Chapter 58: Ant (2)

Yuri’s mouth hung open in awe.

With a single slash from Moyongchan’s sword, dozens of orcs surrounding him were reduced to a heap of bloody flesh scattered across the ground.

Even from a distance, the astonishment on the faces of the Allied soldiers was clear.

So that was what it meant to be one of the Ten Greats?

Even the orc horde that had stood before him now recoiled in fear. It was an utterly overwhelming force.

“What are you doing?”

Moyongchan suddenly turned and pushed Yuri’s back.

“No time to stare. Do your part.”

Still gripping Guilty, Yuri stumbled forward. The orcs flinched and backed away, startled.

They were completely shaken by Moyongchan’s strength.

“Yes, sir.”

Trusting Moyongchan, Yuri stepped forward confidently. The orcs stepped back once more.

Then he charged.

The orcs reacted and met him head-on. Normally, it would have been a fight Yuri couldn’t win.

But thanks to Moyongchan’s blow, half of the orcs had already been wiped out.

That unexpected breakthrough brought reinforcement.

“Support the prince!”

“Kill the orcs!”

With the defensive line shattered, the rest of the allied army joined Yuri to take down the remaining orcs.

Even Moyongchan hadn’t expected that outcome.

“Damn…”

Yuri threw himself into the fray, unleashing a slaughter. The other knights and soldiers joined him, wiping out the orcs one after another.

It didn’t take long before they were all exterminated. Yuri cleaned the blood from his sword.

“Good work.”

“I’m not done. I still have more to fight.”

“Then go.”

The battle wasn’t over yet. Orcs continued to swarm from underground like a plague of ants.

Moyongchan nodded.

“Knights of Briol!”

Yuri raised his sword and shouted. The scattered Briol knights began to gather around him.

“Are you tired?”

“No, sir!”

“Want to rest?”

“No, sir!”

“Then you want to kill orcs?”

“Yes!”

“Do you fear death?”

“No, sir!”

“Only those who said yes—follow me!”

“Yes, sir!”

Yuri charged forward. The knights followed in a wave.

Moyongchan watched the scene, stroking his chin.

『So this is… destiny.』

He murmured in the language of the East.

High above, a malevolent star still shone, spreading darkness. The heavens’ flow twisted more each day, and chaos approached the human world.

He didn’t know how to stop it. Yet still, to face it, he left the Eastern continent without hesitation and came here.

And by chance, encountered another star.

“Looks like those things really do exist.”

Compared to the black star spreading its tendrils across the world, this one was small and insignificant. But it undoubtedly had its own light.

And with each passing day, that light grew brighter.

“The heavens haven’t fully broken yet.”

By leaving the East and coming West, he had met the descendant of the Heavenly Swordsman.

And that young man was a peerless genius. Not just with the sword—his character and path had the power to lead others.

Someone like that isn’t meant to walk alone. He leads others and changes the course of the world.

So then—what was his own role?

Moyongchan looked up at the sky again. The sun hadn’t set yet, so the stars weren’t visible.

But he could feel a dark gaze watching from beyond the heights. Would that star fall if they killed Okua?

He didn’t know. Maybe something even more terrifying lurked behind all this.

But as the proverb says: “A journey of a thousand li begins with a single step.”

As he was lost in thought, someone approached him.

“Master Moyongchan!”

“What is it?”

It was Cory.

Orc hybrids were usually beings to be eliminated. But strangely, Moyongchan didn’t feel anything evil from Cory—something closer to good.

Perhaps that’s why his disciple had accepted him.

“There’s… a place that needs help…”

“Help?”

Moyongchan looked down at Cory.

In the West, they called him one of the Ten Greats. After wandering and fighting since leaving the East, that title had followed him.

And with that name came fear. Even this little half-blood was no exception.

Yet still, he approached, overcoming his fear. His trembling hands alone showed the courage it took.

Moyongchan replied.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh…?”

Cory looked up. His hideous face, briefly revealed beneath his hood, showed.

But Moyongchan didn’t care. He had spent too long hunting servants of evil.

He’d seen demons hidden behind beautiful faces, and goodness bloom in monstrous ones.

Moyongchan gently patted Cory’s head and began walking.

“Lead the way—fearlessly.”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

***

So far, the battles against the orcs had been direct confrontations — clashes of brute strength.

But what happened today was different a guerrilla war, where you never knew when or where the fighting would erupt.

“How many tunnels are there?”

This wasn’t just a horde of orcs anymore — they were like ants.

As he walked, Yuri felt the ground tremble and stopped. Sand scattered as an orc burst through the surface.

“Aka-kukaka!”

But it had chosen the wrong opponent. Yuri didn’t even flinch or dodge.

He simply charged his sword with energy and swung it, slicing the orc in two.

The orc’s severed body spilled blood and entrails everywhere. Its upper half writhed on the ground in disbelief before collapsing, lifeless.

Yuri gripped Guilty more tightly and scanned his surroundings.

“How the hell are the orcs moving underground?”

He activated the Manasword, extending his magical perception. He could clearly sense the orcs moving below.

A huge number of them were rushing through the underground tunnels.

“They’re over there.”

Yuri pointed to the next attack point. Jared, who was with him, asked,

“How can you sense that?”

“You can feel the vibrations.”

“Huh?”

Jared’s face twisted in disbelief. Enhancing one’s senses with mana was common, but sensing such subtle vibrations and accurately tracking orcs underground was on another level.

Like a bloodhound following a scent.

“Are you a mole?”

“Shut up.”

