The rapid exchanges between the two knights left onlookers breathless.
They came from different countries, held different ranks, and had grown up in vastly different environments, honing distinct styles of swordsmanship.
Their physiques were also starkly contrasting, making it seem impossible for them to truly understand one another.
Yet in this moment, they moved together like finely meshed gears.
For Kurui, there was nothing left but defense.
Any clumsy attempt at counterattack would only leave him impaled by the blade flying his way.
“Akuaak! Kuak!”
Orcval tried to intervene to help Kurui.
The knights, who had been watching in stunned silence, suddenly snapped back to reality.
“Block him!”
They shouted at the top of their lungs, swarming around Orcval.
An eighteen-year-old prince was standing between them and their deadliest foe. It was shameful for knights to be outmatched like this.
But no one else had the confidence to fight alongside Hose like that prince did.
So they had to do whatever they could.
They wouldn’t let Orcval step in and ruin their fight.
“Even if it costs my life.”
Laurent muttered under his breath.
That was the sentiment shared by the entire order of knights present.
The prince had thrown himself into the fray without hesitation—how could any knight dare hold back?
A brutal battle erupted.
“Damn it.”
Laurent cursed, uncharacteristically.
A knight fell before him—someone who had just moments ago been lining up with him for their meal tray.
He could still see the expression on that comrade’s face, chatting about what to do after the alliance ended.
Yuri’s quiet voice echoed in his mind.
‘We’re only doing what’s right.’
Had he already known?
That prince was younger than him, yet he clearly understood what war was, what it meant to fight with your life on the line.
Laurent stepped forward.
Orcval’s attention snapped to him. Two or three Orcvals swung their weapons at Laurent.
The onslaught from all sides was nearly impossible to handle alone.
Laurent parried one blow and dodged two more, then retreated.
Charging forward alone was this difficult.
Had Yuri borne all this pressure at the front line?
The meaning of it all settled deep in Laurent’s heart.
He gripped his sword tightly.
The Mana Method of the Flandre family stirred to life. Like a pure chrysanthemum blooming, mana radiated outward in all directions.
He took another step forward.
The corner that jutted out beyond the front line had to face fierce resistance. But Laurent did not back down.
Instead, he pressed forward.
“Briole!”
Shouting the name, Laurent raised his sword upright.
The orc’s wild attacks had no pattern. Laurent relied on his instincts, focusing entirely on the moment.
Two axes caught on his single blade.
Laurent let the shock flow down his arm, spinning half a turn as he advanced.
He closed in on Orcval, using the orc as a shield to evade other attacks.
Orcval, flustered, tried to strike him down. But Laurent’s sword struck first. The blade, charged with sword energy, sliced through armor and pierced deep inside.
Orcval looked down at Laurent in disbelief before collapsing.
More Orcvals gathered to seize Laurent.
The Orcval line facing the knights began to crumble.
The knights seized the opportunity.
The protruding spear shattered the tense line; now all that remained was to break through.
The knights surged forward in unison, clashing with the enemy.
Weapons tangled, life and death wavered.
Amid the chaos, Laurent felt a strange calm.
Yuri was fighting with his life on the line, so it was only right that he stood at the front as well.
A halberd’s axe blade grazed his ear. Laurent narrowly cut down an Orcval’s neck.
Had he been a moment slower, he would have died.
Had he ever fought a battle where survival hinged on such a razor-thin margin?
Feeling the flow of mana pulsing through his body, Laurent glanced sideways.
Through the grotesque faces of the Orcvals, he saw Yuri and Hose locked in combat with Kurui.
Their fight looked even closer to death than his own.
But there was nothing he could do.
Laurent raised his sword and shouted once more.
“Briole!”
Yuri felt like he was performing acrobatics in a circus.
If he followed the set routine perfectly, he might survive—but one small mistake, and a blind dagger would find its mark.
Every moment fighting Kurui was a life-or-death gamble.
If he lost focus for even an instant, his balance would falter and he’d be struck by an axe.
Yuri shouted.
“Hose! Can we win this?”
“I don’t know!”
Though Hose was keeping Kurui in check with his natural instincts and lightning-fast reflexes, he was still playing a supporting role.
Hose was the one directly facing Kurui.
Yuri kept harassing Kurui, either to create openings for Hose or to keep him from falling into danger.
“Phew…”
Kurui paused to catch his breath.
Hose seized the moment.
“Your Highness, have you ever been trained as an assassin?”
“What nonsense.”
“You’re so good at hit-and-run tactics…”
“I’m only doing this for you.”
Before Kurui appeared, Yuri had seen him sneaking among the knights, stabbing from the shadows. But there was no time for jokes now.
Hose just smiled.
“I see.”
“That’s how it is.”
Kurui was truly formidable.
Hose recalled the past.
He had trained relentlessly.
He hadn’t rested on his natural strength but had devoted himself to the Mana Method, repeating the techniques tens of thousands of times to grasp their true meaning.
Driven by a single-minded desire to grow stronger, he had endured countless hardships.
But Kurui was no different.
His countless scars told the story of a lifetime spent fighting fiercely. Perhaps even harsher than Hose’s own.
That’s why Hose was certain.
Once he defeated this guy, he would take a step forward.
Then the coveted seat among the Ten Strong would be within reach.
“Your Highness.”
Hose spoke.
“I’ll take this one.”
