How to Live as a Knight After the Ending
Chapter 278: Dead Dagger (2)

Osian doesn't know why Malina harbors such hatred toward the Dead Dagger.

But the fact that the technique she uses is related to the Dead Dagger.

The fact that she's looking for a woman called Sabrina who is presumed to have created the Dead Dagger.

Even the fact that the Dead Dagger is also targeting Malina.

Combining all of these facts, he could roughly guess what had happened between them in the past.

'Malina is probably the masterpiece created by the woman called Sabrina.'

This is common with rogues' guilds.

They capture talented children and raise them harshly and cruelly from a young age.

They create emotionless killing machines that are loyal to the organization.

Without any human rights, they push and modify them through violence, drugs, and harsh environments.

'It's similar to what Loraine went through.'

Loraine and her comrades were raised to be killing machines by the military.

And the memories of that time were still tormenting Loraine.

Osian saw the image of his comrade overlapping with this half-elf woman.

‘Haah.’

Osian sighed inside his helmet and closed his eyes.

A Dead Dagger assassin wrapped in shadow fell vertically and the pitch-black dagger aimed for the crown of Osian's head.

"Danger...!"

Malina's warning was cut short because the Dead Dagger assassin's body split like firewood and scattered to Osian's left and right.

To cut it down without even looking—a chill ran down Malina's spine.

'He's really strong.'

She knew that the Blood Brotherhood wasn't just a kind and righteous organization but these people were like her. They had gathered to help each other because they had been abandoned and ignored.

Even if others cursed and pointed fingers at them as terrorists, to Malina, they were her precious family.

That's why Malina had a deeper affection for them than anyone else.

That's why the news that the youngest, Daver, had been hurt made her furious.

Wondering who dared to hurt her family, she came to find them herself.

'I didn't expect this level...'

Daver wasn't weak by any measure, but now she understood why he had been defeated.

Osian was strong. She recalled what the eldest sister, Grace, had said about not messing with him.

'The big sister already knew this...'

How should she describe the sight of a knight in brilliant white armor defeating enemies?

It made her feel fearful yet sacred, overwhelmed yet impressed.

‘Reverence.’

Watching Osian fight evoked such feelings.

"Huh?"

Malina felt the cloak binding her body loosen.

The Nebula Silk that had bound her like a whip returned to its original form as a cloak.

"Keep your promise."

"...!"

Malina opened her eyes wide, then nodded.

-Swish.

The shadow at her feet rose like a mirage and became a hood covering her face.

Malina gripped shadow daggers in both hands and disappeared from her spot.

After she vanished without a sound or presence, the sound of Dead Dagger assassins collapsing one after another could be heard from within the purple poisonous mist.

Malina had begun to eliminate them one by one with certainty.

'She's excellent in one-on-one combat, to show such overwhelming power even against other assassins.'

This was partly possible because the Dead Dagger assassins who came here were essentially inferior versions.

'These guys charge in without knowing the fear of death. They are literally dead daggers themselves.'

Because of all kinds of mental modifications, they didn't know fear so they kept throwing themselves in even knowing they would die.

'They wouldn't be doing this without knowing the difference in skill.'

In a situation like this where damage keeps accumulating, they would normally try to respond somehow but still, they kept repeating the pattern of jumping into the poisonous mist and disappearing like moths to a flame.

A word flashed through Osian's mind.

'Disposable cards.'

Components that can be replaced no matter how many die, not even worth caring about, just to be consumed but cunning rogues and assassins wouldn't mindlessly consume parts like this.

No matter what, they would have some use for them.

'The fact that they're grinding through this much manpower means they're trying to create an opening on our side.'

The lower rogues were bait to disperse our concentration and draw attention.

The real enemies were probably preparing to finish us off decisively from within the shadows.

Osian swung his left hand holding the shield widely.

Something flew away with a thud from the empty space.

Despite being caught by Osian's surprise attack, the shadow twisted its body in mid-air and landed on the ground with both feet.

Though it immediately regained its posture, it staggered slightly. It couldn't completely deflect the power of the shield collision.

It tried to counterattack while barely focusing, but Osian's sword was faster.

-Stab!

Osian's sword pierced the assassin's heart.

The assassin, with eyes wide open, firmly grasped Osian's arm with both hands even as blood trickled from its mouth.

'This one.'

Indeed, it was of a different level from the others who had just been collapsing.

The fact that it could regain its posture and respond even after being ambushed indicated that it must be from the main force of the Dead Dagger.

The assassin's shadow rippled, and three assassins emerged from it.

The shadow weapons they held targeted the seams and gaps in the Starlight armor.

"Hmph."

Osian snorted and took a firm stance.

His greaves strongly pressed down on the ground. With the shock wave, all of the Dead Dagger rogues were thrown outward.

Resistance was impossible. The rogues, like sheets of paper, had no chance against such overwhelming physical force.

Osian put strength into his body in that state and spun around once in place.

The pure white Starlight drew a clean circle along the trajectory.

-Slash!

Three heads caught in the circle's trajectory fell and rolled on the ground.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

Battles were raging elsewhere too.

Every time Kudan threw a punch, compressed air exploded, and Dead Dagger members burst.

If before they were just getting hit and flying away, now they were falling to pieces at the touch of his fist.

The same went for Malina.

She was killing the assassins from unseen places. The way they collapsed without a sound was like watching them fall asleep.

Those who had spent their lives only killing others couldn't put up a fight when assassinated by a superior predator.

