Days passed by, and to Yuto's surprise, his journey was nothing but peace.
Along the way, he often exchanged information with the father figure beside him, who turned out to be a merchant named Gonzo.
He was travelling with his daughter, Shery, to the Kingdom to attend an auction that had taken place a few days prior.
His reasoning was to buy something special as a gift for his wife's upcoming birthday.
They were quite bold to travel all this way to buy a present.
A father and daughter duo, venturing into a foreign land. Aware that they could be met with danger that threatened their lives.
Yuto was also surprised to learn that one of the bandit members he killed turned out to be a guard that Gonzo had hired in the nearest city.
Fortunately, he had come to help. Because of that, Gonzo was very grateful and felt guilty for having bad assumptions about him.
"..."
On the coachman's seat, Yuto's body rattled by the carriage rhythm, as the gentle wind of spring caressed his cheek tenderly.
He sat in silence. The Qi in his dantian grew denser and brighter every time he cultivated.
It put him in a bind: 'Is cultivation this easy to achieve?'.
Beside him, Gonzo sat while holding the reins tight, keeping an eye on the horse's condition, while occasionally humming a sweet tune.
Meanwhile, his slightly shy daughter remained inside, quiet and immersed in the story she was reading.
"Savior, we're almost at the border."
Hearing the voice beside him, Yuto's eyes slowly opened, and he saw a towering wall stretched endlessly to both sides.
Despite its height and size, the wall was clean and well-maintained, or perhaps magical effects were used in its construction.
As they neared the checkpoint, his eyes narrowed.
"Stop!"
A commanding voice from one of the guards, wearing silver armour. Holding a sharp spear as tall as his body, stood in front to block the horses' path.
Gonzo pulled the reins, causing the horses to neigh and halt.
"State your name and your purpose for crossing this border!"
The guard came face-to-face with Gonzo.
Seen up close, his appearance was a bit old, around forty. A scar on his forehead hinted at years of experience.
However, Yuto's brows furrowed hard at the arrogance in his tone and behaviour after seeing Gonzo's identification papers.
"So you're from the Empire?"
"Yes."
Gonzo faced the guard with a polite smile, but from him, Yuto saw emptiness in his expression.
Yuto's eyes narrowed when the guard suddenly opened the carriage curtain without permission, making Shery shriek in surprise.
"U-Uhm!".
The girl froze, seeing a frowning man inspect the inside carriage as he pleased. Her body trembled, and tears swelled in her large eyes.
"Shery, calm down, it's just an inspection."
Gonzo said, trying to appease her tensed daughter. But his words meant nothing to her.
Inside the carriage, there were only a few wooden boxes containing spices and some clothes they bought for camouflage.
After opening all the boxes and seeing all the contents, the veteran guard remained inside, rubbing his chin with knitted brows.
Shery gulped under the man's presence as she pressed her back close to Yuto, whispering.
"...Big brother."
Yuto's expression dimmed. Not only was their attitude bad, but they even did not hesitate to disturb other people's space because of a job.
"Are you finished?"
His tone was slightly cold, like a sharp knife gently pressing against a throat. The guard's body stiffened with a chill that crawled down his spine.
Startled by the dark haze, the veteran man broke into cold sweat.
"You!"
The man's face crumpled as he raised the spear in his hand, causing the little girl to scream.
"Kyaa, D-Daddy! Big brother!"
"Shery!"
Gonzo's worried shout echoed, raising the tension around them.
Yuto exhaled sharply, never expecting that a knight who embodied a chivalry code would act like a brat.
"Calm down! I'm sorry for what I did earlier. I'm just asking, and if you're done, come out. You're scaring this child."
"Silence, how dare you speak to us like that!"
"Huh?"
He sat still with his eyes widened, hearing the arrogant tone coming from the old man in front of him.
'Is this the level of a knight in Elias Kingdom?'
Yuto scanned the area, finding more than a dozen knights surrounding Gonzo's carriage.
His blue eyes flashed and glanced towards the gate in front of him, making sure there were no more people.
'You guys asked for it!'
He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply and channelled Qi from his dantian through all his major meridians.
Raw strength surged like a tidal wave, strengthening his physical body and sharpening his senses.
Opening his eyes, he saw Gonzo's side; the father's face was pale as several knights with spears were blocking him.
'This is indeed my fault! But...'
His hand blurred, and he gripped the spear pointed at Shery.
