章節 145: Chapter 304
The guardian in front of them had a strangely friendly tone.
Unlike Sylderay, who had treated intruders as tomb guardians, the guardian before them displayed a welcoming demeanor, as if meeting an old friend.
'Sarah... I heard her name from the first tomb's record device. She's the Runcandel, who took five magic swordsmen to the Tower of Stories where three hundred dragons gathered.'
Sarah was actually smiling as she looked at Murakan. It was rather odd to see the smile with the shadow force covering her face like blood.
"What do you mean I am late?"
[I had already killed those pests before you arrived. Well, to be precise, I swept them away with Padler. You're late again, man. Where have you been goofing off this time?]
"Sarah."
[Padler got a bit injured. I'm fine, as always. But it seems like you or the patriarch should give that weakling some training.]
Get a hold of yourself, Sarah!
Murakan was about to shout like that, but Jin grabbed his shoulder.
He tried to communicate with his eyes that this person isn't the real Sarah you know. It's a guardian created to resemble her.
The shadow force flowing instead of blood was the evidence of that.
Murakan was now overwhelmed by similar emotions that agonized Jin to slash his opponent in Mitra Desert, despite the fact that he knew they were merely illusions.
It was because the fake Sarah Runcandel looked almost like the real one. The way she spoke, her actions, and even her attitude toward Murakan.
It was impossible to distinguish the being created with shadow force from the real person, especially if the soul was infused into them.
[Murakan, why aren't you responding? You are late, but you're not going to say that you don't want to bother with such petty stuff, are you?]
"...You've been fighting for too long, Sarah Runcandel."
Cuicantelle stepped forward and spoke. She also remembered Sarah.
The guardian paused for a moment and then turned her gaze toward Cuicantelle.
[Oh, who do we have here? Cuicantelle. It's been a while since the bystander appeared on the battlefield. Although, the battle is already over.]
Murakan and Cuicantelle felt a deep sense of despair.
A thousand years- that was the time duration the guardian had spent alone while protecting the second tomb in this dark subspace.
Her body was covered in wounds, and the thousands of white bones scattered around bore witness to the fierce battle. In fact, the guardian's sword was broken, and only had half of its blade left.
The guardian no longer distinguished the past from the present, and at times, she didn't even remember what her mission was.
It was as if she wasn't in her right mind.
It was the price of enduring all those years alone ever since she killed the Zipfel mages who attacked the tomb a thousand years ago.
[What are all these newcomers doing here? I see unfamiliar faces.]
The guardian approached, and Murakan seemed to reach a decision.
Murakan transformed back to his true form and spread his wings. Following him, Cuicantelle also transformed and displayed the majesty of a silver dragon.
[My old comrade, Sarah Runcandel. Sorry for being late. I will help you unload the burden you've been carrying for so long.]
The guardian stopped in her tracks at Murakan's words.
At closer look, she was even more severely injured than they had initially thought. If she had been shedding blood instead of shadow force, just standing there would have felt like a miracle.
[What's this all of a sudden…]
[Draw your sword.]
[What? Do you want to have a duel with me?]
Vortexes of shadow force began to spread behind Murakan's back.
Shadow force release; the guardian knew without a doubt that Murakan used this move when he had to kill an enemy.
[Is this a joke?]
[Jin and everyone else, listen carefully. Despite her serious injuries, Sarah was known as one of the strongest among the ten great knights of ancient Runcandel. Don't even think about facing her carelessly.]
They wondered if it was possible to fight with such a body. Even her sword was completely broken, and it seemed like all her teeth had fallen out.
However, she was the same person who had single-handedly faced thousands of mages.
Crackle, clank!
The group drew their weapons simultaneously.
There was a moment of silence between the group and the guardian.
Soon after, a massive fighting spirit surged from the guardian's body like a tidal wave.
[I see... I understand now. Murakan, you weren't late. You deliberately waited until the fight was over and I was exhausted.]
Wuuuuung! Swoosh!
