Chapter 7: The Ancestor’s Legacy (3)

Yuri lifted the corners of his lips.

To be surprised only this much—this is just the beginning.

He was a human who had lived once and come back. Using his past memories, he was certain he could grow much faster.

In the not-so-distant future, the empire would reveal its ambitions and attack Briol. Yuri had no intention of sitting back and watching that happen.
One way or another, he would crush those guys without fail.
This life would be different.

“Hey.”

Yuri rose from his seat.

“I’m still confused.”

Even though he had seen the flow of mana, acquiring the mana method immediately was too much.

So he needed to experience it more with his body.

Yuri raised his sword.

“Let’s do this properly.”

The Dummy lifted its sword to face him. Its fully transparent body made it impossible to see any change in expression, but Yuri felt as if the Dummy were smiling.

The fight began again.

The Dummy attacked aggressively—even using a killing move that shouldn’t be used on a mere thirteen-year-old child.

Yuri, surprised, rolled across the ground to dodge the attack, and the Dummy struck the ground while pursuing him.

Yuri kept rolling and barely managed to escape the attack range.

“This is just the beginning…”

He got up with difficulty, his body aching, and smiled ironically.

He had never thought this second life would be easy. As he’d told Jared: if you want to become strong, you can’t stay in a safe zone. You have to step into more dangerous grounds, more challenging areas.

Even if you have talent—or rather, especially if you have talent—you must shed more blood. Humans grow stronger in proportion to the blood they have spilled.

“Is that all you got? Come on, show me what you’ve got.”

When Yuri provoked him, the Dummy reacted and attacked even more fiercely.

Just defending was exhausting.

But Yuri could understand. This guy was adjusting the difficulty to match his level. Therefore, running away now would be a betrayal of the expectations of his ancestor, Erich Briol.

He opened his eyes wide. Gripped the sword tightly. Watched carefully the flow of mana pulsing through the Dummy’s body.

Imitating that figure, memories from his past life surfaced.

“Imitate.”

When he had just become a mercenary and had nothing more than decent sword skills, a veteran mercenary once told him:

“To be the best, imitate the best.”

At that time, he had resisted. He thought that imitation would only make him a copy. But with time, he understood. Imitation was the easiest way to steal your opponent’s level.

“Erich Briol, huh…”

The man who founded a dynasty with a sword was, fortunately, giving him a private lesson right before his eyes.

So he had to absorb it all.

Yuri’s eyes lit up.

He couldn’t afford to lose even a single moment.

***

When Jared opened his eyes, he was standing in the middle of the training field.

“Huh?”

He looked around, confused.

Had it all been a dream? The journey with the third prince and the quest for the dungeon in the Sword Mountain?

“That can’t be.”

Jared murmured as he unsheathed his sword.

He remembered everything too clearly for it to have been a dream.

He was sure that just a moment ago, he was in the underground chambers of the mountain, with the Death Knight, engulfed in the energy radiating from a massive mana stone.

Therefore, this situation had to be a test.

“Show yourself.”

Then, something emerged in the training field.

“……”

Jared pursed his lips. It was a figure identical to him.

A guy like his own doppelgänger stood before him, sword raised.

“What’s your name? Are you Jared too?”

When he asked that, the impostor replied.

“Jared. Do not defy your destiny.”

Hearing his own voice speak to him was a strange experience.

“Destiny, huh?”

“Didn’t you join the Royal Guard just because you wanted a quiet life?”

“I did.”

“Stay away from the prince. The more you defy your destiny, the more misfortune you’ll attract.”

“Destiny, huh…?”

Jared looked at the sword in his hand.

It was identical to his own. He gripped it several times and moved it around. He found no difficulty in wielding it.

“If I fight and win, does that mean I pass this test?”

Raising his sword, he asked. The impostor also raised his. A classic cliché.

When one meets an impostor, one must defeat him. If not, you die.

“Your fate is not tied to the prince.”

“You’re an impostor, so you don’t know anything.”

Jared advanced.

The impostor attacked with his sword.

Jared easily dodged and countered. Blood splattered from the other’s body.

Too easy.

Jared murmured:

“I’ve learned something recently.”

It was a thought that came to him after meeting the third prince, Yuri.

“Once a sword is swung, it can’t be taken back. Dwelling on a past strike only clouds your mind.”

The impostor tried to resist, but Jared neutralized him effortlessly.

The impostor’s swordsmanship was simple. It focused on defense and avoided all risk.

Jared understood.

That was the version of himself before meeting the third prince.

Just like the impostor had said: Jared without defying fate.

“How pathetic.”

Saying that to himself, Jared abruptly closed the distance between them.

They entered mutual striking range. Jared didn’t avert his gaze from the danger. He kept his eyes wide open and swung his sword.

In an instant, they exchanged dozens of strikes. The impostor was shredded into pieces and collapsed.

It wasn’t a pleasant sight—seeing his own body torn apart.

“……”

The impostor’s body dissolved into blackness. From those remains emerged a dark silhouette.

Jared understood.

“So the real body was something else?”

The figure grew larger, transforming into a gigantic monster nearly twice his size. The impostor who had earlier lectured him about destiny now became a dark beast standing in his path.

Perhaps it was a warning—that defying destiny came at the price of facing such a monster.

But, as he had said before: once a sword is drawn, it cannot be undone.

Jared bared his teeth and grinned.

“Now this is getting interesting.”

***

Time passed.

Yuri quickly absorbed the techniques shown to him by Erich’s mannequin.

His body was that of a talented young man, but his soul belonged to an experienced mercenary. He easily understood how to handle the Mana Method and how to wield the sword in accordance with it. He absorbed the knowledge like a sponge.

The combat against the mannequin was a kind of private lesson.

