Yuri held his breath, hiding himself within the bushes.
A group of knights passed by.
Watching their backs, Yuri tightened his grip on Guilty.
He was continuing the skirmish with a sensation almost like being drunk.
Fighting when he wanted, hiding when necessary.
Every step of the process flowed together far too easily.
"Hoo…"
Yuri looked down at his sword.
Caked with blood and shrouded in shadow, the blade was nothing but dark and murky—yet in the realm of the heart-soul he saw, it was different. Guilty reflected the radiance of the stars swirling across the night sky exactly as it was.
It was dazzling to the point of blinding him.
Yuri took a long, deep breath, then closed and opened his eyes.
Each time his eyelids fell, strange scenery was drawn before him.
Then, in the moment light returned to his pupils, reality closed in around him once more.
Yuri tried to hold on to a sense of reality.
"Get a grip."
He organized the current situation.
Right now, he was hiding alone among countless enemies.
The enemy had not found him.
Those who had mastered the mana method usually relied more on senses other than sight. Because of that, Yuri—who could erase his presence and mana at will—would seem to them as if he were teleporting.
At present, there were hardly any groups in the 9th Knight Order with a full eight members.
One by one, they had been picked off by Yuri's arrows or sword.
Because of this, the fighting strength of the 9th Knight Order had been greatly diminished.
Retreating at this point wouldn't be a bad choice.
But Yuri wanted, if possible, to kill Elpeso, the Captain of the knight order.
If he could manage that, it would be a sure warning to the Empire.
"Shall I try?"
Yuri let his presence be known.
A response came immediately.
"Enemy!"
He stood still, and the enemy came to him. Eight knights formed a unit.
After several exchanges of blows, one or two knights staggered, wounded by Yuri.
"Just buy time!"
One of the knights shouted.
"We can't stop him ourselves. Just hold out!"
Their response was defensive.
The 9th Knight Order no longer clung to their pride. They recognized Yuri as an undeniable powerhouse, and their intent was clear—to hinder him as much as possible.
For Yuri, this was troublesome.
It was easy to pierce through the gaps of an enemy straining to attack, but striking at an enemy crouched behind a defensive stance was far harder.
Yuri muttered.
"So that's how you want to play it…"
The ones who had wanted encirclement and annihilation, were now banding together purely for defense—Yuri couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.
The answer in such cases was simple.
Just run away.
The situation had been leaning that way from the start, so there was nothing to regret.
He wanted to kill Elpeso, but if they were lowering their posture to this degree, he had no reason to overextend.
Yuri began to step back.
"Huh?"
When he withdrew, the knights facing him were taken aback.
"Aren't we not supposed to let him escape?"
"That's true, but…"
Pursuit was for the weaker opponent. Chasing after someone stronger was not a wise choice.
While the knights hesitated, Yuri widened the distance.
"What do we do?"
"Keep our distance and follow!"
"Yes!"
They called out to summon nearby allies, following him at a loose pace.
Yuri glanced back and smirked.
It seemed they were reluctant to just let him go.
Understandable—after all, with just three, or in truth one person, the knight order had been torn apart. If they let him go unchecked, the order's prestige would hit rock bottom.
"Attachment ruins people."
Yuri suddenly increased his speed.
The knights panicked.
"Don't lose him!"
They pushed themselves to close the gap that had suddenly opened.
Yuri ran, deliberately making his presence loud.
The dark mountain scenery slid by on either side.
Then, ahead, he spotted a sufficiently large and sturdy tree.
It looked as if it had stood for centuries.
That would do.
Yuri kicked off the ground and leapt, landing atop the tree.
Bending his knees and waist to absorb the impact, he instantly sprang like a coiled spring.
It was a sudden reverse motion.
The force brought the tree crashing down with a splintering crack.
The distance between the speeding knights and Yuri, who had launched himself toward them, closed rapidly.
"What the—!"
The moment they met, Yuri swung his sword.
With their formation disrupted, their defense was clumsy.
Armor tore away, flesh splattered.
Yuri's blade spared no one in reach.
Then a metallic crash rang out.
Among them, a few skilled knights had managed to block Yuri's sword.
"Hold him!"
The clash of one against many continued.
The ring of steel repeated over and over.
Yuri deflected every path of the enemy swords crossing his vision, striking at their openings. Even as attacks came from all directions, he felt no tension.
It was as if time itself was flowing slowly.
Gripping Guilty, Yuri thought.
Where exactly had he reached now?
One thing was certain—he was stronger than when he killed Yalta.
Had he already reached the level of the ten strongest?
No, not yet.
Chaos was still not entirely his own.
He had to go further.
Yuri bent backward, then swung Guilty wide. A knight collapsed, cleaved in two at the waist along with his armor.
In this skirmish, Yuri killed one knight and rendered two more combat incapable.
The remaining knights hunched in like turtles retreating into their shells.
Without hesitation, Yuri turned away.
The knights, having lost comrades, merely watched as he left.
"Hoo…"
Yuri quickened his pace. With the knights bunching into groups of eight, the encirclement had loosened, letting him move more freely than before.
At present, the 9th Knight Order's formation was skewed toward the upper part of the mountain.
That meant the path toward where Laurent and Jared were was now open.
It seemed he could retreat as things were.
Then, suddenly, Yuri sensed a sharp intent aimed at his back.
He twisted his body sideways.
An arrow flew past him and buried itself in a tree.
"Knew you'd come this way."
"Huh?"
It was Elpeso's voice.
