Yuri’s blade of glass energy shattered everything around him.
Dust and smoke mixed into a thick haze, swirling before settling.
Where the whirlwind had passed, only enemy corpses remained.
Not even the Empire’s monstrous creations could survive Yuri’s assault.
“Impressive, as always,” Jared said, genuinely admiring Yuri. He had followed Yuri closely, witnessing his absurdly rapid growth firsthand, but now it felt like Yuri had truly outpaced him.
Laurent quietly extended his hand.
“Yuri Briol. This isn’t the time to show off your strength. Your target is that guy over there.”
“Oh, right.”
After Yuri’s whirlwind swept through once more, the Empire’s soldiers began to retreat. Their commander barked orders and turned to leave.
Yuri had no intention of letting him go.
He bent down and picked up a broken sword, split clean in two, from a fallen soldier.
Then, charging forward, he hurled it like a spear.
The shattered blade flew in a straight line, not an arc.
The energy within it tore through the air with a sharp, piercing sound.
Boom.
The Empire commander raised his sword to block Yuri’s shot, but the explosion forced him several steps back. His eyes glared fiercely from beneath his helmet.
Yuri pressed on.
“Jared, Laurent. Clear the way.”
“Yes!”
“…”
Laurent didn’t reply, but he obeyed.
Jared’s fluid sword strikes and Laurent’s fierce energy swept ahead, carving a path for Yuri.
Passing through the opening they made, Yuri leapt toward the commander.
With a single bound, he closed the long distance and immediately aimed a piercing strike at the commander’s head.
At that moment, something blocked his blade.
Yuri spun midair and landed behind his opponent.
“You…”
Turning to face the commander, Yuri said, “So you’re the one controlling this.”
Just before splitting his head open, Yuri noticed tentacles sprouting from the man’s body.
He wasn’t merely brainwashed—he had become part of the dark magic itself.
The commander advanced silently, tentacles writhing behind him. Seeing this, Yuri thought of Sibylla.
His brow furrowed.
Shaking his head, Yuri used a pinpoint strike to pierce the commander’s abdomen.
The blade passed through space, gouging into the enemy’s chest before retracting.
Blood poured out.
“Is he down?”
Yuri muttered, but those tainted by dark magic didn’t die so easily. The commander staggered, bleeding, then regained his footing and began walking toward Yuri again.
At the same time, the monsters nearby crawled forward, all converging on Yuri.
It was clear the commander held sway over them.
“Hey.”
Yuri called out to the Empire knights surrounding him from a short distance.
“Aren’t you ashamed to be standing with those monsters?”
They only stared back with hardened eyes.
But their blank expressions didn’t last.
Laurent and Jared arrived just in time, attacking the knights. Two of the Empire’s soldiers, distracted by Yuri, were killed, and the rest immediately engaged in combat.
Their sword energies tore through the air, blurring vision.
As if on cue, the commander and monsters charged at Yuri.
He couldn’t fend off all the tentacle attacks alone. Raising a shield of sword energy, he blocked the onslaught and charged at the commander.
The tentacles struck the barrier repeatedly but failed to break through. Ignoring the monsters, Yuri stood before the commander.
The commander wielded both sword and tentacles.
“Ugh!”
It made him several times more difficult to fight.
His swordsmanship was no joke—likely the skill of a knight commander. Yet even such a warrior had fallen, corrupted by dark magic parasitizing his body. That was the Empire’s grim reality.
“Damn it.”
Yuri felt a sudden wave of despair.
Cedric had taken full control of the Empire.
With his brilliant mind and dark magic, who knew what horrors he was committing?
Stalemating like this wouldn’t solve anything.
They had to push into the Empire, strike the imperial palace, and cut down Cedric.
But that path felt impossibly distant.
Clenching the Gilty sword tightly, Yuri slashed fiercely. Multiple sword energies erupted, striking the commander’s body, but his tentacles absorbed every blow.
Their blades clashed, echoing in all directions.
“Foolish resistance.”
For the first time, the commander spoke.
His voice was unnatural, inhuman.
At that moment, Yuri met the strange energy radiating from his eyes.
A wave of negativity rose within him. It was like touching a demonic grimoire or seeing the spectral eyes atop the tower—this energy struck at the very core of his soul.
But it didn’t affect Yuri.
He had already faced far greater darkness and returned. Illusions from a petty creature like this meant nothing.
Gathering the spirit energy of his Soul Slash, Yuri struck again.
The commander’s chest was wounded.
When Yuri effortlessly overcame his trickery, the commander panicked and wildly stabbed with his tentacles, but they couldn’t pierce Yuri’s sword energy shield.
Yuri struck once more.
The commander collapsed.
Though dead, there was no chaos.
The Empire’s army was a war machine that never retreated—they simply stood their ground and fought.
But with all tactical commands halted, the unique, coordinated movements that had plagued the Anti-Empire Alliance vanished.
Now, the Empire’s forces only charged forward.
They were far easier to deal with.
At that moment, Inariel’s magic began anew.
This time, it wasn’t fireballs.
A dazzling orb appeared above the Anti-Empire front lines. At first glance, it looked like a mass of light, but on closer inspection, countless comet-like streaks swirled within it.
The glowing mass slowly melted away.
One by one.
The comets shot out toward their targets.
“Ah…”
Yuri momentarily forgot the battlefield and looked up.
It was like watching a small meteor shower.
Each light was a magical arrow with its own trajectory.
The mages had unleashed a massive volley of Magic Arrows, firing them down onto the ground.
Every single one identified and homed in on its target.
