Chapter 380: How a Runcandel Deals with Assassins (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 380: How a Runcandel Deals with Assassins (2)
Without a single word exchanged, Jin’s blade and those of the assassins began to clash. Sparks flew from the colliding steel as the entire guest room vibrated with unleashed aura.
Boom! Bang! Crash!
Thick wooden chairs, ornate decorations, and support pillars shattered like matchsticks under the relentless shockwaves.
The Ghost Squad assassins were no longer being careless. The killing intent infused in their swords was more refined than before, and their movements grew razor-sharp.
The strikes from the captain-level assassin at the heart of their formation were particularly lethal, sending a chill down Jin’s spine with every pass.
Fey Prochi may have held the highest rank, but that was only because she was the sister of the Ghost Captain, Rata Prochi. In terms of raw skill, the captain-level assassin was far superior.
Fey’s twin swords were indeed fierce. She possessed the kind of potential that would earn her the title of "genius" anywhere she went.
Nevertheless, she was still just a twenty-five-year-old fledgling. No matter how great her talent, it wasn’t enough to truly shock someone like Jin.
‘The priority is taking down the captain-level assassin.’
Having already lost five of his subordinates, the man was brimming with venom. He navigated the ebb and flow of combat with the fluidity of an old serpent, all while unleashing the most troublesome and powerful attacks. He was a significant nuisance.
Jin had entered this fight already exhausted.
Until now, he had successfully baited the Ghost Squad into a false sense of security by using his hidden trump cards, but the Ghost Squad was no mere mercenary band. They possessed true depth.
“The bastard’s sword is using some kind of magic to create a gravitational pull! Factor that into your movements!”
As expected of a captain-level assassin, he had immediately recognized the power of Pluto Sword Oppression. At his command, Fey and the other assassins adjusted their distance once more.
“It seems there’s someone here whose life would be a waste to lose. What is your name?”
The captain-level assassin did not answer.
“If you don’t want to say, so be it.”
Whoosh!
Spirit energy swirled around Bradamante. Black sword energy radiated out from the vortex, and Jin used it like a veil to obscure the Ghost Squad’s vision.
His breath was growing short from the relentless footwork. As he pushed his concentration to its absolute limit, he felt the killing intent left behind by Yona becoming increasingly vivid.
The clearer it became, the easier it was to read his enemies' intent. Jin swung Bradamante as he wove through the seven blades, and though his movements appeared precarious to an observer, he was in complete control.
To Jin, the blades grazing his Spirit Energy Armor felt distant and harmless.
‘I’ve heard there is a realm where one can completely dominate a battle simply by reading killing intent. This must be what it feels like.’
It was the pinnacle of the Mind’s Eye; Jin was experiencing a state very similar to it.
Despite the danger of the situation, a smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. Jin had always preferred these kinds of fights—perilous, yet ones he felt he could never lose.
Hidden by the Rune of Mul-ta, his expression was invisible to the Ghost Squad, but the captain-level assassin sensed it clearly.
‘He’s enjoying this. Even while facing us…!’
The captain-level assassin couldn’t help but feel as though Jin was "playing" with them.
It made no sense. Objectively, they held the advantage in strength—or at the very least, it was a fierce, even struggle. Jin should have shown at least a hint of desperation.
Instead, he carried the attitude of a predator before a delicious meal.
It was arrogant beyond belief.
Yet, as a man who had spent his entire life wielding a sword, he couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of awe.
‘Is his very blood different from ours, Jin Runcandel?’
“Haaah!”
The captain-level assassin let out a kiai and thrust his sword forward.
Within his eyes, hidden behind his mask, dwelt the deep desperation that Jin should have been feeling.
Clang!
Jin parried the blow with the flat of his blade and stumbled back. His posture broke, and the Ghost Squad did not miss the opening.
Fey’s twin swords and four other blades lunged toward Jin’s body.
However, they did not feel the familiar sensation of piercing flesh and bone. Once again, all that traveled up their blades was the hollow ring of striking metal.
It wasn't that Jin had emerged unscathed.
‘I’m using too much spirit energy.’
Even with a Spirit Energy Release that had nearly reached 8-star, it wasn’t enough—not when his body was this exhausted. He couldn't overwhelm these assassins and maintain his armor at the same time.
The strength of his Spirit Energy Armor flickered.
Normally, he would have blocked the six blades without taking damage, but now, cracks formed in his bones and muscles.
Crunch. Jin swallowed a gasp as he felt his ribs fracture and his femoral muscles tear.
But in combat, what is lost is often traded for gain. While enduring the hits with his armor, he unleashed Pluto Sword 2nd Form: Scissors, severing the wrist of the lead assassin.
It was the wrist holding the sword. Before the dismembered hand could even clatter to the floor, Jin lunged forward and buried Bradamante in the man’s chest.
‘Five left.’
The survivors were Fey and four other assassins.
Both Jin and the Ghost Squad were breathing heavily. Though the exchange hadn’t been long, everyone was fighting at their absolute limit.
Eeee—!
A sharp ringing echoed in Jin's ears.
