Side Story: Yuri’s Runaway Ruckus! (15)
With every swing of Yuri’s sword, blood splattered across the deck.
The man clutching the staff stood frozen, utterly stunned.
[How is this possible…?]
Soldiers fell dead in an instant at Yuri’s hands. Even the elite troops, their bodies enhanced by dark magic, couldn’t mount any resistance.
But what terrified him most was something else entirely.
[She’s cutting through dark magic…!]
It was unbelievable.
To see the unseen and strike what cannot be cut.
Unlike ordinary humans who couldn’t resist dark magic, Yuri was different.
Even he, trained in the powers of darkness, couldn’t comprehend how such a thing was possible.
[This can’t be… this is…]
He drew a dagger from his robes—crafted from the same obsidian as the arrowheads.
[I must send the message.]
Without hesitation, the man plunged the dagger into his own abdomen.
His eyes flared red, his gaze shattering.
His spirit detached from his body, riding a black tendril that stretched beyond the sea.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Yuri didn’t let him escape.
She lunged forward, driving her Mamago dagger deep into his wound. The Mamago, a blade averse to bloodshed, howled its eerie song once more.
[Kyaaaah!]
But the man resisted fiercely. Gritting her teeth, Yuri unleashed the full force of her Soul Slash.
The chaotic energy swelled, tearing through the dark magic like paper.
A thunderous explosion rocked the air.
In that moment, the departing spirit and Yuri’s senses connected.
What the man saw, Yuri saw too.
Beyond the nearby waters, past the endless ocean, lay a vast continent beyond Owl Blue.
Unfamiliar plants formed dense thickets, blotting out the sun. Beneath them, serpents and venomous insects writhed together in a deadly poison.
And on that land stood the Black Empire.
Yuri stared, stunned by the vision through the man’s eyes.
The place he tried to send his message to was a tower at the heart of their city.
A massive spire densely wrapped in human skulls.
The number of skulls was an unfathomable 234,000.
It was almost too grotesque to believe.
Nausea surged through Yuri as she grabbed the man’s head, forcibly redirecting his consciousness as if tearing out his soul.
The man who tried to send the message to the Tower of Bones was forced, by Yuri’s will, to circle back over the city he had left behind.
Yuri saw many things.
Daily human sacrifice rituals.
Human flesh butchered like pork, section by section.
People drinking blood from goblets made of skulls, feasting on the flesh of children.
Priests reclining on chairs sewn from virgin skin.
Her grip tightened.
As she squeezed the skull, the man’s mind was relentlessly drained.
Yuri saw even more.
The Black Empire ruled countless colonies. To them, vassal states were nothing more than human ranches supplying flesh.
A civilization that treated humans like livestock.
Cannibalism and human sacrifice were so routine they barely raised an eyebrow.
Then, suddenly, the scene shifted.
Someone appeared.
At first, Yuri thought it was a grotesque human. But she soon realized he was wearing human skin like a disguise.
Like a mask, human facial skin covered his face; human body skin draped over his frame.
He sliced another human’s skin with an obsidian blade.
Blood flowed.
The victim was clearly alive but utterly immobilized, lying silently on his workbench, tears streaming down.
The process of skinning a human alive was too revolting to watch.
“That bastard…”
Yuri spat a curse.
Suddenly, the man wearing the skin mask lifted his head.
Their eyes met.
Through the eyeholes in the skin, a faint, slanted gaze locked onto hers.
As he raised the obsidian blade—
Crack.
A sharp snap echoed, and Yuri’s vision snapped back to reality.
“Ah.”
The man’s skull had shattered under her grip.
“Damn it…”
Anger surged, and she realized she’d squeezed too hard without meaning to.
Yuri shook her hand free.
There was still so much more to see, but she couldn’t control her emotions.
“Are you alright?”
As the situation settled, Jared and a few knights approached.
Yuri said nothing, lost in thought for a moment, then looked down at the dead man.
Beside the corpse lay a staff made of bones, abandoned and silent.
The images of the empire beyond the sea lingered in her mind.
Without thinking, Yuri spoke aloud.
“Those bastards…”
“Yes?”
“Are they demons?”
The captain and the commanders were shaken by Yuri’s report.
“I can’t believe it.”
“How could such a thing exist…?”
“This is madness.”
They all shook their heads in disbelief.
Some found it hard to accept, but Yuri didn’t blame them. She herself wouldn’t have believed it without seeing it firsthand.
“They have more troops than we thought.”
Yuri pointed toward the distant horizon.
“That’s their main force. More ships, more soldiers.”
“I see.”
She glanced around, twisting her lips.
“But they’re definitely not something we can ignore. We’ll take them all down first, then figure things out.”
Having seen the heart of their dark magic, Yuri knew they couldn’t hesitate.
If left unchecked, the entire continent would be at risk.
She wanted to wipe out their fleet before they reached land.
“Antianus.”
“Yes?”
“Push the engines to the limit. We need speed.”
“Understood.”
“The moment we encounter them, we go straight into battle.”
Yuri drew her Mamago.
[W-What now? Another fight?!]
“Mamago.”
[Yes, ma’am.]
“There’s going to be a lot of blood. Prepare yourself.”
