Rise of the Fallen Kingdom’s Third Prince

Although he didn’t fully trust Joseph, Yuri went to the castle where the king of Konzed lived.

“So you came after all.”

“So it seems…”

It was a place he had already visited during the Chronicles of the Tyrant King. Here he had met the king of Konzed, possessed by black magic.

“Well then…”

With Laurent and Jared at his sides, Yuri looked up at the castle.

“Those guys look like they’re about to start a war.”

“That’s right.”

Perhaps because the news had already reached them, the castle was in a complete state of defense.

The gates were firmly shut, and numerous soldiers stood in rows on the walls, their bows aimed downward.

“What do we do?”

“Who knows.”

Jared smiled calmly.

“Laurent and I will simply follow Your Highness’s decision.”

“Haa…”

Yuri shrugged.

“I don’t want to be the one making heavy decisions anymore…”

When he fought against Cedric, he carried countless lives on his shoulders. There had been no one else who could do it.

But now that the world was at peace, Yuri didn’t want to live with that weight again.

Even so, the world was pushing him once more into the currents of a revolution.

Was this perhaps the fate that life imposed on him—one he couldn’t escape even if he wished?

“Haa…”

Sighing, Yuri turned around. Then, a thunderous clamor surrounded him.

“Lord Tyrant!”

As he made his way to the king of Konzed accompanied by the village youths, the inhabitants he passed began joining the march. Soon, the crowd grew like a snowball.

Now it was, by all appearances, a popular uprising.

He had only intended to stop a street fight, but it had turned out like this.

“I knew I carried the storm with me, but I didn’t think it was to this extent.”

“Even I’m surprised now.”

Yuri closed his eyes.

The furious will of the crowd pushed him from behind.

“There’s no helping it. Let’s end this quickly.”

“Yes.”

“Today…”

Yuri spoke quietly.

“I won’t kill anyone.”

After all, he was a foreigner. He didn’t want blood to be spilled in Konzed. He was sick of wars of death and destruction.

“Everyone on standby.”

Giving a brief order, Yuri advanced alone.

The imposing castle.

The troops that filled it.

But Yuri felt no fear.

He murmured softly.

“The net of heaven may seem loose, but nothing escapes it.”

Even after the war had ended, he had continued to grow stronger.

It wasn’t intentional. Everything around him had been his master, and so his sword advanced on its own toward higher realms every day.

This time was no different. Yuri had learned another lesson.

Who could have predicted that he would meet Joseph and, persuaded by him, end up overthrowing the tyrant king of Konzed?

Pure coincidence. But it all happened because that king had defied the justice of heaven.

If things had followed their proper course, Yuri and Joseph would never have crossed paths.

Whoever goes against the current of the world will face, sooner or later, the opposition of the entire universe. Someone would always end up blocking their path.

Only, if it hadn’t been Yuri Briol, much more blood would have been shed.

“If I’ve been given a role, then I must fulfill it gladly.”

Yuri raised his weapon.

Perhaps it was also fate that humanity’s newest creation ended up in his hands.

As he advanced, he whispered.

“The tip of my weapon shines, and the trigger delivers judgment…”

As he approached alone toward the walls, the soldiers of Konzed were bewildered. The commander, from above, hurried the order to attack.

An archer released the bowstring.

The weak arrow embedded itself at Yuri’s feet.

“……!”

It was the first attack.

The defenders of the castle, and also the citizens behind Yuri, held their breath.

The target of Konzed was none other than Yuri Briol. The attack had begun. The battle was inevitable.

An open declaration of war.

Yuri raised the barrel of his weapon.

But his gaze wasn’t on the enemy. He looked at the sky, as if taking in the scenery.

The sun was already setting.

He murmured.

“The sun is setting…”

And then—

His weapon roared.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

The weapon, developed with dwarven technology surpassing the limits of the era, had taken the form of an automatic pistol.

Thanks to the double magazine, it had a capacity of fifteen rounds.

Thus, fifteen lightning bolts fell upon each target. At the top of the wall, fifteen soldiers cried out in pain.

