Yuri, Laurent, and Jared took on the persona of sworn brothers who had made a pact in a sweet potato field, and headed to the city of Yoheim to stir up the people.
"Is this all the men of Yoheim are capable of?!"
Yuri cried out.
"The Empire may be a great power, but they can't just treat our country like a toy! It is said that a monarch, a father, and a teacher are one and the same. Then the Empire's ludicrous accusation of poisoning, their attempt to harm our king, is no different from a gang of thugs targeting a parent's life! And yet you open your gates to such men and feel no shame?!"
His voice carried great appeal.
In his past life, Yuri would gather the soldiers daily and give rousing speeches to boost morale. He had a talent for oration, and eventually, the soldiers were moved to tears and shouted "Briol!" with fervor.
Even among the Allied Army, whenever he opened his mouth, the reaction was nothing short of enthusiastic.
Drawing fully on that experience, Yuri provoked the emotions of the people of Yoheim.
His voice, amplified by the mana method, struck deep into the heart, and his clever choice of words filled listeners with righteous anger.
"But we have no power. What if the Imperial Army comes to kill us?"
Someone in the crowd asked.
Yuri's honest thought in response was this:
There's no helping it.
The Empire had already gone mad. He never believed they could win this war without sacrifices. Even if people had to die, they had to stop the enemy.
Graham might be keeping the army in check for now, but once he was gone, chaos would erupt. Yuri had seen more than enough of what happened to conquered nations in his past life.
"Are you afraid?"
Yuri tapped into the man's emotions.
"Are you afraid that standing up and resisting will get you killed, when bowing down might let you live?"
"Yes. Honestly, I'm afraid."
"Then you don't have to fight."
It was an unexpected statement. A brief silence followed.
Yuri looked around at the audience and spoke again.
"Then just watch. Watch as your king is disgraced, as your city is burned to the ground, as your fellow countrymen are reduced to playthings for the enemy.
Just stand by and watch! One day, it will be your turn, and your family's turn, to be oppressed. But by then, no one will be left to fight for you. So if you'd rather not die fighting, then bow down. Lie flat on the ground, crushed beneath their feet, and die slowly without even a whimper!"
Yuri's voice thundered through the streets.
Even passersby stopped in their tracks.
The people of Yoheim were proud.
Though their national strength was not great, their mountainous terrain had kept them from ever being fully conquered. Having survived such harsh environments, they naturally had a tough side.
The younger knights may have seemed soft, but only because peace had lasted too long. Deep inside, they still carried the grit of mountain folk.
As proof, hadn't they turned into hardened soldiers the moment their short training was over?
Yuri kept pressing on that latent spirit within Yoheim.
"Yoheim, which has never once bowed to the enemy, is now laying open the road to the royal palace without a fight. Does this make sense?! What are you, mangy dogs who've thrown away even their pride?!"
Then another person objected.
"But aren't the royal forces already gathered in the palace? What can mere civilians like us do...?"
"Then just watch! Sit back and watch as if it's someone else's problem, and see your homeland become a colony! But I won't stand for it. I will gather those with spirit and resist the Empire!"
"That's...!"
As Yuri shouted, the guards came running.
"What do you think you're doing?! Get down this instant!"
Yuri pointed at them and shouted even louder.
"Soldiers who should be fighting the Empire are instead threatening fellow citizens of Yoheim!"
"Stop inciting unrest and come here!"
"So you're afraid of the Empire, but not afraid to bully your own people?"
The guards were only following orders, but Yuri used them as tools of provocation.
"Ha!"
With a wave of his hand, Yuri sent the charging guards flying. Several of them hit the ground hard at once.
It was an incredible display of power.
Yuri puffed out his chest and shouted,
"My name is Yubi! Once just a humble straw mat peddler, I could no longer stand by after seeing Yoheim's current plight, so I have risen!"
Yuri and his companions had slightly altered their names to create aliases.