He meant to fight Kurui one-on-one.
Meeting Kurui’s gaze as it swept over Hose and Yuri in turn, Yuri answered.
“You sure about that?”
“Yes.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to fight together?”
“No, I want to do this alone.”
If a clumsy knight had said that, Yuri would have told him to shut up.
But Hose was destined to become the strongest in Bursen and claim a seat among the Ten Strong.
“Understood.”
Yuri lowered his sword.
“Sir Hose, may I offer some advice?”
“Please do.”
Hose had built a brilliant history in his past life, while Yuri was just a mercenary wandering miserably after losing his country.
But at this moment, Yuri wanted to say something to Hose.
Though he had wasted his life, the talent he inherited from Fiore was real.
“Don’t worry about your back. If you fall, I swear I’ll kill that bastard myself.”
Hose was a man of great capacity.
So great, in fact, that he held back from giving his all, fearing that if he fell fighting Kurui, other knights might be endangered.
Though Hose might not realize it, Yuri, who had fought alongside him, could feel it.
Yuri slung his Guilty sword over his shoulder and smiled confidently.
“Yuri Briole swears it. So, Sir Hose, go ahead and risk your life.”
The certainty that death was acceptable.
He gave Hose that assurance.
After a brief silence, Hose raised his sword and burst into a hearty laugh.
It was so spirited that Kurui’s face twisted in irritation.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Yuri’s role was done.
He stepped back.
Kurui glanced at Yuri but didn’t press the attack. Even he preferred to be rid of this troublesome human.
But that was Kurui’s mistake.
Hose’s demeanor shifted completely.
“Now, I…”
Yuri turned his gaze.
A fierce battle raged between the Orcvals trying to kill humans and help Kurui, and the knights trying to stop them.
There was no time to waste.
Yuri immediately targeted the back of the nearest Orcval.
“Akuaakkaai!”
“That’s right. It’s me, you bastard!”
The energy of the Soul Slash stirred. Yuri drove Guilty straight in.
An Orcval nearby tried to intervene.
“Move aside if you don’t want to die!”
Yuri dodged and swung Guilty again, a smooth, fluid series of strikes like a painting come to life.
He could feel this strange Mana Method he had mastered growing stronger.
It wasn’t just because he was fighting for his life.
The battlefield was a place where willpower was expressed more intensely than anywhere else. Yuri could almost grasp the swirling emotions as he clashed swords with his enemies.
The Soul Slash absorbed their hatred and screams, growing in size.
The stronger the opponent’s hatred, the sharper Guilty became.
What had once been a daunting Orcval was now something he handled with ease.
“Laurent!”
Yuri called to his loyal knight, who was fighting a little ways off.
“Yes!”
“What are you doing? Is that all my knight can do?”
Yuri’s taunt struck Laurent harder than anything else.
Laurent’s expression hardened as he adjusted his grip. Then he advanced toward the Orcval, dancing with his sword.
It was an uncharacteristically aggressive style.
Blood splattered.
As the Orcval fell, Laurent gave Yuri a sly smile, his face streaked with blood.
Yuri returned the grin.
“Briole!”
Yuri shouted.
His voice worked like magic, boosting the knights’ morale.
As soon as Yuri joined the fight, Briole’s assault intensified.
The knights gradually pushed the Orcvals back.
Yuri glanced back.
Kurui and Hose were locked in combat like wild beasts.
If Hose was a clever bear, Kurui was a seasoned great tiger.
Every time they clashed, the sound of thunder echoed through the air.
“Just hold on, no matter what!” Yuri shouted.
With Kurui tied up behind him, the longer the fight dragged on, the more the allied forces would push forward. That alone could turn the tide of battle.
“Kill him!”
The scales tipped further.
It seemed the goddess of victory favored the allied forces.
Then, something unexpected happened.
Black smoke began to rise from the fallen orc’s corpse.
Yuri immediately stepped back.
“Magic?”
No way.
The allied mages, including Hernando, would have been suppressing any spells. Using magic on the battlefield wasn’t that easy.
But there was no other explanation for what he was seeing.
The dark mist rising from the corpse carried an unnatural aura.
“Everyone, fall back from the bodies!”
The orc forces facing them were also succumbing to madness. Their eyes glowed blood-red, just like when they used the red gem.
Yuri wanted to call out to Hernando and question him immediately. But he was probably maintaining a dispel spell from the rear.
And the same should apply to the orc shaman. So how was this happening? Who—or what—was this orc shaman?
“Damn it…”
Yuri cursed under his breath and raised Guilty.
From a short distance away, the dark, blurry figure of the orc shaman he’d encountered last night in the barracks was watching the battle.
He wanted to approach, but the orc forces swung their weapons at him. Their eyes, bloodshot and fierce, amplified their strength and speed.
Yuri barely dodged, but the shockwave left a scratch.
The energy they radiated made his bones tingle painfully.
“If the orc forces are this strong…”
Yuri swung Guilty to block the attacks and checked on Hose.
Then he shouted, “Sir Hose!”
Kurui’s axe was coming down hard on Hose.
The axe embedded itself in his shoulder.
Hose twisted his body and collapsed.
Momentarily distracted, Yuri was slow to notice the black shaman closing in.
The orc grabbed Yuri’s neck.
His breath was cut off.
His mind blurred.
But he didn’t let go of Guilty.