Leaving behind the exhausted Justia, Cade tightened his bowstring once again.
Psshh!
Along with the flying arrow, his fingers burst open.
Even though there were already drops of red blood dripping from the bow, Cade didn't stop pulling the string.
Because he had to give Gregory some space.
The women who had lost sight of the blond boy had changed direction and were rushing toward Gregory.
Justia, who was outside the barrier she had set up with all her strength, had to face all the evil surrounding the church alone.
"If only I were this popular with women all the time!"
However, Gregory was the sturdiest among the Bayezid family knights, and despite how strong he was, he stepped forward with an unwavering attitude.
The dark hands of the women couldn't even leave a scratch on his brown leather.
"I've seen too many disgusting things today. To be precise, including your face."
Despite the interference of the women, Gregory raised high the sword blessed by Justia.
After all, if he lowered it, everything would end.
He hoped the blond boy he had sent would bring back the children.
"You keep fighting to the end."
"Do it."
The false priest lying on the ground responded with a faint smile to Gregory's blow, which was like that of a charging bison.
"Because I'm someone who cannot be defeated by death."
"Let's see if you can keep saying that even if your head gets separated from your body."
Gregory's words must have been so amusing that the false priest burst into laughter.
The screams of the women and the man's laughter mixed and echoed.
"Yes! Laugh until the end!"
Gregory's sword, shining with blessings, swung violently. With a strong strike.
Shing!
The laughing man's neck was severed, and his head rolled under the altar.
When the man who was the object of the curse fell silent, the movements of the women crying stopped at the same time.
To destroy an army, you must destroy its leader.
Gregory's decision, which was like a gamble, bore fruit.
Gregory, seeing the man's head fall, let out a long sigh and collapsed onto the steps of the altar as if he were crumbling.
"My schedule is so packed today..."
Gregory, who had exhausted all his strength for the current blow, took out the bottle of alcohol he had in his arms with trembling hands.
He would be fine drinking himself silly until his nose twisted today.
Because Gregory had taken on many things for this victory.
As he thought about all the things he had to shoulder when he returned to Soara, Gregory took a sip from his bottle.
With the blow from a moment ago, the knights had won and deserved to enjoy the moment of victory.
At least until the fallen man opened his mouth.
"Now that I think about it, it seems there was a shortage of wine at today's mass."
"...What?"
The comrades, who were looking at each other with tired smiles, were surprised to hear a sudden voice.
"If it's not too much trouble, could you give me a sip of wine too?"
The comrades stood frozen, as if they were stunned by the voice coming from somewhere.
The head of the priest that had just been severed.
A voice came from his mouth as it rolled under the altar.
"Lord Gregory."
In a strange situation where no one could easily open their mouth, Cade stood up with wide-open eyes.
Because he saw something slowly rising behind Gregory's back.
Cade hurriedly searched his quiver of arrows, but all he found was emptiness.
The person slowly rising behind Gregory.
Had no head.
"Dullahan..."
Justia looked amazed at the man staring at her with eyeless sockets.
With the head of a man without a body, the headless man smiled as he looked at her.
"I grew fond of it because it was a face I had used for several years."
A standing corpse without a head and a head talking without a body.
Justia's eyes trembled as she looked at that strange scene.
Headless Knight Dullahan.
A knight who is free from death.
"It seems we're all gathered here now."
A head without a body looks up at the sky.
The decapitated body raises its arms.
Before anyone realized it, it was raining outside.
***
Kwagagang-!
The rain fell heavily, accompanied by thunder booming loudly. Although thick smoke spread beneath his feet and dark clouds filled the sky, the boy ascended towards the heavens, clinging to the slippery decoration of the bell tower.
To tear away the pattern containing the breath of the children who were there.
"Ew!"
Vlad's feet lost balance for a moment and hovered in the air. But Vlad gritted his teeth and endured.
He takes another step and reaches out.
Despite facing the rain and wind blowing strongly against his body, the boy gritted his teeth and reached his arms upwards.
Although the boy was not qualified, he was still climbing towards the sky to do what needed to be done.
If no one else will, then I will.
If no one else can, then I will.
Because I want to do that.
"Just a little more..."
Vlad, finally reaching the bottom of the pattern, reached out with all his might.
It was a position he could reach if he stumbled once. But the world didn't let the boy catch the stars floating in the sky.
It was very difficult to hold onto that one thing.
[Dodge!]
"…!"
Even if it wasn't a warning in the voice, a threatening presence could be felt. Vlad quickly jumped back while twisting in the air, watching the scene unfolding before his eyes with his mouth agape.
Crash-!
As if a line had been drawn, the last section of the tower was sharply cut and fell downwards. With the bell tower collapsing.
Kwagagang-!
The highest part of the church was collapsing like thunder falling from the sky.
"Damn it!"
The boy, who fell to the ground to avoid the collapse of the bell tower, quickly dodged the bouncing debris by moving his body backward.
Although he might have suffered a great impact from falling from above, the protection of the white snake kept him safe.
Vlad, who barely escaped the danger zone, quickly drew his sword.
There was no way an intact building would have collapsed on its own.
"It's impressive. Even from my point of view, it was a cool landing."
In the whirlwind of dust, someone began to applaud Vlad.
Vlad gritted his teeth when he heard a familiar voice from somewhere.
"You, damn bastard."
Suddenly, someone appeared holding the sinister pattern that was at the top of the bell tower.
"I knew you weren't human."
A headless man clapped mockingly at Vlad.
However, instead of being surprised to see the man in front of him, the boy raised his sword.
