Chapter 222: The God from Another World (1)

Yuri continued exploring the copies of the demonic grimoire.

Although he could no longer reach Cedric’s consciousness as before—since the latter had closed the channel—he could still follow faint traces thanks to a few original pages used to create the copies.

The demonic grimoire continued changing owners and causing chaos in the world. Inside it, Yuri found traces of beings he knew.

‘A thousand, a thousand, a thousand times a thousand! For the resurgence of the Celestial Demon Sect!’

They seemed to be the former “Heavenly Demons” mentioned by the Shadowless Sword.

They had sealed the demonic grimoire and later attempted to absorb the demonic energy that leaked from it. Perhaps that’s why their consciousnesses weren’t completely recorded.

But there was one who had left significant traces.

That man had repeatedly challenged the demonic grimoire. He tried to extract a new power from the domain of chaos, just like Yuri. But unlike Yuri, who had started with The Cut of the Soul and the Heart, his foundation was in the demonic martial arts of the sect, which imposed limits.

Even so, the method he proposed served as inspiration for Yuri.

“Hmm…”

After completing another exploration, Yuri opened his eyes again.

He saw that the books, full of holes as if devoured by insects, were falling apart.

Each time Yuri delved into a copy of the demonic grimoire, it lost power. Most had already disintegrated and turned to ash.

“How was it?”

Hernando was waiting behind him.

“Not much left, honestly.”

“One moment.”

As Yuri was about to leave, Hernando reached out to stop him.

“There’s still demonic energy.”

“Ah.”

Yuri checked his body. He still had remnants of demonic energy clinging to him from exploring the copies.

He activated The Cut of the Soul and the Heart and fully purified the evil energy.

“I always forget.”

“Your Highness is probably the only one who can withstand something like this without side effects.”

Thanks to his mana method, Yuri could shield himself from the influence of black magic.

“Hernando.”

“Yes.”

“It seems Cedric is trying to summon an entity from another world.”

At his words, Hernando nodded.

“You mean what you mentioned before?”

“Yes.”

Since his first exploration of the demonic grimoire’s copies, Yuri had suspected a connection between the original version and entities from another world.

And the more he investigated, the clearer it became.

“It seems there’s a place where beings that feed on human death and despair reign as gods. Cedric is trying to summon one of them through human sacrifices.”

“A place like that sounds like hell…”

“He might have already summoned it. We need to stop him as soon as possible.”

Hernando glanced to the back of the workshop.

He had planned to continue researching in Valshard until all copies of the grimoire were exhausted, but progress had been so fast that staying longer didn’t seem necessary.

“Your Highness, Maryrose has made a proposal.”

“What kind of proposal?”

“She said that if we cooperate with one thing, she’ll leave Valshard and join this war.”

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“I won’t accept a marriage.”

“Ah… no, that wasn’t it…”

Hernando raised an eyebrow at Yuri.

“What she asked was that we eliminate the orcs.”

“Oh, really?”

“Maybe you’re a little too confident from your recent popularity?”

Yuri’s face flushed a little.

“It was just a joke.”

“It’s actually not far from the truth.”

“What?”

“Her first proposal was marriage. I was the one who rejected it. That’s why she changed it to the orcs.”

“What? Why did you reject it?”

“Why do you think? Seriously, Your Highness?”

As they argued, they left Maryrose’s workshop and headed toward the castle.

The castle staff of Valshard were so used to their constant bickering that they didn’t even bother to look anymore.

Yuri and Hernando made their way to the castle’s training grounds.

Francesco was doing inverted push-ups.

The fact that he could maintain such physical conditioning without using mana was proof that he hadn’t neglected his training.

“How’s it going?”

“It’s progressing well. Though of course, it depends on his will.”

Francesco was undergoing a body modification process to regain the ability to use mana. To remove the demonic energy in his body and eliminate the mana rejection, Hernando performed magical operations on him daily.

But most important was his determination. Even if Hernando removed the traces of black magic, only Francesco could completely expel them.

Part of that involved sweating through pure physical training.

“Hmm…”

Yuri watched him silently, then smiled.

“Want me to help a little?”

He approached Francesco, who was training alone.

Using his soul mastery, he saw that the density of demonic energy was much lower than before.

“Sir Francesco, you must be exhausted.”

“Huff… huff…”

Francesco stopped his push-ups and sat up.

“This is part of the price I must pay.”

Though he still couldn’t use mana, he could feel that his body was changing.

“Today I’ll help you with a special method.”

“What is it?”

“Come here.”

Yuri made him sit and took his hand.

The energy of The Cut of the Soul and the Heart began to flow into Francesco.

“Isn’t this the same as always?”

Francesco wasn’t very surprised. In recent days, Yuri had played an important role in Hernando’s magical treatments.

When Yuri transmitted his energy this way, the dark energy that Hernando isolated was completely devoured.

But even this had a limit. Though it was a divine art, it was still foreign energy. It couldn’t reach the deepest parts of his being.

Yuri finished purifying him once again and stood.

“The special method begins now. Take your sword.”

“Huh?”

“Do you know when a person sweats the most?”

Yuri pointed Guilty at Francesco.

“When they fear for their life. If all you do is push-ups alone, you’ll only sweat the bare minimum.”

“Wait a second…”

Yuri launched a slash.

His murderous intent was so strong that Francesco, startled, immediately stepped back.

“W-Wait, wait…!”

“Grab your sword.”

Of course, Francesco knew Yuri was only acting.

But his survival instincts didn’t respond the same as his reasoning.

“W-Wait a second!”

A cold sweat ran down his back.

