Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: The Prince's Return (2)
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"Hold on, hold on!"
"Who was it that said they'd taste some bitterness?"
"That was just polite talk, wasn't it?"
"Nah, it ain't."
No matter how much Yuri had grown, he couldn't hold out long against Moyong Chan.
He dodged attacks only to tumble across the training ground floor repeatedly.
Even Ena, watching from the sidelines, looked disappointed.
"I had high hopes after hearing the rumors, but Your Highness, you're a real letdown."
"The guy's one of the Ten Strongest."
"Still, all you're doing is taking hits?"
"Don't talk to me."
Yuri panted as he lifted Guilty.
"Haa, haa..."
He furrowed his brow.
"You're really trying to settle this for real, huh?"
"If ya can do it, go ahead."
"I'll tattle to Dad."
Moyong Chan shook his head at Yuri's mutterings.
"Such a whiny kid, makin' everyone worry..."
Yuri swung his sword without backing down and shouted.
"To think you took a ruthless brute like this as your master—ugh!"
Sword energy from Heart-Soul Severing flickered like flames atop Guilty. The white sword energy swirled in a spiral pattern, rotating endlessly.
It was the secret technique he'd devised himself: the Sword of the Rotating Vortex.
A faint fractal pattern of infinite repetition hovered over Guilty.
A glint appeared in Moyong Chan's eyes.
"So that's your ingenuity."
He didn't move even as the vortex hurtled toward him.
Unfamiliar words from the Eastern lands spilled from his lips.
It was praise.
But Yuri, ignorant of the foreign tongue, took it the opposite way.
"Mocking your disciple?!"
"This punk..."
It was a profound technique, but it didn't faze Moyong Chan.
He casually raised his sword to resist Yuri's vortex.
Azure Cloud Crimson霞 Swordsmanship.
Counterflow.
No grand display was needed. Thrusting his sword into one segment of the infinite orbit disrupted the entire spiral, like a gear jamming in a machine.
"Too straightforward. Not ripe yet."
Yuri's vortex was all interconnected.
That created immense synergy, but disrupting the power convergence point caused the whole thing to collapse.
"No way..."
"Greenhorn brat."
"You...!"
As Moyong Chan sneered, Yuri gritted his teeth, watching his crumbling Sword of the Rotating Vortex.
"If the teeth fail, use the gums."
Moyong Chan had made one mistake.
Yuri wasn't just some pampered prince. He was a second-life man who'd lost everything and fallen to the dregs as a mercenary.
If his legs were cut off, he'd crawl and stab the enemy in the back.
"Die!"
Yuri didn't discard the distorting, twisting vortex. He hurled it straight at Moyong Chan.
As the Sword of the Rotating Vortex devolved into chaos, an even fiercer energy erupted.
Moyong Chan panicked.
He'd assumed the counterflow would force Yuri to halt, but instead, the kid was barreling forward in a wrecked state, dragging unbearable power along like a mutual suicide pact.
Unthinkingly, he muttered again in Eastern tongue.
Yuri misinterpreted it again.
"Too late for praise now!"
Yuri's sword energy, now fully chaotic with shattered regularity, plunged toward Moyong Chan's crown.
In that chaos, Moyong Chan glimpsed something.
Flutter.
Flutter.
A butterfly was beating its wings.
He felt a shock like a lightning strike.
Why was a butterfly flying in there? And why was that tiny creature's flap generating unprecedented power?
Suddenly, a phrase flashed through his mind.
'A butterfly's wingbeat turns chaos into a raging typhoon.'
Moyong Chan roared like a lion.
"Hah!"
Intense inner energy burst from his body.
Two colossal pressures clashed.
Against Yuri's unpredictable sword energy, Moyong Chan countered with a vast net-like pattern of sword energy.
Azure Cloud Crimson霞 Swordsmanship.
Heavenly Net.
Moyong Chan's bluish sword energy ensnared the chaotic energy spawned from the Sword of the Rotating Vortex.
As chaos leaked through the net's gaps, he tightened his grip harder.
"Hoo..."
A bead of sweat trickled down Moyong Chan's cheek.
He twisted his lips and muttered lowly in Eastern.
Yuri didn't know what it meant, but he strutted anyway.
"That's the extent of my power."
"Shut yer trap, kid."
"That pronunciation felt deliberate this time..."
Moyong Chan secured the net, then swung his sword over it again.
The bluish energy cleaved the air, splitting the chaos in half and scattering it to pieces.
Moyong Chan caught his breath.
"So, what's your take?"
"Try dyin' today."
"Whoa, your pronunciation's improved. You only get serious like that... Don't tell me getting hit once made you serious?"
Mid-sentence, Yuri shut his mouth as Moyong Chan strode forward.
"Mm..."
He sensed an unavoidable fate.
Even talent was a sin.
He'd pushed past limits with an unknown technique just to avoid looking weak to his master, and instead of praise, he got a beating.
Yuri placed hands on his hips, gazing skyward with a sigh.
"Beauty brings early death..."
"Where'd ya pick up that line?"
"From a book."
Of course, a mercenary buddy from the East in his past life had taught him.
Still, he couldn't just take it lying down.
The moment Moyong Chan closed in, Yuri struck like lightning.
Their swords clashed.
Their bodies accelerated.
They exchanged blows at invisible speeds, countless times. Yuri was pushed back with each clash but offered minimal resistance.
"Whoa!"
Ena, watching, gaped.
Yuri exhaled raggedly. Keeping Heart-Soul Severing active made his heart ache.
Moyong Chan gave no openings, striking precisely against the flow of Heart-Soul Severing.
Yuri could only defend.
"Kuh..."
He knew Moyong Chan was going easy.
