章節 579: CHAPTER 737
[T.L: punisher87]
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***
2nd floor, below the ground.
As soon as Jin and the other four people finished descending, they felt the air becoming stifling.
The energy that interfered with aura and mana generation was much stronger on the underground 2nd floor.
"It's even… worse than… what Alpen said."
Bianca said while forming and dissipating aura on her greatsword. The aura on the sword was only at about 70% of its usual level.
The rest of the group was in a similar situation.
Even Alpen, who was unaffected until the chains were broken, was now experiencing the same effects.
"I feel like my senses have dulled."
"It's not just a feeling, it has actually dulled, Spectre's Captain. Although it's subtle."
Octavia sighed inwardly at Hedo's response.
Not only were they separated from their allies, but they were also facing problems with their own abilities. It was inevitable that they would feel burdened.
[The interference has definitely intensified more than I anticipated.]
"Perhaps the reason for the increased interference is that Sir Alpen was released from the control of the evil god."
[Now that evil god has more leverage as it is not losing energy to control me, so it strengthened the interference?]
"That's possible."
[It's a plausible theory.]
Although the group had no way to confirm it themselves, Jin's speculation was accurate.
However, if there was one overlooked aspect, it was Tasha's presence.
Not only Alpen, but Tasha was also released from her restraints on the side of the allied forces, so it was natural for the interference to become so severe.
Regardless of what happened, they had no choice but to move forward. Jin reminded the group of that fact once again.
Once again, they found themselves in an endlessly vast and dark space.
The group walked silently as if they were walking on a desert.
They began to see something. A few silhouettes of people were visible in the
distance.
'This time, there are five....'
As the distance closed, the exact number of heads became clear.
The fact that their numbers matched exactly, as if it had been intentionally arranged, made the group feel uneasy for a moment.
[Please come forward.]
The knight standing in the middle spoke.
Jin immediately recognized him when he saw the twin swords hanging from the knight's waist.
'It's the 16th patriarch, Lyon Runcandel. The person with the greatsword is the 29th patriarch, Tucker Runcandel, and the person with the chain sword is the 35th patriarch, Neph Runcandel.'
On the other hand, the other two, who were carrying ordinary longswords, were unrecognizable.
If their faces were visible, Jin might have been able to recognize them by comparing them to past portraits and memories, but the chains covered their faces.
In other words, there were only two people whom Jin needed to show respect.
"I, the inadequate descendant, greet the two ancestors. Please bear with me a little longer. I will soon release your restraints."
[Just like the 20th patriarch standing there, do you think you can save these two as well?]
"That's correct, Lyon."
Swish!
Suddenly, Lyon's sword struck the left arm of the former patriarch next to him.
It was the former patriarch bound by chains. With a thud, the severed arm of the former patriarch fell without any response.
Jin narrowed his eyes and glared at Lyon.
[The patriarch is absolute. That has been the law of the clan since its inception. Those who violate that law, like you, are not needed in the clan. No matter how outstanding you are, you only cloud the water. You are undermining the authority of the current matriarch, Rosa Runcandel. Stop it now.]
Chewing!
A beam of light flew towards Lyon's chest. It was a sword energy shot by Alpen.
Lyon blocked the sword energy with his hand and glared at Alpen.
[In my youth, my heart used to race while listening to the tales of our clan's ancestors. But today, I realized that it was all a lie... Authority? What authority does the monster who brought our clan to this state have!]
[The 20th patriarch, you were hailed as the Knight of Light and led a great war to victory, breaking all precedents. It would have been admirable if you had upheld the will of the matriarch.]
[Silence! You must pay the price for tainting my memories today. Those without chains will be annihilated.]
Jin confirmed that Lyon did not continue attacking the restrained former patriarch.
'He left the right arm with the sword intact. Cutting off the left arm was just a provocation towards us, he had no intention to seriously lose power by killing the former patriarch.'
That meant Jin could save both former patriarchs bound by chains.
One against one.
It was natural for each person to fight one opponent at a time.
