Aria, who had been on the verge of dozing off, was jolted awake by the spray from the waterfall. The sudden appearance of the Black Knight instantly sharpened her senses. There was no doubt in her mind: this was the Black Knight Pieck had warned them about.
Aria immediately drew the Sword from her waist, her expression hardening into a vigilant stance. The air hung thick with tension as the scene froze in a tense stalemate.
Feidric hesitated. If he had his way, he would avoid a fight, but that wasn't his decision to make. It all depended on whether the Black Knight would let them pass.
Feidric glanced at the Black Knight. Blood still dripped from his plate armor and sword blade, likely fresh from a recent kill. Pieck's words echoed in his mind: "He roams near Stone Pine City, attacking travelers without provocation."
Only Cipher stared at the Black Knight with curious eyes. He was nothing like she had imagined. She had pictured a hulking brute like Douglas, but this knight's build was surprisingly... slender?
At that moment, Aria lunged forward. The Sword in the Stone in her hand radiated golden light as she seized the initiative and launched the first strike.
The Black Knight reacted swiftly, raising his sword to block Aria's path. The black blade clashed against her golden one with a crisp, ringing clang.
In the next instant, the Black Knight twisted his wrist, executing a fluid arc reminiscent of Tai Chi. He redirected Aria's blade to his side, then swiftly retracted his own sword and swung it toward her abdomen.
This was a clear demonstration of the difference in swordsmanship.
Before becoming a Paladin, Aria had been a simple farm girl with minimal formal training. In all her previous battles, she had relied on her raw strength, speed, and the devastating Divine Smite to overwhelm her opponents.
But the Black Knight was different. His strength and speed matched Aria's, and his extensive combat experience became evident the moment their blades met. In that instant, Aria found herself at a disadvantage.
Fortunately, Aria wasn't alone. Feidric had completed his spell. A golden beam erupted from his fingertip, streaking toward the clash. But instead of targeting the Black Knight, it struck Aria herself.
In an instant, Aria's speed surged. She swiftly retreated, effortlessly evading the Black Knight's sweeping slash. Seizing the opening created by his missed strike, she retaliated with a vertical chop that slammed into his shoulder armor.
[ Haste ], a Third-Circle Transmutation spell, had a deceptively simple effect: it doubled the target's speed. Where Aria could previously run ten meters per second and swing her sword once, she could now sprint twenty meters and deliver two strikes in the same time. The only drawback was the intense fatigue and weakness that would follow when the spell's duration ended, a physical price for the earlier burst of speed.
However, the spell didn't truly double one's speed; it simply added a large numerical boost. If Feidric were to cast it on Cipher, whose speed already far exceeded human limits, the effect would be negligible—perhaps increasing her velocity from one thousand meters per second to one thousand and ten.
Under normal circumstances, though, the spell remained immensely potent. From Aria's perspective, it felt as if she had entered an extended period of "bullet time," with everything around her moving half as fast.
Clang!
Aria's sword struck the Black Knight's shoulder with a sharp, metallic clang, only to be deflected harmlessly. His plate armor was simply too tough!
In this world, swords were not restricted, but full suits of armor were. A person with a sword might kill another, but they could also be killed by someone else wielding a sword. However, someone clad in full plate armor could slaughter several times their number of enemies and emerge unscathed from battle.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of clashing metal echoed through the air—the clatter of blades meeting and the dull thud of Aria's sword striking the Black Knight's armor. In mere seconds, they exchanged over a dozen blows.
Clearly, with Aria's doubled speed, the Black Knight was under immense pressure, forced to retreat step by step as he fought. Yet Aria seemed equally frustrated by this "iron turtle." If Douglas were here with his great axe, he might pose a greater threat to the Black Knight.
"Divine Smite!" Aria seized the opportunity and unleashed another Divine Smite. However, the technique required a brief charging motion, and despite having already used it three times under the effects of Haste, none had struck the Black Knight directly. He had either blocked them with his longsword or dodged them completely.
This time felt different. The moment Aria raised her sword, a torrent of black Magic Power erupted from the Black Knight's blade.
A cursed technique. Wounds inflicted by it cannot heal, leading to a slow and agonizing death.
This was the intelligence provided by Pieck Braun. At first glance, it sounded similar to the Negative Energy wounds caused by skeletons, but there was a crucial distinction: while Priests could easily heal Negative Energy wounds, the Braun Family had sought their aid to no avail.
Despite these grim thoughts flashing through her mind, Aria refused to retreat. Gritting her teeth, she intensified the flow of her Magic Power, causing the golden light on her blade to burn even brighter.
The next instant, black and golden Magic Power collided. At that very moment, for the first time since the battle began, Aria heard the Black Knight's voice—a hoarse, gravelly growl like a broken bellows:
"Divine Smite!"
"What?!" Aria's eyes widened in disbelief, her face a mask of shock. A thunderous roar followed as the ground within a five-meter radius of their clashing blades abruptly caved inward, as if crushed by some immense weight.
After a brief delay, a massive repulsive force hurled Aria backward. The Sword slipped from her grasp and flew out of her hand.
Before she could hit the ground, Cipher swiftly moved to catch her, cradling her in his arms in a princess carry.
Cipher turned a questioning gaze toward the Black Knight. He had clearly heard his words: "Divine Smite"—a skill exclusive to Paladins. This meant the Black Knight, like Aria, was also a Paladin Class Holder.