Chapter 166: Transformation (2)

“Larsson is dead. Sybilla was the most likely heir to succeed him. Of course, the others renounced their succession rights.”

“And what happened to Larsson?”

“The cause of death is unknown.”

Yuri was speaking with a visitor.

It was Vlad.

He had left the imperial capital and traveled to Briol. For Yuri, he was a welcome visitor. He needed information about the situation in the Holy Kingdom.

“And the Temple?”

“They don’t know the details, so they’ve remained silent. Since Larsson died suddenly, it was most logical for Sybilla to become queen.”

“And why did she attack Brusen?”

“The Holy Kingdom and Brusen have never gotten along. They share a border. There’s been a long-standing dispute over control of the Alras region…”

Alras was an area between Brusen and the Holy Kingdom. Famous for its high-quality wine, it generated significant tax revenue, leading both countries to try to annex it as their own territory.

Although it had historically changed hands many times, it was recently under Brusen’s control.

Using that conflict as a pretext, the Holy Kingdom invaded Brusen, and the fighting escalated immediately. The war had begun in the blink of an eye.

Yuri began to get a headache.

The Holy Kingdom not only withdrew but had become an enemy.

And with Liberta in chaos due to the ogres, the alliance could no longer function properly.

Only two nations remained—the Empire and Briol.

“I see…”

Yuri fell into a thoughtful silence.

Vlad gave a bitter smile. He missed the days when he could talk peacefully about his rehabilitation clinic for addicts.

Now, such a business made no sense at all. The continent had been dragged into the whirlwind of war in a matter of days.

“That poison changed many things.”

The Emperor had claimed someone tried to poison him in Joachim. Everything had started since then.

But Vlad was not naïve enough to blindly believe what the Imperial Palace said.

“I miss the days I saw you in the capital, Prince. Why is the Empire doing this?”

“Why, you ask?”

“Yes. The Empire is at its peak. It’s living through a time of prosperity like never before. There doesn’t seem to be a reason to provoke a war.”

“Maybe the Emperor went mad.”

“Do you really think so?”

At Yuri’s reply, Vlad nodded without hesitation. It might have sounded like a casual statement, but in truth, it was the most fitting explanation.

Ivar had been a relatively reasonable emperor. Perhaps even more than that.

He wasn’t authoritarian or incompetent. And if he was now acting so chaotically, the most logical conclusion was that he had gone mad.

“Maybe the poison had… a partial effect.”

Yuri shrugged.

“So, Prince.”

“Hmm?”

“I have a request.”

“Something impossible?”

“Maybe.”

Vlad got to the point.

“You have ties with Brusen and the Holy Kingdom, right?”

“I know some people.”

“Please intercede.”

He leaned forward.

“This is no time to fight. We all know something strange is happening with the Empire.”

“How is the capital?”

“The hatred toward other nations has reached an extreme level. It’s almost absurd. Anything could explode at any moment.”

Yuri nodded.

He had been receiving constant reports about the atmosphere in the capital through Gorio. The citizens of the Empire continued persecuting those from Joachim and treated people from other countries coldly.

The hostility toward foreigners was increasingly evident. Vlad must have suffered those consequences as well.

“I don’t think so…”

Yuri tapped the table lightly.

“It’s not going to work.”

“Huh?”

“Sybilla won’t listen to me.”

Before Vlad arrived, Yuri had received a letter from Sybilla. It didn’t say much.

It simply indicated that she wanted to use the “wish right” Yuri had given her a while back.

She asked, simply, that he not interfere or ask anything about what was happening.

It was an indirect way of saying she had no intention of backing down.

Of course, Yuri wasn’t bound by such promises in a situation like this, but he also had no way to intervene. He couldn’t mobilize Briol’s army to help Brusen.

“Right now, I have to worry about Briol.”

Reports had begun arriving that the Imperial army was on the move. And they were advancing toward Briol.

The countries in between would likely let them through.

Briol had also gone on alert. Fiore, breaking his silence, inspected the army and reviewed the condition of the knights.

Cedric and Joshua were also returning to the palace.

“Pff…”

Vlad shook his head.

