Chapter 261: Collapse (3)

Yuri’s sword aura shattered everything around him.

Dust mixed with acrid smoke, rising thick before slowly settling.

In the place ravaged by the whirlwind, only the enemy’s corpses remained. Not even the monsters unleashed by the Empire had emerged unscathed from Yuri’s attack.

“As expected, that’s impressive.”

Jared spoke with genuine admiration. He had always followed Yuri and witnessed firsthand his absurd rate of growth, but now he felt Yuri was on a level completely beyond his reach.

Laurent, silent, extended his hand.

“Yuri Briol. This isn’t the time to show off your strength. Your target is that guy, isn’t it?”

“Ah, right.”

After being torn apart once by Yuri’s whirlwind, the Imperial forces began to retreat. The Imperial commander also turned his body while giving orders.

Yuri had no intention of letting him escape.

He crouched down, picked up a broken sword from among the Imperial corpses, and, running forward, hurled it like a spear.

The broken steel didn’t trace an arc but flew in a straight line. The energy it carried ripped through the air and produced a sonic boom.

Boom!

The Imperial commander raised his sword and managed to block Yuri’s attack, but the explosion and impact forced him back several steps.

Inside the black helmet, his eyes glared fiercely at Yuri.

Yuri kept advancing.

“Jared, Laurent. Clear the way.”

“Yes!”

“……”

Laurent didn’t respond, but he carried out the order.

The polished sword flow of Jared and Laurent’s fierce energy swept the front clear for Yuri.

Cutting through the corridor they opened, Yuri rushed toward the commander.

With a single leap, he closed the distance and immediately brought Guilty down toward his head.

At that moment, something blocked his sword.

Yuri spun in midair, landing behind the enemy.

“You…”

He turned toward the commander.

“So you’re the one controlling them.”

Just before cleaving his head, he had seen the tentacles emerging from his body.

He wasn’t simply under mental control—he had already become part of the black magic.

The commander approached Yuri in silence, tentacles undulating from his back. The sight reminded him of Sybilla, and his brow furrowed.

He shook his head and, using a precise cut, pierced the commander’s abdomen.

Guilty tore through his chest and returned to his hand. Blood spurted.

“Did I finish him?”

He murmured, but a being corrupted by black magic wouldn’t die so easily. The commander, staggering and bleeding, regained his balance and walked toward him again.

At the same time, the nearby monsters began crawling toward Yuri.

It was clear the commander had control over them.

“Hey.”

Yuri addressed the Imperial knights surrounding him at a distance.

“Aren’t you ashamed to be standing next to that thing?”

They only looked at him with stiff expressions. But their blankness didn’t last long.

Laurent and Jared, having just arrived, rushed at them.

Several Imperial knights, distracted by Yuri, fell dead instantly, and the rest engaged in combat.

Blades sliced through the air, filling the scene with flashes of light.

As if that disturbance were the signal, the commander and the monsters charged at Yuri.

He couldn’t block all the tentacles attacking so violently. He created an aura shield to stop them en masse, then charged straight at the commander.

Numerous tentacles slammed against his wall of energy, but they couldn’t break through.

Ignoring the monsters, he stood face-to-face with the commander, who wielded his sword and used his tentacles at the same time.

“Tsk.”

He was far more troublesome than usual.

His sword skill wasn’t low either—he had probably been a knight captain in his previous life.

That was the Empire—even warriors like this ended up letting themselves be parasitized by black magic.

“Damn it.”

The thought filled him with bitterness.

Cedric had taken complete control of the Empire. With his prodigious mind and black magic, it was impossible to imagine what horrors he was carrying out.

If things continued this way, there would be no escape.

He had to push into the heart of the Empire, assault the capital, and cut off Cedric’s head.

But that goal felt far away.

Gripping Guilty tightly, he unleashed a fierce slash. The sword released multiple waves of energy, but the tentacles absorbed all the impact.

Their swords clashed, making the air rumble.

“A useless resistance.”

For the first time, the commander spoke. His voice didn’t sound human.

At that moment, Yuri felt the strange energy emanating from his eyes.

A torrent of negative emotions tried to invade him, like when he had touched the demonic grimoire and seen the eye floating above the tower.

But it had no effect.

He had already returned after witnessing a darkness far greater. The illusions of a pawn like this were nothing.

Gathering the energy of the Cut of the soul and the heart, he unleashed another strike.

The sword opened a wound in the commander’s chest.

The commander, surprised that Yuri had broken his trick so easily, extended his tentacles and attacked in a frenzy.

However, they failed to pierce the wall of aura he had erected.

Another slash.

The commander’s body collapsed.

There was no chaos or confusion. The Imperial army didn’t know retreat, fighting in place like war machines.

But without tactical orders, the distinctive pattern that had harried the Anti-Imperial Coalition vanished.

Now they only charged forward, making them easier to face.

At that moment, Inariel’s magic manifested again. This time, it wasn’t a fireball.

Above the Coalition’s battlefield appeared a dazzling sphere. It looked like a core of light, but on closer inspection, it was made up of countless meteors trailing their tails, intertwining to form the sphere.

One by one, they began to break away and fall toward their targets.

“Ah…”

For a moment, Yuri forgot he was on the battlefield and looked up. It was like watching a small meteor shower.

Those lights were all magic arrows, each with its own trajectory.

It was the Magic Arrow spell, common among mages, but recreated here in uncountable numbers and hurled toward the ground.

Each projectile recognized its target and moved accordingly. In this way, without a single stray shot, they all avoided allies and pierced only the Empire’s troops.

