Yuri hurled his spear, skewering both an orc and a soldier at once. The orc group struck down by the blow collapsed instantly.
Gripping Guilty tightly, Yuri leapt off his saddle.
“I’ll see you later.”
The black steed seemed to understand, turning away and breaking free from the orc lines.
Yuri slashed down a nearby orc and lifted his gaze.
The Briol knights were piercing through the enemy’s formation one after another, pushing inward.
“Break them all!”
“Yes, sir!”
They scattered left and right, attacking the orc forces lining up in battle formation.
The breach Briol had created widened.
More and more troops squeezed through the orc defenses.
The orcs began to fall back.
Yuri swung Guilty wildly, tearing through orc flesh with the blade’s edge.
By now, it would take several orc feet to stop him.
Suddenly, a cold gaze prickled his skin, and he snapped his eyes open.
“Okua.”
Okua stood at a distance, closer than before. His massive frame and long arms filled Yuri’s vision with a tangible presence.
His blood-red eyes emitted a black haze, as if not of this world.
Locking eyes with Okua, Yuri felt his body stiffen under the oppressive aura.
He gritted his teeth.
It was humiliating to be frozen by the enemy’s killing intent.
He forced his body to move by bursting mana.
“Get lost!”
Guilty wasn’t just a sword now—it was a hammer wrapped in mana, smashing down on foes.
He crushed the orc feet swarming him. Another pair immediately lunged in.
Yuri parried the attack and kicked one down.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
He should have been exhausted, but instead his energy surged.
It had been a long war—and victory was within reach.
The prolonged battle had worn down the orcs’ strength. The allied forces had suffered losses too, but nothing compared to the orcs.
Yuri drove Guilty into an orc foot’s head.
“Your Highness!”
Laurent caught up as Yuri withdrew his sword.
“What is it?”
“There’s a shaman over there. What do you want to do?”
Laurent gestured toward a line of orc feet standing in formation, with an orc shaman glaring across the battlefield at their center.
As the battle raged, Yuri sensed the chains of mana spread throughout the field.
The mages and shamans had cast dispels that tangled and countered each other.
But just as Yuri had done before, if they could take out the shamans one by one, their own mages would be free to wreak havoc.
“One won’t be enough.”
“Then we just kill every one we see, right?”
“By then, the battle might be over.”
“Well, we have no choice.”
Laurent grinned. Yuri’s lips twitched upward.
This was a side of Laurent he’d never seen in his past life.
Though he still carried a hint of his usual arrogance, his attitude was more straightforward—and back then, he hadn’t respected Yuri. Quite the opposite.
“Laurent.”
“Yes?”
“Feeling confident?”
“Of course.”
“Then let’s go.”
“I’ll follow you to the end, Your Highness.”
Yuri charged forward, Laurent close behind.
Without a word, the Briol knights cleared the orcs before them and pursued.
Yuri became the spearhead of a wedge, crashing into the wall of orc feet.
Countless axes aimed to strike him down.
But he paid them no mind.
At most, he had to face two or three directly; the rest would be blocked by his comrades.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
“Protect the prince!”
“Die!”
The Briol knights clashed fiercely.
The sound of dozens of weapons colliding echoed like thunder.
With Jared on his left and Laurent on his right guarding him, Yuri pushed forward against the orc feet.
In the deadly dance of life and death, the Soul Slash raged like a living beast.
“Akukakai!”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
That was the orc foot’s last cry.
Guilty pierced through its skull and emerged from the crown. Blood and brain matter dripped down its head. Pulling the sword free, the body collapsed.
A small gap opened.
Yuri slipped through.
Orc feet on either side twisted their bodies to grab him, but the shaman fled.
Yuri slashed wide with Guilty, shaking off the orc feet and grabbing the shaman’s back.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Guilty pierced through the shaman’s spine.
The shaman’s body trembled.
Yuri twisted the blade, finishing the kill, then withdrew the sword.
The orc feet group, now without their shaman, went into a frenzy.
But the Briol knights responded calmly.
Yuri was already searching for another target.
Then—
“Uh…”
He looked up to see a black wave sweeping through the orc lines.
Someone spoke the name.
“The Empire.”
The Empire’s knights swallowed the orcs like a tidal wave.
Their power was overwhelming, as if all they’d shown before was just a ruse.
Briol and the Empire.
Two spears cracking the orc shield.
The orcs were breaking.
“Let’s go!”
Their true target was the towering Okua beyond.
Yuri kept breaking through the orc ranks.
Okua stood tall but did not join the fight directly.
“Let’s see how long you can hold out.”
Soon, Yuri reached the final gate.
An elite group of orc feet guarded Okua.
They wore armor and wielded well-forged weapons. Unlike the frenzied orcs rushing about, they stood disciplined like trained knights, guarding Okua’s front.
“Hah…”
Yuri paused. The atmosphere was different.
“Don’t approach recklessly!”
Yuri warned, but one knight, caught up in the moment, charged forward.
“Ahhh!”
His head hit the ground.
“Foolish brat…”
There was no time to mourn his death.
Yuri raised Guilty and eyed the orc feet. He could feel the refined flow of mana—they had mastered mana methods.
Black haze rose from their bodies—the mark of dark sorcery he’d seen before in the black shamans.
Did black magic resist dispel?