Since the moment Lyon severed the left arm of the former patriarch next to him, Jin had already chosen his opponent.
'I will face the former patriarch whose arm wasn't cut off and rescue them in the best possible condition. Sir Alpen will take care of Lyon.'
While Jin was thinking, Bianca kept her eyes on Tucker's greatsword.
"Jin... I want to face the Greatsword… over there..."
"In that case, Sir Hedo, please face the 35th patriarch who wields the Chain Sword. Octavia, take care of the ancestor who lost his left arm."
Among the five, Jin believed that Octavia was currently the weakest.
If she were accompanied by the Spectre Squad members or in a state enhanced by the Demon's God's Orb, it might be different, but at present, she had to face the opponent who posed the least threat.
"However, under no circumstances should you kill the ancestor. Once the chains are released, he will become an ally."
"I will try my best."
"Don't just try, you must do it."
Otherwise, I will kill you.
Jin didn't say those words out loud, but Octavia felt a chill run down her spine for a moment and clenched her teeth.
The roles were set.
There was no need for lengthy discussions. As long as no one got entangled with someone else, the fight would end when one side fell.
The beginning of the battle was announced by Jin's 3rd Decisive Killing Move of Runcandel, "Meteor Shower." White sword energies rained down, tearing through the dark space.
The former patriarchs of the Runcandel scattered left and right to avoid the meteor shower.
With each strike of the sword energies hitting the ground, earthquakes occurred, and powerful shockwaves spread.
Before the meteor shower unfolded even halfway through, the surrounding was filled with the clan's decisive killing moves.
It was only natural, considering there were six generations of the Runcandel clan present here.
If this were a normal castle, most of the buildings would have been destroyed without a trace before a minute passed.
From a distance, their fight seemed no different from a natural disaster.
The magnitude of power seemed to favor the former patriarchs.
Jin and his group were constrained in generating aura and mana, so it couldn't be helped.
The former patriarchs freely used both aura and magic.
A black storm relentlessly attacked them.
Only Jin's group was affected by the chaos. In order to fully bind their respective opponents and protect themselves, they couldn't avoid the chaos.
The group unleashed their full power without prior inspection.
They had to defeat their assigned opponents as quickly as possible and then switch to supporting others.
'It seems that the 12th flagbearer made the wrong judgment by engaging me in close combat with this former patriarch, expecting his power to diminish due to the loss of his left arm. What a miscalculation.'
Octavia thought as she parried the attacks of the former patriarch with her own.
Even though he was right-handed, not being able to use both hands was undoubtedly a critical limitation.
However, her opponent wielded a fierce and flawless sword, surpassing the other former patriarch in skill.
It was clear enough for Octavia, a mage, to see the significant difference in their abilities.
Within moments, Octavia could understand the reason.
'...It's not about fighting with his own skills. The puppeteer, the martial arts of the evil god has reached such a level. Even without one arm, it doesn't matter. Whether such a thing is possible or not…'
A chillingly sharp strike pierced through her body.
Perhaps due to a deeper level of inner world, Rosa was controlling the former patriarch with even greater delicacy than Alpen.
Jin was aware of that fact.
He, too, was sensing it as he clashed his sword with his opponent's.
'I should have put Sir Hedo instead of Octavia over there. If it continues like this, it's only a matter of time before Octavia is defeated. I have no choice but to defeat the ancestor as quickly as possible and help her.'
Just as Jin had thought that, Hedo's voice came through.
"Jin! Don't worry about the Spectre Captain, I'll provide support!"
"I... will do my... best to help!"
Fortunately, there was still a gap between Hedo and the 35th patriarch, as well as between Bianca and the 29th patriarch.
Alpen and Lyon were equally matched where Jin couldn't guess which side would win.
Soon, Jin fixed his gaze on his opponent.
Under the evil god's chains, Jin could see the unbeaten Runcandel's gleaming eyes.
