Chapter 22. The Mad Dog (1)

Beyond the wooden palisade, the orc forces weren’t that numerous. Most of their troops were concentrated at the main front, holding back the allied army’s main force.

Yuri dashed forward and slashed down an orc guarding the rear.

But the orc blocked the blow.

As their weapons clashed repeatedly, more orc soldiers began to swarm in.

“Roland!”

“Yes!”

Understanding his command, Roland rushed over to assist Yuri. Their combined strikes overwhelmed the orc, forcing it to lower its guard.

The orc collapsed, bleeding.

Without hesitation, Yuri stomped on its head, crushing the skull.

“Keep pushing forward!”

The main force was locked in fierce combat with the orcs.

To aid them, they had to disrupt the rear lines as much as possible.

“Hey, Jose!”

Yuri shouted.

“Why so slow? Is that all you’ve got, Bursen?”

Jose burst out laughing, then suddenly charged ahead.

He was as big as the orcs. With a single swing of his sword, he cleaved an orc in two at the waist.

Blood splattered as he shouted,

“Show Prince Briol what kind of country Bursen is!”

The Bursen knights roared and surged forward.

Human and orc armies collided.

Blood and flesh flew through the air, and gradually the orc forces began to retreat. Bursen pressed the advantage relentlessly.

Then Roland, uncharacteristically, let out a fierce battle cry.

“For Briol!”

It was a boldness none had seen from him before.

He leapt high and brought his sword down from above. The orc raised its axe to block, but Roland was faster.

The orc’s head split open, its brains spilling out.

Wiping the blood from his blade, Roland shouted again,

“And for Prince Yuri!”

Yuri, stabbing into an orc’s belly, coughed loudly at the sound of his name.

“How embarrassing.”

The two knight orders seemed to be competing as they charged the orcs.

If Bursen, led by Jose, crushed the orcs like a grinder, Briol’s knights pierced through the enemy lines with coordinated tactics.

Yuri climbed atop an orc tent to survey the battlefield.

At the front, brutal hand-to-hand combat raged, while within the orc encampment, swarms of orcs moved like ants in every direction.

Among them, he spotted a massive, unmoving figure.

Dozens of flags fluttered.

“Orcval…”

Yuri recognized the group.

Orcval, the orcs bearing banners on their backs, were gathered in dozens, waiting.

Then the identity of the orc standing in their midst was obvious.

Kurui.

Yuri fixed his gaze on the orc in the center.

Its size was no different from the others, but its skin, exposed beyond the armor, was covered in scars—testaments to countless battles fought.

Their eyes met suddenly.

Kurui smirked.

He shouted something and gestured. Half of the Orcval turned to look back.

“Damn…”

Unintentionally, they’d drawn attention.

Yuri shouted,

“The Orcval are coming! Everyone, prepare!”

From beyond, dozens of flags waved as the Orcval advanced.

Their arrival on the battlefield was swift.

While fighting orc soldiers, suddenly a creature with monstrous strength appeared. It swung its axe indiscriminately, even striking allies who got in its way, attacking the knights.

“Damn…”

Even Jared, proud of his reflexes, momentarily lost track of the enemy.

As the axe blade came toward him, he realized something was wrong.

A flash of white light deflected the attack.

“Wake up, will you?”

A black-haired boy stepped in, blocking the Orcval.

“Your Highness!”

The Orcval snarled and wildly swung its axe.

Jared thought there was no way human strength alone could withstand such a brutal assault.

But Yuri met the enemy’s attack head-on, as if it were nothing.

Instead, the Orcval was pushed back.

Jared’s eyes widened.

“So that’s how it’s done.”

He watched the fight unfold before him.

At first glance, it seemed like a simple parry, but Yuri was cleverly using the enemy’s momentum to his advantage, adjusting angles like a lever to maximize his own strength.

That was why the Orcval was being pushed back.

It was a technique hard to believe even while watching.

“Got it?”

Between exchanges, Yuri used his speed—his greatest asset—to create openings for attack.

The Orcval’s body accumulated wounds.

Its axe swings slowed.

Like a wounded beast, it panted heavily and stopped in place.

Defeat slowly crept into its eyes.

“Your Highness.”

Jared muttered without realizing it.

“Where did you learn that?”

He knew Yuri’s battle instincts were innate, but this was beyond that.

How could an eighteen-year-old boy toy with an Orcval like a child?

This boy was growing stronger with every battle.

“Cut the crap and focus.”

Yuri stepped aside.

He meant for Jared to finish off the wounded Orcval.

“Yes.”

Jared gritted his teeth and charged again.

The Orcval’s eyes changed. Its axe swings regained strength. Its attitude was unmistakably different.

Jared grimaced.

He’d always thought he was close to genius, if not quite there.

But now, he was being treated like a pushover.

“Come on, then, you bastard!”

Mimicking Yuri, Jared dodged the Orcval’s attack. The axe flew high into the air.

Confusion flashed across the Orcval’s face.

“That’s right. Make that expression.”

Jared plunged his sword into the Orcval’s neck. It foamed at the mouth, then collapsed.

Jared withdrew his blade and looked up.

Though the knights had been pushed back by the Orcval, the tide was turning around these two.

“I am Jose of Bursen!”

Jose wasn’t just strong.

The pressure of mana radiating from him was palpable on the skin. Each swing of his sword sent Orcval crashing to the ground.

Three Orcval had been assigned to him, but Jose overwhelmed them all.

Seeing the three Orcval’s frustrated expressions, one could easily imagine their feelings.

“A monster.”

And another monster—Yuri—fought in a completely different style.

Yuri moved between enemy and ally, cleverly ambushing the Orcval.

When the enemy focused on him, he slipped back among the knights to distract them.

In one sense, he was killing efficiently; in another, he was sneakily striking from behind.