They were responding in ways that defied common sense, but on the other side were those with forces that transcended common sense.

It meant the difference in level was already substantial.

'But it's strange.'

Osian felt an odd sense of discomfort.

'This is a fight that didn't necessarily need my involvement; those two siblings could have handled it sufficiently well. No, they would have won overwhelmingly.'

It was the same even if a sharp dagger had been hidden in the gap of consuming components.

They were still being pushed back helplessly.

Could the Dead Dagger really not have anticipated the strength of those two siblings?

'Traditionally, rogues' guilds are famous for not properly engaging in fights without winning odds.'

The fact that they came out so directly like this means they chose to act because they saw an opportunity to try.

Considering that they would only move with at least a 70%, no, 80% chance of success...

'They must have more hidden cards.'

Osian wondered whether to warn them or not.

Although they were fighting together now, originally they weren't exactly on good terms with the Blood Brotherhood but something approached faster than that warning.

-Hisssss.

Thicker smoke billowed out from within the fog.

Hot and humid steam engulfed the surrounding area like a sea fog. The air became sticky due to the steam.

The Dead Dagger assassins who had been persistently clinging to them retreated as if they had received orders that this would happen.

'Something has come.'

Osian looked at the place where the steam had surged.

Through the blurry view, one huge shadow appeared.

-Clank.

Every step made the ground shake slightly.

One bright red glow rose from within the ashy gray fog. It appeared to be over 5 meters in height.

What revealed itself was a giant robot.

'A steam suit? No, it's different from that. It's much larger. And it's thinner.'

Steam suit. The bipedal war machine commonly called a "Full Metal Ogre" was a type of exoskeleton armor that a person directly boards and controls.

The steam suit is one endpoint of the strange development of science using steam.

From digging tunnels to moving heavy loads for industrial use, to combat use in wars.

'In a way, the armored soldiers shown by the Defense Force's army were wearing steam suits.'

The suits worn by the Defense Force armored troops were smaller in spec than other steam suits.

But they couldn't be dismissed just because they were small. They were items that increased the wearer's mobility and maximized their capabilities.

In other words, generally, the larger a steam suit is, the worse its efficiency is perceived to be.

In the end, a person has to board and move it, but if the specs are too large, it becomes impossible for the pilot to control.

Besides the required energy power, the biggest issue was that the suit moved too slowly compared to the pilot's reaction speed.

Not only were the movements sluggish, but it took over 3 seconds just to move one arm, and the large body made it a perfect target for concentrated fire.

'And if you try to increase defense, the weight increases, making it much heavier.'

This was precisely why giant steam suits hadn't emerged.

Rather, excessive size only appeared strong, but in terms of cost and efficiency, it was the worst.

Even industrial ones aren't that big, but what was visible now seemed to exceed 5 meters.

However, despite its enormous size, it appeared not to weigh that much.

Looking closely, endless steam was being discharged from the giant pack on its back.

'The fog that appeared is because of that.'

It seemed that whatever was acting as a propulsion device was bearing the load.

'If that thing moves, does it mean there's a pilot inside? Some new type? Or maybe there's no pilot.'

Such a giant machine doesn't necessarily need a pilot inside because robots called automatons that replace humans exist.

Automatons are robots capable of performing from simple household chores to various repetitive tasks.

Automatons can also be produced for combat purposes, and their size can be increased as well.

The advantage that only automatons have, which steam suits don't, is that they can move immediately without response lag no matter how giant they are when commanded.

The major disadvantage is that, unlike being controlled by a human, their ability to cope with situations is very poor.

This is because there are limitations to the artificial intelligence controlling automatons.

So like David, people sometimes directly remotely control automatons from the outside by connecting magical threads to them.

'Whatever it is, the fact is that a new type of enemy that we haven't seen before has appeared.'

The enemy wasn't just that giant body.

Behind it, like a legion standing in formation, there was a crow-masked unit wrapped in shadows.

Just from the atmosphere, it was clear that this was the real main force meant to deal with our side.

"That's..."

Kudan and Malina must be seeing such a thing for the first time too, as they seemed to be cautious for a moment.

Perhaps they hadn't expected the Dead Dagger to bring such modern weapons, thinking they only had assassins.

[My, my. I was wondering what was going on since we couldn't catch them despite investing so much manpower.]

At that moment, a human voice echoed from the robot body exceeding 5 meters.

[I didn't know there would be such an unexpected strange guest mixed in.]

"Did that thing just speak?"

Osian asked, but Kudan and Malina didn't answer.

They were also considerably surprised by the fact that the giant robot had spoken.

[My, is it so surprising that I speak? That's quite unfair.]

"It doesn't seem like a person is riding it."

That robot's appearance was different from other steam suits.

It exaggerated the human form aggressively, one might say.

Ordinary steam suits have an upper body that is bizarrely huge compared to the inadequate lower body, with large arms, to crush things with giant fists.

But that one had a more fluid appearance, unlike regular steam suits.

Adding a bit of exaggeration, it was like looking at a skinny, lanky person.

The arms and legs were bizarrely long, while the waist was strangely thin. The face, with just one red vizor eye, had a very pointed and sleek design.

Unlike the image of a rugged suit, it had a very near-future-like exterior.

To maintain such a height, the armor would inevitably have to be reduced, but there didn't seem to be space for a person to ride in that thin body.

Above all, Osian's instinct was telling him that there was no 'person' inside.

'But it doesn't seem to be remotely controlled either.'

That seemed like something they would find out once they fought.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.