Chapter 25. My Worst Plan Ever, Now with a Surprisingly Good Ending

Chapter 25: 25. My Worst Plan Ever, Now with a Surprisingly Good Ending

He’d been holding back a reserve in the crystal, and now he was pouring all of it into a single, furious rampage.

His sword was still lying on the ground, but he didn’t need it.

He slammed his fist into the cobblestones, and a crack raced across the street toward a group of civilians who hadn’t yet made it out of the district, a handful of women and children huddled against the wall of a stable.

"This guy never knew when to quit, huh?!" Sharon started forward, but a second wave of energy slammed her backward, and she had to dig her heels in to keep from being thrown. "Damn it...!"

A choice, I see it. She had to choose between going after Garrick and covering the civilians.

For one awful heartbeat, I saw her hesitate because both bad results will have caused the same thing.

And from that one moment... I know that I had to step in again. That little rest I just got probably covered it enough while also having to take a massive deep breath before I stood up.

There... I didn’t hesitate. I just ran like I usually do.

To the front. And not the back.

I don’t need any second thinking to know what’s worth it or not, but... I just know that my feet are hitting the ground, and the last dregs of Aether are surging into my arms, and the air in front of me is turning to a shimmering sheet of gold.

That feeling... was righteous, probably.

The blast hit my shield a moment later. It cracked instantly, spiderwebbing from corner to corner, and the force of it shoved me backward across the cobbles, my boots carving grooves in the stone.

"Grrggghhh...! Does everyone on your side even fight fair for this?!" I held it.

I held it until my arms felt like they were going to tear away from my body.

"ROLAND!" Laura’s voice was raw. "Stop this instant...! You’ll die if you keep pushing yourself!"

I glanced back. She was running toward me, with Sharon’s arm trying to catch her, and her face was white as paper.

"No... don’t worry about me." I smiled. "I know a knight’s oath... it’s better to die on the battlefield protecting the innocent than having to watch helplessly."

"And if I stop now," I said through my teeth, "who’s going to protect them?"

She froze.

The wave ended.

My shield shattered, and I dropped to one knee, gasping. "Nrrghhh... hahhhh... ahhhh..."

The civilians were running, dragging their children around the corner to safety. I’d held for exactly long enough.

Garrick roared and came at me again. "YOU DON’T KNOW WHEN TO STOP! DID YOU?!"

I couldn’t dodge him... I didn’t have the energy to do that shit anyway.

What I had left was Combat Instinct, and I used it the way a drowning man uses a plank. It showed me every angle of every swing before it landed, and I used each one to move a little closer to the open space near the gate.

If I fought him there... a bad hit wouldn’t bring a wall down on anyone.

I knew the crystal was the source of his power. And I also knew that if I destroyed it directly, all that stored-up energy would blow out in every direction, and everyone within fifty paces would pay for it.

So... I had a different plan. It wasn’t a good plan exactly.

It was probably the worst one I’d ever made.

I let him drive me back into the empty plaza by the gate. I took a hit on my forearm that made my vision flash white.

"Ngghh...!"

I stooped for a shard of my broken sword and took another slash across the ribs.

Then, when he finally put every ounce of strength into one huge overhead swing, I stepped sideways, and his blade slammed into the ground so hard that the shockwave knocked both of us off our feet.

BAAMMMMMM!

I was on my knees faster than he was. I grabbed his arm, twisted, and used his own weight to roll him over my shoulder.

With my free hand, I slammed my fingers against the bracket on his chest plate, the one holding the crystal in place.

"STOP IT, YOU FUCKING FOOL!"

The crystal slipped half an inch.

SSSHHHHH!

The energy flow cut off for exactly one second.

And that... did the trick... One second was all I needed.

I drove the sword shard into the crystal and ripped it out of its housing. It went off in a flash of red light, but the energy had nowhere to go.

It rolled across the empty plaza in a harmless wave and rattled the shutters on a few distant windows, and then... it was gone.

Garrick fell to his knees. He looked at the dull, cracked stone in my hand, and then at me.

"How did...?" he whispered and slumped forward onto the cobbles. "This... it’s... impossible..."

"There’s no way...!"

