In the quiet night, a solitary church stood just beyond the city limits. It was dimly lit, yet flickering shadows could still be discerned.
Inside the church, a middle-aged man with streaks of gray in his hair hurriedly paced back and forth, gathering his belongings. Suddenly, a creak echoed through the hall as the side door opened, revealing a young man clad in worn armor. Rust was visible in some places, and a once-pristine white cloak with a hood, now dulled, draped over his shoulders.
As the young man entered, he witnessed the older man's frantic packing and called out in surprise, "Elder Tarvin, what are you doing?"
Tarvin's face flickered with astonishment upon hearing the young man's voice. He turned and exclaimed, "Niro, you've returned already?!"
His eyes darted about nervously as if wrestling with some internal dilemma.
"Yes, as you instructed, I went to the city discreetly to gather information about the red stone," Niro replied, stepping closer to Tarvin.
Tarvin seemed to reach a decision, his eyes betraying a mix of emotions before settling on fear. "Ah, yes, Niro. It's good you made it back. Now, return to your room and gather your things. Our true identities have been exposed, so we must flee immediately."
"We've been discovered?" Niro's voice wavered, a flicker of terror crossing his face as disturbing images flashed through his mind. Unconsciously, he turned to follow Tarvin's instructions and retrieve his belongings.
Before he could take a step, a faint light streaked towards him. In the next instant, he felt his body go limp, powerless to move. Niro collapsed forward, his face slamming into the cold stone floor.
"Forgive me, Niro. I'm so sorry," Tarvin's voice quavered as he muttered his apology.
Niro could only listen helplessly as Tarvin grabbed his legs and dragged him to the center of the hall, where a pulpit stood. He propped Niro's paralyzed form against it.
Throughout this ordeal, Niro remained mute, fear and despair mounting within him. His dark golden eyes desperately sought Tarvin's gaze, silently pleading for an explanation.
Tarvin deliberately avoided eye contact. After securing Niro against the pulpit, he glanced anxiously towards the door. Seeing no one there yet, he raised his hand, palm facing Niro's chest. A weak blue light emanated from his hand, striking Niro.
Observing Tarvin's actions, Niro's spirit plummeted into despair. He recognized the paralysis spell, knowing that if he had been able to face it head-on with his blessed aura activated, he could have easily resisted. But he had lost his chance when he turned his back to Tarvin.
"I'm sorry, Niro. I don't want to die..." Tarvin's voice trembled as he cast another glance at the door. It swung open, and several armored figures bearing an ominous emblem entered, flanking the entrance to create a path down the center.
Heavy footsteps approached, and a man taller than the knights, his face obscured by a mask, strode into the hall. His gaze fell first on Tarvin, who bowed his head and stepped aside. Then those hidden eyes shifted to Niro, slumped against the pulpit.
The masked figure advanced, his footfalls sending tremors through the floor that Niro could feel. Niro looked up at the imposing figure, his face pale and eyes wide with terror.
"So the last of the Holy Knights meets his end in such a pitiful state," the masked man's voice rumbled with a hint of amusement. "I had hoped to face you in combat, but it seems that won't be necessary."
A metallic scraping sound filled the air as the man drew an enormous sword from his back. Niro's eyes fixated on the blade, his mind resigned to his fate. He cast one last glance at Tarvin, who averted his gaze, unable to meet Niro's eyes.
For a brief moment, anger flared within Niro. If he could have, he would have lashed out at everyone present. But in the next instant, the sword plunged through his heart, pinning him to the pulpit.
Pain caused Niro's eyes to narrow as he stared at the blade protruding from his chest. His consciousness began to fade, darkness encroaching on his vision. As the last vestiges of awareness slipped away, his faith crumbled. From the depths of his mind, a maddening desire for vengeance emerged. With his final thoughts, he silently vowed, "I wish I could erase all these wretched beings from existence, banishing them to the void beyond even hell..."
His consciousness vanished, but unnoticed by all, a faint wave of energy pulsed outward.
