CHAPTER 644: CHAPTER 644 - UNTIL THE DAY I ENTER ETERNAL SLUMBER

Chapter 644 - Until the day I enter eternal slumber

’The fatigue is too high.’

For two whole days, his body and mind had been pushed to their limits in battle.

He couldn’t be in a normal state, not like usual.

It wasn’t carelessness.

Nor was he trying to rationalize his situation.

It was just a habit to reflect.

What should he do if this kind of situation comes up again?

Or how can he avoid creating this situation?

The latter was thinking based on the Luagarne-style training method.

It was a combat philosophy created by an individual, not paper-based theory.

The core of the thinking he had gained this time was vital, and one part of it was filled by the Luagarne-style combat philosophy.

Enkrid continued to refine this thinking further.

’The battle starts with securing a position.’

A spot where the sunlight doesn’t hit, a spot where the eyes aren’t blinded, a position away from the wind.

It’s about claiming even a small advantage.

It didn’t take long to conclude this because it wasn’t something to ponder over.

While the latter was combat theory, the former aligned with Enkrid’s innate tendencies, which explored methods using time and contemplation as weapons.

After a brief reflection, he came to a conclusion.

’There’s still room for improvement in both thought and body.’

When Will flows through the body, the body becomes stronger.

The term "Endure" described this in words.

’It’s a name given to a technique.’

By using Will to endure shock and pain, the skin becomes akin to that of a giant.

It’s like armor.

’Will strengthens the body.’

The person who first created Endure or the Iron Skin likely aimed to replicate the skin of a giant.

Once the skin is toughened, the goal would have been to strengthen the internal organs, muscles, and tendons.

So, does that mean Will alone is enough?

No.

Before seeing the effect of strengthening, the body itself had to be sturdy.

It’s clear that one needs a strong body and mind from the start.

This could be obtained through repeated training.

At this point, Enkrid’s abilities had surpassed the ordinary knight level, but if desire were a flame, his desire was so fierce it could burn mountains.

Thus, the conclusion was simple.

’More training.’

The two words remained in his mind.

He felt an unprecedented desire to focus on training and conditioning.

Having just slain a demon, he could have felt joy or satisfaction, but there wasn’t even a trace of such feelings.

This was the dream world.

The ferryman read Enkrid’s state of mind.

The churning river water suddenly grew still.

The ferryman stood at the edge of the boat, his face clearer than before.

"Still thinking about training?"

"Ah."

Enkrid raised his head, as if noticing the ferryman for the first time, though he didn’t make a fuss.

"Don’t pretend you just noticed. Mortal."

"Ah."

Enkrid nodded slightly.

"I know you’ve already noticed, but were pretending not to. Do you think I can’t read your thoughts or intentions here?"

"Ah..."

Unable to argue, Enkrid simply responded with an exclamation.

The ferryman didn’t get angry or agitated.

"Yeah, that’s you. I need to tell you something important. The blade you were struck by carries the demon’s will."

"Is that so?"

Enkrid nodded as if understanding, though he hadn’t fully grasped the meaning.

Typically, the ferryman would stop talking here, offering no further explanation.

"If you give in to that will, we’ll be able to see a new demon."

Enkrid felt strangely that the ferryman’s words were unusually kind, so he asked.

"Is it a curse?"

"A curse? Do you think something like that could influence me?"

The ferryman’s eyes blazed with purple light.

Truly, his eyes flashed with a violet flame.

"There is no such curse."

From the ferryman’s words, Enkrid realized several things.

The demon’s blade had carried a real curse, but it had been dealt with by the ferryman.

"Should I thank you?"

"No need."

Both of them, with their unorthodox thinking, exchanged their words in a clipped, almost impersonal manner.

Enkrid met the ferryman’s gaze.

Despite the rough, grayish skin, his sharp eyes and high nose were striking.

He resembled the warrior holding a shield that Enkrid had seen in his dreams.

With blonde hair and blue eyes, yes, it was a face that could almost be called a twin.

"Did you look like that?"

"So now you’re noticing my face."

"Because it’s showing."

