Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: 22. Mad Dog (2)
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The linked assault of the two knights left onlookers utterly entranced.
They came from different nations, different stations in life. The environments they'd grown up in and the swordsmanship they'd honed were worlds apart.
Their physiques were polar opposites, suggesting they could hardly know each other well.
But in this instant, they turned together like exquisitely crafted gears.
For Kurui, defense was the only option.
Any half-hearted counterattack would leave him skewered by the blade flying in from the opposite side.
"Akuak! Kuaak!"
The Orc Warrior tried to intervene to aid Kurui.
The knights, who had been staring dumbfounded at the scene, snapped back to reality.
"Block him!"
The knights shouted at the top of their lungs as they swarmed the Orc Warrior.
An eighteen-year-old prince was holding off the most dangerous foe. It was shameful for knights like them.
Yet none of them had the confidence to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with that prince like Hose did.
So they had to do what they could.
They wouldn't let the Orc Warrior interfere and ruin their fight.
"If need be, we'll stake our lives on it."
Rolang muttered.
It was the sentiment shared by every knight present.
How could they, who had sworn oaths as knights, hold back when the prince had plunged into the fray without hesitation?
A desperate battle unfolded.
"Damn it all."
Rolang spat a curse most uncharacteristic of him.
One of the knights before him had just fallen. Until moments ago, they'd been standing in line together with their mess trays.
He could still picture the man's face as he chattered about what he'd do after the Allied Forces campaign ended.
Yuri's quiet voice echoed in his mind.
'It's just fulfilling the bare minimum of our duty.'
Had he known all along?
That prince was even younger than him. Yet he already understood clearly what war meant—what it signified to fight with one's life on the line.
Rolang took a step forward.
The Orc Warrior's attention snapped to him. Two or three swung their weapons at him.
The malice surging in from all sides was too much for one man to handle alone.
Rolang deflected one blow and dodged two more. Then he fell back again.
Advancing alone was this difficult.
Was this what Yuri had shouldered at the vanguard?
The realization seared into his heart.
Rolang gripped his sword tightly.
The Flandre family's Mana Circulation Method activated. Mana reminiscent of a pure chrysanthemum bloomed outward like petals unfurling.
He took another step forward.
The protruding corner of the line met fierce resistance. But Rolang did not retreat.
He pressed ahead even further.
"Brioll!"
Shouting the kingdom's name, Rolang held his sword straight and true.
The orcs' wild swings lacked any pattern. Rolang relied on his instincts, focusing in the instant.
One sword caught two axes.
Rolang let the impact flow backward as he spun half a turn and advanced.
He drew closer to the Orc Warrior, using it as a shield to evade other attacks.
The startled Orc Warrior tried to smash down on him. But Rolang's blade struck first. The sword aura-clad edge sliced through armor and burrowed deep inside.
The Orc Warrior looked down at him in disbelief before collapsing.
Then a pack of Orc Warriors gathered to seize Rolang.
It was the moment the orc line, arrayed against the knights, began to crumble.
The Rose Knights seized the opening.
The protruding spearhead had shattered the taut tension; now they just had to drive in.
The knights surged forward as one, striking the enemy.
Weapons tangled, and life and death bloomed and withered amid the chaos.
At the battle's heart, Rolang instead felt a profound calm.
Yuri was fighting with his life on the line, so he belonged on the edge of death too.
A halberd's axe blade grazed his ear. Rolang beheaded the Orc Warrior by a hair's breadth.
Any later, and he'd be dead.
Had he ever fought a battle where death was evaded by such narrow margins?
As he felt the living flow of mana coursing through his body, Rolang glanced aside.
Amid the Orc Warriors' grotesque faces, he saw Yuri and Hose battling Kurui.
Their fight seemed even closer to death than his own.
But there was nothing he could do.
Rolang simply raised his sword and shouted.
"Brioll!"
Yuri felt like he was performing acrobatics in a circus troupe.
If he stuck to the set sequence, he'd survive—but any tiny mistake would throw the plan into disarray, leaving him impaled on a blind sword thrust.
Every moment fighting Kurui was a dance on the razor's edge.
Miss a split second, and his balance would crumble, inviting an axe blow.
Yuri shouted.
"Hose! Can we win this?"
"I don't know!"
Hose was checking Kurui with his innate senses and instantaneous speed, but it was merely support.
Hose was the one directly engaging Kurui.
Yuri harassed Kurui steadily—to create openings for Hose or keep him out of danger.
"Huu..."
Kurui halted his movements and caught his breath.
Hose seized the pause to speak.
"Your Highness, have you had assassin training by any chance?"
"What nonsense is that?"
"You're too good at hit-and-run tactics..."
"I'm doing it for you, you idiot."
He'd definitely seen Yuri darting between knights and stabbing before Kurui even appeared. But the situation was too dire for more jokes.
Hose just grinned.
"I see."
"That's right."
Kurui was truly formidable.
Hose reflected on the time that had passed.
He'd trained relentlessly.
Never resting on his natural strength, he'd immersed himself in the Mana Circulation Method and repeated forms tens of thousands of times to grasp their meaning.
All for the singular goal of growing stronger, he'd poured in grueling effort.
But Kurui was the same.
The countless scars on his body told the tale. A warrior who'd fought brutally his entire life. Perhaps he'd endured even harsher trials.
So Hose was certain.
