Chapter 212
Chapter 212
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 212
Chapter Title: Black Dragon's Horn (3)
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About an hour had passed since Andres and Yulia's verbal sparring match.
Yuri, who had slipped away from them to handle some business, ran into someone on his way back.
More precisely, she had been waiting at the spot where Yuri always passed through and blocked his path.
Yuri sized up his opponent.
Red hair and copper skin.
A stunning beauty from the 46th Cohort, exuding vitality in her white uniform.
Her face was incredibly familiar—he was sure he'd seen her somewhere before.
"Hey, long time no see. We know each other, right?"
On top of that, she greeted Yuri like an old acquaintance.
"Hmm..."
Yuri's eyes narrowed.
Her blatant stare, screaming *Who the hell are you?*, made the red-haired beauty scratch her cheek.
"You don't remember me? I even showed you my goods."
With that, she casually pulled down her shoulder to flash him a wink.
Only then did Yuri realize who she was.
"Ah! The playboy's girlfriend No. 3!"
Even though he'd only glimpsed her face in passing, he couldn't forget her.
Their first encounter had been far too shocking.
But the red-haired beauty wagged her index finger side to side.
"Wrong!"
"...No?"
"More precisely, I'm the playboy's ex-girlfriend No. 3. We broke up recently."
"I knew that guy would get dumped someday. Justice prevails after all!"
"Wrong again!"
"......?"
"I was the one who got dumped."
"Huh?"
"Goetz cleaned house on everyone he'd been seeing a few months back. I got the boot too."
Yuri tilted his head at her slightly bitter expression.
"Isn't that for the best? Breaking up with a playboy like that? Go find someone new right now and move on."
"Playboy... You really don't know anything about Goetz, do you? Or the Roettern family?"
"Why should I?"
"Heh heh, you'll find out eventually. It's a pretty fun place."
"Sure, when I have time. No idea when that'll be."
"Sigh... It's so hard to find a guy like that... I really wanted to hold on to him..."
Her eyes grew misty with genuine regret.
But she quickly snapped out of it and flashed a bright smile.
"Whoops, anyway, I'm not here to whine about heartbreak. The reason I came is..."
Yuri cut her off with a serious look.
"I know I'm a better catch than Goetz, but you're not my type."
An incredulous smile crept onto her lips.
"...Sure, you're totally my type too, but that's not why I came looking for you today."
"Then?"
At Yuri's question, she pulled something from her pocket and tossed it to him.
*Fwip.*
Yuri caught the flying object effortlessly.
"What's this?"
It was a small paper card pinched between his index and middle fingers.
Stiff and slightly rigid material.
One side of the pitch-black paper featured a stark white design.
A circle bisected by what looked like a cross.
But one arm of the cross was long, the other short, and positioned asymmetrically.
*Is that... not a cross, but a sword?*
It almost resembled a sword piercing a round target.
"Hmm..."
The other side bore a string of incomprehensible numbers.
Yuri turned it this way and that before asking casually.
"So, what is this?"
"An invitation."
"Lately, invitations are coming at me from all directions. So, which group are you with?"
For the first time, her smile faded at his question about affiliation.
"Can't tell you that right now."
"Now that's a creative way to invite someone. Calling over a guest without even revealing your group..."
"Dangerous invitations are always the most tempting."
Yuri snorted lightly and held up the black card between his fingers.
"So, how do I use this invitation?"
"No need to use it right away. While you're in the Cradle, whenever that may be... just take it to the coordinates on there by midnight sharp."
Yuri's face hardened instantly at the explanation.
Midnight sharp.
Black card.
Strange white symbol.
Wasn't this a seriously ominous combo?
In a trembling whisper, Yuri muttered.
"You're not saying this summons... something weird... like a monster you can't even kill with a sword, right?"
"Huh? What?"
"Nothing..."
"Anyway, do that, and we'll consider you've accepted our invitation. Someone from our side will come find you and explain everything. Our identity, why we invited you, all of it."
Yuri's tension melted away at once.
"Oh, that's all? What a relief!"
"......?"
The redhead tilted her head at Yuri's oddly relieved reaction, then waved lightly as she backed away.
"Well, I'll be off then. Up to you whether you accept or not... but I'd love it if you did! Looking forward to your wise decision!"
With that, she waved both hands and departed.
Without ever revealing her name.
Left alone, Yuri stared at the card in his hand and muttered.
"The golden rule is to steer clear of anyone who won't even reveal their name."
Especially with an invitation that looked this shady.
From his experience, getting tangled in stuff like this only shortened your lifespan.
With that thought, Yuri shoved the invitation into his pocket and erased the encounter from his mind.
Completely.
* * *
Time passed again, four days after the Demon Dragon Arena ended.
Contrary to Gordon's promise to summon him soon, no black knights came looking for Yuri.
The only thing Yuri did with his free time was teach Yohan the "Demon Flow - Binding" technique he'd invented.
Thus began Yuri's stint as a teacher.
But his very first lesson hit a massive snag from the start.
"No! Why can't you... why can't you do that!"
"..."
"It's just *wrrk* to hold it back, then *whoosh* to release it!"
"...."
"Just remember *wrrk* and *whoosh*! That's the feeling!"
Yuri pounded his chest in frustration as Yohan thumped his own in response.
"So what the hell are *wrrk* and *whoosh*?!"
"You don't know?"
"No!"
"Why not!"
"Because you won't explain it properly!"
"I did explain earlier! How much more precise do I need to be?"
Yohan sighed heavily, looking like he might explode.
"I'm going insane..."
At first, he'd thought it was a joke.
But seeing that genuinely frustrated face—matching his own frustration—he now knew it wasn't.
