Eternally Regressing Knight - Chapter 86: What Changes When the Door Opens?

The Gate of Sixth Sense.

Though it had opened through sensing harm to the body, it was more like feelers that detected movement within a certain range around oneself.

He realized this after opening the door, guided by instinct.

‘If I use it differently…’

He wondered if he could read the movements of someone behind him.

He visualized Rem’s actions behind him in his mind: picking his nose, flicking it away, squirming in the warmth of the leather padding, then lifting his head. His gaze rested on Encrid’s back.

To explain it in detail, it was a process of hearing a sound, guessing the reason behind it, and predicting the person’s next move—but all of this happened in an instant.

This was the “Gate of Sixth Sense.”

It was something that became possible through the opened door.

‘With this…’

It didn’t seem too difficult to avoid someone swinging a club from behind.

It was the realm of sixth sense, intuition, and instinct.

Only then did Encrid understand what Jaxson had meant about the instinctive hunting style of beasts.

The Gate of Sixth Sense served to instantly condense all surrounding information and embed it in the mind.

That was why, by applying focus, he could even notice Rem picking his nose behind him.

“Idiots call this some kind of mystical insight, but it’s all nonsense. It just means your senses have sharpened a bit, and that’s it.”

That was how Jaxson had explained it. It was only natural that the more it was applied, the broader the range of what it could detect.

Of course, there was something to be cautious about.

“If you trust your senses too much, you could be deceived. Be careful.”

As he said this, Jaxson placed his left hand on Encrid’s shoulder. Just before Jaxson’s hand touched him, Encrid had the eerie feeling that Jaxson was aiming for his throat.

It was a subtle trick—something that, in a way, resembled the Valen-style mercenary swordsmanship.

Even with the Gate of Sixth Sense opened, did anything change about repeating the same day? No. Encrid began living through the same day once again.

The only difference was a vague sense that the outcome might change this time.

In truth, it wasn’t just a feeling.

Now, he had gained the confidence to overcome that dreadful trap.

He donned his leather cuirass, hung a longsword at his left hip, and strapped a heavy-bladed guard sword to the back of his waist.

He stashed throwing knives tightly in a scabbard across his body and concealed small knives around both ankles.

On top of it all, he wore a gambeson—fully outfitted like a light infantry soldier.

Since he was accustomed to this process, arming himself didn’t take much time.

He had deliberately wolfed down breakfast quickly, like a cat snatching food, just so he could move faster.

‘If I grab a few more torches on the way…’

It was a path he had traveled dozens of times. Even stopping by the general store had become such a routine part of the journey that he was sick of it.

“Are you planning to hold a sword to the shoemaker’s throat to persuade him? Or are you going to fight to the death over those boots?”

Rem, lying in bed with just his face visible, muttered casually after hearing a rough outline of the plan.

“I won’t come back until I slice up a dozen pairs of boots.”

It was the same joke he made every day.

‘Why do we keep cracking the same jokes, even as the day repeats?’

He could glimpse Rem’s true feelings. It wasn’t the monster hunt that bothered Rem—it was the shoemaker’s shop itself that annoyed him.

“Just finish it quickly and let’s go chop off the monster’s head.”

Rem snorted.

Encrid nodded silently, thinking to himself.

No one would ever expect such a cavern to exist beneath a craftsman’s shop. Naturally so.

‘I didn’t believe it either until I saw it with my own eyes.’

That made him all the more curious.

What lay beyond that place?

A soft growl.

As Esther saw him off, Encrid playfully tapped the tip of her nose with his finger.

“Kyarr!”

Caught off guard, Esther stumbled back, shook her head from side to side, and then let out a fierce little snarl.

It was so adorable that Encrid chuckled.

“I’m off.”

He left the lodging, stopped by the general store to buy three torches, tucked two into his belt, and carried the last one like a club as he walked.

He moved quickly and arrived at the craftsman’s shop.

“There’s a hole here!”

The startled craftsman’s voice greeted him.

“Yes, I see the hole. Let me check it out.”

The craftsman, who had been speaking with wide-eyed surprise, scanned Encrid’s fully armed figure from head to toe instead of continuing his frantic chatter.

“…Going off to war or something?”

Even patrol soldiers didn’t charge in with such complete gear. Seeing Encrid in thick padded armor, fully armed, the craftsman couldn’t help but blurt it out.