"With my two sworn brothers, I seek to gather those with spirit and rise against the Empire! If you share our will, then come with us!"
After seeing his superhuman strength in throwing the soldiers, the crowd buzzed even more.
"Yubi? Never heard the name, but somehow it sounds noble."
"He's got big ears. They say people with big ears can gather followers."
"He took down those soldiers in a flash! That strength is no joke."
"Are those two standing next to him his sworn brothers?"
Laurent and Jared stood tall beside Yuri like stone totems.
To make themselves appear more imposing, they had stuffed their clothes with padding to bulk up.
Laurent stepped forward. Clearing his throat, he spoke in a rough voice.
"I am Lou, younger brother to Brother Yubi!"
His chin bore a long, smooth beard, though in truth it was made from his own hair—he'd run out of materials when crafting a slime mask, so he substituted with that. Turned out, it added a unique flair.
"I was once a humble teacher at a small school, but I was enraged by the current state of affairs and joined Brother Yubi's cause! It's time we show those imperial dogs just how fierce the mountain folk of Yoheim can be!"
Jared stepped forward as well.
"I am the youngest of the three, Javid! I used to run a butcher shop, but seeing Yoheim fall into ruin made me feel like I'd burst from frustration, so I stepped up myself! My blade will no longer cut meat, but will strike at the Empire oppressing Yoheim!"
They each took on civilian identities to build solidarity with the people of Yoheim.
And it worked—the murmurs among the onlookers grew even louder.
Then someone stepped out from the crowd.
"So you really were a mat peddler, yet your strength is formidable. Let me ask: say we follow you. What do you plan to do after gathering people?"
He too looked like a man of strength. He wasn't bribed—just an ordinary citizen who had stepped up of his own accord.
Yuri nodded and smiled gently. This was proof his words had reached someone's heart.
"I'll form a militia. I've sold off the inheritance I received for this cause and used it to buy weapons and equipment. All I need is bodies. I'll make sure anyone can fight for Yoheim! I'll even pay a wage—anyone can join!"
"You must've had a fair bit of wealth for a mat peddler."
"All thanks to my ancestors. So, will you join us?"
"I may be strong, but I've never fought. I've never learned the mana method either. Would that be okay?"
"I'll teach you the mana method. With muscles like yours, even a little training will bring quick results."
Yuri knew several mana methods that ordinary soldiers and mercenaries learned.
They couldn't compare to something like the Briol Method or the Lion Heart Method, but they were more than enough to train civilians.
"Alright. I'd like to join you. I can't stand seeing Yoheim look like a land of cowards."
"As long as people like you exist, no one will dare look down on Yoheim!"
From that point, more spirited individuals began to gather. Soon, their number reached dozens.
Yuri greeted each one personally with a handshake.
Just then, the soldiers whom Yuri had humiliated earlier returned, bringing more men with them.
But faced with a much larger crowd, they looked clearly flustered.
"W-What's going on?! Are you trying to start a rebellion?!"
Yuri pointed at them and declared,
"We've simply gathered with a will to fight for our country. A rebellion? How dare you insult us! The time has come for us to defend our own land!"
"Protect Yoheim!"
As the soldiers charged, this time Laurent and Jared stepped up. Using the mana method, they flung the soldiers left and right.
As bodies flew like dolls, awe for their strength spread even more.
The militia Yuri had gathered was steadily growing in number.
The citizens of Yoheim murmured as they watched the militia gather.
"To think so many gathered so quickly, perhaps the nation's not doomed after all."
"Exactly. Who would've thought today's young folks had such patriotism?"
"But did you hear? I heard someone with spirit has risen in another place, too. Apparently, they're incredibly strong..."
"Really?"
"Yes. What was the person's name again? Ho, Ho..."
"Ho?"
"Was it Hopper?"
***
Though the lords of Yoheim were opening the roads, some resisted the Empire and began engaging in combat.
