章節 80: CHAPTER 239
The sky was filled with the bluest of hues.
A deafening sound and a blinding light. Below, a hoard of monsters that could no longer be called human.
Living Golem test subjects numbering 813.
They finished their transformations, and their bodies were wrapped with lightning. Just like a member of the Illustrious Legend tribe using the Heart of Light.
Each time the light got brighter, the lightning spread further throughout the sky.
The light of the golems looked impressive, but it wasn't as bad as Mertual's worries.
The form merely looked similar. There were vast differences in the power it had.
'Well, Murakan wouldn't have a problem with that.'
Jin came to check because he was worried about the golems overwhelming Murakan. Mertual mentioned that they could definitely overtake anything, and those words weren't completely wrong.
Some eight hundred golems with three 9-star magicians, an entire army of dark magicians, and two wolf tribes.
Maybe fleeing was a better option, even for the greatest dragon or warrior.
But Mertual didn't know Murakan's ability, and didn't know the true strength of an Illustrious Legend.
'To make these innocent citizens into monsters and insult my brethren? You motherfuckers…'
Pzzzt—
Jin drew Sigmund.
The Dark Magic Association.
They would disappear from the face of the planet today.
"Murakan!"
Jin shouted his name.
Under the bright blue sky, a black spiral appeared, signaling Murakan's arrival.
All of the non-golems looked at Jin.
"Him! Why is he here?!"
The Grand Magician of Anz, Chukon Tolderer, began to panic. He realized the moment he saw Myulta's Rune, while the others looked confused.
"Sir Chukon, do you know him?"
An anorexic man with a bony facial structure… Cold Joe.
"That's the one who intercepted the compass in the Bellard Empire! Be careful, the lightning he wields is incomparable to the golems' lightning."
Before Joe and Susan could reply, Murakan announced his question.
[Ready?]
A question regarding the location of the citizens and the evidence to show the holy kingdom.
Jin nodded.
[No need to play along. What shall we do?]
"Kill all of the golems and immobilize the 9-star magicians for capture."
[That's a bit restrictive. Can't I just kill them all?]
"Then just capture Joe."
Murakan smiled.
[Alright. That's not too hard.]
"They're beyond crazy. Do you bastards think you're Cyron or Kelliark?"
Thud!
Joe slammed his staff onto the ground.
With the castle destroyed, laboratory locked, and ego destroyed by some teenager, Joe's blood began to boil.
Susan Lilistar had a similar reaction. She never would've thought that the entire association would fall from one measly dragon and one little warrior.
Only Chukon Tolderer wore a grim expression. He knew how strong Jin was.
However, he still knew that Jin couldn't take on everyone at once.
Even the black dragon in the sky probably couldn't eradicate them all with three 9-star magicians present. He was confident that they would win.
'But why do I feel so scared…?'
Chukon felt a tightening around his chest.
Wooooooom~!
Shadows poured from Murakan's wings as he flapped them. It swallowed the lightning whole.
"Wow, truly a dragon of shadows. We'll see how high and mighty you are after we defeat you! Beastmen, get him!"
Joe shouted to the troops, and the beastmen raised their weapons. They proceeded to march toward Jin.
Pzzt!
Lightning began to dance around Jin and Sigmund.
Beastmen with good instincts flinched and backed off, but the others ramped up their march to a charge.
Pillars of light then shone on the ground.
[HAHAHA!]
Murakan released all of his spirit energy.
His eyes turned orange and the entire battlefield turned pitch black.
Excluding Jin, every entity around Murakan couldn't see a thing.
Although it was only for a short time, instantly losing one's vision definitely caused paranoia.
"My… eyes…!"
When their vision returned, the magicians and beastmen touched their faces to check if anything was wrong.
And they thought nothing had actually happened, but then their shadows began to move on their own.
"Ah, hey! What's that?!"
"My shadow!"
The shadows began to fall apart, while some of the people present merged with their shadows.
Seeing such a horrible sight for the first time, they immediately felt fear for what could happen next.
Only about half of them got eaten by their shadows. The other half could do nothing but watch in shock.
[I need to reduce the numbers, you see. It's a bit hard to deal with hundreds of corpses, and I hate stepping on them.]
Here and there, the sounds of explosions were heard.
"Help…!"
"Please…!"
Some of them began to face the effects of the release of spirit energy.
