Yuri was still leading the group at the front.
He glanced back sideways.
He could feel the oppressive aura of dark magic radiating from Zbeta’s fortress, weighing down on the martial artists.
The Anti-Empire Alliance had grown accustomed to dark magic through their previous battles, but for these guests from the East, it was the first time they truly sensed the enemy’s presence so close at hand.
Yuri didn’t mind.
It was fine.
When your life hangs by a thread, you adapt on your own.
But before that happened, he decided to ease the tension a little.
“Master.”
“What is it?”
“Could you pass along a message for me?”
“Speak.”
“Ask them if they’re scared.”
“What?”
Moyongchan looked at Yuri.
“Ask if they’re scared.”
“Hmm…”
Moyongchan cleared his throat and hesitated for a moment.
Yuri had only just realized that Moyongchan was awkward around the other Eastern masters. Once a critic of the Martial Alliance, he had earned the disdain of many experts and drifted all the way to the Western regions—a true rebel.
“Are you serious?”
“Of course.”
“So just ask them if they’re scared, but in your usual tone?”
“No, say it like you normally do: ‘Are you scared?’”
“My usual tone is polite…”
“Ahem.”
At Yuri’s urging, Moyongchan sighed. He understood why Yuri was making such a request.
“Looks like even after this is over, I won’t be able to return East.”
“Well, the Cheongseong Sect is already ruined. Let’s start fresh in Briole. I’ll have your back, so what’s there to worry about?”
“Don’t forget that.”
“Yes, sir.”
Suddenly, Moyongchan, walking alongside Yuri, came to an abrupt halt.
The seventeen others trailing behind them stopped as well, their gazes fixed on Moyongchan.
Even Yuri wore a mock-surprised expression, which Moyongchan found irritating, but he forced himself to speak.
[Are you all scared?]
The sudden use of Eastern language made the Anti-Empire Alliance members tilt their heads in confusion.
The Eastern warriors, however, frowned deeply.
In the martial world, pride is life itself. To be insulted so bluntly in a foreign land, fighting alongside unfamiliar masters, stirred their anger instantly.
Seeing their expressions, Moyongchan smirked.
This was familiar territory for him.
[Look at you, all shriveled up like drowned rats. Don’t get in the way. By the way, the Western swordsmen here have been fighting those evil creatures for a very long time—while you were enjoying comfort back East.]
As Moyongchan’s rant dragged on, Yuri nudged his elbow.
“Hey, what are you saying? Enough already…”
But Moyongchan didn’t stop.
[If you don’t want to be a laughingstock, behave yourselves.]
The Eastern warriors’ faces twisted further.
Yuri suddenly understood why the Cheongseong Sect had fallen and why Moyongchan had come West.
Finally, Jang Younghak spoke up.
[You’re right.]
As he spoke, Moyongchan ceased his harsh words.
[I appreciate your concern. We won’t be a burden. But you must have had a hard time out here in the West.]
With Jang’s intervention, the tension eased. The two exchanged a few brief words.
The sudden shift in atmosphere helped the Eastern warriors focus on the task ahead.
Yuri clapped his hands to lighten the mood.
“I don’t know what you said, but it’s time to move.”
Before them, the fortress walls towered high.
Zbeta’s walls seemed almost aware of the approaching humans, the flesh clinging to the stone writhing occasionally as tendrils rose.
All the dark magic fused into the walls pulsed with deadly intent.
“Here.”
Yuri stopped.
“The moment we take one more step forward, it begins.”
His senses, sharpened to a razor’s edge, could peer directly into the enemy’s formation. The moment they got closer, the enemy would strike.
With a warning glance to the others, Yuri stepped forward first.
Surprisingly, nothing happened.
Only the air thickened with murderous intent, making it hard to breathe. The entire area seemed hostile.
This was just the beginning.
They had already agreed on their roles, so no need for words.
Yuri dashed forward.
At incredible speed.
Tendrils erupted from the ground, aiming for him, but he dodged effortlessly.
Being far ahead, the tendrils only stabbed at empty air.
Yuri drew the monsters’ attention at the front.
Several creatures stood before him, but only two barriers needed breaking.
If he destroyed those two, they could enter.
He pressed on toward the wall, his whole body tingling.
The air near the fortress felt toxic, hampering his movements.
Monsters atop the wall rained down arrows.
Tendrils, arrows, sometimes dark magic.
Countless attacks surged toward him.
But Yuri paid no mind.
“Scatter!”
He shouted loudly as he closed in on the wall.
Scalding oil poured from above.
Yuri immediately swung his sword, Guilty, creating a whirlwind. The fierce vortex swept up the falling oil and hurled it back onto the wall.
Beasts’ screams echoed.
Using the momentum, Yuri kicked the wall.
Some might call it madness.
Throwing one’s body against a massive wall was suicide.
But Yuri wielded the power of chaos—perhaps the strongest swordsman of his time.
His kick carried the force to break the wall.
An explosion roared.
The wall dented.
But it didn’t break.
The wall wasn’t a mere structure; it was part of a living creature, flexing inward and then swelling back with resilience.
Yuri stepped back, nodding.
“Got the gist of it.”
The wall wasn’t just covered in monster flesh—it was a living, breathing entity.
