Chapter 230
Chapter 230
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 230
Chapter Title: 90. Recapturing Bezos (4)
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It was an unbelievable sight.
Jared rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
As if someone had sliced it clean with a sword, the section of the wall that the Brioll forces had targeted floated up into the sky. The imperial soldiers who had been stationed atop it clung to the railings, screaming their heads off.
Everyone who witnessed it drew in a sharp breath.
"This is Lady Inariel's power..."
Urgent voices rose here and there.
"Where's His Highness?"
"He went in!"
"Damn it! Hurry after him!"
"We're the ones who hesitated—shame on us!"
"Who didn't doubt him?"
"You did too!"
"Just run!"
Jared whipped his horse into a frenzy as well. For the record, he'd lost the argument among the knights and been pushed to the rear.
The entire knight order, which had slowed down fearing a collision with the wall, now belatedly spurred forward in a rush.
"Protect His Highness!"
Right now, Yuri had plunged into the enemy lines alone.
Jared recalled his back—charging ahead without hesitation even as everyone else froze.
They bickered every time they met, but he had no choice but to admit it.
His liege, Yuri Brioll, was truly an extraordinary man.
"Hurry up, let's go!"
Jared urged on the middle-aged knight ahead of him as he passed through the wall's breach.
"Uh..."
What unfolded before them seemed to mock their worries.
There were no intact corpses left behind. Flesh and blood were mashed into the walls like food scraps. The equipment set up for defending the walls lay shattered into dozens of pieces, scattered across the ground.
It was as if a whirlwind of blades had swept through the interior.
Jared muttered to himself.
"Whirling Tempest..."
It was one of Yuri's signature techniques.
Sword auras spun like endless gears, grinding enemies to bits. When he'd first used it, it only left claw-like gashes, but now it had evolved into the ultimate slaughter art, pulverizing any foes in his path.
He remembered the first time he'd met Yuri.
Back then, he'd seemed like just a brash boy.
Talented, sure, but Jared had been stronger at the time.
But now, years later?
Yuri had reached the ranks of the Ten Strongest, while Jared trailed in his wake.
Jared muttered.
"Pathetic..."
He'd never doubted his own talent.
He hadn't told anyone, but he'd always believed that with steady training, he'd eventually become a powerhouse hovering near the Ten Strongest.
What naive thinking.
He needed to face the present, not some distant future.
As His Highness's bodyguard, he was useless right now.
Even if he grew stronger later, how far ahead would Yuri be by then?
"Damn it all..."
Jared thought of Rolang.
The man who always stuck by Yuri was gone. No one knew if he lived or died. But for some reason, Jared felt they'd meet again.
When that day came, he didn't want to be weaker than him.
"Jared, where are you going?"
A knight beside him asked as Jared turned his horse.
Some viscount or other, from what he recalled. Brioll's knights all looked like burly, hairy middle-aged uncles, yet they wielded their blades like demons. This one was no different.
Jared shouted.
"Flanking around!"
"Why?"
"Following His Highness is too easy!"
The middle-aged knight's eyes widened at Jared's words, then he burst into hearty laughter.
"A bodyguard ditching his lord for fun elsewhere because it's 'too easy'!"
"What's wrong with that?"
"I like it! Hell yeah!"
He kept laughing and turned his horse to follow Jared's direction.
"I'm with you! Today, MacForce rides with the young pup!"
The surrounding knights reacted.
"What? Sir MacForce, where to?"
"No idea!"
"Take me too!"
"Follow those guys!"
A group of knights wheeled around with them.
"Yeah, trailing someone else's path is no fun!"
Right! His Highness cleared the way!"
"Let's devour some fresh, wild imperial bastards!"
As Jared and his group veered off, the knights behind them buzzed.
"Should we split up too?"
"Sounds good!"
Like a river branching into streams, the Brioll knights spread out in all directions.
The dispersed forces eased the entry paths, allowing the Brioll troops behind to pour through the wall without pause.
The imperials couldn't mount any real resistance.
They'd prepared only to defend from the wall—who could've imagined enemies breaching it like this?
"For Brioll!"
As Jared cut down soldiers and pressed on, he spotted a group of knights in black armor blocking the way.
The Brioll knights roared ferociously.
"Imperials!"
"Kill! Kill 'em!"
Brioll was called the kingdom of knights, but these guys fought like bandits.
Jared smirked, planting one foot on his saddle. He stroked his horse's mane.
"Catch you later."
Then he leaped from horseback. His mount swerved away from the battlefield.
Soaring into the air, Jared looked down at the imperial knights staring up at him, faces frozen.
They showed no emotion.
Yuri often spoke of the empire's black legions: war machines stripped of fear and pain.
Maybe that's what these were.
