Hidden inside the large, sharp lance was a well-tempered longsword, just like something drawn in a picture.
'So the real weapon was that sword from the beginning.'
Osian nodded as if he finally understood. The jousting lance was the most suitable and effective weapon when riding a horse. Combined with the steel warhorse, Rocinante, it could create tremendous synergy.
But Don Quixote stuck with that lance even when he dismounted from Rocinante. He must have known that such a thrusting-specialized lance wasn't good on the ground.
The reason was simple. It was actually a sword from the beginning.
He added a handle to increase its length and attached a spearhead instead of a scabbard. It was an eccentricity no one could have anticipated.
'Who would have expected someone to use the latest mechanical engineering to create such a crude cold weapon?'
Even Alpha-One, with his abundant battle experience, was taken aback, making Don Quixote's secret move very successful.
A hidden trump card. That longsword precisely cut through Alpha-One's chest.
The sharp blade tore through the suit, inflicting a deep wound inside as well."Got him!"
David shouted with joy from the side, but Osian's expression remained grim.
'It's shallow.'
Don Quixote's attack was certainly effective. And it managed to deliver a proper blow to Alpha-One. But that didn't lead to a decisive, fatal blow that would end this fight.
A sword wound running from the collarbone to the waist. The red blood flowing from it clearly indicated the wound was not small.
But Alpha-One was a veteran fighter who had survived countless battlefields. With his own excellent combat abilities, he was also wearing the latest steam suit.
[You...bastard!]
Alpha-One was furious. It was a wound that should have brought him down immediately, but the suit he wore was supporting his body. Drugs prepared inside were automatically injected, coagulating blood and reducing pain.
A narcotic painkiller so powerful that it was never used unless one's life was in imminent danger. But thanks to that, Alpha-One didn't fall. He moved, making the suit creak.
[Arghhhh!]
The chain sword swung diagonally. Don Quixote, having already swung his sword, had no way to retrieve and block it. He deliberately placed his shoulder pauldron in the path of the chain sword.
-Kakakakak!
Sparks flew. The solid pauldron was helplessly ground away before the chain sword. However, Don Quixote carefully, with all his concentration, deflected the chain sword as much as possible.
-Seogek!
Part of the pauldron was ground away, cutting into his skin beneath. It ground through living flesh and electrocuted it. The pain was enough to cause death by shock.
But Don Quixote endured. With that aged body, he desperately held onto his consciousness that was trying to drift far away.
-Sseup.
He forcibly filled his weakening body with oxygen. A small amount of vitality returned to his frail body.
Don Quixote lunged forward.
-Kwajik!
His shoulder rammed into Alpha-One's chest. The wound shook violently, and blood burst from the wound that had barely stopped bleeding.
[Kuhak!]
Pain too intense even for the powerful painkiller shook Alpha-One's brain. Drooling inside his helmet, he swung his whip sword stiffly.
-Seogek!
Don Quixote's thigh armor was cut away. Blood flowed from the cut beneath.
Seeing this, Alpha-One realized his mistake. Originally, he had intended to completely sever the leg below the thigh.
'Accuracy and sharpness have dulled too much.'
It was because his body wouldn't listen due to the drugs and pain. This was fatal. He couldn't properly assess the opponent's openings and had given up the distance.
Don Quixote could be seen gripping the longsword with both hands, raising it high vertically.
‘Dangerous.’
But Don Quixote wasn't in good shape either. His shoulder could be seen twitching.
It was where the chain sword had scraped. Due to the injury, his shoulder wouldn't move properly, preventing him from adopting a proper stance.
'That old man is at his limit too!'
If the fight continued, whoever exhausted their stamina first would lose. That meant Don Quixote, with his aged body, was at a much greater disadvantage.
Don Quixote knew this too. That's why he intended to end it here, even if it meant pushing himself. The problem was his unresponsive shoulder.
'Is this the end?'
The torn muscle wouldn't respond. Pain like being burned over a fire scattered his concentration. In this state, forcibly swinging the sword wouldn't put any power behind it, and he wouldn't be able to cut properly.
He couldn't rely on the suit's power either. All output had already been used for the charge. Even worse, the shoulder armor had completely fallen off.