The masked man, seeing that Niro had ceased breathing, withdrew his sword and returned it to its sheath. Niro's body slumped to the side, and Tarvin, witnessing this, felt as if a piece of his soul had been severed.
"Let's go. Two of you stay behind to deal with the body. The rest will return to the lord," the masked man commanded. Following his orders, two knights remained while the others filed out after their leader.
Tarvin cast one last glance at Niro's body before following the masked man.
But something secret and slow was occurring, unnoticed by all. The blood that had been dripping onto the church floor ceased its flow. And the wounded heart began to mend itself.
The two knights lifted Niro's body and exited through the church's rear door. The moon, hidden behind clouds, cast an eerie pall over the scene. They carried the corpse a distance from the church and, taking shovels, began to select a burial spot. As they worked together, they failed to notice Niro's hand twitch.
Suddenly, the eyes hidden beneath the dirt-stained hood flew open. For a fleeting moment, a blood-red light flickered within them before fading back to their original dark gold hue.
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"Where am I?" The thought flashed through his mind as he abruptly turned towards the knights digging nearby. Upon seeing the emblem on their armor, a sharp pain lanced through him, accompanied by a flood of unpleasant memories.
"Huh? Did I end up in another world? Holy Knight? Niro?"
The body of Niro, who had just been killed, was now inhabited by a soul from another dimension. The soul's name was Alex, a withdrawn and rather peculiar individual from 21st century Earth.
Alex had grown up in an abusive household and faced bullying at school. He endured it all, just as he had endured the abuse at home. Upon entering university, he struggled to overcome his ingrained personality, causing others to distance themselves from him.
As a result, he retreated into the world of video games, further isolating himself. The last thing he remembered was playing a game with cheats enabled. Then, he felt a sudden wave of drowsiness, followed by someone muttering something about erasing all evil beings.
Now, opening his eyes, he found himself in another world, inhabiting the body of a Holy Knight who had trained since childhood in righteousness and the protection of the weak. Niro's situation had been dire; orphaned at a young age, he had been trained by other Holy Knights, but after a war, all the Holy Knights were exterminated.
He had been forced into hiding with his assistant, Tarvin, who ultimately betrayed him.
"How the hell did I end up here, and in the body of a hunted Holy Knight, no less? What am I supposed to do now?"
His heart rate spiked, and his eyes darted back and forth frantically as he tried to formulate a plan. He dared not move from his spot, knowing that if the knights discovered him, he wouldn't be able to escape.
As panic threatened to overwhelm him, he suddenly saw something loading before his eyes, reminiscent of the cheat interface he had used in games.
[Loading.....]
[Available Options]
[Status]
[Inventory]
The loading completed, followed by the appearance of two options. It was exactly like the plugin he had used.
"How suspicious. How could a plugin travel with me? But if it works, I might have a way to escape from here."
Without hesitation, he mentally opened the status menu, already familiar with how the plugin worked.
[Name: Niro
Strength: 1.51
Speed: 1.11
Endurance: 1.23
Skills:
Potion Crafting: Level 0 [334/1000]
Swordsmanship: Level 1 [2145/10000]
Light Dash: Level 1 [19/10000]
Holy Healing: Level 1 [4213/10000]
Spirit Stance: Level 0 [401/1000]]
Seeing the characteristics, he could only sigh. Although they were stronger than in his past life, in this world, these were extremely weak stats. However, the characteristics didn't concern him at the moment. He looked at the skills, and his gaze fell on Swordsmanship and Light Dash.
These two skills were clearly for combat, which he desperately needed right now.
He mentally clicked on the Swordsmanship skill name, and a small window opened.
[Use 10x Enhancement Modifier]
Clicking on the window that appeared, a symbol (*) appeared above the Swordsmanship skill, indicating that the plugin had been used. He immediately did the same with Light Dash.
Having done all this, he looked at the knights who were still digging. Taking a deep breath, he cautiously turned onto his side and began to rise. However, what he couldn't predict was the clinking sound of armor against armor. The sudden noise in the night caused the two knights to stop immediately and quickly look towards the source of the sound.