But it was a reckless fight.
Not only were they inferior in troop quality, one of the Ten Strongest, Yalta, had entered the fray, and from then on, the battle became utterly one-sided.
"They're so weak, I don't even feel the thrill of cutting them down."
Swinging his massive greatsword like it was cutting weeds, Yalta ripped his enemies' bodies apart. Those who stood in his way—knights or soldiers—were reduced to mere slabs of meat.
A lord who had come forth in hopes of slowing the Empire's advance clenched his teeth as he watched his forces fall meaninglessly.
"So this is the power of the Ten Strongest. Damn it..."
Though the knights and soldiers were being pushed back, there was still some level of exchange.
But once Yalta appeared, everything unraveled. He harvested human lives like stalks of rice.
The lord was about to call for a retreat.
It was then—
"Need some help?"
A voice came from behind. The lord turned in surprise. There hadn't been a single sign of presence.
"Who are you...?"
A massive, handsome man stood there.
His body was burly, but his face was so neat that it created an odd contrast.
"W-Who are you?"
"I'm Hopper, a native of Yoheim who trained in the Aloy Mountains."
"Hopper?"
"Hofo—well, whatever is comfortable. Let's go with Hopper."
The lord, being a knight who had learned the mana method himself, could sense the unusual energy radiating from this man named Hopper.
Hopper spoke.
"I had been training with the sky as my ceiling and the ground as my pillow, but upon seeing what's happening in Yoheim now, I was enraged and descended the mountain."
"I-Is that so?"
"You seem to be struggling. Let me offer my help."
He pointed toward Yalta, who was rampaging in the center of the battlefield.
"I'll show that imperial dog the sting of Yoheim's whip."
"Do you even know who he is? That man is one of the Ten Strongest..."
"So what?"
Hopper drew his sword.
"So what if he's one of the Ten Strongest? Are you saying someone like that is greater than all of Yoheim?"
A single man versus all of Yoheim—those two could never weigh the same.
The lord was momentarily speechless.
Hopper began walking forward and spoke.
"I am nothing more than a nameless nobody, but if it's for my country, I'll stand against anyone—even one of the Ten Strongest."
It was like the lord had been struck in the head with a hammer.
"To think a man like this existed..."
Of course, Hopper wasn't truly an unknown—he was actually Jose, a powerful man often spoken of in the same breath as the Ten Strongest. But the lord had no way of knowing that.
Jose walked toward Yalta, sword in hand.
In the chaos of the battlefield, the two men locked eyes and recognized each other.
"I wanted to become one of the Ten Strongest by killing Gert, but I failed."
Muttering under his breath, Jose—wearing his slime mask—pointed his sword at Yalta. Yalta's lips curled upward.
Though the Ten Strongest referred to the ten most powerful warriors on the continent, that didn't mean there were no differences in power among them.
Just as Fiore was regarded as the strongest among them, there were naturally relative strengths and weaknesses.
To Jose's eyes, Yalta was weaker—not only than Fiore or Moyong Chan—but also than Gert.
Which meant, if he couldn't even defeat Yalta, he had no right to be called one of the Ten Strongest.
Jose smiled as he watched Yalta approach.
"This time, I really will become one of the Ten Strongest. It's about time Bursen produced one."
Of course, if he defeated Yalta now, he wouldn't be known as Jose of Bursen, but as Hopper, the backwoods native of Yoheim, who suddenly rose to the ranks of the Ten Strongest. But fired up before the battle, he hadn't thought that far ahead.
Jose and Yalta lunged at each other like beasts, their swords clashing.
A shockwave exploded from the impact.
Nearby soldiers were caught in the blast and thrown off their feet.
"What a sight..."
The lord watching the fight gaped in awe.
To think someone who could fight Yalta on equal footing had been hiding in the mountains of Yoheim—if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he never would have believed it.
The lord muttered vacantly,
"A time of chaos awakens heroes indeed."
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