The red knight and the silver swordsman engaged in a fierce beastly sword fight, but as soon as the knight spoke, there was silence.
He ran along the road and crushed all his enemies. That's what they call chivalry.
The knight Garrus Gargantia said, swallowing a ragged breath in his throat for the first time in a long time. It is the very heart of the knight he swore an oath to be, and the very code that binds him.
Garrus did not believe that his nature was worthy of a knight, not even for a moment.
And yet, he still spoke of the Knight's Code at every turn, hoping that he would be. He's still far from the ideal knight. The title of "honor" was not enough to satisfy him.
Garrus raises his eyelids, as if he were in a sword fight right now. With a turn of his wrist, Garrus brought the Red Spear back into his hand and caught sight of the silver-haired swordsman on the ground, Kalia Vardnik.
If Karia Vadnick's flash was even a blink faster... Perhaps it would have been you who would have fallen to the ground.
If I had been one step short, it might have been me whose skull would have been crushed.
Such uncharacteristic thoughts of a victor covered Garrus' mind and enveloped him. Gullas Gargantua had always been like that.
He was a perfectionist, which was unimaginable given his extravagant personality.
A mentality that does not tolerate compromise, as if anything short of perfection is not enough.
This is especially true when it comes to chivalry. Rather, it is because he has no interest in anything outside of it that he appears to be so extravagant.
Therefore, even after the opponent has fallen down, his thoughts are not absent. On the contrary, his mind is filled with imaginations that were not present at the moment of the fight.
Then a question came to his mind. Garrus' hands were on his spear. His eyes widened slightly as he looked into the darkness.
As it turned out, Kalia Vadnick was dead. She should have. She had taken a blow to the side of her head that had destroyed her skull. The feeling of the gouged brain was definitely in Garrus' hand.
Yes, destruction. Not a shock, not an injury, but a destructive swing that stripped away all the cleverness of the technology Garrus had unleashed. There is no way in the world to prevent it. It is an inevitable blow that cannot be accepted or prevented in any way.
Then why, Garrus asked, narrowing his eyes. There is no agitation or frustration in his heart. There is only a question.
The red spear, at the ready. Silver is visible before him. The silver, adorned with blood color, stood there with a dazzling glow.
So why is Kalia Vadnick standing up now? Such a question arose in Garrus' mind.
Garrus let out a small breath. He swallowed the question that was about to come out of his mouth, and threw out another word.
I see. You're not human anymore, are you?
She stood up slowly in front of him, waving her silver in the darkness. She stood up slowly in front of him, waving her silver in the dark, and said so.
She still moves with a certain ease, as if she is incapable of fighting. It was unimaginable from the way she looked like a ferocious beast earlier.
Now, at first glance, it seems as if he could leap off its head with a single breath.
But Garrus wasn't about to go in there easily. It was dark and silent all around Caria.
It was as if she were at the bottom of the ocean, in the deepest darkness. It was different, it wasn't dark, it was dark.
That means the enemy has turned into a demon. Has he undergone a demonic transformation, or was he always like that, or has his bloodline awakened?
Many options came to Garrus's mind, and each time Garrus brushed them aside. For now, none of that mattered.
The only thing that mattered now was that there was indeed a demon in front of him, and he had to find a way to kill it. That's all I could think about anymore.
The demoness said, howling.
"You're dead. Garrus-Gargantia.
As if in sync with those words, the darkness flickered.
In that moment, Garrus realized the true nature of this space. It was not illusion, nor was it elven magic. So what is it? It's simple.
This is another world.
Garrus' lips quirked up in an unconscious leap. The Otherworld is something that only a single demonic being who can compete with the world on his own can handle.
Those who can do so are not those who are observed and allowed to exist by the world, but those who exist and observe the world by themselves. They are those who have the power to influence the world, even with their formless minds.
Garrus held the Red Spear and saw the demonic nature in his vision.
Of course, Garrus has never actually seen or experienced the otherworld. He only has it in his skull as knowledge. Besides, the otherworld is just a miracle in mythology. No sorcerer has ever even attempted to argue its existence.
But Garrus declares this to be the Otherworld.
His own intuition and a sense of avoidance that stitched his skin. Moreover, the demonic nature in front of him affirmed Garrus' intuition more eloquently than anything else.
His throat quivered. Through the form of the demonic Caria-Bardnick, Garrus was certain he saw it. Behind her, a huge body that made it seem like a chore to even look up.
A giant that far surpassed the temple howled.
------ ohh--ohh--ohh! -----!
Garrus heard the sound of space itself being crushed.
The darkness that was supposed to be endlessly comatose was collapsing as if to remove its pretense.
The sight was fierce. It was a world, albeit a different world. The world itself is collapsing, destroying itself, and being lost.
It is a distortion of a world that forms itself and then destroys itself with its own power. It is just like a giant, a figure that was spoken of as a giant god in the Kami era.
When the darkness was lifted, the majesty of the Great Temple of Frimsrath was once again revealed. Surrounding it were the figures of many fallen cathedral knights. The black mist that had been so threatening was no longer here.
Garrus looked at it. He thrust the Red Spear at the demonic Caria. Then he opened his mouth.
"Knight. Find a way to live. I'm not sure what to do, but I'm going to do it.
Even if the opponent is a godly giant, you have to fight to be a knight.
Garrus bit his canine teeth hard, ready to die easily. It wasn't death that terrified him, but something else. If he were to lose that, how much kinder would death be?
Kalia also held up her silver. She was holding her long sword as before, but the power in it was blinding.
The two of them met again with the will to fight. Both of them were prepared to take the other's life as well as their own, as a matter of course.
And just as the silver sword was about to be unleashed again with a will that could be called vicious.
Suddenly, his silver eyes widened. Garrus was taken aback by the sight.
In the blink of an eye, the will that had been trying to gouge out his heart, let alone his throat, had vanished in a mist, and even his hostility was gone.
Without realizing it, Garrus' eyes looked at Kalia. Could it be a trap? Perhaps it was a tactic to distract him.
But the behavior seemed to be genuine. Garrus was no longer in Kalia's silver eyes, but something else, something more important, had taken over her thoughts.
Then his mouth spoke.
"...... Lugis.
It was the name of the great evil, the man who had been spoken of. But his intentions were unreadable. Does this mean that the man has also come to this great temple? If so, why? What was the point of calling out his name like that?
Leaving Garrus' questions aside, Kalia raised her sword. However, it is not aimed at Garrus. Toward the great wall of the temple. Nonsense, Garrus' reason told him.
It was only for a moment.
He raised his silver sword and lowered it. With such a natural movement, Caria cut a huge hole in the stone wall that seemed to be bedrock. It was the unmistakable crushing itself. It would be a trivial question to ask what kind of physical strength was in that fine body.
In the midst of a huge cloud of dust, the little giant turned around and opened his mouth.
I'm sorry, but I'm running away. You can scorn me as a pathetic woman. I'm fine with that.
And with that, she disappeared down the hole.
Garrus narrowed his eyes in the Great Temple, where a cloud of dust had begun to billow. The black mist that had threatened him was nowhere to be seen, and the Great Temple itself made a slight creaking sound.
He thought about what he had to do now, and with his pointed canines twisted, Garrus snapped his shoulders.