Chapter 264: The Ember (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 264: The Ember (1)
“I have returned from my training.”
At those words, the people gathered in the Garden of Swords flinched as if lightning had struck right before their eyes.
Everyone stared at the audacious fugitive, their eyes wide with shock.
The people watching Jin—the pure-blooded Runcandels, the clan elders, and the family’s retainers—had never experienced a moment more stunning than this.
How could he be so bold? A man with a death warrant from both great families that ruled the world had just walked into the jaws of death on his own two feet.
How dare he! Where does he think this is? Seize him!
The elders and Jin’s siblings wanted to scream the words in unison.
Under normal circumstances, they would have. However, everyone instinctively understood one thing: they must not speak before Cyron did.
Even Rosa barely suppressed her astonishment as she watched Cyron’s reaction. Like every other pure-blood present, she had naturally assumed Cyron would cut Jin down on the spot.
Having dismounted from Murakan, Jin straightened his posture and looked up at his father.
Cyron, in turn, silently met his youngest son’s gaze.
In the terrifying silence where no one dared to even breathe, no one could read the intentions of the father and son.
Jin’s eyes were filled with a brilliance that suggested he feared nothing in the world.
In contrast, Cyron’s gaze was deep, his wrinkles more pronounced. That gaze concealed a profound and burning emotion that the titan known as Cyron was experiencing for the first time in his life.
It was the heart of a father looking upon his grown son.
It was the joy of seeing his son become the most special and powerful man in the world, finally standing tall before him—and the certainty that this was no delusion born of a father’s wishful thinking.
He had fathered thirteen children.
Luna was the only one he had ever held with a heart full of overwhelming joy. But in the end, she had failed his expectations and abandoned the throne.
After Luna, he had looked upon his other eleven children as if they were mere stones. Then, when Jin finally began to distinguish himself, Cyron saw a small ember.
And now, that ember had returned as an uncontrollable conflagration, soaring in with enough force to engulf the entire Garden of Swords.
It had come to burn the holy land of swordmasters to the ground, so that this lukewarm grave of swords might blaze fiercely once more.
I am proud of you.
This brief, intense sentiment from Cyron was not conveyed to the others, not even to Jin.
A few seconds passed, and Jin, like his father, felt a strange sensation wash over him.
Thousands of warriors and eleven of his siblings were gathered nearby, yet it felt as if he were facing Cyron entirely alone.
And among them all, only his father, Cyron Runcandel, felt like the one he truly had to surpass.
Of course, many warriors here were stronger than Jin. Luna, Rosa, the Black Knights… but while he was certain he would inevitably surpass them one day, his father was different.
Surpassing his father was not a matter of inevitability; it required a will strong enough to defy fate itself.
‘I will transcend, and transcend again, until I surpass you.’
The moment passed, and father and son swallowed their private thoughts.
Cyron was the first to act.
Srrrng…
Dismounting his horse, he drew the sword from his waist.
It was the very sword Jin had chosen during the Selection Ceremony in both his past and present lives. The snow-white blade of Barisada, the cherished sword of the first patriarch, Temar Runcandel, caught the sunlight.
As Cyron’s energy began to unfurl, the cadets suddenly collapsed.
Their legs had given out. It was impossible for mere cadets to withstand Cyron’s pressure.
The lower-level guardian knights trembled violently, barely holding their stances, while the intermediate-level knights gritted their teeth to keep from being crushed by his aura. Falling before Cyron was a disgrace permitted only to the young cadets.
The flagbearers (excluding the Tona brothers), the Black Knights, the enforcement knights, the high-level guardian knights, the elders, and Rosa all maintained their composure.
Jin, in response, unleashed his fighting spirit to its absolute limit, preparing to strike back.
‘It’s coming. My father’s sword.’
He could take one strike.
This was the confidence he had harbored since returning from Laprarosa. After ninety thousand deaths, Jin had gained insight into blocking a strike from the Fighting God Ban, a feat he had even proven to the former Black Knight, Vanessa Olson.
However, what Cyron was preparing now was a strike of an entirely different nature.
It was not a casual slash. It was a single blow imbued with the entire weight of the demigod Cyron Runcandel’s life and achievements.
It fell.
Very slowly, at a leisurely pace that even a three-year-old could follow—so slowly it felt as if anyone could easily sidestep it.
It descended toward Jin.
There wasn't even the sound of cutting wind. Barisada simply tilted downward like a slowly sinking ship.
But who would dare call that sword slow?
Even those who had not reached the pinnacle of martial arts would have only one word in mind upon seeing the sword Cyron now wielded:
Divine Technique.
A realm that seemed possible only through the power of a god.
A monstrous sword that far exceeded human common sense and the laws of nature.
Huuu…
When Barisada was only a few spans away, Jin took a deep breath.
His entire body was already drenched in sweat. Every muscle was pulled taut and swollen, his very bones and blood hardened and saturated with aura.