The sight of the falling arrows of light tearing through the enemy had a peculiar beauty.

“Impressive.”

Yuri couldn’t help but admire it.

Being able not only to conjure magic but to direct it so it struck only enemies was an extremely useful ability in war.

With that single attack, the flow of battle shifted once more.

Now, the Anti-Imperial Alliance forces completely dominated the Imperial troops.

Even the Imperial knights who had been surrounding Yuri glanced toward the front, assessing the situation with tense faces.

“What’s wrong? Looking for an opening?”

Yuri sneered.

“Do you really think you’ll be able to escape?”

With that, he charged at them.

Laurent and Jared followed, swinging their swords.

Yuri’s turbulent Cut of the soul and the heart mana, Laurent’s dark energy, and Jared’s white blade burst into multiple waves that tore through the enemies.

Even those corrupted by black magic bled red. Blood and chunks of flesh splattered the air.

Finally, the Anti-Imperial Alliance forces advanced with a victorious roar.

Yuri stood, sword in hand.

“We’ve won.”

“Good work.”

“Haa…”

At first, he had been the one charging at the front, but now the allied troops surged forward en masse, leaving behind the position where he stood.

They left no Imperial soldier alive.

Yuri turned his gaze toward Imperial territory.

“We’ve won… but…”

He couldn’t shake an unease pressing in his chest.

“Why that face, Your Highness?”

“I’m worried about the other fronts.”

***

Yuri’s fears came true.

News arrived that the front defended by Liberta had fallen and that Moyongchan had been injured.

The Holy Kingdom and Brusen had also suffered severe damage from intense fighting.

“They say they weren’t monsters like the ones we saw here.”

The messenger spoke gravely.

“Multiple types of monsters appeared and smashed through the lines. Also, two enemies of unknown identity attacked Lord Moyongchan together. It was a terrible battle. He barely managed to evacuate, but he’s gravely injured…”

Yuri put a hand to his forehead.

The defensive line was broken.

It was impossible to know how many Imperial troops would pour through that breach.

Should they strive to plug the open line, or abandon that section and push directly into the Empire to assault the Imperial capital?

“Your Highness.”

“Hm?”

“A message from His Majesty.”

A new messenger handed him a letter with Briol’s royal seal.

It was from Joshua.

“From my brother? What does he want?”

Just as Yuri was about to open it, someone appeared at his side. A whisper of presence, a shadow that materialized without warning. Yuri raised his head.

“Huh?”

It was someone he hadn’t expected at all. A face he hadn’t seen in a long time.

Yuri smiled broadly.

***

“I’ll stay here.”

“Huh?”

“That’s fine, right?”

The royal palace of Briol was in complete disarray over the unexpected arrival of a visitor.

But the newcomer strolled through its halls as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“I want to stay here. The current occupant isn’t here, right?”

“That’s true, but…”

“He’ll agree.”

“Are you close? Ah, right, Your Highness was in the Imperial capital.”

“Exactly. We met then.”

It was something no one could have foreseen.

Yekaterina had appeared in the royal palace of Briol.

Not only was it unusual for the Imperial princess, who should have been in the capital, to visit Briol; the most surprising thing was that she had managed to arrive without the entire continent finding out.

And, to top it off, she had requested full asylum.

Even so, the first thing she asked for was to choose her quarters.

And the place she chose was precisely the room used by the Prince of Briol, Yuri Briol.

“If not, ask Yuri. He’ll say yes.”

“This is beyond my jurisdiction, but I’ll confirm it.”

“Good.”

“Also, His Majesty wishes to receive you again…”

“Understood.”

After answering the aide, Yekaterina whispered into Elaine’s ear.

“Don’t you think Joshua is interested in me?”

“I don’t know…”

The truth was, it did seem that way.

But it wasn’t something for which Joshua could be blamed. In order to win Briol’s favor, Yekaterina had displayed her charms without restraint. That a young King of Briol would feel unsettled when facing such beauty was almost inevitable.

As they made their way toward the main hall, they spoke in low voices.

“Anyway, thanks to you we made it here. Good work, Elaine.”

“Yes, it was quite exhausting.”

Elaine let out a sigh.

Without revealing their identities, they had traveled a long and dangerous road to the palace of Briol, always under disguise.

Unfortunately, just after evading patrols and crossing the Imperial border, war had broken out.

So they had to cross the continent while avoiding the chaos of conflict.

Throughout that journey, Elaine’s skill had shone.

Yekaterina, recalling those moments, smiled and patted her on the shoulder.

“Why that face?”

“Hmm…”

“What is it?”

“Do you remember the Black Knight?”

The most tense moment had undoubtedly been when the Black Knight appeared.

Somehow, he had found them while they were fleeing and had delivered a message from Yuri before disappearing.

He had even helped them by eliminating Imperial soldiers who were pursuing them.

“The Black Knight delivered us words from His Highness, remember?”

“Yes.”

“But there’s something that doesn’t add up.”

“What is it?”

“At first, I didn’t notice…”

Elaine remembered.

When she had an idea about the East, she had sent someone to inform Yuri. But the messenger returned saying he had received no reply and brought no answer at all.

After that, with stricter control in the Imperial capital, contact with the outside world had been cut off.

At the time, she hadn’t given it much thought.

But then the Black Knight appeared.

And he had delivered a message from Yuri that wasn’t relevant to their situation as fugitives, but rather about the East.

Elaine had felt something didn’t add up. It was as if the previous messenger had never properly conveyed the message.

At her explanation, Yekaterina tilted her head and mentioned the messenger’s name.

“So you’re saying you suspect Asana?”