Chapter 174: Mirage of the Mitra Great Desert (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 174: Mirage of the Mitra Great Desert (2)
Clang! Clash!
Heitona’s chain-sword lashed out like a whip. The weapon’s defining characteristic was its range, which far exceeded that of an ordinary longsword.
The strikes were heavy. The impact vibrated up Jin’s blade, making his palms sting. Their swordsmanship seemed to be on par with what he expected of the current Tona brothers.
‘I’d believe they were real. Did Murakan not realize the mirages would be like this?’
He hadn’t mentioned anything about it. Then again, Jin had never heard of magic or an authority of this nature existing anywhere in the world.
Even if it was just a mirage crafted by an authority…
If he failed to dodge or block, he would be cut. The moment he parried the first attack, that gut instinct sent his hackles rising.
“You’re holding your own, I see,” Heitona said with a smirk as Daytona charged forward.
His weapon was a greatsword, slightly smaller than Krantel, the axe-sword. It must have been incredibly heavy, yet Daytona’s movements were light as he ran with the blade trailing behind him.
Ssssh—Boom!
The greatsword, which had been scraping against the sand, swung upward like a bolt of lightning. Jin took a step back and knocked the blade aside, acutely aware that his strength wasn’t what it usually was.
Daytona, his attack thwarted, paused for only a moment before immediately following up with another strike.
‘Normally, I could have broken his stance in a single blow. What a shame.’
After a week of trekking through the harsh Great Desert on only a fraction of his usual rations, it was impossible for his physical condition to be at its peak.
At his true level, Jin could have suppressed the real Tona brothers within five minutes. However, his depleted stamina had considerably narrowed the gap in their skills.
“Panicking? We’ve been waiting for you to get exhausted!” Heitona shouted, lashing out with his chain-sword again.
As the Tona brothers began their coordinated assault, Jin’s movements grew more frantic. Their teamwork was relentless: the chain-sword created openings from mid-range while the heavy greatsword moved in for the finishing blow.
“It’s been a while since we last met, and you jump straight to this, brothers?”
As Jin spoke, his eyes darted incessantly—up, down, left, and right. He was moving to find a gap between the chain-sword and the greatsword.
“Shut up!”
“Die!”
Clang! Crash! Three swords intertwined, sending sparks flying.
Despite his exhaustion, Jin’s Aura was overwhelming. As his Sword Flame blazed to life, both the chain-sword and the greatsword were ruthlessly knocked back.
‘Their coordination is too good. Whenever I try to push one back, the other pounces like a ghost.’
But that was all they had.
The eighteen-year-old Tona brothers did not exceed Jin’s expectations. While their ability to move as one was commendable, they lacked a powerful finishing move.
Like Jin, they were still Reserve Flagbearers. They had not yet learned any of the Runcandel Decisive Techniques that could act as a true variable in a fight.
‘If I were in top condition, I could take them down in three minutes, let alone five. If the real Tona brothers are at this level, then I must have overestimated them.’
Even if he couldn't exert his full power… the absolute difference in their skill was simply too vast.
Recalling how harshly the Tona brothers had treated him in his previous life, he almost felt a sense of indignation. He thought he had exacted enough revenge during their time at Storm Castle, but apparently, it wasn't enough. Jin glared at the brothers with murderous eyes.
“Do this properly. I’m starting to get angry.”
“Still spouting that arrogant bullshit.”
“You still haven't learned your lesson, have you? Don't get cocky just because you beat us before.”
Swish, whoosh!
The chain-sword and greatsword crossed in an X-shape, aiming for the crown of Jin’s head. It was a strike with a more condensed Aura than before, but Jin didn’t dodge.
He had finished his assessment. The Aura they could produce was barely at the mid 5-star level. That much power was no threat to him, even if his stamina were lower than it was now.
Boom!
He swung Bradamante upward with all his might. An explosion erupted as it collided with the two crossed swords, and the brothers reflexively stumbled backward.
Jin immediately kicked the ground. Splash! The ivory sand spread out like a net, momentarily obscuring his body.
The brothers quickly regained their stances and covered each other’s openings, waiting for his counterattack. But when the sand settled, there was nothing where Jin had been—only the deep blue sky.
In the brief moment the sand had hidden him, Jin had flanked them.
“Ugh!”
Daytona reacted first, holding his greatsword horizontally to block Bradamante. However, in his haste to defend against the sword rushing toward his face, he made the mistake of letting his own blade obscure his vision. Jin was not one to miss such an opening.
Slash!
He cut the off-balance Daytona’s thigh. Seeing fresh blood splatter and soak the sand, he wondered again if this was truly a mirage.
But he decided not to hesitate. Even if they were the real Tona brothers, the fact remained that they were trying to kill him.
“Daytona!”
Heitona quickly turned and yanked Daytona back by the collar. He lashed out with his chain-sword at the same time, but Jin responded with a thrust, just as he had when parrying the Nameless King’s hooks.
Tung! A segment of the chain-sword’s blade locked with the tip of Jin’s sword. Like a snake pierced by an awl, the chain-sword instantly went rigid, snapping out of Heitona’s control.
