After killing Dansocheon, Yuri immediately set out to find the next target.
The monster thrashed wildly, surrounded by several knights, while Donchichi let out a terrifying roar as he chased Jared.
“Your Highness! Please help me!” Jared shouted.
Yuri ignored him.
On the opposite side, Laurent, who had been knocked to the ground by the monster’s punch but sprang up like a cat, called out to Yuri.
“Yuri Briole, are you just going to stand there and watch?”
Yuri shook his head without hesitation.
“I’m coming to help, Laurent!”
Then she charged toward the monster.
Jared, who had been running away all this time, raised his voice in protest.
“Why are you ignoring me?”
“Because I want to!”
“What does that mean?”
“Deal with it yourself!”
Yuri still remembered the days when Laurent used to follow her around like a shadow.
He’d lost his manners after going through some rough times, but that only made her care more.
Jared lamented bitterly.
“Being good doesn’t get you anywhere. Damn it…”
Fueled by Yuri’s anger, Jared stopped running and lunged at Donchichi.
“Die, Donchichi!”
“Ughhh!”
At that moment, Jose appeared.
“Jared! I’ll help you!”
“Sir Jose! You’re different from the others!”
“Hmph! I’m a compassionate man! I can’t just walk past someone in need!”
Jose’s sympathetic gaze made Jared frown.
“Ah, yes…”
“Now, let’s go!”
“Let’s do this.”
With Dansocheon down, Yuri, Jose, and Moyongchan were freed from their binds.
As the scattered forces of the Anti-Empire Alliance regrouped, the monster and Donchichi found themselves at a disadvantage.
The Anti-Empire Alliance began to overwhelm the Empire’s momentum.
“Finish this!”
“Coordinate your attacks!”
Just as Jared drew the monster’s attention, Jose struck a fatal blow to Donchichi.
Donchichi collapsed.
The monster, battered all over by Yuri’s attacks, also began to slow down.
Though it occasionally swung its massive arms threateningly, it no longer affected the tide of battle.
It wasn’t just them—the entire Imperial army was being pushed back.
In this brutal fight, it seemed the Anti-Empire Alliance had seized the upper hand.
“We’ve won!”
“Kill them all!”
“Don’t spare a single Empire bastard!”
“Charge!”
Slowly, the monster’s massive body began to topple.
But instead of joy, Yuri felt a growing unease as she watched it fall.
Noticing her mood, Moyongchan approached and asked,
“What’s bothering you?”
Yuri looked at him.
“It’s strange how fluent you are in the continental language.”
“Shut up.”
“Don’t you find it odd?”
“Well…”
Moyongchan stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Yuri spoke with conviction.
“This is definitely not the end.”
It had been a tough battle.
Yet Cedric hadn’t appeared.
If this fight had been important to him, he wouldn’t have abandoned his troops like this.
He would have either stepped forward to command directly or used the Devil’s Grimoire to unleash dark magic—he would have intervened somehow.
Moyongchan shook his head.
“Maybe you’re overestimating the enemy. Dark magic isn’t something you can wield easily. Cedric probably pushed himself too hard. Think about it—who would have expected you to do so well?”
“That may be true, but Cedric is never this weak.”
“Well, the Empire has sent all ten of its strongest commanders. Even Dansocheon is dead. They’ve thrown everything they have.”
“Maybe they don’t need those commanders anymore.”
Many Imperial soldiers had died, and most of their core forces were now combat ineffective.
It could be seen as a victory for the Anti-Empire Alliance.
But on the other hand, perhaps they had acquired something so powerful that those commanders were no longer necessary.
At Yuri’s words, Moyongchan gazed toward the distant horizon.
“Yeah, maybe. We’ll find out when we reach Zbeta.”
“Do you think so?”
As they talked, the battlefield was being cleared.
The last pockets of Imperial resistance dwindled.
Soldiers brainwashed by dark magic didn’t even try to flee.
“I’ll help our side.”
Saying this, Yuri charged at the remaining Imperial troops.
Even if all this was part of Cedric’s plan, it didn’t change what needed to be done.
To minimize the sacrifice of her comrades, Yuri cut down the enemy to the very end.
With the dark magic’s influence fading, the dead returned to lifeless corpses. Consequently, the allies revived by Inariel also returned to rest.
The Anti-Empire Alliance’s victory was confirmed.
Cheers echoed across the field.
Once the situation settled somewhat, Yuri returned to the center of the battlefield where the monster, Donchichi, and Dansocheon’s bodies lay.
The monster had melted into a shapeless mass of flesh on the ground, while Donchichi and Dansocheon lay dead, their hearts pierced.
Yuri examined their bodies.
Laurent approached.
“What are you doing?”
“Feels like this isn’t over.”
Laurent gave an unexpected reply.
“Of course not. Did you think it would end this easily?”
“You think so too?”
“Of course.”
He looked at Yuri with calm eyes.
“I met Cedric.”
Laurent was one of the few who had faced Cedric directly and suffered from his dark magic. He had endured painful times because of it.
He tapped Yuri’s chest with his fist.
“Stay alert, Yuri Briole. The real hard times haven’t even begun.”
Rather than feeling discouraged, Yuri found herself energized by Laurent’s words.
She wasn’t the only one preparing for the worst.
“That guy…”
“Crazy, isn’t he?”
Yuri wrapped her arm around Laurent’s neck, pulling him close and messing up his hair.
Laurent tried to punch her side, but Yuri dodged and then let him go.
“Yuri Briole, you…”
“No time to be mad at me.”
“What?”