Once he defeated this foe, he'd take another step forward.
And then the exalted seat of the Ten Strong would be within reach—his lifelong dream.
"Your Highness."
Hose said.
"Leave this one to me."
He meant a one-on-one duel.
Locking eyes with Kurui, who glanced between him and Hose in turn, Yuri replied.
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"Better on your own?"
"Indeed."
If some clumsy knight had said that, he'd have snapped at him to cut the crap.
But this was the man destined to claim the title of Burssen's strongest—and ultimately one of the Ten Strong.
"Got it."
Yuri lowered his sword.
"Sir Hose. Mind if I offer a bit of advice?"
"By all means."
Hose had forged a brilliant legacy in his past life, while Yuri had ended up a wretched mercenary wandering after losing his kingdom.
Yet in this moment, Yuri wanted to say one thing to him.
He'd wasted his life, but the talent inherited from Fiore was real.
"Don't worry about your back. If you fall, I'll make damn sure to kill this bastard myself."
Hose was too noble.
So noble it held him back—he couldn't go all out for fear of leaving other knights exposed if something went wrong.
He might not realize it himself, but Yuri, syncing with him, could feel it.
Yuri slung Guilty over his shoulder and flashed a confident grin.
"Yuri Brioll swears it. So Sir Hose—wager your life freely."
The assurance that even death was fine.
He gave that to Hose.
After a brief silence, Hose raised his own sword and burst into booming laughter.
It was so hearty that it twisted even Kurui's face.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Yuri's role ended there.
Yuri fell back.
Kurui glanced at him but didn't pursue. For him, one fewer annoying human was a good thing.
But that was Kurui's mistake.
Hose's demeanor shifted completely.
"Now, I..."
Yuri turned his eyes away.
Orc Warriors desperate to kill humans and aid Kurui clashed fiercely with the knights trying to stop them.
No time to dawdle.
Yuri immediately targeted the back of the nearest Orc Warrior.
"Akuakka!"
"Yeah, it's me, you son of a bitch!"
The aura of Heart-Soul Severing writhed. Yuri thrust Guilty straight in.
Then a nearby Orc Warrior barged in.
"You too—get lost if you don't wanna die!"
Yuri dodged it and swung Guilty again. A seamless chain of attacks, fluid as a painting.
Yuri felt the bizarre Mana Circulation Method he'd mastered growing ever stronger.
Not just from battling with his life on the line.
The battlefield was where wills manifested most intensely. Clashing swords with foes, Yuri could almost grasp the swirling emotions.
Heart-Soul Severing devoured that malice and anguish, swelling in power.
The stronger the hatred, the sharper Guilty became.
Orc Warriors that had once overwhelmed him one-on-one—he now handled adeptly.
"Rolang!"
Yuri called to his loyal knight, who was fighting a short distance away.
"Yes!"
"What are you doing? Is that all my knight's got?"
Yuri's taunt spurred Rolang more than anything.
Rolang's face hardened as he regripped his hilt. He charged the Orc Warrior and unleashed a whirlwind of blades.
An aggressive swordplay unlike his usual style.
Blood sprayed.
As the Orc Warrior crumpled, Rolang grinned at Yuri, face splattered with blood.
Yuri smirked back.
"Brioll!"
Yuri shouted.
His voice amplified the Rose Knights' morale like magic.
The moment Yuri joined, Brioll's offensive grew ferocious.
The knights gradually pushed back the Orc Warriors.
Yuri glanced behind him.
Kurui and Hose were locked in combat like wild beasts.
If Hose was a cunning bear, Kurui was a seasoned great tiger.
Each clash boomed like thunder.
"Just hold on at minimum!"
Yuri yelled.
With Kurui pinned, the longer the fight dragged, the more the Allied Forces would press. That alone could seize victory.
"Kill them!"
The tide tipped further.
Victory seemed to favor the Allied Forces.
The anomaly struck right then.
Black smoke rose from the fallen Orc Warrior's corpse.
Yuri retreated immediately.
"Magic?"
No way.
Hernando and the Allied Forces' mages should've sealed spells. Using magic on the battlefield wasn't child's play.
Yet nothing else explained the sight.
An alien energy emanated from the inky gas rising from the corpse.
"Everyone, fall back from the bodies!"
The opposing Orc Warriors were consumed by madness too. Their eyes turned blood-red, like when red gems were used.
He wanted to summon Hernando for answers, but he'd be maintaining dispel spells from the rear.
The orc shamans should've been similarly suppressed—so how was this happening? What were these orc shamans?
"Damn it..."
Yuri cursed and looked up.
He shuddered and raised Guilty.
A short distance away, the pitch-black, hazy orc shaman he'd encountered in the command tent last night watched the battle.
He wanted to charge it, but Orc Warriors swung at him in the interim. Their sclera bloodshot, strength and speed amplified.
He dodged by a hair, but the wind pressure left scratches.
The aura they exuded made his bones tingle.
"If Orc Warriors are this strong..."
Yuri blocked an attack with Guilty and checked on Hose.
Then he shouted.
"Sir Hose!"
Kurui's axe was cleaving down on Hose.
It buried into his shoulder.
Hose twisted and crumpled.
In that split-second distraction, Yuri belatedly sensed the black shaman approaching.
It seized Yuri's throat.
His breath choked off.
His mind grew hazy.
But he didn't let go of Guilty.