Yuri took off running. The cavalry followed.

“Teach me how to do it too!”

“Even if I teach you, would you understand?”

“Maybe.”

“No, you wouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“You don’t have the talent.”

“Wha—”

Yuri knew his level was beyond ordinary. Being able to do this was thanks to the Manamethod called Cut of the soul and the heart, the hunter’s memories, and above all, his innate talent.

He realized how much he had wasted his previous life. He tightened his grip on Guilty, determined not to regret again.

“Jared.”

“Yeah?”

“Regret always comes too late, no matter how quickly it hits you.”

“Huh?”

“It means treat me well from now on!”

With that, Yuri leapt forward.

“Prince!”

Jared called after him.

“Are you sure it’s this way?”

“Yes!”

Yuri advanced in the opposite direction from the main battle, leading the knights between empty tents.

“What could be here…?”

Then, the ground began to bubble.

“Ah…!”

The knights of Briol raised their swords, alarmed. Unlike the narrow tunnels they’d seen before, the ground trembled like liquid and split wide open.

Yuri murmured,

“These aren’t orcs.”

Something didn’t add up. It wasn’t possible for the orcs to have dug so many tunnels in such a short time.

“There’s something down there.”

The earth opened. A huge hole appeared, and something like a tentacle coated in soil emerged briefly before disappearing again.

Through the dust, a row of orcs waiting their turn became visible.

Several of them jumped out at once.

“Kill them immediately!”

The Briol knights, who had secured the entrance, began cutting them down. Every orc that surfaced was slain on the spot.

Corpses piled up quickly, and chaos erupted underground.

“Use the terrain to your advantage!”

Facing the slaughter, the remaining orcs abandoned the entrance and retreated into deeper tunnels.

“Simon! Guinness! Dyke!”

Yuri called the three young knights who, after many battles, were now seasoned warriors.

“Take some soldiers and secure this entrance.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Kill anything that comes up—Briol style.”

“Understood!”

“What’s the Briol style?”

Guinness and Dyke looked confused, but Simon shouted without hesitation,

“If you see it, kill it without thinking!”

“Exactly!”

In truth, there was no such thing as a ‘Briol style.’ Simon had just made it up.

And that was the Briol style.

“The rest of you, follow me!”

He felt another vibration. Yuri remembered the strange tentacles. Whatever that was, it was still digging tunnels below.

“Raymond, Laurent.”

“Yes.”

“Can you feel it?”

Both were seasoned knights.

Raymond replied,

“I can feel the earth shaking.”

Laurent nodded.

“Me too.”

“Something’s still digging underground.”

“Something…?”

“I doubt it’s orcs. It must be another creature.”

“Maybe something like a sandworm? Though those live in deserts…”

“Whatever it is, it’s something similar.”

Yuri picked up his pace. They were now in the middle of the battlefield.

In the distance, he saw a blind orc shaman raising his staff.

“Akaraka che! Akaraka chu!”

With his shout, the orcs that had been fighting other soldiers ignored their opponents and charged straight at Yuri.

Briol’s cavalry and the orc horde clashed head-on. Shouts and the clash of weapons filled the air.

The orcs guarding the shaman were powerful, nearly all of them Orkval-level.

“Weren’t these guys supposed to be rare…?”

Everything around him was Orkval-grade. Yuri sensed a dangerous attack coming and ducked just in time.

An Orkval with a massive curved sword had been stalking him.

“Tsk!”

Before he could recover his stance, the cavalry was hit hard by the Orkval ambush. The sudden attack pushed them back.

The battlefield descended into chaos.

“Watch out there!”

A knight in the rear fell. Blood spilled across the ground.

Yuri closed his eyes tightly, then opened them again. He had never thought everyone would make it out alive.

On the battlefield, death was a certainty. But he had to stay one step ahead of the rest. That was his duty.

An Orkval aimed his curved sword at Yuri’s neck, twirling his fingers mockingly.

“Akuakkai? Akme kataro kumbe, okudoku!”

Yuri didn’t let himself be provoked. Instead, he sharpened his focus.

Inside the dungeon created by Erich Briol, he had spent countless hours training with dummies.

Erich had shown him the wonders he achieved in life.

Back then, Yuri could only watch in awe, unable to replicate them due to his lack of skill.

But not anymore. Yuri looked up.

He could sense his allies falling beside him, wounded and bleeding. Orcs kept pouring in, taking more lives from the allied army.

Still, he didn’t look away. He didn’t rush to save them. In his past life, he’d let emotion guide him too much.

He held himself back. With a clear mind, he focused on what he had to do.

“Akuakkai!”

The Orkval hurled his curved sword. Its powerful centrifugal force sliced through the air and grazed Yuri’s neck.

A bit deeper, and he would have been decapitated. Yuri counterattacked with Guilty, but the Orkval dodged easily, mocking him with a thumbs-down gesture.

The distance between them widened.

At that moment, Yuri pushed hard off the ground and leapt into the air. The Orkval stared, stunned.

Yuri soared high, surveying the battlefield in one sweeping glance.

He saw the knights fighting fiercely. He looked away, forcing himself not to focus on it.

He raised his sword, pouring the mana of the Cut of the soul and the heart into it. Guilty vibrated.

White vapor began to rise. His target: the most disturbed patch of ground beyond the battle line.

At the peak of his jump, gravity pulled him down. Yuri flipped his sword into a reverse grip and fell with it.

The moment his blade struck the ground—

BOOM!

The earth quaked violently.

From the fractured ground, crimson blood gushed up like a subterranean spring.