I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 676: The One Who Attacks, The One Who Defends (4)

The aura gathering on the knight's sword flashed brilliantly.

The swordsmanship displayed by the Night Crawler Knights made Alex's eyes hurt.

'Wow. Surprisingly sophisticated and practical.'

The Night Crawler Knights didn't lower their guard against Alex at all.

They thoroughly regarded Alex as someone stronger than themselves and had no hesitation in coordinating their attacks accordingly.

Usually, knights were full of pride and rarely compromised in any situation but the Night Crawler Knights were different.

Unlike other knights, they were armed with rationality.

Even against a single enemy, they remained vigilant and thoroughly performed only their assigned roles.

Attack, retreat, defend, and look for openings.

There were no excessive attacks, and perhaps because of this, they didn't collide with their comrades.

'Their attacks are annoyingly smooth.'

Block one sword strike, and three more would come flying in.

Try to block or avoid those, and attacks would come from another direction.

When facing such coordinated attacks that seemed to allow no openings, even breathing felt difficult.

'And yet, if I try to eliminate just one of them, the one I target notices and retreats like a ghost.'

As if they had decided not to be greedy anymore.

The entire knight order functioned like a single precise machine.

The Night Crawler Knights were the cogs operating that mechanical device.

'Now I understand why the underworld finds the Night Crawler Knights so troublesome.'

While Stella Siren exhibited extraordinary power in the specific environment of the sea,

And Cold Steel adapted to frigid environments, making individual knights' combat capabilities superior,

Night Crawler's greatest strength was cooperation.

Combat methods armed with rationality solely for victory, with individual emotions restrained.

The fact that knights executed this approach made it not just irritating but chilling to face them.

It was natural that criminals in the underworld feared the Night Crawler Knights.

Their punishment of evil wasn't driven by a sense of justice or duty, but resembled labor like harvesting ripened rice during harvest season.

Of course, Alex wasn't flustered by this.

'I've already fought plenty of monsters without wills of their own.'

The wood zombies summoned by Ventmin in the Elven Kingdom of Renar-Tirone were exactly like that.

The wood zombies, created based on the biological genes of past elven heroes stored in the World Tree, were soldiers who didn't fear death.

Compared to them, the Night Crawler Knights were quite impressive and threatening, but not enough to be frightening.

'People must inherently possess fear.'

They were merely suppressing it.

If he could bring that out, the cracks would spread instantly.

After finishing his thoughts, Alex immediately put his plan into action.

First, Alex lightly deflected the sword flying toward his face.

Despite being a mere check aimed with aura, the way Alex swatted it away like a fly demonstrated his overwhelmingly superior skill.

The knight who would normally withdraw his sword using the repulsive force of the deflection frowned at the strange flow of power he suddenly felt.

'My sword... is being pulled in?'

Instead of being knocked back, the sword changed direction and shot toward another comrade.

Naturally, this was impossible in the Night Crawler Knights' normal coordination.

Both the knight who thrust the sword and the knight who nearly received the attack were surprised.

That's when Lloyd stepped in.

He blocked the sword midway and shouted:

"Don't panic! I'll cover any deficiencies!"

At Lloyd's shout, the coordination that nearly collapsed became solid again.

Alex inwardly clicked his tongue.

As expected, there were those who moved separately in anticipation of such cracks.

Like lubricant that keeps the cogs turning more precisely without breaking.

But Alex wasn't particularly disappointed.

"I would have been disappointed if you'd collapsed from such a trick."

Toward Alex, who uttered half-joking, half-serious words, aura-infused swords flew from five different directions.

All were deadly strikes aimed at Alex's vital points but Alex lightly spun in place and simultaneously, his sword carrying ash-colored aura rotated, drawing a large circle around him.

The auras flying from five directions began to be absorbed into that ash-colored circle.

Like being caught in a rapid current, the auras pulled by the enormous gravity merged together and shot in one precise direction.

Toward Lloyd, who was serving as the lubricant.

"Oh no."

Lloyd showed a troubled expression behind his glasses but raised his aura-infused sword to block the incoming aura.

-Bang!

With a tremendous impact, Lloyd's body flew backward.

It was an attack combining five knights' strikes, further amplified by Alex's power.

Despite Lloyd's role as Terina's adjutant, it was a force difficult to block easily.

Naturally, Lloyd was left vulnerable, and Alex tried to thrust his sword through that opening.

"As expected."

A greatsword approached within close range, deceiving his battle instinct.

Alex, as if anticipating this, smoothly rotated his thrusting sword and swung it toward the greatsword.

The trajectory was so natural that it seemed like he had been aiming for this greatsword from the beginning.

-Kwaaang!

Sparks flew as the aura-infused swords collided.

The impact was so strong that even the Night Crawler Knights retreated more than ten steps.

The only ones maintaining their positions were Alex himself and Terina Lionhowl, who stood facing him.

"It's a shame when the core power source of a mechanical device is missing."

Alex said this while looking at Terina.

The lubricant that makes the intricate mechanical parts turn.

But more important than that was the power source, the core that made the machine itself move.

"That swordsmanship."

Terina, holding the Giant Killer, frowned at the swordsmanship Alex had just displayed.

The swordsmanship utilizing the flow of power that Alex had shown was clearly the Tempest used by Luther Wardot.

"How did you do that?"

"Why? Surprised that I can use this? I might have learned from that old man."

"That's not something one can learn just by being taught."

"Hmm. That's right. Actually, that old man doesn't have the personality to teach his swordsmanship to others."

Alex grinned mischievously, showing his white teeth.

