The 3rd Prince of the Fallen Kingdom Returns

22. The Mad Dog (2)

The combined strikes of the two knights was a sight to behold.

They were from different nations with different social statuses. They had grown up in different environments, honed different swordsmanship styles.

Even their physiques were contrasting, making it seem impossible for them to know each other’s moves so well.

Yet, in this moment, the two were like perfectly interlocking gears, moving in seamless unison.

Kurui could do nothing but defend.

If he tried to counterattack, even clumsily, a sword from the other side would pierce him.

“Argh! Kuaak!”

An orkbal tried to intervene, to aid Kurui.

The knights, who had been watching the scene in a daze, quickly regained their senses.

“Stop it!”

The knights shouted loudly and rushed towards orkbal.

A mere eighteen-year-old prince was facing the most dangerous enemy. It was a disgrace for them as knights.

But none of them had the confidence to fight alongside Jose like that prince.

So, they had to do whatever they could.

They would not let orkbal interfere and ruin their battle.

“Even at the cost of my life, if necessary.”

Laurent muttered.

It was the sentiment shared by the entire order of knights present.

The prince had leapt into a deadly battlefield without hesitation. How could a knight dare to hold back?

A desperate struggle ensued.

“Damn it.”

Laurent swore, uncharacteristically.

A knight had died in front of him—a comrade with whom Laurent had stood in line with trays in hand just a short while ago.

He could vividly remember the knight’s face, excitedly talking about what he would do after the Allied Forces ended.

Yuri’s calm voice echoed in his thoughts.

‘It’s simply a matter of doing what must be done.‘

Had he known all along?

That prince was younger than him. Yet, he already understood war—what it meant to fight with your life on the line.

Laurent took a step forward.

The orkbal’s attention focused on him. Two or three of them swung their weapons at him.

The malice coming at him from all sides was overwhelming, almost impossible to bear alone.

Laurent parried one attack and dodged two. Then he retreated.

Stepping forward alone was difficult.

Was this what Yuri had endured at the vanguard, facing all of it head-on?

The weight of that realization settled in his heart.

Laurent gripped his sword tightly.

The Flandre family’s Mana Method activated. Mana, resembling a pure chrysanthemum, spread outward like blooming flowers.

He took another step forward.

The flank of the battle line met fierce resistance. But Laurent didn’t back down.

Instead, he pressed further ahead.

“Briol!”

Shouting that name, Laurent raised his sword high.

The orcs’ attacks came in a chaotic flurry, wild and unpredictable. Laurent relied solely on instinct, his senses sharpened to the moment.

Two axes clashed against his single sword.

Laurent deflected the impact, spinning around half a turn as he advanced.

He closed in on an orkbal, using it as a shield to evade another attack.

The startled orkbal tried to strike him down. But Laurent’s sword was faster. The blade, imbued with sword mana, sliced through the armor and dug deep.

The orkbal looked down at Laurent in disbelief, then collapsed.

As Laurent took down the creature, the rest of the orkbals began to converge on him.

It was the moment the orkbal formation, which had been holding a line against the knights, finally crumbled.

The knights seized that opportunity.

With the pressure broken, it was time to strike—an opening to push through.

The knights advanced all at once, striking the enemy.

Weapons clashed against weapons, lives bloomed and withered.

Amidst the chaos, Laurent felt an odd sense of calm.

Yuri was fighting for his life, so it was only right for him to stand on the line of death as well.

A halberd’s blade grazed his ear. Laurent, by a hair’s breadth, beheaded the Orkbal.

Had he been even a fraction slower, it would have been his life that ended.

Had he ever fought a battle where death loomed so close?

Feeling the flow of mana coursing through his body, Laurent glanced to the side.

Beyond the grotesque faces of the Orkbals, he could see Yuri and Jose locked in combat with Kurui.

Their battle seemed far closer to death than his own.

But there was nothing he could do to help.

All Laurent could do was raise his sword and shout once more.

“Briol!”

* * *

Yuri felt as if he were performing acrobatics in a circus.

If he followed the prescribed steps, he would survive, but even the smallest mistake could disrupt the plan, leaving him vulnerable to a stray dagger.

Every moment fighting Kurui was like walking a tightrope.

A single lapse in concentration would disrupt his balance, leaving him wide open to the axe.

Yuri shouted.

“Jose! Do you think we can win this?”

“I don’t know!”

He was keeping Kurui in check with his innate senses and bursts of speed, but it was merely a supporting role.

It was Jose who faced Kurui head-on.

Yuri constantly harassed Kurui to create openings for Jose or to prevent him from falling into danger.

“Haa…”

Kurui paused to catch his breath.

Jose seized the opportunity to speak.

“Your Highness, have you received assassin training?”

“What nonsense is that?”

“You’re too good at hit-and-run tactics…”

“I’m forcing myself for your sake, you know.”

He had indeed seen Yuri hiding among the knights and stabbing them before Kurui appeared. But the situation was too urgent for further jokes.

Jose simply laughed.

“I see.”

“I see.”

Kurui was truly strong.

Jose thought back to his past.

He had trained relentlessly.

Never content to rely solely on his innate strength, he dedicated himself to mastering the mana method, repeating basic movements tens of thousands of times to grasp the deeper meaning behind each form.

Fueled by an unyielding desire to become stronger, he poured himself into his training with unwavering resolve.

But Kurui had done the same.

The countless scars etched across his body told the story. He was a warrior who had fought tirelessly his entire life, perhaps enduring trials even harsher than Jose’s.

That’s why Jose was certain.

Defeating this opponent would mark a new turning point for him.

It felt as if a seat among the revered Ten Strongest—a dream he had long yearned for—was finally within reach.

“Your Highness.”

Jose said.

“I’ll handle this one.”