"Evil god, what is the reason for constantly disgracing the ancestors like this? Even if you bind them with chains and forcibly control them, eventually, just like Sir Alpen, they will all turn their swords against you. You may be able to take their bodies, but you cannot corrupt their souls."
Ssak!
Blood spurted from both Jin's and his opponent's hands simultaneously. Their swords had grazed each other.
Both of them rotated their bodies to the right, shooting sword energy.
"Even if you don't have the soul, then the flesh will do. Do you want the real Runcandel so badly?"
Fwoosh...!
A faint mana enveloped Bradamante, igniting blue flames.
Eternal Flame, a fire that cannot be extinguished by anything.
"Your Runcandel is not legitimate. That's why you can't move real Runcandels without binding them with chains. In my view, the chains that control the ancestors are the manifestation of such deficiency and self-loathing. You pretend to be a god, but in reality, you are nothing but a weak and despicable human."
Seizing power with dirty means, oppressing people with fear, building a gigantic castle, and showcasing the power to destroy the world at any time.
No matter how much you try to hide your true form...
Your essence cannot be concealed.
With each continuation of Jin's words, his opponent's swordsmanship revealed flaws.
The swordsmanship that could remain flawless, was gradually crumbling.
Conversely, Jin's sword harbored deeper and clearer flames.
Inch by inch, the Eternal Flame approached the chains.
With a flawed sword, it was impossible to prevent the flame from getting closer. All Jin could do was endure and delay the moment the sword would touch the chains.
The exchange of attacks between Jin and his opponent continued until the resounding noise on the battlefield subsided.
Jin was so absorbed in his fight that he didn't know how much time had passed.
However, one thing was clear: Bradamante, now enveloped in the Eternal Flame, had reached his opponent's entangled chains.
Clang...!
With the sound of the chains breaking, Jin looked into his opponent's eyes.
It was not the face of the old Runcandel that was revealed when the chains were broken.
"Ro... sa!?"
Evil god, Rosa.
What the chains had concealed was her, in the form of a human.
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章節 580: CHAPTER 738
[T.L: punisher87]
[My ko-fi link:- https://ko-fi.com/punisher87 ]
Jin's face contorted as he swallowed a gasp.
Fragments of chains falling off Rosa's face passed by slowly, as if frozen.
'Why... Rosa!'
The one who should have been covered by chains was the former patriarch who deserved respect.
Jin had deliberately fought at a disadvantage, driven by the sole conviction that he had to save such an ancestor.
He had missed opportunities to cut off the opponent's head several times, and he had endured so many injuries for the moment when he could have dealt a fatal blow.
The reason he couldn't help his comrades who had been fighting behind, beside, and in front of him was all for the sake of rescuing the ancestor who should have remained intact within the chains.
But what he had struggled so hard to save turned out to be evil god, Rosa.
And not only that, she looked so unharmed...
Released from bondage, Rosa did not glow with a faint indigo color like the other beings from the mausoleum, nor did she grotesquely transform into a chaos monster.
She simply had the appearance of a human, or rather...
She had the appearance that could be called Runcandel itself.
Long, black hair that seemed to be sucked in, eyes with a gleam of determination, a gaze that calmly and heavily pressed down on anyone who met it, and hands that firmly held the sword without ever letting go.
The hostess of the Runcandel clan, who led the Garden of Swords in place of the Chiron for many long years, and a giant of the era.
Rosa Runcandel was making eye contact with Jin.
Damn it all!
Unintentionally, Jin muttered a curse.
His breathing became rapid as if a momentary suffocation struck.
He barely suppressed the rising urge to vomit, accompanied by a cold dizziness, and reflexively distanced himself.
If the battle continued from this point, he felt like he would make a mistake.
I am done for.
That thought crossed his mind first. If Rosa staged this performance to give him a psychological shock, it couldn't be more successful.
The allies were also taken aback. They, too, had momentarily shifted their gaze from their respective opponents to Rosa.
'I must stay calm. This is just a trick of the evil god. The Rosa who appears to be human... must be some kind of fragment created by the evil god's power."
