章節 59: CHAPTER 218

"Brethren Garmund, this guy can definitely make a cunning escape. So let's…"

Garmund shook his head.

"No, then you'll either get injured or die. His aura's pretty tough for me, too, so the impact will be felt across the horizon."

"Heh, I didn't think he'd self-destruct."

"Go on, Brethren. Don't you know? I'll be fine. Just tell my story for generations to come."

Jin gritted his teeth.

"…I understand."

"We brethren do not dwell on returning favors. Hurry up and go, but don't go anywhere where you won't see my back."

Jin sighed and hopped on Shurry, who immediately bolted off.

And as Garmund said, if he didn't fend off Volcano, Jin wouldn't survive.

A kamikaze attack.

A sword created in consideration of the worst of the worst scenarios. Volcano would evaporate the island. In fact, it would probably evaporate the neighboring ones as well.

With a 7-8 star pureblood Runcandel using it, there was no stopping it.

Joshua let out a roar as his body began to glow red.

His veins protruded from his body due to the sheer amount of aura filling his body. At this point, nothing could pierce him. Then, the inflated silver blade began to melt.

The radiating heat from Joshua had begun to melt the steel.

"That bastard, how dare he… What a shame as a successor of Temar."

Garmund could not approach Joshua. Even he couldn't attack through the accumulated aura.

However, he did not back off. His sword glowed blue and began to gather its signature blue lightning.

The aura around Joshua died down, and the lightning in Garmund's blade intensified. It appeared that both of their preparations were similar in level.

However, Joshua faced death's doorstep to prepare this kind of power while Garmund readied himself for just another swing of his sword.

"Die….!"

Joshua's final words echoed throughout the island. With the aura damaging his vocal chords, it sounded more like a screech than a shout.

A sphere of aura expanded from Joshua's chest. In an instant, the aura condensed into the tip of his sword.

This was the signal for the beginning of the attack.

Ting…!

The sound of hitting an empty kettle. A ringing noise.

It was followed by loud booms that warped the surrounding air. As the aura released in every direction, explosions scattered about.

A blinding light.

In the middle of it, nothing was left of Joshua. Every ounce of his physical strength got converted into pure aura to fuel the secret technique, Volcano.

He had died.

And the eruption of aura mimicked that of a volcano.

Thus, the secret technique's name.

The aura began to rain down, slowly melting away the island.

And from the impact, the earth shook and churned the waters. Crevices streaked across the ground and violent waves stormed the shore.

The only place that could still be considered 'land' was where Garmund stood, as well as the sand behind him. Shurry continued to sprint across the sand.

"Gyaaaaaa!"

His chant and lightning fought the incoming impact of Volcano. Blue lightning wrapped his body, but Garmund never planned to sacrifice his body.

The lightning formed a net-like pattern that contained Joshua's exploding power.

Unlike the chaotic rampage of aura, Garmund calmly and swiftly whipped his sword around in the air. Essentially, he split apart the wave of aura that swept toward him.

Splitting the tsunami of energy, he kept both himself and Jin safe. His vision began to return as the explosions had grown a bit weaker.

However, he knew this wasn't the end.

Even a dormant volcano would erupt again. Garmund's goal was merely to buy time for Jin to escape.

And he chose to dispose of his opportunity to escape.

Thankfully, he couldn't see Jin behind him.

"Alrighty then, give me your worst…!"

Garmund readjusted his stance and his eyes began to spark.

* * *

The erupting Volcano continued for ten minutes.

The island was gone. Only a small island of obsidian remained, probably only five meters in diameter.

And Garmund successfully blocked every attack headed Jin's way.

Thanks to that, Jin stood on the miniscule island without a scratch.

For five minutes, he waited for the explosions to stop. Now, rather than lightning or aura, it was the sun's light that warmed up his face.

He had to find Garmund.

"Brethren!"

He sifted through the rubble while riding on Shurry's back. He constantly shouted while scrambling through the rocks and trees floating in the water.

"Man, my ears hurt…"

"Brethren!"

As soon as he saw Garmund, he gritted his teeth.

On a tiny block of obsidian, he was kneeling with both his arms gone. Boras's sword was broken, and the light was fading from his eyes.

Jin brought him up on Shurry's back.

"Don't look at me like that. You know I'm fine, so why are you so sad?"

Garmund glanced at both of his shoulders and laughed.

Rather than blooding flowing from his wounds, it was a black mist that leaked out. It was spiritual energy.

"Still, it was painful…"

"A little pain for you is nothing."

Although 'Black Light Call' was classified as a summoning spell…

Rather than summoning, it was projecting. A door to Lafarosa was opened, and one of them would be projected out as a spiritual energy image.

Tantel and Jin discussed it before he left.

—On that note, if it's alright, I'd like you to investigate it.

—Isn't there a way for you to escape? Tantel, you came to get me in the first place.

