章節 52: CHAPTER 211
The island was in the Bluebird Archipelago at the northern sea of the Huphester Alliance. There, hundreds of islands—big and small—were grouped together like a flock of bluebirds, hence its pretty name.
However, they weren't habitable.
Due to rainstorms, lightning storms, avalanches, wildfires, and even the harsh tides, it became impossible to live on the islands.
The archipelago had no use as a military base either. It just served as a tourist attraction during the winter, when the weather had mostly calmed down.
Those who owned an island in the archipelago were either those who had always dreamt of owning one, those who used it to impress their lover by gifting it to them, or frauds who wished to imitate the rich. In other words, people who would purchase an island for no true use.
And the Contractor under Joshua's wing went back and forth from the 32nd island of the archipelago.
"Since it's its own landmass, the Compass could pick up the Contractor's presence."
The Compass—that they intercepted after six months of hard work—had never told the exact location of a Contractor.
If the Huphester Alliance had twenty Contractors, there would be twenty red dots at the center of the entire Alliance. They wouldn't be able to tell exactly where the Contractors resided.
However, the Archipelago was different. Even if the Huphester Alliance owned the land, the independent landmass could display its own red dots.
Since there were only so many islands, they could track down the exact location.
"Yes, Young Master. If the red dots move within the Huphester Alliance, it's only when the Contractor visits an island. I think checking it out is worth the time."
"It's definitely not likely to be a coincidence."
"Of course."
"Tell the agents to keep an eye on this, and tell them to look into the Bluebird Archipelago. We'll probably pick up suspicion if we go immediately."
"Would Joshua know about the Compass?"
"No idea. However, we can't dismiss the fact that he might be in cohorts with the Zipfels or Kinzelo Group, so we have to think wisely."
"Could it be a trap?"
"Perhaps, but it's unlikely. If Joshua is in an alliance with a force that knows about the Compass, he'd definitely know about its capabilities. This might be a bait."
"Then I'll continue the investigation and send a few agents over to the islands other than the 32nd. Just to figure out the surroundings."
Mrrrooow...
Shurry rubbed her head on Gilly. She had been stuck to her lap ever since she arrived.
"My goodness, what a cutie. I was surprised by its size, but it gets prettier by the minute. On that note, will you really give it the Runcandel name?"
"Well, we have Nabi Runcandel. Shurry Runcandel sounds pretty good."
Then, another black cat hopped onto Shurry's head and into Gilly's arms. Jin grabbed Murakan by the scruff of his neck and lowered him to the ground.
"We're gonna start construction in my room today. Looks a little too small for Shurry to live in."
"Well, the Crimson Gem looks a little cramped."
Poof!
Murakan transformed into a human again.
"Then that means I'll be sharing a room with Strawberry Pie until the construction is over."
"Yeah, right. Why would you even do that in the first place?"
"Why not? How about my room's construction? It feels a little small lately."
"Even if we remodel your room, we have countless other rooms for you to use. There's no need for you to intrude on Gilly's humble abode. Off you go, you bastard."
Murakan transformed into a cat again and skittered away. Shurry licked Murakan and began to play with him like a ball.
"Pffft."
Gilly laughed, and Jin shook his head.
* * *
Everyone was occupied in the month that followed, either with training or executing orders.
The Contractor they had been keeping an eye on hadn't left the island, so Jin chose to make a visit.
"Trap or not, I'm too curious to do nothing. Also, we waited enough to be cautious."
He considered that it was unlikely to be a trap.
Looking at the bigger picture, Joshua was the successor to the throne. Hence, it was highly unlikely that he had formed an alliance with the Zipfel Clan and Kinzelo Group. Had he done so, it would mean that the Garden of Swords had already been tainted.
However, as long as Cyron lived, that would be impossible.
Aside from some spies, he probably didn't have any agents to report information regarding the Compass.
"Just Sir Murakan is enough? What if it's a trap?"
"Even if it is, since it isn't the Lutero Magic Federation, we can just fly away. Plus, there's Shurry."
Flying through the Lutero Magic Federation, which was Zipfel territory, was risky. However, it was a different case in the Huphester Alliance.
Unless it were a Zipfel dragon or the dragon had a bounty, no offensive action would be taken.
