Chapter 170: Human Hunt (4)

Yuri, Laurent, and Jared found a good spot and built a solid burrow.

“That’ll do.”

The three of them went inside. It was narrow, but they had no other choice.

Yuri used branches and natural materials from the surroundings to seal the entrance.

“Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”

“Yes.”

“I’m going to teach you a secret technique.”

Yuri planned to teach them both an Eastern martial art he had learned from Moyongchan.

“It’s a secret technique that makes the body appear dead—the heartbeat weakens, body temperature drops, and one can completely hide their presence.”

“Such a technique exists?”

“Yes. It’s called the Great Turtle Breathing Technique.”

“Oooh…”

It wasn’t a particularly difficult martial art, so both of them learned it quickly.

“When you use this technique, you lose consciousness, but your life force vanishes and you can control the moment of awakening.”

Yuri placed his hands on their chests.

Laurent and Jared guided their mana according to Yuri’s instructions. Following the technique’s principle, their metabolism began to slow down.

Yuri adjusted their recovery time. The reaction was immediate.

“I’m sleepy…”

“Then sleep.”

“Sweet dreams.”

“Thanks.”

And so, Laurent and Jared submerged into the Great Turtle Breathing Technique.

Yuri lay down as well.

From time to time, Imperial knights passed by outside, but since all three had entered a dormant state, they were unaware of their surroundings, and the Imperial knights detected no life signs.

Time passed.

By nightfall, Yuri opened his eyes.

“…”

He awoke alone and checked the surroundings. He sensed nothing with his perception.

It seemed the Imperial squad had already passed. Yuri closed his eyes for a moment to focus and then slowly emerged from the burrow.

The moon shone brightly in the sky.

Looking up toward the mountaintop, he occasionally saw lights moving. The blockade line had passed.

“We were lucky.”

Murmuring, Yuri inhaled deeply.

The cold night air filled his lungs.

“Huuh…”

He lifted Guilty. The blade, bathed in moonlight, glowed with a soft shine.

“Thanks again.”

Murmuring softly, Yuri closed his eyes and stabilized his inner state through the Cut of the soul and the heart.

His body, dormant from the technique, awoke. The flow of mana that had been disturbed by energy deviation returned to normal.

Every nerve ending came alive again. Even the breeze brushing against his skin could be clearly felt.

He expanded his senses.

Though faintly, he could grasp the enemy’s situation. The Imperial squad was forming a circle around the mountaintop.

Because they didn’t know that rare technique, they hadn’t realized they’d already passed where their target was hiding.

There were two options. Escape and descend the mountain…

Or attack from the rear.

Yuri raised his sword. The Cut of the soul and the heart swirled within him as if it had a will of its own. It was quite intense.

Yuri fell into thought.

Donchich had attacked Liberta, and Sybilla, now queen, had marched on Brusen.

A series of unexpected events had unraveled all his plans, and Briol ended up facing the Empire alone.

Memories of his past life overwhelmed him. The royal palace burning, people dying without mercy.

The Empire’s black army massacred without emotion, like automatons. If he didn’t stop them now, the same tragedy would repeat itself.

That’s why, killing the Imperial army meant saving the people of Briol. Yuri made his decision and began moving through the shadows.

He felt bad for Laurent and Jared, but they’d awaken with the sunrise.

Until then, this time was his alone. He crept toward the nearest enemy.

He heard whispered voices.

“Why so much fuss over three people?”

“How many have died already?”

“Must’ve been overconfidence.”

“But several teams falling due to overconfidence? Maybe they’ve got skills?”

“You’re saying someone like that’s in Briol?”

“They say there are no nobles in Briol who don’t know how to fight. Maybe there’s someone strong we don’t know about.”

“Briol, huh…”

They were the knights stationed in the rear. As always, four of them, sitting among the bushes, chewing dried meat and chatting.

Yuri admired the Imperial army’s structure. If there had been one or two, he could’ve silently killed them with no issue. But with four, he couldn’t risk making noise.