Sarah's sword emitted a brilliant light. If Murakan hadn't created a shadow force curtain, most of the group would have reflexively closed their eyes to shield themselves from the blinding radiance.
And if the guardian had been in perfect condition, those who closed their eyes would have all lost their heads. The martial prowess possessed by Sarah Runcandel in her prime was almost close to reaching the Genesis knight.
[Have you fallen under the trickery of the bystander? Or perhaps, even someone as egoistic as you is now afraid of Zipfel. Everyone believed in you, you filthy traitor.]
Every word was dug into Murakan's heart like a dagger.
Murakan's back, covered with shadow force, felt very small and blurry.
Whenever he faced his unforgettable past, Murakan's heart was slashed by sorrow sharper than the blade.
The guardian raised her blazing sword.
[You should prepare yourself. My body may be worn out and I've been betrayed by my comrade, but I am still Sarah Runcandel.]
Whoosh!
The sword stained with aura was covered with another layer of flames.
Scorching flames appeared around Sarah as well, like the vortexes of shadow force around Murakan.
'Magic!?'
She was a pure-blood Runcandel from before the humiliating pact Runcandels signed with Zipfel.
She was a magic swordsman.
[Gilly, Alisa, Kasimir, protect Enya and Jet. Jin, cover us!]
Cuicantelle shouted as she gathered energy for dragon breath. Murakan had already created thousands of awls with his shadow force, aimed at the guardian.
The awls descended to the ground silently, like shadows. They were dark and seemed like they could devour anything and targeted the heavily wounded body of the guardian.
But it was just a futile attempt.
The guardian easily dispelled the countless awls that rained down like a heavy rain.
The fact that her sword was broken didn't bother her at all.
The flames spewing from the broken sword continued to burn fiercely, unaffected by the awls that had been aimed at her.
It immediately created a sea of blaze.
The guardian's flame wasn't only capable of burning its target into ashes, but it could also cut them in half.
A razor-shape fire, it may sound a strange term to describe it, but the fire possessed that quality.
The shadow force of Murakan and the fire clashed in the air, entwining and devouring each other. Cuicantelle fired her breath, and activated her authority of time to momentarily halt the guardian's flames.
But there were just too many flames.
It exceeded the limits of what Cuicantelle's authority could restrain. Even if one source of flame momentarily stopped, the others continued to smother the battlefield.
It was an unbelievable sight. Despite her severe injuries, the guardian showed incredible strength, and fought two dragons without being overpowered.
Sarah Runcandel, the Flame Empress; this was what people called her a thousand years ago.
Though she couldn't fully unleash her power due to her long battles and solitude, her name still shone brightly in this lonely subspace.
[Murakan, what are you trying to do? Is this all the power you have? Are you feeling guilty because of our past?]
The flames were intensifying to a frightening degree. The flames were expanding, and Murakan and Cuicantelle's authority were struggling to contain them.
[Or are you pitying me?]
[It's none of those, Sarah.]
[Then what is it? If you decide to betray Runcandel, then do it properly, Murakan!]
Sarah leaped and unleashed a devastating strike. Murakan hastily casted a shield, while Cuicantelle twisted her body to bite the guardian.
Sarah moved freely in the air using her flames. She thrusted her sword forward.
Sparks flew everywhere. The clash of the dragons' claws and teeth against her sword created a deafening noise, and the ground was already torn apart by the shockwaves that reached the surface.
Pzzzz!
A lightning bolt broke through the flames and shadow force.
It was a Plutonian Swordsmanship lightning bolt. A sudden thunderstrike caused Sarah to stumble momentarily and crash onto the ground.
[The power of the Plutonian tribe, huh? How can a Zipfel use this power?]
[That kid is not Zipfel; he's Runcandel. Jin. He is the descendant of Runcandel that you all protected.]
[Jin? There is no one with such a name among the Runcandels.]
[Sarah, a thousand years have already passed outside. This place is the Tomb of Temar, and we have come here as a part of Solderet's plan…"
[I may be exhausted, but that doesn't mean my mind has collapsed. It was just two days ago that Padler and I received the orders from the patriarch to come here. You can see all those countless corpses, can't you? In the end, Zipfel will fall, at our own hands!]
