"Call Ernando."
"Yes!"
Yuri remained alert to the fire.
Although they had covered the supplies with fireproof cloth, just in case, he also summoned the mage Ernando. If a fire did break out, he could suppress it.
Yuri led Laurent, Jared, and Raymond toward the site of the battle.
Soldiers were guarding the path. It was the knight order that was directly engaging the orcs.
Given the preparations, Yuri expected a smooth victory.
But the situation on the battlefield was worse than expected.
"Your Highness!"
A knight fighting nearby shouted.
"These bastards are strong!"
Just as he said, the orc unit that had infiltrated the camp was on a different level from the ones that had attacked the Holy Kingdom. Their numbers were small, but each of them was formidable, and the knights were struggling.
Yuri pushed the three knights forward.
"Help them. Minimize the casualties. Split up."
"Yes!"
The orcs had split into small groups and were rampaging through the camp. To catch them, they too had to split up.
Yuri also sharpened his senses, seeking the enemy.
He suddenly turned to the side.
There was a strange smell. Just as he began to move,
KABOOM!
An explosion erupted.
A wagon some distance away shattered, and charred fragments rained down from the sky.
Each flicker of flame lit up the surroundings.
"What is that?"
Even Yuri was taken aback.
As he stood frozen, Ernando approached and stood beside him, looking at the explosion site.
"Ernando."
"It's a mess. My, my…"
"Do orcs use gunpowder?"
"No. The flow of mana is twisted. It's a spell."
"A shaman?"
"More like, someone engraved a spell and turned it into a bomb. The level's higher than expected. This is interesting…"
"Don't just admire it, do something."
"The fireproof cloth will prevent it from spreading."
"Can't you stop them from exploding more?"
"Since it wasn't cast directly by a shaman, no. This isn't magic. You'll have to stop it with a blade."
"You mean kill the ones carrying the bombs?"
"Exactly. So probably…"
Ernando pointed in a direction.
"That way."
As soon as he spoke, Yuri kicked off the ground and dashed forward.
Ernando's voice followed from behind.
"Your Highness, don't get hurt!"
Another explosion occurred again. Sparks floated above like fireflies.
Before more damage could occur, the culprit had to be eliminated.
He roused his mana and scanned the surroundings.
Amidst faint presences, one stood out with overwhelming force.
Yuri passed a wagon and rounded a corner.
A massive back came into view.
The physique was familiar.
It didn't carry a banner, but he had definitely seen this one before.
Orcbal.
In the battle against the Holy Kingdom, that orc had shot arrows at Yuri, and Yuri had responded with a thrown spear.
They had quite the history.
Yuri felt a strange sense of joy.
"So it was you?"
He immediately stabbed with his sword.
Clang!
Orcbal barely reacted in time. Yuri's attack was deflected.
"Tch."
Yuri stepped back and activated the mana method. The core in his chest pulsed strongly, sending mana coursing through his body.
Orcbal, upon spotting Yuri, widened his eyes, then grinned and raised his double-bladed axe.
Up close, he was even more absurdly large.
Orcbal shouted something. Of course, Yuri didn't understand.
"What are you saying?"
"Kuwakka Akuwaaak!"
"Happy to see me? Same here."
"Akuwa Kikuru Kurukkakkakyuk!"
"Begging for your life because you're scared? Afraid of me?"
"Kuu-kuu Duruturuku!"
"Too late to beg!"
Yuri lowered his stance and charged in.
Orcbal brought down his double-bladed axe. The ground was torn up and dirt scattered.
"Kwak-kwak, kaaaargh!"
The veins in Orcbal's neck bulged.
It was as if he was genuinely angry that Yuri had attacked him.
Yuri tilted his head.
"Did he really say he didn't want to fight?"
Not that it mattered.
No matter what Orcbal said, Yuri had already decided to behead this bastard and mount it on a spear.
"Shut up already!"
"Ikuwak!"
Yuri slashed with Guilty.
Guilty clashed with Orcbal's double-bladed axe. Orcbal took a step back.
Yuri powered his legs and charged again.
