Chapter 045: The Black Knight
The blade of the Gale Shadow Strike scraped against the pitch-black metal shield, casting a spray of sparks.
Emerging before Kazama Leaf King, a dark entity clad in medieval knight’s armor stepped forth, the very air around its form exuding a chilling, dreadful pressure.
The Black Knight!
Su Cheng’s eyes narrowed, an immediate sense of mortal peril pressing down upon him. Instinctively, he sprang backward.
In the very instant Su Cheng dodged, the Dark Knight, shield in one hand and a menacing longsword in the other, swung the blade at him with lethal force.
Boom!
The sword cleaved downwards, carving a deep groove into the brick-paved ground.
“A dark entity? What terrifying strength.” Su Cheng silently thanked his quick reflexes—had he not moved in time, that blow would have claimed his life.
Yet barely had he steadied himself when the Dark Knight, shield raised and sword at the ready, charged at him in a blur.
Shield Bash!
The cold metal shield crashed down with brutal force. Su Cheng raised his blade in defense, but the sheer power transmitted through the shield sent him flying.
The Dark Knight pressed on like a heavily armored tank, raising its sword to thrust at Su Cheng’s vitals.
In a flash, Su Cheng kicked off the metal shield, sending himself careening backward, narrowly escaping the fatal strike.
“That was close,” he exhaled.
Yet witnessing the Dark Knight’s fearsome prowess, Su Cheng felt a surge of excitement. This was the perfect opportunity to temper his swordsmanship.
Meanwhile, players watching the live stream on their phones were left speechless.
“That masked man actually forced Leaf King to summon the Black Knight. Is he really a rookie?”
“No way! Leaf King’s Black Knight can go toe-to-toe with light mechs, even hacking them to scrap metal. Yet the masked man blocked his attacks.”
The blond man drew a sharp breath. He’d previously nursed a grudge against Su Cheng, wanting to settle the score. But after witnessing Su Cheng’s battle with the Black Knight, he immediately dismissed any thought of revenge.
They simply weren’t on the same level.
“So what if he’s holding out? The masked man can’t break through the Black Knight’s defense. If he keeps fighting, he’ll just be worn down and defeated. The moment Lord Leaf King summoned the Black Knight, the match was already decided,” Leaf King’s devoted fan declared with shining eyes.
In the arena, the Black Knight leapt high, its icy longsword descending toward Su Cheng’s head.
Su Cheng sprang aside, dodging the strike, then circled behind the Black Knight, slashing at its nape.
Despite the heavy armor, the Black Knight’s reactions and speed were astonishing. Almost as soon as Su Cheng attacked, it spun 180 degrees, shield interposed.
Clang!
Su Cheng’s blade struck the shield, a powerful recoil numbing his palm and nearly making him lose his grip.
“It seems I’ll have to find a way to get rid of that shield, or I’ll never break through his defenses.”
Rubbing his numbed hand, Su Cheng suddenly charged straight at the Dark Knight, blade raised.
“He’s going head-to-head with the Black Knight? Has the masked man given up?” The spectators watching were all stunned by Su Cheng’s reckless charge.
Yet, in the very moment he reached the Black Knight, his figure blurred and vanished from its sight.
“Left side!” Kazama Leaf King’s expression changed, shock in his eyes.
The next instant, Su Cheng struck from the flank, his blade biting hard into the Black Knight’s shield-bearing left arm.
The razor-sharp edge wedged into the joint of the armor, and with a forceful slash, Su Cheng lopped off a segment of the Black Knight’s arm.
As the severed limb tumbled to the ground, Su Cheng saw that the interior of the armor was empty—only a swirling mass of inky black mist tangled within.
He kicked the fallen metal shield away, and with a flash of his blade, struck at the now undefended Black Knight.
But just then, the severed arm, guided by the black mist, reattached itself to the knight’s body. The Dark Knight now gripped its sword with both hands, and unleashed a Black Cross Slash at Su Cheng!
As the Black Knight swung, a suffocating aura of murderous intent swept out like a storm.
The Crusader’s killing swordsmanship!
Kazama Leaf King’s summoned Black Knight had been a Crusader commander in life; the lethal art it wielded was forged through the slaughter of tens of thousands, and Su Cheng felt immense pressure the moment it was unleashed.
Without the shield, the Black Knight’s attacks grew only more ferocious and relentless.
Black sword-light swept down. Su Cheng parried, but the horrifying force transmitted from the knight’s sword pinned him to the cold arena floor.
He kicked at the knight’s iron armor, rolled back, steadied his breath, and charged in again, locking into a fierce melee.
Though the Black Knight’s killing swordsmanship was vastly different from the blade arts Su Cheng had mastered, he learned much from this opponent, refining his own techniques to greater perfection.
“Something’s not right. That masked man is actually beginning to match the Black Knight’s rhythm,” Kazama Leaf King’s expression grew complicated as he watched.
