Chapter 189
Chapter 189
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 189
Chapter Title: 77. Crossroads (2)
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The moment he heard those words, Yuri threw a punch. The thick leather gauntlet slammed into the knight order captain's helmet.
The knight order captain staggered back as he spoke.
"W-Wait a second! Why are you getting so worked up?!"
"Who sent you?"
"Well..."
"Die!"
Yuri swung Guilty with all his might.
The instant the knight order captain blocked the attack, Yuri's hand coiled around like a snake, binding both of the man's arms. Then he swept the captain's legs out from under him.
Yuri followed up by kicking off the helmet.
"Argh!"
The knight order captain clutched his head and curled up. He must have suffered a concussion.
While the man was still dazed, Yuri jammed his hand into the visor slit and forcibly ripped off the helmet.
A middle-aged man's face with a mustache appeared.
"Stop, I was just..."
After landing another punch, Yuri grabbed the man by the hair and dragged him over to where the Brioll forces were gathered, then threw him down.
"Tie this bastard up."
"Yes, sir!"
"Kill him if he resists."
"Yes, sir!"
And with that, he returned to the front lines.
Yuri muttered to himself.
"Who sent who?"
Yuri smirked and headed toward the section the imperial forces had seized.
The empire's soldiers were steadily climbing over using ropes.
A swirling aura rose from Yuri's sword.
"Hey!"
Yuri shouted. His voice echoed across the ramparts.
"Look at me!"
In that instant, every eye turned to him.
At that moment, Yuri spun once and slashed horizontally with his sword.
At the same time, the chaotic energy whirling above Guilty broke free from the blade and surged toward the imperial ranks.
The whirlwind engulfed the imperial soldiers.
Fountains of blood erupted.
Weapons caught in the vortex shattered and twisted, their jagged edges turning into cogwheels that sliced through their owners' flesh.
That section of the ramparts was dyed red, as if it had become another world.
Imperial soldiers climbing the ropes had allied blood raining down on their faces.
For a moment, silence fell around them.
"Hoo..."
Yuri caught his breath. His internals churned from hastily drawing up mana.
Yuri suppressed the backlash as best he could and trudged forward. Corpses and chunks of flesh squelched underfoot.
A hook shaped like an anchor was caught on the ramparts, connected to a rope. Yuri placed his foot on it and leaned over the wall.
"Hey."
A soldier with blood and flesh stuck to his face trembled while gripping the rope. More soldiers dangled in line behind him.
Yuri severed the rope with Guilty.
The soldiers plummeted.
They crashed onto their allies waiting below. There were so many that a considerable number were crushed to death.
Yuri immediately shouted.
"Pour the oil!"
"Yes, sir!"
Brioll soldiers waiting nearby tilted boiling cauldrons. As the oil poured down, the imperial soldiers—whose flesh was already melting—screamed in agony.
An asura field of carnage unfolded.
This was the battlefield.
"Looks cleaned up."
Yuri turned away without lingering. Jared followed.
"What about Father?"
"He's fighting over there."
Turning his gaze, Yuri saw Fiore facing off against the empire's knights led by the black knight.
The ground was already littered with corpses slain by Fiore.
"That side's going smoothly too. It'll be over soon."
As Yuri predicted, a horn soon blared across the field.
The imperial forces began their retreat.
The battle was over.
Yuri raised Guilty high and shouted.
"For Brioll!"
"For Brioll!"
"Everyone, great work!"
"Yes! You too, Your Highness!"
The Brioll forces roared in cheers.
They had claimed another victory, but separately from that, Yuri felt like the empire was just stalling for time.
As if they had no real intention of capturing the castle.
Jared asked.
"Your Highness, you don't seem that happy."
"What makes you say that?"
"Your face..."
"This is my normal face."
"Smile for me."
Yuri pressed two fingers to his cheeks and pulled them up.
"Like this?"
"That's good enough."