“Everyone, hold position.”
Fortunately, the orc feet did not leave Okua’s side.
Yuri made a decision.
“We’ll take those guys on slowly. For now, let’s change targets.”
If they refused to come out, they could kill all the other orcs and leave only them. Victory was already tipping their way; there was no need to rush.
A more certain victory was in sight.
Then—
The ground trembled.
“This is…”
A sign the Ancient Worm was about to appear.
Yuri touched the earth and spread his ki. The Soul Slash’s tendrils detected the Ancient Worm’s movement.
“Everyone…”
Yuri said,
“Watch the ground!”
Nearly ten Ancient Worms began burrowing underground like a swarm of giant worms.
Screams filled the air.
The Ancient Worms burst from all directions, opening massive jaws and swallowing the allied forces whole.
The sudden reversal threw the battlefield into chaos once more.
Yuri turned to face the Ancient Worms.
Suddenly, a black shadow flowed overhead.
“Look up!”
A wyvern squad circled the sky.
Though no orcs rode them this time, that made them even more threatening. The wyverns spread their wings, ready to dive.
The allied forces had come to exterminate orcs—not to fight such monsters.
“Watch the skies!”
Yuri shouted, but he was incredulous.
How could he watch both above and below at once?
Meanwhile, the orcs regained momentum and pushed the allied forces back.
“Hey, you there!”
A wyvern dove straight onto a knight fighting orcs.
Before Yuri’s warning could reach him, the wyvern grabbed the knight’s head and soared upward, then dropped him from a great height to his death.
“Damn it.”
With the monsters’ arrival, the tide turned.
Was this all part of a scheme?
Yuri turned to look at Okua.
The giant simply looked down at him from above, his blood-red eyes glowing.
A foul stench passed by.
Yuri recognized it—the aura of black magic he’d felt when facing the black shaman.
Standing before Okua, Yuri felt he understood something.
The reason Okua could command these monsters.
“Black magic…”
Yuri muttered.
Then a voice reached his ear.
[That’s right.]
“?”
It was Moyongchan’s voice.
[It’s a secret transmission technique. You can send words even from afar.]
Moyongchan continued.
[He’s using shamanic magic. It’s hard to suppress.]
“What should we do?”
[Clear out the orcs nearby first.]
Moyongchan breathed heavily with each word, as if struggling against Okua.
“Just clear them all out?”
[Yes.]
His voice grew serious.
[After that, I’ll handle it.]
Amid the chaos, Yuri eyed Okua and the elite orc feet guarding him.
Though few in number, their individual skill was exceptional.
If he threw in too much force, they’d die meaningless deaths without even hurting the enemy—like that poor knight who lost his head earlier.
“Alright, this is good.”
He had prepared for this moment.
Yuri sent a knight to Ragna.
Soon, a different horn sounded across the field. A new banner rose where Ragna stood.
The rider holding the flag moved urgently, then charged toward Yuri.
“Just give me the flag.”
“Yes!”
If the elite Orcs need to be taken down, then gather those who can do it.
Before the battle began, a signal had been set so that skilled warriors from each nation could be summoned.
Yuri raised the flag high and waved it.
Laurent, Jared, and Raymond approached him.
“Your Highness, is it finally starting?”
“Ah, I’m not so sure about this…”
“Looks like we’ll have to put our strength to use after all.”
Then a loud, boisterous voice cut in.
“Hahaha! A summons, huh? This is exciting!”
It was Jose, a knight from Brusen. Soon after, Proin and Jonathan arrived. Sibylla and Fennec from the Holy Kingdom appeared, accompanied by several paladins. Wolf, the commander from Liberta, led his knights forward.
From other nations, renowned warriors strode confidently toward them.
All of them were knights who had fought on the front lines throughout the alliance’s campaign.
Finally, the Empire made its appearance.
At the forefront stood Graham, the Third Knight Commander, followed by over ten knights clad in black armor—a truly overwhelming force.
Yuri spoke.
“To end this fight, we have to kill Okua. But first, we need to take out his guards. This is a direct request from my master, Moyongchan.”
The knights gathered around Yuri all turned their gaze toward the Orcs.
Not a single one showed any sign of fear.
Yuri smirked and drew his sword, Guilty.
“Let’s kill that bastard before the damage gets worse.”
Then he strode forward boldly. The rest of the troops followed closely behind.
Against the backdrop of a battlefield where the monsters of the plains ran rampant, they advanced toward their target.
Sensing the change, the elite Orc group stiffened as they looked toward Yuri.
A deadly aura radiated from them.
But Yuri didn’t flinch—instead, he broke into a run.
His whole body tingled under the sharp hostility, but as the knights around him drew on their mana, the murderous energy pressing down on them was pushed back.
That force felt like a shove at Yuri’s back.
Their ranges overlapped.
Yuri swung Guilty in a wide arc.
The lead Orc, clashing axes with Yuri, met the strike head-on.
Kaaang!
That first contact sparked a chain reaction as the other knights collided with the elite Orcs.
The clash of weapons rang out in rapid succession, as if choreographed.
Yuri laughed heartily.
Until now, he had been the one leading the charge, but this time was different. These were skilled warriors who could handle things on their own.
Just fighting shoulder to shoulder with them was reassuring.
The core strength of the allied forces was now fully engaged with the enemy.