Had Enkrid gotten closer to the ferryman, or had the ferryman allowed him to?

He couldn’t tell.

But it felt like an accident, or perhaps the ferryman had shown a little crack in his facade.

He would never ask, for no answer would come.

"Why did you help?"

It seemed that the ferryman, who had guided him in the right direction, was the one speaking now, so Enkrid asked.

"Because if you stayed stuck in today, there would be no fun watching."

The ferryman replied, a strange expression forming on his face.

His lips twisted in what almost looked like a smile, though it was more disturbing than friendly.

He briefly contorted his face into a grotesque smile before continuing.

"If you want to avoid death, struggle. You wouldn’t want today to repeat itself, would you? I left it open, deliberately, because I wanted to enjoy it."

Behind the ferryman, something was creeping closer.

There were thorns in his words.

Malevolence was evident.

While Enkrid silently observed, the ferryman finished his speech.

"Once you give in, it’s over."

Enkrid couldn’t understand the meaning of those words.

It was like trying to understand something he hadn’t yet experienced.

He blinked for a moment, and when he opened his eyes, the river, the ferryman, and the lamps had all vanished.

In their place stood a demon.

No, it was the demon before it had ever been called one.

Enkrid knew instinctively what it was, even though no one had told him.

A demon that had once been a fairy, hungry for fairy blood and flesh.

Originally, it had been a fairy.

A fairy that sought to rise higher, beyond simply draining vitality.

A fairy intoxicated by desire, who became a demon to climb even further.

The feeling was like a blade thrusting mercilessly, with desires and wants laid bare.

Who could understand such desperate longing, if not Enkrid?

"Look at me!"

Memories surged in, like a flood.

The will of the fairy, like mist, seeped in.

"See my life!"

The reason why the fairy became a demon, what lay behind that transformation.

The will began to corrupt.

The colors changed, blurred.

This was what the demon wanted.

Yet Enkrid, undeterred, ignored what the demon showed him.

It wasn’t that hard.

It was no different from dismissing the lessons of training, reflecting, or ignoring the fairy’s past life and its transition into a demon.

The demon struggled.

It needed to tempt its opponent.

"No. Accept my will. I will give you strength you cannot even imagine. I will help you grow Will!"

Enkrid never felt that his Will was lacking.

"I’ll make your body strong! I’ll help you surpass the limits of the human form!"

Audin had once said that apart from eating, drinking, and exercise, everything else was the wrong way.

You could use drugs to enhance the body, but such muscles would wither once the drug wore off.

When it came to building muscle and physical training, Audin didn’t budge an inch.

Even the Madmen respected this.

Even Rem had entrusted everything to Audin when it came to building Enkrid’s body through training.

"You are building today for tomorrow. That’s what training is."

Those were Audin’s words.

Enkrid accepted and agreed with that.

So, had he not trained his body with that giant stone and endured countless punches to toughen his body with Endure, wrapping himself in iron skin?

Thus, the demon’s words held no sway.

The demon’s attitude shifted.

In the dream, there was a faint smell of sweat, and the demon, in a frantic whisper, spoke through the darkened soot.

"I will give you a charm that can seduce any rational mind."

Enkrid had no use for that.

"...Damn it."

The demon had repeated its name countless times, but Enkrid let it go in one ear and out the other.

Perhaps because he knew how to listen, he also knew how to ignore.

With effortless composure, Enkrid erased the very existence of the fairy-turned-demon.

Hadn’t the fairy race refused even to name demons to deny them even the slightest power?

That was their way of dealing with them.

Enkrid took it a step further.

Absolute disregard.

The demon tried to carve its presence into reality through terror, but—yes, Enkrid was not the kind of man to be swayed by such things.

"Madman."

That was the demon’s dying cry.

But since Enkrid paid no mind to it, he quickly forgot.

He felt the opposite of darkness—light seeping in—and opened his eyes as he spoke.

"That was a good rest."

He woke from his dream.

His entire body still ached, though not as if he had wandered the desert.

His throat was a little dry.

As Enkrid sat up, a voice responded.

"What do you mean, ’good rest’?"

