Chapter 336: Debt, Debt, and Debt (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 336: Debt, Debt, and Debt (3)
The cracks in the barrier had widened enough to reveal the dimension on the other side. It was another of the beastmen's secret spaces.
The Wraith Squad was not yet in sight.
‘Just a little longer… Break just a little later…!’
Because he had started preparing it in such a hurry, Hellfire was not yet complete.
If the Wraith Squad entered the cave even five seconds—no, three seconds—before Hellfire was finished, Jin would be the one attacked first.
He was certain of it.
If that happened, it would be his defeat—assuming the enemies were three mages at the mid-to-late 9-star level.
To experts of that caliber, three seconds was more than enough time to kill an opponent ten times over. This was especially true for someone like Jin, who was currently defenseless while preparing a decisive technique.
He had to concentrate. Maintaining composure in moments like this was one of Jin’s greatest strengths.
Hidden by the veil of spirit energy, Jin’s eyes burned with the color of flames. Within the dark shroud, the fire extending from his body flickered.
The flames looked like a fierce beast bound by loose shackles. The moment Jin willed it and lifted the veil, they would surge in all directions and incinerate his enemies.
Time seemed to slow.
While his own heartbeat thundered in his ears, the mana required to unleash Hellfire flowed through the runes engraved across his body, fluid yet powerful.
The mana of the Wraith Squad grew increasingly immense.
Just how much mana were they pouring into breaking the barrier? Even inside the veil, Jin’s face tingled from the sheer pressure.
Whoosh, crackle, snap…!
The sound of Jin’s spreading fire and the rupturing barrier tangled together in a chaotic din.
Creeeeeak—!
A thunderous roar echoed in his mind as the cracks in the barrier finally shattered.
‘They’re coming!’
Finally, the Wraith Squad revealed themselves. Only blurred silhouettes were visible, obscured by the space distorted by the veil of spirit energy and the fractured barrier.
Zipple’s elite monsters, clad in gray robes. Jin tightened his grip on his sword.
Fortunately.
It was complete. Before they arrived.
The fire first enveloped Jin’s body. Then, it seeped inward, turning Jin himself into a being of fire. A more ferocious light ignited in his burning eyes, and his hair transformed into a blazing mane.
‘I’ll pay back the debt from that day, Wraith Squad.’
Even after becoming a flagbearer, Jin often thought of the day he had to flee Veradin’s villa, leaving Misha behind. He thought that if he had been stronger, he could have fought alongside her.
While fleeing from fifteen members of the Wraith Squad was hardly a disgrace for a reserve flagbearer of Runcandel, Jin still felt a pang of shame whenever he recalled that day.
It was time to erase that feeling.
Runcandel Magic Sword Secret Technique
Hellfire – Sarah Runcandel
When he had inherited this magic sword secret technique from Sarah, Jin had taken a great liking to the name "Hellfire."
Looking back at the atrocities Zipple had committed, there seemed to be no name more fitting for the fire that would burn them.
Roooooooar…!
Sharp flames began to tear through the veil and pour outward.
The moment the Wraith Squad crossed the barrier, they were met with that fire, their eyes widening in shock.
“Gah!”
One member of the Wraith Squad gasped in horror and conjured a shield. Grrrrrrrnd! The shield, engulfed in flames, vibrated unstably.
It looked as though the shield would shatter at any moment. At a glance, it seemed unable to withstand the power of Hellfire, but Jin was inwardly impressed.
‘They’re holding out against this with a shield they cast in an instant?’
There were truly not many mages in the world capable of such a feat. Furthermore, the Wraith Squad had just consumed a massive amount of mana to break through the barrier.
Of course, Hellfire was only just beginning.
Kaaaaaaah—!
Jin let out a roar, pushing his aura and mana to a higher level. He then completely dispelled the remaining veil of spirit energy, liberating the flames that had been trapped within.
Like a tsunami, the fire surged. In an instant, the cave’s interior transformed into a burning hellscape. The Wraith Squad’s shield was so thoroughly swallowed by the flames that the color of its mana was no longer visible.
The rocks inside the cave began to melt.
The magic sword secret technique, Hellfire, resembled Fighting God Ban’s Pluto's Sovereign Sword in many ways. It was similar in that heat, rather than lightning, covered the surroundings to create a domain of fire, and that those who had not reached a certain level of mastery could not even breathe within that space.
In fact, a thousand years ago, Temar’s advice—derived from his knowledge of Ban’s Pluto's Sovereign Sword—had played the most crucial role in the completion of Sarah’s magic sword.
All the fire filling the cave was now pouring toward the Wraith Squad.
“Oh, damn it!” a mage of the Wraith Squad shouted, their voice panicked and desperate. To Jin, it was a sweet sound.
Even though it was an ambush, the fact that Hellfire was working against three members of the Wraith Squad sent a thrill of excitement through his entire body.
Feeling one’s own growth always brought a sense of euphoria.
‘You won’t be able to do anything about this with just a shield.’
Fwoosh!
Amidst the sea of crimson flames, a single point of blue began to spread.
Hellfire was originally a martial art performed by adding the power of a phoenix. While Sarah in the second tomb could not use the Phoenix Manier because she was a guardian, Jin had Tess.