She was still unaware that Temar had died, even though she was the guardian of the tomb.
The guardian's world was still stuck in the time of her glorious days, leading the Runcandel magic swordsman with Temar and glorifying the name of Runcandel.
It was a brutal thing to watch.
All Jin and his companions could do for the guardian was to offer her rest as soon as possible.
The guardian descended to the ground and met eyes with Jin.
[Tell me your real name, Zipfel's boy.]
"I am Jin Runcandel, the 12th flagbearer of Runcandel."
[You're lying to the end. Well, Zipfels are always like this, trying to taint the world with lies. Now, it seems they're even probing the name of Runcandel.]
"Regardless of what you think, Dame Sarah, my name remains unchanged. I came here to inherit the will of the ancient Runcandel and as a new contractor of Solderet."
Jin imbued the shadow force into Sigmund, which was covered with lightning energy.
Sarah's eyes twitched momentarily after seeing this.
[The Shadow Sword…]
The guardian couldn't accept Jin using shadow force since Solderet could only grant the power to Temar if he were still alive.
However, she remembered one possibility through which someone could use shadow force without being a Solderet contractor.
[The Witch. It must be her work.]
Helluram, the frighteningly eerie monster.
As far as Sarah knew, the witch Helluram was the only being capable of using shadow force without making a contract with Solderet.
All the flames converged around Sarah, and Jin prepared to execute the Shadow Sword.
[I shall meet my end here today. However, I will make sure you die in doing so.]
The guardian's entire body ignited, and Murakan released his shadow force to the fullest, enveloping his comrades. Cuicantelle's eyes also glowed as she let out a roar.
Runcandel Magic Sword Secret Technique
Flame of Hell – Sarah Runcandel
Sarah was in the midst of using the ancient Runcandel's magic sword secret technique.
章節 146: Chapter 305
'The work of the witch? What does she mean by that? Is she implying that even someone who isn't a contractor of Solderet can use shadow force with the power of the witch.'
The name of Shuri's former owner, Helluram, flashed through Jin's mind.
However, it wasn't the right time to inquire about it.
Fire began to erupt from the broken sword. The blazing flames rapidly spread into line, and the lines spread into the entire surface, quickly engulfing the dark subspace.
The injuries Sarah had received over the last thousand years were no longer visible on her body.
Instead of shadow force, flames flowed from her open wounds, and shortly after, her entire body was covered in flames. Her hair, pupils, even her fingernails, everything turned into a blazing fire.
Lastly, the sword lost its form as a steel object and took on the shape of flames.
Every person who had seen her in this frightened form called her flame empress was indeed right.
[Seriously? Are you insane! The Magic Sword Secret Technique? Flame of hell? With that body!?] Murakan shouted.
Until just a moment ago, he felt dizzy seeing the wounded guardian and he felt his heart torn apart whenever she called him traitor.
But now, it was not just a matter of feelings or emotions. Things just got real.
Murakan had thought that the guardian couldn't use the Magic Sword Secret Technique because of her severe injuries.
[Are you really planning to kill us?]
[You're overreacting, Murakan! Not only did you betray us, but you even dared to mock me? I know that I can't do anything to you with these lukewarm flames,] the guardian responded.
[No, it's not that.]
[Then what are you trying to say? Dirty traitor.]
I didn't betray you, and my body has weakened.
Murakan's reply was drowned out by the explosion of flames, and even if she had heard it properly, it wouldn't have made a difference.
It wasn't just her physical body that had been affected by the agonizing thousand years and the battles that followed.
Her sanity had completely deteriorated. She was in a state where she couldn't make rational judgments, and even in the midst of the battle with Jin's companions, she continued to see illusions and hear hallucinations.
In her near-lunatic state, she blindly followed the mission imprinted upon her; Kill anything that threatened Runcandel.
