Yuri, Laurent, and Jared found a suitable spot and created a sturdy burrow.
"This should do."
The three of them crawled inside. It was cramped, but there was no helping it.
Yuri sealed the entrance using branches and natural materials from the surroundings.
"From now on, listen carefully to what I say."
"Yes."
"I'll teach you a secret technique."
Yuri intended to pass on an Eastern martial art he had learned from Moyong Chan to the two of them.
"This is a hidden divine technique that allows a living person to appear like a corpse — their heartbeat slows, body temperature drops, and they can hide without emitting a single trace of presence."
"Such a technique actually exists?"
"It does. It's called the Turtle Breath Great Art."
"Oooh…"
Since it wasn't a particularly difficult martial art, the two were able to imitate it quickly.
"When you use the Turtle Breath Great Art, you lose consciousness, but your presence vanishes and you can control when you wake up."
Yuri placed his hand on their chests.
Laurent and Jared circulated their mana as Yuri instructed. Following the mysteries of the Turtle Breath Great Art, their metabolisms gradually slowed.
Yuri adjusted their internal time.
The response was immediate.
"I'm getting sleepy."
"Then sleep."
"Sweet dreams."
"Yeah."
Thus, Laurent and Jared fell into the state of the Turtle Breath Great Art.
Yuri also lay down.
From time to time, Imperial knights wandered nearby, but the three, having entered a suspended state, were unaware of anything around them, and the knights could not detect any life signals.
Time passed like that.
When night fell, Yuri opened his eyes.
"..."
He was the only one awake. He checked his surroundings — nothing registered in his sense.
It seemed the Imperial Knight Order had already passed by.
Yuri closed his eyes for a moment, then slowly emerged from the burrow.
The moon hung bright in the sky.
Looking up toward the mountain peak, he could see lights moving occasionally.
The encirclement had passed.
"Lucky."
Muttering that, Yuri took a deep breath.
The cold night air cleansed his lungs.
"Hoo…"
He lifted Guilty.
The blade, bathed in moonlight, glowed faintly.
"Thanks again."
Yuri whispered softly, closed his eyes, and refined his internal state using the Heart-Soul Slash.
His body, which had slumbered under the Turtle Breath Great Art, awakened, and the chaotic mana flow disrupted by inner demons returned to its proper path.
Even the fine hairs on his body regained their sensitivity.
He could almost grasp the movements of the air brushing over his skin.
He expanded his senses further.
Faintly, he could sense the state of the enemies. The Imperial Knight Order had formed a cordon toward the mountain summit.
Unaware of the rare divine art, the Turtle Breath Great Art, they didn't realize they had already passed by their target.
Two choices lay before him.
He could shake them off and descend the mountain.
Or, he could bite into their exposed necks.
Yuri drew his sword. The Heart-Soul Slash swirled violently within him as if it possessed its own will.
He sank briefly into thought.
The ogre had attacked Liberda, and Sibylla, now queen, had struck Bursen.
Unforeseen events had unfolded in quick succession, and despite all his preparations, Briol now faced the Empire alone.
Memories from his past life overlapped.
He recalled the burning royal palace and the people slaughtered without mercy.
The Empire's Black Army killed like emotionless robots.
If he didn't stop them now, the same tragedy would repeat itself.
Thus, killing Imperial soldiers was no different from saving the people of Briol.
Having made his decision, Yuri began to move under the cover of darkness.
He was sorry for Laurent and Jared, but they would awaken at dawn.
Until then, the time belonged to Yuri alone.
He soon approached the nearest enemy.
Faint voices reached his ears.
"Why are they so obsessed over just three people?"
"How many have died already?"
"They must've let their guard down."
"Would letting your guard down wipe out several squads?"
"So you're saying it's all skill? That someone that strong is in Briol?"
"They say there isn't a noble in Briol who can't wield a sword. Maybe there's someone skilled we didn't know about."
"Briol, huh…"
They were the knights guarding the rear of the encirclement. As usual, four of them sat in the bushes chewing on jerky, chatting.
Yuri admired the structure of the Imperial system.
