Chapter 44: A Battle Between Two Kings

Daniel glanced at the King of Knights. He wasn’t short—but he wasn’t exactly average either. Daniel was 188 centimeters tall.

But this knight king? Daniel looked like a child standing in front of him—the guy was a giant. At least 2.8 meters tall.

"You..." His voice was deep and powerful. "Do you know how I became king?"

Daniel shook his head, showing he didn’t.

"Before I was a king, I was a knight. They used to call me the Immortal Knight."

"In our culture, you can challenge the king. If you defeat him, you become the new king... What do you think, human? Do you have the courage to challenge me?"

Daniel slowly raised his head. His gaze met the towering figure of the knight king. His mind was racing.

He was by far the strongest entity in this dungeon. Just his presence alone screamed C-rank monster—definitely not one of the easy ones.

"Do I have a choice? Might as well give it a shot." Daniel shrugged.

The King of Knights drew his massive sword. Even that motion cracked the ground under Daniel’s feet.

"Begin, human."

The first clash was like an earthquake. The knight king’s sword came down with so much force that the shockwave pushed Daniel several steps back.

Daniel glanced at the Fallens and ordered them to retreat from the battlefield.

Then he tightened his grip on his sword, locking eyes with the Immortal Knight again. The raw force behind just a basic strike was insane.

If this guy used an actual skill... How terrifying would it be? The thought made Daniel gulp.

The knight king attacked again.

This time, Daniel dodged. The edge of the blade missed his face by millimeters.

He swung his sword in return, assuming a giant like that couldn’t have fast reflexes.

But the knight king casually caught the blade between two fingers and redirected it. Then punched Daniel, sending him flying several meters.

"Try harder."

"Ugh—okay, that one hurt. Guess I really shouldn’t hold back on any front," Daniel groaned as he got up and touched his stomach—he was bleeding heavily.

"Light of Destruction." Golden light ignited in his eyes.

A beam shot from his eyes straight at the Immortal Knight. He dodged it, and the blast hit nearby pillars, instantly turning them to dust.

"Oh?" The knight king raised an eyebrow. Clearly, he hadn’t expected that level of destructive force.

Daniel didn’t stop. He fired another beam of the Light of Destruction, not sure if it could injure the knight, but he was sure it could at least damage the armor.

"Royal Barrier." A golden wall formed in front of the king and absorbed the beam.

"Huh?" Daniel stopped the skill and stared at the wall, confused.

"This bastard—" But his confusion quickly turned to danger sense, and he immediately dodged—the barrier had reflected the Light of Destruction back at him.

"Trying to run? Heh, looks like you really underestimated me, human," the knight king spun his sword.

"Chains of Honor."

Golden chains erupted from the ground and rushed at Daniel. He dodged quickly, but one of them caught his leg and slammed him into the ground.

The reflected Light of Destruction struck him directly, burning his body.

"Aghhh!" Pain tore through him. He could feel his cells burning and his body struggling to regenerate them.

He realized his caution hadn’t been enough—he wasn’t anticipating the right things, and those exact things kept happening.

"Heavy King’s Strike." As he tried to get up, another hit came his way.

Daniel raised his sword to block, but the force sent him flying ten meters and crashing into a pillar. His breath was ragged.

He coughed up blood. He could feel his internal organs tearing apart.

"What’s wrong, human? Scared? Hahaha! About to give up?" The Immortal Knight started walking toward him slowly.

"Still, you should be proud. The other humans who earned the right to challenge me fell to their knees way earlier than this."

"Heh, most of them even begged for their lives. Disgusting. Pathetic. Begging for your life is an animal’s act! A blasphemy!"

"This isn’t going anywhere. Damn it, does this giant bastard have any weakness at all?" Daniel ignored the ranting and closed his eyes. He mentally replayed the fight.

That movement before he strikes—he always does a slight shoulder twist. Before he brings the sword down, he shifts his center of gravity. That’s it. I have to hit him right then.

