Chapter 501: Tower Keeper of the White Night (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 501: Tower Keeper of the White Night (7)
‘Is that the Kinzelo ship? The one that supposedly withstood the Sword Emperor’s blade? Wasn’t its name the Gruneil?’
The moment he identified the vessel, Hedo felt a surge of sharp irritation. Thick veins throbbed fiercely atop his bulging muscles.
Since stepping into the transcendent realm as a warrior, Hedo had never experienced such a stifling situation. Usually, a display of his martial prowess was all it took to simplify complex matters.
Now, the opposite was true. The simple task of handling the intruders had become as tangled as a knotted ball of yarn.
Nothing had gone according to plan.
The vault had been robbed out of nowhere; Jin resisted his attempts to subdue him, wagging that strangely irritating tongue of his; it turned out the thief was Yona, who then dealt Hedo a heavy wound; Sandra had been even more impatient than usual, destroying the ceiling herself; and now, Kinzelo’s ship was causing trouble.
Even the timing of the Gruneil’s appearance was farcical.
‘At this rate, it’ll look like I requested reinforcements from the main house because of Kinzelo, not because of the Runcandels.’
Exhaling a sigh, Hedo smoothed back his white hair. It suddenly occurred to him that this might actually be less troublesome in the long run.
‘Then again, explaining to the Patriarch that I requested support because I couldn't handle a few intruders would have been a bigger headache. Perhaps this is for the best.’
From Hedo’s vantage point, hundreds of black dots were visible against the dark dawn sky.
They were the dragons of Drakka, flying toward them with mages on their backs. Shining exceptionally bright among them was the flagship Kozec; Octavia would likely be on board as the commander. Had Kelliark not been absent, it would have been him instead.
A request for support from Hedo carried a specific weight. It signaled to the family that something he could not handle alone was occurring, and that they needed to be on high alert.
‘How amusing. It seems it’s time to shed another layer of arrogance and conceit.’
Hedo let out a short laugh and shook his head.
He found it ridiculous that he had acted so complacently, all because he considered himself strong. Cyron Runcandel, the ultimate being whom even he could not hope to reach, would surely never have let his guard down in a situation like this.
“Huh? What’s that, the Gruneil? It’s… firing at our fleet?” Sandra remarked.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Cannons roared from all sides of the Gruneil. The anchored, mass-produced ships began to be ruthlessly destroyed.
Majestic flames, like a divine fireworks display, tore through the darkness, and the burning debris falling from the sky looked like a meteor shower.
Had the public witnessed this, they would surely think Zipple was falling. It was a natural assumption, considering the astronomical amount of manpower and resources invested in building such a fleet.
However, even as they swallowed hard, the Runcandels had the sickening intuition that even this would not deal a truly devastating blow to Zipple.
Only after participating in this mission did the Runcandels feel they were truly experiencing the sheer might of their sworn enemy, the world’s greatest family.
“Hedo! If things are like this, letting everyone go actually increases the chances of Jin surviving! The main force will definitely think you called for help because of the Gruneil, not the Runcandels. Right? Honestly, it’s unthinkable for Hedo to ask for reinforcements just because of these intruders.”
Regardless of the chaos, Sandra’s voice remained cheerful. That fact only made the Runcandels feel more suffocated.
“So let’s just save them all and open the path! If you don't move fast, I’m going to rip your jaw off, you incompetent muscle-pig!”
As Sandra shouted again, Hedo locked eyes with Jin once more.
‘Heavenly luck truly follows you, Jin Runcandel.’
Hedo reached a conclusion. For a fleeting moment, Jin saw something shift deep within the man.
Jin instinctively read the look in Hedo’s eyes—it was the gaze of a man who, with Cyron in mind, had decided to cast off his arrogance and step into an even higher realm of martial arts.
It was a look that could only be understood by someone who had possessed that same level of resolve.
‘Are you planning to become even… stronger the next time we meet? Is such a thing possible, Tower Keeper?’
A chill ran down Jin’s spine.
He had to be prepared. Before that monster could achieve another transcendence, he—and the Runcandels—had to achieve even more dazzling growth of their own.
Clang—!
Suddenly, the longsword Vail emitted a sharp metallic ring and was dyed in pure white light. Hedo swung the blade in the blink of an eye, and the Runcandels barely managed to react and take defensive stances.
However, the wave of sword energy didn't even graze them. Instead, it surged past them toward the upper floors of the Tower of the White Night.
“A-Ah, no!”
“Hedooooo, o-o… ah… ah…!”
His sword energy was aimed at the members of the Wraith Squad, who were clinging to various parts of the Tower of the White Night, gasping for breath.
If light could move like a wave, it would look exactly like this.
Under the aura of Hedo’s sword tao, the Wraith Squad members disintegrated like grains of coarse salt, scattering and vanishing through the cracks in the tower.
The final screams of the Wraith Squad faded away like distant, powerless echoes.
At that sight, the Runcandels couldn't help but be shocked once again.
