Chapter 405: The Banquet at the Sword Emperor Castle (10)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 405: The Banquet at the Sword Emperor Castle (10)
Kiiiiing—!
A sphere of mana gathered in his palm, emitting a sharp, piercing screech as it spun. The Grey Robes immediately recognized the spell and frantically deployed their shields.
Under the dark night sky, the sphere of Heaven Reversal shone as bright as the moon.
Centered on the sphere, thunderbolts began to rain down, striking the Grey Robes’ shields without pause.
Normally, the power of Pluto Sword Basic Form: Lightning wouldn’t have been enough to pierce their defenses. These men were formidable mages in their own right.
However, the power of Heaven Reversal changed everything.
The shields, which required absolute precision to maintain, wavered as if they were on the verge of collapsing at any moment.
Furthermore, the lightning wasn't meant to break the shields—its purpose was to disrupt their vision.
Crackle, zap!
The lightning scattered upon impact, the blinding flashes dazzling the Grey Robes’ eyes. Consequently, they couldn't track Jin’s movements.
“Kaaakh!”
The bio-golems lunged at Jin. Each possessed significant physical strength, but that meant nothing if they couldn't touch him.
When Jin converted the Lightning into Oppression, the charging bio-golems momentarily lost their balance and faltered.
Jin didn't miss that split second. He unleashed a storm of sword energy in every direction, instantly shredding the creatures into chunks of flesh.
With the close-quarters combat of a superhuman and the mana manipulation of a Great Mage, these crude bio-golems were no threat to Jin at all.
“Is this also the work of Jo?” Jin asked, concentrating the mana of Heaven Reversal toward the Grey Robes.
Cold Jo.
The older brother of Rolt Jo and the former head of the Dark Magic Association, he had been creating golems called ‘Artisan’s Masterpieces’ that imitated the Pluto Tribe.
‘Compared to an Artisan's Masterpiece, these bio-golems are crude. They must have sent these things on purpose to hide the fact that Kinzelo is behind this terror attack.’
The Grey Robes didn't answer, focusing instead on their mana.
What Jin was truly curious about was something else.
How on earth did they produce such a large number of bio-golems? And for them to be mere disposables, at that.
There were about three hundred bio-golems on this plain right now, and the number he had seen earlier at the Sword Emperor Castle surely exceeded ten thousand.
This meant that, at the very least, over ten thousand humans had been used as raw materials.
It was highly likely that wasn't even the full extent of it.
‘Someone is helping Kinzelo procure humans.’
Kinzelo couldn't possibly supply a number that large on its own. This meant they had a benefactor—at least a high-ranking principality or a kingdom.
Back when the Dark Magic Association’s main base was in Oterium, Kinzelo had barely managed to procure humans in the thousands by exploiting the Holy Kingdom.
‘If possible, I’d like to capture them alive and find out, but they won't be so careless as to leak information under torture. They must have a means of suicide.’
Clang!
Having closed the distance in an instant, Jin swung Sigmund down on the Grey Robes’ shields.
Their vision obscured by the lightning, they failed to perceive the moment he attacked.
Though the blade was deflected, the shield shattered. Shards of mana scattered, and Jin thrust Sigmund through the gap as he regained his stance.
Thwack. The familiar sensation of a blade catching on flesh and bone traveled up his arm. He had pierced the shoulder of the mage in front, but behind him, the other mages were already chanting offensive spells.
Two mana beams and an Ice Splitting Sword.
He dodged the beams and deployed sword energy to block the Ice Splitting Sword. As shattered ice fragments grazed his cheek, a few drops of blood splattered.
The Grey Robe who had been stabbed, however, met his end right then. The same sword energy that had parried the Ice Splitting Sword shredded his entire body.
‘Three left.’
As the dead Grey Robe collapsed, his hood fell back.
For a mage of this caliber, Jin should have recognized him, yet the face was entirely unfamiliar. He couldn't tell if Bubar had disguised them or if they were mages who had operated solely in the shadows.
The sphere of Heaven Reversal was spinning faster and faster. The mage who had cast the Ice Splitting Sword coughed up blood and doubled over, while the remaining two scrambled to reinforce their shields.
The reaction of Mana Backflow was setting in.
It looked like he could end the fight without much trouble. While it was true the Grey Robes were exceptional mages, like most people, they seemed unaccustomed to fighting a magic swordsman.
Even high-ranking warriors found it impossible to control the distance in a melee against Jin. Naturally, there wasn't much mages could do against him. Without Heaven Reversal, they might have been able to create distance using other spells, but they were so preoccupied with maintaining their shields that they rarely had the chance to cast anything else.
The bio-golems continued to harass Jin, but every time they got close, they were swept away like fallen leaves.
“Cough, ugh!”
The remaining two Grey Robes were also succumbing to Mana Backflow. Since even Jin’s combat power dropped significantly once the backflow began, the Grey Robes were faring much worse.
“Why so flustered? Did you attack the Sword Emperor Castle without expecting this? I thought you came here prepared to die.”
The only reason the Sword Emperor Castle had fallen into chaos was that their attack was a terrorist strike.
