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The Siege of the Daemon City (4)
“Hey, you’re looking a lot better than you have in a long time, Abel.”
“Kuh!?”
When Abel, Knight Commander of the First Order of Caenista Kingdom, heard that voice close by, he instinctively turned around and swung his greatsword sideways.
“Oops!”
The owner of the voice easily avoided the blow of the sword, which even caused a whirlwind, and confronted Abel at a distance of several meters.
“You are the Black Knight of the Demon Army, aren’t you?”
Abel aimed the tip of his great sword, which had a faint lustre, at the warrior in all-black armor.
The Demon Army’s Black Knight. He was thought to be one of the Demon Army’s strongest swordsmen, judging by how he was the first to take the lead on this battlefield, slaying 30 knights in the blink of an eye and giving a high laugh as if provoking them.
As proof, he was able to repel the Royal Family’s Guardian Spirit several times and was able to stop the invasion of the numerically superior Caenista army.
The figure was dressed in full face and full-body armour that completely covered his entire body, including the movable parts, which Caenista, which had eliminated most of the subhuman craftsmen such as dwarves, could never have produced.
Black full-body armor was an oddity, but it was not unheard of among adventurers with eccentric tastes. Abel’s father, Bert the Sword Saint, also said that he favored black armor when he was an adventurer with eccentric tastes.
However, it was not just a mere imitation of black painted over iron, but a slightly shiny “black” without irregularities, as if it were not painted but made of black metal, with precise patterns like scales, shining slightly reddish-black as if it were breathing, which was truly befitting armor for A Daemon. He could only think of it as “evil”.
Abel drew his sword at him, and the black knight waved his fingertips left and right as if to deny him, returning in a slightly amused voice, though he couldn’t see his face.
“No, no. I am the Black Knight, but I am not part of the Demon Lord’s Army.”
“Nonsense
”
Nonetheless, Abel felt a cold sweat run down his entire body as he felt threatened by the alleged Demon Lord, who was being tucked away in the midst of a crowd of higher level demons, any one of which could be a threat.
He was not sure from a distance, but the figure in red dress looked a lot like the adventurer [Witch] who knocked him down ten years ago. However, the intimidating presence was incomparable to that time, and he was convinced that whatever that presence was, it was a presence that should not be allowed to go to the back where the Queen and the Duke of Prata were.
“In the name of Abel, the First Knight Commander, I will not allow you to do as you please any longer!”
“Well
 the little boy certainly has risen to the occasion.”
“Shut up, you fool!”
*Clank!
Abel’s greatsword and the black knight’s greatsword collide and sparks scattered.
“You’ve strengthened your skill, haven’t you!”
“You’re still mocking me!”
Abel strikes again and again with his sword, but the black knight was able to catch and parry with his rough but steady movements. The black knight’s jet-black greatsword was not even nicked by the beating, but on the contrary, the mithril greatsword was worn away little by little.
However, as they clashed, Abel felt a sense of dĂ©jĂ  vu and discomfort in the black knight’s voice, attitude, and, above all, in the black knight’s swordsmanship, and he involuntarily distanced himself from the black knight.
“What, are you tired?”
“Who are you? How do you know me? Show yourself, you coward!”
“What, you still don’t get it?”
At Abel’s words, the black knight lets out a sound of amusement and dismay, then removes his helmet to reveal his true face.
“Hey, it’s me.”
“What? Father!”
When he realized that the black knight was Bert, the former leader of the First Order who had gone missing, not only Abel but also the knights of the First Order who were watching the battle let out a shriek.