It was Luagarne, though Enkrid’s vision was still blurry.

He blinked a few times until his sight returned.

"I had a dream, but I don’t remember it."

Had the dead demon somehow overheard this, it would have cursed not only Enkrid but his ancestors as well.

"Talking about dreams at a time like this..."

This time, it was Fel speaking.

Enkrid looked up at an unfamiliar ceiling.

It seemed to be a room where fairies lived—

The scent of grass filled his nose, and the ceiling was woven from tree branches.

A sharp, acrid scent pricked his senses.

"The hero has awakened."

It was Bran.

Only then did Enkrid fully take in his surroundings.

Dozens of silent, watchful eyes greeted him, making the room feel even smaller.

The fairies packed the space, all standing.

"What exactly is going on here?"

Enkrid, a little startled, asked.

It felt like something straight out of a nightmare.

"In case anything happened, we gathered fairies who could pool their energy to save you. It’s a bit much, isn’t it?"

The answer came from Shinar.

The green-eyed fairy sat in a chair by his bedside.

Her tone was as cool as always—restrained emotions, yet faint goodwill beneath them.

For Enkrid, such things were commonplace.

"You slept for ten days."

Fel added the explanation.

"No wonder my body feels light."

"You were on the brink of death, you know that?"

"No."

Enkrid had forgotten about the demon that had raged in his dream.

Not just in words—he had utterly cast it from his memory.

He listened to what had happened to him in the meantime.

His eyes had turned red, he had wept blood, suffered nosebleeds, and his entire body had swollen from burst veins.

They said he had burned with a fever so severe his lips cracked and bled.

He could feel the scabs on them now.

And yet, despite everything, he wasn’t feeling particularly thirsty.

"Shinar didn’t leave your side for days, making sure you drank water."

As Bran spoke, Shinar quietly poured water from a wooden flask and took a sip herself.

She smiled faintly as she did, as if silently conveying how she had made him drink.

Then she swallowed the water.

In reality, she had used a specially crafted leaf funnel, but Enkrid had no way of knowing that.

There were dozens of fairies gathered in the room.

Among them, he recognized the fairy who had guided him before, though he couldn’t recall the name.

Today had already been too long, and he had exhausted everything to kill the demon.

There was no room left in his mind for remembering names.

Even the labyrinth’s path was fading from his memory.

"Hmm... You there, Jorman?"

Enkrid called out to the fairy who was supposedly in charge of the council.

"Who’s Jorman? I’m Ermen."

To the fairies, it must have seemed absurd that Enkrid had forgotten a name after just a few days.

But rather than taking offense, Ermen simply corrected him with boundless goodwill.

Even without words, his demeanor made it clear.

With that, Enkrid got a rough sense of the situation and judged that his condition wasn’t all that bad.

Shinar then rose from her seat.

As she did, the fairies around her stepped aside in perfect order.

Shinar Kiraheis—

The "Golden Flower" to the Border Guard,

A fairy who, in this land, was compared to a queen.

Taking his perspective into account, she knelt a few steps away and lowered her head.

Then she spoke.

"On behalf of all fairies, I express my gratitude to you, Enkrid of the Border Guard.

And before the representatives of every fairy clan present here, as well as your Frog and squire, I make this vow."

"Who are you calling a squire?"

Fel muttered, but apart from that, not a single person made a sound.

Whether this had been decided beforehand or they had simply expected Shinar to do this, Enkrid couldn’t tell.

Everyone remained silent.

Just waking up, Enkrid was unsure of what was happening,

But the solemn atmosphere kept him from speaking.

Shinar smiled.

Not the smile of the Golden Flower—

But a golden angel’s smile, flawless in symmetry.

Her lips, soft pink beneath her straight nose, parted as she spoke.

"Until the day I enter eternal slumber, whenever you wish—

I shall spar with you at any time."

Enkrid noticed how she had oddly paused mid-sentence, but he let it pass.

What Shinar had just said was a variation of the fairy marriage vow.

Normally, it would have been—

"Until the day I enter eternal slumber, I shall be with you."

She had altered the words.

***

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