There were dangerous moments, but the mannequin never stopped and tried to pass on everything it knew.

When Yuri began to feel comfortable with the Mana Method, he realized that a lot of time had passed.

“How long has it been…?”

He had been clashing swords all this time without realizing it. He hadn’t eaten or slept, yet he felt no fatigue. Realizing this only now—did that mean the time had come?

Yuri lowered his sword and looked at the mannequin.

The mannequin also dropped its guard and looked back at him.

“……”

The wasteland began to fade.

The sky collapsed.

Facing the vanishing world, the mannequin waved its hand. It was a farewell.

Yuri returned the gesture.

“Thank you.”

‘I’m welcome.’

He thought he heard a voice say that.

Yuri closed and then reopened his eyes.

……

At some point, he was back inside the dungeon.

He blinked.

Yuri realized.

Everything he had just experienced was a fleeting dream, happening in the blink of an eye.

Looking around, he saw that Jared and Hernand also had strange expressions.
Their bodies were exactly the same, but it seemed as if the air around them had changed.

The Death Knight, who had been sitting atop the mana crystal, stood up.

[You had a good dream, didn’t you?]

“What was that I just saw?”

[A preparation by Erich. He believed that someday the descendants of Briol would come.]

That was only half true. In his previous life, no one had ever reached this place, and the Sword Mountain had been destroyed by the Empire.

“Did the ancestor use this Mana Method?”

[No. He never used it directly. It was the final inheritance Erich created, combining the insights he gained while wandering the East in his later years. Therefore, you are its first heir.]

“And why did he leave it like this? Couldn’t he give it directly to the royal family?”

[He waited for the right moment.]

“The right moment?”

[This dungeon won’t open unless the right time arrives.]

The Death Knight’s eyes glowed red.

[If this dungeon has opened, it means the time has come when this power is needed.]

“And what is that time?”

[That’s not for me to answer.]

“Then who?”

[Find out for yourself.]

Yuri kept asking, but the Death Knight no longer answered.

[Don’t forget. That Mana Method contains Erich’s will. It has a much deeper meaning than you think.]

Yuri nodded.

Just as he said, Erich’s Mana Method was completely different. It bore no resemblance to the Briol Method inherited by the royal family.

“What is this Mana Method called?”

[Its name…?]

The Death Knight remained silent for a moment before replying.

[He called it ‘Slash of Soul and Heart.’]

It didn’t sound like a typical Mana Method name, but Yuri accepted it.

It was both a magical and sword technique. The two were inseparably intertwined.

[Yuri Briol.]

The Death Knight approached Yuri.

His presence was overwhelming.

At the sudden surge of killing intent, Jared and Hernand tried to stop him but were flung against the wall in an instant. Yuri didn’t dodge and stood firm.

[Kneel with one knee.]

“Why?”

[I am going to pass the ancestor’s inheritance to the heir of Briol.]

Yuri knelt on one knee and showed respect.

The Death Knight placed a hand on his head.

[Yuri Briol.]

With the light from the mana crystal behind him, the Death Knight’s face was shrouded in deep shadow.

The silhouette of a fallen knight and the radiant backlight filled his vision.

[Never fear the enemy.]

Within that broken, haunting voice, Yuri felt as if he heard a second, overlapping voice—someone else’s.

Without realizing it, he responded.

“Yes.”

The light of the mana crystal flickered.

[Act according to what you believe in.]

“Yes.”

[Fulfill the duty of Briol to the very end.]

“Yes.”

He didn’t say typical phrases like “protect the weak” or “do good.”

[I seal this in your soul.]

Suddenly, the Death Knight grabbed Yuri by the hair and twisted it, forcing him to look up.

Yuri stared straight at him. A withered skull. Inside it, red eyes burned.

The very image of death was etched into Yuri’s gaze. The Death Knight’s voice crawled down his spine.

[Briol does not forsake its honor. Even if it means death.]

Behind his skull, the mana crystal glowed brilliantly.

The Death Knight’s body began to disintegrate.

Even then, he didn’t release Yuri’s hair or look away.

He stared directly into Yuri’s eyes, those blazing pupils fixed on him, as he faded away.

[That is the oath of Briol.]

That voice was engraved in Yuri’s soul.

***

The excursion that had started early in the morning only ended at sunset.

Yuri’s group returned to the palace with the same caution as when they left.

The palace servants simply assumed the prince had been loafing somewhere and finally decided to show himself.

“Your Highness.”

Hernand spoke to Yuri.

“I will report today’s events to His Majesty.”

“Is that necessary?”

“Don’t you think we should?”

“Alright. Go ahead.”

He had no intention of hiding what had happened. It was far too important to keep secret.

“Jared, go rest. You did well today.”

“Yes.”

Since returning from Sword Mountain, Jared hadn’t been able to regain his composure. Yuri was curious about what experience he’d had but decided to ask the next day.

After parting with the two, Yuri didn’t return to his room. Instead, he visited the palace library.

There, he searched the records of the ancestor.

Erich Briol.

He had brothers.

But one of them had forsaken honor and thus disappeared from history without even leaving his name. The crimes he committed weren’t detailed.

All that remained was a portrait. A man with a melancholic face and a sword at his waist.

“……”

Yuri unsheathed the sword he had brought from Sword Mountain.

‘Briol does not forsake its honor. Even if it means death.’

A knight who, even in death, could not find peace. A sword soaked in remorse.

Was it not the perfect weapon for someone like him—a sinner?

“You, in the end, were forgiven for your sins.”

He had passed on Erich Briol’s legacy to Yuri and then vanished.

So, when would he be forgiven? He, who had destroyed the kingdom and was now shamelessly living a second life?

Yuri clenched the sword’s hilt tightly.

‘That is the oath of Briol.’