Their bodies began to shatter and fall apart like corroded statues. Each of them faced the same fate as their own shadow.
If the head of their shadow was severed, the shadow's owner was beheaded. If the shadow was bisected, so was the owner.
The number of corpses began to increase, and each time more and more shadows gathered around Murakan.
Joe and Susan realized something was truly wrong. Even after spending dozens of years studying magic, they couldn't process what was happening.
Chukon had been casting a defensive barrier, and Joe began to frantically copy him.
Losing six hundred to one ability was something they would never forget.
And during this time, Jin had already prepared his move.
With Sigmund embedded in the ground, shadows dyed the skies once again.
Illustrious Bladeworks, Fourth Form.
Disintegration.
Lightning bolts fell from the sky, tormenting all those below. The lightning swallowed the ground whole.
The 9-star magicians experienced what true lightning was like.
Krrrrr!
This was the move that the 10-star knight, Vanessa Olsen, barely avoided instinctively.
Normal beastmen wouldn't stand a chance.
A few seconds later, thunder arrived. The rumble shook the ground and vibrated the air, growling for more.
"Get away!"
Joe shouted at the beastmen charging toward Jin.
But it was too late. Countless lightning bolts indiscriminately descended from on high. Every beastman in Jin's vicinity perished.
Joe and Chukon managed to save a few with their barriers.
However, the other beastmen who dodged the attack just stared at the ground. Paralyzed in fear, they couldn't dare to look up at Jin.
Jin drew Bradamante.
The black blade sliced across the throats of the survivors. Heads dropped to the floor like swatted flies.
The eyes of Jin and Joe met.
About five hundred golems survived. Joe ordered the golems to attack Jin, and they charged without fear.
However, incomplete 4- or 5-star golems couldn't do anything, and Joe knew this. He just needed to buy some time.
No matter how many golems he had, no amount could make a dent in this battle. Their power was just beyond his comprehension.
'We should've escaped instead of gathering them here…! Shit!'
But there was no point in regretting it now.
Fwoooosh~!
Jin summoned Tess, burning through all of the peons as he stomped toward Joe.
"It's time for your debt to be collected."
Susan and Chukon were busy dealing with Murakan. Joe helplessly watched the golems fall to the blue flames, one by one. He imagined what Jin meant by 'capture'.
'I must survive. If I survive, the leader will save me…!'
章節 81: CHAPTER 240
The intense fire spread with more ferocity than ever before.
'I feel filthy.'
The Living Golems engulfed in flames were civilians not long ago. The Illustrious Legend Tribe, his brethren, were being insulted.
Those facts had been making Jin uncomfortable.
"Did you think I wouldn't see through your plan of using them as shields to buy time? As someone with the title of archmage, do you not feel shame? Get over here, Joe! My desire to capture you alive is starting to decrease."
"Stop, stop! I will follow you, so just stop!"
When Joe raised his staff with both hands to show his surrender, Chukon's and Susan's eyes widened.
They were desperately fending off Murakan, but their leader, Joe, suddenly declared his surrender.
Ironically, it was Joe that first provoked Murakan by calling him just a dragon of shadows.
They couldn't believe their ears when Joe's attitude shifted as easily as flipping one's palm.
"Lord Joe, what on earth…? Are you saying you'll surrender?"
In response to Susan's question, Joe actually scolded her.
"Ha! You fool, can you not tell even after seeing the black dragon being idle?! They're opponents we can't handle. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before we're annihilated. Surrendering is our only choice!"
"However…"
"However what! Hurry up and announce your surrender before he changes his mind!"
If one looked at the situation after putting aside their dignity, pride, and respect, then Joe wasn't wrong. Chukon and Susan were also certainly aware that they had no answer to these monsters.
It was a feeling that all three of them hadn't experienced for a long time, ever since they reached the level of 9-star.
"Stop talking nonsense, Lord Joe! What happened to your head? Surrender? Is that really what the so-called leader should be saying? Do you think that devil will save us if we surrender?"
"You fool!"
Chukon suddenly turned his head and shouted.
"Lord Chukon, what did you say just now?"
"What we can't handle is the black dragon, not that brat. If we capture him as a hostage, we can force the black dragon to retreat. There's no guardian dragon that leaves their contractor to die!"
Chukon was the only one among them who had ever met Jin, so when he first appeared, only Chukon felt a strange sense of crisis.