—That's only when the apprentice arrives at the rendezvous point near the desert. Beyond that, there's only one other way to exit, but it's pointless.

—Why?

—The Battle Goddess will tell you.

And that was what Vahn passed down to Jin.

With his current spiritual energy level, he could only cast it once every year or two.

The summoned entity was not the Illustrious Legend, but their soul. With the soul and spiritual energy, a Lafrarosian could experience the overworld.

These images also retained their appearance and strength, but that was it.

Basically, Garmund wouldn't remember this period of time, hence why he reminded Jin to tell his story.

"Whew, Temar's swords are pretty insane. How did that bastard manage to take two arms from this guy?"

Jin felt a little sorry for Garmund. If Joshua hadn't been so foolish, there wouldn't have been any need for another person to suffer.

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? I'm gonna forget anyway."

"No, it's just that… Please think about it. Although you aren't really injured, my family looks like this, right in front of me. Would you not be shocked?"

"Uhm… Well, that makes some sense."

Garmund smirked and raised his foot.

He patted Jin on the head. He couldn't use his hands at the moment, so he improvised with his other set of paws.

"Is everyone else doing fine?"

"Of course! We didn't have anything to do since you left, so we just talked about the great things you'd do."

Garmund chuckled.

"Anyway, that was Joshua, yeah? You've finally killed your archnemesis?"

"That's true, but I feel it's a bit incomplete. He'd never choose to commit suicide like that."

"What the heck, then he's some sort of ghost? Or maybe a fake?"

"I don't think so. That had to be Joshua."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. I watched him die with my own eyes. Well, unfortunately, you couldn't get the satisfaction of killing him yourself."

Jin nodded.

"Indeed… It's a little anticlimactic. I thought it would occur after I returned from my trials."

"I guess I'm happy that I could be of some help. I also really like how you chose me with your first casting. Damn, I guess it's time to leave."

Garmund began to fade into a black mist. Soon, the soul would return to Lafrarosa.

"Please let them know that I miss them dearly, and also tell them that I'm doing well. And…"

In response, Garmund just smiled silently. He didn't remind Jin again.

"Alrighty, I'll make sure to do that. I hope to see you back in Lafrarosa."

Garmund disappeared in Jin's arms. The black mist twirled around Jin and then dissipated into the air.

Jin glanced around to look for Kuzan and Beris, but he didn't think they'd survived.

"Let's go back, Shurry."

Meow!

During the time he headed back to the base…

Jin checked the presses at each city he stopped by, but nobody was even covering Joshua's absence, let alone his death.

Jin only heard news of him when he returned to Tikan.

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章節 60: CHAPTER 219

October 7th, 1797. Jin checked a single press release from Huphester. Four days ago, they had been reporting the Schucheron Imperial Knight Vowing Ceremony.

(This year, the Schucheron Kingdom's Imperial Knight Vowing Ceremony was led by Prince Tolian Schucheron instead of Emperor Lumon Schucheron.

Most importantly, prospective successors from Runcandel, McRolan, Tuko, Nitro, Ken, and other clans attended as well.

From this, it is speculated that Prince Tolian finally gained the formal title of successor, ending the battle between him and his siblings for the position. On that note…)

Jin watched Joshua blow himself up four days ago.

If he really died, then the article from 'four days ago' had to be false.

As Jin glued his eyes to the paper, a concerned Gilly approached.

"Young Master."

"…Just as I thought, he had something up his sleeve. He wouldn't die so easily."

Gilly and the others had already found out about the events on the island. They were also confused in regards to Joshua's presence in the article.

"And there'd be no way you'd mistaken his face for another… how peculiar. Either it could be an impersonation or Bouvard Gaston's handcrafted clone…"

Kashimir shook his head.

"There's no way it'd be either of those. The Decisive Killing Move was too legit to mimic. Someone outside Runcandel could never copy it. Maybe if it had been just a normal sword skill…"

Even though many talented swordsmen displayed exceptional innate talent, no one could imitate the Runcandel Clan's blessed body. A normal body could never learn the Secret Techniques.

"Well, regarding impersonators, the Joshua at the ceremony could be the fake one."

"We should definitely check up on that. But it feels… odd. I'm sure that snake-like man had a few tricks up his sleeve."

"He could be cursed like Shurry."

Enya whispered after watching Shurry for a while.

"Then we would've seen him regenerate when his body was dismantled."

"Young Master, how about Numeros's Tear?"

"In that case, we would've seen a bright light shine around him. We saw him shining with aura, which is completely different from what's said about Numeros's Tear."

"Heh, well, I was sleeping the whole time, so I can't offer much. What the hell did this guy do?"

"…Clone?"

Jin muttered that word.

"Milord, did you just propose cloning?"

"Just a thought. Looking back at his attitude and the conversations we had, I have to say that it could only be Joshua Runcandel."

But cloning a human was impossible.

Yet, due to the situation, they had to consider the impossible as well.