Then, another rapid thrust. He aimed for the throat, but Heitona jerked his head back, avoiding a fatal wound.
However, with a flick, the blade grazed across Heitona’s eye.
“Aaaagh!”
Heitona retreated, blood pouring from his eye. Seeing this, Jin unconsciously gritted his teeth.
He had taken his brother’s eye. He’d resolved not to hesitate, but a strange emotion—far different from when he cut Daytona’s thigh—clawed at his chest.
Unlike a thigh, an eye could not be fixed once damaged.
“Heitona, your eye…!”
“I’ll kill you! I’ll fucking kill you!”
Was this really a mirage?
The two men, spewing curses with faces full of rage and malice, were the Tona brothers themselves.
Was it really okay to cut them down?
‘Why am I even thinking this? Whether they’re real or fake, they’re the ones trying to kill me.’
The tide of battle had already swung heavily in his favor. He could end this quickly if he put his mind to it.
So why did his chest feel heavy, as if molten iron had been poured into it, and why was his mind so confused?
‘Do I actually… not want to fight the Tona brothers? Did I think that because we spent time at Storm Castle and as cadets together, they might eventually become my allies?’
Had he hoped for a different relationship than in his previous life? Just as he had with Luna or Yona?
Looking back, he didn't have many good memories with the Tona brothers in this life either. At Storm Castle, they had looked for every opportunity to bully him until he beat them into submission, and it had been the same in the Beginner and Intermediate classes.
And yet, why this sadness?
—Y-Youngest! Are you okay…?!
—Did Father say he’d let you live? Why on earth did you cause such a scene?!
—The brothers have their cute moments sometimes. I’m fine. Anyway, brothers, I need you to do me a favor.
He remembered the conversation they’d had right after he had broken the laws of the Reserve Flagbearers to visit Cyron with Luna.
Aside from Luna, no other sibling had offered him a single word of worry. Though Jin didn't know it, Mary had also hoped her youngest brother wouldn't die. But that was the extent of it. If he died, it couldn't be helped; if he lived, she simply looked forward to the day they could fight.
Only the Tona brothers had approached him. They had been waiting breathlessly on the floor below Cyron’s study, then approached him hesitantly to ask if he was okay. They’d been worried he might die and asked why he had caused such trouble.
They had been so anxious they were biting their fingernails to the quick. Ever since seeing those bitten nails, Jin had often found himself smiling whenever he thought of them.
“I’ll tear you limb from limb! Damn it, you son of a…!”
“Aaaaagh!”
Those same Tona brothers were now screaming at him. They had appeared without reason and were swinging their swords to kill him.
And their eyes were filled with fear. Like frightened dogs, they only barked loudly, no longer daring to attack recklessly.
They had realized it. They were no match for Jin. So, out of fear and anger, they could only hurl curses.
As he watched them, Jin’s gaze darkened.
‘I must cut them down.’
Whether mirage or real, he had to cut them down.
Because if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to move forward.
Because he was a Runcandel.
The blade of Bradamante was dyed with Spirit Energy.
“I’m sorry.”
“Shut up!”
“Because I wasn't strong enough, I had to hurt you. There will be no more pain now.”
As Jin trudged forward, the brothers scrambled backward. Knowing they were cornered, they looked around frantically.
This was the desert.
There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and nowhere to retreat.
“Don't come any closer…!”
“Damn it, get lost!”
The Tona brothers’ shrill voices, which had quickly turned pathetic, were trembling.
Jin did not look away from them. With every step he took toward his brothers, it felt as if something inside him was collapsing.
They entered each other’s striking range.
In the moment he hesitated to swing Bradamante, Heitona let out a scream and lashed out with his chain-sword.
It was a clumsy strike, swung in pure desperation. Jin instinctively knocked it aside, twisting its trajectory, and lunged inside Heitona’s guard.
Slash…!
Before Heitona’s head could even hit the ground, Daytona’s greatsword came flying in. Jin spun to the side to dodge, slashed Daytona’s wrist, and then pierced his throat.
Thud.
The Tona brothers fell without another sound, their blood staining the desert red. Jin stared at their bodies for a long time with a hollow expression.
The corpses did not disappear.
‘Why… why isn't the mirage disappearing?’
It was the same even after an hour had passed.
So, he dug a grave in the middle of the desert and buried his brothers side by side.
Jin’s fists trembled violently as he resumed his journey, leaving the chain-sword and greatsword stabbed into the ground as makeshift headstones.
Before long, an oasis appeared as if by magic.
Jin buried his face in the water for a long time. Soon, his red-rimmed eyes were reflected on the surface as he uncapped his canteens to fill them.
And hidden within the barrier of the Great Desert, beyond Jin’s perception… a woman was quietly watching him.
“Yes, killing one’s own kin should rightfully be a painful thing.”
The woman, with hair as pitch-black as Murakan’s, was Murakan’s sister.
The Black Dragon, Misha.
“You certainly chose quite the child, Lord Solderet,” she muttered to herself and waved her hand once. The two swords planted in the Tona brothers’ grave crumbled into dust.
Then, a wind blew, washing away all traces of the mirage. Where Jin and the Tona brothers had fought, there was now nothing but ivory sand.