Chapter 191: Operation Compass Snatch (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 191: Operation Compass Snatch (3)
Flash!
A brilliant white light exploded from Jin’s palm.
“Damn it!”
“Are you insane?!”
The guards of Chukon and Kall spat curses. In the split second before the Flash Cannon detonated, four men had reacted, lunging to strike Jin down.
All of them were warriors of at least the 7-star rank. However, three of the four were intercepted by Siris, who had already spun around.
Caught off guard by Jin’s sudden move, they hadn’t even considered her. Siris slipped effortlessly behind the three men and slit their throats with her daggers.
Jin dodged the last guard’s blade and twisted the man’s neck. Crack! As the sensation of snapping vertebrae shot through his palm, Chukon, Kall, and their followers roared in rage.
Had it been a standard offensive spell, Chukon Tolderer wouldn't have suffered a scratch.
The moment Jin and Siris sat at the neighboring table, he had layered himself in reactive defensive magic. It was a barrier that not even an 8-star mage or a warrior’s ultimate technique could easily pierce; his plan was to defend against any ambush and then tear the assailant apart.
However, ancient light magic—especially a spell that didn't strike directly but merely emitted a blinding radiance—was a different story. There was no way to defend against it other than to cover one's eyes in advance.
“Curse you! Kall Zipple! You really…!”
“Chukon! What kind of trick is this?!”
Just as Jin had anticipated, Chukon and Kall immediately suspected each other. The mages of Kinzelo and Zipple clutched their stinging eyes, blindly chanting offensive spells.
Clang!
After securing the compass, Jin thrust Bradamante toward Chukon’s throat, but the magical barrier flared to life.
As expected, it won't be that easy.
When he turned to strike at Kall’s neck, guards who had been hiding at other tables lunged at him.
“For Kinzelo!”
Though it wasn't part of the original plan, Jin shouted the battle cry at the top of his lungs as he parried the guards' swords. Simultaneously—Pop!
Siris detonated a smoke bomb. Following the Flash Cannon, a thick, murky haze filled the area, plunging the gambling den into utter pandemonium.
Before the smoke could fully spread, Jin tossed the compass to Siris. He ruthlessly cut down the guards who witnessed the exchange, and in that moment of brutal efficiency, he realized his swordsmanship had reached a new height.
Every single one of them was at least a 7-star expert. Yet, every time Jin moved, these experts were wounded or disarmed. More than a few lost their lives to a single stroke.
Of course, the guards were panicked, but sweeping aside such warriors like fallen leaves was no ordinary feat.
Still, there were too many of them. Only about twenty percent of the people on the second floor were regular customers; the rest were all henchmen of Zipple and Kinzelo.
“Aaaah!”
“Eek!”
The regular patrons screamed and fled in a frantic scramble.
Go down.
Jin signaled with his eyes, and Siris nodded. Her role now was to head downstairs, hand the compass to Enya, and discreetly escort her until she was safely out of the gambling den.
Will Jin be alright on his own?
Siris harbored no such doubts. The Jin she was seeing now, for the first time since the Colon Ruins, was a completely different person.
Just how did he train? He’s a monster. At this rate, I don't know if I’ll ever be able to beat him.
Siris let out a shrill scream of her own and blended in with the regular customers rushing toward the first floor.
Some had seen her kill the first three guards. However, between the smoke, the screams, the mages' chanting, and the clash of Jin’s blade against steel, no one had the presence of mind to care.
All of this had unfolded in a matter of seconds.
Once the confusion dies down, I have ten seconds at most before they pinpoint me as the true intruder. And there are roughly thirty guards from both sides on the second floor.
He had to thin their ranks as much as possible within that window.
Once the chaos subsided, the thirty guards who hadn't been blinded by the Flash Cannon wouldn't be his only problem. Chukon Tolderer and Kall Zipple would regain some of their vision within a minute, and the White Wolf Tribe and Zipple henchmen from the first floor would be storming up to join the fight.
“The item! Prioritize securing the item!”
The moment Chukon shouted, Jin activated the Rune of Mul-ta. He sheathed Bradamante and drew a new sword.
A pale blade shimmered faintly through the smoke.
The Sealed Lightning Sword, Sigmund. As the blade began to thrum with lightning, blue sparks crackled violently around it. The eyes of those searching for Jin were naturally drawn to the gathering light.
What is that?
Seeing the lightning glow through the smoke, everyone shared the same thought for a fleeting moment. It didn't seem like a high-level lightning spell, yet the energy swirling around the sword was deeply ominous.
Furthermore, the face of the individual holding the sword—the presumed culprit—was concealed by a Black Magic Helmet.
The best part about the Pluto Sword is that I don't have to hide it like spirit energy.
Crackle!
As Jin lowered Sigmund, sharp bolts of lightning suddenly poured down from the ceiling.
Pluto Sword Basic Form: Lightning. There was no one in this gambling den who could possibly recognize a legendary martial art lost five thousand years ago.
Unfamiliarity made it difficult to counter.
Unfamiliarity combined with overwhelming power made it impossible. In that sense, the moment Jin began to swing Sigmund, he became the god of the second floor.
