Chapter 113
Chapter 113
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: 48. Tournament (5)
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"I-I'll talk. I'll talk......"
"Oh, finally ready to spill? No poison pill tied to your teeth or anything? No suicide attempt?"
"I'll talk, so please stop......"
"This guy who kept his mouth shut now suddenly can't wait to talk after one slash?"
When Yuri prodded the sliced eyeball with his knife, the leader clutched his eye and slammed his head against the ground.
"Kugh......"
"Good, fine. My offer still stands. Talk right, and I'll let you go immediately."
"Thank you. Thank you."
"So, who sent you? Who's your master?"
"That's......"
The leader hesitated for a moment. Yuri reached out with his hand.
Thinking Yuri was about to torture him again, he panicked, but Yuri merely cut a strip of black cloth from his clothes and used it to staunch the bleeding from the wounded eye.
"Alright, speak."
"I-Is saying just this enough?"
"Yeah. Then I'll let you go."
"The one who sent me is......"
He took a deep breath and opened his mouth.
"The Em......"
That was when it happened.
Something burst from his mouth.
Yuri leaped back and raised his Wind Ring Sword in guard.
"What the hell?"
It was a pitch-black snake.
The snake that crawled out from his throat flicked its tongue at Yuri, then turned and burrowed into the leader's remaining eye.
The leader screamed.
The snake thrashed around inside his skull for a while, ravaging his brain.
His whole body convulsed and twisted on the spot, then blood poured from every orifice on his face as he died.
The black snake soon dissolved into smoke and scattered into the air.
It was a gruesome sight.
Yuri stood up.
Jared, standing behind him, shuddered as he spoke.
"What the hell was that just now?"
"Can't you tell? Black magic."
"Ugh......"
"He had a curse on him. No wonder they sent these amateurs so carelessly."
Though he hadn't uncovered the mastermind, one thing was now certain.
Black magic, which had only been a strong hypothesis without hard evidence, was truly parasitizing the shadows of the Empire.
Jared asked, "Could it really be the crown prince?"
"High possibility."
"Then Hassan must be part of this black-clad group too."
"Yeah."
Yuri thought of the crown prince.
The man who sat beside Emperor Ivar. He had a gentle impression. Compared to Georg beside him, he even seemed effeminate.
"What about the Emperor?"
"Probably not."
"Why do you think that?"
"If the Emperor were involved, the assassins wouldn't have been this sloppy."
"Ah......"
"Anyway......"
Yuri stood up.
"Check if any are still alive."
"Pardon?"
"We can't let any escape alive."
Yuri counted the fallen black-clad figures. Twenty in total, matching the number he'd seen initially.
He went around stabbing throats for confirmation kills.
Jared stared blankly at the scene.
"Your Highness."
"Yeah?"
"You're ruthless."
"You never fought orcs?"
"That was orcs."
"These or orcs, same difference."
Yuri shrugged without looking back and continued his work.
"They all tried to kill us. Fact remains."
One black-clad man who had been playing dead suddenly sprang up at Yuri's feet, begging for his life.
Yuri posed the same question as to the leader.
"Who sent you?"
"That's......"
"Just say that, and I'll let you go alive."
The black-clad man couldn't open his mouth.
He had secretly witnessed the leader's death.
He must have realized he was cursed too.
"Wait."
Yuri stopped him.
"Hold on."
He had once sliced away Oqua's black magic curse with his Heart-Soul Severing sword aura.
If this curse was black magic too, he might remove it now.
He circulated his Mana Circulation Method and gazed at the soulscape.
In the colorless world, the vague form of the prostrated man appeared before him.
Black tentacles entwined his flesh and soul as one.
Fully fused, he lacked confidence to separate them.
Yuri groaned lowly.
"Damn......"
The scale was smaller than Oqua's, but the intricacy far surpassed it.
If the fiend who crafted this magic offered more sacrifices to perfect the spell, what horrors could they unleash?
Yuri said calmly.
"Can't do it."
"Pardon?"
"Can't lift the curse on you."
"Ah......"
Resignation settled on the man's face. He mumbled for a while, then said.
"Just make it quick......"
Before he finished, Yuri's sword severed his neck.
His head slid off, mouth still agape.
The body crumpled, blood flowing.
Yuri methodically checked the rest as if repeating routine work. No one else rose.
Twenty corpses were dumped on the ground outside the imperial city.
Yuri said to Jared.
"Bury them all."
"Pardon? All these bodies?"
"Use mana too."
"Any reason?"
"To make the one behind them curious."
Yuri was already dragging the bodies into a pile.
"Sent twenty assassins, all vanished. If bodies remain, they'd think we fought and lost. But all gone? What would you do?"
"Ah......"
"Might come probe me subtly."
"You think they'd be that foolish?"
"We'll see."
Yuri gazed at the distant imperial city.
The Empire's red flag fluttered atop sturdy walls.
"Crown prince won't fear me. No reason to. So he won't care if I suspect him. Won't be cautious either."
"What if he is cautious?"
"Makes it harder."
Jared grunted as he gathered bodies.
Soon, they piled the twenty corpses and dug a pit.
Coating his sword with aura, Yuri slammed the blade into the ground, carving out a large hole.
"Your Highness."
"Yeah?"
"If the crown prince really uses black magic."
"Yeah."