*This crazy bastard really... invented this Binding technique with nothing but these childish sounds?*
He had heard the initial explanation.
It wasn't about grasping the flow.
You couldn't grasp it anyway, so you temporarily dammed the endlessly flowing power, built it up, then burst it out in the direction you wanted.
*Yeah, I get that much...*
The problem was that the core of damming and bursting boiled down to *wrrk* and *whoosh*.
Even if explained in detail, it was hard to follow—and teaching it with sounds a five-year-old could make? Infuriating.
"All geniuses are such pains in the ass. They should all drop dead. Tsk tsk."
Yohan had once been one of those annoying geniuses himself, but now he faced an even bigger one.
One who had created the third Demon Flow form—in a completely absurd way—after Yohan had struggled for years without success.
That let him vent freely.
Yuri was just as frustrated.
"It's not that I'm a genius—it's that you're just too dumb to get it."
"...Me? Yohan Redner?"
"Yeah, that Yohan Redner!"
"...."
"What's with the Endless Sword? You won't even survive on swordsmanship alone with talent this lacking. It's not too late. Go learn something else."
"You... you... you little!"
"Want me to teach you Wild Blade Arts? Huh? Or become that stingy old man's disciple. He'd probably take you in. Though he might go bald from the stress at his age."
"Hey, you mangy mutt, you done talking?!"
Yohan's hand shot out, grabbing Yuri by the hair.
"H-Hot! Ouch! My hair! You crazy old geezer! Let go! Huh?!"
Startled, Yuri grabbed Yohan's hair in retaliation.
"Gah! You cursed brat! Don't you know to respect your elders?!"
"You're the elder! This is child abuse!"
"Have some consideration for the elderly, you subhuman scum!"
"Who's the weak one here? Aren't you supposed to nurture the young sprouts? You heartless old fossil who dumped humanity in the shitter!"
"Where's the sprout?! All I see is a withered yellow leaf!"
They tussled and yelled.
Neither letting go first, screaming at the top of their lungs.
Then Yuri shouted in exasperation again.
"Ugh, seriously! It's not a grab—it's a bind! Just *wrrk* to dam the flow, then *whoosh* to release!"
"What nonsense is that?!"
"In the end, your theory is the foundation—I just added the flesh to it. Why can't you get it? It's not some brand-new method; it's based on what you already know!"
Their teacher-student roles had flipped.
Even as they gripped each other's hair and growled, explanations about Demon Flow Binding flew back and forth nonstop.
Eventually, Yohan released his grip first.
"...You damned brat."
Grumbling, he let go, and Yuri did the same, pouting.
They turned their backs to fix their hair.
Even after, they sat back-to-back in silence for a while.
Not sulking, of course.
Just taking time to process their recent exchange.
Yuri on his end.
Yohan on his.
After racking his brain over Yuri's nonsensical explanations for a good while, Yohan turned.
Seeing Yuri deep in thought too, he grumbled.
"What're you thinking about? Got a girlfriend or something?"
"As if."
"Then why the brooding since the day before yesterday?"
"Hmm..."
Yuri paused at Yohan's question before broaching the subject.
"Uh... hey, old man?"
"What."
"Um... the Sword Lord's Dominion—is that different from the Zone that Accredited 7-dans use?"
"I wondered what was eating you... Of course it's different. You think it'd be the same?"
Yuri blinked.
"How so? I've felt Dominion, but never experienced a Zone."
"You think you've felt Dominion? That Kunter brat's version? You seriously believe that was the real deal?"
"...It's different?"
Yuri's eyes widened, and Yohan scoffed.
"If you compare the two... it's like heaven and earth."
"That huge? Well... thinking back to the Hundred Steps Ritual..."
If the Sword Lord's pressure during the Hundred Steps had been a hammer blow, Kunter's was a baby's pat.
As Yuri pondered, Yohan explained curtly.
"Listen up. Dominion and Zone are different from the ground up."
"How?"
"The Zone Accredited 7-dans use is sensory expansion. You treat a fixed space like an extension of your body and control it. But Dominion is different. Dominion... dominates space."
"...Dominates space?"
"Tch, why do you think it's called Dominion? Because everything entering your space is subjugated beneath your feet. Just pressure? That's not even 1% of its true power."
"...."
"In the Sword Lord's Dominion space, he... becomes a god. With a flick of his finger, he turns hundreds into bloody pulp, inverts rain, summons typhoons."
"...That's humanly possible?"
If that's true, he really is a god.
Sticking out his tongue, Yuri erased Kunter's Dominion from his mind and asked again.
"Can't you do that stuff, old man? You're a master too, right? Didn't you pick any up fighting the Sword Lord?"
"Pick up Dominion?"
Yohan shot him a *what the hell* look.
"You're an idiot. Even among the Rider family's martial arts, Black Blood and Dominion can only be used by Rider bloodline."
"...No one else can use it? Why?"
"That's how inherited bloodline ultimate arts work. Only those born with the blood can manifest them."
"...For real?"
"You think I'd bullshit you over something this basic?!"
"...."
Yuri blinked.
He swallowed his retort as Yohan raged.
*...Looked doable though?*
As Yuri suppressed the echo in his mind.
"Hm?"
Yohan suddenly turned, standing up.
"Go check outside. Someone's here for you."
"Huh? Who?"
"Don't forget what I said yesterday."
With that, Yohan vanished like a ghost.
*What he said yesterday?*
Catching on from Yohan's parting words, Yuri sprang up and bolted toward the Demon King's Castle entrance.
And there, he met the person he'd been waiting desperately for.
"Come with me. We're ready to open the Black Dragon's Horn."
The bespectacled black knight's usual stiff, cold tone had never sounded so welcoming.
Yuri's eyes sparkled with excitement at the long-awaited news.