In the next second, their pupils dilated as they saw Niro crouching there. A slight sense of panic overtook them, and without hesitation, they discarded their shovels and reached for their swords.
Seeing this, Niro also felt the crisis. Without thinking, he immediately gritted his teeth and used Light Dash. It wasn't difficult, as he had gained memories of how to do it. Using the mana within his body, he quickly imagined accelerating like a falling star.
Immediately, a faint light appeared on his armor, and he dashed forward. The knights knew about skills like Light Dash, but what happened next, they couldn't react to.
A flash of light blinked, and the light struck both of them extremely quickly. Such speed and impact caused the two knights to fly back several meters and fall heavily. Realizing the result of the skill, Niro felt only excitement, as Light Dash was clearly different from what it had been in his memories. It was definitely much stronger than before.
Sighing, he glanced at the knights who were already starting to get up. Looking down at his feet, he saw a sword dropped by one of the knights.
Without hesitation, he picked up the sword from the ground and approached the knights. One of them still held a sword while the other had taken a dagger. Looking at them, Niro momentarily hesitated. If Light Dash had worked, then the others would surely work as well.
Holding the sword with both hands, he quickly stepped forward and delivered a strike. The knight holding the sword stood in front, while the other waited behind for an opportune moment. Seeing Niro swing at him, a smirk flickered in the eyes of the sword-wielding knight.
Although he had just been shocked by Niro's Light Dash, he also thought that such power was clearly due to Niro spending a lot of mana. Now that the mana was depleted, he lunged at him with his sword.
However, Niro was in a state of stress and excitement simultaneously. His interest and curiosity about the skills made him ignore Light Dash and want to test Swordsmanship.
The knight holding the sword clearly raised it to block and already anticipated the result, but in the next second, under his incredulous gaze, the sword was directly broken.
Niro's strike didn't stop for a second, and after breaking through the opponent's sword, it sliced directly through the helmet.
The other knight, who also wanted to take advantage of the sword block to strike, suddenly witnessed the scene. Niro had directly broken the sword, splitting the knight's head and helmet in half, reaching down to the chest.
The scene left him unable to react, which was a fatal mistake.
Drops of blood splattered on Niro's face, but his state at that moment was clearly abnormal. Without hesitation, he forcefully pulled the sword out of the opponent's body, but the sword seemed unable to withstand it. In the end, only half of the sword remained in his hand, but this didn't stop him from lunging at the other knight and making another swing.
When the knight reacted and put up his dagger for defense, remembering what had happened to the other knight, he felt fear.
However, what should have happened didn't occur. He was able to block Niro's broken sword quite easily. Seeing this, Niro narrowed his eyes. In the next second, when the knight couldn't react, he used Light Dash again.
There was a cracking sound, and Niro was already standing several meters ahead. The knight flew back almost 10 meters.
Niro looked at the knight who was trying to get up, clutching his chest. Niro saw that the knight's armor had caved in. Holding the broken sword, he walked forward.
The knight, seeing him, frantically tried to stand up.
"No, please, don't," he rasped.
Niro heard the hoarse words escaping the knight's lips.
However, in such a state, Niro lifted him without hesitation. The knight, who had lost his dagger from Niro's second attack, could no longer resist, struggling to breathe. Looking around, Niro saw a large tree nearby. Turning the knight in that direction, he held him firmly by the shoulder, and another flash of light occurred.
A dull thud resounded.
Niro stood by the tree, which bore a deep impact mark. The body of the second knight fell beside him.
His heart pounding, Niro scanned the surroundings, wary of others. Realizing the situation was no longer as dangerous, his mind began to lose focus. Following this, his adrenaline dropped, and he finally understood what had just happened.
Looking at the two bodies, he gritted his teeth and, after searching, found several silver coins. Donning a black cloak he remembered from his memories, and casting one last glance at the church, he set out into the dark forest in the dead of night.
He needed to disappear from this place.