It was a declaration: he intended to face Kurui one-on-one.

As Kurui’s gaze swept over him and Jose, Yuri met it and replied,

“Are you sure?”

“I am.”

“Would it be better to fight alone?”

“Indeed.”

If an incompetent knight had said such a thing, Yuri would have scolded him and told him to stop talking nonsense.

But Jose was the man who would one day earn the title of the strongest in Brusin. Further still, he would claim a seat among the Ten Strongest.

“Alright.”

Yuri lowered his sword.

“Sir Jose, may I offer a piece of advice?”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

Jose had built a glorious history in his past life, while Yuri, a former mercenary, had lost his nation and wandered in misery.

Nevertheless, at this moment, Yuri wanted to give Jose a word of encouragement.

Despite wasting his past life, the talent he inherited from Fiore was real.

“Don’t worry about your back. If you happen to fall, I’ll make sure to kill this bastard myself.”

Jose was a man of great caliber.

So great, in fact, that he was holding back during the fight, worried that if something happened to him, other knights might be endangered.

Though Jose may not have realized it, Yuri, who had been fighting alongside him, could sense his hesitation.

“I, Yuri Briol, swear this. So, Sir Jose, give your all and risk your life without hesitation.”

He instilled certainty into Jose—the certainty that it was okay to die.

After a moment of silence, Jose raised his sword and burst into laughter.

He laughed so loudly that Kurui scrunched his face.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Yuri’s role ended there.

He stepped back.

Kurui glanced at Yuri but didn’t attack further. It was better for him to be rid of this troublesome human.

But that was Kurui’s mistake.

Jose’s demeanor shifted dramatically.

“Now, I…”

Yuri turned his gaze.

A fierce battle was unfolding between the orkbals, who were trying to kill the humans and assist Kurui, and the knights, who were desperately trying to stop them.

There was no more time to waste.

Yuri immediately targeted the nearest orkbal’s back.

“Akuakkai!”

“Yeah, it’s me, you bastard!”

The mana of Heart and Soul Slash surged through Yuri’s body as he thrust Guilty forward.

But another orkbal intervened.

“Move aside if you don’t want to die!”

Yuri dodged and swiftly swung Guilty again, executing a smooth, seamless counterattack.

It was like a picture, fluid and precise.

Yuri could feel this strange Mana Method he had mastered growing stronger.

It wasn’t just because he was engaged in a life-or-death battle.

The battlefield was a place where willpower was more intensely expressed than anywhere else. Yuri could feel the swirling emotions of hatred and fury in his hands as he clashed with the enemy.

Heart and Soul Slash was growing, devouring the malice and despair.

The stronger the opponent’s hatred, the sharper Guilty became.

What was once a difficult battle against a single orkbal had become something Yuri could now handle with ease.

“Laurent!”

Yuri called out to his loyal knight, who was fighting a little farther away.

“Yes!”

“What are you doing? Is that all my knight is capable of?!”

Yuri’s provocation was the strongest motivation for Laurent.

Laurent’s expression hardened as he adjusted his grip on his sword. Advancing toward an orkbal, he unleashed a flurry of strikes that resembled a dance of blades.

It was an unusually aggressive style for him.

Blood splattered around.

As the orkbal collapsed, Laurent grinned at Yuri, blood staining his face.

Yuri matched it with a smirk of his own.

“Briol!”

Yuri shouted.

Yuri’s shout echoed like magic, invigorating the morale of the knights.

As soon as Yuri joined, Briol’s offensive intensified.

The knights gradually pushed back the orkbal.

Yuri glanced behind him.

Kurui and Jose were clashing like wild beasts.

If Jose was a clever bear, Kurui was a seasoned tiger.

Each collision of their weapons resounded like thunderclaps.

“At least hold them off!”

Yuri shouted.

As long as Kurui was tied up, the Allied Forces would continue to push forward as the battle progressed. That alone could secure victory.

“Kill them!”

The scales tipped.

It felt as though the goddess of victory herself was favoring the Allied Forces.

Then, the unexpected happened.

Black haze emanated from the body of the fallen orkbal.

Yuri instinctively stepped back.

“Magic?”

That couldn’t be possible.

Hernando and the other mages in the Allied Forces should be blocking any spells. Using magic on the battlefield wasn’t as easy as it seemed.

But there was no other way to explain this sight.

The black haze emanating from the orkbal’s corpse radiated an unsettling aura.

“Everyone, step away from the corpses!”

The orkbal facing the knights were now consumed by a frenzied rage. Their eyes turned crimson, just like when he used the red gemstone.

He wanted to call Hernando immediately and demand an explanation. But Hernando would be maintaining dispel spells in the rear.

And the orc shaman should be doing the same, so how was this happening? What kind of shaman were they up against?

“Damn it…”

Yuri cursed and looked up.

He gasped and raised Guilty.

Not far away, the shadowy, murky figure of an orc shaman—the same one Yuri had encountered in the camp last night—watched the battle.

He wanted to approach the shaman, but in the blink of an eye, an orkbal swung its weapon at him. Its eyes were bloodshot, its strength and speed amplified.

He barely dodged, but the force of the attack grazed him with new cuts.

The energy emanating from them made his bones rattle.

“If the orkbals are this strong now…”

Yuri deflected another attack with a swing of Guilty and turned his attention to Jose.

And then he yelled.

“Sir Jose!”

Kurui was driving his axe down onto Jose.

The axe sank deep into Jose’s shoulder.

Jose twisted his body, collapsing to one knee.

Distracted by the sudden turn of events, Yuri didn’t see the orc shaman’s approach until it was too late.

The shaman’s clawed hand seized Yuri by the throat.

His breath stopped.

His vision blurred.

But he did not let go of Guilty.