“Always give your best, even for the smallest tasks. That’s what my sword instructor taught me.”

It was something an instructor had once said to him in passing.

So it wasn’t a lie.

In reality, though, Encrid was simply prepared for anything because he didn’t know what might happen next.

“Someone’s set up a nasty trap down there. Whatever you do, don’t go inside by accident.”

He glanced down into the hole and warned the craftsman, who instantly went pale.

The craftsman asked nervously, “How can you tell just by taking a quick look?”

Ah, Encrid realized he might have rushed things a bit.

“I’m an expert in these matters.”

He responded nonchalantly, and the craftsman reluctantly nodded, finally giving the reaction Encrid had expected.

“A trap? What kind of trap? Why is something like that under my shop?”

Encrid didn’t know the answer yet either, but he would find out soon.

That was his plan now.

The trap had been set, and it was functioning exactly as intended.

One thing was clear:

There was something beyond that trap.

After all, if someone is hiding something, it means there’s something worth concealing.

“Why they did this here…”

Encrid paused, taking a breath before continuing.

“I’ll figure it out from now on.”

His curiosity surged as well.

He confidently descended the slope into the cavern.

He now knew the layout perfectly, even with his eyes closed.

He had traveled this path dozens of times. He had wandered through the narrow tunnels to train his sixth sense, memorizing the terrain down to its contours.

Before him were six branching paths once more.

The first and second paths led to explosions.

The third path unleashed vertical blades of wind.

There was no need to spend any more time honing his sixth sense.

He had done enough.

‘Now then.’

Which of the six paths was safe?

Instead of answering the question internally, Encrid felt an urge to crack open the skull of the person who had built this place.

‘Cunning bastard.’

All six paths were booby-trapped.

If his senses weren’t mistaken, that was the case.

Throughout the many repetitions of today, Encrid had verified his sixth sense time and again.

Could it really detect danger accurately?

It could.

He had even discovered that the sixth path was also a trap.

If one entered the sixth path, a mist-like gas would spread from above.

The moment it touched skin, blisters would form, and inhaling it brought pain far worse than any cut or stab wound—it was a toxic fog.

Every one of the six paths felt ominous. There was no clear route forward. They were blocked.

Should he stop here? Was he stuck? Could he do nothing more?

Instinctively, he knew. To escape today, he had to get past this cavern.

Stopping meant being trapped in today forever.

His opponent wasn’t a soldier skilled in thrusting attacks.

Nor was it an assassin creeping silently through the shadows.

It wasn’t even a hostile force encountered on a disadvantageous battlefield.

It was merely a trap.

A still, unmoving spell trap devoid of reason or logic.

Encrid stood before the first passage.

‘One wrong step, and I’ll be roasted.’

How did a spell trap activate?

With the Gate of Sixth Sense open, he could perceive it from the realm of instinct.

There was no need for a torch.

Encrid took a step forward into the passage.

Cold sweat dripped from his forehead with every step. It felt like walking unarmed between razor-sharp blades, narrowly avoiding a fatal cut with each movement.

The trigger for the trap was detection.

He walked, avoiding any spots that felt ominous.

By activating a point of focus and infusing his heart with the boldness of a beast, his steps never faltered.

With his focus honed, he moved through the gaps in the spell trap.

To anyone watching, it might seem like he was walking in a zigzag pattern, but to Encrid, it was like walking on a tightrope. Still, it felt manageable.

The realm of sixth sense and intuition.

He had passed the trap purely through instinct.

How many people could accomplish such a feat?

A sense of achievement welled up in his chest, though it wasn’t the time to indulge in such emotions.

“For now.”

The first obstacle was behind him.

Beyond the darkness, he lit a torch.

He scanned the path ahead, but there was no longer the same sense of foreboding.

Still, he was certain something awaited him further down.

It was intuition.

Moving carefully, Encrid soon spotted what was waiting for him.

“Grrrrk.”

Its hunched back jutted with spiked bones protruding from where the spine should be.

Even under the torchlight, its pale-blue skin was visible, and its massive mouth drooled thick saliva as if savoring a meal.

Its claws were long, its forearms thick, and its eyes black as pitch.

Through its cracked skin, strands of sinewy muscle were faintly visible.

