Chapter 78: The Prince’s Return (2)

“Wait, wait a second!”

“Weren’t you the one who said you wanted to taste defeat?”

“That was just being polite, don’t you think?”

“That doesn’t exist here.”

No matter how much Yuri had grown, he still couldn’t last long against Moyongchan.

Dodging attacks, Yuri ended up rolling across the training ground over and over again.

Even Ena, watching from the side, felt disappointed.

“I’d heard good things and had high hopes… But, Your Highness, this is just sad.”

“I told you that guy is one of the Ten Greats.”

“Still, he can’t just be a punching bag!”

“Don’t talk to me.”

Gasping for air, Yuri lifted Guilty.

“Haah… Haah…”

He frowned.

“Fine… So you want to settle this for real?”

“If you can, go ahead.”

“I’m telling Dad everything…”

Moyongchan shook his head at Yuri’s mutter.

“How did I end up accepting someone like this as a disciple…?”

Yuri didn’t give up. He raised his sword and shouted.

“And to think I made a heartless man like you my master!”

From Guilty, the sword energy of the Cut of the Soul and Heart flared like flames. A white aura swirled like a vortex.

It was a secret technique Yuri had created himself: the Whirling Vortex Blade.

Over Guilty, a faint, infinite fractal pattern emerged. Moyongchan’s eyes sparkled with interest.

“Not bad at all.”

Even as the vortex approached, he didn’t move. In a language from the far east, he spoke:

“Have you already understood the endless cycle of fall and rebirth that repeats throughout history? You’re no ordinary child…”

It was praise.

But Yuri, who didn’t understand the language, misunderstood.

“You’re mocking your disciple again!”

“This brat…”

It was a profound technique—but it didn’t work on Moyongchan. He gently lifted his sword and blocked the vortex.

Azure Cloud and Crimson Mist Sword Style

Technique: Countercurrent.

It didn’t take much. He inserted his blade at a point in the infinite loop, and the entire mechanism collapsed, as if the gears of a machine had jammed.

“You’re too straightforward. Still lacking.”

All the spins of Yuri’s vortex were interconnected. That synergy was powerful, but it also meant that disrupting the highest concentration point unraveled everything.

“No way…”

“Immature child.”

“Grr…!”

Moyongchan’s teasing made Yuri grit his teeth as he watched his Whirling Vortex Blade fall apart.

“If I can’t bite with teeth, I’ll bite with gums…”

Moyongchan had overlooked something.

Yuri wasn’t a pampered prince. He was a man who, after losing everything, had lived a second life as a low-tier mercenary.

If his legs were cut off, he’d crawl and stab the enemy in the back.

“Die!”

Yuri didn’t abandon his distorted, twisted vortex—he hurled it at Moyongchan.

In its chaotic form, the Whirling Vortex Blade unleashed even fiercer power.

Moyongchan was surprised.

He thought Yuri would stop when blocked, but instead, Yuri chose to die dragging him down, releasing uncontrollable force.

Unconsciously, he muttered in his native tongue,

“Forget the cycle of history… This brat’s just insane.”

Yuri misunderstood again.

“Too late for flattery now!”

The technique’s structure completely broke down, and his sword aura became pure entropy, flying straight at Moyongchan’s crown.

Amid the chaos, Moyongchan saw something.

Flap.

Flap.

A butterfly flapped its wings. It struck like lightning.

Why was a butterfly flying here? And how did that simple flutter release such unprecedented power?

Then a phrase crossed his mind:

“The flap of a butterfly’s wings, through chaos, becomes a fierce hurricane.”

Moyongchan roared like a lion.

“Kaahl!!”

Intense inner energy surged from his body.

Two massive forces clashed powerfully.

In response to Yuri’s unpredictable sword aura, Moyongchan answered with a net-shaped pattern.

Azure Cloud and Crimson Mist Sword Style

Technique: Entangled Sky.

His bluish energy wrapped around the chaos spawned by the Whirling Vortex.

When the entropy tried to escape through the net’s gaps, he tightened control of his aura.

