Chapter 283: Heaven Above Heaven (5)

After killing Dan Socheon, Yuri immediately went in search of the next target.

The monster, surrounded by several knights, was swinging its limbs, and Donchich roared as he chased Jared.

“Your Highness! Give me a hand here!” Jared shouted.

Yuri acted as if he hadn’t heard.

On the opposite side, Laurent—who had been thrown to the ground by a punch from the monster but had gotten up with the agility of a cat—spoke to Yuri.

“Yuri Briol, are you just going to stand there watching?”

Yuri shook his head.

“I’ll help you, Laurent!”

And with that, he charged toward the monster.

Jared, still running away, raised his voice in protest.

“Why are you ignoring me?!”

“I just feel like it!”

“What the hell does that mean?!”

“Hang in there as best you can!”

Yuri still remembered the time when Laurent had followed him everywhere.

Although after going through hardships he had become a bit cheeky, it was precisely because of that that Yuri held him in higher regard.

Jared muttered bitterly.

“No point living as a good guy damn it…”

The anger Yuri had sparked in Jared exploded against the enemy. He stopped running and lunged at Donchich.

“Die, Donchich!”

“Uooohhh!”

At that moment, Jose appeared.

“Jared! I’ll help you!”

“Sir Jose! You’re different!”

“Hmph! I’m one of those with great compassion! I can’t just pass by when I see someone in trouble!”

Jared grimaced awkwardly at Jose’s compassionate gaze.

“Ah… right…”

“Let’s go!”

“For now, fine.”

With Dan Socheon’s fall, Yuri, Jose, and Moyongchan were now free to act.

When the scattered forces of the Anti-Imperial Alliance regrouped, the monster and Donchich were clearly at a disadvantage.

The Anti-Imperial Alliance began to overwhelm the Empire’s momentum.

“Finish them!”

“Attack in coordination!”

Finally, Jose managed to deal a fatal wound to Donchich while Jared kept him distracted.

Donchich collapsed.

The monster, which had been shredded by Yuri, also began to move more sluggishly.

From time to time it swung an arm to intimidate, but it could no longer change the course of the battle.

Not only them—the entire imperial army was retreating.

In that fierce battle, the Anti-Imperial Alliance seemed to have taken the lead.

“It’s our victory!”

“Kill them all!”

“Don’t leave anyone from the Empire alive!”

“Charge!”

The gigantic body of the monster began to tilt slowly.

But Yuri, instead of joy, felt a growing unease at seeing it fall.

Moyongchan, noticing his expression, came closer.

“What’s bothering you?”

Yuri looked at him.

“Strange to hear you speak the continental language so well.”

“Shut up.”

“Don’t you think it’s odd?”

“I don’t know…”

Moyongchan stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Yuri spoke with certainty.

“This isn’t over.”

It had been a grueling battle.

And yet Cedric had not appeared.

If this battle had been of great importance to him, he wouldn’t have abandoned his army like this.

He would have come to the front to lead them, or used the demonic grimoire to unleash black magic—somehow, he would have intervened.

Moyongchan shook his head.

“Maybe you’re overestimating the enemy. Black magic isn’t an easy power to wield; even Cedric might have pushed himself too far. Think… who would have imagined you’d do this well?”

“Maybe, but Cedric isn’t someone to stop here.”

“The Empire has mobilized every one of the Ten Greats it could, and Dan Socheon is dead. They’ve already deployed all their strength.”

“Maybe he doesn’t need them anymore.”

Many imperial soldiers were dead, and most of their key forces were out of action.

It could be seen as an achievement of the Anti-Imperial Alliance.

But it could also mean that Cedric had acquired something so powerful he no longer required them.

At those words, Moyongchan looked toward the distant horizon.

“Yes… could be. We’ll know when we reach Zveta.”

“You think so?”

As they spoke, the battlefield was clearing.

The last remnants of imperial resistance were extinguished.

The soldiers controlled by black magic didn’t even attempt to flee.

“I’m going to help our troops.”

With that, Yuri rushed at the remaining imperials.

Even if it was all part of Cedric’s plan, his duty didn’t change.

To reduce their own casualties, Yuri kept cutting down enemies until the end.

When the energy of black magic dissipated, the dead became nothing more than simple corpses again.

And the allies revived by Inariel also returned to their rest.

The victory of the Anti-Imperial Alliance was assured.

The soldiers’ cheers echoed like a resounding chorus.

When the situation was under control, Yuri returned to the center of the battlefield, where the bodies of the monster, Donchich, and Dan Socheon lay.

The monster was nothing but a heap of limp flesh scattered across the ground, and Donchich and Dan Socheon were dead with their hearts pierced through.

Yuri examined the corpses.

Then Laurent approached.

“What is it?”

“I feel like this isn’t over.”

“Of course not. Did you really think it would end so easily?”

“You think so too?”

“Of course.”

He looked at him calmly.

“Because I met Cedric.”

Laurent was someone who had personally met Cedric and suffered from black magic. That was why he had gone through painful times.

He gave Yuri a light punch to the chest.

“Stay alert, Yuri Briol. The truly hard part hasn’t come yet.”

Laurent’s words, far from discouraging him, gave Yuri strength. He wasn’t the only one preparing for the worst.

“This guy…”

“Are you crazy?”

Yuri wrapped an arm around Laurent’s neck and ruffled his hair, to which Laurent tried to punch him in the side. Yuri dodged the blow and let go.