He slashed wide from the side.
Orcbal ducked low.
Their weapons collided, and Orcbal was pushed back.
His eyes widened. He seemed surprised by the unexpected force.
"Okahh!"
Orcbal let out a beastly scream and swung his double-bladed axe again.
A shadow loomed in Yuri's vision. It was like the blade of a massive guillotine crashing down.
Yuri rolled to the side to dodge.
The axe chased him.
For such a large frame, he moved swiftly. The axe kept flying at Yuri.
He blocked, dodged, rolled again.
Their attacks and defenses exchanged non-stop.
Every swing of the double-bladed axe smashed nearby wagons.
Yuri clenched his teeth.
It was too one-sided. He wanted to change the momentum, but no openings presented themselves.
Yuri recited the knight's prayer.
"Ancestor Erich, please grant me strength."
But instead of Erich Briol, what came to mind was the skull of the Death Knight he saw in the dungeon.
Not exactly a comforting image.
"Damn it."
Cursing, Yuri summoned a massive heart-soul slash. Mana surged around him like a torrent.
A white glow rose like a heat haze around his entire body.
Yuri stopped avoiding Orcbal's axe, and instead charged in.
Just before the axe blade could split his forehead, he twisted his body. The lump of steel grazed his cheek by a hair's breadth.
He slashed upward with Guilty.
He clearly felt the blade connect with the orc's side. But there was no sensation of it piercing through.
Yuri put in more strength and thrust deeper.
"Kuwaaaaagh!"
Orcbal roared and kicked Yuri. Yuri crossed his arms to block, but was still hurled backward with force.
Orcbal hunched slightly and glared at Yuri. From his broad shoulders, something like black heat haze rose.
"A mana method…"
Yuri gave a dry laugh.
If orcs had a shaman, then it meant they too had ways to handle mana.
There were, albeit a few, orcs who had awakened to mana.
Orcbal, it seemed, was one of those rare few.
Fortunately, his level didn't seem too high yet.
"This, this…"
Yuri looked up and glanced around.
He had thought it was a light raid, but it wasn't. It was clear now—an elite orc force had attacked the Briol army.
As proof, intense fighting still raged on.
For a small number of orcs to be fighting so well inside the camp guarded by the knight order—this meant they weren't ordinary soldiers.
"Kurrak Akk Karagak."
Orcbal spoke again.
Yuri tightened his grip around Guilty.
"If we'd met just a year later, you'd already be dead."
If heart-soul slash had reached its next stage, this Orcbal wouldn't have been such a difficult opponent.
That regret lingered.
But at the same time, it meant that he was still growing. This battle was becoming a major nutrient for Yuri.
Yuri and Orcbal moved their feet, keeping their eyes locked on each other.
The two watched their opponent cautiously.
Orcbal didn't move easily.
Anyone who knew about orcs would be shocked to see this.
Orcbal, one of the orcs' elite, was recognizing an eighteen-year-old boy as his equal.
"…Whew."
Yuri lowered Guilty, letting it hang, and took in Orcbal's full frame with his eyes.
To face such a massive opponent, brute strength could never work.
As any proper knight would, he had to use speed and agility to target openings.
Yuri smirked slightly.
As he looked at Orcbal, the upcoming fight played out in advance within Yuri's mind.
Among the choices available to him, he picked the one he liked most.
The decision was made.
Yuri made the first move.
Orcbal stepped in at the same time, as if he had been waiting for it. The distance between them closed in an instant.
Neither swung their weapon first.
Keeping their muscles tensed, ready to strike at any moment, they advanced with only their bodies.
They held their grips on their weapons and kept staring each other down.
Yuri guessed that Orcbal had faced humans many times before.
Because of the difference in strength, humans typically waited for orcs to make the first move, then struck at the opening after their attack ended.
Orcbal, not wanting it to go that way, held back from attacking first.
At some point, their ranges of attack overlapped.
Even so, the two kept pressing forward.
Their bodies collided.
Shoulders touched, with weapons held back.
Orcbal reacted first.
He struck at Yuri's head with his elbow.
