Chapter 181
Chapter 181
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 181
Chapter Title: Brioll's Knights (3)
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Yuri gripped his sword.
The Empire's knight orders were infiltrating from all directions, assaulting the ramparts.
Brioll's knights were putting up a fiercer resistance than expected, but it was no easy battle.
Suddenly, Yuri sensed a powerful aura within his perceptual range.
His gaze turned toward it.
A knight in black armor was leisurely leaping upward using jump gear.
Unlike the others, his movements exuded a casual ease.
He scanned his landing spot mid-air, then descended steadily with his cloak billowing.
Two Brioll knights nearby charged at him.
Boom.
In that instant, both were sent flying.
Yuri curled his lips into a cold smile.
His sword aura ignited in a murky hue.
This was a battlefield where lives were reaped without mercy, but no one could watch their allies die without their emotions stirring. Yuri advanced toward the enemy.
The knights between him and the foe instinctively stepped aside, sensing the sharp aura radiating from Yuri.
The opponent wore no helmet, making his face clearly visible.
"Yuri Brioll, I presume."
The Empire's knight asked.
"And you are?"
"I am Hares, a knight of the Empire."
"Knight Commander?"
"No."
He raised his sword.
"I am merely a knight."
Yuri nodded. In truth, the enemy's affiliation or rank meant nothing to him.
And there was no time for chit-chat.
Yuri lunged forward and swung his blade.
Hares's initially composed expression gradually hardened. He was surprised by Yuri's skill.
But Yuri didn't taunt or mock him. He simply began the methodical task of killing his opponent.
He targeted the lower body to divide his focus, occasionally feinting at the nape and chest to implant the threat of a sudden strike.
Little by little, Hares's movements changed.
He pretended to guard low, only to expose his upper body instead. Yuri could sense the intent: lure an attack and counter.
This played right into Yuri's setup.
What Hares thought was his trap was transparently readable to Yuri, who stood a level above.
So Yuri obliged.
He feigned a low strike, then thrust Guilty through the gap in the enemy's upper guard.
In that moment, Hares's movements turned bizarre. He twisted like a serpent, evading the attack with unnatural flexibility.
"So that's it."
Yuri muttered.
At the same time, a surge of chaotic energy erupted from Guilty.
The sword path, unbound by physical laws, sliced straight into the enemy's body.
Hares's eyes widened.
By all rights, he should have dodged it. But Yuri's blade defied common sense. The myriad branching possibilities infused with chaos were beyond mortal prediction.
Thanks to Hares's overconfidence in his defensive technique, Yuri dispatched him with ease.
Hares collapsed, eyes bulging in disbelief. Yuri averted his gaze from the fallen corpse.
It was over.
Hares had been strong. Stronger than the 8th Knight Commander he'd faced earlier, with movements so uncanny that even Yuri couldn't pinpoint their nature. And calling himself "merely a knight" suggested no clear affiliation.
He undoubtedly had his own deep backstory.
But all that ended under Yuri's blade.
There was no time for mourning or sentimentality.
Yuri erased Hares from his mind and sought his next foe. On this battlefield, Hares's death was no different from an ant crushed under marching boots.
A new enemy stepped before Yuri.
"You're Yuri Brioll! I am Tanasto! The future Knight Commander of the 6th Knight Order! Hahaha!"
Yuri immediately unleashed the Whirling Vortex Blade. Infused with chaos, the infinitely fractal spiral had become incomparably more ferocious than before.
It tore Tanasto apart.
He laughed no more. With one arm severed, he collapsed to the ground, trembling and scrambling backward. Having lost his right hand, knighthood was beyond him now.
There was no need to finish off an enemy stripped of combat ability. His pathetic sight would demoralize the foe more effectively.
Yuri let him be.
Raising Guilty high, Yuri shouted.
"For Brioll!"
A roar erupted across the entire rampart in response.
Thanks to the terrain advantage and surging morale, Brioll was holding back the enemy assault better than expected. Yuri pressed on without rest.
Among the foes were young knights lacking the skill to be here, and grizzled veterans on their final stand.
He cut them all down.
Guilty now gleamed blood-red.
Around then, Yuri encountered a worthy opponent.
"Yuri Briooooll!"
Someone called his name again.
Turning, he saw a knight plummeting from the sky like a cannonball. Yuri swiftly retreated.
The knight's landing shook the rampart.
"This flimsy wall is getting on my nerves. Because of you? Kill you, and it'll be fine?"
Madness laced his words.
Yuri peered into the enemy's eyes. Faint traces of black magic lingered. He'd likely been altered by it.
Yuri realized the Empire's forces were starting to resemble those from his previous life.
"You?"
"No need to know!"
With that, the foe charged like a maniac. Each swing unleashed gales of sword wind in all directions.
Despite the mana drain, he showed no fatigue. Black magic was surely sustaining him.
Yuri's eyes flashed fiercely.