Gwaaaaaah—!
As the point of blue flame opened a portal to the fire realm, the king of phoenixes emerged with a sharp yet heavy roar.
Azure fire and pressure—the powers that symbolized Tess.
When that power was added to Hellfire, the Wraith Squad mage let out a groan. The moment he heard it, Jin was certain.
He could kill them.
While this was true for a warrior’s aura shield or sword-screen, it was especially true for a mage’s shield: once pierced, there was rarely a second chance. This was because they did not possess the tempered bodies of high-ranking warriors.
Therefore, once direct physical damage began, a mage’s abilities were bound to drop significantly.
He had seized the advantage.
‘Now, they’ll scramble to control their mana to keep from burning, and that will trigger a backflow.’
Just as death is inevitable for all humans, reckless mana management inevitably led to backflow. Even the Wraith Squad could not escape that law.
However, Jin assumed that the Wraith Squad would have the ability to suppress a mana backflow very quickly.
‘Their backflow control won’t be as good as my Master’s, but for the Wraith Squad, they can likely stabilize their mana within five seconds of the initial symptoms.’
He would cut their throats before they could manage it.
Having reached a swift conclusion, Jin searched for the Wraith Squad mages through the flames. From the moment they first arrived, he had only seen their silhouettes; he hadn't even properly laid eyes on their gray robes. He was attacking by guessing their positions based solely on their silhouettes and the energy radiating from them.
‘The moment their energy wanes due to backflow, I’ll dive in and end it. I don’t have much time left either.’
Jin was also in a state where backflow could occur at any moment. Having unleashed such a massive technique so suddenly, and in conjunction with the veil of spirit energy, it was a miracle that backflow hadn't hit him yet.
Still, time was on his side.
Before even a minute had passed, he felt the Wraith Squad’s mana suddenly weaken. The energy that had made his face tingle even through the barrier dropped to the level of an ordinary mage in an instant.
It was the result of backflow beginning.
Jin stepped into the flames. As Tess exhaled a breath of pressurized fire before him, the flames of Hellfire parted gently, forming a path.
With every stride Jin took, the Wraith Squad remained hidden among the flames.
“You should have just stayed still.”
Grin—!
Jin spoke as he fired a blade of sword energy toward the presence he sensed. A cynical smile played on his lips.
Slash!
The distinct sensation of cutting through flesh and bone traveled up the sword energy to his fingertips.
The Wraith Squad member desperately swallowed a groan, but it was a meaningless gesture.
His location was already exposed; the fight was over.
Swish!
Jin threw himself toward the spot where he had fired the sword energy, his eyes glowing with the light of the flames.
‘I’ve definitely seized the advantage, but since there are three of them, I need to end this quickly without dragging it out.’
The time it took for the Wraith Squad to suppress mana backflow was five seconds. He needed to kill all three within that window.
Thuck!
Sigmund’s blade pierced through the chest of a Wraith Squad member.
“Urgh!”
A single death rattle was all that remained. The mage was instantly swept away by the heat surrounding Sigmund and turned to ash.
It was a death so pathetic it was hard to believe it was the end of one of Zipple’s elite secret mages. It was also a testament to how incredible Jin had become.
Excluding Luna, no other sibling could have produced such a result in the same situation. Even if no one was immune to an ambush, the opponent was still the Wraith Squad.
‘Now, the other two.’
Huff. Jin took a short breath. His flame-dyed body was becoming unbearably hot; it felt like backflow was about to start.
Three seconds remained.
It was enough time to find the two great mages caught in backflow amidst the flames and take their heads.
But the moment he tried to move again, Jin felt a strange sense of dissonance.
‘What is this? I only killed one, but the faint traces of the Wraith Squad’s mana have completely vanished.’
He quickly searched through the flames.
For some reason, he couldn't find the other two members of the Wraith Squad.
‘Where did they suddenly disappear? They couldn't have gone back through the barrier, and it’s as if that powerful mana belonged only to the member I killed….’
Jin came to a dead halt.
‘Don’t tell me… that wasn't their combined mana!?’
The man Jin had just killed was only one of the three Wraith Squad members.
The other two had been breaking through the barriers of other secret beastmen hideouts and were only now entering the cave.
Jin had mistaken the mana of the single member he had ambushed with Hellfire for the combined mana of all three.
Rumble…!
Suddenly, he felt another massive surge of mana from beyond the shattered barrier.
As a chill ran down his spine, he turned his head to see the remaining two members of the Wraith Squad walking out from the broken portal.
‘Are you kidding me…?’
Unlike the one who had just died, these two had already seen the flames of Hellfire spread throughout the cave from beyond the barrier. It was only natural, as the energy and presence of Hellfire were no longer hidden by the veil of spirit energy.
“Hah, looks like Rokai got done in. Here’s his staff.”
“The fire is dying down. The one who killed Rokai won’t be in good shape either; he couldn't have gone far. Before we track down those insect-like beastmen, let’s hunt him down first.”
Jin’s eyes met those of the Wraith Squad mages.
“...Actually, there’s no need to hunt, Jin Runcandel. So you’re the one who killed Rokai.”
Beneath their gray hoods, the corners of the mages' mouths curled into smiles.