The forest was burning.
The forest surrounding the royal castle was vast in scale, so the small villages within were bound to suffer damage. If the flames continued like this, the destruction could even spread to the city.
Yuri bent down.
"You really did it."
Trusting the enemy's conscience during battle was a ridiculous notion, but just this once, he had done so.
Because that was the only way to win this war.
And also, deep down, it was because of Graham.
As long as he was still intact, there was no way he'd start a fire, so Yuri, who wished for Graham's safety, refused to prepare for a battle assuming his fall.
He had subconsciously let his emotions sway his judgment.
It was foolish.
"Yuri Briol, you're still not there yet. After seeing all that, you're still like this?"
Yuri deliberately blamed himself more. It was the only way he could endure it.
He spoke aloud on purpose.
"I made a mistake, so I have to fix it. Yeah, tear everything down and start over. Let's go."
Yuri drew Guilty.
"They set fire! Everyone, evacuate!"
Yuri was the first to spot the fire. He shouted loudly toward the barracks where Yoheim's forces were stationed.
The reaction was immediate.
The troops rushed out, in confusion.
With a dense forest like this catching fire, they had no way to stop it.
"Where are the mages?"
"A dispel is in effect!"
"Damn it, those bastards…"
At least the mages could manage the fire, but the Empire had already activated a dispel.
They were helpless.
All they could do was retreat.
Gonte stepped out and spat his words. Rage was clear on his face.
"Those Imperial bastards, so this is how they want to play it…"
At first, it had been just sparks from afar, but now a wave of fire surged like a tsunami, rushing toward them.
"Signal all the troops in the forest to get out!"
"Yes!"
Yuri glared at the forest.
The fire raged, swallowing the trees. Shadows flickered wildly beneath the burning trunks. Among them, something like sword light flashed.
Yuri drew Guilty and headed into the forest.
He came across the retreating Aloy Brigade.
"You are…"
"Retreat quickly, all of you."
"Where are you going?"
"I have something to do."
"It's dangerous. The fire is—it's massive…"
"Don't worry about me. Just get to safety."
"Understood."
They nodded and continued fleeing the forest. Yuri, against their path, leapt into the burning woods.
Because Yoheim's knights had been hiding throughout the forest, it took time for them all to retreat.
Meanwhile, Yalta was rampaging freely, attacking the fleeing knights from behind.
He closed his eyes, then opened them again.
His racing heart calmed.
Instead of getting angry, he reflected on his own sins, suppressing his emotions.
"Yalta."
He thought of the one who must be killed.
His murderous intent spread throughout his body.
Yuri's steps grew lighter. Like a shadow, he silently pursued Yalta.
"Wretches. Hahaha…"
Yalta was laughing as he trampled over corpses.
Yuri thrust Guilty toward his back.
Kaang!
"Oh…?"
Yalta turned around with a smirk.
"You're one of those three bastard dogs, huh. Where are the other two pups?"
Yuri didn't answer and kept swinging Guilty. The two swords clashed with a loud noise.
Yalta burst into laughter.
"Are you mad because I set the fire? Didn't expect me to pull something like that, huh?"
Yuri didn't reply and instead thrust his sword toward Yalta's neck.
Yalta tilted his head to avoid it, then slashed with the sword in his hand.
The sword came frighteningly close.
But Yuri stood still, eyes wide open.
The blade barely missed him, slicing off a few strands of hair.
Yalta whistled.
"You're lucky."
"It's not luck."
"You saying you knew it wouldn't hit?"
"Yeah."
"How impressive."
Yalta chuckled and spun his sword in the air.
Yuri sharpened his gaze again.
It wasn't the first time. Another lock of his hair was sliced off. It was something that frequently happened due to his precise sense of distance in combat.
It was the same in his previous life.
Graham had blocked his escape, and as they crossed swords, Yuri's hair had been narrowly cut.
The look in Graham's eyes through those drifting strands was still vivid.
"Did you kill him?"
Yuri asked.
"What?"
Yalta frowned.
"Did you kill him?"
"What are you talking about? Those Yoheim bastards? I killed tons of them. Once the fire started, they scattered like cockroaches. So I chased them down and stomped them all to death."
He burst into laughter.
"That really got you mad, huh? A guy holding a sword getting worked up over that?"
"Well, you're not wrong."
Yuri shrugged.
And suddenly thrust his sword.
They were far apart. There was no sword aura. Yet his sword instantly pierced through Yalta's body.
It was the One-Point Thrust he had learned from Sparrow.
"Huh?"
Yalta, by animal instinct, twisted his body to avoid a fatal blow.
Instead, his side was slashed, and blood flowed out.
Yalta glanced between Yuri's sword and the wound on his body.
"What is this…?"
Yuri withdrew the sword and stabbed again. This time Yalta ducked and avoided it. The One-Point Thrust stabbed the air and pulled back.
Yalta roared and charged.
"Using weird tricks!"
In an instant, the distance closed.
Their swords clashed, echoing with sharp sounds once more.
With the raging flames surrounding them, the two fought fiercely.
Yuri was at a disadvantage. Yalta's strength was overwhelming, and every clash sent him airborne and pushed him back. He wasn't being cut, but it was as if he was being beaten—shock building up in his body.
"Coming alone, did you think you were something special?"
Suddenly, Yalta grabbed Guilty with his bare hand and brought his sword down hard toward Yuri's head with the other.
Yuri tried to block with Guilty, but Yalta's monstrous grip prevented him from raising the blade.
To dodge this attack, he would have to let go of Guilty.
But doing so would end the fight.
Conflict flashed in Yuri's eyes.
Meanwhile, Yalta's sword was already within striking distance.