"So I just stole it."

Before Terina could ask what he meant, her sword felt a strong attraction pulling it somewhere.

It was momentary, but enough to disrupt her posture.

Alex's sword pierced through that gap, aiming for her heart, but Terina skillfully regained control of the flow of power, then swung the Giant Killer widely to shake off Alex.

"How many times do you think I've faced that swordsmanship? I know the counter measures well enough."

"Impressive. To think you'd shake off such gravity with mere strength."

Alex stabbed his sword into the ground.

It was just a light tap, but the result was far from light.

-Crack!

The ground began to twist into a spiral shape as if it were a twisted bread.

All Night Crawler Knights staggered.

He intended to create an opening by destroying the terrain itself.

"Where do you think you're going!"

Terina raised the Giant Killer and swung it with all her might.

The descending greatsword struck the ground with tremendous force, cleanly splitting the earth in two.

The power of the spiral Alex had created was also abruptly cut off.

With the massive impact, the ground split, and fragments scattered everywhere.

Terina's eyes searched for Alex.

'He's gone?'

He should have been standing there, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Looking for me?"

The voice came from right behind her.

Alex revealed himself, having been hiding among the large fragments of earth scattered in the air.

Terina quickly rotated her body and swung her sword, but hit nothing.

Only innocent fragments disappeared, cut by the Giant Killer.

Terina's gaze swept all around before turning upward.

Fragments were floating in the sky and Alex was standing on one of those fragments, looking down at her as if defying gravity.

Terina positioned herself to swing her sword again, but staggered slightly due to the collapsing ground.

'Was this his aim?'

To swing a greatsword like the Giant Killer, one naturally needed the strength to support it.

Especially to perform such swordsmanship, one needed to firmly plant both feet on the ground.

With the ground now breaking and crumbling, Terina's sword couldn't deliver its full power.

That was exactly what Alex had aimed for.

Now was the perfect opportunity, with the other knights unable to interfere due to the collapsing ground.

Alex moved as freely as a winged bird, kicking off the crumbling debris.

Just as Alex's sword was about to reach Terina's neck, a dagger flew from afar and struck Alex's sword.

-Clang!

In the midst of sparks flying through the air, Alex saw the dagger that had hit his sword and flown away.

It was a dagger with a familiar design.

Alex's eyes moved beyond the dagger, toward a woman glaring at him.

Enya and Alex's gazes locked in mid-air.

It was just a moment, but that opening was more than enough time for Terina.

Terina immediately regained her stance and swung her sword at Alex again.

It was a powerful strike and the pressure from the swing alone was enough to pulverize nearby fragments.

Combined with aura, its power was comparable to a natural disaster.

Of course, Alex had already retreated a sufficient distance.

Once the surprise attack failed, a counterattack was inevitable.

"Hmm. Not good."

Alex lightly dusted off his clothes.

He had wasted the opportunity he'd created so futilely.

"You got distracted."

"Well, it couldn't be helped."

Alex smiled and readjusted his grip on his sword.

This time, unlike before, he seemed ready to fight head-on.

Terina frowned at this.

Even if he had stolen the Tempest, did he intend to face her head-on while she wielded the Giant Killer?

Terina's doubt changed the moment she saw Alex's weapon.

"You think you're the only one with Gladius Arts?"

The appearance of the sword Alex was holding had changed.

It was now identical to the greatsword, Giant Killer, that Terina was holding and the stance Alex took was identical to Terina's stance, as if looking in a mirror.

"To become a master, one must use the best tools."

Gladius Arts [Copy Cat].

Pantos gripped his harpoon.

The muscles in his forearm bulged like writhing worms as he gripped the harpoon's handle.

Just from that, the surrounding air trembled and rumbled.

The water, which had already risen to his thighs, naturally surged in response.

Johann, the leader of Stella Siren, felt a chill run down his spine at the sight.

When was it? When had he felt a similar sense of crisis?

As a reckless 7-year-old kid, when he jumped into the sea and encountered a giant great white shark?

Or when he was flirting with Elisa Willow, Terina's friend, and got hit with a 6th tier grand magic?

Or when he recently had a big fight with Commander Luther?

All were life-threatening incidents in Johann Oceans' life.

And now, a new one was being added to that danger list.

-Splash!

The sea split apart.

Though it was a pseudo-field created through aura, its properties were similar to the sea.

Despite being an environment that posed an instinctive threat to beastmen, Pantos paid no heed.

The impact of his harpoon thrust miraculously divided the sea left and right.

Flying through that gap was a harpoon attached to a massive anchor chain.

However, the waiting Reinhardt deflected the incoming harpoon.

"Ugh."

The harpoon's power was so great that despite striking it with an aura-filled sword, Leonhart was pushed back.

The one who grasped the harpoon as it bounced into the air was Pantos, who had jumped high.

Pantos retrieved the harpoon, then spun the anchor attached to the opposite end of the chain like a windmill before throwing it at Johann.

It looked like a falling meteorite.

"Wait, is he really a beastman?"

Johan muttered in disbelief as he leaped to avoid the incoming anchor.

Around the time the battle intensified in the First Checkpoint City,

The remaining forces of the Temple Crusaders passed through the First Checkpoint City and headed toward the Galahad Fortress.

They planned to finish off the Demon King as quickly as possible while the Empire's knights bought them time.

But they had to stop when they saw the enormous tree that appeared before them.

"Why is there a...in front of the fortress..."

A single tree, rising so high it seemed to pierce the sky.

It resembled the World Tree they had only heard about in stories.