“Why is everyone changing?”

“Changing…?”

“It seems only God in heaven remains unchanged.”

“That’s true.”

Yuri nodded.

The Emperor had changed. Sybilla had changed.

It’s natural for people to change, but this was too much. There had to be something behind all of it.

Maybe Sybilla had also been corrupted by dark magic.

Suddenly, Yuri recalled the letter she had sent him. Until recently, she had been in a difficult position because of Larsson.

She had even been barred from joining the Temple’s Order of Knights.

“Sybilla couldn’t enter the Temple’s Order, right?”

“Yes…”

“Was it Larsson’s fault?”

“That’s right, although it was more of a delay. If they’d given her more time, eventually…”

“The Temple is responsible too.”

“That…”

“When you make a promise, you must keep it.”

Vlad fell silent. Yuri sighed.

“When do you plan to return to the Holy Kingdom?”

“Now that I’ve seen things, I’ll return immediately.”

“You’d better do it properly.”

“Yes.”

“Sir Jose left angry.”

At those words, Vlad swallowed hard.

Not long ago, Jose had been recognized as one of the Ten Greats.

Not that it had been officially proclaimed, since that title was more based on general consensus, but most already included him among the ten.

That’s how strong Jose had become.

And since arriving in Briol and facing off in duels with various rivals, his level had increased even further.

“The Holy Knights won’t intervene, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then, it’ll be hard to stop Sir Jose.”

The Holy Knights rarely moved.

And in a case like this, where the Holy Kingdom had initiated the attack, they would be even less likely to get involved.

That meant there was no knight capable of stopping Jose.

“And if we send a letter…?”

“Sybilla wouldn’t read it anyway.”

Yuri decided that rather than send an ambiguous letter, it was better to do nothing.

“If she was going to act like this from the beginning, it’s because she had already made up her mind. You know Sybilla.”

“Yes…”

She was not someone indecisive. If she had already taken the step, she intended to see it through to the end.

Yuri considered several hypotheses. The most convincing was that the Empire had promised to make her queen in exchange for attacking Brusen.

“Looks like Larsson did even worse things than we thought.”

“I heard he tried to marry her off in a hurry, without respecting Her Highness’s will. And besides that, also…”

“What nonsense.”

“He had a special mistrust of Sybilla. If I had known it would end like this, I would have insisted more on stopping him.”

“That’s in the past now.”

It was no longer the time to talk. Saying anything at this point would be nothing more than a fruitless argument.

“A new era of war has begun, Vlad. You’d better start praying.”

“…Mmh.”

Vlad’s face darkened. Yuri let out a slight laugh.

He had spent most of his previous life in the midst of wars.

Even after the fall of Briol, he wandered through blood-soaked battlefields. Ever since he returned to the past, he always knew this moment would come.

It was only a matter of time.

Unlike Vlad, who was visibly unsettled, Yuri felt his mind growing increasingly serene.

“Is the clinic still running?”

“Yes, but… beyond the income, I’m not sure it makes sense anymore. The drug has spread too much.”

“A weakened human falls easily to the demon’s temptations. The Temple has an important role, they should try harder.”

Suddenly, Jared called from outside.

“Prince, may I come in?”

“Come in.”

Upon opening the door, Jared bowed to Vlad and then addressed Yuri.

“An envoy from the Empire has arrived.”

“Oh, really?”

“His Majesty is calling you, Prince.”

“Understood.”

Yuri stood up.

“Vlad, will you wait?”

“No. I’ll return to the Kingdom.”

“Alright.”

Yuri extended his hand. The era of war had begun.

Depending on how things evolved, they might not see each other again.

“I hope we meet again.”

“God will guide us.”

They shook hands.

After bidding farewell to Vlad, Yuri went straight to the palace where Fiore was.

Fiore was sitting disdainfully on the throne, surrounded by his ministers, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“You’re here.”

“Yes.”

Yuri took a seat beside him. Fiore nodded with his chin.

“Let him in.”

A guard nodded and left. Shortly after, the envoy from the Empire appeared.

It was a familiar face.