Just enough to avoid clean hits, pushing him to exhaustion by forcing every ounce of energy out.
Bloodshot, Yuri's eyes burned.
Being toyed with by the opponent's rhythm was what he hated most.
No more to squeeze, yet he forcibly circulated mana. He felt every thread of mana inside him.
Expanding his senses.
Countless tinier strands forming each mana thread came into awareness.
Drawing on perfect mana control honed against Rolang, Yuri intuitively grasped the sword path ahead.
In the world of the minuscule, anything could happen.
"Hah!"
Yuri shouted, flicking Guilty sideways.
Moyong Chan's sword spun skyward.
"Whoa..."
Yuri stared at its trajectory, momentarily dazed.
It was beautiful.
Not the flying sword, but his own process that achieved it.
And for the sword's spin to form that exact shape—how wondrous.
The sword arced back down, perfectly into Moyong Chan's hand.
Then the hilt smashed into Yuri.
"Guh!"
Yuri barely blocked with both arms.
But Moyong Chan's assault continued.
A spinning side kick slammed into Yuri's chest.
Yuri flew like a paper doll, sprawling on the training ground.
Moyong Chan approached.
"Ugh..."
Yuri raised Guilty toward the looming Moyong Chan.
"It's not over... yet."
Moyong Chan swatted the sword away.
Yuri crawled toward distant Guilty, but Moyong Chan planted his sword, blocking the path.
"Master."
"What."
"Surrender work?"
"Hm..."
Moyong Chan pondered, then bonked Yuri's head with his sword.
"Ow!"
As Yuri clutched his head, Moyong Chan finally nodded.
"Surrender accepted."
Ena rushed over, checking Yuri's head. No blood, but a bump formed.
As she tried bandaging, Yuri shook his head no.
"You should let me."
"No blood?"
"It's funny."
"..."
"That face is kinda funny too."
"Water."
"Yes."
Yuri shot Moyong Chan a sulky glare.
"This why you wanted a spar?"
In pushing Yuri, he'd unwittingly unleashed a bizarre technique.
His own insight, but also Heart-Soul Severing's profundity.
"Not entirely, but close."
Moyong Chan looked down at him.
"Now ya get it."
"My amazing talent?"
"How Heart-Soul Severing was forged."
"Our ancestor..."
"The Heaven-Defying Sword Guest fused Western mana methods with Eastern arts into this supreme technique."
"Ooh..."
"And."
Moyong Chan narrowed his eyes sharply.
Inner energy surged, fluttering his robes.
Gazing at dazed Yuri, he muttered in Eastern.
Yuri strolled the palace gardens, recalling their post-spar talk.
Moyong Chan had glossed over the Heavenly Demon, but his expression soured.
Yuri speculated alone.
"Probably some insanely strong foe from a rival sect that nearly crushed the Azure Cloud Sect. Ancestor didn't care about rivalries—he absorbed any powerful art."
Surprisingly close to the truth.
"Or maybe Azure Cloud rejected the Heavenly Demon's arts as heretical? But open-minded Ancestor saw the potential and wove it right into Heart-Soul Severing?"
Also near the mark.
But no one was around to confirm his guesses.
"Whatever."
He savored the rare alone time.
Sometimes, rest was essential.
One lesson from his mercenary days on the brink: body and mind wear out. Nonstop runners break eventually.
"Mm..."
Yuri lay on the grass, staring blankly at the sky.
Suddenly, a face popped up beside him.
"Yuri."
"Bro?"
Yuri sat up.
"What's up?"
He'd sensed someone approaching but hadn't expected Cedric.
"Passing by, saw you lounging."
Cedric grinned widely.
Despite the Allied Forces campaign in under a year, Cedric hadn't changed.
Cedric set down his armful of books and sat beside Yuri.
"Heard all about it. You shone out there?"
"Eh, well..."
"Amazing. My little bro for real?"
Cedric ruffled Yuri's hair. Yuri just smiled.
Even self-praisers like him felt shy before Cedric. With him, it felt like reliving boyhood, not his second life.
"All I can do is swing a sword."
"Nonsense."
"You'll handle the rest perfectly, so I'll guard Brioll with this."
"Suddenly heavy shoulders."
"Crown prince's fate. How's the palace been?"
"Same as always. Minus Joshua stirring trouble everywhere."
"Causing incidents again?"
"Incidents with good intent. Trying to change things his way."
"Change how?"
"Like pushing road repairs or commerce boosts in council meetings."
"Second bro?"
Yuri's eyes widened.
He knew he'd influenced him, but not that the sharp mind would turn positive.
Cedric placed a hand on Yuri's shoulder.
"Sturdy. With brothers like you two, so reliable."
"You're the best. Thank goodness you're firstborn."
Past or present, Yuri had seen no one like Cedric. Never scolded, never raised his voice.
Leadership supreme: always right decisions, mediating disputes, firm when needed.
Plus swordsmanship and scholarship—perfection.
Without the Empire's invasion, Brioll would've flourished.
This Cedric bolstered Yuri now. Block the Empire, and he'd handle the rest—that faith.
"Speaking of, you're off to the Empire?"
"Yeah."
"Rough place. Be careful."
"Don't worry. Empire's rough, but not orc-rough."
"Hahaha, true?"
Cedric laughed, then continued.
"Letter if trouble. Send a messenger bird. I'll help max."
"Got it."
"And something for you..."
"What?"
"Secret."
"My lips are sealed."
"Absolutely no telling."
"Promise."
Cedric adjusted his glasses, glanced around.
Then whispered.
"I'm dating."
Yuri stared in shock.
"Who?"
Cedric hesitated, then spoke.
"Empire's..."
"Empire's?"
"Ekaterina."
"What?"
Yuri's eyes bulged wider.