Chapter 110: The Tragedy of Colon (9)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 110: The Tragedy of Colon (9)
Whoosh.
Myuron’s staff swung weakly through the air. It held not a single spark of mana; he seemed to have swung it from sheer force of habit.
‘Is it… over!?’
Severed by the blade of spirit energy, the Hell Gate dissolved with a grotesque, grinding shriek. Jin collapsed, still locked in the posture of his final swing.
Thud.
Bradamante reverted to its original form. Jin’s face was a mask of blood, though he had suffered no fatal wounds.
“Kid!”
“Young Master Jin! Are you alright?!”
Murakan and Casimir rushed to his side. Extinguishing his blue flames, Tess cast a worried glance at Jin before slowly fading away.
Jin’s mana had been completely exhausted, breaking the summons.
“What about… Myuron?”
“He burned to a crisp right where he stood. Well done, kid.”
Murakan pointed to where Myuron remained. He had died before he could finish his last spell, killed by Tess’s hellfire. He was still standing, the smirk from his final moments seared onto his face.
‘He was the most chilling enemy I’ve ever faced. Was that last swing of his staff truly just an unconscious reflex?’
A bitter aftertaste lingered, but Jin couldn't afford to dwell on it. He was so drained he felt his soul might float away; just staying conscious was a monumental effort.
One by one, Dino, Tika, and the surviving natives began to gather around Jin’s group.
They were still trembling, some on the verge of seizures from the sheer terror. It was the sight of Myuron’s corpse—standing tall and rigid like a scorched statue—that kept them paralyzed with fear.
“Ugh… Murakan. Are you okay? And Sir Casimir…?”
“Everyone’s fine but you, so shut up. The three energies inside you are throwing a goddamn tantrum right now. Dammit, if this backflow doesn’t settle down…”
“Will I die?”
“Yeah, you’ll die.”
“Really?”
“No, I’m lying. You impressive brat! I knew you could do it. Anyway, you won’t die, but if we don’t fix this now, you’ll be stuck in bed for six months. Hey! Lowly creature! Get out all the medicine you brought.”
“Right here!”
Casimir quickly produced the medicines he had prepared.
He had brought a significant amount of precious ingredients for the battle, but unfortunately, none were of any use to Jin in his current state.
“Dammit, who told you to bring this useless junk? Why didn’t you bring any Unicorn Horn powder? You have plenty of elixirs in your storehouse, don’t you? Is there nothing else? Not even a Blue-Red Fish Inner Core?”
“Those two are not in my medicinal storehouse, I apologize. You told me to focus on ingredients for rapid healing…”
“Hah! We’re in trouble. Kid, looks like you’re going to be convalescing for half a year—hey, hey! Jin! Don’t you dare lose consciousness, you idiot!”
“Um, excuse me.”
Murakan whipped his head around. It was Tika.
“What?”
“There might be medicinal ingredients in Myuron’s basement. He mentioned while drunk a few days ago that he had hunted several unicorns for the clan.”
A high-ranking mage’s laboratory was a treasure trove of rare materials. Since this was the lab of a pure-blooded Zipple like Myuron, there was a good chance they would find what they needed.
“Lead the way. Now.”
“...Over there, where my fallen kin are.”
Murakan dashed over and began clearing away the piles of corpses. Soon, several hidden cabinets were revealed. He ripped the locks off with his bare hands.
“Oh.”
To his surprise, he found a large, intact Unicorn Horn. Murakan immediately crushed it into a fine powder and fed it to Jin. Moments later, Jin bolted upright.
“Cough!”
He spat out a mouthful of dark, clotted blood.
A Unicorn Horn was the ultimate remedy for mana backflow, provided it was administered before the process was complete. Of course, it was useless if the user’s mana surpassed the 7-star level.
“Ah, I can breathe again. My spirit energy and aura are still a tangled mess, but… where did you get a Unicorn Horn?”
Just as Murakan was about to explain, Tika burst into tears and bowed deeply before Jin.
“My name is Latika Tika Mamutika. As the Acting Priestess, I offer my infinite gratitude to the savior of Colon. I will never forget this debt, even in death.”
Following her lead, the other natives bowed as one. Dino, standing beside her, dazedly did the same.
“Ah… please, stand up. I only came because Priestess Laosa sent me.”
“We know. Jin Runcandel, you who have delivered Colon. If not for you, we would have been desecrated by them until the very end, never fulfilling our duty.”
There were fewer than thirty natives left, including Tika. About twenty had been killed by Myuron’s ice, and over one hundred and fifty had been dragged to the basement to die as test subjects before Jin’s group had even arrived.
The devastation was absolute.
After finishing their bows, the natives stumbled toward the corpses in the basement, their bodies wracked with silent, heartbreaking sobs.
“The Priestess… she asked you to ‘save’ us, did she not?”
“Yes, that’s true.”
But I can’t call this salvation, Jin thought, swallowing the rest of his words with a bitter smile. Not when so many have died.
