Yuri raised his sword and stepped forward.
Opposite him stood a knight named Joseph, visibly tense, shifting his feet in time with Yuri’s movements.
In an instant, the two circled the duel arena.
When Yuri lunged, Joseph hastily retreated.
Perhaps still rattled by the earlier warning, Joseph eyed Yuri like a cat with its fur on end—wary and ready to surrender if things went south.
Yuri smiled and spoke again.
“Just kidding. Don’t be so nervous.”
“Y-yes…”
“Alright, here I come.”
Yuri advanced smoothly, swinging his sword without full force. Joseph easily parried the blow.
Their exchange continued.
Yuri’s feints were so well-calibrated that Joseph began to believe he was holding his own quite well.
Occasionally, Yuri struck harder, keeping Joseph on edge.
Then Yuri glanced toward the knights waiting behind.
Among them stood one in the center, his body coiled with a dark, swirling energy.
The moment the duel ended, that knight would rush forward to target the remaining Briol knights.
If Yuri didn’t deal with him quickly, they would lose the Conqueror’s Chronicle—and Simon might be seriously hurt.
Yuri shifted his gaze back to Rail.
He hadn’t met the king of this land yet, so he couldn’t be sure, but at the very least, this chancellor Rail must be aware of the dark magic at play.
Clenching his sword tightly, Yuri adjusted his stance.
His senses sharpened to the max.
What he was about to attempt was difficult, even for someone of his skill.
But Yuri was determined to pull it off.
He watched every move Joseph made, calculated the formation of the knights behind him, and weighed Joseph’s skill, the others’ abilities, and all the possibilities before making his move.
Yuri deliberately swung his arm wide, aiming for Joseph’s shoulder. Joseph stepped back, but their swords clashed loudly.
“Ugh…!”
The impact was enough to make Joseph clutch his wrist.
Yuri watched him, spinning his sword a few times before driving Joseph toward the corner of the arena.
Their back-and-forth continued—Yuri pressing forward, Joseph defending.
From the outside, it looked like Yuri was pushing hard and Joseph was barely holding on.
Yuri cornered Joseph.
There was nowhere left to run. Joseph’s face turned pale.
Suddenly, Yuri’s eyes widened.
His vision slipped into the realm of the soul.
He saw Joseph flailing desperately—and the knight shrouded in dark energy standing still behind him.
Yuri caught the moment in a flash.
Timing everything perfectly, he deliberately left one side open.
Joseph spotted the opening and immediately moved toward the edge.
Because Yuri had created the space, Joseph thought he was escaping the corner on his own.
Yuri struck at him without hesitation.
Joseph reflexively raised his sword, and their blades collided.
Repeated impacts had already damaged Joseph’s wrist, causing his sword to tremble slightly.
Halfway out of the corner, Joseph struggled to fend off Yuri’s attack.
His face twisted in pain.
When Yuri kicked him in the thigh, Joseph nearly collapsed.
Yuri immediately brought his sword down in a powerful strike.
Joseph raised his blade vertically to block.
Their swords clashed once more.
Then, suddenly, Joseph panicked, dropped his sword, and rolled forward to dodge.
Yuri swung hard at the now ownerless sword.
And then—
Something unexpected happened.
Joseph’s sword spun wildly from the force, ricocheting off in another direction—and pierced the chest of the knight who had been standing silently nearby.
The victim was the knight harboring the dark energy.
Blood poured out.
In that instant, the sword’s soul-cleaving energy transferred from Joseph’s blade to the knight’s body, tearing apart the black magic that had been coiling within him.
The pure white light of the soul-cleaving strike faded into the air alongside the dark magic.
The Conzed knight collapsed.
Everyone was stunned by the sudden turn of events.
“Ah…”
The surrounding knights rushed to give emergency aid, but it was too late.
Pierced through the chest, the knight was dead on the spot.
Yuri raised both hands.
“Damn…”
He frowned deeply, glancing between Joseph and the fallen knight with a look of regret.
“To think he’d drop his sword and run…”
For a knight, that was a disgrace.
And since it had cost another knight his life, Joseph must be utterly shaken.
He stared blankly at the fallen man before rushing off.
Yuri muttered under his breath.
“Joseph, disqualified.”
Of course, this had all been part of Yuri’s plan.
He targeted Joseph’s wrist to sap his strength, seized control of the sword for a moment, then struck to kill the dark magic host behind him.
Now, nothing stood in Briol’s way.
Yuri shrugged apologetically and looked back at Rail.
“An unexpected accident. How unfortunate.”
Rail’s face was a mask of shock.
“T-this… this is how it is…”
“There are rules for this kind of situation in the Conqueror’s Chronicle. An accident can’t stop the tournament. Bring out a new knight, Rail.”
Apparently, such incidents had happened before, and the rules explicitly stated that even if a non-participating duelist was injured by accident, the tournament would continue.
No one could be held responsible if a weapon ricocheted and caused injury.
“This is a big deal, but we can just fight two more times. Right?”
“…”
Despite a knight having just died, Yuri calmly demanded the continuation of the Chronicle.
Rail had no choice but to comply.
They quickly removed the body, and amid the unsettled atmosphere, the tournament went on. The remaining two knights, unable to regain their composure, were easily defeated by Jared and Simon.