[Blood, blood…]
Yuri muttered as she sheathed the blade again. Though the sword vibrated, the well-trained Mamago no longer resisted.
Yuri shouted.
“To your positions!”
“Positions!”
The crew aboard the Merry Merry dispersed to their respective ships.
Soon, the wind summoned by the exorcists billowed the sails from behind. Three ships surged forward toward the horizon.
Yuri stood with her arms crossed atop the ship’s figurehead.
Within these waters lay the enemy’s forward base.
She would burn it all to ashes.
After sailing some distance, a small island appeared on the horizon.
“I didn’t know there was an island here…”
Buscolumn alternated between the map and the view ahead.
“It’s not on the charts.”
“It’s made by dark magic.”
“No way…”
Enemy ships were anchored around the island.
Three massive vessels, and dozens of smaller ships like the ones Yuri had sunk earlier. None had sails; all were shrouded in black mist.
The residue of their dark magic blurred the surroundings.
“Wait a moment, Your Highness.”
Jared hesitated.
“There are too many of them.”
The enemy filled the decks, and the island was densely packed with what looked like encampments.
The difference in numbers was staggering.
Jared swallowed hard.
Breaking through Owl Blue was a perilous journey.
And here, the enemy’s numbers were overwhelming.
If they could muster this many for an expedition, who knew how many troops were at their home base?
“Your Highness.”
“Yes?”
“Are we sure this is a good idea?”
“We’ll find out.”
Yuri glared at the enemy.
“Remember what I said?”
“Yes…”
“There’s no exaggeration. If anything, words fail to capture it.”
“They make goblets from children’s skulls.”
“…”
Yuri turned back to see the Vengeance Knights glaring fiercely, ready for battle.
“If we don’t win, we’ll be devoured.”
The bodies of Bursen fishermen were found on the ship they’d taken down—eaten alive.
The sight shocked everyone.
Yuri raised her sword.
“Keep moving forward.”
Fortunately, the enemy’s formation lacked any dispel magic.
Thanks to that, the three ships could approach quietly, hidden from view.
“When I give the signal, fire the grappling hooks.”
“Yes!”
Swift and decisive.
They wouldn’t use cannons.
With the enemy’s overwhelming numbers, the plan was to board quickly and sow chaos through close combat. Yuri trusted the Vengeance Knights.
The distance closed steadily.
“Ready.”
Everyone gripped their weapons tightly.
“Ready.”
The enemy, concealed by magic, remained unaware of their approach.
Soon, they were close enough to see the enemy ships clearly.
The vessels were huge.
But crude.
They seemed to have endured the long voyage through dark magic, but their shipbuilding technology was lacking.
Yuri clenched her sword.
All their power would have to explode at once.
She drew Mamago.
[Heh heh, heh heh heh…]
A sinister laugh echoed.
[Finally, we get to taste blood? Heh heh heh…]
Thanks to Yuri’s proper training, Mamago had become a true sword.
There really was no such thing as a bad sword.
[Drench my blade in their blood. Krrr, heh heh heh heh…]
“Don’t worry. We’ll drink our fill of blood.”
[Hee hee hee…]
Yuri smiled grimly and raised her sword.
“Begin the attack!”
With her shout, grappling hooks shot toward the enemy ships, and the exorcists chanted in unison.
The enemy reacted a beat too late.
Confused shouts echoed.
“Kill them all!”
Without even burning the chains, Yuri leapt in a single bound onto the largest ship.
Dozens of obsidian spears were aimed. Inside the deck, thick black magic smoke billowed up.
It was so powerful that the smoke nearly blotted out the sky.
A tremendous pressure pressed against the glass.
But then—
[Dispel Evil!]
Since the death of the demon lord named Cedric, mages had tirelessly researched ways to counter black magic.
This was the fruit of their long labor.
Dispel Evil.
The moment it was unleashed, the dark magical energy that had surrounded the area instantly dissipated.
The malevolent aura evaporated.
The air grew eerily calm and still.
The enemy had no idea what had just happened.
Yuri raised her gun.
Bang!
One fell.
Bang!
Another dropped.
Yuri swung her sword.
Several more died.
The black mage standing behind them shook his bone staff and shouted wildly, but nothing happened. His pupils trembled in panic.
Yuri fired at the black mage.
He collapsed.
“…”
Yuri sensed something was off.
Bang!
Another enemy died.
Bang!
And another.
It was too easy.
Only then did she take a closer look at the enemy’s weapons.
Spears carved from wood with obsidian tips. Arrows tipped with the same black stone. Wooden clubs crudely embedded with obsidian shards.
Their armor was pitifully thin—just leather and wooden guards, hardly protective at all.
“No way…”
Suddenly, Yuri saw a knight get struck in the back by a spear—completely defenseless.
But the knight’s plate armor wasn’t even scratched. Instead, the obsidian spearhead shattered into pieces.
The knight, realizing the attack too late, swung his sword with a bored flick, cleaving the attacker in two.
Similar scenes were playing out all across the battlefield.
“These bastards…”
Yuri realized the truth.
They weren’t using mana, nor did they possess steel weapons.
In other words—
“They’re absolute trash…”