Yuri clenched his teeth.
His thoughts accelerated.
Then, for a moment, the world seemed to stop.
The trajectory of the falling blade, and Yalta's sneering face, came into slow focus.
But Yuri too was trapped in this slow-motion world.
Within the time he had, he couldn't escape Yalta's strike.
Yalta's sword came another handspan closer.
Any slower, and his skull would split.
Just as he was about to let go of his sword, Yuri suddenly remembered one method.
Trying it in a life-or-death moment like this carried massive risk.
It would've been safer to just drop the sword and run.
But he didn't want to do that. Just as he hadn't asked Yalta about Graham in detail, this time too, he didn't want to simply throw away his sword.
So he tried it.
A faint vortex stirred atop the blade.
Yuri drew the mana rising from his core into the blade, creating a fractal vortex that repeated infinitely.
Guilty could not escape the speed of the world, but Heart-Soul Slash was not bound by the flow of time.
The vortex spun as fast as Yuri desired.
It was a success.
The moment the spinning vortex blade was completed, Yuri's time returned to normal, and the vortex formed by Guilty swallowed Yalta, who was gripping the blade.
Yalta spewed blood from his whole body as he was sent flying.
The swirling mass that had thrown him tore through the air for a while before finally dissipating into the sky.
"Huff, huff…"
Yalta rose to his feet. Blood was streaming down his body.
"What the hell is this now."
He revealed blood-soaked teeth as he sneered.
"You sure love your tricks. Yeah, I never liked you the most."
As Yuri stared at him, he suddenly asked,
"What happened to Sir Graham?"
"What?"
"What happened to Sir Graham."
Yalta's eyes widened.
"Huh? How did you know?"
Yuri closed his eyes, then opened them.
"No one was supposed to know, so how did you find out? Just a guess?"
Yalta scratched his head, muttering to himself.
"Or did I leave a clue? Then again, maybe it's obvious after setting the fire. I really should've done this sooner. Should've killed him earlier."
Then suddenly, Yalta charged.
"You included!"
He swung his sword.
Yuri blocked the attack, but the force sent him stumbling backward. In that moment, Yalta's foot struck his abdomen.
"Kgh!"
Yuri groaned. Yalta kept talking.
"I was having fun, but now you've pissed me off again. So I'll just kill you quickly. Arrogant bastard."
Yalta used both his sword and body. Even if Yuri blocked the blade, fists and kicks followed.
Yuri had his own skills with such a fighting style, but the overwhelming difference in strength made it hard to hold up a defense.
His eyes could keep up, but his body couldn't.
To make matters worse, the flickering flames distorted the outlines of everything in sight. It was getting harder to see clearly.
Yalta let out a loud laugh.
"Struggle all you want, it's useless. Without the forest, you Yoheim dogs have no way to stop the Empire."
"Is that so?"
"Don't pretend to be calm. Just stick out your neck already, Yubi!"
Yuri's presence must've been threatening—Yalta even remembered his name.
Meanwhile, the fire was growing ever larger.
Though those who had reached mastery like Yuri or Yalta could withstand it, the rest of the forces could barely breathe within it.
"Once the forest burns down and the path opens, Yoheim is finished."
Yalta sneered.
"Now that I think of it, Sir Graham is finished too."
It was an abrupt confession.
Yuri's brow twitched. Yalta tilted his head and continued,
"It's strange. Kill Graham, and Yoheim dies with him? What's the connection? Was he a spy? Maybe I did the right thing by killing him."
"You killed Sir Graham?"
"Yeah. Stabbed him with a sword. Crushed his skull underfoot too."
Yuri's eyes sank coldly.
"He kept getting in the way of setting fires. If I just burn everything, Yoheim falls immediately. Don't you agree, Yubi?"
"You think I'll let you do that?"
"And what'll you do if you don't? Can you even put out the fire?"
Yalta wasn't wrong.
Once the forest turned to ash, the road to the royal castle would open.
If the Imperial army swept in across flat ground, Yoheim's forces wouldn't be able to stop them.
"If we burn everything, just turn Yoheim into a pile of ash…"
As he murmured, Yalta suddenly looked up at the sky.
"Huh…?"
Yuri also sensed something and widened his eyes.
Something touched his cheek.
Yalta opened his mouth, flustered.
"Wha—what the hell…"
It was rain.
Rain was falling from the sky.
Yalta shouted,
"Rain? All of a sudden!?"
Water poured down.
The firestorm that had risen like a demon began to fade. As the rain fell, the forest grew damp, and the flames could no longer spread.
"This makes no damn sense…"
"No sense?"
Yuri gripped Guilty tightly and said,
"When there are people like you who start fires, there are also those who put them out."
This rain was not natural.
"B-But I said to use a dispel. How the hell…?"
At Yalta's words, Yuri gave a faint smile.
Ernando had once whispered to him.
Because magic is easily neutralized by dispels, no matter how powerful, it is nearly impossible for a mage to rise to the rank of the ten strongest.
But, he had said, there is one mage who can transcend that limitation.
A single mage who is not bound by dispels, and who can fight head-on against monsters who split mountains with swords.
The grand mage, Inariel.
He had arrived.
***
Inariel looked down at the burning forest.
The lives rooted in the earth were screaming.
He clicked his tongue.
"Humans…"
As one close to the forest, an elf, this sight was nothing short of detestable.
Inariel raised his staff.
Naturally, he was a Grand Mage.
The unique magic path he had mastered was simple.
Immutable Mana Formula.
The magic Inariel cast could not be altered by others.
Even the dispel that enveloped the area posed no restriction.
He lowered his staff.
Then, rain began to fall.
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