Chapter 169
Chapter 169
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: 70. Human Hunt (3)
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"Huh? Won't that be dangerous?"
"Scared?"
"No way."
"You look scared."
"You're mistaken."
"Hand me the mirror."
"Huh?"
Yuri flipped the hand mirror around and immediately shone it on Jared.
"Look."
"The mirror out of nowhere?"
"Your face."
Jared's eyes darted around.
Then he stiffened his facial muscles and glared upward fiercely.
"......"
"Why?"
"Changing your expression all of a sudden."
"This is how I normally look."
Yuri took the mirror back.
Jared immediately pulled a pouty face and protested again.
"Anyway, wouldn't it be better to just retreat? The main force is on its way..."
Yuri held up his palm.
"Stop."
"Huh?"
"Freeze your face just like that. Keep it frozen. Don't move a muscle."
"......"
"Now look."
Yuri held up the mirror. Jared stared into it.
"That's your real face. Still gonna claim you're not scared?"
Jared changed his expression again.
"Hey."
"Misunderstanding."
"What?"
"Fine. That puny empire? Let's smash it flat. Who do these nobodies think they are, calling Brioll some backwater village? Time to show them the true might of Brioll, the kingdom of knights."
"Good. Rolang?"
"I'm always ready to follow you, Your Highness."
"It's decided then."
Yuri pulled some jerky from the dead knights' packs and stuck it in his mouth.
"Wreck the 9th Knight Order and take out their captain, Elpeso. That's our mission."
"Yes, sir."
"Let's wear them down as much as we can before the real war hits."
Yuri's group set off again.
The previous squad they wiped out hadn't spread the word yet, so the next bunch they encountered was sprawled out just as carelessly.
"Looks like the empire's knight orders get worse the higher the number."
"Could be."
Yuri nocked an arrow to his bowstring.
"Let's go."
"Yes, sir."
The sweep began once more.
But one of them had his head on straight enough to trigger a signal device the moment the fight started, blowing their position.
"Damn it."
Rolang swiftly decapitated the enemy.
Four bodies hit the dirt. Yuri barked quick orders.
"Bounce now. We're made."
"Yes, sir."
They bolted toward the heart of the mountain.
Bushes rustled all around.
Hard to tell if it was wild animals or people.
"Your Highness."
"Yeah?"
"Should we bail now?"
Rolang answered for him.
"Jared. You still don't get His Highness?"
"Well..."
"Once he sets his mind to something, he sees it through."
"Yes, sir."
"No backtalk."
"Got it..."
Yuri let out a low groan at their exchange.
They'd been spotted way earlier than expected, and he was half-considering a straight retreat to Brioll. But Rolang's faith ran deeper than he'd thought.
Jared muttered.
"His Highness looks a bit regretful right now..."
"Hey now, Jared."
"Understood, Sir Rolang."
Yuri closed his eyes. No choice. Sometimes you just had to let the world push you forward.
That was when it happened.
"Enemy! Over there!"
Another signal device popped off nearby.
Yuri glanced at the spot.
It was a ridgeline a bit higher than their path.
Yuri clicked his tongue.
"Damn."
They'd been sloppy so far, but these were still imperial knights. Now that the alarm was up, they'd respond properly.
Yuri expanded his senses.
Enemy presences dotted the area. They were swarming in like ants chasing prey.
Yuri eyed Rolang and Jared.
"Looks like..."
He quickly scanned the terrain in his vision.
"...we're in for a real fight."
Rolang and Jared stared back.
"Understood."
"Sorry. This is on us..."
"Nah."
Yuri shook his head.
"If you two were lacking, the rest of the knights would all be dead."
The pair had grown tremendously traveling with him. Young as they were, they outclassed most knights.
Yuri was freakishly strong, sure, but excluding him, these two were geniuses in their own right.
Before long, they'd both be topping lists for the next generation of the Ten Strongest.
"I might be pushing it a bit. But we can't just run, right?"
"Of course not."
"Let's shred the 9th Knight Order to pieces."
At Yuri's glance, both hardened their expressions.
"Ditch the gear. Move fast."
Yuri's group dumped unnecessary baggage and picked up the pace.
Presences closed in from all sides. Now they were the ones being hunted again.
Yuri's lips curved up.
Crisis sharpened his mind. His heartbeat quickened, accelerating his body.
Drawing chaos with Heart-Soul Severing felt easier too.
Heart demons would come when he slept, but better than dying now.
"There."
A head bobbed up ahead.
Yuri surged forward in a flash. Rolang and Jared lagged behind, but he plunged through the brush without hesitation.
The instant they met, the enemy knight barely reacted in time to raise his sword.
Yuri had no intention of dragging it out.
He feinted a clash, then drove his foot into the man's gut.
"Guh!"
Yuri smashed his sword down on the crumpling knight's head.
It cleaved helmet and all.
Guts spilled out.
No time to stop. They moved in fours.
As Yuri dropped one, the other three reacted.
Three swords came flying.
Imperial knights were all high-caliber. No half-measures would cut it.
Yuri summoned chaos again.
Heart demons be damned—it granted him Ten Strongest-level power temporarily.
The effect hit instantly.
His speed spiked.
He slipped flawlessly between the supposedly inescapable strikes and stabbed one knight's side. Armor crumpled as Guilty tore into soft flesh.
One down.
He twisted outward, swinging at the next.
Swords clashed; the outmatched knight staggered, and Yuri leaped, stomping his head.
Using the rebound, he launched at the last one.