With the dark magic removed, it was far too easy.
Thus, Briol won three to two.
Yuri approached Rail, who stood dazed.
When Yuri placed a hand on his shoulder, Rail flinched but then lifted his head.
“Will you give me the flag?”
“Ah, yes…”
“And you mentioned staying for a night earlier. That’s still possible, right?”
“Of course.”
Rail forced a smile.
“Conzed does not mistreat guests.”
They were given lodgings for the avenging knights, complete with bathing facilities.
The avenging knights soaked in hot water, washing away the fatigue of their long journey.
Once Yuri finished freshening up, he called Jared.
“You noticed something strange, right?”
“Yes.”
Yuri recounted the earlier events. When he mentioned the dark magic shifting between targets like Tirbo and Guiness, Jared chuckled dryly.
“Really bizarre. So that’s why you killed that knight?”
“Exactly.”
“Your Majesty, you’re incredible.”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
Yuri crossed his arms and continued.
“There are two options. Either we rest and leave, or we turn Conzed upside down. Which do you prefer?”
“Turn it upside down?”
“That chancellor handled everything, right? The problem lies with the king. Either Rail made a deal with the empire to manipulate the king, or the king himself colluded with the empire and became… well, like this.”
“I see…”
“It’s clear the empire’s influence runs deep in Conzed.”
“Yes. We can either ignore it and rush on, or we can stir things up here. That’s what you mean.”
“Exactly.”
“Personally…”
Jared gazed into the distance, weighing his thoughts.
“We moved very fast. We have more time than expected.”
The avenging knights had been gathering flags at an unprecedented pace in the history of the Conqueror’s Chronicle—riding hard every day, sometimes visiting two countries in a single day to collect flags.
At this rate, they could gather enough flags within a month.
“Let’s take a look.”
“What?”
Yuri looked surprised.
“I thought you’d say it’s too much trouble and just want to leave.”
“What do you mean?”
Jared shook his head.
“Tirbo and Guiness almost died.”
“That’s true.”
If Yuri hadn’t held back from conceding, those two would have suffered serious injuries—or worse—from the dark magic.
“We’ll go and shake things up. Just in case this happens again.”
“Is that so?”
Yuri smiled slyly.
“Then let’s get moving.”
Night had already fallen.
Since the avenging knights had arrived late and fought the tournament, most of the castle’s staff were asleep, except for a few attendants serving them.
Yuri and Jared, both masked, slipped out of their rooms.
They found a suitable window and climbed out, scaling the outer wall. Their skills were honed to the point they could move exactly as they wished.
Yuri crawled up to the upper floor where the king stayed and slipped inside through a window.
The corridor was dark and silent.
Suddenly, a flicker of light moved in the distance.
Yuri glanced at Jared, then pressed a finger to his lips.
They slipped into the shadows between two pillars.
A servant carrying a tray with a bowl in one hand and a lantern in the other walked down the corridor, heading toward a large door.
Two guards stood silently in the darkness.
They opened the door, and the attendant stepped inside. When a faint glimpse of the interior came into view, it was shrouded in darkness as well.
Yuri whispered to Jared.
“That door’s huge, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think something’s inside?”
“Shall we check it out?”
Yuri gauged the distance carefully.
After silently working out the steps needed to quietly take down the two guards, Yuri whispered a rough plan to Jared.
“Got it?”
“Yes.”
Then, slipping cautiously through the shadows, Yuri slipped back out the window.
Left alone, Jared pulled a coin from his pocket and tossed it down the hallway.
The clear sound echoed.
“…”
The two guards exchanged glances, and one of them began to walk slowly toward the noise. Jared hid behind a pillar, waiting.
Step, step.
The guard stopped right where Jared was concealed.
Jared seized him by the neck.
At the same moment, Yuri, who had crawled along the outer wall, slipped in through the opposite window and subdued the remaining guard.
Silently knocking out both men, Yuri and Jared stood before the massive door.
“I’ll open it.”
“Okay.”
The two of them gently pushed the door open.
Inside was dark, but the faint glow from the lantern the attendant carried earlier dimly illuminated the room.
Someone lay on a large bed, and the attendant’s back was visible as he tilted a bowl toward the figure.
Jared flinched.
“That’s…”
“Yes.”
But the figure on the bed was disturbingly unnatural.
Though humanoid in shape, its body and head were grotesquely swollen several times their normal size. With each breath, a hiss of escaping air carried a foul stench.
The attendant, unaware, stood with his back turned, but the figure on the bed noticed Yuri and Jared and turned its eyes toward them.
It made no sound.
Yuri could easily guess what it was.
The King of Konzhed.
The crown resting by the bedside was proof enough.
Yuri and Jared stepped inside and quietly closed the door behind them. Then they approached the king.
Only then did the attendant, hearing footsteps, turn around.
“Who’s—huh?”
Yuri struck him on the jaw, knocking him out cold, and rolled his body aside.
“…”
The King of Konzhed stared blankly up at them.
Jared grimaced. The sight was too unsettling to meet with any calm.
Yuri spoke.
“Your Majesty, I am Yuri Briol, Crown Prince of Briol.”
The king gazed at Yuri vacantly.
Then he parted his lips.
At first, the words were unintelligible, but when Yuri leaned closer, the meaning became clear.
“Will you… kill me…?”