One strike.
That was all it took to drive the Black Knight off the battlements.
Fiore swung his sword, and the Black Knight, blocking the blow, was knocked back as if hit by a cannonball, landing hard beneath the wall.
Dust rose among the Imperial soldiers.
Without hesitation, Fiore stepped onto the parapet and gave chase.
“Your Highness!”
“Stop! That’s dangerous!”
He had leapt alone into the heart of the Imperial ranks.
Everyone called out in alarm, but Fiore didn’t waver. The moment he landed before the Black Knight, the surrounding Imperial soldiers instinctively stepped back, creating a circular clearing between the two.
Everyone sensed it.
The outcome of this siege would be decided by the duel between these two.
As all eyes fixed on them, Yuri remained tense, refusing to relax.
“What’s everyone waiting for? Just going to stand there and watch?”
“No, no!”
“Clear the battlements!”
The Briol knights, snapped out of their daze, sprang into action.
The stalled battle roared back to life.
The morale of the Imperial knights, shaken by Fiore’s sudden appearance, crumbled quickly—they were cut down without much resistance.
Only the more skilled among them managed to leap from the battlements, desperately trying to survive.
Yuri, holding the line atop the wall, turned her gaze back.
Fiore and the Black Knight were closing in on each other.
She fixed her eyes on them, wide open.
Entering the realm of the soul, she strained to catch even the faintest flow of mana emanating from their bodies.
“Ah…”
Yuri had never seen Fiore fight properly before.
He preferred to train alone in the underground mist chamber, so while she knew he was strong, she had little idea how he wielded his sword in battle.
But the swordplay she saw today—
It was beautiful.
She wanted to grab someone and say, “Can you see this?”
“Your Highness, what’s wrong?”
Before she knew it, Laurent and Jared had come to her side.
Instead of answering, Yuri pointed toward Fiore Briol.
“Yes. His Highness is winning.”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Huh?”
“Can you see it?”
“See what…?”
“Over there…”
Watching the fight through the soul’s eye, Yuri could see the shape of mana rising from Fiore’s body, the sword path radiating from him, and how it left traces upon the world.
There was more unseen than visible.
She realized something.
Her father, Fiore Briol, wasn’t hiding his sword.
He simply didn’t need an opponent.
“Flowers are blooming…”
Yuri smiled, catching Jared’s puzzled glance.
Where their swords met, flowers made of mana blossomed.
Sometimes they bloomed like layered roses, other times like clusters of bellflowers hanging downward. The floral afterimages faded, scattering along their movements.
Suddenly, a spray of red splattered.
Blood burst from the Black Knight’s chest.
Following the flow of space Fiore controlled, the blood formed a pattern of floral motifs.
A blood flower.
Like a butterfly fluttering down to rest on a petal, Fiore’s sword began to descend loosely toward the Black Knight’s heart.
It wasn’t especially fast or overwhelmingly powerful.
But it was unavoidable.
Like a marble spiraling through a funnel, no matter what the Black Knight did, Fiore’s blade would find its mark.
Yuri thought the battle was over.
Then, in the soul’s realm she observed, a dark stain appeared on the sword.
It slipped into Fiore’s domain, disrupting the pattern he had drawn.
Boom.
An explosion echoed.
Someone stood between Fiore and the Black Knight.
A knight clad in black armor.
Fiore glanced down at him indifferently, then slowly sheathed his sword.
“Thank you.”
“No, it’s nothing.”
The black-armored knight replied to the Black Knight.
“I can’t face that monster alone.”
“Hmm…”
“I’ll help.”
With that, another black-armored knight appeared.
Centered around the Black Knight, three stood before Fiore.
Ainz, who had quietly approached Yuri’s side, spoke.
“They’re the captains of the knight order.”
“Really?”
“They’re strong enough to be candidates for the Ten Strong. And there are three of them…”
But Fiore didn’t back down at all. Instead, he stepped forward toward the trio.
“Not just those three…”
The Imperial soldiers surrounding Fiore thickened into a dense crowd.
He was literally facing the entire Imperial army alone.
“Should we leave the castle?”
Jared asked.
He was suggesting leading the Briol knights out to fight alongside Fiore.
Yuri shook her head.
“No.”
“But…”
“Don’t misunderstand my father. He’s not the type to be tested by others. It’s people like me, desperate fools, who do that.”
“Huh?”
“The reason he’s still standing there…”
Yuri placed one foot on the parapet and said,
“Is because he’s judged it safe enough.”
The three who had been watching Yuri turned their eyes back to the battlefield.
At that moment, Fiore took a step.
Yuri plunged into the soul’s realm, desperately tracking his movements.
Fiore’s sword now entered a more intense domain.
Not flowers, but flames of mana erupted like a fountain.
Something was about to happen.
Watching those flames, Yuri felt an ominous premonition.
Just before the Black Knight’s death, when the two captains intervened, Fiore’s domain had briefly faltered.
At that moment, the two appeared like black stains.
Dark magic.
From the battlements, Yuri could tell that, like the knights Fiore had slain, these two were already consumed by that dark power.
Fiore’s skill was extraordinary, but dark magic sometimes defied human expectations.
“Your Highness, you say that, but I suppose you’re worried inside?”
“A little.”
“Hahaha…”
Ainz laughed.
“Don’t worry.”
Yuri looked at him. Ainz leaned against the parapet and said,
“When I was young, I saw His Highness fight once. When was that…? Anyway, he was surrounded by enemies on all sides…”
His eyes grew distant, as if recalling the past.
“He was truly a one-man army.”
“Really?”