“Argh!”

“Aagh!”

“Ughhh!”

But the railing of the wall was not stained with blood.

Yuri’s unique shooting style, born from adapting the Court of the Soul and the Heart, struck only the precise points.

“T-the bows…!”

Fifteen bows shattered.

The bullets that broke the strings merely grazed the archers’ cheeks or embedded themselves in the back walls, without taking a single life.

It was divine mastery over firearms.

Yuri realized then that his technique had reached the level of a complete martial art.

He murmured the name of the technique he had created.

“Shaking of the Soul and the Heart.”

If with the sword he cut his enemies, with firearms he would sweep them away.

With that first attack, Konzed’s troops lost their morale. Even though the commander urged them on, the soldiers lowered their bows and withdrew.

Their spirit was already broken.

The enemy was the hero who had saved the continent. And what they were supposed to protect was nothing more than a tyrant king who had plunged the nation into ruin.

Who would wield their weapon with a clear conscience?

“A war without justification is doomed to defeat.”

Yuri advanced with steady steps.

Until he stood before the castle gate, not a single arrow flew again.

“Ha!”

With a kick infused with the rage and suffering of the people of Konzed, he delivered a brutal spin.

Wham!

The iron gate bent like paper and collapsed backward.

Beyond it awaited an armed army, rigid with tension. Yuri entered without hurry.

The soldiers didn’t dare stop him and moved aside to the left and right, opening a path on their own.

Yuri stopped in front of a knight.

“Your name was Axl, right?”

“Y-your Highness?”

“It’s been a while.”

“You remember me…?”

“Of course. I remember your brave figure.”

He was one who had fought alongside him in the Anti-Empire Union.

“Your Highness…”

Yuri smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and continued walking.

Many faces were familiar to him. He greeted each one with his gaze and advanced without obstacles.

Majesty.

Confidence.

Yuri had the presence of a true sovereign.

He entered the interior of the castle and reached the main hall. There he found the king of Konzed.

A middle-aged, pot-bellied man.

“D-damn it…”

With an empty laugh, he soon hardened his voice.

“E-even if you’re a hero, you can’t meddle in the internal affairs of another country! Don’t violate the sovereignty of Konzed!”

“I haven’t come here as Yuri Briol, but as a representative of the people of Konzed.”

“You say it very convincingly. But if you interfere like this in internal affairs, do you think other countries will just sit by? Even if you’re a hero, will you attack a king at will? Everyone will be watching you.”

“I have no intention of forcing anything.”

“Then why the hell have you come?”

“First, I want to speak with the son of the previous king who was unjustly imprisoned. Bring him here.”

“Unjustly? That man conspired to rebel.”

“According to the people, it wasn’t a rebellion, but a legitimate claim to his right.”

“Humph…”

The king gestured with his chin.

“Bring him.”

A few knights guarding the royal hall moved at once. The king, uncomfortable, let out forced smiles.

“Do you plan to dethrone me here and now?”

“Who knows.”

“You don’t want this to turn into a bigger disaster, do you?”

“Well, you’re right about that.”

Before long, the son of the previous king, until then in prison, appeared.

“Oh…”

He was tall, strongly built. Though he was gaunt, his eyes shone brightly.

He was such a gallant young man that it was hard to believe he had been under the influence of black magic.

As soon as he entered the royal hall in chains, he bowed his head to Yuri.

“I was made a prisoner by the treachery of a serpent, but I have never renounced my rights. The legitimate successor of Konzed, Pietro, greets Your Highness Yuri Briol.”

After his bow, he looked straight at Yuri, who felt sympathy for him.

“Pietro, I have heard of your injustice. The people also wish you to be king.”

The king of Konzed coughed awkwardly.

“Ahem…”

Yuri continued, paying him no mind.

“How can I help you?”

“I don’t ask for much. I only wish for everything to follow the natural course.”

“The natural course, you say.”

“I want!”

Pietro’s eyes burned with determination.