Killing four members of the Wraith Squad was no longer surprising, but the sword energy he just displayed was proof that Hedo had never once shown his full power until now.
Furthermore, his sword slightly resembled Cyron’s realm—the stage where one could utterly ‘extinguish’ a target.
“Pass through, Runcandels.”
Amidst a terrifying silence, Hedo finally spoke.
The longsword Vail in his hand still emitted a brilliant light.
[Hey, Muscle-man. If you’re going to open the path, how about putting the sword down before you talk? Huh? I assume you’re not looking to keep going. You’re scaring the kids.]
“I said it because I do not believe the courage these Runcandels showed in opposing me was a lie, Lord Murakan. If I have offended you, I offer my apologies.”
[Well, no need to go that far.]
Murakan transformed into his human form and stood beside Jin.
“Take good care of that sword. It seems that blade and I have some history. Let’s go, kid.”
As Jin removed his blade from Sandra’s neck and began to walk, the rest of the group followed after exchanging glances.
Showing one’s back while passing Hedo was practically suicidal, but Jin moved forward without meeting his eyes.
The fear that Hedo might swing his sword from behind didn't even cross his mind.
It was no longer a matter of doubt; Hedo was not a man of such shallow character.
“If the heavens favor you…”
As Jin passed his shoulder, Hedo spoke in a low, deep voice.
“It is because your father has become the heavens themselves.”
Hedo was referring to the series of coincidences—the heavenly luck—that had played out in Jin’s favor to an extent that was difficult to fathom.
“I shall tell my father that I learned a lesson from you.”
“Lady Sandra.”
“What now!”
Hedo smiled gently at Sandra as she turned her head irritably. Then, with his giant, massive hands, he carefully straightened her clothes.
“Have a good time.”
Hedo was still certain that Jin could not escape while taking Sandra with him. That was a feat even he would find difficult.
Furthermore, just as Jin had walked past Vail because he recognized Hedo was not a shallow man…
Hedo also judged that Jin was not the type of person who would stoop so low as to kidnap Sandra and take her to the Garden of Swords.
Jin was well aware that Sandra had provided immense help to the Runcandels, and Hedo was merely indulging her brief deviation.
Even if they were enemies.
To stubbornly try to use Sandra further would be to defile the unspoken trust shared between warriors.
“Uh, yeah. Sure.”
“Don't leave a limb behind this time just to ‘commemorate the meeting.’ And while you’re playing, you might want to consider recovering the items they stole.”
Sandra snorted.
“Why take back what was given? It’s not something to make such a fuss about. Does ‘mine’ and ‘yours’ really matter between a married couple? Though I was a bit upset when Jin-ssi took that bastard son’s head instead of letting me do it last time.”
“Is that so.”
“We’re leaving, so Hedo, you go clean up that mess over there. From where I’m standing, that’s a bigger problem than the vault being robbed.”
Sandra pointed toward the distant sky. The ship Gruneil was sinking the mass-produced ships with reckless abandon.
“Yes, I understand. I shall see you later then.”
Whoosh—!
With a single leap, Hedo’s massive frame shrank to a dot in an instant. He streaked across the sky of the Sota Desert so fast he looked like a cannonball.
The dragons of Drakka also drew closer to the Gruneil and the fleet.
A cool dawn breeze blew through the shattered Tower of the White Night, as if the fierce battle that had just taken place was all a lie.
Once Hedo vanished, the Runcandels caught their breath as if waking from a nightmare. He was, without a doubt, the worst and strongest enemy the Flagbearers had ever encountered.
A feverish, hot resolve filled the hearts of the Flagbearers to the brim. While their sibling bond wasn't exactly warm, they could accurately read each other’s emotions without speaking.
It was a shared, unspoken determination to become stronger.
However, one person—a Runcandel who was not a Flagbearer—was thinking of something else.
Yona had been breaking into a cold sweat ever since she dealt Hedo that heavy wound, struggling to endure the mana backflow and her internal injuries.
“Sister, are you alright? The backflow…!”
Jin supported her, his voice laced with concern.
“…There is.”
“Pardon?”
Yona pointed a trembling finger at Sandra.
“…Our youngest… has a girlfriend… you noisy… brat. Married couple? Jin… ssi? I’ll… kill you.”
She hadn't cared about anything else for a while now; she was simply consumed by the desire to kill Sandra for flaunting her affection toward Jin.
Even while facing Yona’s cold, deep murderous intent, Sandra’s eyes sparkled.
“Oh my, Big Sister! I can call you Big Sister, right? Look at me, you’re really close with our Jin-ssi, aren't you? I know, I know. Sandra knows everything. Just wait a moment, I’ll help you so it doesn't hurt anymore!”
“Get lost… I’ll k-kill you…”
“It’s no good if you’re in pain until we get out of the Sota Desert, Big Sister. We still have a long way to go, you know? Let’s see. Where did I put the anesthetic…”
Watching the scene, everyone was momentarily speechless at the absurdity of it all.
And so, Jin and the Runcandels left the Tower of the White Night.