There were things he needed to do, but there were things he couldn't do because he lacked little.
"Hand that over."
"But the headless man no longer responded to Vlad's words. He simply approached and tried to mount the horse emitting a blue glow.
A headless man.
A horse with only bones left.
Their appearance was like death.
"Hand that over!"
But the boy didn't hesitate to run towards them.
Vlad charged at astonishing speed and swung his sword towards the headless man.
Clang-!
It was a lightning-fast movement, but the headless man simply raised his sword and blocked the boy's blow as if it were nothing.
It was astonishing, incomprehensible, and pressing on the boy.
"… !"
[He's twisting his joints strangely. Don't predict his movement!]
A headless man strikes the boy with an inhuman movement because he is not alive.
Thump-! Thump-! Thump-!
However, Vlad was blocking his blow with all his might.
He couldn't predict it, but he could see it.
The boy's natural visual acuity made it possible.
The counterattack learned from Jager was in full swing.
"Ahh!"
If you're where you're needed, do it.
If you're able to do it, do it.
The great Swordmaster knight made his move.
"…"
The headless knight gripped his sword with both hands when he saw the boy, who had been retreating a moment ago, now preparing to charge.
Because he realized that only with sincerity could he get rid of the boy in front of him.
"Don't push yourself too hard. I don't know when my kindness towards my comrades will fade away."
"Why am I of your class?"
"…I'm not talking to you."
It was an incomprehensible speaking headless knight, but the boy just moved forward to do what he had to do.
"Isn't it too slow?"
"…!"
Although he constantly wielded his sword, the headless man's movements already far exceeded the boy's speed.
When the attack came so fast that it couldn't be repelled with a counterattack, Vlad instinctively turned his shoulders towards it.
[Vlad...!]
Even the voice shouted in shock at the boy's judgment, but what followed silenced it.
Clang-!
Sparks rising as sword and armor meet.
The headless man's sword and the boy's armor clashed, subtly twisting their angles.
It was an armor spell he had seen on the woman with green eyes.
"Ugh!"
It was a skill that could only be developed with solid plate armor, but the blessing of the white serpent made it possible.
Bayezid's leather armor chilled at the boy's movements, causing an unacceptable shock.
"…!"
Even the headless knight stopped for a moment, surprised by the boy's fierceness.
The mastery of a fatal blow arises from the unexpected.
The boy's talent for learning and sensing, just by watching and listening, was more than enough to disrupt an established battlefield.
"Aaaah!"
A pure white light began to flow from Vlad's closed left eye.
In the horizon where you and I meet, we become one.
The boy's world, which was still expanding even now, needed to be filled, and it began to be drawn from the world of the voice that was in direct contact.
The voice allowed it.
The voice's world is a world of deep colors.
A world full of storms and thunder.
A lightning bolt, even denser than the thunder crashing at that moment, began to rise from the sword.
"Leave the children alone!"
Although he couldn't do it from the top of the tower, the boy could now take the step he had long desired.
With the sound of breaking the shell around him.
Kwagagang!
The essence of killing with a single blow that the voice had taught him was perfectly replicated in the hands of the boy.
A white lightning bolt descended from the boy's sword.
***
In front of the church building filled only with the sound of falling rain.
"Kkuuuuu..."
Vlad, who had launched his attack with all his might, was so exhausted that he couldn't even wipe away the fine drops of blood flowing from his mouth.
I did my best, but I couldn't do it.
The lightning-like blow, struck with deadly determination, stopped in front of the headless knight's sword.
The boy was clearly advancing, but for those ahead of him, it was just a feeble step.
The world was cruel to those who tried to move forward.
"I was paying attention to you because I thought we were of the same kind."
From the headless knight's sword, a faint black mist began to rise.
Perhaps the boy didn't realize he had succeeded.
Because he had created a crack called anger in the world of the headless knight, always smiling and calm.
"Kkaak!"
With the headless knight's anger, the cursed sword struck the boy's body.
Vlad, who had exhausted all his strength and was simply staggering, was thrown helplessly, like a kite that had lost its strings.
Crash! Kwaaang!
Vlad kept rolling, knocking down a nearby wall.
Although the protection of the white serpent radiated its light and protected the boy, this was the end.
The rain kept falling.
The boy had climbed towards the sky to catch a star, but ended up falling.
Not all attempts could yield results.
"I should take care of you before I leave."
The headless knight paused for a moment as he tried to mount his horse and then approached Vlad with his sword drawn.
He was a boy with extraordinary potential.
The presence within his eyes also seemed slightly different from what he had thought.
You would feel an itch at the back of your head for leaving unpredictable possibilities alone.
The Blue Moonlight Knight seized the opportunity and spared the boy, but the Headless Knight was trying to nip it in the bud.
The two worlds, one bright and the other dark, had opposing attitudes towards the bright.
"...So you were holding back?"
The youth, drenched by the rain, lay powerless on the ground.
However, the image of him holding the sword convinced him even more that he must kill him.
No matter how many people are of the same kind as you.
Raindrops fell from the cursed sword and wet Vlad's face.
As the rain poured down, the headless knight's sword plunged into Vlad's heart.
Kkikiguk-!
"...!"
At that moment, Vlad's hand, which had lost consciousness, moved and twisted the headless knight's sword.
"This is..."
A final effort?
Although he was clearly unconscious, as he watched his hand move on its own, the headless knight was surprised.
[The boy said we shouldn't mess with the kids.]
There was a young man standing, swaying, with a sword.
No, it wasn't the boy standing with one eye closed.
[So let's now meet as adults.]
A white lightning shone from his left eye.