Jin gripped his sword.
"It seems your sadistic tendencies have increased... evil god. I never expected you to go this far to confuse me."
However, Rosa responded with a completely unexpected answer to Jin's words.
"Aren't you trying to save me because you know who I am?"
"What...?"
"Why do you refer to me as the evil god?"
Once again, Jin could only feel his insides twisting.
The released Rosa did not even have the resonant voice characteristic of the resurrected.
She seemed truly alive.
She seemed like someone who was determined to protect Runcandel at all costs.
Jin's heart was pounding like crazy.
"I am Rosa Runcandel. Why do you mistakenly believe that the monster that has bound me all this time is the same as me?"
"What are you babbling about..."
"Jin!"
"12th flagbearer!"
Urgent voices from behind were heard, belonging to Hedo and Octavia.
Swoosh!
At the same time, a sharp energy pierced through Jin's back.
It was a sword energy shot by a former patriarch aiming for Jin.
Due to Jin's focus on Rosa, his reaction was slightly delayed compared to usual.
The sword energy grazed his lower back, causing droplets of blood to splatter.
The wound was not deep.
The one who shot the sword energy was the one-armed former patriarch.
'...No, could it really be the former patriarch?'
Cutting off the chains doesn't necessarily mean Rosa will appear again.
An indescribable discomfort continued to cloud Jin's mind.
Dodging the incoming sword energy once again, he turned around to see his exhausted allies.
Bianca's opponent was in a state of near-death. Alpen and Lyon were both beaten up, but the battle was not decided.
Hedo had finished off the 35th patriarch and was assisting Octavia.
While facing both of them simultaneously, the one-armed former patriarch was displaying even greater strength than when the battle first began.
Since Jin had just released another chain, it resulted in an increased influence of the evil that affected that former patriarch.
"Ugh!"
Octavia bent forward, vomiting blood, as she took a step forward.
Hedo, protecting her, took several sword energies directly, leaving numerous wounds all over his massive body.
"12th flagbearer? Are you referring to yourself as the 12th flagbearer of the clan? And your sword is Bradamante, isn't it? Your name is Jin... Jin Runcandel. Strange things are happening."
Rosa spoke as if she knew nothing.
"Shut up!"
Jin threw himself towards Hedo's direction. He felt the need to buy him some time to recover, even if only briefly.
Rosa didn't hinder Jin as he started running away.
On the contrary, Rosa intercepted the sword energies flying towards Jin and protected him.
Rosa's sword, intercepting the sword energies, was not as powerful as the current evil god, or as powerful as Jin remembered during Rosa's time as acting matriarch.
Jin decided not to think about the intention of the evil god any further.
Clang!
Jin's sword clashed with the one-armed former patriarch's sword.
With just one exchange of offense and defense, Jin understood why Hedo and Octavia were struggling so much.
The former patriarch's sword possessed the power to inject chaos into the opponent, much like the evil god.
Now, the Grand Heir was closer to assimilating with the omen itself rather than just being controlled by it.
Jin activated eternal flames in Bradamante once again.
He needed to finish off the former patriarch as quickly as possible and bring order to this chaotic situation.
'I cannot completely dismiss the possibility of the one-armed former patriarch being another Rosa, but I need to confirm it.'
He couldn't simply discard the possibility of being a genuine former patriarch like Alpen.
If he closed off that possibility due to the overwhelming circumstances or doubts, it would be giving up on the ancestors who fought for the clan, even after an unwanted resurrection.
Therefore, he must break the chains without killing.
While Jin pondered, Rosa continued to protect him and stared at his back.
Like someone who had something to say. However, she seemed unsure of where to start.
Without acknowledging Rosa's gaze, Jin reached out his sword towards the one-armed former patriarch.
'Even if it's a trap, omen. I will not abandon a single one of my ancestors who resisted evil god until the end.'
Even if it's not an ancestor but another sudden appearance of Rosa, he would simply have to cut them down along with the Rosa behind him.
