Yuri gripped his sword tightly.
The Empire’s knights were infiltrating from all sides, scaling the castle walls and pressing the attack.
Though the knights of Briol fought fiercely beyond expectations, this was no easy battle.
Suddenly, Yuri sensed a powerful energy within his ki awareness.
His eyes shifted toward that source.
An imperial knight clad in black armor was calmly springing upward, using his grappling gear.
Unlike the others, his movements were composed, almost effortless.
He scanned the air to confirm his landing spot, then landed steadily, his cloak billowing behind him.
Two Briol knights nearby charged at him.
Bang.
In an instant, both were sent flying.
A cold smile curled at Yuri’s lips.
His sword’s ki flared with a dark, ominous hue.
War was a place of death and killing, but seeing his comrades fall stirred his emotions nonetheless. Yuri advanced toward the enemy.
The knights standing between him and the imperial knight instinctively stepped aside, sensing the sharp aura radiating from Yuri.
The opponent wore no helmet, his face clearly visible.
“Yuri Briol, is it?” the imperial knight asked.
“And you are?”
“Hares, knight of the Empire.”
“Commander of the knights?”
“No.”
He raised his sword.
“I’m just a knight.”
Yuri nodded. Honestly, the enemy’s rank or affiliation didn’t matter.
There was no time for pleasantries.
Yuri charged forward, swinging his sword.
At first, Hares’ calm expression gradually stiffened, clearly surprised by Yuri’s skill.
But Yuri neither taunted nor sneered. He simply began the methodical work of killing his opponent.
He targeted Hares’ lower body to distract him, occasionally aiming for the neck and chest to remind him of the threat of sudden strikes.
Slowly, Hares’ movements shifted.
Feigning defense of his lower body, he deliberately left his upper body exposed. It was clear he intended to bait an attack and counterstrike.
But that was exactly what Yuri had planned.
Though Hares thought he’d set a trap, Yuri, a step ahead, read every thought clearly.
So he played along.
Pretending to aim low, Yuri suddenly thrust “Guilty” through the opening in Hares’ upper body.
Hares’ movements became strange, almost serpentine, as he flexibly dodged the attack.
“So this is it,” Yuri muttered.
At the same moment, chaotic energy erupted from within “Guilty.”
The sword, freed from the laws of physics, sliced through Hares’ body.
Hares’ eyes widened.
Normally, he should have been able to dodge. But Yuri’s sword defied all logic. The countless possibilities born from chaos were beyond any ordinary mind’s prediction.
Because Hares trusted his defense too much, Yuri was able to defeat him with ease.
With disbelief in his eyes, Hares collapsed. Yuri tore his gaze away from the fallen body.
It was over.
Hares was strong—stronger than the commander of the 8th knights he’d met earlier. His strange, unidentifiable movements and his self-description as “just a knight” suggested no clear allegiance.
He must have had a deep story.
But all those stories ended beneath Yuri’s blade.
There was no time for mourning or sentimentality.
Yuri erased the existence called Hares and immediately sought his next opponent. On this battlefield, Hares’ death was no different from an ant crushed under a boot.
A new enemy stood before Yuri.
“You must be Yuri Briol! I am Thanasto! The next commander of the 6th knights! Ha ha ha ha!”
Yuri immediately unleashed the Whirling Vortex sword technique. Empowered by chaos, the fractal whirlpool spun with a ferocity far beyond before.
It tore through Thanasto’s body.
He could no longer laugh, one arm severed, trembling as he slumped backward. Without his right hand, his days as a knight were over.
There was no need to kill a defeated enemy. The pitiful sight of a fallen comrade would only dampen morale.
Yuri did not pursue him further.
Raising “Guilty,” Yuri shouted,
“For Briol!”
A roar erupted from the entire castle wall.
Thanks to the terrain advantage and soaring morale, Briol was holding off the enemy better than expected. Yuri moved without pause.
Among the defenders were young knights clearly out of their depth, and old veterans who seemed to be fighting their last war.
All were cut down.
“Guilty” now glowed red, soaked with blood.
Around that time, Yuri encountered a worthy opponent.
“Yuri Briol!”
Someone called his name again.
Turning his head, Yuri saw a knight plunging down like a cannonball from the sky. Yuri stepped back immediately.
The knight’s landing shook the castle wall.
“This shabby fortress is a nuisance. Is it because of you? Then I’ll just kill you and be done with it.”
Madness laced his voice.
Yuri looked into his eyes. A faint trace of dark magic lingered—he must have been transformed by it.
Yuri realized the Empire’s army was increasingly resembling the forms from his past life.
“Who are you?”
“No need to know!”
The knight charged wildly. Each swing of his sword sent gusts of wind in all directions.
Despite the exhausting use of mana, he showed no sign of fatigue. Clearly, dark magic was sustaining him.
Yuri’s eyes gleamed fiercely.
Not only an imperial knight, but one consumed by dark magic—he was nothing less than an enemy.
Yuri raised “Guilty” to block the attack. The shock reverberated through his entire body.
“Is that all you’ve got?!”
The imperial knight shouted, bringing his sword down hard.
Yuri dodged sideways. The castle wall beneath shattered.
He gauged his opponent’s level.
