Yuri scratched the back of his head.
"Picked the wrong fight."
The man laughed.
"Yeah. Do you get it now?"
"Who are you?"
"Why don't you tell me who you are? Then I'll spare your life. How about surrendering to the Empire? I kind of like you."
"Ohh."
Yuri shrugged as he looked at Laurent and Jared.
"The situation's changed."
"Yes."
"Let's run."
"Yes."
"Yes."
With that, Yuri immediately turned to run away.
But the man in front of him drove his sword into Yuri's back.
He had tried to dodge, but the attack was fiercer than expected, and he had to roll along the ground.
"So rough."
"You think I'd let you go?"
"You, you. Just wait."
Yuri pointed Guilty at the man and started backing away.
"I am Jared, the Beast of Briol."
"Jared, huh. Never heard of you."
Jared, who was standing behind, looked at Yuri. Ignoring the prickly gaze, Yuri continued speaking.
"And those behind me are my subordinates, Simon and Guinness."
"Also names I've never heard of. They say Briol is a nation of knights—so even nameless ones have this level of skill?"
"Yeah. So, who are you?"
"I am Elpeso, commander of the Empire's 9th Knight Order."
"Why does the Empire love numbers so much? Why name everything with numbers?"
"The Empire is logical and systematic."
"Sure."
As Yuri responded to Elpeso, he kicked the ground and scattered dirt. Elpeso swung his sword in a wide arc to block it.
In that brief gap, Yuri and his group turned and began to flee.
"Let's go!"
But Elpeso didn't let them escape. He immediately gave chase and slashed at Jared's leg from behind.
Jared jumped to dodge but rolled across the ground.
"Don't die, Guinness!"
Even in this sudden moment, Jared admired Yuri's quick thinking as he changed names on the fly.
Elpeso's next target was Laurent. He thrust his sword at Laurent's limbs. Laurent parried all the blows with precise sword placement, but it left him pinned in place.
Sword light flashed between the two.
Laurent was gradually being pushed back.
Yuri scanned the surroundings quickly. He caught a faint movement in the distance.
They needed to get out now.
Recalling Moyong Chan's warning, Yuri lifted the corners of his mouth.
"Fine, I'll take on the heart demon."
His vision entered the realm of heart-soul.
Elpeso pressing Jared and Laurent was rendered in a chaotic interplay of black and white light and shadow. Yuri approached him, carrying the chaos that could become anything.
"Hey."
Yuri slashed his sword at Elpeso, who had been watching him.
Elpeso's body was flung back.
Yuri didn't let him escape. He pursued and stabbed sword aura into Elpeso's tumbling body.
Elpeso rolled to dodge.
The sword aura narrowly missed and struck the ground. Dirt flew up.
Like slicing vegetables on a cutting board, Yuri's sword kept chasing Elpeso.
Rolling nonstop, Elpeso kicked off the ground and leapt up.
"Not bad!"
Stepping on a tree beside him, Elpeso charged at Yuri in a straight line.
The chaotic sword aura swirling around Guilty had risen to a level Elpeso could no longer handle. And yet, he advanced without fear. Yuri appreciated that quality.
Their swords clashed.
Elpeso, overwhelmed by power, dropped to one knee.
"Kh!"
Yuri grinned.
He had always faced stronger opponents, relying on speed and technique. But this time, it was the opposite.
He was the one to be targeted.
In this position, the fight felt too easy.
"So this is what it feels like."
Yuri swung his sword again. The sword aura twisted like a whip and drilled toward Elpeso's side. He panicked and backed off.
"You suddenly got stronger—what trick did you use?"
While finely adjusting the surging chaotic power, Yuri recalibrated his senses.
He needed to grow more accustomed to this power.
"Answer me, Jared!"
"Alright."
From afar, Jared looked over. Yuri nodded.
"I'm not just any Jared."
"What?"
"Call me Jared, the Beast of Briol."
"You're the type who clings to nicknames, huh? Fine, Beast of Briol, Jared."