Furthermore, the rider of a Black Dragon wouldn't be in any danger. The leader of the Huphester Alliance, Cyron, had already approved of Murakan.
"Shouldn't you take Miss Quikantel as well?"
"I don't think we need to. She's very busy teaching Enya, so we'll have to take a silent trip. Hopefully, the construction will be done by the time we're back."
Jin and Murakan began their journey for the Bluebird Archipelago.
As they traveled within the Huphester Alliance, they had to pay attention to their disguises. Jin's Crimson Gem was turned into a necklace, and both he and Murakan were dressed as blue-haired travelers.
"The Gold Snow Tribe's merchandise is very high quality. Maybe I should tell Sir Kashimir about this to industrialize it. Getting our hands on these things doesn't look too hard."
"Pretty profitable, not gonna lie."
After multiple Transfer Gates—and Murakan losing his lunch each time—they arrived at the location closest to the islands. From the Naska Port, they boarded a ship which took them three days.
At the port, there were already Seven-Colored Peacock agents who had a fake trade ship stationed. They left at night, yet didn't immediately head for the 32nd island.
If they went straight for the island and encountered a problem, then the agents would get caught. Additionally, most of the islands were locked down because it wasn't the right season for any tourism.
Jin and Murakan planned to swim the rest of the way to the island once the port was out of sight.
Before they left the ship, Jin checked the Compass and made sure that the Contractor was still there.
Nya!
Shurry kept them afloat.
Back at the Black Sea, Shurry had impressed Jin with its speed on land. However, that speed wasn't limited to traversing on land.
Splish, splash!
Shurry swam through the waves effortlessly. Jin and Murakan didn't even need to touch the water to get to an island.
Like that, they arrived on the 7th island.
"Finding the 32nd would take some work."
"Let's just fly through the Archipelago. It'll take forever if we keep going at this rate."
Without any guides, they couldn't tell at all which among the hundreds of islands was the 32nd. Just when Jin thought that the night would come to pass if they went to look for it cluelessly, Shurry began to draw in the sand.
Meow-meow.
It was a map of the islands.
"Huh."
"Damn, Furball. You're pretty talented. You've been here before?"
Nya~
Shurry had traveled the world during its prime, basically memorizing hundreds of maps. Of course, it couldn't account for the changing landmasses, but the islands maintained the exact same configuration since the past.
It was more accurate than any map.
"This is the 32nd island. Can you find it?"
Jin pointed at the map.
Meow.
Shurry nodded.
"Man, you're one precious cat. Let's go."
Not long after, they arrived.
The 32nd island looked especially smaller than the other islands; about the size of the island where Jin fought Andrei.
Shurry returned to the gem as Jin began to examine the island.
Almost immediately, rain began to fall. The unwelcoming weather welcomed the two.
Ruuuuumble— Crackle! Boom!
With lightning ripping the sky and wind pulling trees by the roots, they couldn't even see any lodges.
"The fuck is this weather?"
As Murakan complained, Jin felt a tremble below his feet.
"Hey, kid, what's your sword doin'?"
The Sword of Lightning, Sigmund, began to glow.
When he unsheathed the sword, he saw inscriptions on its blade.
"No idea."
"Wait, this pattern… I've seen it somewhere. Peitel's script? No, maybe something different—"
CRACKLE— CRASH!
Lightning struck the ground, burning a tree stalk to a crisp. The next moment, they saw a large monument behind it.
A large pillar that had the same inscriptions as Sigmund.
"This is a God's Grave!"
"What?"
"I get it now. Kid, your sword—"
Before Murakan could finish speaking, blade slashes and wind spells flew towards them.
Jin easily parried the blade attack, and Murakan deflected the magic with his spiritual energy.
'It's them!'
Kuzan and Beris, Taimyun Marius's hunting dogs.
He could recognize them at a glance.
Before they could counterattack, a sharp bolt of lightning struck Murakan's spiritual energy. Compared to the one that struck the tree earlier, it wasn't at all caused by nature.
It was lightning brought down by Peitel's Contractor, Julien.
章節 53: CHAPTER 212
Had he not gone to Samil City and Lafrarosa, Jin would've never been able to react to the attack in time.