With Guilty slung over his shoulder, Yuri went looking for the knight order captain he'd captured.
The man was among the soldiers, limbs bound tight, barely breathing.
"Huh, still alive?"
"Mmph..."
A filthy rag was stuffed in his mouth, and blood-tinged saliva leaked from beatings by the soldiers.
Yuri chuckled.
"Right. If you want to live, stay quiet."
"Mmph, mmph..."
"Jared."
"Yes."
"Throw this guy in the dungeon. I'll interrogate him personally."
"Understood. Shall I prepare the usual tools?"
"Yeah."
"Yes, sir. I'll set out the red-hot tongs in various sizes. Iron needles too."
"Mmphmmph!"
There were no such torture tools to begin with, but Jared bluffed dramatically.
"You know, after you sear them, the skin peels right off. Once they go through it, even the silent ones spill everything nice and easy. Perfect for interrogations. Curious how it feels?"
"Mmmph! Mmphmmph!"
"You'll find out soon enough."
After confirming Jared dragging the knight order captain away, Yuri searched for Fiore.
He was chasing down fleeing knights for the kill but soon tired and headed back to the castle.
Not only had he handled the black knight with ease, but he'd steadily whittled down the number of enemy knight captains the man had brought. Fiore had killed about ten today, each one capable of facing dozens alone.
It was absurd prowess.
As long as nothing happened to Fiore, Brioll's defensive line would hold firm.
Yuri grinned and clapped.
"Everyone did great!"
Celebrating their victory once more, Yuri soon headed to the underground dungeon of Bezos Castle with Jared, where numerous imperial prisoners were held.
"Where's that guy?"
"He was here... where'd he go?"
Yuri quickly spotted the Spear Sword Knight Order's captain. He was still gagged and sprawled on the floor.
"You didn't untie him?"
"He's a knight order captain. Couldn't risk it, so we kept him bound."
"Good call."
At the sound of the voice, the man began wriggling.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
"Bring this one to the interrogation room."
"Understood."
Yuri entered the interrogation room in one corner of the dungeon.
A single table and two chairs sat in the sealed space. An old lamp flickered as he entered with the draft.
Jared soon dragged in the knight order captain.
Jared dumped him on the floor and sat across from Yuri.
"Untie his mouth first?"
"Yeah."
Jared removed the rag from the man's mouth.
The Spear Sword Knight Order's captain shouted.
"How dare you treat me like this! You'll regret it!"
Jared smacked the back of his head.
"Shut up. Stay quiet if you don't want more."
"Fine."
The knight order captain immediately clammed up. Jared snickered.
"Listens well."
"......"
"Guess he doesn't like getting hit."
"......"
"Say something."
"Normally in these situations, don't I get to sit across?"
"My legs hurt too, pal."
Yuri and Jared were the ones sitting face-to-face, while he lay dumped on the floor.
Yuri leaned back in his chair.
"What's for dinner?"
"Spicy pork stir-fry."
"Nice."
"They're giving special rations since we won the battle."
"No booze?"
"Who knows..."
As the two chatted, the knight order captain chimed in.
"Hey, do prisoners get the same?"
"No."
"I want some spicy pork too..."
Yuri chuckled.
"Thick-skinned, huh. Hey, Spear Sword Knight Order captain. What's your name?"
"Enox."
"Enox."
Enox wriggled on the floor like a worm, then arched his back dramatically to raise his upper body.
"I'm Enox Seiya, captain of the Spear Sword Knight Order! My title is baron, my territory is..."
"Just the name. Didn't ask for more."
Yuri cut him off and leaned down to meet his gaze.
"Keep going with what you were saying. Who sent you?"
"You'd better get rid of this guy."
"It's fine."
"This is gonna be top secret stuff."
"He can hear it."
Jared gazed at Yuri with感动. Yuri ignored him.
Enox nodded.
"Fine. Princess Ekaterina sent me."
Jared's eyes widened in shock as he covered his mouth and looked at Yuri.