With its hunched posture, both of its fists dragged along the ground.

A **ghoul**.

In this world, there were beasts and monsters.

Theologians claimed these beings were born from gods killing one another in ancient times, but that didn’t concern Encrid.

What mattered was their existence.

If a creature resembled an animal, it was a beast. Anything else was called a monster.

Ghouls were among the monsters, flesh-eaters that preyed on humans.

“And what the hell are you doing here?”

Could it even be classified as undead?

The craftsman’s words had been half-right. There was a monster down here. Just not a skeleton soldier—rather, a ghoul.

Monsters like this didn’t possess the intelligence for conversation. They only lunged at prey.

“Grrrr-aaaah!”

Ghouls ate humans. With no noses to speak of, their flat, sunken snouts acted as sensors, sniffing out human scent.

The creature, having caught a whiff, pounced immediately.

The tunnel wasn’t narrow, but there wasn’t much room to swing a sword freely either.

Still, there was enough space to maneuver strategically.

*Shing, clang.*

As the ghoul charged, Encrid drew his longsword and angled it forward.

‘Three.’

There were two more ghouls behind the first.

Normally, it would take two or three spearmen to subdue a single ghoul.

A skilled soldier might manage alone with a sword, but it was rarely a wise tactical choice.

If forced into a corner, the only option would be to punch the ghoul in the face—just like Encrid was about to do now.

*Thrust!*

He drove the angled blade forward, piercing the first ghoul’s chest. Gripping the sword with only his left hand, he forced the blade down diagonally.

“Grahhhh!”

A monstrous roar, impossible for a human throat to produce, erupted as the ghoul collapsed to its knees under Encrid’s strength.

Though the sword blade cut downward slightly, it wasn’t enough to slice the creature in half. The strain on his left arm’s muscles was immense.

With one ghoul subdued, the next lunged with its claws extended.

Anticipating the move, Encrid pivoted on his left foot, dodging the swipe, and delivered a sharp punch with his free right hand.

*Whack!*

The blow connected squarely with the ghoul’s head, snapping it back. The impact was so solid that the creature couldn’t recover.

With its advance halted, the third ghoul stretched its long arm from behind.

Ghouls came in all sorts of grotesque forms.

Some had abnormally long arms, others had disproportionately thick legs.

Noticing the third ghoul’s attack in advance, Encrid tilted his head, avoiding the sharp claws.

Having created an opening, what came next was simple.

‘One by one.’

All he had to do was kill them.

In the past—before he gained the ability to repeat today—he would have been killed already.

But now, experience, swordsmanship, and martial prowess had sharpened to a whole new level.

He shifted his grip on the sword from one hand to both and swung downward with full force.

His arm muscles tensed.

*Slash!*

“Graaahk!”

The ghoul split from chest to groin, spilling purple innards across the floor.

A fallen torch illuminated the remaining two ghouls, casting long shadows behind them.

The last two monsters, unfazed by fear, charged again.

Having already killed one of them with ease, Encrid’s sword danced once more.

He stepped toward the ghouls, meeting their repeated, simple movements with precise footwork. With a horizontal slash, he beheaded one of them.

The final ghoul stumbled as Encrid tripped it, and he stomped down on its head with all his strength.

*Crack!*

Though the skull didn’t shatter like a pumpkin, black fluid began to ooze from the fractured head.

“Now I’m really curious.”

With that, Encrid drove his sword vertically into the remaining ghoul’s skull.

*Crunch.*

The blade pierced through the head and embedded itself in the ground.

He wrenched the sword free, scattering what remained of the ghoul’s shattered skull.

Three ghouls.

A fight that would have required at least six soldiers, yet Encrid had emerged victorious with ease.

Though the ghouls’ claws were coated with venom that could have killed him with the slightest scratch, he hadn’t even been grazed.

This moment proved that his training hadn’t been in vain.

It was a bit disappointing that no one was there to witness his triumph.

But soon, he’d show the one lurking inside just how merciless his sword could be.

“Phew.”

After catching his breath, he wiped the ghoul’s black fluid off his sword using a scrap of cheap linen from his pouch.

With the blade cleaned, Encrid stepped deeper into the cavern.

Because the path through the cave was the path to tomorrow.

And he had no reason to hesitate.