“A whole legion, in fact. To me, that scene looks different.”
Ainz smiled wryly.
“His Highness seemed to have the greater numbers.”
As soon as he finished speaking, something strange happened where Fiore stood.
Mana surged upward from his sword in a wedge shape.
It rose high into the sky, then cascaded down in all directions.
It was all sword energy.
A massive sword forged from layers of sword energy.
Even that overflowed, spilling down like a waterfall.
Those who understood the meaning of this scene were horrified.
“My God…”
Then Fiore moved.
He took a step forward and swung his sword horizontally.
A simple motion.
But its impact was beyond comprehension.
“Ah…”
Yuri gasped.
Fiore’s sword energy spread endlessly along his sword path, forming a gigantic fan-shaped domain.
Everything within it was cut down.
The sight of countless men collapsing simultaneously was surreal.
At first, it looked like they simply sank to the ground.
But in an instant, blood gushed from the severed wounds, staining the earth red.
Of the three facing Fiore—the Black Knight and two captains—only the Black Knight and one captain survived; the other died along with the surrounding Imperial soldiers.
A massive blood-red semicircle formed before Fiore.
Inside, bodies writhed, their upper and lower halves severed.
A gruesome sight.
Then, the Imperial soldiers camped behind Fiore panicked and fled.
They collided and fell over each other, causing deaths by trampling.
It was a terror born of overwhelming power, leaving no thought of resistance.
Only the Black Knight and one captain remained before Fiore.
Though alive, they were severely wounded.
As Fiore advanced, the two fled.
One of the Ten Strong giving up resistance and running away—it was surreal.
Fiore immediately gave chase.
“Indeed…”
Yuri nodded.
“Very practical.”
Fiore didn’t bother with any dramatic gestures like sheathing his sword with flair as he watched the enemy retreat.
He was determined to catch and kill them this time.
Though his breathless sprint looked a bit unrefined, his resolve was admirable.
“Hmm…”
“Ahem…”
“Why, does it look unrefined?”
“No, it’s just that His Highness rarely has to run.”
“New recruits run like that…”
“Why does he swing his arms sideways?”
Regardless, Fiore’s speed was incredible.
He chased the Black Knight, swinging his sword at his back.
The Black Knight turned to counterattack, and the duel resumed.
They exchanged blows while chasing and retreating.
But the Imperial army didn’t stand idly by.
Dozens of black-armored knights swarmed Fiore, trying to hold him down.
Swords clashed amid the crowd.
Blood splattered.
Fiore gradually began to tire and stopped running.
A few knights hesitated, then fell to Fiore’s blade.
And then—
The Imperial army retreated.
Jared muttered,
“To think I’d live long enough to see something like this.”
Ainz looked at him.
“Young man, what are you saying…”
“I’m just saying what I mean.”
“Anyway, it’s truly a spectacle. To see one man drive an army away.”
Fiore watched the imperial army retreating, then turned and began making his way back.
Yuri immediately gave the signal. The sound of a horn echoed through the air.
It was the call announcing their victory.
Yuri climbed onto the railing and shouted out.
“Everyone, cheer!”
The Briole soldiers shouted back toward Fiore.
Everyone on the walls raised their hands and waved their weapons in his direction.
Fiore, who had been walking back with a calm expression, paused for a moment and glanced upward out of the corner of his eye before continuing on.
Yuri called out again.
“Fiore! Fiore! Fiore!”
Soon, everyone joined in.
From all around, Fiore’s name rang out.
“Your Highness.”
“Enough already.”
“What do you mean?”
“The King is feeling a bit embarrassed right now.”
“I know.”
Fiore’s face flushed faintly.
The entire Briole army was calling his name and praising his deeds, and he seemed a little shy about it.
Yuri didn’t mind and encouraged the cheers even more.
“He’s not just Fiore! He’s the Invincible! Fiore!”
“Invincible!”
“Fiore!”
“Invincible!”
“Fiore!”
Since Fiore had been walking calmly from a distance, he still had quite a way to go before reaching Bezos Castle. Yet the Briole army’s cheers showed no sign of stopping.
“…”
Eventually, Fiore quickened his pace. It looked like he was about to break into a run, but then, embarrassed, he slowed back down to a walk.
“Invincible! Fiore! Invincible! Fiore!”
Fiore’s eyes suddenly lifted toward Yuri.
Yuri immediately ducked behind the wall and sank down, leaning his back against it.
Though it had been a joke, the scene he’d just witnessed still lingered in his mind.
Fiore’s skills were very different from Yuri’s, but they inspired him greatly.
That was the swordsman known as the strongest of this era.
He looked down at his hands.
They trembled slightly.
He had thought he’d grown much stronger since gaining Chaos. But he was still far from the goal. If he couldn’t fully master Chaos, he would never surpass monsters like the Black Knight or Fiore.
He had to completely control Chaos…
‘Be careful with Simma,’
a voice suddenly echoed in his mind—it was Moyongchan’s warning.
Yuri closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again.
It was only a moment, but within him, time stretched endlessly. The instant his eyelids fell, he had endured a long, grueling Simma.
He lowered his head and exhaled deeply, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
“Your Highness?”
Jared called out to him.
“Is something wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Yuri lifted his head.
Jared flinched, his expression filled with concern.
“You don’t look okay.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…”
“It’s just that I pushed myself too hard.”
Perhaps because he had overused Chaos in the battle, this Simma had been unusually long.
But it was nothing serious.
Yuri shook his head, brushing away the lingering unease.
Then he stood up and gave a small, confident smile.
“We won.”