The news that a malevolent presence had appeared in the Empire and caused the Anti-Imperial Alliance to retreat, along with the news that Yuri Briol, despite this, was gathering the knights to train, spread at the same time.
The entire continent was stirred.
It was a kind of signal Yuri was sending—he was announcing to the whole continent that he would fight to the very end.
Most of the knights from the Order of Vengeance who had been with Yuri gathered, and in addition, other knights and soldiers rejoined.
But there were also those who did not return.
Yuri understood. The power of the black magic they had faced was so overwhelming that it could not be challenged. If even he had been crushed in that way, for an ordinary man it would be a literally crushing fear.
In fact, that there were those who returned could be considered abnormal, an extraordinary devotion toward him.
Yuri led all the training, and as the number of people increased, he prepared a separate training field outside the royal castle of Briol to house them all.
From the training platform, Yuri shouted.
“Tirbo!”
“Yes!”
“You’re late.”
“Hehehe… I was saying goodbye to my parents…”
“I see.”
Yuri looked at him with a smile. Even if he said it lightly, Tirbo had surely made a very serious decision to come.
“Get up here. We’re going to do a practice match.”
“Yes, sir!”
While placing Tirbo in the center, Yuri glanced to the side.
That day as well, Yekaterina was watching from a little farther away, sitting under a parasol while they trained.
Although she was a member of the imperial family of the Empire, she was indisputably the most beautiful woman on the continent. Having someone like her watching boosted the knights’ motivation.
Of course, some suspected the relationship between Yuri and Yekaterina.
Tirbo narrowed his eyes, smiled mischievously, and asked.
“Your Highness, a question.”
“What?”
“Since when have you been going out?”
“What?”
“With the princess.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s obvious just by looking. Hehehe…”
At his words, Yuri’s eyebrow twitched.
“Or were you going out before and now you’re not? Are you exes? That’s the impression it gives.”
The boy, not in his usual style, was rather perceptive. Yuri’s sword became sharper.
Tirbo’s chatter faded until only groans of pain remained.
“Ugh… Argh…”
“Focus, Tirbo!”
“Well, it seems my comment was true, because you’re changing the subject…”
“You brat?”
“Aaaagh!”
Tirbo rolled across the ground after taking a hit.
“Next!”
While calling for a new knight, Yuri looked again and saw Yekaterina drinking tea with Ena, both smiling about something they were saying.
Yuri turned away with a grimace.
“You’re next?”
“Huh? Me?”
“Get ready, Jared.”
“All of a sudden?”
Yuri pressured him.
“Your Highness…”
At that moment, while Yuri made him roll twice on the ground and pointed his sword at him, someone called to him from outside the training field.
It was a messenger sent from the royal palace.
“Here, His Majesty sent me to deliver you a letter.”
“What is it?”
Yuri took the letter and opened it.
The document summarized the situation in the different countries.
Most of the other nations were in a similar situation—divided between those willing to fight and those who had given up resisting, with the latter being the majority.
Yuri carefully folded it and put it in his chest.
“Hmm…”
He frowned, a habitual gesture when he was thinking. While he was lost in thought, Jared, still on the ground, tried a counterattack.
Yuri dodged without looking at him and responded with a spinning kick that left him sprawled again.
“Next!”
“Ugh…”
Jared crawled out of the training field and, watching Yuri fight against a new knight, spoke to Laurent, who was next to him.
“Sir Laurent, isn’t this crazy?”
“I told you not to call me ‘sir.’”
“All right. Laurent, isn’t this crazy?”
Laurent looked at him, and Jared shrugged.
“Well, you told me to speak without formalities a long time ago, didn’t you? I don’t think it matters now.”
“Do as you like.”
“Don’t you think His Highness has gotten too strong? I feel like the gap is getting bigger.”
“The enemy has gotten stronger, so he’s adapting.”
“Is that even possible…?”
“We already live in a time that makes no sense.”
Laurent gripped his sword, stood up, and walked toward someone, leaving Jared behind.
It was Moyongchan.
“I want a match with you.”
Laurent spoke to him respectfully, although the tone wasn’t exactly reverent.
Moyongchan watched him for a moment and then nodded.
“In the East there were guys like you too. After going through a few hard experiences, people change.”
“…”
“Do you want to get stronger?”
“Because that’s how it has to be.”
Laurent had understood his own shortcomings after multiple battles.
Although he had improved a lot, he was still far from being on Yuri’s level.
That’s why he decided to start using his mana, tainted by black magic, fully in combat.
It was no longer as pure as before, but in exchange, he could fight in a much more destructive way.
Moyongchan, understanding his determination, nodded.
“In the East, your sword would be called a demonic sword. It’s a type of evil sword energy that’s usually only used in the Demonic Sect.”
“Is there a problem with that?”
“That depends on the person. I don’t consider it bad. In the East there was also the Kongtong School. Their Demon-Subduing Sword Technique consisted of subduing the demon and sealing it within oneself to turn it into strength. You could say it’s the principle of ‘controlling the demon with the demon.’”
Laurent nodded.
“But it won’t be easy.”
“I’ll have to do it.”
“Yes, you’ll have to do it.”
Moyongchan remembered Laurent from before. Back then, he had been a righteous and talented young man, worthy of envy.