“Yuri Briol, you—”

“You don’t have time to be mad at me.”

“What?”

“I think it’s about time.”

Just as Yuri spoke, the sky darkened.

“This is…”

The sun that lit the battlefield was covered.

Over that desolate land, where the living barely stood and the dead lay still, a black shadow spread.

The sudden change made everyone look upward.

Yuri, hand on his hip, raised his gaze to the sky.

It wasn’t clouds that were covering the sun.

It was a tower reaching into the heights.

Yuri had seen it before.

When he had come into contact with the demonic grimoire, in the midst of the deep red that filled his mind, he had seen an unfamiliar tower with eyes upon it rising.

Now, it had manifested in reality.

The base of the tower wasn’t visible. It seemed to emerge suddenly from the air, stretching above a hazy mist, while a malignant energy poured down like a rainstorm.

Living beings instinctively stepped back.

Yuri fixed his gaze on the tower.

And the tower’s eyes were looking at him.

“Cedric.”

He murmured the name.

The man he had once respected most, and now hated most.

Those eyes seemed like his gaze.

Then, someone spoke.

“Up there… at the top of the tower… the sky…”

All eyes turned beyond the tower.

At its peak, where it blocked the sun, a crack was beginning to open.

Like an earthquake shattering the earth’s crust, the sky fractured and, within it, appeared an abyssal darkness.

A black deeper than jet.

An unfathomable void.

Within it, something moved.

“Ah…”

All who looked upon the scene understood.

Above the sky that covered the world, there was another sky—greater and deeper still.

And there floated beings impossible for humans to imagine.

Had those beings been watching the earth all along?

Yuri’s expression twisted.

“Cedric, you damned lunatic…”

Was he, after declaring a new world, planning to bring down something like that?

Whatever it was, if it descended, the world would fall into absolute darkness, and humanity would be reduced to the level of insects.

Yuri let the tip of his sword drop.

“Ha…”

His resolve began to falter.

This was not an enemy he could stop by effort or risking his life.

Even the partial presence of that thing paralyzed him.

Having returned to the past did not make him more than human.

In contrast, what lay beyond that rift was a transcendental existence—untouchable by humans in the most distant past or farthest future.

While Yuri stood frozen, someone patted him on the shoulder.

“Jared?”

There was no way Jared didn’t feel the same crushing pressure he did.

The madness emanating from that darkness was enough to drive any human insane.

And yet, Jared was smiling.

At first, Yuri thought he was in a confused state.

“What’s with that look?”

“It’s just… you were smiling strangely.”

“No, and besides, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Your Highness.”

Jared squeezed Yuri’s shoulder firmly.

“Thank you.”

“What?”

“At last…”

He gave a sideways smile.

“At last, this is getting fun. Don’t you think?”

In that instant, Yuri remembered something from long ago.

‘Isn’t it boring?’

He had said it to Jared, who at the time had been wasting his life in tedium.

From that moment, Jared’s life had completely changed.

And now—was Yuri himself falling into despair just because a powerful enemy had appeared?

Yuri gave a bitter smile.

“I see…”

From the start, he had accepted his defeat.

He had long been prepared to die.

What he regretted most was not the defeat itself, but having wasted his life, fleeing as a mercenary and believing that misery was a form of atonement.

That’s why he already knew the answer.

Thanks to Jared, he regained his composure.

Yuri took the hand Jared still had on his shoulder.

“Jared, I see your standard for fun is higher than I thought. I’m impressed.”

“Of course. I didn’t even bat an eye when I found out Sir Ainzer’s hair is actually a wig.”

“What?”

“Ah, that was a slip.”

“Is that true?”

“P-pretend you didn’t hear that.”

“Ainzer…”

“Yes…”

“Definitely a very manly knight.”

“Exactly.”

Yuri smiled lightly.

Just as he had changed Jared, Jared’s words had also changed him.

No matter what kind of being Cedric brought forth, he would never surrender.

“Jared, stay sharp. This is going to get more interesting.”

“Of course.”

Yuri refocused and looked to the sky.

Now, the entire Anti-Imperial Alliance was silent, staring upward, unable to fully comprehend what was happening.

The morale, which had risen with the recent victory, had vanished.

Everyone instinctively sensed the magnitude of what was unfolding.

Then, a voice resounded.

[It’s over.]

Those words reached the ears of all who watched the rift in the sky.

Yuri recognized the voice immediately—Cedric.

With a tone as gentle as greeting an old friend, he continued.

[You have all worked hard. I saw well how you strove to get this far. But in the end, this battle ends in my victory. I succeeded, and you failed. This is the result of war.]

Even though the Anti-Imperial Alliance had won, he declared his victory.

No one could reply.

The pressure from the being that had come from outer space crushed the earth.

Perhaps he was right.

If they had stopped the summoning from the start, things might have been different. But now, with the ritual complete, Cedric held the strongest card.

[I’ll give you one last chance. You have one month. Return to your daily lives, live your own life. I will give you a new era; enjoy your happiness.]

As Cedric spoke, something began to descend from the rift in the sky.

Yuri understood.

Even if he couldn’t see it, that being was already manifesting on earth.

[But if you wish to keep fighting, return here.]

At that moment, darkness covered everything.

Little by little, it dissipated.

And then—

“…Huh?”

Yuri was in the royal palace of Briol.