Just like Shurry's curse of immortality and Bouvard's compass and orb. Jin's recent years told him that anything could be possible at this point.

"Please continue."

"Well, this is what I think. He has multiple clones of himself, and he sent one to the island. Peitel's contractor, Julien, had to be one of his strongest soldiers. And since the island was covered in lightning, he knew that something was up."

Jin glanced at Julien.

He remained unconscious, his hand and legs bound.

"Joshua must've known that Julien's powers exploded. Kuzan and Beris didn't have a great relationship with him."

"So he went to calm them down?"

"Naturally. Plus, he came alone to avoid losing any of his goons to Julien, or possibly to keep the island's secret."

At that point, Joshua arrived via a small sailboat. This fact had constantly bothered Jin.

"Maybe he came alone because he could handle it alone. But it doesn't make sense, not with his personality. In addition, he chose to suicide in order to defeat Garmund."

"That motherfu… I mean, I don't understand either, Young Master. He's not the type to end his life so easily."

"He never expected to meet me, either. Once he determined his victory was at hand, he exposed his intent to steal my powers. He said he couldn't kill me, in spite of all my provocative comments."

—That power was meant to be mine.

Joshua said that as soon as Jin began to use his spiritual energy.

He didn't know at the time, but thinking about it now, it made sense.

"Then with the addition of Garmund, the tides turned. He instantly got pushed into a corner… and made a decision. Although he evaded capture, he had to give it everything he had."

"Maybe he already calculated that you'd die from Volcano."

"He's a 9-star knight. He definitely knew that Garmund could protect me. After getting rid of Garmund, he decided to just get me another day."

Jin was sure Joshua wouldn't have chosen to suicide if he only had one life.

And to Joshua's knowledge, Garmund was Jin's trump card.

Silence overcame those present.

It wasn't such a bright mood, but they all thought deeply about what would happen next.

"…My head hurts. If what you saw was a clone, then I don't even know what to do."

"Milord, why don't you go talk to Lord Cyron?"

Alisa asked, and Jin shook his head.

"It's the battle for hegemony. Consulting my father would only mean that I am incapable of defeating him. Also, we lack evidence. There's no definitive evidence that he is either dead or alive."

"That's true."

"Whether the Joshua that died was the real one, or the one that attended the ceremony, we can only theorize about it. If Julien regains consciousness, then we'd be able to get more information."

"Now we shall dispatch the investigative team for Kuzan and Beris."

Jin couldn't linger around to find them. He determined that they were long dead.

"Please don't rush to do that. In fact, he might get us if we go back right away. If they're alive, they'd give us a sign. They likely know I'm no longer their enemy."

* * *

Brrrrrrrrrrr.

A man sitting in a chair shuddered. A cold sweat and fever.

And bottomless shame.

All of this was what he experienced after losing a body.

Whooooosh…

A black dust molded together in front of him.

Spiritual energy, the thing he desired most.

Within the dust, a woman appeared with a smile.

"How can the successor of Runcandel be quivering alone in the basement? How pitiful, you look just like an orphan. How does it feel, little orphan?"

The darkness of the basement covered the woman's face. Only two pumpkin-colored eyes flickered in the darkness.

"You came to laugh?"

"Yes, that's correct. I came to laugh at your pathetic ass. Haha, you idiot! Why did you self-destruct? Do you think making a new body is that easy?"

Joshua said nothing and only stared.

"Don't just look at me and at least make up an excuse. Was that your best? Then it's a disappointment."

"I had to do it to get rid of the Illustrious Legend."

The woman burst into a fit of giggles, but stopped immediately and ground her teeth.

"Alright, then a question for this foolish human. Did you ultimately kill Garmund? No, his true self doesn't even exist in this world."

"…So the Illustrious Legend is alive?"

"He's in a purgatory, but he's still alive in the sense he didn't actually die. Hence, you just threw away your extra body."

She spoke with a smile, but her eyes were filled with hatred and disgust.

"Goddamn it. I don't understand why the prophecy pointed me to your poor ass. Maybe if it was the first daughter or the youngest son. No, even Diphus or Mary would've been enough."

Anger bubbled within both of them.

"Or maybe the first person that the original prophecy pointed to, your father. What if he met me before he became a demigod? I wouldn't have to babysit you anymore."

Joshua just sat and waited for her to stop.

At the end of the day, the woman could not leave him. She'd stop and shake her head in a few more minutes.

Sigh…

She stopped hurling insults.

"Well, whatever. Maybe it's enough that information was gathered about your little brother. If you found out during a more important battle, things could've been worse."

The woman wrapped her arms around Joshua.

"They found Shurry, too. Jin taking care of Shurry is even worse, but everything will come back to you, Child of the Prophecy. I'll make you a new clone."

"How much do you need?"

Joshua asked, and the woman grinned.

"The same as last time. There are plenty of ingredients."

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