Chapter 258
Chapter 258
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 258
Chapter Title: 99. Western Front (2)
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Yuri looked at Donchichi and spoke.
"So you're that big lug?"
Its massive bulk was about the size of a building, which explained why no one could stand against it.
From the soldiers' perspective, it must have felt like an unstoppable monster.
But to Yuri, it wasn't such a tough opponent.
It had brute strength in spades, but that came with gaping openings everywhere. As long as he didn't slip up, he could toy with it indefinitely.
Donchichi rose with a roar of anger.
"Puny human! I kill!"
"Oh..."
Donchichi charged like a mad beast. Yuri had to admire its fighting spirit.
"Everyone, fall back!"
At Yuri's shout, the Burssen soldiers began to scatter.
He'd told them to go, but they vanished so quickly that Yuri felt a twinge of disappointment.
Soon, only Donchichi and the imperial forces remained around him.
"Raaargh!"
Donchichi barreled toward him with a monstrous bellow.
The sheer mass rushing in felt like a wall bearing down, bringing an immense pressure.
Yuri drew Guilty and unleashed the Sword of the Rotating Vortex.
Now that he'd reached a new realm, his sword aura shredded the surrounding air in an instant, whipping up a whirlwind. No longer did he need time to accelerate the spin.
The vortex expanded in a flash.
A fractal structure of rotations within rotations meshed like gears, growing ever larger.
By the time Donchichi arrived, a colossal vortex rivaling its own size was howling ferociously.
No matter how tough an ogre's hide, it couldn't compare to the sword aura of one who'd reached the Ten Strengths.
Instinctively, Donchichi slowed down.
"Scared?"
Yuri yelled as he advanced, guiding the vortex forward.
The ground gouged out long furrows as Donchichi braked hard. It came to a full stop just before clashing with Yuri's sword aura, then kicked off and turned tail to flee.
Yuri gave chase.
"Where do you think you're going!"
"Monster human! Appeared again!"
The soldiers enslaved by dark magic fought without fear, but Donchichi hadn't reached that level yet.
It seemed non-humans had stronger resistance to external mana.
Yuri changed his mind.
Rather than kill Donchichi, he'd use it to massacre the imperial troops.
"Where are you running!"
"Stay away! Human! Stop!"
Donchichi kept bolting in the opposite direction from Yuri.
It paid no mind to the imperial soldiers tripping under its feet.
Yuri herded Donchichi along, and Donchichi trampled the imperial forces in the process. The chaos continued.
"Everyone, evade!"
The imperial knights bellowed.
Even they were soon crushed under Donchichi's feet.
Deep in enemy lines, Yuri felt no trouble at all. Donchichi was clearing the path for him. Yuri kept bursting into laughter as he tormented the beast.
"This is kinda fun."
Then he sped up and smacked Donchichi's rear with the vortex.
Blood sprayed, and Donchichi fled even more frantically.
At this rate, it'd bolt straight back to the Empire. Yuri shouted,
"Donchichi, stop!"
"Won't stop!"
"If you run, I'll chase you to the ends of the earth! I'll kill you!"
"N-no!"
"Stop, and I'll let you live."
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
Donchichi, who'd been thundering along, finally halted.
As its earth-shaking stomps ceased, a momentary silence fell over the battlefield.
All the surrounding imperial troops stared at Donchichi.
Their eyes mixed fear and resentment.
But Donchichi ignored them and tried to appease Yuri.
"Wh-what do you want?"
"Simple."
Yuri wagged his finger back and forth.
"Go back and forth like this ten times, and I'll let you go."
"Why run... me?"
"Punishment."
Yuri crossed his arms and furrowed his brow.
"You messed up my plans, so you need to be punished. Ten round trips is me going easy on you."
"Is that so?"
Donchichi scratched its head. Yuri pressed before it could think further.
"Get to it. Ten times."
"O-okay. Donchichi runs."
Donchichi eyed the two points Yuri had indicated.
The path would trample the imperial army fighting Burssen outright. If Donchichi ran laps between them, Burssen could advance smoothly while the Empire suffered near annihilation.
The imperial knights who grasped Yuri's intent yelled at Donchichi.
"Lord Donchichi! You mustn't!"
"You're falling for his trick!"
"Stop!"
But Donchichi didn't even acknowledge them. It flicked its ear instead.
"Weak humans... I ignore."
"Good boy, Donchichi."
"Ten runs... then forgive?"
"Yes."
"Run!"
Donchichi took off to escape Yuri's torment. The imperial troops had to scatter to avoid death, throwing their formation into disarray.
In such conditions, Burssen's desperate defense line was unbreakable.
Gradually, the front shifted in favor of the Anti-Imperial Alliance.
A single expert who'd reached the Ten Strengths had turned the tide of the war.
Of course, the Empire wouldn't let Yuri rampage unchecked.
Suddenly, Donchichi stopped running.
"What the...?"
Yuri raised his sword to chase and threaten it again. But he sensed presences approaching him from all sides.
Yuri glanced around.
Six knights were closing in on him.
Their auras were no joke.
"Hoo..."
So the Empire hadn't sent troops without precautions after all.
There was a reason they hadn't deployed elites like the Black Knights or the Sword Without Shadow this time.
Individually, the six knights weren't that threatening to Yuri—about on par with an average imperial knight commander.
But together, their combined aura demanded caution.