"Want to know why I suddenly got stronger?"
"A mana method?"
"No."
Yuri firmly gripped Guilty.
"A patriotism burning like fire."
"What, what?"
That was the end of the conversation.
Yuri moved forward again and slashed at Elpeso's side. Elpeso brought his sword down vertically to block.
At that moment, Yuri's sword aura exploded.
"Graahk!"
He had intentionally detonated the aura.
It wasn't a technique one could use often, as it stirred the caster's mana chaotically. He'd used it once in a fight with an orc and ended up in a tight spot.
But now that he could control chaos, Yuri could even manipulate explosions.
The rupturing mana burst radially, all directed at Elpeso.
Bleeding from all over, Elpeso staggered back.
But that was only the beginning.
Calmly lifting Guilty, Yuri brought it down again in a vertical strike.
Just as Elpeso blocked it, the sword aura exploded again.
"Graaah!"
Each time their swords collided, fragments of mana burst forth, and Elpeso had no way to defend against it. As he watched Yuri's sword, an instinctive fear welled up inside him.
"What on earth is this…?"
Yuri drew up the chaos surging from within.
His sword aura rippled in an ominous black.
"Stop resisting. If you keep it up, I'll have to kill you."
Elpeso lowered his sword and gasped for breath. His sharp eyes swept over Yuri.
"If you got this strong so suddenly, that means you're not in your usual state."
He stepped back a long stride and raised his sword.
"Which means you can't maintain it for long."
Yuri twitched an eyebrow.
"Am I wrong, Beast of Briol, Jared?"
He was right.
Yuri hadn't yet made chaos truly his own. He wasn't even sure if fully mastering it was possible.
Not only could he not maintain it long, but if he forcibly held onto it, the heart demon Moyong Chan had warned about would come back for him.
Yuri shrugged in place of answering.
Then he charged in again.
"Did I strike a nerve!"
Elpeso shouted. Yuri ignored him. Cornered men always try to buy time through words. Yuri had done the same before.
Just kill him quickly.
But now Elpeso no longer tried to clash swords. He kept slipping away with clever evasions.
So close, yet unreachable.
Time was slipping away.
Yuri glanced at Laurent and Jared. Their expressions were grim.
Chaos was starting to defy his will and move on its own.
Yuri made a decision.
"Simon, Guinness!"
"Yes!"
"Initiate that plan!"
"Understood!"
Elpeso's eyes narrowed.
While watching Yuri's group carefully, he constantly scanned his surroundings.
"That plan must be…"
At that moment, Yuri swung his sword.
This time, it came at a lower angle.
As he slashed diagonally downward, the ground exploded, kicking up dense dust clouds.
Then he immediately turned and ran.
"Retreat operation."
The three of them rapidly withdrew while Elpeso was still confused.
From behind, he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Catch those three! They won't get far!"
Elpeso's voice echoed.
***
Night was falling.
"Kh…"
Still running through the mountains, Yuri briefly grabbed a tree and lowered his head.
"Are you alright?"
"No."
Yuri looked back.
Elpeso and the knights under his command were relentless. They kept trying to encircle the direction Yuri's group was headed.
They had to leave quickly, but it was hard to keep his mind focused.
It was the aftereffect of summoning chaos.
"We should rest."
Laurent and Jared nodded.
It wasn't just Yuri. After continuous battles and the fight with Elpeso followed by the retreat, they were also exhausted.
"Let's close our eyes for a while. The Empire's side should be worn out too."
"Damn…"
Yuri let out a sigh.
"Let's hide for now."
They found a suitable place, dug a pit, climbed in, and covered it with branches and such. Then they took a short rest.
Yuri closed his eyes.
And before long, he opened them again.
"…"
It was morning.
Yuri shook his head and climbed out of the pit. Laurent and Jared were already packing up.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, slept fine."
"Prince…"
Laurent approached.
"You don't look well."
"Really?"
"Your eyes are bloodshot."
Yuri touched around his eyes.