"Seems like it already, but must Your Highness step in?"
"Jared. If the imperial family falls, you think Brioll escapes unscathed?"
"Well, but......"
"Oqua's orc rampage will look like child's play. Empire gone mad."
"Hmm......"
Jared swung his sword in the pit, then blurted.
"You said something to me before."
"What?"
"Fighting Oqua, you said the Allied Forces were just the beginning. Look forward to more......"
"What did I say then?"
"Um......"
Jared whispered to Yuri. Yuri burst out laughing.
"Ah, right."
"Were you serious?"
"Think not?"
Yuri grinned down at Jared.
"Look at what we're doing. Steady progress, right? Won't it lead there?"
"Ah......"
"Have faith, Jared."
Jared sighed deeply.
"Feel like I won't die a natural death at this rate."
"Everyone dies."
Yuri descended into the pit beside Jared and draped an arm over his shoulder.
"How you die matters."
Jared sighed as if the ground caved in.
"Heavy."
"My arm?"
"No. Your will, Your Highness."
"Expected it light?"
"Knew it like this, should've stuck to the Royal Guard......"
"Oh?"
"Should've slacked off comfortably......"
Yuri stared silently at Jared.
His past life's Jared overlapped his face.
They hadn't been close then.
Just one Royal Guard he barely knew, but fighting together showed talent. Lacked training, didn't last.
Mirrored Yuri himself.
'Frustrating, Your Highness.'
'What?'
'If I could turn back time, I'd train to death......'
'Shut up with the nonsense.'
The memory made Yuri chuckle.
In the next battle, what did Jared regret closing his eyes?
Perhaps wished, like Yuri, for another return to the past.
Yuri laughed aloud once, then met Jared's eyes.
"Shut up with the nonsense."
He patted his back and resumed digging.
"Uh......"
Hearing it, Jared froze.
The casual, amused tone felt familiar, long ago.
Navigating Brioll's founder dungeon?
No.
He'd felt deja vu then too, tilting his head.
'Shut up with the nonsense.'
That phrase.
Like from a distant, unremembered past.
A strange, inexplicable feeling welled up.
His chest ached oddly.
Somehow, being with Yuri felt profoundly fortunate.
Odd sensation.
Yuri dug with back turned. Jared cleared his throat lightly.
"Your Highness."
"What?"
"When that time comes, give me a spot."
"What spot?"
"High one."
"And if not?"
"Give it."
"You want it?"
"Yes."
"Got it."
"After all this hardship, you must......"
Embarrassed, Jared grumbled and dug furiously.
Yuri stepped back from the vigor.
"Heh......"
Yuri sighed watching him.
"Wanted promotion that bad?"
"Pardon?"
"Greedy guy."
"No, that's not it."
"What isn't?"
"Don't you get why I said it?"
"Just dig."
"What do you take me for......"
"Wanted high spot?"
"That's why it's not serious, just in this moment......"
"Then no."
"Give it."
After digging a while, they rolled the twenty corpses in.
Covered with soil, tamped the ground, dragged fallen trees over, added grass and rocks to camouflage like surroundings.
Erased battle traces; back to peaceful clearing as before.
Work done.
Yuri dusted dirt from hands.
"Another tough day ends."
"Yeah."
"Jared, climbing high, shouldn't do hard labor......"
"No."
"Let's head back. Cool beer today."
"Sounds good."
"Rolang's tournament main draw tomorrow, right?"
"Yes. Will you cheer?"
"Not really......"
Yuri and Jared brushed dirt off each other and trudged toward the imperial city.
Sunset stretched their shadows long.
Where they left, a rock Yuri planted stood like a tombstone.
The tournament main draw, unlike preliminaries, was held on a proper stage.
The imperial city's outer comprehensive arena.
Crowds filled spectator seats, awaiting duels.
The announcer stepped forward and shouted.
His voice boomed via voice amplification artifact.
"Swordsmen renowned across the continent gather to prove themselves. His Majesty's medal on the line—tournament 64-strong, begins now!"
Fireworks burst overhead.
Rolang was first up. His opponent, an Empire knight, not particularly famous.
The announcer approached the two on stage.
First, the Empire knight was introduced.
"Espero Garfield, knight of the Empire's 2nd Knight Order. A model knight exemplar."
Cheers erupted.
"A word to the imperial citizens watching."
Espero cleared his throat nervously, then gazed at a spot in the seats.
VIP box overlooking the stage.
Emperor absent, but 2nd Prince Georg and Princess Ekaterina watched.
Espero declared.
"I'll win the medal... and dedicate it to Her Highness the Princess."
Cheers exploded from the stands.
Ekaterina smiled softly, without a hint of awkwardness.
The announcer clapped, rousing cheers, then turned to Rolang.
"Rolang Flandre, eldest son of Count Franchese, genius victor of countless sword tournaments!"
Brioll citizens roared loudly. Fewer than Empire folk, but voices matched.
The announcer asked Rolang too.
"Any words before the match?"
Rolang smiled calmly.
"I'll do my best."
Bland answer. The announcer pressed the artifact closer, asking again.
"Hmm, if you win the medal, any plans? A word?"
Rolang glanced at the VIP box. His eyes met Ekaterina's.
Gazing at her a moment, he smiled faintly.
"You'll find out if I win."