It couldn't be avoided entirely.
Yuri twisted his body, summoning mana. The blow struck his shoulder.
"Guh…!"
Enduring the pain, Yuri moved Guilty. Orcbal, as if waiting, swung his weapon in response.
Their timing overlapped.
There was no avoiding the collision.
In that moment, Yuri lowered his stance again. Orcbal's eyes widened, thinking it was a feint.
Yuri barely deflected the axe blade, then stabbed Guilty into Orcbal's exposed abdomen.
The blade, wreathed in mana, pierced through the orc's rough leather armor and drove deep inside.
He felt the flesh being torn apart.
The twin-headed axe, now aimless, cleaved only air.
Orcbal stumbled from the momentum, driving the blade in deeper.
Yuri twisted his sword.
A dreadful sound spilled from Orcbal's mouth.
Using his body weight, Yuri pushed forward, forcing Orcbal down with Guilty. As Orcbal collapsed, Yuri yanked the blade out, completely ripping open his abdomen.
Blood splattered across Yuri's face.
Orcbal lay on the ground, his stomach torn open, bleeding profusely.
"…Whew."
It had been a short fight, but in that span, Yuri had completely overwhelmed Orcbal in the battle of wits. Considering his disadvantage in strength and stamina, one might even say he was lucky.
Orcbal had misjudged Yuri's level.
"Grrgh…"
It seemed Orcbal's thoughts weren't so different from Yuri's.
With his face twisted in disbelief, he fumbled at his spilled innards.
Judging from his expression, he was probably thinking something like, "I let my guard down…"
"That's your true strength."
Yuri rested Guilty across his shoulder.
He had no intention of killing the orc right away. He planned to interrogate him thoroughly.
The orcs they had captured before hadn't possessed the information Yuri wanted. But this Orcbal, who used the mana method, might know something.
He searched the orc's body.
There were no signs of explosives.
Instead, a few small, carved wooden balls came out. Strange mana lingered on them.
They seemed to be the spell bombs Ernando had mentioned.
"Your Highness!"
Three knights came running belatedly. Their faces were now familiar.
Yuri called their names.
"Simon, Guinness, Dyke."
The moment they saw the orc collapsed behind Yuri, their eyes widened.
"D-Did you face him alone, sir?"
"I did."
"That's incredible…"
They'd be even more surprised if they knew this was Orcbal, but unfortunately, he hadn't come wearing his banner.
Yuri didn't feel the need to boast, so he didn't explain. He simply gave a slight nod.
"If you want to be called a knight, you should at least be able to handle one orc on your own."
The three knights coughed awkwardly.
The younger knights were still too inexperienced to fight an orc alone, so they'd been grouped in threes for coordinated attacks.
"Judging from the blood on you, I assume you took one down yourselves too."
"Yes."
"Well done."
Yuri praised their efforts.
Praise makes even whales dance.
"At first, I had no faith in you, but the more I watch, the more impressed I am. You're steadily improving, and I like seeing that."
The three knights felt a strange sensation.
He was clearly younger than them, and yet it felt like they were being recognized by a distant superior.
The pride swelling inside them was almost embarrassing.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
"What's there to thank me for? I only said the truth."
"Y-Yes…"
"Anyway, someone has to stay and keep watch over this guy…"
The three exchanged glances.
They all looked eager to earn more merit. To do that, they had to stay with Yuri.
At times like this, it was best for Yuri to decide himself.
He pointed at one of them.
"Simon."
"Yes!"
"Looks like you hurt your leg."
"It's a minor injury. I'm fine."
"Still, take a break. You'll end up getting hurt worse."
"…Yes, sir."
"If that thing moves, stab it immediately. Your safety is the top priority."
"Understood."
Simon's expression shifted oddly.
Yuri could read his emotions clearly from his face.
They say to row while the tide is in.
Yuri smiled gently.
"Simon. My precious knight."
"…Yes."
"This is an order I give because I see your potential. Do you understand?"
Simon nodded.
His eyes looked a bit moist—but it must've been a trick of the light.
Probably just the wind from standing outside too long.