32. The Final Battle (2)
The Orkbals’ attacks were fierce.
Yuri dodged the attacks and thrust Guilty forward.
A mana-infused fist retaliated.
“Tch.”
He ducked to avoid it and quickly scanned his surroundings.
Everyone was facing their opponents in their own way.
Even though they had gathered the most skilled individuals from the Allied Forces, they couldn’t kill the enemies immediately.
It was clear that the elite Orkbals blocking their path were incredibly strong.
“Hahaha! Is that all you’ve got?!”
Jose of Brusin split an Orkbal’s head open with his massive sword. Almost immediately, several more Orkbals swarmed him.
He took them one after another.
As expected, he was a man destined to become one of the Ten Strongest.
The Imperial Knights fought silently. Graham and the Third Knight Commander, in particular, had already killed several Orkbals and had slowly advanced.
There was no time to fall behind.
Yuri focused on the Orkbal in front of him again.
“Akuakkai!”
“You recognize me too?”
“Akumetum che kua!”
Yuri evaded the Orkbal’s strikes, delivering precise attacks that steadily accumulated damage.
It wasn’t an impossible opponent, but defeating it would take time.
The Orkbal swung its axe. As soon as he dodged, another attack followed.
This opponent didn’t simply rely on brute strength; its attacks showcased a masterful command of its weapon.
“Not bad.”
But Yuri had grown stronger through his experiences in the Allied Forces.
He watched for openings appearing between the Orkbal’s attacks.
At first, the openings were too shallow to exploit. So, he baited the enemy into pressing further.
Feigning a mistake, Yuri staggered slightly, as if losing balance. The subtle misstep created an illusion of vulnerability without disrupting the battle’s flow.
At that moment, Yuri saw it.
A small opening appeared between the Orkbal’s side and its lower abdomen. A tiny gap, but enough for Yuri.
A fleeting opportunity appeared, shorter than a blink of an eye.
“Die!”
Yuri shouted and thrust Guilty forward with all his might.
At first, it seemed like a reckless attack. But Guilty pierced through that tiny, almost invisible opening.
The Orkbal’s mocking expression froze.
Its thick hide was pierced by the deadly thrust.
Guilty dug deeper.
“Kwaaak!”
The strike, though deadly, left Yuri momentarily off balance, his posture awkwardly low from the acrobatic maneuver.
The Orkbal roared and was about to swing its axe down. But suddenly, it heard a strange sound in its ears.
At first, it resembled the rustling of the wind. Listening more closely, it sounded like the hum of a spinning top—something rapidly whirring and grinding.
A burning sensation rose from its lower abdomen.
By the time it realized what it was, it was already too late.
The Orkbal lost its grip on its axe and collapsed.
“Graaaaah!”
Mana swirled around Guilty.
The orc’s innards were shredded as if caught in a grinding mill, the spiraling energy carving a massive hole through its midsection.
“An application of the Sword of Spinning Whirlwind, Small Rotation.”
It was a technique derived from simplifying the principles of the whirlwind he had previously created. Even a small opening could inflict a fatal wound.
He stepped on the dead Orkbal and moved forward.
Okuah, standing at a distance, slowly came into view.
His eyes were still fixed on a distant point, probably glaring at Moyongchan.
The two were engaged in a battle Yuri couldn’t comprehend.
“Just how long are they going to stare each other down?”
He understood the concept of gauging an opponent’s strength and engaging in unseen tactical battles—he’d done so himself. But the clash between Okuah and Moyongchan was beyond his comprehension.
Before he could ponder further, another Orkbal charged at him.
The orc was weaker than expected.
Something felt off.
The realization sent a chill down Yuri’s spine.
He couldn’t pinpoint the exact cause, but it was clear—this battle was taking a dangerous turn.
Behind them, the Allied Forces were collapsing under the assault of the monsters, while ahead, the elite Orkbal prevented any further progress.
At the center of it all, Okuah still hadn’t properly joined the battle.
