Ignoring my warning, Klugen closed the distance in an instant with light footwork. Using the head-cutting technique Scheitelhau, he tried to finish me like lightning, but my reaction speed was pretty damn fast too.
I caught his vertically descending sword with binding, pressing it down while swinging my blade toward his head. But Klugen twisted his head to dodge and quickly pulled back.
Clang!
Oscarâs arming sword went for Klugenâs back, but Klugen deflected it downward and tried to stab Oscarâs neck, only to be stopped by the shield. Oscar tried to drive forward with the shield to knock him down, but Klugenâs footwork was so light and quick that he slipped free of the encirclement in an instant.
That was the step called cat-walkingâeffective for escaping encirclement.
One of the advanced techniques I hadnât learned yet.
This was bad. Judging by his technical level, he was clearly a better knight than me. The three-star danger rating and the title Rose Knight were no empty boasts. Even with Oscar holding a shield, facing him one-on-one would be extremely dangerous.
Only a knight can match a knight. I wasnât confident how long I could hold out, but retreating without a fight wasnât an option.
"Oscar, be carefulâheâs strong. Iâll attack; you look for openings."
Clang clang!
I pushed Oscar aside and deflected Klugenâs thrust upward, blocking his offensive while immediately countering with my own thrust, but Klugen batted my sword down.
As we closed in, a binding battle ensued, and we fought for timing. But Klugen seemed to read every attack before I made it.
I went for Klugenâs shoulder with lightning-fast winding (attacking while bound), but he raised his grip to block. Immediately, Klugen attempted a sliding cut (slicing while bound and sliding) toward my head.
I caught Klugenâs sliding blade with my back edge. Then I drove my shoulder into him, forcing Klugen back.
I tried to quickly split his head with Scheitelhau, but in that brief moment, Klugen shattered my Scheitelhau with Krumphau (a hooking cut) and slashed my left thigh.
Luckily it wasnât a deep cut, but I realized with painful clarity that my opponentâs technique and speed were superior to mine. My pride stung too much to back down now, though.
Clang! Clang!
"Ugh!"
Noticing my left thigh was cut and harder to move, Klugen relentlessly targeted my left pivot foot to force it out of position. Unable to use my leg properly, if I let the distance open, Iâd get carved up one-sidedly.
So I tried to press close with binding and take Klugen down with wrestling techniques. At least I had overwhelming strength on my side.
I tried to overpower him while bound, but Klugen deliberately released his force during binding. Having pushed hard, my center of gravity naturally lurched forward, and at that moment, Klugen drove a fist into my solar plexus.
I thought Iâd lose my breath. His close-combat skills were top-notch too. With my current skills alone, there was no way I could gain the upper hand.
But I held on with binding to keep the distance from opening, because the moment Klugen focused entirely on me was Oscarâs opportunity.
That was exactly what Iâd been counting on. Oscarâs arming sword stabbed at his back. Klugen sensed it and twisted to dodge, but in that gap, I sliced Klugenâs right shoulder with a sliding cut.
I was no match one-on-one, but two-on-one was a different story entirely. The reason Klugen had lost track of Oscar for a moment was that I was no pushover.
Rather than stubbornly insisting on a one-on-one duel and courting death, it was more important to survive by any means, using every resource available. I worked hard to exploit the two-on-one advantage and steer the fight in our favor.
"Oscar! Stab his back!"
Thud!
"Ugh!"
Just as I was about to press the advantage, Klugen stomped on my foot with his back heel and headbutted my nose. The impact knocked me back momentarily. Klugen used that opening to deflect Oscarâs sword and smashed his face with the pommel.
Oscar, having lost his shield, was left defenseless, and Klugen moved to finish himâbut Hans, whoâd been protecting Göring, charged in with a yell and tackled Klugen around the waist.
Crash!
Hans and Klugen went down together.
They wrestled on the ground, but Hans couldnât handle Klugen, who only targeted vital points. Blood gushed from my nose after that ironhead had slammed into me, but I pulled myself together, grabbed my sword, and fought to get back on my feet.
Luckily my nose wasnât broken.
As expected of a knight whoâd been through war, he was vicious in a brawl.
What a monster!
My stance when I rose with my sword was slightly off. Klugen, whoâd beaten Hans down and assumed an Ochs stance, didnât miss that subtle gap and lunged to finish me with a thrustâthe longswordâs most devastating attack.
But Iâd been expecting his thrust. Iâd already stepped my left foot forward, placed my sword above my right shoulder, and settled into a guard position. Honestly, this was almost a gamble, but thanks to the F-Rank Knight (military power 20%, courage 20%) title Iâd acquired, I wasnât afraid.
Klugenâs thrust was blindingly fast. I barely twisted my head to dodge, but my left cheek got sliced open. At that moment, I stepped out with my right foot and cut Klugenâs exposed left wrist. Klugen, gripping his wrist, pulled back.
Iâd made Klugen, whoâd held the initiative throughout, retreat. But the situation was growing worse for me. Blood flowing from my thigh was sapping my stamina.
"For such a young age, your swordsmanship is excellent," Klugen said.
"Compared to the Rose Knight, Iâm nothing but a greenhorn," I replied.
"Too valuable to kill here."
"I have no intention of dying in a place like this!"
Clang!