At first, Su Cheng had been on the defensive, battered by the Black Knight’s onslaught, unable to counterattack. But as the battle wore on, he adapted to the knight’s rhythm, even fighting back and exchanging blows evenly.
“I see—the masked man is using my Black Knight as a free sparring partner to hone his swordsmanship!”
Only now did Kazama Leaf King realize Su Cheng’s intentions, a wry smile tugging at his lips.
The Black Knight’s Crusader swordsmanship was at least C-rank—a rare and precious opponent for Su Cheng to train against.
Their battle raged for over twenty minutes, until Su Cheng found an opening and plunged the Gale Shadow deep into the Black Knight’s chest.
Since the Black Knight was a spirit, this blow wouldn’t kill it. But the demonic energy infused in the blade would slowly sap its strength.
The next moment, the Black Knight dissolved into a wisp of black smoke and vanished before Su Cheng.
“Huh? The battle isn’t over, so why did the Black Knight disappear?” Su Cheng looked at Kazama Leaf King in puzzlement. There’d been no clear winner between him and the Black Knight, yet the knight had withdrawn early.
It was like reaching the climax with your girlfriend, only for her to suddenly deflate just as you’re about to round the bases...
Kazama Leaf King gave a wry smile. “Summoning the Black Knight consumes tremendous spiritual energy. I no longer have enough to sustain him. You’ve won this match.”
With that, Kazama Leaf King conceded without hesitation, withdrawing from the arena.
“Leaf King actually lost? That doesn’t make sense—did he throw the match?”
“No way! My Leaf King can’t lose. There must be some mistake.”
“Don’t you get it? Leaf King ran out of spiritual energy. The masked man won this one.”
By now, hundreds of viewers had gathered in the arena’s livestream. When they saw Kazama Leaf King admit defeat, the chat exploded in uproar.
Some, always eager for drama, even uploaded recordings of the match to the horror game forums.
Kazama Leaf King was well-known in the arena, with no shortage of fans and admirers. The moment the battle video was posted, it drew widespread attention.
The match also sparked heated debate and controversy.
Some questioned whether the masked man’s skill truly surpassed Kazama Leaf King’s, claiming it was pure luck. Others suspected Kazama Leaf King had thrown the fight on purpose. The forum quickly split into two camps.
One side, led by Leaf King’s devoted fans, argued that Kazama Leaf King had already expended his spiritual energy in earlier matches, so the masked man had merely taken advantage. Otherwise, he’d never have stood a chance.
The other side, consisting of new fans won over by the masked man, insisted Kazama Leaf King was simply a sore loser who had sent shills to muddy the waters. In a fair fight, the masked man would utterly crush him.
Unaware of the forum debates, Su Cheng left the arena after defeating Kazama Leaf King.
The grueling fight with the Black Knight had exhausted him completely. Moreover, his next opponents would all be monstrously strong professionals—he had no chance of winning in his current state.
After leaving the arena, Su Cheng received a friend request.
The sender’s name: Kazama Leaf King.
He accepted, and almost immediately received a message:
“You’re strong. I look forward to our next battle.”
Su Cheng smiled, but didn’t reply. Instead, he opened his character skills interface.
To his delight, his Sword Mastery skill had just gained 150 proficiency points.
A glance at the experience bar showed he still needed 800 more points to raise Sword Mastery to C-rank. The most effective way to gain proficiency would be daily practice and more battles.
“Your arena rewards have been issued. Please check your inbox.”
“Congratulations, player Su Cheng, for earning the 9-win Arena Reward: [Small Soul Crystal] x38, [Beginner First Aid Skill Book] x5!”
After claiming his rewards, Su Cheng opened the item enhancement interface and placed Gale Shadow into the dimensional enhancement device.
Enhancing a rare weapon required 12 soul crystals and 100 game points per attempt—an expensive process, but with a guaranteed success rate.
“Enhance job item [Gale Shadow]?”
After confirming, a chime sounded from his phone: enhancement successful.
With enough soul crystals for three rounds, Su Cheng upgraded Gale Shadow to +3.
[Gale Shadow] (+3)
Type: Tachi
Rarity: Rare
Attack Power: Strong
Attack Speed: Extremely Fast
Attribute: Darkness
Skill: Infinite Shadow Blades—unleashes countless shadow blades to attack the target, with a high chance to inflict serious damage (Note: the number of shadow blades depends on the user’s spiritual power)
Enhancement Effect: Ignores 30 points of defense when dealing slashing damage; weapon attack speed +3%
“Ignores defense?”
Seeing the new effect, Su Cheng’s eyes lit up with excitement. If he could max out the defense-ignoring slashing damage, even the toughest tanks would crumble before him as if made of paper.
The next day dawned clear and bright.
Su Cheng rose early and boarded the train to university.