If there had been only one or two, he could have silently killed them with ease. But with four gathered, he couldn't guarantee an assassination without making noise.
Especially not on a night this quiet.
Yuri waited, hidden among the bushes.
His eyes, now within the domain of the heart-soul, could clearly see the enemies in the dark with just the faint moonlight.
A hunter needs patience.
Soon, the opportunity came.
"Where are you going?"
"Taking a piss."
"Don't go too far."
"Don't worry."
"Don't go up. Go down."
"Got it."
One of them stepped away.
Humming a tune, he moved away from his comrades.
He walked farther than Yuri expected, causing some confusion.
"Damn it, lately my piss just won't come out…"
Apparently, he had urological issues. Out of embarrassment, he had gone far downhill.
"Mmm…"
The trickling sound of liquid came intermittently.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip drip.
Because it kept stopping, Yuri had to move slowly in rhythm with the sounds.
A sigh filled with worry followed.
"Fuuu…"
Yuri approached from behind.
"Damn, this is just depressing…"
Those were his last words.
Yuri sliced through the knight's neck.
Shhk.
The mana-infused blade smoothly cut through flesh and bone.
Thud.
Blood flowed from the severed stump and soaked into the ground.
"Unfortunate. In your next life, may your stream flow well."
Yuri picked up the helmet the dead knight had taken off and wore it himself. He'd already taken enemy gear earlier, so there was no need to strip the body.
Yuri stood still near the corpse.
It was time to summon his patience again.
"..."
Soon, as expected, things progressed as he'd anticipated.
A comrade came down, looking for the fallen knight.
"Hey, Zeke. Still going?"
It was just one person.
"Hey, is it still bad? I told you to see that doctor I recommended. He's really good. Don't be so embarrassed."
He called out from behind Yuri, keeping some distance.
"There's nothing to be ashamed of between us. We've been through everything together since back home, right? You were so hyped about becoming a knight. Compared to that, not being able to pee is nothing. Isn't that right?"
"..."
"Hey, hey. You're not crying, are you?"
The knight came closer.
They seemed to share a deep friendship.
They probably had many stories between them.
Yuri couldn't claim that the weight of his life was any heavier than theirs.
But a hunter does not concern himself with the innocence of prey.
"Zeke. You bastard…"
Yuri turned and swung his sword.
Still smiling, mid-sentence, the knight's head and neck parted ways.
The two friends who had come from their hometown to become Imperial knights lost their heads and lay overlapped on the ground like discarded sacks. Yuri kicked their scattered heads together into a pile.
Yuri moved cautiously.
He had to eliminate the rest before they realized something was wrong.
The remaining two knights were still chatting.
One had removed his helmet, while the other still wore his properly.
"Hey. Isn't that uncomfortable? Just take it off."
"No, sir."
"It's fine, really. This is your break. You won't get another chance once the captain's around."
"..."
"Not taking it off?"
"Uh…"
"Take it off."
"Yes, sir. I'll remove it."
Yuri chuckled quietly.
Then he took the bow from his back and drew the string.
"Kid, the knight order's just people like anywhere else, you don't have to be so stiff. Back in our day, the seniors used to bully us, but there's none of that anymore. Just do your job well, that's all that matters, got it?"
Yuri aimed the bow at the senior knight who kept talking.
It seemed better to deal with the inexperienced one afterward.
The senior, half-lying down, continued speaking.
"You know our captain? He's a maniac. Once he bites down, he doesn't let go. That's why we're all suffering like this. Make sure to get on his good side. If you get on his bad side, he'll make your life hell, but if he likes you, he treats you well. He's that kind of guy, all hot and cold…"
"I'll keep that in mind."
"And, hmm…"
Yuri released the string.
At the same time, he leapt forward.
He was so fast that the moment the arrow pierced the target's neck and the moment Yuri plunged his sword into the junior knight happened almost simultaneously.
"Guh…"
"Ah, ahhh…"
One collapsed, coughing up blood foam, and the other trembled as Yuri held the blade to his throat.
Yuri brought the sword even closer.
Blood trickled from the knight's neck.
"You scream, you die."