When he commanded the lightning to strike, death was the only answer.
Rumble! Zap!
Azure lightning tore through the smoke, shredding the humans within. Unlike natural lightning or a mage's spell, the lightning of the Pluto Sword possessed the properties of a blade.
Every time the blue light flashed, a head was severed, or a limb was lost.
Those who had been straining their eyes to find Jin were now desperately trying to escape his line of sight.
It wasn't just a figure of speech; he truly looked like a god of judgment.
In a place that housed an artifact capable of hunting a God's Contractee, an unidentified figure wielding unfathomable power had suddenly appeared.
“Lord Kall! You must evacuate for now!”
“Evacuate? What nonsense! Once my sight returns, I will personally tear those Kinzelo insects to pieces!”
“Lightning! Lightning is striking down!”
“What are you talking about now?!”
“Lord Chukon! This doesn't seem to be Zipple’s doing! An intruder is using lightning… Argh!”
Kall and Chukon couldn't understand why their guards were cowering. They couldn't see the storm of lightning yet.
“Aaaah!”
“Gah!”
Death cries continued to ring out. The guards couldn't even get close to Jin; they were struggling just to protect their masters.
“Honestly, these primitive humans… I’ve never seen them do a job right.”
It was then that the White Wolf Tribe members from the first floor arrived.
They had been grumbling about the humans' incompetence, but the moment they reached the top of the stairs and witnessed the feast of lightning, they were struck dumb.
They were merely facing the majesty of the Pluto Sword.
However, just like the young Red Tiger Tribe members in the Yuka Yuka Market, a fear engraved in their very blood made their knees tremble.
Th-this… this is the energy of that fool from earlier…?!
The two White Wolf Tribe members who had sensed something strange about Jin were the first to realize the truth.
The human raining down lightning was the very "fool" who had reeked of that person’s scent.
The monster they had mistaken for a fool.
Still, unlike the young Red Tiger Tribe, they were warriors—Assault Captains of the White Wolf Tribe’s main army.
Boom!
The White Wolf warriors slammed their giant hammers onto the floor.
“Get a grip! You idiots, there’s only one of him! Melto, protect Chukon! Duroka and I will suppress that bastard!”
“Listen, Zipple dogs! The alliance is void, but now is not the time for squabbling. Strike the intruder as soon as you recover!”
As they roared, the chaos began to subside rapidly.
At that point, Jin realized one thing.
Among the enemies gathered here, no warrior surpasses the level of a White Wolf Assault Captain.
There might be more outside, but at least the interior was clear. If that was the case, the lower floor should be at a level his comrades could handle.
I wonder if things are going well downstairs. As long as Miss Enya escapes to the safe zone, the rest of them are skilled enough to fend for themselves, even if something unexpected happens.
The first floor was also in an uproar. The entire building was shaking from the aftershocks, suggesting a fairly intense battle was underway.
Crackle!
Jin scattered lightning toward the approaching White Wolf warriors.
Because of a history of being devastated by the predators known as the Pluto Tribe, fear was etched into their blood. But fear was an emotion born from knowing an opponent’s strength.
Unlike the human warriors, the White Wolf warriors weren't taken down by the Pluto Sword in a single stroke. They closed in on Jin, deflecting the lightning with their hammers.
“State your name, human!”
“Why should I?”
“Your power is something I’ve never seen, but my instincts are screaming. They tell me this should be an honorable duel! I wish to offer your corpse upon the Altar of Javier!”
Jin let out a short, mocking laugh.
“Do those instincts not tell you to run?”
“What?”
“I don't have much time, you see. I’m a bit too busy to play with you.”
Even though Jin spoke dismissively, the White Wolf warriors couldn't get worked up as they would when facing other humans. They were attacking despite their fear, but they hadn't completely overcome it.
It was merely their warrior’s pride that kept them fighting. To them, Jin did not appear as a human, but as the massive shadow of a predator they had never before encountered.
It wasn't just a feeling; he literally looked that way. Because of the energy radiating from the Heart of Light, they couldn't even see Jin’s form clearly.
Thump, thump!
Beneath the Black Magic Helmet, the aura within the Heart of Light began to rotate even faster.
He could certainly handle the White Wolf Assault Captains with just the Basic Form: Lightning, but it was far better to finish this before Chukon and Kall recovered.
To do that, he needed to push himself a little.
“Consider it an honor, wolves. This wasn't a technique I intended to use so soon.”
Zzzzt!
Sigmund swallowed the lightning scattered in all directions. As the blue energy that had been shrouding the entire second floor gathered into the pale blade, the room momentarily plunged into darkness.
One step further.
The fear felt by the White Wolf Tribe deepened. Even though no new lightning had fallen, their instincts began to paralyze them once more.
A Fighting God Technique. Is this the second time I’ve used it since completing it?
Pluto Sword Fighting God Technique 3rd Sword.
Judgment.
As Jin thrust Sigmund forward, a massive drill made of pure lightning erupted from the blade and soared toward the White Wolf warriors.