“I think it’s about time.”
As Yuri spoke, the sky darkened.
“What is…?”
The sun that had been shining over the battlefield was suddenly obscured.
In this desolate land, where the living seemed on the verge of collapse and the dead lay motionless, a dark shadow spread.
Startled, everyone’s eyes turned upward.
Yuri placed her hands on her hips and looked up.
It wasn’t clouds blocking the sun.
It was a towering spire.
Yuri had seen it before.
When she had come into contact with the Devil’s Grimoire, she had witnessed a mysterious tower with eyes embedded in its crimson-red form rising from the depths of her mind.
Now, it had manifested in reality.
The tower’s base was invisible, as if it had suddenly emerged from thin air, its body stretching above a hazy mist, pouring out a torrent of malevolent energy.
All living beings instinctively stepped back.
Yuri glared at the tower.
The eyes on the tower glared back.
“Cedric.”
Yuri whispered.
The man she had once respected most, now her greatest enemy.
It was as if those eyes were Cedric’s very gaze.
Then someone spoke.
“Above the tower… the sky…”
People’s gazes shifted beyond the tower.
Atop the spire that blocked the sun, a crack was slowly forming.
Like the earth splitting in an earthquake, the sky itself fractured, revealing an abyssal darkness within.
A darkness blacker than pitch—an absolute black.
An endless void.
Something writhed inside.
“Ahhh…”
Everyone witnessing this realized the truth.
Above the sky that covered the world, there was a greater, deeper sky.
And in that realm floated beings beyond human comprehension.
Had they always been watching over the surface?
Yuri twisted her lips.
“Cedric, you mad bastard…”
He had dared to claim a blueprint for a new world, yet tried to harness such beings.
Whatever those things were, if they descended, the world would be swallowed by utter darkness. Humanity would be reduced to the level of insects.
Yuri let her blade drop.
“Sigh…”
Her will was slowly fading.
No matter how hard she tried, no matter how desperately she fought, this was an enemy beyond her reach.
Just a glimpse of that presence was enough to freeze her in place.
Even if she had gone back in time, she was still no more than human.
But whatever lay beyond was a transcendent being, unreachable by humans in the distant past or the far future.
As Yuri stood there, someone tapped her shoulder.
“Jared?”
There was no way Jared wouldn’t feel this overwhelming despair.
The madness pouring from that abyss was merciless enough to drive ordinary humans insane.
Yet Jared was smiling.
At first, Yuri thought he must be delirious.
“What’s with that look?”
“You suddenly started smiling softly.”
“No, I’m fine. And I have something to say.”
“What is it?”
“Your Highness.”
Jared gripped Yuri’s shoulder tightly.
“Thank you.”
“What?”
“Only now…”
He lifted the corner of his mouth.
“Only now is it getting interesting. Don’t you think?”
At that moment, a memory from long ago flashed through Yuri’s mind.
‘Isn’t it boring?’
She had said that to Jared when he was wasting time in boredom.
That moment had changed Jared’s life completely.
And here she was, who had scolded him so arrogantly, now despairing because a powerful enemy had appeared.
Yuri gave a self-deprecating smile.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
From the start, he had already lost.
He had long since come to terms with death.
The most painful regret he felt after failing once in life wasn’t the defeat itself.
It was the waste of his life.
Believing that becoming miserable was a form of atonement, he had fled into the life of a mercenary.
So, he already knew the answer.
Thanks to Jared, his tension eased.
Yuri reached up and took Jared’s hand resting on her shoulder.
“Jared. You have higher standards for fun than I expected. That’s surprising.”
“Of course. I didn’t even twitch a smile when I found out Sir Ainger’s head was actually a wig.”
“What?”
“Oh, slip of the tongue.”
“Is that true?”
“P-please pretend you didn’t hear that.”
“Ainger, huh…”
“Yes.”
“Definitely a manly knight.”
“Exactly.”
Yuri chuckled softly.
Just as he had changed Jared, Jared’s words had changed Yuri.
No matter how many unfathomable beings Cedric summoned, he would never surrender.
“Jared. Brace yourself. It’s only going to get more interesting from here.”
“Of course.”
Yuri steadied herself and quietly watched the sky.
Now, the entire Anti-Empire Alliance stood dumbfounded, staring blankly upward.
They no longer looked like the army buoyed by recent victories.
Instinctively, everyone sensed what was happening.
Then, a voice echoed.
“It’s over.”
Those words reached the ears of everyone gazing at the rift in the sky simultaneously.
Yuri immediately recognized the speaker.
Cedric.
He spoke in a gentle tone, as if greeting an old friend.
“You all did well. I saw how hard you fought to get this far. But in the end, this match ends with my victory. I succeeded, and you failed. That is the outcome of this war.”
Though the Anti-Empire Alliance had won, he claimed victory for himself.
Yet no one dared to object.
The overwhelming presence of a being from the outer cosmos pressed down on the land.
Perhaps he was right.
If they had prevented the summoning from the start, maybe things would be different. But now that the ritual had succeeded, Cedric held the ultimate trump card no one could stop.
“I’ll give you one last chance. One month. Return to your daily lives, live your own lives. I will bring a new era—so enjoy your happiness.”
As Cedric’s voice continued, something descended from the rift in the air toward the ground.
Yuri realized.
Though invisible, the being beyond had already manifested on the surface.
“If you still want to resist, come back here.”
And at that moment, a pitch-black darkness filled her vision.
Slowly, the darkness began to dissipate.
And then—
“Huh?”
He found himself standing in the royal palace of Briole.