She was given one more mission to fulfill for Jin's sake, but the guardian had forgotten that fact due to the countless battles she had fought.
Rumble! Bang! Crash!
The flame seemed like it might just swallow the world whole.
If this was Sarah in her prime and uninjured, this would indeed be a correct expression.
The flame of hell she displayed now had only about 20% of the might compared to the time when she used to incinerate the mages of Zipfel a thousand years ago.
She couldn't fully utilize her mana and aura due to her injuries, and on top of that, she no longer had her old phoenix, "Maniere," so she had no choice.
Nevertheless, the flame of hell was effortlessly erasing the released shadow force of Murakan and securing the battlefield for itself.
The flames and shadow force intertwined and created a strange enormous pattern in the sky of the subspace.
The subspace seemed on the verge of collapsing, and the surroundings became turbulent with the heat and shadow force. It became impossible for the dragons to even fly as they wished.
[Cuicantelle!]
[I got it, I'll try to stop it as much as I can, so grab hold of the flames!]
Cuicantelle descended, and his silver eyes gleamed brightly.
Veeeee! A sharp tune resonated as waves emanated from Cuicantelle's forehead.
It was a wave containing the power of time.
An authority she used when confronting Andrei Zipfel and wind dragon Vyuretta in the past.
Anything that came in contact with its net-like wave, which was rapidly spreading, would inevitably lose its element of time.
Vyuretta's body was completely immobilized just touching the edges of the wave.
However, the guardian's flames were only slowed down even though they were affected by the waves of time. They were still engulfing the subspace with terrifying heat.
Cuicantelle's authority couldn't completely stop the guardian. It would likely be the same even if the god of time, Olta, manifested itself.
Moreover, the guardian went beyond that.
She swung her blazing sword to "slash" the approaching waves. The severed waves lost their strength and disappeared.
Although the guardian couldn't nullify all the waves holding the flames, this alone was enough to be astonishing.
The guardian moved forward.
She approached Jin after slashing the waves. However, her gaze was fixed on Murakan, not Jin.
The guardian was mindful of Murakan's strength. She believed that there was no one else who posed a threat to her apart from him.
In reality, that might have been the case. If both she and Murakan were in their prime.
[Bystander, no. I guess I can't call that anymore. Anyway, Cuicantelle, how about retreating now? You're just tarnishing the name of your god who is so cornered about its reputation and dignity.]
Grrr! Cuicantelle snarled at her words.
It wasn't because the guardian's words wounded her pride. Cuicantelle was using all the authority she could muster. And yet, the guardian was effortlessly neutralizing Cuicantelle's power.
The guardian, Sarah Runcandel, was not someone Cuicantelle would dare to question about pride.
Although she described her flame of hell as lukewarm. But that was only by her own standards. Although the flame of hell was raging from a considerable distance, the amount of heat transmitted through the shields was making the group tremble.
If Cuicantelle's authority were to stop, the only one left to fight in the flames would be Murakan, Cuicantelle, and Jin, with the Plutonian Reign Sword.
However, Jin's body was not yet fully recovered to use the Plutonian Reign Sword. If he pushes it too hard, it could result in permanent damage to his illuminating heart.
Therefore, Jin had to make a winning move before Cuicantelle's power was exhausted.
"Ms. Cuicantelle, how long can you hold on?"
[5 minutes,] Cuicantelle replied, trembling all over.
It was shorter than expected. Fortunately, he thought of a way
'...The shield is melting. Even though both Murakan and Ms. Cuicantelle are blocking it once, the destructive power of flame is still overwhelming. We won't be able to get away with just moderate injuries here if Cuicantelle's power runs out."
Jin, Gilly, Kashmir, Alisa, Enya, and even Jet were all casting the shields together.
Although they were protecting each other, the shields casted by martial artists weren't really effective for protecting others.
"Enya."
"Yes, Lord Jin!"
"I need to rejoin the fight. If I leave, you will have to take on the most significant role in maintaining the shields."
Currently, that role was handled by Jin. Unlike the other martial artists, Jin was combining aura and mana to cast the protective shield. Given that he was the strongest in the group, it was only natural.