I tried to stand. But my legs wouldn’t answer.

The panel flashed one last time while I tried my hardest not to close my eyes for a moment.

[CRITICAL WARNING]

[Lust: 3%]

[Aether Reserve: Depleted]

[Physical Condition: Critical]

[Combat Objective Complete.]

[Threat Neutralized.]

’Huh...’ I thought. ’I guess... that’s it.’

I saw Laura running toward me. And I saw Sharon barking at someone to fetch the healers.

But then my eyes caught Alicia the most, my beautiful girlfriend... why is her face pale...?

She’s shouting my name... and then...

The plaza... tilted sideways...

And the whole world went out like a lamp...

...

I woke up with both eyes and mouth widened.

"GAGGHHH! Hahhhhh..." I let out one massive exhale just to make sure that I didn’t die.

I looked around and noticed the bed wasn’t mine.

It was a narrow bed with a patched blanket, and the room around it was small and neat. There was a rack for a sword on the wall, a wooden chest at the foot of the bed, and a window with the shutters half closed.

Somebody had lit a lamp on the table... Yesh, it smelled like soap and leather and... faintly, like the sharp clean scent of cold air, and I realized after a few seconds that I was in Laura’s quarters.

’Oh shit...!’

My body felt like it had been dropped from a tower. I tried to sit up, and my ribs lodged a formal complaint.

"Gghhhh!"

"Don’t move a muscle," said Sharon.

I see Sharon leaning against the wall beside the window with her arms crossed, in the same battered training clothes she’d been wearing earlier.

Alicia was perched on a stool beside the bed with her hands wrapped around mine, and she’d obviously been crying at some point. The golden hair I love to see from her was a mess right now.

"Welcome back to the world, fellow knight," Sharon said. "You’ve been out for the better part of a day."

"The infirmary was packed with wounded, so I had you brought here... since it was closest to the training yard."

I had to clarify something first.

"Uh... Whose room is this?" I croaked.

"Laura’s... Don’t ask her about it."

And that’s when I decided not to.

"So... Uh... Did we win?" I asked.

Sharon took her time answering. "What did you think?"

"You literally stopped Garrick Voss and ended his rampage!" She said while flexing her muscles, which was an instant turn-on for me. "You shut down the sabotage device at the tower!"

"You even got civilians out of a blast that could have killed dozens! And Alicia captured the courier who was carrying the records."

I looked at Alicia. She was blushing.

"All of that," Sharon continued, "before you’ve been officially made a knight."

"That’s a relief..." A weak laugh slipped out of me. "But still... do I still have to take the entrance exam?"

She snorted. "Officially, there are procedures! But I’ll be putting my name behind both of you as a sponsor."

"I saw enough that night to speak for you."

’Oh wow... It’s the same kind of thing as my previous life to apply for a quick job, huh?’

"W-wait!" Alicia’s eyes went wide. "Lady Sanford, are you saying that..."

"I’m saying that you two have earned a chance to be named royal knights!" She nodded while raising her thumbs up. "The ceremony will have to wait until Roland can stand up without falling over, but I intend to see it done."

I stared at the ceiling, and for a minute I couldn’t say anything.

I’d spent two lifetimes being told that I wasn’t enough... and even doesn’t have what it takes to be a knight.

The only reason I’d survived my first life was luck, and the only reason I’d survived this one was stubbornness.

Now someone... with real authority had looked me in the eye and said I’d earned it.

It wasn’t a gift... It was something I’d taken myself with all my hard work!

"We did it, Roland," Alicia said.

She squeezed my hand and then hugged me while giving lots of smooches on the cheek. "We’re officially knights...! Royal knights!!!"

"Yeah," I said. "We finally did, huh...?"

Sharon stepped over to the bed and dropped a folded paper on the table. "That’s the preliminary paperwork... I’ll handle the rest."

She turned to go, then stopped at the door with her hand on the frame. "Oh."

"One more thing," she said. "If you want to be a great knight... stop treating your own life like it’s worth nothing."

"Look, I know it’s in the oath, but... the people you protect won’t care about your victory if you die to get it."

She said it gruffly, but there was something softer under it.

"I’ll try the next time," I said.

"See that you do."