Chapter 59
"The Knight of the Lighthouse…"
Someone among Pato’s soldiers murmured as they looked at Karl, who had introduced himself as a Free Knight.
"Ah! Sir Karl, the Knight of the Lighthouse…!"
"It’s Sir Karl, the Knight of the Lighthouse!"
What began as one person’s whisper quickly spread, infecting others’ mouths like a contagion.
Soon, all the soldiers were shouting "The Knight of the Lighthouse" like madmen.
Pato opened his eyes half-lidded, as if he had already known.
"Hmph! The Knight of the Lighthouse, is it. So? Does it feel good, rising to become the idol of ignorant country folk? Or are you so drunk on that fame that you’ve gone mad, thinking you can face all of us alone?"
Avalon sneered at Karl for stepping forward alone.
He could sense that Karl was a Superior-class knight.
But if that was all, he wasn’t particularly threatening.
Avalon himself was a Superior-class knight, and his fellow knights were all Expert-class.
They were one of Count Calido’s three elite military units—this was not a force meant to loiter in such a backwater.
They had stopped by here only in passing, planning to visit surrounding domains to enforce Count Calido’s tax increase orders.
Avalon had also been involved in replacing Sinice’s former lord, so he came along—and now found himself in this mess.
"Well then, let’s see what that Lighthouse Knight is really made of."
Before anyone knew it, Karl and Avalon, along with 20 knights, stood facing off with weapons drawn.
The very air around them shifted with the pressure of this standoff between powerful men.
Mollio and Pato stepped back without fighting, observing the clash.
The one to break the standoff was Avalon.
True to his nickname Fang of Collo, he launched a relentless barrage of piercing attacks—his style specialized in ruthless thrusts.
Like a snake hunting prey, his sword twisted and curved unnaturally toward Karl’s heart and neck.
Though fast, his strikes didn’t come in straight lines, which made the pattern even trickier to read.
Karl calmly deflected each thrust while widening the distance between them.
At the same time, the other twenty knights moved swiftly to join in from both flanks.
They used a similar style to Avalon’s—piercing attacks, surrounding Karl like a swarm of serpents. That was their trademark—Avalon as the Fang, his men as the Vipers of Collo.
"Ah…!"
Groans of concern escaped from Pato’s soldiers.
"Sir Karl! It’s dangerous!"
Just as Harris drew his sword and tried to rush forward, Karl spun his body and slashed in a wide arc.
Shraaack!
A fountain of blood burst forth, and four knights’ heads flew into the air.
"Wh…!"
No one could close their gaping mouths at the stunning blow—but Karl hadn’t come out unscathed.
Several fangs of the vipers had struck, leaving injuries on his shoulders and elsewhere.
Though not fatal, they would no doubt hinder Karl’s movements if left unchecked.
"Not bad. I guess the rumors aren’t entirely baseless."
Even after losing four men, Avalon only clicked his tongue and assumed a strange stance—a unique piercing posture.
‘That stance… I’ve seen it before.’
Watching Avalon, Karl remembered someone from the battlefield in his youth.
A man who unleashed lightning-fast thrusts with one specialty:
Single-Point Thrust.
The moment Karl recalled it, Avalon shot forward like a bolt of light.
Also a seasoned Superior-class knight, Avalon forced open a nonexistent gap to strike.
Too fast to dodge. In that case…
Karl gathered wind around his body and converted every bit of Qi he could muster into aura.
For the first time, an active skill manifested.
A faint, unrefined glow shimmered around his body—barely enough to even call it "aura."
Though technically a skill, this was power manifested purely through Karl’s will.
In this form, it enveloped his entire body like armor—but aura could become a weapon too.
As Karl collided with Avalon, the surrounding enemy knights were also slashed or trampled. The result resembled a bomb dropped into a pit of serpents.
"Guh…!"
Avalon, who had charged directly at Karl, was flung back, tumbling across the ground.
Several of his vipers were also cut in half or had limbs explode and collapsed around him.
"A-Aura…!?"
Avalon gasped in shock.
"Crude as it is, yes."
As the first knight had once described it—this was aura, technically speaking.
But compared to the perfected aura used by true masters in this world, Karl’s power was still far from that level.
‘That wasn’t complete. If it had been, I’d be in pieces by now.’
Blood spilled from Avalon’s mouth.
But if Karl wasn’t a complete master, then Avalon still had at least one chance left.
"This isn’t over!"
Avalon, gritting his teeth, resumed the same form. With his left hand extended and sword pulled back, the tip aimed at Karl.
Then he lunged once more like a beam of light.
Just before his blade struck, Karl’s half-formed aura shimmered again.
Avalon twisted to avoid Karl’s sword and withdrew his own, then launched another blinding single-point thrust.
"Got you!"
Sure this would land, Avalon couldn’t help but shout in joy.
Kwaaang!
"How…?"
He had perfectly struck Karl’s blind spot—yet Karl’s foot had traced a semicircle, sliding cleanly out of the attack’s path.
"Verdadera Destreza!"
Karl invoked a perfect circle with every step, giving him fluid, precise control over every moment and position within it.
Avalon, eyes wide open, collapsed in silence.