"Crimson Judgment." Suddenly, the sky turned red and dozens of swords appeared above.

"Aren’t you tired of these foolish attempts? Hmph."

"Shield of Honor." The king responded with another skill.

A massive golden shield appeared, blocking Daniel’s Crimson Judgment—but this time, it wasn’t so easy. The shield cracked.

For a moment, a strange gleam passed through the king’s eyes.

"Interesting."

Daniel dashed forward. His body was bloody and torn, but his face was grim.

"Normal attacks don’t work. And using Slash Of Destruction up close is suicidal. Plus, with that armor and all his defense skills, I doubt it would land."

"It’s time to end this childish game," the knight king looked at him and raised his hand.

"Royal Sword – No Return."

A sword made of golden light formed in the sky and fell toward Daniel at terrifying speed.

There was no time to dodge. Only one choice left.

Why not answer his skill with a skill of my own? Daniel stood firm.

"Slash of Destruction." He raised his sword. This time, the Light of Destruction didn’t come from his eyes—it burst from the blade.

The strike met the Royal Sword mid-air.

A massive explosion swallowed the battlefield.

Dust consumed the space.

And from within the fog, a heavy voice echoed.

"Very well, human. Seems like you still have a lot of energy left in you." The king’s voice had lost all traces of playfulness. Now it was serious—weighted by countless battles.

"Until now, I was just entertained. But now... now, I’ll uphold the knight’s code." With a wave of his hand, the air trembled.

"Royal Command – Golden Storm."

In an instant, a storm of golden blades surrounded him and shot at Daniel with incredible speed. Each blade felt as heavy as a mountain and ripped the ground on impact.

Daniel dodged as fast as he could and deflected others with Destruction Strike.

He finally understood the importance of having a proper defense skill.

"King’s Collapse." The knight king stepped forward.

"Huh?! What the hell!" The ground beneath Daniel cracked and collapsed. He barely held on at the edge, but the next wave hit.

"Absolute Judgment."

A huge pressure wave burst from the king’s sword. Daniel was thrown back again, his wounds deepening—his mana was almost depleted.

His body was using mana just to keep healing.

"How many damn skills do you have?! And why isn’t your mana running out?!" Daniel wanted to curse from the depths of his soul.

Red and golden light swirled around him. If his current skills weren’t enough to defeat this knight... then why not make a new one?

With a motion of his hand, dozens of crimson swords appeared around him. But this time, their edges glowed with the Light of Destruction.

"If I want this to work, I’ll have to use all my mana. If it fails, I’m dead for real." He sighed. No choice—he had to try what he had in mind.

He prayed it would work.

"Crimson Judgment – Light of Destruction." He activated both techniques simultaneously, channeling the Light of Destruction through the swords using his body as a conduit.

Then he borrowed the power of the Fallens—all of them, One of their abilities allowed them to lend him their strength for a short time.

He poured their mana into the swords and boosted their power. Just to be sure, he also sacrificed his and the Fallen’s vitality to enhance the attack even further.

He was betting everything on this. If it failed, he’d really die. No extra lives. The Fallens would die with him.

The swords shot forward like meteors of red and gold. Each strike tore through space itself.

"I didn’t think you were this stupid. Did you forget this same stupid technique failed just a minute ago?"

"Shield of Honor," the knight king muttered in disdain and summoned the same barrier.

"Huh? No way..." But unlike before, the shield cracked. Daniel’s swords pierced through the king’s defenses one by one.

The final blade stabbed right through his heart. Upon impact, a massive explosion of red and gold engulfed the field.

When it all cleared, the King of Knights was still standing. His armor was shattered, his sword had fallen to the ground, and both his arms were gone.

[Congratulations. You have successfully created a new skill: Eternal Judgment]

[Rank: S]

"Looks like I shouldn’t have underestimated you, human." His eyes shimmered with black light.