Without drawing upon every ounce of his strength, he could not hope to receive this slow, ever-shifting sword.
Srrrng—!
The pale blade of Sigmund flew from its sheath. Condensed lightning energy flowed within the steel.
Jin gripped Sigmund with both hands and held the blade at an angle to block Barisada. In a few seconds, the two swords would meet.
Until the moment of impact, countless thoughts flooded the minds of those in the Garden of Swords.
‘Jin…!’
Luna worried whether her youngest brother could actually endure it.
‘…Father is certain that brat can take his sword!’
A shudder of foreboding ran through Joshua. His youngest brother, who had returned as a rival before he knew it, seemed destined to survive and one day hold a blade to his throat.
Most of the siblings felt the same as Joshua.
The youngest, who was supposed to be nothing more than a reserve flagbearer, a dead man walking, had returned to challenge the throne of swords. He was now staring death in the eye to pass his final trial.
‘If he blocks this sword, the weight of his past transgressions will be lifted… Cyron, will you only be satisfied once you have plunged Runcandel into the flames of chaos?!’
Rosa Runcandel’s eyes narrowed.
She, too, cherished the son she had borne. She considered him more than worthy of becoming patriarch after Joshua.
If he hadn't committed those transgressions—or even if he had, if he hadn't publicly revealed his use of spiritual energy and magic—she would have certainly made him the patriarch after Joshua.
But now that his deviations had been revealed to the world, Rosa was convinced that for the sake of Runcandel, her youngest had to be cast aside.
‘…Even so, I cannot oppose the Patriarch’s judgment. The will of the Runcandel Patriarch is absolute and must remain so.’
If she were to question the Patriarch’s judgment now, it would set a precedent for Joshua when he took the throne. The absolute power of the Patriarch would lose its meaning.
That was why she had tried to make Joshua the Patriarch as soon as possible. Rosa believed there was no successor more suitable than him to protect the massive sandcastle that was Runcandel.
No, she believed that no one could replace Joshua.
‘We have too many enemies. Runcandel’s future is dark, and there is no room for retreat. So why do you seek to turn back time…?’
Just as Rosa bit her lower lip, the blades met.
Tock…
As steel met steel, a sound as delicate as a crack appearing in an eggshell echoed out.
Cyron, his movement finished, did not withdraw his sword. Jin looked up, his eyes bloodshot from ruptured capillaries.
Fresh blood flowed from his ears and lips.
The energy contained within Barisada ravaged Jin’s body as if scorching heat were being conducted through the blade. A tsunami seemed to surge through his veins, bringing with it the agony of his bones and organs shattering.
Yet, Jin stubbornly maintained his posture.
Cyron’s energy circulated once through Jin’s body and then bled out into the ground.
Crrrack—!
In an instant, the earth shook. The ground beneath Jin collapsed, its maw gaping open.
From the split earth, a brilliant light surged upward like a geyser. It was all the aura from Cyron that had been contained in Barisada.
Within that surging aura, faint, flickering bolts of lightning struggled to assert their presence.
They were proof of how desperately Jin had resisted his father’s sword.
Proof that the youngest of Runcandel had ultimately endured a strike that no one else here could have received without absolute resolve.
The waves of aura that had poured out like a waterfall slowly subsided.
Cyron turned his gaze toward his son, who was still standing, and then to the Black Dragon glaring at him from behind.
‘Indeed, a magnificent guardian dragon.’
‘Damn it, what a monstrous father.’
As Cyron’s and Murakan’s conflicting thoughts passed, Jin coughed.
Cough!
He vomited a mouthful of dark blood and momentarily lost his balance.
Ah…!
In that moment, those who loved Jin, those who were hostile to him, and those who were merely curious all let out a collective gasp.
Because if he fell, it was over.
If he fell now, Jin’s name would never be erased from the Runcandel execution list.
“Graaaah!”
Having barely caught himself by stabbing his sword into the ground, Jin let out a roar.
Graaaah! Aaaaah!
Like a madman, Jin pounded his chest with his fist and continued to scream. The Garden of Swords shook with that desperate roar, a declaration that he had no intention of letting it end like this.
Finally, Jin stood up straight again and faced Cyron.
He was a complete wreck, but it was clear he was still holding onto the thread of his consciousness.
Seeing this, Cyron showed a faint smile for the first time.
It was only for a brief moment, but everyone present saw that smile clearly.
That one smile held a multitude of meanings.
It was Cyron’s personal declaration that the ‘Magic Swordsman’ Jin Runcandel had passed the final trial to enter the Garden of Swords.
Luna nearly burst into tears from the overwhelming emotion. Even those who weren't close to Jin felt a sense of relief wash over them.
As soon as the smile vanished, Cyron spoke in a dry voice.
“Send Flagbearer Jin Runcandel to the medical team. As soon as he wakes, we will formally proceed with the Flagbearer Appointment Ceremony.”
Only after Cyron finished speaking did Jin finally collapse.