A deep gash now ran along Karl’s side.
Even though Avalon had fallen, eight vipers still surrounded Karl.
"Huff…!"
Karl was reaching his limits in Qi control.
‘At this rate, I won’t hold out…’
The remaining knights were all Experts at minimum—too much for Karl to handle alone.
"Sir Karl! I’ll take the rest!"
Harris, who hadn’t been able to join the Superior duel, ran to Karl’s side, sword in his one arm.
Pato stood beside him as well.
"Lord Mollio! That man is already spent! Finish him now with your knights!"
Avalon roared, and the remaining vipers rushed toward Karl and Pato.
With eight knights left, they could handle the others, especially with Karl exhausted.
Two of them flew toward Harris.
Before losing his right arm, Harris might’ve been able to take them both—but not anymore.
Barely blocking the first blow with one arm, Harris rolled away from a second strike—only for the blade to graze his side.
"Kh…!"
A searing pain burned into his ribs, but Harris stood up.
The two vipers leapt at him again.
‘I can do this. I can…!’
In this life-or-death moment, Harris’ senses sharpened.
He stepped forward and slashed diagonally—a one-armed crescent cut arcing toward his foes.
Shraaack!
A clean crescent strike bisected one of the vipers.
The other viper spotted an opening—the moment Harris’ balance faltered.
It was just a split second—but long enough to exploit.
But then Harris spun with the collapsing momentum, unleashing a full-circle full moon slash.
"Guh…!"
The viper grabbed his bleeding neck and fell.
Everyone who knew Harris screamed at the sight.
"Lord Mollio! Lord Mollio!"
As the tide turned, Avalon screamed toward Mollio, who still hadn’t moved.
Then Mollio finally acted.
Pato had taken down one viper himself—but five remained.
Mollio’s retainer knights needed to step in.
Step. Step.
As Mollio approached, Pato let out a weary sigh.
"Uncle…"
But then, Mollio walked right past Pato—straight to Avalon—and severed his throat.
It happened so fast that even the vipers and Mollio’s own men stood dumbfounded.
"Warriors of Sinice! Our true enemies are these snakes!"
His sudden declaration instead ignited the morale of the Sinice soldiers.
The remaining five vipers were quickly cut down by the combined forces of Mollio and Pato.
"What are you doing, Uncle…?"
Once the fighting ended, Pato and Mollio faced each other.
"Today… I simply saw hope in you."
"I know that’s not the real reason. Why, Uncle?"
A burly man who had been silently grimacing finally burst out.
"Enough already! Why can’t you just say it’s because you wanted to protect the Young Master and the people?! What did our former lord do wrong?!"
He turned to Pato.
"The former Baron knew he couldn’t escape Count Calido. So he asked Lord Mollio to act like Calido’s pawn, while protecting the people and the Young Master however he could!"
"Sobo! Stop!"
"Stop? Stop what, brother?! What did you do wrong?! You should be thanked, not blamed!"
Sobo pounded his chest.
"You think anyone knows how many humiliations and insults my brother endured to protect this boy and this land?! No one knows! Brother, enough of this! Why keep going?! You give everything to Calido—even spare change—and get nothing in return. Now it’s over! You should think about surviving!"
Sobo screamed in near tears.
"…That’s enough, Sobo."
As Sobo turned and slammed the ground in frustration, Pato suddenly slammed his forehead to the floor.
"What are you doing?!"
"Uncle… It’s my sin for acting rashly, knowing nothing. If offering my head could soothe Calido’s wrath…"
"That’s nonsense!"
"I couldn’t protect my father. I couldn’t protect this land. Without Sir Karl, I’d still be wallowing in that tiny wine jar. But you, Uncle… you bore all of Calido’s tyranny alone and protected this land and me. I have nothing to offer but my life."
Pato couldn’t raise his head.
Mollio walked over and lifted him up.
"This is not your fault."
That one sentence broke Pato again. Tears fell freely.
"Since things have come this far, why don’t you act as regent and pass it to Young Lord Pato at the right time?"
Karl’s calm suggestion drew a heavy nod from Mollio.
He was right—the true crisis for the domain had just begun.
"Thanks to Sir Karl, we’ve avoided civil war. I don’t know how to thank you."
"You would’ve found your own way even without me."
"…"
"You know Baron Vito, don’t you? Contact him. Mention my name—he won’t turn you away. Even small domains like ours, if united, may give Count Calido pause."
"Ah!"
Mollio bowed deeply.
Pato followed suit beside him.
"No matter how bad things look, there’s always a way. That’s the lesson from the East Continent."
His voice was dry.
With that, he turned and mounted his dark chestnut horse.
"Sir Karl! Thank you! I will follow the path you’ve shown me!"
At that moment, a familiar system window popped up before Karl’s eyes.
[Quest: Savior of Sinice – Complete]
[You have been granted the Zen Meyer Sword Manual as a reward.]
Karl closed the now-familiar system window with ease and tightened the reins.
‘There’s no turning back now.’
He hadn’t meant to go head-to-head with a power like Count Calido’s.
But part of him had always sensed this was inevitable.
‘Just keep doing what I’ve done so far.’
From the very first day he fell into this world, not a single day had been easy.