Jared flipped in midair, gripping his sword.
He didn't see their lack of pain or fear as an advantage.
Clinging to life.
Fearing death.
Those human instincts pushed warriors beyond their limits.
Those who didn't fear death couldn't evade it.
Jared's senses expanded.
In that instant, he perceived every entity around him simultaneously.
He landed at the rear of the imperial knight order.
The backline knights whirled toward him, swinging their blades.
Swords closed in.
At that moment, Jared's senses transcended time itself.
The death-bound trajectories felt agonizingly slow.
Because failure meant instant death—and he refused to die—Jared's brain overheated, calculating optimal survival paths.
His heart pounded like a pump.
Mana surged through his meridians in a frenzy, fueling his desperate body.
Jared's eyes widened.
As the blades neared his face, he knew exactly what to do.
He twisted his neck in a full spin, then unleashed his sword.
Sword aura swept through the imperial knights. Blood sprayed, clouding his vision.
Then a voice rang out.
"Hey, hey! Going solo?"
Jared grinned.
MacForce and some knights had followed him to the rear. He wasn't alone.
His tensed body relaxed slightly.
The recalibrated attack paths felt easier now.
Before, it had been walking a blade's edge; now, it was like crawling a thick rope.
For the record, Jared had completed owl guerrilla training.
Piece of cake.
MacForce and the knights crashed into the disrupted imperial rear.
Their momentum overwhelmed the imperials.
"For Brioll!"
"For Brioll!"
Jared reset his survival path and searched for killing routes.
It didn't take long. With enemies stumbling everywhere, picking the best targets was the real challenge.
Jared circled the flanks, striking gaps.
Rather than facing foes head-on, he ambushed from their blind spots, snatching lives in an instant. He'd learned from ronin tactics.
They didn't duel with swordsmanship—they mastered taking lives.
"Sir Jared! Sneaky and efficient!"
"Learned from His Highness!"
"Now it's His Highness's fault?"
"It is!"
The imperial knights died without screaming.
Jared sensed a chill and yanked his leg back. A "dead" imperial knight had swung at his ankle.
Blood burst from the knight's chest as he forced the strike, face blank.
Jared crushed his head with disgust for the black magic.
"Disgusting..."
He looked up. The Brioll knights, riding their momentum, carved through the enemy. With some leeway, MacForce even turned to chat.
"Easier than expected, eh?"
"Yeah."
"No black knights, but they said multiple knight commanders are still around."
"Hiding in the back, probably."
"Maybe..."
Mid-conversation, Jared lunged forward, swinging.
An imperial knight had targeted MacForce's back.
Brioll held the advantage, but the enemy wasn't pushovers.
"Whoa..."
"You owe me."
"Guess so."
MacForce grinned.
"Debts repaid on the spot. Today, I'll shadow and guard you!"
"No need!"
Jared panted heavily.
It had started smoothly, but the imperial forces were formidable. Endless numbers, and each knight was no slouch.
Where did they train so many? Kill and kill, and more appeared—his blade was dulling.
"Hoo..."
Glancing back, MacForce was soaked in blood too.
The knights who'd moved with Jared had thinned out. Some dead, some wounded and withdrawn.
Regrettable, but this was war.
"We look like hell."
"Thought war was easy?"
"Still."
Jared spat blood-mixed saliva, recalling comrades dying before his eyes.
"How many more do we have to kill to end this war...?"
"It's just starting, and you're already waxing poetic? Can't wait for your midlife crisis."
"Long way off."
"That's when life begins."
Exchanging banal chatter, they pushed into Bezos Castle's depths.
The Brioll forces had essentially seized the castle. No more fierce resistance.
Scattered imperial soldiers surrendered immediately; the black magic-possessed knights charged pointlessly to their deaths.
Soon, they reached the castle's heart.
A massive keep towered ahead—the center of Bezos Castle.
And at its entrance...
"Ah..."
Jared, in the lead, let out a groan first. Even chatty MacForce froze silent.
Silence fell.
There he was.
A young man with black hair sat on the rubble of the shattered gates, head bowed.
Imperial knight corpses littered the area beyond count, their blood staining the ground red.
Now Jared knew why no imperial knight commanders had appeared.
They'd all died by his hand.
The helmets and armor symbolizing those dreaded commanders lay mangled like trash.
The perpetrator of this massacre looked up.
Blood splattered his face. But as he grinned, white teeth gleamed.
"Hey, you're late."
He staggered to his feet, unsteady at first, then stood firm.
He forcibly lifted his limp arm, slinging his beloved sword—engraved with the word for "guilt"—over his shoulder.
Yuri Brioll.
Battered and broken, he smirked as if it were nothing.
"Boring fight. Right?"