The first one to lose focus would be the first to be cut down. Jin ignored the tinnitus and tightened his grip on his sword.
For a brief moment, Jin’s eyes met the captain-level assassin’s.
Jin visualized their blades clashing once more, while the captain-level assassin made a choice.
He felt a pang of regret. He regretted not taking one of the three chances Jin had offered earlier. For someone of his caliber, it was an unspeakable blow to his pride, but his position was different from Jin’s.
Fey Prochi.
He had a duty to protect his lord’s only living kin.
“My Lady, I will buy you time. Please, escape.”
Vrrrrm…!
The captain-level assassin’s sword, shrouded in aura, emitted a somber vibration.
It wasn't a Runcandel Decisive Technique, a Hairan Secret Technique, or the essence of any other prestigious martial family. It was simply the culmination of a nameless sword, forged through a lifetime of solitary discipline.
Jin instinctively knew that this would be the man's final strike.
“We were commissioned to kill Jin Runcandel. And I ordered you to kill that man,” Fey said, her voice tight.
“I shall do so. However, I cannot gamble with your life, My Lady.”
“If you stake your life, then I stake mine as well.”
“My Lady.”
“That is the way of the Ghost Squad, and that is the honor of the Prochis. If we fall, my brother will avenge us.”
The captain-level assassin could no longer dissuade Fey. Jin was already gathering his energy once more.
To block the captain-level assassin’s final strike, Jin was drawing out every last drop of his remaining strength.
‘If I can’t block this, there is no next time for me.’
Victory and defeat would be decided in this single blow.
It would have been ideal if he could use the Pluto’s Sovereign Sword, a Magic Sword Secret Technique, or the Legacy of the Demon Emperor, but he lacked the strength.
The only thing Jin could perform was a strike that contained the very essence of the sword, more deeply than anything else he had ever attempted.
‘I will cut it, no matter what comes.’
And the will of a warrior.
As if chanting a spell, he poured his will into the blade. Suddenly, his surroundings fell silent and the world went dark.
In his blurred vision, the forms of the assassins became faint shadows, yet he could measure the distance between them more easily than when his sight was clear.
Naturally, the Rune of Mul-ta and the Spirit Energy Armor deactivated. Even the minimum spirit energy required to protect his body was being converted into the ‘will to cut,’ dissolving into Bradamante.
For the ten seconds that Jin and the captain-level assassin faced off, Fey and the other assassins did not dare to attack.
An invisible barrier of energy, far beyond their level, had formed between the two combatants. Crossing that threshold was a privilege reserved only for those who had reached that same realm.
And Fey and the assassins believed.
They believed that the captain-level assassin would finally slaughter Jin this time. Even if he couldn't take Jin's life, he would at least leave a wound mortal enough for them to finish the job.
‘Here he comes.’
Almost simultaneously, the swords of Jin and the captain-level assassin moved.
A flash of sword light and a wave of dark spirit energy crossed the space between them. Two blades, moving as fast as light, pierced through each other’s bodies.
A strike of such brilliance wasn't reserved for geniuses alone.
Anyone who has dedicated their life to the blade can achieve it at least once through a moment of true, absolute resolve.
For the captain-level assassin, this was that moment. The moment a dying ember flares with fierce intensity one last time.
It was dangerous.
‘He should have been mortally wounded.’
Had the assassin known Jin’s final trump card beforehand, he surely would have landed a fatal blow.
The captain-level assassin’s sword grazed Jin’s waist.
As he passed Jin, a ball of blue fire had formed on his back. Azure Fire—the power of Tess, contained within Bradamante.
‘If not for the pressure…’
At the final moment of the clash, the pressure of the Azure Fire had weighed down on the captain-level assassin.
That power, which Jin had deliberately withheld throughout the fierce battle, had finally decided the outcome.
The Ghost Squad knew that Jin was a magic swordsman and the contractor of the phoenix, Tess. However, since Jin had not summoned Tess throughout the entire fight, they had ruled out the Azure Fire.
In their minds, the idea of a phoenix storing its power within its contractor’s blade simply did not exist.
Cough…!
Pierced through the center of his chest, the captain-level assassin exhaled a final, rasping breath.
Fey and the remaining assassins lunged at Jin simultaneously, but having lost their center, they were no longer a match for him.
Blood and flesh began to coat the ruined room. It took less than three minutes for the remaining four assassins to meet their deaths.
The poison was spreading. Although they had taken an antidote beforehand, their bodies were not nearly as immune to all poisons as Jin’s was.
Eventually, only Fey Prochi remained alive, glaring at Jin through tears of blood. Due to the injuries sustained during the battle, the poison had begun to paralyze her entire body.
“My brother, Rata Prochi, will surely kill you… for me, for Grimol, and for the fallen Ghosts.”
“So, his name was Grimol.”
Jin looked back at the corpse of the captain-level assassin.
In that moment, Fey threw herself at him with the last of her strength, but Jin easily evaded her blade. With that final effort, Fey lost consciousness and collapsed.
“I shall remember it.”