The battle begins once more.
The petite faerie knight charges again, her body turning into a blue streak, slamming straight toward Guinevere.
But this time, Guinevere does not attempt to block. Instead, he swings his large sword in a wide arc, a powerful strike aimed directly at Lancelot's forehead.
Why block? Why should he?
His sword and reach are far greater than Lancelot's scabbard and arm span. If he strikes first, it will be him who hits her first!
The best defense is a good offense. Today, he's going all-in!
Pure power?
Then let her see pure madness!
He's going to stop this dragon's assault, no matter what!
If he fails... he'll start over!
Guinevere's great sword comes down—but the timing is just a fraction off. As Lancelot's attack closes in within twenty centimeters, Guinevere's sword slashes through the air, but a heavy iron fist slams into his chest, crushing his heart.
Before he dies, Guinevere stares at Lancelot with bloodshot eyes. His intense gaze makes her shudder, instinctively stepping back a few paces.
Then, with the last of his strength, Guinevere shouts:
"Again!"
And so, the battle resumes.
Once again, Lancelot is a meteor, barreling towards him.
This time, Guinevere chooses to charge head-on again.
This time, his sword falls just 0.3 seconds too late, and Lancelot punches him away.
"Again!"
This time, he tries the same counterattack with his sword.
Once more, his timing is off.
This time, he yells, again:
"Again!"
He takes the strike and uses his remaining strength to drive his sword into his own skull, hastening his death.
...............
How many times has he died?
If not for the death count tracker in the simulator, Guinevere probably wouldn't have bothered counting.
He's just so stubborn, fueled by his anger, coming back over and over again.
He isn't a man who can't adapt—most of the time, he can.
But in certain aspects, the things he's set his mind on, he's resolutely fixed upon them.
Others say he won't stop until he hits the wall,
But he says, "I'll try to make a hole in that wall with my own head."
Lancelot's speed is overwhelming, she's a blur.
The brief moments she gives him to strike are incredibly hard to catch,
But they're not impossible.
The theory exists, and now, he will use practice to prove it.
After 271 deaths, he finally nails the moment, halting Lancelot's charge with a powerful slash.
But, his brain can't catch up fast enough. He's caught off guard by Lancelot's next strike, and her sword decapitates him.
But he smiles.
"Next time, I'll factor in the next move," he thinks,
Because as long as he hasn't given up, he has endless chances to retry.
Yet, it turns out that this success was just a lucky fluke.
Perhaps it's not entirely—he was trying to calculate the follow-up actions, which caused his focus to waver.
In the next hundred tries, he misses each time.
But that's okay.
If one hundred tries don't work, he'll try a thousand. A ten thousand.
By the time death count reaches 382, he succeeds again.
This time, he forces Lancelot's charge to halt, quickly following up with another slash.
Although Lancelot dodges and retaliates, leaving a shallow wound, Guinevere's efforts prove that there is still progress.
Then, the simulator continues.
By the time death count reaches 452,
He uses a feint to get Lancelot to turn, then strikes at her landing spot.
This time, he lands a shallow cut on her, but again, Lancelot's immediate strike kills him.
But it's a breakthrough.
A tiny one, but it's something.
It proves that, just like Wood, Lancelot's defense isn't impenetrable—she can bleed too.
Next success is at 511 deaths, then 567, 599, 632, 656, 677... by 900 deaths, he can almost guarantee catching that fleeting moment.
Of course, this doesn't mean his chances of winning have drastically increased, because that's only one of Lancelot's attacks. She has too many.
What truly frustrates him is her mobility.
After ignoring inertia, she can swiftly move to his side or behind him, striking him with lightning speed.
After much thought, Guinevere devises a counter-strategy:
The Windmill.
It's not the spinning attack seen in many games and anime, where a weapon is swung around in a circular motion—those attacks are full of holes.
What Guinevere uses is a real-life technique, a two-handed sword technique developed by the Spanish. It uses the weapon's rotation to convert its weight into an advantage.
This technique is an extension of another technique, the "Iron Butterfly," but with greater fluidity and efficiency.
In practice, he uses a series of strikes, each transitioning into the next—defensive slashes, offensive thrusts, all flowing together.
The key to this technique is speed.
Not the game-like misconception that dual swords are fast but weak, and two-handed swords are slow but powerful.
In reality, a two-handed sword can block and attack simultaneously, far more agile than a shield.
With this technique, Guinevere can strike two or more times a second—much faster than one would expect from a weapon of this size.
Death count: 901.
Guinevere begins to incorporate the Windmill into his swordplay. With the first strike, he halts Lancelot's meteor-like charge, then quickly follows up with the next attack.
But his precision is still lacking—he's a bit too slow, and Lancelot kills him again.
"Again!" he shouts.
Death count: 902.
The same mistake.
"Again!"
Death count: 903.
The same mistake.
But he doesn't stop.
For every failure, he learns something new, something tiny.
"Next time," he thinks, "next time I'll get it right."
By the time death count reaches 1000, Guinevere's Windmill speed is rapid enough to land strikes.
His speed approaches the level of his training. And with each new try, his mastery grows.
But it's still not enough.
One thousand deaths.
The system offers a suggestion:
[Your win rate is 1 in 100,000 against Lancelot. The system recommends surrendering the fight.]
But Guinevere refuses.
"Shut up!" he yells at the system.
"I've said it before! As long as there's a chance—no matter how slim—I'll make it happen!"
The battle resumes.
At death count 13413, he's finally mastered all the sword techniques he's learned, integrating them into the Windmill.
At 19818, his speed and precision allow him to perfect every movement.
By 25468, his turns are perfect, every slash fluid and exact.
The once impossible challenge is becoming possible.
By 67852, he's synchronized his speed with Lancelot's every move.
By 77845, he's melded every sword technique into his unique style, creating a powerful system.
By 89567, Guinevere's Windmill reaches a speed of 1.6 strikes per second, with each slash covering a massive area.
By 94886, he's reached the peak—his every movement in perfect sync with his instinct.
When time rewinds and the battle restarts, Guinevere feels an uncanny connection with his sword.
The moment Lancelot appears before him again, Guinevere lifts his sword.
This time, he feels he will win.
This is his 94887th attempt.