“I want to fight in a duel under the authority of the Tyrant King, in accordance with the laws of Konzed’s royal family!”

“A duel?”

“If both parties agree, everything can be decided with a fight. I want to reclaim the throne with my own strength.”

The king of Konzed clenched his teeth, moving his leg nervously. Pietro went on.

“I will rely on nothing else. Only with my fists will I conquer honor.”

“Interesting.”

Yuri looked at the king of Konzed.

“And what do you say?”

“Ridiculous. Do I have the right to refuse?”

His gaze fell on the firearm and sword Yuri carried.

“Fine. I’ll do as you want! I’ll take the beating of my life and fall in a heap at the throne’s feet!”

Thus, the duel for the throne was agreed upon.

Yuri smirked to the side.

“Everything’s going well.”

***

“Your Highness.”

“Eh, what?”

“What do we do now?”

“I don’t know…”

In front of the castle, the combat arena was prepared, and before all the people began the bare-knuckle duel between the king of Konzed and Pietro.

Konzed’s fighting style relied solely on fists. For that reason, both wore only shorts on the sand.

At first, everyone bet on Pietro’s victory.

His toned physique spoke for itself, while the king of Konzed, obese and flabby, seemed incapable of fighting.

The early exchanges went without surprises. Pietro, with martial technique, combined short strikes and low kicks, humiliating the king. The latter could only take punches.

But then—

“Hyaaah!”

“Kraagh!”

“Lai lai cha cha cha!”

The king, his face swollen from the blows, endured until he landed a good punch and turned the tide of the fight.

With his enormous body, he unleashed a rain of blows upon Pietro.

“Is that all you’ve got, boy? Huh?”

“Ugh, haaah…”

“In my time, no matter how much of an advantage I had, I never let my guard down. Even if I was showered with blows, I kept my senses and waited for the chance. That’s what it means to be a fighter!”

At first it seemed like pure luck, but it wasn’t.

Yuri murmured in disbelief.

“How the hell can a guy with that belly fight so well…?”

“He’s rotating his hips precisely.”

“And why does Pietro close his eyes when he punches?”

“I think he got scared after taking several hits…”

“If he just flails his arms like that, he’ll never land a blow. Ah, look at that…”

“He’s done for already.”

Pietro, his face swollen, staggered while throwing wild slaps.

The king, moving cunningly, got behind him and kicked him in the backside.

“Over here, brat!”

Pietro fell flat on his face. The king, proud, spread his arms to display his hefty body and gestured for him to get up.

“I don’t hit a man when he’s down. Stop putting on a show, kid.”

“Grrr!”

“Come on, let’s go!”

Pietro charged again, but the king intercepted him with a precise counterattack.

“Argh!”

Pietro’s legs buckled and he clung to his opponent. The two struggled, rolling across the sand. Blood and dust flew.

After several changes in position, the king ended up underneath.

“Ugh…”

Age was taking its toll. His stamina was limited, and Pietro, as a martial arts practitioner, dominated the fight on the ground.

“Die! Die!”

With the advantage, Pietro unleashed a barrage of punches. The king’s face shook side to side, splattering blood.

“Die!”

It was a ruthless, one-sided ground-and-pound. It looked as though the fight would end there.

But then, the king roared.

“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”

A cry that shook the entire arena.

“Lai lai cha cha chaaaaaaa!”

With a tremendous hip thrust, he threw Pietro aside and, staggering, got back on his feet.

He had broken the mounted position purely with strength and spirit.

The fighting spirit. That was what could be felt from this man.

Jared murmured with a sigh.

“This fight… I no longer know how it will end.”

Both were in tatters. Eyes swollen, lips split. They panted heavily.

But while the king advanced, Pietro retreated.

Tenacity was making the difference.

Yuri murmured without realizing it.

“Impressive…”

At that moment, more than the sturdy Pietro, what shone was the aged, pot-bellied body of the king.

The will of a man throwing himself against his own limits was beautiful.

Thus the duel for the throne of Konzed advanced toward its conclusion.