What was holding up the sword now wasn't the latest suit. It was the old and weak body of an elderly man inside.
Not the knight Don Quixote. But the old man Alonso.
'Am I to be defeated here?'
Consciousness drifted away due to the overwhelming pain. Everything in the world was blurry. The world, wrapped in heat haze, swirled and mixed together as one. Within it, neither the enemy nor his own form was visible.
Time stretched and contracted like a rubber band. More precisely, his mind perceived it that way. In a world fading to black and white, everything was forgotten one by one. Who I am, where this is, what I'm doing now.
Just as complete darkness settled over his vision.
-Flash!
Don Quixote saw it. A faint, flickering beam of light in the darkness.
Yes. He remembered that beautiful, small light. The only beautiful brilliance he had seen in a world full of ruins during his childhood and the warmth that had embraced him from behind as they watched it together.
Don Quixote reached out. He desperately moved his body that wouldn't respond properly, as if submerged in the deep sea. Move. Even if the body breaks. Never stop.
-Grasp.
Don Quixote, wandering in darkness, finally grasped his only hope. The star settled deep in his heart, emitting a beautiful light.
Suddenly, he recalled the story of the romantic knight Don Quixote. The knight whose name he had borrowed because he respected and wanted to resemble him.
How did the story of the man whom the world considered ridiculous end? He never gave up being a knight. He continued his adventure, promising that he would someday grasp a star.
Facing all sorts of incidents and forming relationships with various people, he kept moving forward toward his destination without stopping. Some laughed. Some cheered. Some just watched.
At the end of that complicated journey, he finally could face it. A star hanging at the edge of a cliff in a remote corner of the world, surrounded by treacherous mountains.
-Oh, starlight. You are truly beautiful!
The knight ran. For the final starlight he had so desired and together with his beloved steed Rocinante, he leaped up from the edge of the cliff.
The story ends there. What people commonly call an open ending. Whether it was real starlight, or if it was just an illusion seen by a Don Quixote weary from his journey, no one knows.
People say Don Quixote saw an illusion, and in the end, he jumped off the cliff with his horse and died. He was just a fictional character symbolizing a fallen knight.
But Alonso didn't think so.
Don Quixote didn't see an illusion and he didn't commit suicide either. The knight in his heart finally grasped a star and instead of falling from the cliff, he flew up into the sky with his precious steed. Holding on to all the memories he had made.
People would laugh at such an interpretation. They'd say he was interpreting the work however he liked, drawing his own conclusions. But Alonso was sincere. That's why he wanted to show it himself.
Because. Because I am.
"The proud knight, Don Quixote!"
Don Quixote shouted with all his heart, coughing blood. His immobile arm moved. With the power of a spirit that transcended the physical body. At the same time, the sword standing in mid-air began to shine.
-Hwareuk.
Above the blade, a pure white flame arose.
"That's......"
Osian muttered softly with quiet admiration.
That which Don Quixote had kindled above his sword, compared to his own, it was too small and plain but that was definitely starlight.
-Seogek!
The starlight cut through the atmosphere. That pure white trajectory sliced through Alpha-One's suit. In the opposite direction of the first diagonal wound. A pure white line was drawn, intersecting the red one.
[Cough.]
Alpha-One coughed blood. Red blood flowed from the gaps in his helmet. This time it was truly a fatal wound that could never be recovered from.
-Thud.
Alpha-One fell to his knees. He raised his trembling hand. For a moment it seemed he might still resist, but that wasn't it.
Alpha-One brought his hand to his helmet.
-Chiik!
The helmet came off with a burst of steam. Inside appeared a man in his early forties, his face covered in scars.
With blood flowing from his mouth and a pale face, he looked at Don Quixote and asked.
"What was that last thing?"
"Starlight Sword."
Don Quixote answered quietly to the enemy before him. With respect.
"Ha. Sword of Starlight, huh."
Alpha-One snickered. The old madman who had been running around in just a steam suit was now saying, at the end, that he had imbued his sword with starlight. Like some fairy tale, was he, who had crossed countless battle lines, to die by such a thing?
"Fantastic."
