Chapter 59: Monster (1)

Yuri was convinced he had struck the unknown monster responsible for creating the underground tunnels.

The ground in the entire area shook violently and completely collapsed. Amid the piles of dirt, pieces of flesh and blood from the monster flew through the air.

Its thin, tentacle-like appendages twisted as they were sliced apart.

That monster would no longer be able to dig tunnels for the orcs to travel through.

“Urgh…”

His body staggered. Expelling mana outward was a rarely used technique.

Though powerful, it drained both mana and physical energy to the point of making further combat impossible.

Clutching Guilty with effort, Yuri scanned his surroundings. He had stirred up chaos in the middle of a group of orcs, so it was only a matter of time before they surrounded him again.

A similar situation to before.

“Where is Master…?”

But this time, Moyongchan didn’t appear. Yuri looked up.

An Orkval wielding a large curved sword was the first to arrive. His face was terribly disfigured. The carefree expression from earlier was gone, which was somewhat satisfying to see.

“Okudoku!”

Yuri flipped him off. The Orkval let out a savage roar and charged at him.

Immediately, more orcs emerged from every direction and surrounded Yuri. He was trapped like a man swarmed by ants.

“Wow…”

Yuri let out a strained laugh and raised Guilty. He lifted the sword, but had no strength left to fight. Could he at least take a few of them down with him?

At that moment, someone dropped from the sky.

“Prince!”

Just like Yuri had done before, someone unexpected leapt to his side.

“Sir Graham.”

Graham gave a slight nod and took position.

“Thank you for your efforts. From now on, I will protect you.”

“I appreciate that, but aren’t there a bit too many enemies?”

“Someone else will join us.”

“Even with two, it seems tight. I can’t fight anymore.”

“You can rest now.”

Just as he finished speaking, another knight landed in front of Yuri. Though he didn’t walk on air like Moyongchan, just making such a leap spoke to his extraordinary skill.

He was an Imperial knight in black armor. There was something familiar about his presence.

Someone that imposing couldn’t be forgotten.

“The cavalry captain?”

“I’m the Captain of the Third Squad,” he answered with a deep voice, his character resolute.

Yuri muttered to himself.

“The Empire really has terrible naming sense… using numbers instead of names…”

Either way, once again, Yuri had survived. He placed a hand on his chest with relief.

Two of the Empire’s strongest knights, considered the greatest force in the allied army, were now at his side. A luxury not even Ragnar could easily afford.

“I’ve got nothing left…”

Saying that, Yuri slumped down and watched the battle.

“Oh…”

Just as Graham had said, the two of them were more than enough. Their combat prowess left Yuri awestruck.

Graham’s swordplay was practical and straightforward. He applied just the right amount of mana to his blade, striking with lethal precision at vital points.

He looked like he could fight all day without tiring. Watching him was an education.

Then, Yuri observed the Captain of the Third Squad. He was completely different from Graham.

“That doesn’t look like Lionheart Technique…”

Most Imperial knights mastered the Lionheart Technique—a mana method developed over generations, with no weak points and perfectly optimized for war.

But this man was far more aggressive and fierce.

Where Graham struck with precision, this man tore through enemies brutally. Each swing of his sword shredded orcs without mercy.

His sheer power kept the orcs at bay. He was literally wiping out an army on his own.

In his previous life, Yuri had never seen him. Had he died early? Or perhaps he had fought on another front?

The thought that such a man might one day become his enemy was deeply unsettling.

“I’ll have to make friends with him…”

Though he didn’t seem warm or approachable, if they got along, there might be room for negotiation should they face off.

Yuri cheered from a distance.

“Captain of the Third Squad is strong! Impressive!”

Graham looked at him as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. But the Captain in question showed no reaction.

Still, perhaps behind that visor, a small smirk formed.

“Captain of the Third Squad is the best! A man worth having! The finest husband material in the Empire!”

Yuri raised his voice even more.

“Captain of the Third Squad is drop-dead handsome! If he took off his helmet, I bet he’d rival Yuri Briol in beauty…!”

Finally, the Captain lowered his sword and stared at him. His eyes behind the visor were fierce.

“You’re breaking my concentration.”

“Understood!”

Yuri shut his mouth immediately.

The battle was coming to an end. No more orcs appeared.

Thanks to Yuri killing the tunneling creature, no new paths opened, and the existing holes were secured by the allied army.

Under the protection of the two knights, Yuri had time to recover. The mana channels damaged by the overuse of the Cut of the Soul and the Heart gradually healed.

“Phew…”

Yuri slung Guilty over his shoulder and took a deep breath. The prairie air refreshed his lungs.

Though still thick with the smell of blood, that scent helped jolt his senses awake.

He stepped out of the perimeter the two knights had held.

Then, the Orkval who had retreated earlier approached him. It was the same one with the large curved sword, the one he hadn’t finished fighting.

“Prince, it’s dangerous!”

“It’s fine.”

Yuri raised Guilty.

“He’s mine.”

No matter how exhausted he was, he couldn’t ignore someone he’d once locked eyes with. Yuri smiled widely as he faced him.

The Orkval scowled and swung his sword fiercely.

“Akuakkai! Summa kum rauku! Babeku!”

“I don’t speak orc, why do you keep talking?”

“Aku bakuma uluriyaku ololorometum!”

“Okudoku!”

Yuri gripped Guilty with both hands and lowered his stance, resting it against the back of his neck.

He wasn’t in great shape. If he wanted to bring him down on his own, it had to be with a single blow. And the same applied to his enemy.

The battle had already been decided, so the Orkval likely just wanted to kill him and flee.

They both had the same goal, and all that remained was the final clash.

After a short breath, they both launched forward at the same time. Just before impact, they turned sideways, paths crossing.

Yuri burst out laughing.