Despite his wrist being cut, the force behind our clashing swords was still formidable. When swords clash and bind, closing in and fighting with winding is like reading your opponentâs moves in chessâconstantly probing, checking, and countering with cuts.
German swordsmanshipâs defense isnât passiveâitâs about seizing the moment to switch to offense and press the attack. Attack is the best defense, a saying that fits this swordsmanship perfectly.
When Klugen tried a diagonal sliding cut toward my right thigh, I brought my sword diagonally down to guard above my thigh, and the moment I blocked, I quickly lifted the bound swords with force, riding the winding to strike at Klugenâs head with Scheitelhau.
Klugen traced a horizontal arc, deflecting my blade and counterattacking with Zwerchhau (a horizontal cut) aimed at my temple.
Clang!
Screech!
The fierce battle of techniques wore down my mental reserves. If I gave ground here, Iâd lose the initiative. I think Iâd already reached my mental limit. I was starting to flag from this endless war of attrition against such a powerful opponent.
Just as I was gradually being pushed back, Oscar, having regained consciousness, crawled across the floor and slashed Klugenâs back leg. As his leg was cut and he staggered, I struck his sword upward and mercilessly cracked his skull with the pommel at the end of the grip.
Thud!
"Ugh!"
Even a full-force pommel strike to the head didnât knock him out. Not your average ironhead. Blood flowed from Klugenâs head as he staggered back. Both of us were spent and struggling.
As bleeding from my left thigh worsened, I maintained my concentration to the very end. Oscar also struggled to his feet, raising his shield and arming sword. He looked terrible too.
"...Young knight. I want to know your name."
"Wolfgang von Streit. A rookie who hasnât even been knighted."
"...Streit. I see. Youâre his son."
Did he know my father? Well, theyâd been on the same battlefield, so it was possible. Oscar and I gradually surrounded and pressed Klugen. Judging that he could no longer handle us both, Klugen escaped through another door behind him.
He could still run like that even with his leg cut?
Oscar and I chased hard after him.
Through that door came another twenty-foot passage, and he escaped through a small door at the end. Following through that door, I could see the sewer that supposedly only nobles had access to. The old sewer, with its terrible stench and filthy water coursing through it, branched off in a tangle of directions.
Of course, I could track him with the Searcher Scouter, but I gave up since I couldnât guarantee victory.
[Roseâs Phantom II Quest completed]
[2,000 points, 20 silver coins awarded]
[German Swordsmanship Manual]
[Stage 2 Training Quest completed]
[1,000 points, 1 silver coin awarded]
Two quests completed at once. Roseâs Phantom II completing made sense since Iâd somehow survived, but I was truly relieved that Stage 2 of the German Swordsmanship Manual was finally done. Iâd been so frustrated, stuck at 99 proficiency with no way to break through to 100.
Iâd finally fully mastered the Meisterhau. Perhaps I could execute the techniques more accurately and quickly now?
[German Swordsmanship Manual]
[Stage 3 Training Quest]
[Master FĂŒhlen]
[Proficiency 0/100]
[There are limits to tracking sword movements with your eyes. You must learn to judge by feelâwhat your opponent intends, what technique is coming, what technique to counter with.]
[Reward â 1,000 points, 1 silver coin]
FĂŒhlen? Translated to English, it meant "feeling." Did I have to judge the opponentâs intent and techniques by feel while our swords were crossed? Iâd definitely been relying on my eyes to read my opponentâs sword trajectory and movements up until now. But the Rose Knight had seen through all my attacks and counters. If Oscar hadnât struck from behind, I wouldâve been dead for certain.
So I had no real idea how to train this FĂŒhlen thing. There were too many elusive aspects to grasp through feel alone. This was homework I had to figure out.
And on another note, my confidence had been utterly shattered. Iâd honestly been cocky, thinking I could handle any opponent after going through real combat. But that had been pure arrogance.
Fighting the Rose Knight, Iâd been like a frog in a well blindly charging at an outside viperâI was deeply ashamed of myself. Damn it, if I could master FĂŒhlen, I wouldnât get pushed around so pathetically when I faced the Rose Knight again.
As humiliated as I felt, it only made me want to train harder and settle the score with the Rose Knight. Of course, not nowâat least after Iâd trained FĂŒhlen to a certain level.
"Sir Wolfgang, letâs stop the bleeding first!"
"Tie it with pressure bandaging like I taught you."
Iâd made sure to teach my retainers how to wrap bandagesâspecifically which technique was effective for which type of wound. Iâd given them thorough theoretical instruction too. Bandaging isnât that hard anyway. So my retainers dubbed the method Iâd taught them the Streit Bandaging Method.
Iâd learned it in the military, but I became the founder by accident. Hans, whoâd been knocked out, came to as well.
"Ugh, Iâm so ashamed. I donât think I was any help."
"Have confidence, Hans. Your courage and quick thinking saved Oscar," I said.
"Thatâs right. If it werenât for you, brother, Iâd have died to the Rose Knight," Oscar added.
That was true. Thanks to Hans stepping in to block Klugen at the critical moment, heâd saved Oscarâs life and bought me time to recover. Without Hans, we all wouldâve died. Göring must have been deeply troubled about how to report to Bertheimâfinding Klugen was one thing, but the situation had escalated far beyond expectations.
On top of everything, thereâd been a fight, and in the end, Klugen had escaped.