“Pff…”

A bead of sweat rolled down Moyongchan’s cheek. Twisting his lips, he muttered in his eastern language,

“You’re definitely going to die today, you bastard…”

Yuri didn’t understand, but strutted proudly anyway.

“Looks like I’m peaking, don’t you think?”

“Shut your mouth!”

“You mispronounced that on purpose, didn’t you…?”

Moyongchan fixed the net and swung his sword again. A blue slash cleaved the air in two. The chaos split and dissipated in every direction.

Moyongchan exhaled deeply.

“Well? What do you think?”

“Today, you die.”

“Oh… Your pronunciation’s gotten better. You only do that when you’re serious. Are you getting serious for me?”

But when Moyongchan approached firmly, Yuri clammed up.

“Hmm…”

There was no escape. Having talent was a crime too.

Because his master underestimated him, he broke through his limits, mastered unexplored techniques—and the reward? A beating.

Yuri put his hands on his hips and looked to the sky in resignation.

“Beauty doesn’t last…”

“Where did you learn that?”

“Read it in a book.”

Actually, an eastern mercenary had told him that in his previous life. Still, he couldn’t stay passive.

As Moyongchan neared, Yuri struck like lightning. Their swords clashed.

Their bodies accelerated.

They exchanged blows at such speed they were nearly invisible. Each clash sent Yuri back, but he kept holding on.

“Waaah!”

Ena gasped in awe from the sidelines.

Yuri panted. He’d used the Cut of the Soul and Heart so much that even his heart hurt.

Moyongchan gave no quarter. He always attacked against the flow of Yuri’s technique, leaving him only defense.

“Ggh…”

Yuri knew Moyongchan was holding back.

He was pushing him just enough not to be defeated instantly, forcing him to use every last drop of energy. The exhaustion left him on the brink of collapse.

His eyes turned bloodshot. Being dragged along by an opponent’s rhythm, forced to play their game—he hated it more than anything.

Though he had nothing left to give, he forced his mana to circulate. He felt every thread of mana coursing through his body.

He expanded his senses. He perceived countless tiny strands within a single thread of mana.

Applying the perfect mana control he’d learned under Laurent, Yuri sensed the path his sword needed to follow.

In the world of the minuscule, anything was possible.

“Ha!”

Yuri shouted and violently swung Guilty upward. Moyongchan’s sword spun into the sky.

“Whoa…!”

Yuri stared at its trajectory, mesmerized.

It was beautiful.

Not the spinning sword—but the entire process that led to this. It was his own growth that he found beautiful. The final spin forming that exact shape was astonishing.

The sword twirled, descended—and landed right in Moyongchan’s hand.

Who then struck him with the hilt.

“Kugh!”

Yuri barely blocked with both arms. But Moyongchan wasn’t done.

A double side kick slammed into his chest. Yuri flew like a paper doll and landed sprawled on the training ground.

Moyongchan approached.

“Ugh…”

Yuri, from the ground, reached for Guilty.

“This isn’t… over…”

Moyongchan knocked the sword aside.

Yuri tried crawling toward where Guilty had fallen, but Moyongchan blocked his path, planting his sword in front of him.

“Master…”

“What?”

“If I surrender, is that enough?”

“Hm…”

Moyongchan hesitated for a moment, then struck Yuri on the head with the flat of his sword.

“Argh!”

As Yuri clutched his head, Moyongchan finally nodded.

“Your surrender is accepted.”

Ena ran to him and checked his head. It wasn’t bleeding, but a small bump had formed.

When she tried to wrap his head with a bandage, Yuri shook his head to refuse.

“I think you should wear it anyway.”

“It’s not bleeding.”

“But it looks funny.”

“…”

“That face of yours is kind of funny too.”

“Bring me water.”

“Yessir~.”

Yuri gave Moyongchan an irritated look.

“So that’s why you wanted a duel?”

Since he’d been pushed so hard, Yuri had ended up using a strange technique without even realizing it.

It was a product of his own awakening, yes—but also a side effect of the Cut of the Soul and Heart.

“That wasn’t exactly why, but close.”

Moyongchan looked down at him and said,

“Now you understand.”

“My outstanding talent?”