There were no blind shots; all avoided allies and pierced only the Empire’s forces.
The sight of these arrows raining down and ravaging the enemy was strangely beautiful.
“Impressive.”
Yuri admired.
Not only could they cast magic, but they could selectively intercept enemies—a crucial skill in war.
That single attack shifted the tide once again.
Now, the Anti-Empire forces overwhelmed the Empire army.
The Empire knights surrounding Yuri glanced nervously at the front lines.
“What are you hesitating for?”
Yuri smirked.
“Think you can run?”
Then he charged at the knights.
Laurent and Jared followed, swinging their swords. The chaotic spirit energy of Yuri’s Soul Slash, Laurent’s fierce sword energy, and Jared’s pure white blade erupted in multiple directions, slaughtering the enemy.
Even those tainted by dark magic bled red.
Blood and flesh splattered the air.
Soon, the Anti-Empire army advanced with a roar.
Yuri stood, sword in hand.
“We’ve won.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Hah…”
At first, Yuri had led the charge, but now his allies poured in, passing through where he stood.
They annihilated the remaining Empire forces.
Yuri looked toward the Empire’s direction.
“We won, but…”
He couldn’t shake a lingering sense of dread.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m worried about the other fronts.”
Yuri’s fears proved true.
The front held by Liberta had been breached, and news came that Moyongchan was injured.
The Holy Kingdom and Bursen also suffered heavy losses in fierce battles.
“The monsters we saw were nothing compared to this,” the messenger reported.
“Various types of monsters appeared and crushed the front lines. Two unknown enemies joined forces to attack Moyongchan. It was a brutal fight. They barely escaped, but his injuries are severe…”
Yuri rubbed his head.
The defensive line had been broken.
Who knew how many Empire troops would pour through that gap?
Should they desperately try to plug the breach, or abandon some positions and push toward the Empire instead?
“Your Majesty.”
“Hm?”
“A letter from His Majesty has arrived.”
A new messenger handed Yuri a letter sealed with the Briol king’s insignia.
It was from Joshua.
“Brother? What’s this about?”
Just as Yuri was about to open it, someone appeared beside him.
Without a sound, a shadow materialized, and Yuri looked up.
“Huh?”
It was someone he hadn’t expected to see—a familiar face after a long time.
Yuri smiled brightly.
“I’ll take this spot.”
“Excuse me?”
“Is that okay?”
The Briol royal palace was thrown into chaos by an unexpected visitor.
But the visitor himself strolled through the palace as if nothing was amiss.
“I want to stay here. The owner isn’t around right now, right?”
“That’s true, but…”
“I’m sure they’ll be fine with it.”
“Are you close friends? Oh, Your Highness did stay in Briol for a while.”
“That’s right. That’s when we first met.”
No one saw it coming.
Ekaterina had shown up at the Briol royal palace.
It was unusual enough for a princess who should have been in the imperial capital to visit Briol’s palace, but what was even more astonishing was that the entire continent had been unaware of her arrival until she reached the palace.
And on top of that, she had requested full asylum.
Yet, whether she understood the gravity of the situation or not, Ekaterina’s first request was simply for a place to stay.
And that place was none other than the quarters formerly used by Yuri Briol, the crown prince of Briol.
“Or you could just ask Yuri. He’ll say it’s fine.”
“This isn’t really my area of authority, but I’ll look into it.”
“Alright.”
“And His Majesty wishes to see you again…”
“Understood.”
After responding to the attendant, Ekaterina leaned toward Elaine, who was standing nearby, and whispered.
“Don’t you think Joshua’s fallen for me?”
“I’m not so sure…”
Truthfully, it did seem that way, at least halfway.
But they couldn’t blame Joshua. He had smiled so warmly to win Briol’s favor, and it was only natural that the young king of Briol would be unsettled when faced with such beauty head-on.
The two of them whispered quietly as they made their way toward the throne hall.
“Anyway, thanks to you, we actually made it this far. You’ve worked hard, Elaine.”
“Yes, it’s been quite the ordeal.”
Elaine sighed.
Because they didn’t know what might happen, they had traveled all this way disguised, keeping their identities hidden until they reached the Briol palace.
Unfortunately, just after barely crossing the empire’s border to avoid patrols, war broke out.
So they had to cross the continent, dodging the chaos of war.
Throughout it all, Elaine’s resourcefulness had shone.
Ekaterina smiled, recalling those times, and gave Elaine’s shoulder a reassuring pat.
“But why do you look so worried now?”
“Hmm…”
Elaine hesitated before speaking.
“I have a bad feeling about something.”
“What is it?”
“Do you remember the Black Knight?”
The moment her heart had raced the most was when the Black Knight appeared.
Somehow, he had found them while they were on the run, delivered a message from Yuri, and then vanished.
He had even helped fend off the empire’s soldiers who were searching for them.
“The Black Knight brought a message from Your Highness.”
“Yes.”
“But something doesn’t add up.”
“What do you mean?”
“At first, I didn’t realize it…”
Elaine thought back.
When the idea about the East had first come up, she had sent a messenger to Yuri with the news.
But the messenger had returned without any reply, saying there was no response.
Later, as the imperial capital tightened its control, all outside communication was cut off.
At the time, she hadn’t thought much of it.
But then they met the Black Knight.
He had delivered Yuri’s message—about the East—but in their current situation, fleeing for their lives, it seemed meaningless.
Elaine sensed something was off. It felt like the messenger she had sent before hadn’t properly conveyed the message.
As Elaine explained this, Ekaterina tilted her head, mentioning the messenger’s name.
“So, you’re saying Asana is suspicious?”