SSS Rank: Spellcraft Sovereign

Chapter 34: Knight (2)

’Alright. Observation time. If swords can’t break him, spells get canceled, and that voice sounded like a disappointed gym teacher, what’s the win condition here?’

The knight stepped forward.

No sound under his feet.

Callen shifted to intercept, shield lifted just a little higher now. Mira moved left, slow, trying to get a new angle. She hadn’t fired since the last arrow broke.

The blindfold fluttered again.

Then the knight raised the sword.

This time, Lucen didn’t wait.

He slammed his palm into the ground.

[Hold Point – Activated]

The glyph flared. Sharp. Fast.

But the knight didn’t move.

Didn’t need to.

The moment the spell locked, his free hand flexed, and the glyph cracked down the center.

Gone.

Lucen stared.

’He didn’t even counterspell it. He just... invalidated it.’

Senna shouted something. Lucen didn’t catch it. The knight moved again, one step, two and then it was in front of Callen.

Steel met steel.

The sound was wrong.

Not a clash.

A note.

Low. Perfect. Like a tuning fork rung against bone.

Callen slid back a full meter. Groaning. Not from pain. From force.

Lucen’s system pinged again.

[Insight Opportunity – Conditional Pattern Detected]

’Conditional? What does that even mean?’

He tapped the side of his temple like that would help shake the answer loose.

The knight’s blade came down again.

Callen blocked.

Barely.

Mira finally fired. One arrow.

It arced mid-air. Wrapped in light. A clear shot.

The knight didn’t dodge.

He angled the sword slightly. Let the arrow graze the edge and flick away like it was nothing.

Lucen inhaled. Slow. Sharp.

’Okay. Think. He’s not reacting to sight. He’s not reacting to sound. But he reacts to movement. Pressure. Weight.’

He looked at the floor.

Still polished.

Still somehow untouched.

Like the dust didn’t even have permission to settle here.

Lucen whispered, "The ground."

Senna ducked a swing and rolled left, blade scraping stone as she recovered.

Callen was barely holding stance now.

Mira had one arrow left.

Lucen pressed his hand against the stone floor and whispered, "System. Analyze surface glyphwork."

No sound. Just a flash.

[Chamber Surface: Imprinted Sensor Web – Feedback Anchored]

Lucen’s heart jumped.

’He’s reading us. Every movement. The room itself is the sensor. He’s not sensing us. The stone is.’

He stood.

Fast.

"Mira!" he yelled. "Don’t move!"

She froze.

The knight’s head tilted.

Lucen’s pulse pounded.

"Callen, brace but hold!"

Callen grunted. Stepped back one pace and locked his boots.

Senna stayed crouched, blade low.

The knight didn’t swing.

Didn’t shift.

Lucen took a slow step forward.

Deliberate. Measured.

The knight’s blade wavered.

Lucen’s eyes flicked to the floor.

’That’s it. It’s not just a spellweb. It’s feedback-based. He’s tuned to pace. Rhythm. Intent.’

He took another step.

The knight’s blade twitched again.

Lucen whispered, "He’s not watching us. He’s listening to the floor."

Callen swore under his breath. "So what do we do?"

Lucen’s fingers twitched.

His mana ticked up by one.

[Mana: 12 / 61]

He muttered, "We cheat."

He moved again. This time, faster.

The knight stepped to meet him.

Lucen pivoted, slid behind a broken column.

Then pressed both hands to the ground.

’If I’m right, I can overwrite the room. Just for a second. Just enough.’

He pictured the glyph. Not the usual ones. Not Hold. Not Gravitic.

This was soft.

Wide.

A ripple.

He cast.

[Distortion Field – Custom Glyph Initiated]

The floor beneath him shifted.

Only slightly.

A tremor, just enough to echo.

The knight turned his head fast.

Wrong direction.

Toward Lucen’s old position.

Lucen held his breath.

Senna caught it first.

She moved.

No warning.

She sprinted around the edge of the chamber, low and fast.

Her blade flashed once.

And hit.

Clean.

Deep.

Into the knight’s side.

The metal screamed.

The knight reeled back, staggered. First time it had happened.

Lucen almost didn’t believe it.

Then Mira fired.

Straight into the exposed joint where the pauldron met neck.

The arrow landed.

Lodged.

Didn’t kill.

But the knight dropped to one knee.

Breathing.

Real.

Lucen stepped out again.

The distortion was still running. Barely.

[Mana: 4 / 61]

’One more. Then nothing.’

He pulled one last glyph into his palm.

Held it.

Waited.

Senna circled behind the knight.

Callen stepped to the side, face pale, shield down now.

Lucen whispered, "Now."

He slammed the glyph.

[Gravitic Snap – Pointed]

The force burst under the knight’s knee.

It jerked upward.

Unbalanced.

Senna drove her sword into the exposed back seam and twisted.

The knight’s body bucked.

Then stilled.

Lucen exhaled, hard.

The blindfold fluttered one last time.

Then slipped off.

Nothing underneath.

Just smooth skin.

No eyes.

No sockets.

No face.

Lucen stepped forward slowly.

The armor didn’t move.

Senna watched it, blade still drawn.

Mira lowered her bow. "Is it dead?"

Callen didn’t answer.

Lucen crouched. Reached out.

Touched the sword.

It didn’t resist.

Didn’t vanish.

Just... rested there.

Heavy.

Old.

[Miniboss Defeated – EXP: +78]

[Insight Reward: +1 Attribute Point]

[System Note: Floor Seal Partially Broken – Drift Core Detection Enabled]

Lucen blinked.

Then smiled. Just slightly.

The silence after the knight fell wasn’t clean.

It dragged.

The kind of silence that felt more like breath being held than anything resting.

Lucen stood still, hand half-lowered, eyes scanning the edge of the ruined hall as if the stone itself might decide to respawn the bastard just to make a point.

Nothing moved.

The blindfolded knight’s body, if it could even be called that, lay slumped against a fractured statue base. His longsword had clattered a few meters away, point still trembling slightly from the impact.

Lucen’s system pinged again.

[EXP Gained: +88]

[Level Up – Level 4 Achieved]

[Stat Points Available: +3]

[New Spell Slot Unlocked: Total 5]

[Spell Design Token Awarded]

The window hovered clean and faint in the air.

Lucen squinted at it. Blinked once.

’That guy tried to erase us from the timeline and that’s the bounty?’

He rubbed his eyes and dropped the window back into the background layer of his vision.

"You good?" Senna’s voice came low, careful. Not exactly gentle. Just... tired.

Lucen turned.

She was leaning slightly on her blade, right arm scratched raw, half her sleeve missing. Her breath was even, but her posture said she was done pretending this was a normal dungeon run.

Mira crouched beside Callen, who was still sitting with his back against the wall, one leg stretched awkwardly. His shield lay to the side, dented like someone had punched it with a meteor.

"I’m fine," Lucen said.

Then, softer, "I think."