“She did not mean for you to save all our lives. She meant for you to help us… restore Colon’s Sacred Object.”
She was talking about the Mirror.
‘Restore it? Does that mean it’s damaged? I never heard anything about that in my past life.’
While Jin knew of the Mirror, Murakan did not.
“Hey, Tika, was it? This Sacred Object of yours. What exactly is it? Earlier, Myuron’s mana was amplified to an insane degree. You said that wasn’t even its real power, just a side effect of him knowing the activation word.”
“Yes, that is correct. And you likely felt that Myuron’s mana lacked any discernible flow or energy. That, too, is the power of the Sacred Object.”
“Look, I’m a dragon who’s lived for over three thousand years, and I’ve never heard of such a thing. What is it? And who is this god you serve?”
“He goes by the name Klam.”
“Hmm… a name I don’t recognize. Fine, I get it. Let’s grab the Sacred Object and get out of here. We have a ship waiting nearby. It’s a tragedy about the dead, but the living must move on.”
Murakan spoke as if it were a trivial matter, but he felt a profound pity for the natives. Anyone watching them wail would feel the same—unless they were a monster like Myuron.
“...We must. I, too, know how dangerous our situation is. However, O Dragon, the restoration of the Sacred Object will not be complete until noon tomorrow, even if we begin immediately.”
“What? Noon tomorrow? Why does it take so long?”
“We must perform a ritual and open the sealed land. To do so, we need the sun’s energy. I am sorry to place such a burden on our saviors once more…”
“Young Master Jin, Lord Murakan, waiting until noon is impossible,” Casimir interjected, pointing at Myuron’s charred corpse. “This is the Lutero Magic Federation, and we just killed a pure-blooded Zipple.”
“While retrieving the Sacred Object was part of Lady Laosa’s request, staying until noon will get us all slaughtered.”
He had a point.
However, since there were no witnesses besides the natives and Dino, they might be able to last until noon. This was a restricted Zipple territory, so it was unlikely anyone would visit, even after sunrise.
“Hmm. As always, the choice is yours, kid. What’s it going to be? Do we wait until noon for the Sacred Object, or do we escape with the survivors now?”
Tika’s eyes trembled. To her and the people of Colon, the Sacred Object was more important than life itself.
After a moment of deliberation, Jin spoke. “Priestess Tika, does any other Zipple group visit here regularly? Or perhaps Myuron’s subordinates?”
“Hardly anyone ever visited. No one has come for the past month except for Dino. Before that, people who seemed to be subordinates came occasionally, but Myuron appeared displeased by their presence.”
“He probably saw them as overseers. If no one visits regularly… it would be best to wait until noon, take the Sacred Object, and then leave.”
“Young Master, are you sure? That’s far too dangerous.”
“Sir Casimir, you’ve fought 8-star mages before, haven’t you?”
“About three times.”
“Then you must have felt it. Myuron was wielding mana that approached the 9-star level. We couldn’t even read its flow. And that wasn’t even the proper use of the Sacred Object. If that thing falls into the Zipples' hands…”
There would be no stopping them.
Jin had personally witnessed what the Zipples became after obtaining the Mirror in his past life.
‘They started producing dozens of 7-star mages every single day. Most of them were mages in name only, possessing the mana of a 7-star but no skill… but after that, the world became a stage for the Zipples’ absolute dominance.’
In that sense, the Mirror had to be recovered. Preventing them from possessing it was one of the main reasons he had come here.
“The kid’s right, lowly creature,” Murakan said. “He’s no fool. Anyone can see that leaving now is the smartest move. But if the Zipples get their hands on that monstrous thing? We won’t be able to handle the consequences.”
“Phew. I suppose you’re right. I was being short-sighted.”
“And Priestess Tika likely wouldn’t have left even if I’d ordered her to. Isn’t that right?”
Tika nodded, a startled look on her face. “Protecting the will of Klam is the sole purpose and duty of us Colonians. I can only offer my apologies to our saviors.”
“That must be why you never surrendered the Sacred Object despite centuries of Zipple oppression. There’s no need to apologize. We’re just doing a job we were paid for. Now, Priestess Tika, please go.”
Jin gestured toward the basement, where her people were grieving.
With tear-filled eyes, Tika bowed and turned away.
“Um…”
This time, it was Dino who approached Jin.
“Journalist Dino Jagrun.”
“I… I had no idea you were Jin Runcandel.”
“We’ll figure out how to write an article that makes the Zipples most uncomfortable. Of course, you’ll have to leave my name and my companions’ names out of your account of their atrocities, correct?”
“...On my honor as a journalist, I will never write your names. I’m not the kind of trash who would betray the people who saved my friends.”
“Good. For now, I need to think, so go do your job. Collect as much definitive evidence as you can before noon. Make sure the Zipples can’t wiggle their way out of this.”
“Yes, sir.”
As Dino hurried off, Jin’s gaze fell upon Myuron’s corpse.
‘That staff… was his final swing really just an unconscious reaction?’
As the thought took root, Jin’s pupils began to dilate.