Jin's sword charging towards the former patriarch no longer held hesitation. The inner turmoil he experienced when suddenly faced with Rosa had started to settle.
As Jin regained his composure and began to focus on the former patriarch, Hedo and Octavia also started to regain their composure.
Bianca finally annihilated the 29th patriarch, coinciding with the moment when Jin and the one-armed former patriarch finished their hundredth exchange.
Hedo and Octavia reengaged, and the intense battle between Alpen and Lyon also came to an end.
The bodies of Lyon, Tucker, and Neph were disintegrating into particles as their heads rolled on the ground, shattered by the shockwaves of the battle.
The battle that started as a one-one was now in a five-on-one confrontation.
No matter how much they assimilated, the former patriarch was ultimately not the evil god.
Until now, the one-armed former patriarch had wielded a flawless sword even with one arm missing, but that was the limit.
The one-armed former patriarch had managed to hold on against the five opponents so far because Jin had decided not to kill him.
If he had fought with the intention to kill, the battle would have been much shorter.
Evil god, stop this nonsense and come out in person.'
Clang, swish...!
Bradamante uncovered a strand of chain that covered the face of the former patriarch. The eternal flames spread through the cracks, melting the links of the chain.
Little by little, the face inside the chain revealed itself, and once again, Jin's judgment was correct.
'It's not Rosa...!'
Though the chain was not completely severed, at first glance, the face was clearly different from Rosa's.
At that moment, as Jin attempted to cut the chain once more, the former patriarch unexpectedly thrust himself toward Bradamante, as if intentionally exposing himself to be stabbed.
Jin immediately reacted and sidestepped.
Only a few more seconds were needed for the eternal flames to consume the chain entirely, and Jin had no intention of losing his ancestor. Once a few seconds had passed, the bindings restraining the former patriarch would naturally dissolve.
However, the former patriarch did not pursue Jin as he dodged to the side.
'He's just passing me by?'
The intention of the evil god controlling the former patriarch was not to have Jin be fatally stabbed by his blade.
The evil god accurately predicted that Jin would evade.
The true target of the evil god was none other than herself, who was constantly observing Jin from behind.
Rosa.
All of Jin's allies were positioned in front of him. The only person remaining behind him was Rosa.
Puh-!
"Huh?"
The former patriarch's blade pierced Rosa's chest.
Although Rosa had displayed nearly flawless swordsmanship while being controlled by the evil god, for some reason, she, who stood behind Jin, failed to dodge even a single strike.
It was supposed to be her own blade.
"Ugh...!"
Suppressing a groan, Rosa grabbed hold of the blade that had pierced her body.
As the former patriarch, who stabbed Rosa, collapsed and ceased to move, Rosa dropped to one knee, gasping for breath.
"Ugh..."
Jin couldn't understand her current state.
Why did the evil god stab herself, and why did Rosa appear to suffer like a human?
And why was such a foreboding sense of dread overwhelming him?
He couldn't comprehend any of it.
But Jin unconsciously rushed toward Rosa.
It was a fatal wound. If Rosa were truly human, she would be on the verge of death.
"Evil god... What is the meaning of this?"
"Do you still see me as... the evil god?"
"Why are you behaving like a human...!"
Jin stopped talking in astonishment.
Rosa's face was much younger than he remembered, far younger than he thought she would be.
Suddenly, Jin realized that Rosa had appeared with a youthful appearance ever since he severed the chains.
She looked like someone in her early twenties, someone of his own generation.
His heart sank. Jin's breathing became heavy.
"Now, I vaguely understand the situation... Jin. You must be Chiron and my child. Chiron and I decided to name our last child, Jin..."
[T/L: You can read more chapters and support me here: https://ko-fi.com/punisher87 & https://bmc.link/punisher87 ]
[T/L: Join $29 membership on my "buymeacoffee" page and read 55 chapters ahead and daily 1 new chapter update. I have introduced new memberships, and you can read upto 75 or 85 chapters ahead.]
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