Especially on such a quiet night. Yuri waited hidden among the bushes.

His eyes, in the soul domain, could see the enemies clearly with just the moonlight.

A hunter needs patience. And soon, an opportunity presented itself.

“Where are you going?”

“Gonna pee.”

“Don’t go far.”

“Don’t worry.”

“Don’t go uphill. Do it downhill.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

One separated from the group, humming a tune as he walked off.

He walked farther than expected, which surprised Yuri.

“Damn, lately it’s hard to pee…”

Turned out to be a knight with urinary problems. Out of embarrassment, he probably walked farther away.

“Hmhm…”

The sound of liquid dripping came intermittently.

Drip.

Drip.

Drrrip.

Since it kept stopping, Yuri had to move in rhythm with the sound. A sigh filled with melancholy.

“Huuuh…”

Yuri approached from behind.

“This is pathetically sad…”

Those were his last words. Yuri sliced his neck.

Slash.

The mana-imbued blade passed cleanly through flesh and bone.

Thud.

Blood dripping from the cut soaked the ground.

“What a pity. May everything go smoothly in your next life.”

Yuri picked up the helmet the dead knight had left behind and put it on. He was already wearing the enemy’s armor, looted earlier that day, so there was no need to grab another.

He stood still near the corpse. It was time to be patient again.

“…”

And, as he had predicted, things went just as planned.

One of the comrades came down to look for the fallen knight.

“Hey, Jeck. Still at it?”

Just one.

“Hey, still having trouble? I told you to see that doctor I mentioned. He’s really good. Don’t be so shy.”

He spoke from a certain distance behind Yuri.

“What’s there to be embarrassed about between us? We’ve been together since our hometown. Haven’t we? You always ran around saying you’d be a knight. Compared to that, a pee problem is nothing. Don’t you think?”

“…”

“Hey, hey! Don’t tell me you’re crying.”

The knight approached. Their relationship seemed to be quite close.

They must have many stories together. The life Yuri had lived wasn’t necessarily more intense than theirs.

But a hunter doesn’t distinguish the innocence of his prey.

“Jeck, damn it…”

Yuri turned and drew his sword. With the same smiling expression he had while speaking, the knight was beheaded.

Two friends who had come from the same hometown and became knights of the Empire ended up thrown over each other, their headless bodies piled like sacks.

Yuri nudged the two scattered heads together with his foot. He moved cautiously.

He had to take out the rest before they noticed something was wrong.

The remaining two knights were chatting with each other. One had removed his helmet, and the other still wore his.

“Hey, doesn’t that bother you? You can take it off.”

“No, sir.”

“Seriously, now’s the time to rest. If not now while the boss is gone, there won’t be another chance.”

“…”

“You not gonna take it off?”

“That…”

“Take it off.”

“Yes, I will.”

Yuri gave a faint smile. Then he pulled the bow from his back and drew the string.

“Hey, in the Knights’ Order we’re human too, no need to be so stiff. Back in my day, superiors were harsh, but it’s not like that anymore. As long as you do your job, it’s all good. Got it?”

Yuri aimed the bow at the more talkative knight. It seemed better to leave the inexperienced one for later.

The veteran spoke in a half-reclined posture.

“Our captain… he’s a beast. When he bites, he doesn’t let go. That’s why we’re suffering like this. Do your best to get on his good side. If he doesn’t like you, your life’s hell, but if he does, he treats you well. He’s got a very volatile temper…”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“And also…”

Yuri released the string. At the same time, he sprang forward and jumped.

He was so fast that the arrow piercing the enemy’s neck and the moment Yuri stabbed the younger knight happened almost simultaneously.

“Gah…”

“Aaah…”

One collapsed, spitting blood; the other trembled, his throat exposed before Yuri.

Yuri brought the sword closer. Blood gushed from his neck.

“If you scream, you die.”

“Y-yes…”

“Do you want to live?”

“Yes, yes.”