"Is there a mirror or something…"
"Here."
Jared pulled a hand mirror from his coat and handed it over.
Yuri and Laurent's eyes locked onto him.
Jared spread his arms in protest.
"Hey, you asked for it, so I gave it. Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You carry this kind of thing around?"
"Isn't that a bit of a stereotype?"
"My bad. 'Beast of Briol,' huh. That nickname's way too generous for you. More like 'Pretty-boy noble of Briol'… Wait, no, doesn't match your looks."
"Hey, give it back."
"No."
Yuri checked his eyes in the mirror.
"Even a mirror needs to reflect someone like me sometimes."
As Laurent said, his eyes were red.
Yuri squinted, then handed the mirror back.
"Did you not sleep?"
"I slept."
"Really?"
"Had a bad dream."
Yuri covered the pit and packed up his things. Then he picked up Guilty.
"Let's move."
It was early morning, and dew clung to every blade of grass on the ground. The three of them stepped through the moisture as they moved quickly.
The mountain, still asleep, was quiet.
"Don't make any noise."
The three of them moved stealthily.
The unit led by Elpeso was a scouting force, so it wasn't large in number.
They too must have been worn down from the pursuit.
Most were probably asleep or in poor condition.
"Over there."
Yuri suddenly stopped.
"See them?"
A short distance away, through the bushes, an Imperial knight squad sat crouched.
As always, they were in a group of four. They were chewing on jerky and biscuits, chatting about something.
Not every soldier can be as tense as a commander wants.
Yuri moved ahead silently, approaching them.
Gradually, their voices became audible.
"They said it's only three of them, right?"
"Still, even the captain got pushed back."
"He was hurt a bit, but he looked fine. That means the others must've taken some damage too."
"It's not like it's Fiore. That country's got nothing but that one guy."
"Isn't Briol supposed to be a nation of knights?"
"Just some backwater village."
Yuri scanned them.
They'd even loosened their swords and were sprawled out resting.
Yuri signaled with his eyes. Laurent and Jared nodded and began to spread out to either side.
Yuri pulled out the bow slung on his back.
"Didn't the captain say we move as soon as the sun's up…?"
"We're moving, aren't we? Breathing. Talking."
The Imperial knights burst into laughter.
Seeing that, Yuri felt relieved.
Compared to the Black Army of the Empire he had seen in his past life, these were not frightening enemies. The Imperial army of his past life had been like a war machine, but these ones were undisciplined and lacked mental fortitude.
He took aim.
Seeing Laurent and Jared in position, Yuri loosed the bowstring.
The arrow flew without a sound and pierced one of their throats.
"Captain Elpeso's a commoner too, that's why he's always so—ugh…"
"What was that?"
"Guh…"
One knight collapsed, coughing up blood.
The others, each focused on their own tasks, realized too late something was wrong and widened their eyes.
"An attack…!"
One of them didn't even finish the sentence.
Laurent and Jared sprang in like lightning and swung their swords. One died instantly, the other two scrambled for their weapons on the ground.
Just then, Yuri nocked and fired another arrow.
Another fell, a shaft stuck in the back of his head.
"Y-You people are…"
The last remaining Imperial knight trembled in fear.
Laurent and Jared subdued him.
Yuri approached.
"Didn't they teach you in the Empire not to take off your helmet?"
"Th-That…"
Most of the Imperial knights who had been killed by arrows weren't wearing helmets.
"You, don't tell me… the Beast of Briol, Jared…?"
"No, now it's Hand Mirror Jared of Briol."
Yuri tossed a joke and immediately kicked him in the chest.
"Hey. I've got a few questions. Answer them. For every second you delay, I'll take a finger, a leg, then an arm."
The interrogation wasn't long.
Yuri granted the knight's request to make it quick.
After loosely covering the four corpses, Yuri turned to Laurent and Jared.
"Laurent, Jared."
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Shall we?"
Yuri grinned.
"The three of us are going to dismantle the 9th Knight Order."