“Greetings to His Majesty, the King of Briol.”

It was Hasan. His eyes met Yuri’s, but he only bowed silently.

Hasan, a direct subordinate of Eugen, had come as an envoy. That meant the crown prince now held full control.

Fiore spoke.

“Raise your head.”

“Yes, yes sir.”

“What have you come for?”

“Well…”

Hasan’s shoulders visibly shrank.

“I-I came because…”

Yuri realized Fiore was releasing spiritual pressure on Hasan. It was rare for Fiore to intimidate someone like that.

That could only mean he was deeply angry. Yuri felt a strange sense of calm.

His father, Fiore Briol, who had not intervened in his previous life, was now actively involved.

The Empire would face its worst nightmare.

“To… hold Briol accountable…”

“Accountable?”

“Yes…”

Only Fiore spoke, in the midst of absolute silence. They had probably sent someone like Hasan to intimidate, but it was useless before Fiore.

“T-that…”

Hasan was not just scared. He was literally being suffocated by a condensed energy surrounding him.

The ministers looked puzzled, but Yuri and the knights knew what was happening.

“What kind of responsibility?”

“In Joachim…”

Hasan swallowed and continued.

“We’ve received information that Briol is providing military support…”

“What support?”

“There are reports of knights going back and forth between Joachim and Briol.”

He was probably referring to the joint training.

“Joachim is a traitorous group that tried to poison the Emperor. If Briol supports them, it must be held accountable…”

“Ah…”

Fiore nodded.

“Yes, we trained Joachim’s knights.”

“Then…”

“But that was before the Emperor claimed he was poisoned.”

“It’s not just a guess.”

“Whatever.”

“And after that, Briol continued training troops.”

“So, what do you plan to do?”

“If this continues, we can’t sit idly by. War might break out.”

“I won’t do it.”

“What?”

“We’ll only train the knights already here. After that, we won’t do it anymore. Is that clear?”

“Ah…”

Joachim already had its own training facilities. And the whole process had already been taught to them.

If necessary, they could send instructors. Fiore shrugged.

“Happy now?”

“But…”

Hasan pressed more firmly.

“You’ve already contributed to Joachim’s heinous acts, so Briol must be held accountable.”

“What kind of accountability?”

“We want compensation.”

“What kind of compensation?”

Hasan took a deep breath before speaking.

“Since Joachim became savage because of Briol, the Emperor demands you send troops to attack them. To reap what you’ve sown.”

Then he listed a series of impossible conditions. But it all came down to one thing.

The Empire planned to attack Briol.

Fiore looked at Yuri.

“Yuri.”

“Yes.”

“I heard the story. When the orc envoy came to demand surrender, what did you do?”

“I cut off his head and sent back a mounted flag.”

“Why?”

“Because he spoke nonsense.”

“I see.”

Fiore stared at Hasan again. The latter trembled.

And it wasn’t just from fear. He truly couldn’t breathe.

Fiore rose from the throne. And the moment he did, the pressure vanished and Hasan collapsed, gasping for air.

“He’s changed.”

“H-huh… What?”

“He’s changed.”

Fiore descended from the throne platform.

“Ivar has changed.”

“That’s blasphemy…!”

“Ivar, the charlatan. He wasn’t someone who would do things like this…”

Fiore murmured as if speaking of someone close. Yuri was surprised. He didn’t know Fiore had any connection to the Emperor.

Fiore approached Hasan and asked him,

“Is black magic really that seductive?”

The atmosphere turned tense. Even Hasan held his breath.

Yuri was also a little surprised. He hadn’t expected him to speak so directly.

But then, Yuri smiled. At this point, there was nothing left to hide.

“Get out. Before I kill you.”

At Fiore’s words, Hasan was stunned, but he quickly stood up. Forgetting all dignity, he ran out of the hall.

And no one laughed at the sight. Fiore’s presence was simply too overwhelming.

Many things had changed.

Sybilla, the Emperor… everyone had transformed.

But they weren’t the only ones.

Very soon, all would witness the rebirth of the most powerful swordsman of all.

Fiore, the Sword Master who had slumbered for far too long.