Since he couldn’t manipulate mana, he couldn’t accurately follow Yuri’s movements.

So, even though Yuri intended to stop his sword before hitting him, when a full-speed thrust was aimed straight at his throat, Francesco’s body simply reacted on instinct.

The sweat that wouldn’t come out even during inverted push-ups now poured down like rain.

“How’s it going?”

“I-It’s working… maybe too well…”

“Excellent. Let’s see if you can survive.”

Yuri had exceptional talent in mana control, and The Cut of the Soul and the Heart was a divine technique that obeyed his will. Because of that, he had masterful control over when to release or suppress his killing intent.

His bloodlust was far more threatening than anyone else’s.

Even though Francesco rationally knew it was an act, his body couldn’t distinguish whether Yuri was serious or not.

Yuri’s sword grazed some of Francesco’s hair and sliced off a bit of his hem, but didn’t hurt him.

“Haa, haa…!”

Francesco clutched his chest. Yuri gave him no rest, forcing him to keep moving nonstop. His body had already surpassed its limits but kept going.

Sweat was streaming down him in rivulets.

Had he been training alone, he would’ve already collapsed in exhaustion. But Yuri’s blade kept pushing him, forcing him to move if he wanted to stay alive.

“Sir Francesco. If I accidentally cut you, you’ll really die.”

“Shut up!”

Francesco dodged in any way he could. He rolled on the ground, dove, adopted humiliating postures—whatever it took to survive the duel.

Suddenly, Guilty came slashing down toward his shoulder.

From Francesco’s perspective, it was an unavoidable strike.

Yuri intended to stop just short of hitting him.

But Francesco’s body, sensing imminent danger, triggered an emergency response.

All his muscles tensed to their limits, and his brain activated even usually dormant areas.

A white energy burst from his sword.

Clang!

The two blades collided.

It was an attack the current Francesco shouldn’t have been able to block—yet he did.

“Ah…”

A faint glimmer of energy lingered on the blade of his sword.

He hadn’t recovered all his former power, but there was clear progress. Since losing his mana, he hadn’t been able to generate energy like that.

Francesco stared at his sword in shock.

The energy quickly faded, but he couldn’t look away.

Yuri patted him on the shoulder.

“Sir Francesco. What do you think of my training?”

“…Thank you.”

Francesco responded so seriously that Yuri’s eyes widened in surprise.

He wasn’t the same man who used to bitterly complain every day.

With a clear gaze and a sincere smile, Francesco looked directly at him.

“Thank you, Yuri Briol. It’s all thanks to you.”

Seeing that honest expression, Yuri was reminded of someone.

Laurent Flandre. He had the same pure look in his eyes.

Had the Holy Knight Francesco always been like this? Had he changed entirely after losing his mana, consumed by despair?

Yuri cleared his throat.

He didn’t like these overly sentimental atmospheres.

“Ahem. I-I didn’t do it especially for you, Sir Francesco!”

But Francesco smiled gently, as if he already knew.

Yuri flustered and retorted,

“Don’t thank me yet. I’m taking you to the orc hunt. This time it’s a real battle, life or death. If you don’t give it your all, you’ll die.”

“Are you serious?”

“O-Of course.”

The mood had gotten so warm that Yuri, on impulse, ended up adding Francesco to the orc extermination mission.

Francesco’s face began to twist.

“I love that expression.”

“Demon…”

“Exactly. I’m the demon with the black sword.”

“…”

***

The alliance had defeated Okua and his army, but some surviving orcs were still scattered across the plains, raiding villages.

Though their numbers had dwindled, orc brute strength still exceeded that of humans.

If a new leader like Okua emerged while Maryrose was away, Valshard could be endangered.

That’s why, as a condition for joining the war, Maryrose requested a new extermination campaign against the surrounding orcs.

“We need to wipe out every last one. Understood?”

“Yes!”

“We don’t have time. Let’s finish this as quickly as possible.”

Yuri decided to swiftly patrol the areas near Valshard, accompanied by Francesco and several local knights.

Though the Valshard knights weren’t as skilled as those from the continent, they had experience fighting orcs, so they wouldn’t be a burden.

They looked at Yuri with sparkling eyes.

“We’ll follow you anywhere, Your Highness!”

It was their chance to fight alongside the famed genius of Briol.

“That’s right. Just follow me. There’s no strategy or tactics here. We charge and destroy them mercilessly. There shouldn’t be much danger since there are no large settlements left. If things get rough, come to me.”

“Yes!”

Jared, Simon, and Guinness, former members of the allied army, felt a sudden surge of excitement.

Fighting orcs used to be a tough mission, but now they were heading out with a small elite unit.

It wasn’t just Yuri who had grown stronger—they had too.

“Let’s go!”

The extermination unit led by Yuri galloped across the prairie at full speed.

The landscape blurred around them. The distant trees came into view in an instant, and new lands stretched endlessly before them.

Yuri spread out a map marked with orc lairs.

They were smaller than before, but more numerous.

Yuri planned to eliminate them all.

“Orcs reproduce fast. If you leave them alone, they multiply in no time. They’re like cockroaches. Exterminate them now, so you don’t have to worry later.”

Yuri pointed ahead. An orc village came into view.

“See it?”

“Yes!”

“Attack! Kill them all. If anyone dares to show mercy, I’ll kill them myself.”

“Yes!”

The orcs hadn’t noticed them yet and were going about their daily lives. But once they sensed the enemy’s presence, chaos erupted.

Yuri jumped the palisade on horseback and charged into the camp.

One of the orcs saw him and screamed in despair.

“Akuaktar!”

And that was his last breath.

The orc’s head flew through the air.