Meanwhile, attacks continued raining down from above: boiling oil, arrows, tendrils like rain.
Yuri dodged them all.
His mind raced at full speed, calculating both how to evade attacks and how to break the wall simultaneously.
“Your Highness!”
Jared, who had just reached the wall, called out.
“Shall we climb up first?”
“Yeah.”
Yuri nodded.
“Let’s at least exchange greetings!”
These were masters who didn’t care about the height of a wall.
Starting with Yuri and Jared, the eighteen elite warriors leapt from the wall’s base toward the battlements.
Yuri soon stood atop the wall.
Then, an unbelievable sight unfolded.
Inside Zbeta, countless mysterious cocoons hung, making it impossible to guess what might emerge.
Monsters on the wall attacked Yuri.
He swung Guilty immediately.
Blocked.
Yuri raised an eyebrow.
“Not just small fry, huh?”
As guardians of the wall, they were no ordinary foes.
A fierce battle erupted between Yuri and the monsters, with Jared stepping in to assist.
Suddenly, the ground trembled.
The entire wall shook, trying to disrupt the intruders.
“Laurent, Jared, cover me.”
Jared and Laurent stood by Yuri, defending against the enemies.
Yuri slammed Guilty into the ground.
He felt the wall shudder momentarily.
“Give me time.”
Yuri summoned his spirit slash, then drew on the power of chaos. His entire body filled with mana, and Guilty vibrated intensely.
His body trembled violently.
He was pushing his energy to the limit.
Yuri searched for the core hidden inside the wall monsters. Once he found it, he planned to detonate it immediately.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah.”
Yuri’s voice was strained.
“I’m fine. Tell Master Moyongchan to ask the Martial Alliance what they’re doing over there.”
The Western elite would take the left side of the wall; the Eastern elite, the right.
A little further off, the Martial Alliance warriors were engaged in combat.
Jared relayed the message to Moyongchan, who shouted something loudly. His voice echoed powerfully.
Though Yuri couldn’t hear the words, it seemed effective.
A commotion nearby distracted the monsters.
With his head bowed low, Yuri couldn’t see what was happening.
“What are they doing?”
“I’ll explain.”
Jared cut down a monster and said,
“The Martial Alliance leader suddenly floated in midair, radiating light and slashing the wall with sword energy nonstop. The wall’s bleeding, getting damaged. The monsters try to jump up and interfere, but the other martial artists block them.”
“Making it tough for us.”
Unlike Yuri, who was trying to break the wall from within, Jang Younghak aimed to tear it apart from the outside.
Without the fine mana control Yuri had, this brute force approach was better.
But it consumed more energy and risked failure.
Yuri closed his eyes, delving deeper into his mana.
He sensed the monster’s lifeforce spreading like veins throughout the wall.
Silence settled over the battlefield.
To be this focused in the heart of a war zone was almost suicidal, but Yuri trusted the elite soldiers who had come with him.
He was certain they would buy him the time he needed.
Yuri’s consciousness drifted inside the fortress walls.
Suddenly, he saw something.
A faint glow was trapped within chains.
It was just a tiny light, too small to express or speak, but the moment Yuri saw it, he knew exactly what it was.
Life.
Dark magic used humans as sacrifices to create monsters.
This fortress, too, had been strengthened by offering countless humans as sacrifices, forging monsters that reinforced its walls.
Everything living and breathing inside this Zbeta had been made that way.
Dark magic was, in essence, human life itself.
That realization hit Yuri anew, and he felt something boiling inside him.
It surged up from his stomach and chest, then flooded through his entire body like a tidal wave.
With fierce passion, mana poured into the fortress walls through Gilty.
Yuri gritted his teeth.
The defenses of this creature, designed by dark magic, were incredibly strong. Penetrating them was no easy feat.
But his rage broke through every barrier.
Once the dam burst, everything became easier.
Yuri’s mana poured out like a flood.
Sharpened and relentless, it tore through everything in its path, seeking the core of the monster hidden deep within the fortress walls.
“Ugh?”
“Kuh…”
The entire fortress shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck.
Yuri pushed his power even further.
“Your Highness, are you alright?” Jared’s voice came faintly from a distance.
Yuri gave a rough nod and drove Gilty deeper. Now, only the handle remained outside the wall; the rest was buried inside.
He asked, “How’s the eastern side?”
“They’re trying hard, but it doesn’t seem to be going well.”
“Thought so.”
A faint smile tugged at Yuri’s lips.
“Run.”
“Huh?”
“Everyone, get out of here.”
Jared finally understood and shouted orders to those around him.
Before leaping off the battlement, he asked Yuri once more.
“Your Highness, may we go?”
“Yes.”
“I trust you!”
“All right.”
With that, every elite soldier vanished from the fortress walls.
Yuri was left alone.
The monsters staggered closer, closing the distance. Yet Yuri made no move to defend himself.
He counted.
One, two.
The monsters raised their tentacles high into the air.
And at the moment they struck down—
Three.
Cracks appeared in the fortress walls, and light burst forth from the fissures.
The monsters touched by the light melted away into nothingness.
Soon, the entire fortress was torn apart, ripped to shreds.