"Looks like there's a detection barrier here. Damn it. If it weren't for the God's Grave, we would've been toast."
Murakan deflected the lightning strike.
With the entire land being the grave of the ancient God of Lightning—Graham, who died at the hands of the Illustrious Legends—a barrier extended around the shores. Thanks to Sigmund weakening the lightning, Murakan could safely make contact with it.
Sigmund was originally created by sealing Graham's power.
"You don't even know how much we wanted to see you…!"
Kuzan's eyes sparked with rage.
He and Beris hadn't seen him since the Delki Kingdom, but they knew that the intruder was Solderet's Contractor after they saw the spiritual energy.
"You bitches!"
Beris couldn't contain her vengeful rage.
'As expected, they're Joshua's dogs now.'
Taimyun Marius worked under Joshua, so Jin assumed that the two would transfer to his brother after their mother died.
But never did he and Murakan, nor Kuzan and Beris, expect to run into each other now. The same went with Joshua and Julien.
Had Joshua known that Jin intercepted the Compass, he would've never sent his hunting dogs.
"I will rip you apart for Mother…"
CLANG!
Jin and Kuzan clashed swords, with their auras exploding from the collision point. Akin to the sound of a bomb going off, Jin immediately knew that Kuzan got stronger as well.
Physical modifications.
Although he remained at 8-star, with Taimyun's physical modifications, he surpassed his physical limits.
Similarly with Beris, her mana felt a little strange. She was also an 8-star, but her lively yet aggressive mana usage made her seem like a 9-star.
"Julien! Go for the human, and then the guardian dragon after!"
A resounding roar rather than a shout. Beris barely kept her sanity in check.
"It seems like you were expecting me, so what is it? Why're you here?"
Jin glared at Kuzan.
"That's not important. You're dead. Here. Today. No matter what."
"Spitting your anger towards me as soon as we meet. Shouldn't I be angry at you instead? I almost died back at the Delki Kingdom, you know? And by 'Mother', do you mean Taimyun Marius?"
"Do not speak her name with that wretched mouth of yours."
With Kuzan's blade reeking of toxins and Beris continuing to supply long-ranged attacks, there was no chance to respond.
Both of them used physical modifications to get stronger, but not as much as Jin. Back then, Jin had to risk his life every single moment he moved. However, this time, he could continue the fight without invoking Sigmund's lightning.
In fact, with the Thousand-Poison Antidote, he didn't have to worry about Kuzan's concoctions. And with Murakan, Jin was unstoppable.
'These two aren't a problem at all. As long as I play my cards well, their fate is in my hands.'
Beris and Kuzan didn't know at all what Jin had in his back pocket; Illustrious Bladeworks and Shadow Blade, Heavenly Defiance, and the all-powerful Antidote. He had obtained all of these after their last encounter.
In fact, it was too easy for him to take the advantageous position due to these variables.
'So he's Julien. That guy's a little annoying. Peitel's Contractor, and a bow user…'
Peitel was known for lending weapons to their Contractors; a sword, bow, and spear blessed with the power of storms.
Among them, the bow known as Halmilla was only given to the Contractor that satisfied Peitel the most, and its current owner was Julien.
Pzzt, pzzzzt!
Electricity filled the air. Halmilla's lightning gathered and scattered at Julien's will.
He decided to disobey Beris's command, choosing to fight Murakan instead.
Murakan knew that he was a bigger deal than Kuzan.
"Hah. Just because I'm not in my prime, these little runts think they can just walk up to me like this. Kid! Deal with them quickly. I'll keep this one entertained."
Jin faced Beris and Kuzan, while Murakan faced Julien.
The battle already split into two. From Jin's side, aura and mana flew everywhere. On Murakan's side, spiritual energy and lightning mixed together.
With a rainstorm and strong winds, the entire island turned into a war zone.
"I don't get why you're so angry anyway. You make it sound as if I killed Taimyun Marius."
"Shut up!"
"Kuzan, I genuinely don't understand you either. You were very calm and composed back then."
Which was an understatement.