His power was concentrated in brute strength, similar to Yalta.
Whatever means the Empire used, they had created knights with destructive power on par with Yalta. Their strength would only grow.
Yuri twisted his lips and closed in.
The enemy’s sword spun like a windmill, striking again. Yuri blocked with “Guilty,” but the impact was fierce.
Yuri was pushed back. The enemy advanced, striking once more.
“Just running away, huh?”
Yuri deflected and slipped inside the enemy’s guard.
A kick came flying.
“Ugh!”
Yuri raised his arm to block, his whole body aching.
The enemy created distance and swung his sword toward Yuri’s head.
Yuri ducked.
Then, lowering his stance, he charged at the enemy’s lower body.
Another kick came.
Yuri sprang up and moved sideways, narrowly escaping the attack’s range.
He slashed “Guilty” across the enemy’s ribs. The knight twisted his body to minimize the blow, but the blade still grazed his flesh.
Blood splattered.
The enemy went berserk, spinning and charging at Yuri.
Yuri dodged left and right again.
Like a matador to a bull, he toyed with the imperial knight, who roared in frustration.
Looking around as if to vent his anger, the knight found no one daring to intervene. The other knights kept their distance, watching the duel unfold.
Only the two of them stood atop the castle wall, glaring at each other.
Yuri flicked his hand.
“Come on, boar.”
At that signal, the imperial knight charged. This time, he slowed just before collision, watching Yuri carefully.
But Yuri had no intention of running from an opponent conserving his strength.
He met the charge head-on.
Caught off guard by the sudden offense, the enemy lost grip of his sword.
Yuri’s blade pierced his shoulder. Blood sprayed, and a groan escaped.
Seizing the momentum, Yuri kicked the enemy’s chest. As the knight fell, Yuri drove “Guilty” down toward his head.
The enemy twisted his neck to avoid the blow.
But the movement left a slash across his cheek.
Blood stained his face.
Yuri looked down and sneered briefly. The fallen knight’s face flushed red as he thrashed wildly.
Yuri had to step back.
The enemy sprang up and lunged again.
Truly like a wild boar.
“How long will you keep throwing those pathetic attacks?”
Not wanting to drag the fight out, Yuri taunted him.
A more skilled knight wouldn’t fall for such tricks, but this one was simple-minded. He roared and swung his sword wildly at Yuri.
A faint smile tugged at Yuri’s lips.
On the battlefield, calm was everything.
One mistake could ruin everything.
The price was life.
Yuri kept just the slightest distance, dodging the enemy’s strikes.
The closer he got to the blade, the greater his chance.
He used every bit of that advantage.
Twisting his waist to gather power, he infused chaos into his upward strike. The enemy still hadn’t recovered his sword.
The spinning blow sliced through the knight’s body.
“Guilty” entered beneath the ribs and exited near the opposite collarbone.
The enemy’s torso was cleanly severed.
Flesh and blood splattered.
Beyond the spray of blood, Yuri saw the knight’s upper body fall. His face was frozen in the expression of battle, unaware of death.
Yuri muttered,
“In war, it’s a good death.”
The lower half lost strength and collapsed, spilling its innards.
A stench of fishiness and rot rose.
But that was not the end.
There was still a lingering trace of dark magic on him—something no one else could see.
Yuri fixed her gaze on the figure.
But at that moment, his hand, resting on the ground, suddenly grabbed her ankle.
“What the—?”
Startled, she tried to pull away, but he held on tight.
He crawled forward, baring his teeth, aiming to bite her leg.
Before he could, Yuri thrust her sword into his face.
He bit down hard, losing all his teeth.
Yet he didn’t stop. With only gums left, he gnawed fiercely on the blade. His face was being torn apart.
It was a horrifying sight.
Yuri shook off the sword with a strong flick, smashing his head. The corpse finally stopped moving.
She muttered under her breath.
“A zombie?”
A creature known only in legends.
A type of undead risen from death, but unlike a death knight, it had no humanity left. It couldn’t be killed, no matter what, and relentlessly hunted the living.
Could dark magic really create something like this?
There was no time to dwell on it.
This was a battlefield.
Fighting raged all around.
Yuri glanced around.
Enemy and ally corpses lay tangled together atop the fortress walls.
Knights fought again, stepping over the bodies.
It looked like there would be no rest until sunset.
“Hey!”
Yuri shouted as she charged forward. Jared was struggling against two enemies.
“Jared, what are you doing?”
“Help me, please!”
Like the last enemy she’d faced, Yuri rushed forward like a cannonball and slammed into the imperial knight.
The opponent was immediately flung off the wall.
A pitiful exit.
The lone imperial knight looked between Yuri and Jared in shock.
“Hey, you’re—”
Just as Yuri was about to finish him off with a joke, her head snapped to the side. She stared into the heart of the imperial camp.
Someone was walking toward the jump gear.
“Damn it…”
The last person she wanted to see today.
Black armor, and instead of a helmet, a black mask.
The Black Knight.
He was moving.
“That’s the Black Knight, right?”
“Yeah.”
He was heading straight toward Yuri.
Their eyes met as he kept walking.
“He’s coming this way?”
Then, the Black Knight broke into a run.