Yuri kicked an Orkbal in the chest, sending it tumbling, and looked at Okuah.
He had grown.
Yuri’s eyes widened.
Okuah was larger than when Yuri had first seen him. Already tall, his bulk had clearly increased.
A dark aura was emanating from his body like smoke.
Suddenly, the figure of the dark shaman appeared beside him, then vanished.
“No.”
Yuri’s eyes widened further.
“We’ve been tricked.”
He realized something was wrong.
Yuri activated Heart and Soul Slash.
Unleashing his energy, he swung Guilty, killing the Orkbal clinging to him. The energy of Heart and Soul Slash swirled around him.
He focused his gaze.
[Have you realized it?]
It was the voice of the dark shaman he had seen earlier in the barracks.
[But it’s already too late.]
The elite Orkbals had to be killed for Okuah and Moyongchan to face each other one-on-one.
Yuri pushed that thought aside.
Yuri immediately charged towards Okuah.
“Yuri!”
“Your Highness!”
There were shouts calling out to him from behind.
But Yuri ignored them all and headed towards Okuah.
A couple of Orkbals clung to him, but he shook them off.
He charged towards Okuah with great speed.
It was only then that Okuah lowered his gaze to look at Yuri.
“Okuah!”
As he approached, Yuri noticed something he hadn’t seen before.
Okuah was standing guard in front of a pit.
A dark energy surged within it.
The energy rising from the black pit continuously flowed into Okuah. His power grew with each passing moment.
“That…”
Okuah swung his long arm at Yuri.
Even though he wielded no weapon, Yuri instinctively sensed danger. He angled Guilty and placed his hand on its center.
Clang!
Guilty shook violently, and Yuri’s body slammed into the ground.
Blood surged up from within him.
But he couldn’t stay down.
Yuri got to his feet.
From the start, everything had been wrong.
Why had Okuah been merely observing, and why had Moyongchan said he would wait until he could fight one-on-one?
It was Moyongchan himself who had said that Okuah’s sorcery grew stronger with time.
Yuri muttered,
“Dark magic…”
Ordinary magic could be dispelled.
But dark magic was different.
From the moment Okuah first appeared, he was already using dark magic to cloud people’s vision.
Relying on Moyongchan, even Yuri hadn’t suspected a thing.
The figure of the dark shaman appeared before Yuri.
[Die as a sacrifice.]
And it laughed. At the same time, the corner of Okuah’s mouth lifted in a grin.
Yuri instinctively swung Guilty toward the dark shaman. The dark shaman’s body split in half, only to reassemble.
The dark shaman’s face contorted.
[That strange sword…]
The dark shaman waved its hand. Okuah began to approach.
The ground trembled.
Yuri shouted toward Moyongchan, who was behind him.
“How long are you going to stay there?!”
But he didn’t come.
Yuri gritted his teeth and raised Guilty.
He understood what he had to do.
No one else could do what he could do.
To summon Moyongchan, he had to cut it down now.
He drew upon the power of Heart and Soul Slash.
He ignored his physical limitations. He forgot about the side effects that could be caused by overheating his Mana Method.
His eyes became bloodshot.
He saw what he had to see.
His vision shifted.
Colors faded as if evaporating. It was the world of black and white he had seen before, where only density existed.
Within it, Yuri could see black lines extending like tentacles.
He realized what was in the black pit Okuah had been guarding.
Human sacrifices.
Now, he understood why dark magic couldn’t be dispelled.
It wasn’t powered by mana, but by the energy obtained from the sacrifice.
“Disgusting.”
It was revolting.
Orcs were disgusting.
And that dark magic was even more disgusting.
His heart screamed in agony. Guilty vibrated as if the earth itself were shaking.
But Yuri didn’t stop.
His eyes became bloodshot. His vision intensified, glowing even brighter.
Everything vanished.
A massive, black mass appeared.
Faces continuously emerged from within it, wailing.