At the Delki Kingdom, Kuzan was the coldest and most stable opponent that Jin had ever faced. He didn't even flinch from the Photon Cannon and immediately changed his fighting style to adapt to his opponent who was a magic swordsman. When Tess overpowered Beris, and when Jin blocked an attack with Myulta's Rune, there was not a single hint of hesitation on his face. Even as he approached death's doorstep, he continued to fight Jin.
The only moment of surprise occurred when Jin used his spiritual energy.
Yet even then, he managed to push Jin to near-death. If it weren't for the third prince of Delki, Jin would've been done for.
On the other hand, Beris lost herself to anger. Her wild mana usage made her 8-star mana look pitiful.
And now, Kuzan was no different from the Beris of that time. Although he had grown stronger physically, he was now only a weak human overtaken by anger.
"Ah, are you acting, by chance? Did you want to make it look like I killed her?"
"What kind of bullshit…!"
"The one who killed Taimyun was an assassin dressed as a Runcandel Knight. And on their dagger was your poison."
Kuzan's eyes shook.
'As soon as I speak of her death, a guy that cold becomes this easy to manipulate?'
Jin suddenly became a bit curious.
"I thought Joshua used your tools to kill her, but if you're giving me this kind of reaction, then I don't know what to say."
"Sh-Shut up!"
"Don't listen to that bastard, Kuzan! He's probably lying because he doesn't wanna die!"
PZZZT!
Blue lightning spewed out of Sigmund.
Illustrious Bladeworks, Standard Bolt.
Jin tried to look for an opportunity to use his lighting as soon as the battle began, aiming to immediately take Beris down.
Due to Julien, lightning had spread throughout the battlefield as they fought, making it difficult for Kuzan and Beris to recognize whether Jin was attacking despite his sword flickering with blue lightning.
"Kyaaaaa!"
His lightning bolts thundered upon Beris.
The first cracked her barrier, and the second ripped it apart. As the third fell, her body burned.
Jin didn't even give her a second to cast another barrier; the three lightning bolts struck almost simultaneously.
She had only prepared a barrier to protect her from the blade so that the rest of her magic could be channeled into the attack, ultimately making her vulnerable to lightning.
An inevitable mistake.
"Beris!"
"She's not dead. I just put her to sleep for a bit. I could've killed her if I wanted to, but I held back. I have some debts to collect too, you know? I let her live because we have some talking to do."
Kuzan didn't answer, yet his eyes met Jin's.
"Kuzan. Do you really think I killed Taimyun?"
"Who else if not you?"
"Joshua Runcandel, her boss. He has more reason to kill her than I do."
"What kind of…?"
"Unfortunately, Joshua is my eldest brother. He ordered Taimyun to get Kidard Hall to curse me, which failed. While I retraced those steps, I met you guys."
Kuzan's eyes widened.
"Wait, you're saying that you're… Jin Runcandel…?"
"As soon as I confirmed Taimyun's ties to my curse, I sought her out with my eldest sister. I saw her final moments with my own two eyes. A hunting dog left to rot by her owner."
A moment of silence passed.
"If you really think I'm her murderer, then that's because you fell for Joshua's lies. Am I wrong?"
"…Do you have evidence?"
He sounded calm and collected, but Jin could feel the indescribable anger within him. That tone gave Jin goosebumps.
"The fact that you didn't know my name, in itself, is evidence enough. Joshua knows that I'm a magic swordsman and that I'm Solderet's Contractor. He would've already told you if he wanted you to know."
"Not enough."
"You don't trust me? Then I've had enough. It seems you want to blame me no matter what. All because you failed to protect her."
Kuzan's sword shook.
"Or… is it that you can't fight Taimyun's true killer, Joshua? Did you think that you would have served her well if you died fighting me? Is this your twisted way of making peace with her death?"
Krrrr…
Lighting fell from the sky.
An attack comparable to Divine Onslaught came from Murakan's side of the battle.
Jin glanced across.
Julien had bolts of lighting whirling around him as he slowly ascended into the air.
"…Kid, we've got a problem here."
"What?"
"I think we kind of provoked Graham."
"What do you mean?"
"Peitel descended into his body."
Krrrr! Pzzzt!
As Julien opened his eyes, an 'eye' opened from the dark clouds above.
Lightning filled the night sky.
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