It wasn't that the Grey Robes, the giant monsters, and the bio-golems were weak. They were powerful enough to bring a small nation to the brink of destruction.
However, facing the Sword Emperor Castle—especially one where Ron Hairan resided—in a formal confrontation was unthinkable.
If they had launched a frontal assault instead of a terror attack, they would have been wiped out by Ron’s sword. No, they would have been turned into corpses by the knights of Hairan before they even reached the castle, without Ron needing to lift a finger.
Even excluding the backing of the Viment Empire, Hairan was a family whose power ranked among the best in the world.
Slash!
As Sigmund traced an arc, another Grey Robe’s right arm was severed. The blade had only grazed him because of the shield, but his death was now certain.
While Jin grew increasingly composed, the mages were being driven into a corner.
To make matters worse, the mana of Heaven Reversal was now reaching its peak.
Wrinkles began to form on the hands of the mages visible between their robes. It was a common phenomenon when one tried to forcibly suppress Mana Backflow. If they remained in that state for just a little longer, their bodies would shrivel up, and blood would pour from every orifice.
In the back, Veradin’s guards watched Jin fight, their faces pale.
The thought that their master had to compete against such a human was daunting. Furthermore, while there seemed to be some sort of friendship between their master and Jin, the two were ultimately a Runcandel and a Zipple.
It wouldn't be strange if Jin, after dealing with the mages, suddenly changed his mind and turned his blade on their master. In fact, by the guards' common sense, it was far more beneficial for Jin to kill Veradin and them.
Though he had come to rescue Veradin under Ron’s special orders, Jin was still a Runcandel. He didn't have to carry out those orders, and an opportunity to kill the next Patriarch of Zipple without any witnesses was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. He even had someone to pin the blame on.
In reality, any other Runcandel would never have left Veradin alive.
As if reading their thoughts, Veradin met his guards’ eyes.
“Jin isn't that kind of guy. Just wait and relax.”
Crackle—!
Now, the Grey Robes screamed every time the lightning struck. It seemed they could no longer withstand the shock transmitted through their shields.
Without even needing to use Pluto Sword Ultimate Techniques or Fighting God Techniques, Jin was driving the Grey Robes to their deaths using only basic forms and magic.
Their breathing was ragged, as if they were about to keel over at any moment.
Jin stared at their tattered shields with cold eyes.
It was time to end it.
However, the moment he took a step to finish them off…
Jin flinched and looked back.
A powerful and familiar energy was suddenly spreading from behind him.
Rumble—!
In an instant, a deep blue light illuminated the entire area.
The sight that met his eyes was the Sword Emperor Castle.
Thousands of bolts of lightning were raining down upon it. It couldn't compare to the Tsunami of Lightning Jin had unleashed upon Runcandel, but as far as he knew, it was a scale that couldn't be explained even by 10-star lightning magic.
Above all, what composed that lightning was not magic.
‘The power of my brothers…?!’
The power of the Pluto Tribe, the strongest warrior race in history.
The lightning battering the Sword Emperor Castle undoubtedly resembled that power. Though it was subtly different, the energy was so similar that it almost fooled Jin for a moment.
Artisan's Masterpiece.
The two words immediately sprang to his mind.
‘Has Cold Jo’s Artisan's Masterpiece been completed? But if so, why did they send these failed bio-golems? I thought it was to hide Kinzelo’s involvement…!’
Heh, hehehe!
While his mind reeled from the sudden turn of events, a disgusting laugh reached his ears. It was leaking from the mouths of the dying Grey Robes.
“Monsters like you… have always made the things we’ve spent our entire lives building seem trivial.”
“That is why we, too, decided to become monsters. You were born a monster. You could never understand that desperate resolve.”
The mages began to cast off the grey robes that had been concealing their bodies and faces. When their bare skin was revealed, Jin couldn't help but gasp.
Embedded in their chests were jewels that bore a striking resemblance to the ‘Heart of Light.’
“You must have hoped this power belonged solely to you, 12th Flagbearer of Runcandel.”
“A new world is opening. There will be no place for the likes of you in it!”
As the jewels in the mages' chests began to glow brilliantly, Jin grit his teeth.
It wasn't because the ‘lightning energy’ they were drawing up possessed an unexpected level of power.
It was disgust.
An unbearable, horrific disgust—the same feeling he had felt when he encountered the incomplete Artisan's Masterpieces in Oterium.
Jin’s expression contorted with rage.
“Ha.”
No matter how much the jewels in their chests resembled the Heart of Light, no matter how powerful the energy within them was…
The power they held was ultimately stolen—a fake that was, in itself, an insult to his brothers.
“You pieces of trash… you’ve crossed the line.”
As if they weren't even worth watching anymore, Jin lunged forward and thrust Sigmund.
Clang!
Showing physical abilities on a completely different level than when they were wearing the grey robes, they parried Sigmund with their fists.
Because of this, they believed they could defeat him, but in the next instant…
Crunch!
Jin grabbed the head of the foremost mage with his bare hand.
As he squeezed his fist, the man’s head was crushed instantly, scattering in every direction.