"Why?"
"To deliver a warning to you."
"A warning?"
"Yeah. A warning."
Yuri stood from his seat. Then he kicked Enox in the gut.
"Guh!"
"Don't act like you've got something special and drag it out. Spill everything from start to finish, nice and detailed. We're not playing twenty questions here."
"O-Okay."
Enox grumbled.
"I've got pride too, you know. Cut me some slack..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing, nothing. Who knew you'd have such a foul temper..."
"Cut the crap and explain."
Enox cleared his throat and spoke.
"Princess Ekaterina ordered me to deliver a warning to you. I owed her a debt of gratitude, so I couldn't refuse. After volunteering for this war, I'd been waiting to face you. Finally got the chance today. I had a mission, but my knightly pride surged, and I ended up dueling you fair and square. Then I remembered my duty and let myself get captured like this."
Jared asked Yuri.
"Should I hit him?"
Yuri nodded.
"Hit him."
"W-Wait!"
"Too late."
Jared delivered three solid flicks to the forehead. Enox groaned.
"More humiliating than a kick..."
"Keep talking."
"The warning is this: Yuri Brioll. You must heed it."
He paused dramatically, took a deep breath, and slowly opened his eyes. Bound and swollen-faced, he didn't look very dignified.
"Beware of Cedric Brioll."
Yuri stared at him.
Jared stood on his own.
"I'll hit him."
Yuri stopped him.
"Hold on."
"Your Highness, this guy's talking nonsense..."
"Let him say more."
"Pardon?"
Yuri rested his chin on his hand, elbow on his knee.
Normally, he wouldn't let an imperial knight badmouth Cedric.
To him—and the Brioll royal family—Cedric was an object of absolute trust.
But lately, Rolang kept bringing up Cedric, which nagged at him.
It was just Rolang exchanging a few words with Cedric at the palace, so Yuri hadn't dwelled on it. But hearing Cedric's name again here made him want to probe further.
Jared asked.
"Fine. What exactly about the Crown Prince should we beware of?"
"Just beware. That's all."
"That's it?"
"That's everything."
"You messing around...?"
As Jared stood, Enox hopped backward on his butt in a bizarre maneuver.
Jared strode after him and flicked his forehead again.
"Ow! Wait! The princess said if you doubted, tell you this too!"
"What?"
"You still have the necklace?!"
"What necklace?"
"I don't know! The necklace!"
Jared looked at Yuri.
"Your Highness. Hit him?"
"Hit him."
"Yes!"
"Give him a good one and come out. I'll wait outside."
"Understood."
Yuri rose and left the interrogation room. Enox wailed behind him, but Yuri didn't stop.
Closing the door muffled the shouts completely.
Yuri leaned against the wall beside the door, arms crossed.
"What the..."
Ekaterina suddenly warning him about Cedric.
And mentioning a necklace.
Yuri closed his eyes.
There was no connection between him and Ekaterina.
In this life.
Yuri's thoughts traveled back through time to his previous life.
Right, there had been a necklace.
Yuri always wore the necklace that was his mother's keepsake.
When he grew close to Ekaterina, he'd placed it around her neck and promised her a future. She'd smiled brightly, thanking him for the precious gift.
Then the empire invaded Brioll.
Ekaterina returned it in a letter, enclosed with finality.
That was her answer.
Their bond ended, and regressing to the past erased the necklace.
Yet here, at this point, Ekaterina mentioned the necklace.
Yuri reflected on the past.
No matter how he thought about it, the only necklace between them was his mother's keepsake.
In his previous life, that one alone; in this life, not even that.
Yuri's mind arrived at one possibility.
He clenched then unclenched his fist.
Soon, Yuri opened his eyes.
The interrogation room door was opening just then.
"Your Highness. Gave him a good beating."
"Wait."
"Pardon?"
Brushing past Jared, Yuri grabbed Enox by the scruff and dragged him back into the room.
"Time for a private chat."