But Enya had to take over Jin's role as a mage in the group. She was still at the early stages of 6-star mana, but her protective shield efficiency couldn't compare to martial artists when it came to protecting others.
"Can you do it?"
"I'll give it a try."
"Give me a more certain answer. If you can't, I will have to consider other options."
Jin wasn't trying to reprimand or pressure her. He simply didn't want to risk the lives of his companions on vague answers.
If all the martial artists were mages of a similar level, Jin wouldn't need to worry about such things.
Soon, Enya's eyes filled with resolve and she nodded.
"I can do it, Lord Jin. Just please hold on for about 2 minutes until I can start my new spellcasting."
Enya recalled an old memory.
-I may struggle at first, but I want to do my part too. I don't want to be someone who relies on you like today. So, please don't tell me I don't have to worry about such things.
-Austin.
-I am Enya, the contractor of Olta. Someday, I will become an archmage whom you trust the most.
[T/L: 대마법사 - Archmage/ great mage.]
A conversation they had when Jin and Enya went to eliminate remnants of the Dark Mage Society together.
Jin also smiled as he recalled the same memory.
While she couldn't be called a full-fledged archmage yet, she had also undergone frighteningly rapid growth during Jin's time in Laprarosa.
Her talent was exceptional, to the point where Olta, the god who was so picky about bloodline, offered a contract to a commoner like Enya.
"Understood."
Enya sat in a mediating position and deactivated her shield. Naturally, the burden on the remaining companion increased, and Jin had no choice but to increase his mana output to his maximum level, such that he was constantly at risk of a mana backflow.
Enya's eyes twitched as she began to cast the spell.
Two minutes felt incredibly long. However, Enya managed to calm her desperate feelings and completed the spell without falling into mana backflow.
The magic spell she had prepared was given by Jin at the end of his reserve flagbearer days.
Extreme defense magic spells.
Chukon Tolderer's legacies, especially the epitome of the extreme defense magic that Chukon named 'Dragon Fire Shield'.
The rune character of extreme defense began to shine on Enya's shoulder.
"You can go now, Lord Jin!"
Enya held up her thumbs, despite bleeding from her mouth. And a blue protective shield formed around her.
The DragonFire Shield was just as its name suggested—a spell Chukon created to fight against dragons. The shield was designed to block the dragon's breath.
Although she hadn't mastered it completely, Enya was compensating for her lack of mana with Olta's authority.
"Then, please take care of the rear."
Three minutes remained.
Jin stepped outside the shield. In his hand was another spell he had prepared.
Simultaneous casting.
One of the reasons Jin was considered a genius mage among geniuses. While Enya took care of her share in maintaining the shield, Jin had prepared another spell, in addition to the Shadow sword he had originally prepared.
It was the spell that meant doom for anyone who used magic.
reverse sky, the legacy of Kidard Hall.
'Dame Sarah's mana is only about 8-star at the moment.'
The flame of hell was tearing apart Murakan's shadow force and causing great distress to Cuicantelle's authority; in reality, her mana was only at the level of 8-star.
The 8-star mana combined with 9-star aura and the unique strength of a Runcandel magic swordsman, allowed her to produce such prowess.
It was more than enough mana to potentially be caught in a backflow.
Of course, there was no certainty if it would work.
'As she is such an extraordinary person, she might be able to take on the power of the reverse sky while maintaining that level of magic.'
That's why Jin had prepared the Shadow Sword.
The various techniques of the Shadow sword he learned from the battle kings in Laprarosa this time.
Jin had chosen the Second technique and the Seventh technique.
Scissors and Shadow Assault.
'There's only a brief moment of opening even if she falls into mana backflow. Regardless of how injured Dame Sarah may be, engaging in close combat without the Plutonian Reign sword would be suicidal.'
Mana left Jin's palm and formed a sphere of Reverse sky.
Once the Reverse sky fully expanded, the shadow at Jin's feet rose up and intertwined with its owner.
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