WebNovels

Chapter 3 - The Lament of the Wandering Knight 2

Have I failed to die this time, too?

The cheers echoing from somewhere snapped me back to my senses. My five senses were paralyzed in an instant, and though I wanted to be swept away by the shouting, my lazy nature wouldn't allow it.

"Wow! Wow! Wow!"

I covered my ears with both hands and turned around, but the endless cheers eventually pushed my patience to the limit. Annoyed, I stood up abruptly, ready to charge.

"Wow! Wow! Wow!"

But the moment I tried to stand, my body froze like stone. I stared blankly at my surroundings. This was not the valley where I had fainted. Had someone brought me to this tent? Carefully, I rose from the bed where I had been lying.

"Wow! Wow! Wow!"

This place was not the reality where I had collapsed. Of course, I had not traveled to another dimension either.

What I was hearing, seeing, touching, and feeling was real, yet somehow not real.

To be precise, everything in this moment was the Dream Rift.

It was the place where the boundary between dream and reality, the rift between dimension and consciousness, met.

A world where everything was possible, yet nothing could be truly possessed. A fragile and dangerous world.

The first time I experienced the Dream Rift was when I entered the academy of the Beldoras Kingdom as a cadet.

At that time, caught between reality and illusion, I couldn't control my mind and failed to stabilize it.

After that, I experienced the Dream Rift many times, and within that space, anything could happen.

Sometimes, it meant murder and death.

I witnessed and experienced countless killings within the Dream Rift, and as the number grew, it became harder to live while keeping my sanity intact.

There was someone who helped me endure it.

Saint Reana of the Beldoras Kingdom.

She told me that the reason I could experience the Dream Rift was because I carried the Divine Sense within me.

She explained that the Dream Rift was a state of preparation, where the dormant Divine Sense inside me began to awaken.

"Wa! Wa! Wa!"

I cautiously moved toward the entrance of the tent, in the direction of the cheering.

At that moment, a woman entered. Her appearance was strikingly exotic. She wore golden armor, and her long, straight hair flowed down to her waist. One side of her breastplate was engraved with a dragon ascending to the heavens, and on her back, she carried a large bow with long, sharp blades on each end.

"Wa! Wa! Wa!"

She smiled brightly as she approached, but I didn't move. When she came close enough to stand just a breath away, she smiled again and held something out to me. It was armor identical to hers, and with smooth, practiced hands, she began helping me put it on.

"Wa! Wa! Wa!"

As she dressed me in the armor, I caught a glimpse of myself reflected in the metal.

An unkempt brown beard, silver gray hair covering half my face, and pale pink eyes that seemed lost in the dark.

That was the man I saw staring back.

Why did this feel so familiar?

I knew her, I was certain of it, yet no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't recall who she truly was.

"Wa! Wa! Wa!"

When she finished helping me, she smiled again and stepped out of the tent. I followed.

Outside, the sun blazed high in a clear, cloudless sky. Shielding my eyes with one hand, I looked out to see a vast field filled with cheering soldiers.

"Wa! Wa! Wa!"

She began to walk slowly, and once again I followed.

We stopped before a great dais with banners fluttering in the wind.

A stately man stood there, clad in golden armor, a heavy spear strapped to his back.

He drew the sword at his waist and approached me. I didn't move.

Pointing toward the dais, he offered me the sword. I took it naturally and stepped onto the platform.

The soldiers who had been shouting moments ago fell silent all at once.

I raised the tip of my sword high, looking out at them.

"Wa! Wa! Wa!"

The cheers erupted again, louder than ever, shaking the earth beneath us.

Dark clouds gathered in the once clear sky, ready to unleash a storm.

The woman approached once more and pointed below the platform.

Three horses waited there. Guided by her, I mounted one, and together we rode through the cheering soldiers.

Ahead of us, countless enemies filled the horizon. We charged toward them.

"Ugh!"

"Krak!"

Arrows and flaming stones rained down over both armies, turning the field into chaos.

Screams, fire, and the stench of blood filled the air.

"Ugh!"

"Krak!"

Whether I was a demon or becoming one, I could no longer tell.

I swung my sword like a beast, cutting down enemies in a frenzy until my armor and body were drenched in dark crimson blood.

The clouds began to weep, and the heavy rain soaked my armor.

Through the downpour, I saw the enemy commander standing on a hill, shouting orders.

With two others beside me, I charged toward him.

"Krak!"

"Ugh!"

Enemy soldiers rushed to block our path, but before our overwhelming strength, they fell like petals torn by the wind.

After cutting through the masses, we finally reached the commander.

He stood his ground, eyes unflinching, his expression calm.

As expected, he was different from the others.

I swung my sword toward his neck.

Just before the blade met him, an enemy soldier stepped between us.

His spear pierced through my chest armor with impossible precision.

"Ugh! Aaah!"

A scream tore from my throat. The pain was so sharp it felt unreal.

I grabbed the spear with both hands, trembling, and glanced around.

The two who had ridden with me laughed with folded arms, and even the commander smiled faintly.

The soldier before me grinned wildly, his face twisted with madness.

Rain poured down in heavy sheets. Thunder cracked, and lightning lit the sky.

The soldier lifted me by the spear still impaled in my chest.

My vision turned red. Were these tears of blood?

I reached toward the moon above, and a brilliant beam of light descended from the sky.

As it enveloped me, I slowly closed my eyes.

Silence fell.

When I opened my eyes again, I was surrounded by pitch darkness.

No light, no sound. Only fear.

I shut my eyes tight, refusing to see.

A faint sound broke the stillness.

"Screech."

A door opened somewhere.

I kept my eyes closed, torn between curiosity and dread.

"Click."

"Thud, thud."

The door closed, and footsteps drew near.

I opened my eyes slowly.

I was lying on an operating table, pain surging through my legs.

I clenched my teeth and turned my head.

Beside me was a small sink and a table lined with surgical instruments.

The room was entirely white, narrow, sterile, suffocating.

"Thud, thud."

The footsteps came closer.

A man and a woman approached, dressed in white surgical gowns, smiling brightly.

They stopped beside the table, and the woman handed tools to the man.

"Clatter, clatter."

The man began operating on my leg, his movements practiced and calm.

I stared at the ceiling, waiting for the pain to fade.

Gradually, it did.

When the procedure ended, my leg no longer hurt.

The man washed his hands at the sink, and the woman walked to me, smiling softly.

She placed something in my mouth, then pressed her lips to my forehead.

My eyes grew heavy, and my body light as a leaf.

Before I drifted away, I looked toward them.

But they were already distant.

The woman smiled again, holding up a white sheet of paper.

Two characters were written on it: "Time."

I smiled faintly and said my last goodbye.

I became a leaf.

A cold chill ran down my spine, and I slowly opened my eyes with a small smile.

Snow was falling endlessly from the sky.

The winter wind still howled.

The puppy that had snuggled into my arms was nowhere to be found.

"Heh."

As I tried to stand, a sharp pain shot up my leg, forcing a short, guttural cry from my throat.

Though the wound hadn't healed, my body felt strangely light, almost as if I could fly.

Clenching my teeth, I used the only thing I could rely on my sword, the Guidance Sword and stood.

I walked for a long time through the snow, enduring the pain.

When I finally emerged from the valley, a ruined city appeared in the distance.

Cold and lifeless, it stood like a reflection of myself, shrouded in silence and secrets.

Without stopping, I kept walking toward it.

More Chapters