"Y-yes…"
"Do you want to live?"
"Yes, yes."
His voice was crawling. The desire to live was palpable.
"Tell me about the current situation."
"Uh…"
His eyes wavered.
"What's wrong? Thinking you'll die anyway if you talk?"
"…"
"You can die now, or maybe earn a chance to escape."
"Ugh…"
"I don't want to kill you either."
Yuri pulled the sword back. The knight's eyes widened.
"Where is Elpeso, what did you report to headquarters, and what are your current orders? Just those three things. Tell me, and you'll live."
As he said this, Yuri stabbed Guilty into the convulsing senior knight's skull.
The skull shattered, and he died on the spot.
Seeing that, the junior knight opened his mouth.
"I-I'll tell you."
Though the information wasn't highly detailed, Yuri could grasp the general situation.
He had gathered enough intel.
Yuri nodded.
"Put your hands behind your head and lie down. Once I'm gone, run down the mountain. Got it?"
"Yes."
The knight obediently lay flat, hands neatly clasped behind his head.
Yuri's sword stabbed into the back of his skull.
The junior knight probably didn't even realize he was dead.
That was the greatest mercy Yuri could offer.
His eyes scanned the darkness again.
A lucky situation like four of them separating one by one wouldn't happen again.
Having decided to fight, he now had to accept that his position might be exposed.
Fortunately, thanks to the info the dead knight provided, Yuri had a rough idea of their formation.
He began moving sideways.
From the rear, he would eliminate them one by one.
***
A faint noise echoed in the dark mountain.
Knight Wright of the 9th Knight Order, who had been watching the mountain top, turned around.
It was faint, but it definitely sounded like a scream.
"Didn't you hear something just now?"
"What sound?"
"A scream or something…"
"Probably just someone caught one of those Briol rats."
But the other three knights showed no particular concern.
Wright, being the least experienced among them, just nodded.
Knight squads of four typically had a mix of seniors and juniors, and the Empire had a strict hierarchy between them.
So stepping up unnecessarily would only earn him a scolding.
Wright chose to stay silent.
"Don't act up."
"Yes, sir."
"Still, all this trouble over catching three rats…"
He wanted to remind them that one of those "rats" had killed and escaped from fellow knights, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.
"Just some hick nobodies from Briol."
Maybe due to the Empire's prestige, senior knights had a tendency to underestimate the enemy.
On the other hand, Wright, having grown up hearing the legendary tales of Fiore Briol, never took Briol lightly.
Wasn't the last tournament champion a knight from Briol?
It was bound to be a difficult war.
Suddenly, Wright turned his head.
There was that sound again.
"That was just now too…"
This time, he wasn't the only one who heard. Another senior knight was also looking in the same direction.
"Could something have happened?"
"No way."
The other two knights shook their heads.
"That's the rear, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"They ran uphill. That's why we surrounded the mountain. No way out."
"I see."
"Probably just the rear guys startled by a mountain beast."
Wright felt a creeping sense of unease.
Something was definitely happening, yet the two senior knights showed no vigilance.
Even the somewhat reasonable one just scratched the back of his head.
Wright stood up.
"I'll go check it out."
"What?"
"Just in case."
"Hmm…"
The senior knight in the back snickered.
"Well, if you're that scared, let him go. A wasted trip is a kind of experience too."
"Fine, go ahead."
"Don't take long."
Permission granted.
"I'll just scout around the area and come right back."
Originally, all four should move together, but the seniors assigned to Wright weren't strict about protocol.
Wright scouted the vicinity alone.
In the darkness, it felt like something could leap out at any moment.
The moon was bright, but the thick trees only let in slivers of light.
After surveying the area, Wright decided to head back. He hadn't sensed anything. Maybe it was all unnecessary worry, just like the seniors said.
"Phew…"
Wright returned to his original spot.
But then.
"…"
Something was wrong.
All three senior knights were collapsed.
As he opened his mouth—
"Shh."
A low voice whispered in his ear.
Wright's body froze.
"Quiet."
A blade touched his throat, cold and sharp.
"If you want to live, do exactly as I say."
It was the enemy.