“No. How the martial art known as the Cut of the Soul and Heart was created.”

“But our ancestor made it…”

“It was created by the Heavenly Swordsman, combining a Western mana method with an Eastern mental technique.”

“Oooh!”

“And also…”

Moyongchan’s eyes sharpened. His internal energy surged, rustling his robes.

Looking down at the stunned Yuri, Moyongchan murmured in his eastern tongue:

“It even contains the martial art of the Heavenly Demon…”

***

Yuri strolled through the palace gardens, recalling their post-duel conversation.

Moyongchan hadn’t shared many details about the Heavenly Demon, but his expression hadn’t been good.

Yuri started imagining things.

“Probably a master from an enemy sect so powerful he nearly destroyed Azure Star. But our ancestor didn’t care. If a technique was powerful, he absorbed it without hesitation.”

And he wasn’t far from the truth.

“Or maybe Azure Star considered it heresy and rejected it? But our ancestor’s open heart saw the potential in that martial art and applied it directly to the Cut of the Soul and Heart…”

Also not far off. But no matter how much Yuri thought about it, he had no one to ask.

“Forget it.”

He decided to enjoy this rare moment of peace. Rest was necessary sometimes.

If he’d learned anything as a mercenary, it was that both body and mind wore out. Those who ran nonstop eventually broke.

“Hmmm…”

Yuri lay down on the grass and looked at the sky. Suddenly, a face appeared beside him.

“Yuri.”

“Brother?”

Yuri sat up.

“What are you doing here?”

He’d sensed someone approaching, but didn’t expect it to be Cedric.

“I was passing by and saw you lying there.”

Cedric smiled with his eyes gently narrowed. Though the Alliance War had lasted only a year, Cedric hadn’t changed.

He set down the books he was carrying and sat beside Yuri.

“I’ve heard a lot about you. They say you played a huge role.”

“Well, I guess…”

“Impressive. Are you really my younger brother?”

He ruffled Yuri’s hair, and Yuri smiled.

Though he was good at boasting, Yuri felt a bit shy around Cedric.

With him, it felt less like living a second life and more like returning to childhood.

“It’s the only thing I can do.”

“What do you mean?”

“You handle the rest. So I’ll at least wield the sword to protect Briol.”

“That puts pressure on me…”

“That’s the heir’s fate. How’s the palace?”

“Same as always. Except Joshua’s involved in everything.”

“He’s causing trouble again?”

“Yes, but at least with good intentions. He’s trying to change things.”

“Change?”

“For example, he attends meetings and proposes road reforms, trade incentives, stuff like that.”

“Second brother…?”

Yuri’s eyes widened in surprise. He knew he’d influenced him a little, but never thought he’d use his brilliant mind for good.

Cedric placed a hand on Yuri’s shoulder.

“My brothers have become so reliable.”

“You’re the most reliable one. We’re lucky to have you as the eldest.”

In both past and present lives, Yuri had never met anyone like Cedric. He never raised his voice or scolded anyone.

His leadership was admirable. He always made the right decisions, mediated disputes, and stood firm when needed.

And he excelled both with the sword and in his studies. If the Empire hadn’t invaded, Briol would’ve flourished.

To Yuri, Cedric’s presence was a massive source of strength. Thanks to him, Yuri could focus entirely on stopping the Empire, confident his brother would handle the rest.

“By the way, you’re going to the Empire?”

“Yeah.”

“The Empire’s dangerous. Be careful.”

“Don’t worry. No matter how scary they are, they can’t be worse than the orcs.”

“Haha, true enough.”

Cedric laughed and continued.

“If anything happens, write to me. Send a messenger bird. I’ll do everything I can to help.”

“I will.”

“And there’s something I want to tell you…”

“What is it?”

“It’s a secret.”

“You know I’m good at keeping those.”

“Don’t tell anyone.”

“I promise.”

Cedric adjusted his glasses, looked around, and whispered:

“I’m… dating someone.”

Yuri looked at him, startled.

“Who?”

Cedric hesitated a moment before answering.

“Someone from the Empire…”

“From the Empire?”

“Yekaterina.”

“What!?”

Yuri’s eyes widened even more.