uh~"
"But what?" Ryan quickly sheathed the Goddess of Vengeance, rushing to check the Blood Knight's wound.
"But... Musillon, there are several like me, known as... Black Grail Knights, cough, cough, cough... Champion of the Lady, Ryan, my real name is not Lichthe, but Honore de Lis, once a proud Grail Knight." The Blood Knight felt his soul nearing release, the curse gradually fading.
The sins and filth were disappearing from him; he was once again a noble and honorable Grail Knight.
So, Honore de Lis grabbed Ryan's hand, uttering the last words of his second life.
"The Black Knight... the Black Knight has returned to Bretonnia, he... he will destroy this country."
"You must stop him, for the Lady, you must stop him!"
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