“Coward!”

He had feinted a clash to attack from the side, but the Orkval had the same idea. They closed the distance again, sizing each other up.

Despite being an orc, he wielded his sword with skill and caution.

Meanwhile, Graham and the Captain of the Third Squad continued to massacre orcs. If Briol’s representative stalled against a single Orkval, it would be shameful.

Yuri braced his core and summoned the energy of the Cut of the Soul and the Heart. His body strained, but he didn’t hesitate as he let the mana flow wildly.

“Phew…”

It was something he used to do in his mercenary days. With no fear of death, he used techniques that tore through himself.

“What’s this…?”

But the feeling was completely different. Though his mana overflowed through his channels, it didn’t damage him. Releasing the reins, the flow became even more majestic and serene.

It was a phenomenon only possible thanks to his mana method.

Yuri lifted Guilty. Though it caught him off guard, the result was better than expected.

The Orkval sensed it too and charged desperately, trying to close the distance before Yuri took advantage. But it was too late.

Yuri channeled mana into the sword’s blade. It extended.

More than a thin coating, the blade itself enlarged. Even Yuri couldn’t believe his eyes. He hadn’t reached this level yet.

But there it was—a spiritual sword. Since he hadn’t achieved it consciously, it could vanish any moment.

Facing the charging Orkval, Yuri simply slashed. No special technique.

At the moment of impact, the curved sword was cleaved in two.

Guilty continued its path and cut the Orkval. He tried to retreat, but couldn’t fully evade. His face was split down the middle.

“Kyaaaaah!”

The Orkval’s face was drenched in blood, a massive gash running from his eyes to his jaw.

As the orc clutched his face in agony, Yuri grinned mockingly.

“Weak.”

But his own condition wasn’t good either. After using the spiritual sword, his overflowing mana began to dry up rapidly.

“Akuakkai! Akumma!”

The Orkval roared in fury, his deformed face contorting. He was about to charge with bare fists.

Feigning calm, Yuri beckoned him with a wave of his hand.

“Come on, then.”

It was then that the ground trembled. Weakened, Yuri dropped to his knees automatically. It was just like before.

The earth was opening once again.

Mounds of dirt rose, and from them emerged a horrendous monster. The part of its body visible on the surface resembled a giant worm. It had sunken black eyes and tentacles that extended radially from its mouth, writhing.

One of those tentacles grabbed the Orkval. But the orc remained calm. He wiped the blood from his face and shouted forcefully at Yuri.

After scooping up several more orcs, the monster sank back underground.

The ground vibrated with a deafening rumble. That was the real enemy.

“Damn it…”

Yuri spat on the ground. He had never heard of orcs being able to control a creature like that—not even in his previous life.

In any case, his job was done. The remaining orcs would be wiped out by the allied army.

Yuri let himself fall to the ground. As he relaxed, the mana flowing through his channels compressed suddenly into his core.

“Ah…”

An overwhelming sense of emptiness washed over him. He no longer had the strength to even sit up. He simply collapsed.

He could vaguely hear the sounds of Graham and the Captain still fighting. If an orc crept up and struck him with an axe, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.

At times like this, the best option was to play dead. There was no other choice. He couldn’t do anything else anyway.

Yuri closed his eyes.

***

Ragnar frowned.

“What did you say?”

His aide was crouched next to Yuri, who was lying on the ground.

After tapping him a few more times, he replied,

“He seems to be sleeping…”

“This is the first time I’ve seen someone sleep in the middle of a war.”

“Looks like he completely drained his mana. Still, it takes guts to fall asleep like that.”

“He’s insane.”

Ragnar had been watching his fight. At first, Yuri was surrounded after killing a shaman and survived thanks to a stranger.

Then he rallied the knights and charged off somewhere, suddenly leapt into the sky, drove his sword into the ground, and made everything explode. Ragnar thought he had gone mad.

He’d jumped straight into the enemy’s heart and burned every last drop of mana. And Moyongchan wasn’t even there this time.

That’s why Ragnar had sent Graham and the Captain of the Third Squad, who successfully protected him.

He thought the madness would end there. But the lunatic stumbled to his feet and went back to fight the same Orkval again.

And then the most absurd thing happened. The guy who had completely run out of mana suddenly unleashed a spiritual sword. Then a monster appeared and carried off the orc, and finally, he collapsed on the battlefield and fell asleep.

Nothing this guy did made sense.

“This idiot really is…”

Ragnar let out a disbelieving chuckle.

“Still, thanks to him, casualties were fewer. And we figured out how the orcs operate.”

“What was that creature?”

“Eisen has already contacted the palace. If they have information, they’ll send it.”

“A monster that digs tunnels… ridiculous. So that’s how the orcs were moving?”

“Yes. Like a swarm of ants.”

“It was surprising, but it doesn’t matter.”

Ragnar looked toward the horizon through his spyglass. Now and then, orc banners fluttered in the distance.

“If we attack their main base, they won’t be able to pull off stunts like that again.”

They were advancing slowly but steadily. At this rate, they would soon face Okua.

“Your Highness.”

An Imperial knight bowed before him.

“The orc cavalry is circling the area.”

“Again?”

“How should we proceed?”

The orcs kept harassing the allied army. They had barely finished a major battle, and already the enemy was back with no respite.

It was as if their numbers were endless—far more than estimated.

“There are two possibilities then. Either the orcs are far more numerous than we thought, or when we reach the base, we’ll find Okua alone.”

“Let’s hope it’s the second one.”

“Wipe them out.”

He ordered their extermination.

“This time we’ll do it ourselves. I’ll send the Imperial Squad.”

“You mean…?”

“It’s time to get serious.”

“Understood.”

Ragnar smiled fiercely.

“Let’s show them that we had a monster hidden too.”