His voice was barely audible. His will to live was clear.

“Tell me about the current situation.”

“Uh…”

His eyes trembled.

“What is it? You think you’ll die anyway if you talk?”

“…”

“You’d rather die now, or at least have a chance to escape?”

“Ugh…”

“I don’t want to kill you.”

Yuri withdrew his sword. The knight’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Tell me three things—where Elpeso is, what was reported to the main force, and what orders you received. If you do, you’ll live.”

As he spoke, Yuri drove Guilty into the convulsing knight’s head.

The skull shattered, and he died instantly. The remaining knight opened his mouth after witnessing that.

“I-I’ll tell you…”

He didn’t give too many details, but it was enough to grasp the general situation.

He now had the information he needed.

Yuri nodded.

“Put your hands behind your head and lie down. When I leave, run down that way. Understood?”

“Yes.”

He obediently lay on the ground, hands clasped behind his neck. Yuri’s sword sank into his nape.

The knight likely didn’t even realize he had died. It was the greatest mercy Yuri could offer.

His eyes scanned the darkness again. There wouldn’t be another chance this convenient to eliminate four in one go.

Since he’d decided to fight, he had to assume he’d be discovered.

Luckily, thanks to the knight he’d just killed, Yuri could form a general idea of the enemy’s formation.

He began moving horizontally.

He planned to pick them off calmly from the rear.

***

A faint sound echoed in the dark mountain.

Wright, a knight of the 9th Squadron, who was guarding the summit, turned around.

It was faint, but it clearly sounded like a scream.

“Did you just hear something?”

“What?”

“A scream, I think…”

“Probably just caught one of those Briol rats that escaped.”

But the other three knights didn’t show much interest.

Wright, being the least experienced of the group, just nodded.

Patrols of four were typically composed of veterans and rookies, and in the Empire, the hierarchy was quite strict.

Talking too much could earn a scolding from a superior. So he chose to stay quiet.

“Don’t be impulsive.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Still, such a hassle for just three rats…”

He wanted to remind them that those “rats” had already killed several comrades, but he didn’t dare say it.

“Just a bunch of bumpkins from Briol, and this much fuss?”

Perhaps due to the Empire’s prestige, the veteran knights tended to underestimate the enemy.

Wright, who had grown up hearing the legends of Fiore Briol, didn’t dare belittle them. Didn’t a Briol knight win the last tournament?

This would undoubtedly be a tough war.

Suddenly, Wright turned his head. The sound came again.

“I heard it again…”

This time, he wasn’t the only one. Another veteran also looked in that direction.

“Did something happen?”

“No way.”

The other two knights shook their heads.

“That’s the rear.”

“Yeah.”

“The enemies fled uphill. That’s why we’re circling the mountain. There’s no escape route.”

“Got it.”

“Maybe the guys in the back got spooked by a wild animal.”

Wright felt a growing unease.

Something was clearly happening, but the veterans showed no signs of concern.

The only sensible one just scratched his head. Wright stood up.

“I’ll go take a look.”

“Huh?”

“Just in case.”

“Hmm…”

Then one of the veterans chuckled.

“If you’re that scared, go ahead. Good experience for you.”

“Yeah, do it.”

“But come back quick.”

They gave him permission.

“I’ll just check the surroundings.”

Normally, patrols were supposed to stay together, but these veterans weren’t strict about rules.

Wright only inspected the nearby area. He felt like something could leap out of the darkness at any moment.

The moon was shining, but the trees were so dense that only a dim light filtered through.

After a while, finding nothing suspicious, he decided to return. Maybe his superiors were right and he was just overthinking.

“Whew…”

Wright returned to his post.

But then.

“…”

Something was wrong.

The three veteran knights were lying on the ground.

And just as he opened his mouth—

“Shhh.”

A low voice whispered near his ear. Wright’s body froze.

“Silence.”

A cold sword brushed his neck.

“If you want to live, do as I say.”

It was the enemy.