His sword plunged from above.
The ferocious blow split the knight from helmet to chest.
Half his torso split open, he slumped dead.
Three down in a blink.
Yuri caught his breath.
"Whoa, Your Highness."
Rolang and Jared, witnessing the feat, swallowed hard.
"How was that? Pretty cool, huh?"
"You okay?"
"Of course."
Yuri sensed himself growing accustomed to wielding chaos. Faster, smoother control this time, bending to his will.
"Your eyes..."
"Eyes?"
"They're bloodshot."
Yuri touched them. They felt hot.
"Really?"
He realized he'd been deep in the heart-soul realm the whole time. So used to it, he hadn't even noticed.
His vision cleared.
A mild dizziness made him stumble briefly before steadying.
"You sure you're alright?"
"Yeah, fine."
Yuri flashed a grin.
"This is nothing."
But Rolang and Jared looked uneasy.
"Your Highness, you're pushing too hard."
Even without knowing about heart demons, they were worried. Yuri furrowed his brow.
"Jared."
"Yes."
"Mirror."
He took the proffered mirror and checked his face. Eyes a bit red, but nothing drastic.
"Looks fine."
"Not the look—the aura's a bit..."
"Aura?"
"Murky."
Heart-Soul Severing normally yielded pure, pristine power. Crystal clear.
But chaos was different.
Dark, turbid energy leaked out.
It made sense, really. Chaos was everything jumbled together—impurities were inevitable.
"I'm good."
Yuri shrugged.
"Piece of cake."
He gripped his sword again. No time for chit-chat.
"Let's move."
"Yes, sir."
"Yes, sir."
Yuri stepped off, a faint smile on his lips.
Enemies didn't scare him anymore.
Moyong Chan had said even the Heavenly Demon couldn't conquer his heart demons.
Yuri didn't care.
He'd returned to set everything right.
He could overcome it.
Compared to the hellish previous life, this was just a bad dream.
"There."
His senses locked onto another foe.
He kicked off silently and vanished.
Watching him go, Rolang and Jared stood speechless for a moment.
They hurried after, but catching up was tough. By the time they reached his back, he'd have it sorted.
"Sir Rolang."
"Yeah."
"His Highness's back feels farther away than usual today."
"It really is..."
Yuri was already way ahead.
"He got so strong all of a sudden. This normal?"
"He changed after killing Yalta."
"Guess you need a trigger, huh? Like a life-or-death brawl?"
"Maybe."
Rolang sighed.
It had been a while since pledging himself to the Third Prince.
He'd trained relentlessly to keep up, but the gap was widening.
Thanks to that, he was still alive—but it stung.
"Sir Rolang, I can read your mind."
"Yeah?"
"I'm the guard here. Guard getting protected? That's my self-loathing territory."
"You still helped, Jared."
"How?"
"The mirror."
"......"
"That helped His Highness. Guess I need gear too."
"If you'd lent him the mirror, he probably wouldn't have teased you."
"True."
"Why?"
"Suits me."
"Whoa..."
Rolang and Jared hurried up to find Yuri standing over four more dead imperial knights.
They froze for a second.
His gaze on them was chilling.
"You made it?"
But it passed. Yuri grinned, back to himself.
"Scary, isn't it? My skills."
The four knights had gone down with barely a fight.
Jared said,
"Once this war's over, the Ten Strongest might become the Eleven."
The three rifled through the dead knights' gear for anything useful. Not much. Yuri, jerky in mouth, muttered,
"Hm..."
"What?"
"They're pulling some trick."
"Huh?"
"They're coming."
Yuri's senses were spread wide.
He could feel the 9th Knight Order's movements like they were in his grasp.
"Tracking us somehow..."
Yuri glanced up at the sky.
A bird circled lazily overhead.
"Mage."
"What now?"
"Huddle up."
The two approached.
Yuri bowed his head.
"So..."
"Yes."
"Don't freak. I'm about to move."
"Huh?"
As if about to talk strategy, Yuri suddenly grabbed his bow from his back, nocked an arrow, and aimed skyward.
Before the bird could flap, the arrow sliced the air.
It pierced the bird's breast dead center.
Wings froze; it plummeted.
All in an instant.
"Bet that startled 'em."
Yuri approached the fallen bird. Ordinary, but a jeweled anklet was bound to its leg.
"Using birds to scout us."
"So our position's blown."
"Pretty much."
Yuri closed his eyes, scanning around.
Post-chaos, his mind was razor-sharp, like he'd popped an upper.
Enemy positions crystal clear.
"That way."
He pointed upslope into the mountain.
"Deeper into the peaks? Then..."
"No choice. Weakest spot right now."
"A trap?"
"Maybe."
Yuri wiped Guilty's bloodied blade on a corpse.
"But we gotta take the bait this time."
"Got it."
Jared sighed.
"Thought we'd skirmish and bail. Now we're seeing it through."
"Told you that was the plan from the start."
Elpeso ground his teeth.
"Don't let them escape alive."
The mage tracking Brioll's three knights had collapsed from the shock of his spell breaking.
Incredible skill.
Brioll's beast, Jared.
First time hearing the name, but he'd be a major imperial threat down the line.
"Kill him now, or he'll be a massive obstacle later."
Strong, yes—but the 9th had plenty left. Even a Ten Strongest couldn't break this net.
"Herd them upslope. Hunt them down."
Elpeso's eyes gleamed fiercely.
"They die, or we do. No other options. Clear?"
"Yes, sir!"