But after suffering under evil power, he had become another person.
Moyongchan smiled faintly.
In the East, he had seen many change after painful experiences, but the innate temperament didn’t change.
The true nature of a person is revealed in the most desperate moments.
Although Laurent appeared cold, his true essence was emerging in the face of crisis.
The two began their match.
Moyongchan’s pure sword energy and Laurent’s dark energy clashed without giving ground.
“The most important thing when handling the demonic sword is self-control. Never let it dominate you.”
“Ugh…”
“Only when you can control it completely in a calm state can you truly be strong.”
Moyongchan was instructing him with the dedication of a master to a cherished disciple.
With Yuri it wasn’t like that—he understood everything just by seeing it a couple of times, so there was hardly any need to explain anything.
With Laurent it was different—he possessed uncommon talent and a righteous heart, and as a cultivator, he could tend not only to his technique but also to his internal wounds.
Teaching him was rewarding.
“When you trained me, you just hit me like a thug.”
“That’s true, when I asked you to teach me, you seemed annoyed…”
“It depends on the person.”
“I see people in the East aren’t very friendly.”
Yuri and Jared, both with difficult personalities, complained, but Moyongchan ignored them.
Laurent quickly began stabilizing his technique.
“Hmm…”
Seeing that, Yuri turned around.
Things were going better than he had feared.
“I won’t be alone when the time comes to march, right?”
At his words, a visitor who had approached him smiled faintly.
“At the moment of death, everyone is alone.”
“Well, I won’t die.”
“That would be ideal.”
It was Inariel.
“You arrived sooner than I thought. Where did you return to?”
“To the workshop.”
“I see. Can I count on you staying until the end?”
“Of course, after what I saw.”
For anyone, it was natural to feel fear upon seeing the creature Cedric had summoned. Yuri was no different, and neither was Inariel.
But both knew that precisely because of that, they had to resist even more fiercely. If such a being ruled the world, it would be a hell worse than death.
Yuri was convinced that the “happy future” Cedric promised would never come.
Even if he managed to build it, it would be a facade rotten on the inside. Black magic, which creates spells from human death, could never nourish anything genuine.
“Why do you think he gave us a month?”
“To filter. Those who resist will do so, those who surrender will do so, and that way he can wipe out all rebellious seeds in one stroke.”
“I suppose so.”
Yuri nodded.
“I just received a letter with reports on the situation in other countries.”
“And?”
“Just what I expected.”
“Yuri Briol.”
“Yes?”
“With a month’s time, if you were to persuade them in person…”
“No.”
Yuri shook his head.
“I’m not going to persuade anyone. When the time comes, I’ll go. Whoever wants to come, can come; whoever doesn’t, won’t. It will depend solely on their will.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve gone sentimental at the last moment.”
“I can’t help it.”
Yuri smiled.
“If the opponent’s hand is too good, to win you have to bet big.”
Inariel looked away.
“By the way, haven’t there been any news from the Eastern warriors?”
“Not yet.”
Through Yekaterina, Yuri knew that Elaine had departed for the East, accompanied by Bernard. He wasn’t worried about their safety, but he wasn’t sure if they could convince them to join.
“Maybe if they use the Heavenly Demon to persuade them…”
“You killed him, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but they don’t know that.”
“He could revive.”
“Huh?”
“They’re people who revive the dead. They wouldn’t waste the corpse of a powerful warrior.”
“Ah…”
Yuri remembered Cedric’s black magic, which resurrected the dead to fight, including Donchichi and Dan Socheon. Although he had destroyed the monster created from their bodies, he didn’t know if they had been left that way.
“In any case, I trust you’ll know what to do, as always.”
“What do you mean?”
“Before you leave, you should settle that matter.”
“What matter?”
“There.”
Inariel pointed with his chin.
Under a parasol was Yekaterina.
“Why?”
“So you won’t regret it. Before the battle, clear things up.”
“Why would I regret it?”
“If you want to pretend you don’t understand, go ahead.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Your love affairs.”
“…”
“When Maryrose arrives, it’ll be more complicated.”
“Maryrose? Why her…?”
“Are you going to pretend?”
“No.”
“It’s none of my business, but if this battle is the last, put everything in order.”
“Understood.”
Yuri sighed.
“I’ll do that…”
He didn’t want to get distracted before the final battle, but Inariel’s words made sense. If something unsettled him, he might not give his all against Cedric.
“It’s your decision, Yuri Briol.”
Inariel, who appeared to be a handsome young man, showed in moments like this the experience of an elven archmage who had lived a long life.
“Perhaps it’s already too late for my advice.”
“Huh?”
Yuri noticed it too.
“She arrived sooner than I thought.”
“Far sooner.”
“She must have used magic.”
In the distance, Maryrose, her red hair flowing, approached on horseback, followed by several knights. She was coming from Valshard, something Yuri hadn’t expected so soon.
“Get ready.”
“But…”
“I’m leaving.”
“Stay.”
“I’m leaving.”
Inariel departed, and shortly after, Maryrose stopped in front of Yuri.
“Your Highness, it’s been a long time.”
She smiled brightly and, pulling on the reins, looked around.
Her eyes met Yekaterina’s.
____
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