Of course, Jin's skills were incredible for his age. Putting that aside though, he still felt a strong ominous intuition that he would again be pushed back in a 'fight of numbers' like last time and that things would only go as Jin wanted.
When he faced Jin at the island in the Bellard Empire, he thought Jin was just a magic swordsman. He never dreamed that Jin would be related to Solderet or the black dragon.
He had at least 7-star magic, beyond 8-star swordsmanship, that horrifying lightning, and even spiritual energy.
Even being a 9-star mage, Jin was not an opponent Chukon wanted to fight.
'If Lord Joe surrenders now, then we have no hope. We must catch that brat and make a deal with the black dragon…!'
As soon as Chukon realized that Jin was a contractor, his thoughts continued down that line. If they can just catch that fraudulent brat, this fight would end in their victory.
"Lord Joe, don't give up. Just capture him!"
"Lord Chukon is right, Lord Joe. Even though he's impressive, he's still just a newborn monster that's yet to fully grow. If we join forces, no… even Lord Joe alone is enough to subdue him, is that not so?"
When Susan joined in, Joe felt a flash of shame and couldn't say anything in response for a moment.
Because what they said was right in every way.
'What a disgrace. I couldn't think of such a simple way of overcoming this situation and only thought of relying on the leader!'
It wasn't because Joe was stupid.
'As Chukon said, he's dangerous. My body was gripped with fear because of that brat's spirit.'
This was just a shameful incident that only happened because Joe was more reliant on his instinctive fear than Chukon or Susan.
"I lost my composure for a moment. You're right. Regardless of whether the black dragon flies or crawls, he won't be able to do anything if we just catch his contractor."
"We will tie the black dragon up as much as possible. We won't be able to last long, so please capture him quickly."
Keuaah!
Keaaugh!
The screams of Living Golems, beastmen, and mages resounded throughout the entire battlefield.
Because of the surrounding noise, Jin and Murakan couldn't overhear the conversation between the 9-star mages.
However, Jin was able to see that some conversation took place between them, and as a result, Joe's attitude, previously showing the intention to surrender, had once again changed.
Joe's staff became imbued with mana.
Although it was masked by his characteristically nasty, cruel, and ill-tempered personality, he was still an archmage who was renowned as Andrei Zipfel's nemesis for a long time.
"Get out of the way! You useless junk!"
The remaining Living Golems began to scatter to both sides following Joe's orders.
As soon as the path opened, Tess breathed out fire at Joe.
And Joe was performing magic befitting his title of 'Cold'.
Kiriririk!
In the wake of Tess's fire breath, the ground beneath Joe exploded with erupting pillars of ice.
Unlike normal ice magic, this ice was glowing an ominous purple.
Creeek!
It looked like a pillar, but it was a muzzle made of ice.
The muzzle of another golem he created himself.
The gaping muzzle bit into Tess's raging breath, and soon the ground split once more, revealing the true nature of the golem.
Geueuk-!
A size slightly smaller than Murakan.
If there were an elephant with ten tusks and made of purple ice, it would look like this.
What looked like ivory was the muzzle that bit off Tess's fire breath.
It was gnawing Tess's flame breath into pieces, like a beast eating a snake, and then screaming with a nasty, low-pitched tone.
"Huh."
It was difficult to hide his bewilderment as a golem rose up from the ground out of nowhere.
Even Jin had no choice but to hesitate for a moment, as the creature appeared while chewing on Tess's flame.
'What on earth is that? There was something absurd like that beneath the ground?'
Not just Jin but even Murakan looked surprised.
"Poluk, put out Tess's flames and protect me!"
Unlike the 'Master', an unfinished living logical golem that had recently begun to be created by borrowing the leader's wisdom and memories, this golem named Poluk was a finished product.
An ice golem resistant to fire.
To create Poluk, he searched ancient glaciers to find a white elephant, kidnapped young demons, and used the hearts and wings of five phoenixes.
From the time when he had the vain dream of surpassing Andrei and defeating Kelliark, it took nearly twenty years to complete.
In other words, Archmage Cold Joe's magnum opus, his masterpiece.
It was the reason why even though Chukon and Susan were also 9-star mages like Joe, they still viewed him as one step above them.
As soon as Poluk appeared, the blue flames that spread across the battlefield began to fade away.
At the same time, Joe was multicasting his self-created exclusive magic, 'Cold Limit'.