An Imperial knight was bad enough, but corrupted by black magic? To Yuri, he was no different from a blood enemy. Yuri raised Guilty to block the assault. The impact jolted through his body.
"Is that all you've got?!"
The Imperial knight bellowed, smashing his sword down on Yuri.
Yuri dodged sideways. The rampart floor shattered.
Yuri gauged his opponent's realm.
His power was concentrated in raw strength, much like Yalta.
By some means, the Empire had forged a knight with destructive might rivaling Yalta's. Their power would only grow stronger.
Yuri twisted his lips and closed in.
The enemy's blade whirled like a windmill, battering Yuri. He blocked with Guilty, but the shock was immense.
Yuri was pushed back. The foe advanced, striking again.
"Just running away?!"
Yuri deflected the sword and slipped inside.
A kick came at once.
"Ngh!"
Yuri blocked with his arm. Pain throbbed through him.
The enemy retreated, swinging for Yuri's head.
Yuri crouched low to evade.
Then, dropping his stance, he charged low.
Another kick flew in.
Yuri sprang up and sidestepped. He slipped out of the enemy's attack radius in that instant.
Guilty slashed at the foe's side. The enemy twisted barely in time to minimize damage, but the blade still grazed flesh.
Blood sprayed.
The enemy howled, spinning to charge Yuri.
Yuri weaved left and right.
Toying with him like a matador, the Imperial knight bellowed in rage.
Glancing around in fury, he found no other knights daring to interfere; they kept their distance, locked in their own fights.
Atop the rampart, only the two glared at each other.
Yuri beckoned with his fingers.
"Come on, wild boar."
At the taunt, the Imperial knight charged. Wary of Yuri's mobility, he slowed just before collision, eyes fixed.
But against an enemy conserving strength, Yuri had no intent to flee.
This time, he met him head-on.
The sudden pressure flustered the foe, who lost track of Yuri's blade.
The sword bit into the enemy's shoulder. Blood spurted; a groan escaped.
Riding the momentum, Yuri kicked the enemy's chest. As he toppled, Yuri drove Guilty down toward his head.
The foe twisted his neck to dodge.
But his cheek was gashed.
Blood smeared his face.
Yuri sneered down at him. The fallen enemy flushed red, thrashing and howling.
Forcing Yuri to pull back.
The foe leaped up and lunged.
Truly boar-like.
"How long will you keep up those pathetic attacks?"
Not wanting to drag the fight, Yuri provoked him.
Another knight might see through it, but this one was dim. He roared and swung wide.
Yuri smirked.
On the battlefield, composure was key.
One mistake unraveled everything.
The price was death.
Yuri evaded with precise spacing.
The closer to the blade, the greater the opening.
Yuri seized it fully.
Twisting his waist to coil power, he infused chaos and unleashed an upward slash. The enemy hadn't recovered his sword yet.
The spinning strike cleaved through the foe.
Guilty entered below the ribs and exited near the opposite collarbone.
The body split clean.
Entrails spilled.
Through the spraying gore, Yuri watched the upper torso fall. The enemy wore the same fighting expression, unaware of death.
Yuri muttered.
"On the battlefield, it's good to die."
The lower half crumpled late, spilling guts everywhere.
The stench of blood and rot rose.
But it wasn't over.
Traces of black magic, invisible to others, still clung to him.
Yuri focused on it.
Suddenly, the severed hand on the ground seized Yuri's ankle.
"What the—?"
He yanked his foot in alarm, but it held fast.
The upper body crawled, baring teeth to bite Yuri's leg.
Yuri thrust Guilty into its face first.
It bit the blade, shattering its teeth.
Undeterred, it gnashed with gums alone, mangling its face.
Gruesome.
Yuri wrenched Guilty violently, smashing the head. The corpse stilled.
Yuri muttered.
"Zombie?"
A being from legends.
An undead risen from death, but unlike Death Knights, devoid of humanity. They wouldn't stay dead and craved the living.
Could black magic create such things?
No time to ponder.
This was the battlefield.
Fights raged everywhere.
Yuri scanned around.
Enemy and ally corpses tangled atop the rampart.
Knights trampled them in combat.
Sunset seemed far off.
"Hey!"
Yuri shouted, dashing over. Jared struggled against two foes.
"Jared, what're you doing?!"
"Save me, Your Highness!"
Like the prior enemy, Yuri rocketed in like a shell, slamming one Imperial knight off the wall.
An anticlimactic exit.
The remaining knight gawked at Yuri and Jared alternately.
"Hey, you now..."
As Yuri moved to finish him with a jest—
Yuri's head snapped toward the Empire's center.
Someone approached the jump gear.
"Damn it..."
The one person he'd hoped wouldn't show today.
Black armor, black mask in place of a helmet.
The Black Knight.
He was on the move.
"That's the Black Knight, right?"
"Yeah."
His path led straight to Yuri.
Staring, their gazes locked.
"He's coming this way?"
Soon, the Black Knight broke into a run.