Yuri stabbed his blade into the back of an Orcval and grinned.

Jared looked away, pretending not to notice.

“Not very heroic…”

One thing was clear: with these two fighting, the previously tipping balance was now evenly matched again.

Jared clenched his sword.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t afraid.

But long ago, he had decided to follow Yuri.

He would watch this boy’s journey to the end.

If he fell behind now, he’d have no face to show Yuri in the future.

“Phew…”

An Orcval was walking toward him.

He relaxed his shoulders, focused his mind. His senses sharpened to the extreme.

It was a strange sensation.

As the creature stepped, swung its arms, and raised its halberd, Jared could clearly see where its center of gravity shifted, and where he needed to strike to bring it down.

They said a knight could only grow through real battle. Without Yuri, would he have volunteered for the battlefield?

This was a scene he never would have witnessed before.

Jared stepped forward.

---

Watching Jared fight fiercely, Yuri smiled slightly. As expected of the knight he’d chosen, he was keeping up well.

Still inexperienced, but with continued training, he’d become a capable warrior.

Maybe not a top ten, but certainly within the top hundred.

Yuri looked up to check the overall situation.

At the front, the allied main force fought desperately, while in the rear, knights from Briol, Bursen, the Holy Kingdom, and the Empire rampaged.

The tide of victory was gradually turning.

Given the size of the allied army, it was perhaps inevitable.

“This is too easy…”

But in his past life, the allied forces had been defeated despite similar strength. He had to be prepared for unexpected moves.

Then—

Yuri felt a chill.

A scream sounded nearby.

Not an orc’s, but a human’s.

Turning his head, he saw a scarred orc tearing a knight apart.

“Kurui!”

As before, Kurui wasn’t particularly large, but his presence was overwhelming.

There was no sign of weakness.

Kurui tossed the knight’s head aside and chuckled low, like a growling beast.

“Damn it…”

The fallen knight was Lake, a baron with a small fief. He had married his childhood sweetheart from a neighboring territory and had two young children.

Kurui crushed his head underfoot.

“You bastard!”

An enraged Briol knight charged.

Kurui dodged the attack, retreating steadily, then suddenly leapt forward, swinging his axe in a devastating blow.

The knight’s waist snapped.

Blood stained the ground.

Yuri clenched and unclenched his fists.

His heart pounded rapidly, his teeth grinding.

“Your Highness.”

Roland reached out to restrain Yuri.

“Step back.”

“No.”

“Not allowed.”

Kurui was undeniably strong. Even with Yuri’s exceptional talent, there was no way he could win right now.

“We’ll attack together,” Laurent said.

He was right. Yuri’s life was too important to be risked here. It was only right for the other knights to put their lives on the line against Kurui.

As they spoke, Kurui charged forward.

This time, a knight from Bursen was struck down by the axe. The orcs’ morale surged.

“Fall back! If things get dangerous, retreat—”

“Understood.”

“I’m glad you understand.”

But Laurent had forgotten one thing.

You couldn’t judge Yuri by ordinary standards.

As he began to step back, Yuri suddenly grabbed Laurent’s shoulder and tripped him.

“Whoa, Your Highness!”

While Laurent was sprawled on the ground, Yuri dashed forward without hesitation.

Jared tried to grab him, but Yuri dodged to the side and leapt ahead.

He swung his sword, Guilty, at Kurui’s back. The spirit blade responded to his will, radiating a fierce, savage energy like never before.

But instead of landing the blow, Yuri was thrown to the ground.

In an instant, Kurui spun around and struck him with his axe—so fast even Yuri’s eyes couldn’t follow.

It was the raw power befitting the orc chieftain.

“Protect the prince!”

“Your Highness!”

Yuri’s sudden advance threw the Briol knights into chaos. They all rushed forward, their paths crossing and tangling, stumbling over one another.

Yuri shouted, “Everyone, stop!”

Then he stood up.

“You’re in the way.”

He said it firmly, raising his gaze toward the front.

Before Kurui stood a massive knight.

It was Jose, a knight of Bursen.

“Your Highness, please fall back.”

“What?”

“The commander must not be put in danger.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Yuri shook his head.

“Sir Jose.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Look me in the eye.”

“Huh?”

“What do you feel?”

Jose looked at Yuri, baffled. Then he burst out laughing.

His laughter echoed loudly around them.

“Truly…”

He chuckled for a while, then suddenly stopped as if on cue.

“I’ve never met a royal like Prince Yuri.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I’ve seen eyes like yours before…”

“The portrait of the founding king?”

“No.”

Jose raised his sword.

Kurui met the challenge, raising his axe. He was wary of the energy radiating from Jose.

“When I was a child, there was a mad dog wandering the docks. He reminded me exactly of you, Your Highness.”

“What?”

“That’s a compliment.”

Jose recalled his childhood memories.

There was a mad dog.

No matter how big the other dogs were, it never showed fear. If anyone provoked it, it would bite back fiercely.

At first, Jose thought the dog was truly insane.

But later, he found out the mad dog’s den was full of little puppies.

It had erased its own fear to protect its young.

Sometimes, there are reasons stronger than fear.

Eventually, the mad dog was killed by another dog. Jose buried its body in a sunny spot and took in the puppies, raising them himself.

Now, those puppies’ offspring were growing in his lands.

Just like the mischievous third prince of Briol, they had inherited the mad dog’s jet-black fur.

“Your Highness, when the alliance ends, please come visit Bursen. I’ll treat you to a full course meal.”

“Full course meal? What’s that?”

“You’ll see when you come.”

Mana surged violently from Jose’s body, swirling like the wild waves of Bursen.

“Kurui!”

Jose shouted the enemy’s name and stepped forward. Yuri responded in kind.

The two knights charged at Kurui together.