Alpha-One's body collapsed forward.
Don Quixote looked down at Alpha-One's fallen body. He looked at his sword with trembling hands. Though the starlight was gone now, he had definitely imbued his sword with starlight.
It felt like a dream, but the throbbing pain reminded him that this was reality. Who would have thought such pain could be so welcome?
"Sir Don Quixote!"
David approached. He applied emergency medicine he had prepared to Don Quixote's wounds.
"Just now, how did you do that? That was clearly...!"
"The Starlight Sword."
Osian approached and added. Yes. Don Quixote had definitely used the Starlight Sword.
It was only at a very basic level and the spark was small, but it was definitely starlight. For an old man who hadn't been trained as a knight to grasp starlight. It was hard to believe even having seen it.
However, Don Quixote, who should have been happy about this, said nothing. Instead, he stared at Neo who was approaching, turning his helmet this way.
"Wow. That was really cool. What on earth was that just now?"
"Starlight...it was."
Don Quixote answered, catching his ragged breath.
"It's also the wish I had been clearly picturing in my heart, that I wanted to achieve."
"That's really amazing!"
Neo exclaimed, spreading his arms wide.
"I saw it in a book! The knight advanced toward a star at the end! That star, indeed, really existed after all!"
"Yes...that's right. It really did exist."
Don Quixote nodded weakly and looked at Osian.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"That power you showed, I understand it now. It wasn't just some unusual power. Yes, this is truly the legendary power of knights that was only passed down in legends..."
And Osian, who showed him that, whether intentionally or not, had guided Don Quixote on the path he needed to take.
"Thanks to you, I finally achieved it."
Don Quixote's voice lacked strength. Perhaps because he had reached his limit after overcoming a difficult battle, his vitality was rapidly fading.
"Not yet."
Tuk. At that moment, Osian placed his hand on the wound on his shoulder.
"It is not over."
Though medicine had been applied, he was touching the wound. Surprisingly, the pain subsided and a gentle warmth filled his body.
Don Quixote's consciousness, which had been sinking into darkness, gradually became clearer.
"Grasping starlight is not the end. It's the beginning from there."
"...!"
Don Quixote trembled. He thought it was all over. He thought he had finally achieved what he wanted, and like the knight in the story, his own story had ended too.
But that wasn't it. After the ending in the story. The knight's story that no one knows. This wasn't the end but a new beginning.
"Show me. The new adventure of Knight Don Quixote."
"Ha, haha. Yes. That's right."
Yes. It's not over yet. Doesn't he have something left to do? Not just that. After completing that task, there will be other tasks.
Yes. Like Don Quixote who continues his adventures endlessly. His life is not over yet.
"Let's go back."
It was time to leave District 49.
At the massive dumping ground that could be considered the exit from District 49, where goods from the outside world came in. At what could be called the escape route from that place, a group was waiting for Osian's party.
"As expected, they're here!"
They stood up as they saw Osian's party. Leather jackets with studs, punk-style outfits, sunglasses on their faces, and tattoos on their forearms. Above all, the distinctively designed automatons lined up around them.
It was the Steel Fist Gang, the only ones who hadn't gotten involved in the combat during this Death Race. Their main force was waiting for them at the exit of District 49, with their full strength intact.
"Yes. I knew you would come here eventually."
The boss of Steel Fist, Gerd, stepped forward.
A middle-aged man with extreme obesity, his belly protruding prominently. His dull golden beard was bushy and looked quite messy but the tremendous muscles hidden beneath that fat was perceptible.
Osian contemplated. Of all things, to think that a gang controlling District 49 would be waiting here with their full force intact.
"Oh dear. Of all times, like this at the end."
Don Quixote muttered in a voice filled with dismay.
"Hey! We want that automaton you have! But you want to pass through here, right?"
"That's right."
Since the other party responded with dialogue, Osian also responded with dialogue. At those words, Gerd grinned. Several gold teeth gleamed in the sunlight.
"Then there's only one way!"
With a clicking sound, a modified automaton walked out beside him.
"Prove it with an automaton battle!"
...... Osian's face went blank for a moment before he nodded.
Right. Come to think of it, this was that kind of organization.