Chapter 45: Rabid Dog (1)

Behind the palisade, there weren’t many orc troops. Most of the army had gathered at the front lines to stop the Alliance’s main forces.

Yuri charged straight in and slashed at one of the orcs guarding the rear.

But the orc managed to block the blow.

As they crossed weapons multiple times, more orcs began to gather.

“Laurent!”

“Yes!”

Laurent understood Yuri’s intent and ran to assist. When they coordinated their attacks, the orc couldn’t defend himself and left an opening.

The orc fell to the ground bleeding.

Yuri crushed his skull with a stomp.

“Keep pushing forward!”

The main forces were locked in fierce combat with the orcs.

To help them, they had to create as much chaos as possible in the rear.

“Hey, Jose!”

Yuri shouted.

“Why so slow? Is that all Brusen’s got?”

Jose let out a laugh and suddenly rushed to the front. He was about the same size as an orc. With a single sweep of his sword, he cleaved an orc’s waist in two.

Drenched in blood, he roared,

“Let the prince of Briol see what Brusen’s made of!”

The knights of Brusen shouted their battle cry and charged. The human and orc armies clashed.

Blood and chunks of flesh flew through the air, and the orcs slowly began to retreat. Brusen advanced relentlessly.

Then, in an unusual show of emotion, Laurent shouted loudly:

“For Briol!”

It was a reckless attitude Yuri had never seen from him before.

Laurent leapt high and brought his sword down. An orc tried to block it with an axe, but Laurent was faster.

The orc’s head split, and its contents spilled out.

Shaking the blood from his sword, he shouted again:

“And for Prince Yuri!”

Yuri, who had just plunged his sword into another orc’s belly, coughed hard at hearing his name.

“How embarrassing…”

The two cavalry squads advanced as if competing.

Brusen, led by Jose, crushed orcs like a wrecking machine, while Briol broke through their lines with coordinated tactics.

Yuri climbed on top of an orc tent to observe the battlefield.

At the front line, hand-to-hand combat raged, and inside the orc encampment, groups of orcs scattered in all directions like ants.

Then, he spotted a group that wasn’t moving.

Dozens of banners fluttered in the wind.

“Orkval…”

Yuri recognized them.

A platoon of Orkvals, each with a banner on their back, stood assembled.

And the orc in the center could only be—

Kurui.

Yuri locked eyes with him. Though his size wasn’t different from a regular orc, his scar-covered skin revealed countless battles fought.

Their eyes met.

Kurui smirked.

He shouted something while gesturing, and half of the Orkvals turned.

“Damn…”

He had drawn their attention by accident.

Yuri shouted,

“The Orkvals are coming! Everyone get ready!”

The banners waved as they advanced. The Orkvals joined the battle instantly.

While they fought ordinary orcs, these brutal beasts arrived. If anyone blocked their way—ally or not—they were hacked down to reach the knights.

“Damn…”

Even Jared, proud of his reflexes, was caught off guard. Just as he sensed something was wrong, the blade of an axe appeared before him.

A white flash deflected the blow.

“Not paying attention?”

A black-haired young man appeared and blocked the Orkval.

“Prince!”

The enraged Orkval swung his axe wildly. Jared thought it was impossible for a human to withstand that kind of brute force.

But Yuri fought back effortlessly. It was the Orkval who was pushed back.

Jared’s eyes widened in shock.

“That’s the way.”

Amid the exchanges, Yuri used his natural speed to find openings.

Wounds accumulated on the Orkval’s body. Its attacks slowed.

Panting like a wounded beast, the Orkval froze. Its eyes started to show defeat.

“Prince…”

Jared muttered without thinking.

“Where did you learn that?”

He knew Yuri had a natural talent for combat, but this was something else.

How could an eighteen-year-old handle an Orkval like a child?

That boy grew stronger with every battle.

“Quit talking nonsense and focus.”

Yuri stepped back.

He left the wounded Orkval to Jared.

“Got it.”

Jared clenched his teeth and rushed in again. Seeing him advance, the Orkval regained spirit. Its axe swings grew fiercer.

A completely different attitude.

Jared scowled. He always thought that, if not a genius, he was at least close.

But now he was being treated like a rookie.

“If I say I can do it, I damn well can!”

Mimicking Yuri, Jared deflected the Orkval’s strike. The axe rose awkwardly. The Orkval looked confused.

“Yeah, make that face.”

Jared drove his sword into the orc’s neck. The orc spat blood and collapsed. Jared looked up after pulling out his sword.

Since the Orkvals appeared, the knights had been pushed back. But with those two at the front, the tide of battle was turning.

“I’m Jose of Brusen!”

Jose didn’t rely solely on brute strength. The mana radiating from him could be felt on the skin. Every swing of his sword sent Orkvals tumbling.

Even with three Orkvals on him, he dominated them completely. Their frustrated faces said it all.

“A monster…”

And the other monster, Yuri, fought in a completely different way. He weaved between enemies and allies, striking the Orkvals with cunning.

When enemies tried to surround him, he slipped between the knights, scattering their focus.

Depending on the view, it was either an efficient method of killing or a cowardly way of stabbing backs. Yuri stabbed an Orkval from behind while laughing.

Jared, seeing that face, looked away pretending not to see it.

“So not elegant…”

But thanks to them, the balance that had tilted toward the orcs was leveling. Jared gripped his sword tightly.

It’d be a lie to say he wasn’t afraid. But he had decided to follow Yuri long ago.