Save me…
It hurts so much…
Take me out…
Ahhhh…
The mournful wails continued.
Echoes reverberated.
That was the energy fueling the dark magic.
The souls of the dead.
Yuri, suppressing the urge to vomit, raised Guilty.
He couldn’t handle that dark mass.
But he could probably cut the black tentacles that were spreading out from the pit.
Among the tentacles spreading out like a spider’s web, there was one unusually thick and large branch.
He raised Guilty.
This time, the sword in his hand was different from before. It was no longer a fixed form but a wedge-shaped beam of light.
Yuri leaped towards the black tentacle.
A pale mass surged toward him, but Yuri paid it no mind.
Suddenly, the voice of the lion returned.
‘It means the time has come for that power to be needed.’
Indeed.
He seemed to faintly understand the will of Erich Briol, who had created this Mana Method.
To sever that cursed power, the right tool was required.
“Heart and Soul Slash.”
Yuri swung the beam of light.
And with that, he severed the dark magic.
* * *
Moyongchan was observing the battlefield with a hardened expression.
The Allied Forces were putting up a good fight against the orcs. The performance of Yuri Briol, whom he had taken as his disciple, was particularly impressive. He was truly a promising young lad.
Moyongchan too wanted to step forward and slay the Orcs.
But he had to conserve his strength until he faced Okuah.
He waited for the moment when he could fully engage in battle with that cursed being.
“Okuah…”
Just when it seemed like the Allied Forces were gaining the upper hand, monsters tamed by sorcery suddenly appeared, throwing the battlefield into chaos.
He could see people dying.
Moyongchan clenched his fists.
To kill Okuah, he would have to endure this.
Soon, Yuri and the skilled members of the allied forces, whom he had gathered, launched their final charge. They clashed with the elite Orkbal that Okuah had been guarding.
He just had to wait a little longer.
Once they killed all the Orkbal, he would be able to fight Okuah in a decisive battle.
But then, Yuri suddenly broke through the Orkbal formation and charged towards Okuah.
Why was he doing this?
Fighting Okua meant only death.
The only one who could stop him was Moyongchan, and to do that, he had to clear out the remaining Orkbals and create a one-on-one situation.
“Foolish child…”
Should he intervene?
But he couldn’t let personal emotions cloud his judgment and ruin the greater cause.
Moyongchan clenched his fists tighter.
To stop a disaster like Okuah, sacrifices were inevitable.
He steeled himself, trying to maintain his resolve.
But then, at some point, Yuri’s sword glowed white and transformed into a beam of light.
And he sliced through something.
He couldn’t quite tell what it was, but it seemed to have sliced through something large and tough. The dull thud was audible even from where he was standing.
It was a bizarre sound, as if the world itself was being cleaved.
And then, Yuri was struck by Okuah’s attack and sent tumbling.
Yuri coughed up blood.
“Ah.”
Moyongchan blinked, watching the scene unfold.
An awareness, long suppressed beneath his consciousness, awakened.
“Aah…”
Why had he been standing still here?
It was true he had been conserving his strength to fight Okuah. But was it right to remain idly by while the battle dragged on like this?
As time passed, Okuah’s sorcery was only growing stronger.
Why had he done this?
Moyongchan shouted in frustration.
“Go!”
His energy surged.
The remnants of the black energy lingering in his body completely evaporated.
The confusion lifted.
Moyongchan realized it.
When he first faced Okuah, he had unknowingly fallen under his sorcery.
The evil energy had consumed his mind, causing him to fixate on the wrong thoughts.
Moyongchan felt a surge of anger.
The last disciple of the Cheongseong Sect had been manipulated by the vile sorcery. Even as his disciple coughed up blood, he stood by and watched without moving.
Moyongchan roared in fury.
His lion’s roar shook the grasslands.
Before its echo could even return, he was already standing in the midst of the battlefield, deflecting Okuah’s arm as it flew toward Yuri.
He heard his fallen disciple grumbling,
“Ahhh, what took you so long…?”