Purple ice fragments spread out from his staff and instantly surrounded Jin.
It was as if hundreds of archers were aiming to pierce Jin's entire body.
'I guess he wasn't Anderi Zipfel's rival for nothing.'
Jin calmly took his stance and prepared to strike the ice.
He then looked in the direction where Chukon and Susan were, in a way that Joe wouldn't notice.
It'd be too risky to face such a monster alone if the flames of Tess didn't work.
Moreover, while Joe had been able to conserve most of his mana by using the golem as a shield, Jin was under a much greater physical burden due to the use of the divine energy and the summoning of Tess.
'He doesn't have that title for nothing. His defense is incredible.'
Two 9-star mages, one of whom had a reputation as a master of defense. Even Murakan, who had regained 40% of his strength, could not easily break through the shield.
This was also because Murakan could not attack with all his might on the side where Jin was.
'I'll have to wait until Murakan clears them out. I don't know much about Joe's exclusive magic.'
The moment Jin decided it was time to fight more strategically…
[Tsk, even if you're crazy, this is too much. He probably did this because he didn't know what he was doing, but this bastard…]
Murakan shook his head with his eyes wide open.
Everyone on the battlefield was closely listening to the majestic voice that was characteristic of dragons.
[You brought out a golem that was made using phoenix bodies in front of the master of the fire dimension? It's the same with trying to bring back the Illustrious Legend Tribe, but you guys have a real knack for bringing about disaster…]
Swoop!
Murakan stopped attacking and descended toward Jin.
He transformed into his human form and used spiritual energy to spread a protective shield, surrounding himself and Jin.
'They've royally pissed Tess off. It's a situation where you shouldn't be hasty to stop her, and from now on, she'll ignore the contract and forcibly use all your power. No matter how much she cares for you, this is something she can't hold back on.'
It was a very quiet voice.
"Huh?"
Thump.
Jin stumbled, falling to one knee. As soon as Murakan's explanation was finished, he felt all his strength leaving his body.
'Since she cares for you so much, she won't use your lifespan but… well, she probably won't? She won't. Shit, I'll give you a better explanation later.'
Jin's eyes slowly closed. A huge wave of drowsiness that he couldn't shake off was consuming Jin's entire body.
Murakan pinched his forehead in annoyance.
In the next moment, Tess roared and the surrounding area turned into a blue hell.
Keahak—!
The blue fire was spreading at exactly the same speed as the sound of the roar.
It took less than thirty seconds for the hundreds of remaining Living Golems to completely turn to ash and disappear. The beastmen and the mid- and low-rank mages also met the same fate.
The entire Dark Magic Association perished, leaving behind the three 9-star mages.
"Wh-What on earth is this?"
Joe, who barely escaped the fire, ran toward Chukon's shield. He glanced over his shoulder, and…
He saw Poluk, his masterpiece, being consumed by the flames of Tess.
Rather than catching fire or being bathed in flames, it was literally being 'eaten'.
Just like the first time Poluk chewed and swallowed Tess's fire breath.
Joe, Chukon, and Susan were terror-struck and had no choice but to step back.
They knew that Tess was one of the greatest phoenixes, but this was a phenomenon that they could not explain with their knowledge.
On the other hand, Murakan was relieved as he watched this scene unfold.
'You were able to control that temper of yours. I was wondering what I would do if you took the kid's lifespan and completely destroyed this area, but you were quite rational, weren't you?'
Poluk disappeared without a trace. Not even a single footprint was left behind. The only remnant was scattered blue ash.
Naturally, Tess seemed as though she wasn't satisfied with just the golem and targeted the 9-star mages. Murakan was worried Tess wouldn't be able to control her anger and would cause an incident.
"Well, wouldn't it be better if you turned back now? Look here, the kid passed out. At this rate, things could get bad. I'll make sure those bastards suffer, so take a deep breath and… Hm? Hang on, what's that...?"
The place Murakan pointed to was the collapsed outer wall.
A ghostly, pale, human-like figure was on the remains of the outer wall.
"Before you go, could you check out what that is? Or do you know what it is? It feels strangely unpleasant."
...…
"Huh? You don't know what it is, you're going to go, and you're leaving the kid to me now? Fine, fine, I get it. Good choice, so trust me and go back."
每周推薦票狀態
200+ 推薦票
榜單 
51 推薦票 
段落評論