"Not bad..."
They probably hadn't grown strong through normal means.
If the Empire could mass-produce knights this powerful via dark magic, that was a problem.
Yuri stood his ground, observing the six knights. The war had just begun; he needed to gauge the enemy's strength.
One of them spoke.
"Your rampage ends here."
"Does it?"
Yuri chuckled.
"Think ganging up changes anything?"
They answered with drawn swords.
Black auras rose from the six encircling knights, enveloping Yuri. His senses grew heavy, as if a barrier had sealed the area.
Yuri realized.
The dark magic implanted in them was interfering with him.
And the cost, as always with dark magic, was their life force.
These six would burn out their lifespans to stop him—a magical formation fueled by human sacrifice.
"Honored to have six lives staked on me."
"Die quietly."
Yuri didn't bother asking why they did it.
They were all under dark magic's sway. Whatever was happening in the Empire, its people were likely brainwashed en masse.
He could tell from the imperial troops here.
Everyone but Donchichi had become war machines, entranced.
"Donchichi's almost admirable."
As Yuri muttered, Donchichi reappeared.
"Huff, huff. Human. Situation changed now. Revenge!"
"..."
Yuri rescinded his previous thought.
"You idiot."
"What? Idiot? Donchichi smart! Genius ogre! Insult, and revenge!"
With that, Donchichi charged.
The six knights fell back as if on cue.
Black auras linked them in a hexagram, continuing to hinder Yuri.
His movements felt sluggish.
"This much..."
Yuri gripped Guilty and infused it with Heart-Soul Severing aura.
Then he slashed.
The Heart-Soul Severing he wielded could cleave dark magic itself. The oppressive darkness vanished without a trace.
The instant Yuri moved to block Donchichi's attack—
The dark magic aura he'd just severed reattached, interfering again.
"Urk..."
Yuri lost balance for a split second.
Donchichi's massive fist slammed into him.
He'd raised his sword in time for defense, avoiding a fatal blow, but the impact sent him flying, tumbling across the ground.
His head rang, and his body creaked.
Its raw power was absurd.
"Damn..."
Meanwhile, the six knights rushed in again, reactivating the hexagram barrier. Yuri felt his movements bog down like he was underwater once more.
"Cowardly, all of you..."
Yuri looked up.
"But you know what?"
No one answered. Donchichi was the only one charging at him.
"You're not the only ones with allies."
And just like that, Donchichi collapsed mid-charge.
"Hahaha!"
A hearty laugh echoed next.
"It's been a while, Your Highness!"
Burssen's Ten Strengths expert, Hose, grinned broadly at Yuri. Yuri waved back. It had been some time.
"How've you been?"
"Fine until these imperial bastards showed up."
"Same here, that's why I'm out."
"What about this big dumb lug?"
"Beat the crap out of it."
"Got it."
Donchichi rose and glared at Hose.
"Human! Interfere!"
"Not scared of me?"
"You, I beat!"
"You little—!"
The giant-like Hose—for a human—and the truly gigantic Donchichi clashed.
The ground quaked, explosions rocked the air.
Yuri shrugged.
"So, what do you think?"
One of the six knights spoke again.
"Donchichi or not, plenty want you dead."
As he finished, imperial knights swarmed in.
All glaring at Yuri with murderous intent.
With dark magic hindering him, even Yuri would struggle against dozens.
He had to take out those six first.
Surveying the area, Yuri suddenly said,
"Let's kill those six first. Sound good?"
Everyone tilted their heads at his seeming soliloquy.
Then, an upheaval.
One of the barrier knights collapsed.
"Wh-what?"
"Huh?"
Everyone recoiled. Someone stood atop the fallen knight's body.
"Strutting around solo, and now you call for help."
The voice was clear, laced with heavy sarcasm.
"One down. Handle the rest."
The newcomer who slew the imperial knight was a handsome blond youth. His pure, innocent looks contrasted with a decadent aura.
Yuri narrowed his eyes at him.
"That face doesn't suit that attitude..."
The youth was Rolang.
With Inariel's aid, Rolang had regained his pre-dark magic body. But his cynical core remained unchanged.
"Whatever."
Yuri smirked.
No matter how twisted he acted, to Yuri, he still looked like the Rolang who'd trailed after him back then.
As Yuri raised his sword again, another appeared at his side.
"Sir Rolang, your new look is charming, but I miss the cute old Sir Rolang who followed you around. Don't you, Your Highness?"
"Yeah."
"Prince, the Sir Rolang from back when he trailed after Your Highness..."
"Shut it. Rolang angry."
"Yes, sir."
Jared appeared—one of the few undaunted by the changed Rolang.
RolAng's face twisted.
"Annoying."
Rolang irritably swung his sword.
The battle resumed.
Yuri and Jared moved too. With Rolang's assassination, the barrier lost its power, spelling disaster for the imperial knights.
Yuri's sword ravaged the surroundings.
Blood and flesh flew.
Jared steadily slit throats while supporting Yuri.
In the midst of mechanically slaughtering foes, Yuri paused, straightened, and looked around.
Burssen's troops had pierced the imperial front and were overwhelming the black-clad army.
The first battle was a success.
In his past life, the imperial army had never lost.
But this time was different.
Victory felt within reach.
"Wait for me, Cedric..."
Yuri gazed north, a chill smile on his lips.