Death's Door

I fought him again, using what I learned from the fight before. Yet I still lost.

With each fight, I found out that this knight is the worst possible opponent for me, for one move I learn to counter; he comes up with five more.

The longest I lasted against him in any of my loops was a minute, after which he took me down rather easily.

I already faced him 74 times. This would be my 75th attempt. If I die, I come back right at the moment he finds me. There is no other way out of this, I have to fight through him.

I learned through my loops that the knight of light is not only capable of using light and earth elements, but he was also capable of using long ranged wind attacks, water element blades, and the blazing power of the fire.

It seems however that he is not capable of using darkness element, but suffices to say, he used everything else. That knight of night, I remember, he was the darkness element user.

Also, it seems that Knight of Light prefers to use light based attacks first, combined with his superior swordsmanship, in a slash at a speed of light. That seems to be the first move he makes. He resorts to using other elements the moment his sword is no longer in his hands. I see, he was proficient in using light element with swordsmanship but the other elements did not seem to fit well with his style. With observing him so many times, I am beginning to have slight knack at reading him.

Now he took his signature stance. He always takes that stance before he delivers a light speed slash. It takes a few seconds for him to concentrate and condense mana before unleashing it.

This was bad. He exceeded me at everything.

He was by far a better swordsman. Not that I am a good swordsman myself. In fact, before meeting him, I never really used a sword as a weapon, more like a sharp club, nothing more. He showed me just how much difference there was between a master and an amateur like me. In my previous loops, when I managed to block his sword strike, his sword casually sliced through me sword, rendering me weaponless.

In the loops that I managed to trick him into being unarmed, he showed me just how proficient he was in elemental arts. Crushing me with earth, burning with a fire barrage, slicing with water, shocked with lightning, and suffocating me with wind. I cannot believe he is not some kind of a deity; he is too strong to be human.

I am not sure how to beat him, now he will slash me again and we will be starting this game all over again, with an endless cycle of being killed by him.

Then, unexpectedly, I ended up slipping on the dirt on the ground. Right, there was rain just the other day. The ground was still moist, with the dirt having not yet absorbed all the moisture, so I ended up slipping on the slippery surface. I ended up falling over backwards.

At this exact moment, the knight of light launched his attack. His blade pa.s.sed harmlessly through the air. He stood, confused that his attack did not land. His feet were right next to my face.

This was a perfect chance. Before he turned around, I stabbed him with a dagger at his left leg, sinking the blade deep into the back of his knee.

He cringed from pain. He held his leg in pain, staring at me with eyes full of hatred.

Not looking at what he would do next, I stood up quickly and slashed him across his back with the sword.

I did not check his pulse. I ran away from his body as fast as my feet could carry me towards the city gates.

In my mind, I couldn"t help thinking "I won, I won…I finally won!" It may have been by accident, but had I not slipped on the wet puddle on the ground, I would have never got the chance to beat him. Finally, my nightmare was over.

It took me 75 tries, so many deaths, but it was well worth it. I beat the one who seemed to be unbeatable, just when I gave up hope, I managed to defeat him.

I couldn"t help but smile as I ran towards where Aida and Sariu were waiting for me.