Yuri tilted his head.
He hadn't sensed him—he hadn't expected him to be this close.
"How?"
"You weren't the only one with a trick. Jared."
He was with the knights Yuri had seen earlier from the tree.
One of them was missing—likely killed by Yuri's arrow.
Yuri scanned Elpeso and the other knights. The energy he felt from them was far from ordinary.
"I can't just let you go like this."
Elpeso and three knights channeled the mana method.
It was fierce, like an active volcano.
They were unleashing their full strength even before the fight had begun. That alone meant they acknowledged him as a worthy opponent.
"…."
Normally, Yuri would have simply fled, but having embraced the power of chaos, he no longer saw crisis as something to avoid at all costs.
Like an acrobat walking a tightrope, to him, fear was something to be overcome.
Once his mind was made up, Yuri moved immediately.
"Jared!"
Elpeso shouted as he charged in, the other three knights closing in around him like escorts, pressing Yuri from all sides.
Four swords stabbed at Yuri's blind spots all at once.
It was a prepared joint attack.
Once again, time began to flow slowly.
How should he respond?
In the countless possibilities before him, Yuri found the tiniest chance to reverse the situation.
But doing so would be as difficult as threading a needle while moving at full speed.
He asked himself,
Was it really necessary?
Wouldn't it be better to just step back, and adapt according to the situation?
But Yuri shook his head.
He could not advance that way.
A sword advances while shedding blood.
It wasn't enough to simply escape danger. Yuri wanted to leap over this line of death, to climb to a higher ground where no enemy would dare look down on him.
And above all else—
Yuri smirked.
Because he would succeed in the end.
With chaos embraced, a sensation bordering on madness surged within him. He now understood what Moyong Chan had meant by heart demon.
Yet Yuri felt no fear.
Such constraints could never break him.
Whether the Heavenly Demon was dead, or Erich Briol or whoever it may be—it didn't matter.
He was Yuri Briol.
And he would press on to the end.
"Die!"
Yuri stared down the four swords, and stepped forward in true advance.
Pebbles scattered on the ground floated upward.
He swung Guilty.
A shard of stone, as if by magic, struck the path of one sword, slamming into the face of the knight on the outer flank.
With Guilty, he then bashed away the sword of Elpeso charging head-on.
At the moment of impact, he released his grip.
Guilty ricocheted away, and the flying blade smashed into another knight on the opposite side.
Now only one sword remained, aimed at his flank.
He caught it under his arm, then struck at the opponent's wrist.
With the joint struck, the knight's grip weakened. Yuri snatched the sword away and rolled over the man's body.
In that instant, Yuri had taken the enemy's back.
A brief moment before they could turn.
He thrust the stolen sword into the back of its owner, then pushed forward, forcing the man's body into Elpeso.
The two collapsed together.
Yuri immediately looked up. Guilty, which had struck the other knight, was spinning in the air.
He stepped on the back of the knight he had just slain, leapt high, and snatched Guilty out of the air.
Below, another knight stared up at him in shock.
As he fell, Yuri brought Guilty down.
Helmet and armor were cleaved clean through.
The body split apart.
Now, two were dead, Elpeso was pinned under a corpse, and only one knight remained standing.
That knight stabbed toward Yuri's back.
Though he twisted his body, his back and side were cut.
Blood streamed down.
Yuri swung Guilty.
Their blades clashed.
The opponent was driven back.
Yuri brought Guilty down again.
Overpowered, the knight collapsed to the ground. As he hastily raised his sword again, Yuri kicked up the dirt, scattering sand into his eyes, then immediately shifted targets.
He pounced on Elpeso, who was struggling to rise.
"Kh!"
Off balance, Elpeso kept giving ground, losing the exchange.
"You currrr!"
Elpeso's desperate voice seemed soaked in blood.
After one more clash, Yuri retreated a step.
"Jared! I'll make sure you—"
"That's a lie."
"What?"
"I'm not Jared."
"What trick is this now?"
"A ruse. Now, I'll tell you my real name."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"…."
Keeping their distance, the two glared at each other.
Yuri's eyes fixed on Elpeso's armor.
In the seams, there were gaps from the prolonged fighting.
"You see, I…"
Yuri spoke, swinging his sword in the air as if loosening his body. He thrust forward a few times.
And then, blood burst forth.
One-point thrust.
"Huh…?"
Normally, it didn't work well against strong opponents.
But after a night of constant fighting, with his spirit worn down by Yuri's martial dominance, Elpeso's focus could be broken by just a few words.
Because of that, he failed to react at all in that instant.
Yuri's sword pierced the point where breastplate and helmet met—
The throat.
Elpeso could no longer speak.
Only blood foam spilled from his lips.
Leaving the collapsing Elpeso behind, Yuri finished off the last knight.
It was all over.
"Guh…"
Elpeso was not quite dead yet. Yuri approached to end it.
Elpeso's eyes were clouded.
Yuri said,
"I'm not Jared, I'm Yuri Briol."
At that, life briefly returned to the dying man's gaze.
"I… see…"
Yuri looked into Elpeso's eyes.
But he was no longer looking at Yuri—only staring blankly at the night sky.
In a small mercy, Elpeso, on the brink of death, saw something similar to what Yuri saw—
not a plain sky, but a rippling firmament, a swirling moon and stars.
A strange light gleamed in Elpeso's eyes.
He spoke.
"The stars… are beautiful…"
That was his last word.
Yuri crushed his chest underfoot.