"You shouldn't point your spear at a civilian."
With a push, the veteran man was sent flying out. Yuto vanished like a shadow and stood behind Gonzo.
He grabbed the old man's collar and threw him into the driver's seat.
"Woah! Savior?"
"You!"
"Don't let that man go!"
Several knights charged and thrust their spears at Yuto, but his body disappeared and reappeared directly beneath them.
Yuto pulled a sword from one of the knights' waists and swung it upward, cutting all the spear shafts.
His body rose and moved following the flow of his martial arts. He swung the sword horizontally to decapitate the knights.
Blood gushed like a fountain, splattering onto Yuto's face and white hair.
Seeing four knights fall with a single slash.
It struck fear into the others.
They swallowed, watching the white-haired boy bathed in blood.
It was eerie and terrifying. Like a demonic figure with an elegant appearance, yet full of violence.
Yuto ignored their fear and shot forward like an arrow towards the veteran man who stood up.
"You bastard!"
The man drew his sword, ignoring the pain in his dented armour.
But in Yuto's eyes, all the man's anger and pride were not backed by actual skill.
From his grip, stance, and even breathing, Yuto found many flaws in the old man.
He dodged his diagonal attack and slipped in, and thrusted his sword into the man's face.
"He killed the captain!"
"Who is he? How dare he do something like this?"
"No idea. Let's capture him first, then the other two."
"But he is so strong!".
"You're an idiot, there are seven of us here and..."
Before the knight could finish his sentence, a head flew off, with blood spurting in the air.
Yuto's pupils shrank with a fearless grin. His presence and savagery shone on the battlefield.
Using his right leg as a pivot, Yuto drove his sword into the knight's abdomen. Without stopping, he danced across the enemy's line with refined footwork, followed by a stream of silver flash.
He was a white demon, lust for blood.
Yuto left two knights fallen to the ground. They had no will to fight and were covered in their comrades' blood.
Both were pale-faced, trembling violently as Yuto's footsteps drew closer.
A black silhouette loomed over them.
His snow-white hair was stained with the tangy smell of blood. The glint in his blue eyes strangled their sanity to the brink of death.
In all their years guarding the border. They never faced the incarnation of malice like the boy.
Without mercy and fear in his swings, the demonic boy slaughtered their squad in an instant.
"Open the gate!"
Their bodies flinched at the icy voice that froze their souls.
"Now!"
Yuto raised his voice slightly. The two knights jumped from their places and fled to the gate.
They operated the mechanism in the gate and pushed the tall gate open with a thunderous rumbling.
The ground was shaking beneath him.
Yuto's gaze focused on the sword in his hand, and he saw his reflection.
"A good sword."
However, Yuto tossed the sword and walked closer to the captain's corpse, stripping him of his sword.
With a glance, he could tell that the quality of its material and craftsmanship was far different from the other.
"This will do."
With sword in hand, Yuto glanced north, a direction where the main barrack of the border post was located.
'If I'm not wrong, that place is still under Duke Falcon's control.'
Yuto rubbed his chin, and he turned to Gonzo. The man's mouth fell to the ground, witnessing the massacre that had just occurred.
"Gonzo, go ahead and wait for me a little way past the gate."
"Eh? But..."
"Just go. I have some unfinished business in this Kingdom."
Perhaps seeing the blazing determination in Yuto's eyes, Gonzo reluctantly obeyed and snapped the reins in his hand, speeding through the gate.
Once Gonzo's shadow receded into the distance, Yuto strode over to the two knights and looked at them.
However, due to deep trauma and fear, they did not dare to make eye contact with Yuto.
'This is a huge risk on my part, but at the very least. I want to send them a warning!'
The decision in his heart was firm, and Yuto opened his mouth.
"You two, make sure words of what happened here spreads!"
Silence. The two knights exchanged glances before Yuto's voice made them snap from their daze.
"Spread the rumor that I am the slayer of the Edelvaris Kingdom's knights."
Yuto paused for a moment. He looked towards the Kingdom. No, the place that had exiled him.
He still recalled Elias' final moment vividly. The searing pain that burned his soul was engraved deep within his heart.
The scar remained within, like a bud waiting to spurt for the towering tree of revenge pierced through the heavens.
"My name is Elias. Former youngest son of Duke Falcon, remember it well!"
Done with his task. Yuto kicked the ground as he glided like the wind to catch up with Gonzo, who was waiting for him and welcomed him with gratitude.