He wanted to see how far that boy could go. And if he lagged behind, he wouldn’t be able to face him again.

“Huff…”

An Orkval was charging toward him. Jared relaxed his shoulders and focused. His senses sharpened to the maximum.

It was a strange feeling. When the orc took a step, when it moved its arms, when it raised its halberd—he could clearly see how its center of gravity shifted and exactly where he needed to strike to bring it down.

They say a knight, once reaching a certain level, can only improve through real combat. Would he have thrown himself into war on his own if it weren’t for Yuri?

It was a sight he never would have imagined in the past.

Jared advanced.

***

Yuri smiled upon seeing Jared fighting with all his strength.

As expected of a knight he had personally chosen, he was keeping up without much trouble.

He still had a ways to go, but with continued training, he could become useful. Maybe not one of the Ten Greats, but possibly one of the Top Hundred.

Yuri looked up to check the status of the battle. At the front line, the Alliance’s main force was fighting fiercely, while in the rear, in addition to Briol and Brusen, the knights of the Holy Kingdom and the Empire moved like madmen.

Victory was beginning to lean in their favor.

Considering the size of the allied army, perhaps that was the logical outcome.

“Too easy…”

However, in his past life, the alliance had lost even with similar strength. He had to be ready for an unexpected move.

At that moment, Yuri felt a strange chill. A scream rang out right next to him. It wasn’t an orc… it was a human scream.

He turned his head and saw a scar-covered orc tearing a knight apart.

“Kurui!”

Just as he had seen earlier, Kurui wasn’t particularly large. But his presence was overwhelming. He didn’t show a single opening.

Kurui tossed the knight’s head into the air and let out a low chuckle, like the growl of a wild beast.

“Shit…”

The fallen knight was named Lake, a baron with a small fief. He had married his childhood friend from a neighboring territory and had two young children.

Kurui crushed the fallen head with his foot.

“Son of a bitch!”

A furious knight from Briol rushed at him.

Kurui effortlessly dodged the attacks and suddenly lunged forward, swinging his axe. It was an explosive strike.

The knight’s torso was cleaved in half. Blood soaked the ground.

Yuri gripped the hilt of Guilty and released it several times. His heart pounded. His teeth clenched.

“Your Highness.”

Laurent reached out to stop him.

“Step aside.”

“I can’t allow that.”

Kurui was undoubtedly strong. No matter how talented Yuri was, he wasn’t in a position to defeat him now.

“We’ll attack together.”

Laurent was right. Yuri was someone who couldn’t die here. The right thing was for other knights to risk their lives to face Kurui.

At that moment, Kurui charged again. This time, a knight of Brusen died under his axe.

The orc army’s fervor intensified.

“Please fall back. If the situation worsens, retreat…”

“I understand.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

But Laurent had forgotten something. He shouldn’t judge Yuri by common standards.

As he stepped back, Yuri suddenly grabbed Laurent’s shoulder and tripped him.

“Agh, Your Highness!”

Taking advantage of Laurent’s fall, Yuri sprinted straight to the front.

Jared tried to stop him, but Yuri sidestepped and leapt forward. He swung Guilty at Kurui’s back.

The Soul-and-Heart Slash, reacting to his will, released an even more savage aura than before.

But he was knocked down instantly. Kurui turned in a flash and struck him with his axe.

It was so fast that even Yuri’s eyes barely caught it.

This was truly a force worthy of an orc chieftain.

“Protect the prince!”

“Your Highness!”

Yuri’s sudden charge threw the Briol knights into confusion. They all rushed forward, bumping into each other and losing coordination.

Yuri shouted,

“Everyone stop!”

And stood up.

“You’re in the way.”

Saying that, he faced forward again. Before Kurui now stood a tall knight.

It was Jose, knight of Brusen.

“Your Highness, step back.”

“What?”

“A commander shouldn’t put himself in danger.”

“Don’t say nonsense.”

Yuri shook his head.

“Sir Jose.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Look me in the eye.”

“Huh?”

“What do you see?”

Jose looked at him in disbelief, then burst into laughter. His voice echoed through the area.

“Really…”

He laughed for a while, then stopped as if nothing had happened.

“I’ve never seen a royal like you.”

“Right?”

“Yes. Though… I have seen those eyes before.”

“In the portrait of the Founding King?”

“No.”

Jose raised his sword.

Kurui lifted his axe to face him. The orc was clearly wary of the aura Jose gave off.

“When I was a kid, I saw a rabid dog wandering the docks—it looked just like you, Your Highness.”

“What?”

“It’s a compliment.”

Jose recalled those days. There was a rabid dog. No matter how big the opposing dog was, it never backed down.

If someone touched it, it wouldn’t stop until it bit back.

At first, they thought it was just crazy. But later, they understood.

In its hideout, the rabid dog was protecting several puppies. To shield its young, it had overcome all fear.

In this world, there are reasons stronger than fear.

When the rabid dog was finally bitten to death by another, Jose buried it in a sunny spot. And he adopted its pups.

In his territory, the descendants of those pups still lived. Puppies with the same dark fur as that dog—just like that bold third prince of Briol.

“Your Highness. When the war ends, come to Brusen. I’ll prepare a full banquet for you.”

“A full banquet?”

“You’ll understand when you see it.”

Mana surged violently from Jose’s body, swirling like a fierce wave of Brusen.

“Kurui!”

Jose roared the enemy’s name and charged forward. Yuri followed.

Both knights rushed together at Kurui.