Chapter 547: Omen (16)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 547: Omen (16)
Aside from Ron, Jin now possessed the longest reach of any warrior in the Sword Emperor Castle’s camp.
His lightning-wreathed, light-speed thrusts didn't lose their potency even within the flames of Form 2. Each wave of sword energy tore through the runes and lines hidden deep within the inferno.
In the past, before Jin had been recognized by all as a 'great warrior,' he would have been met with doubt. He would have been forced to explain himself, possibly missing the opportunity entirely.
But that was no longer the case.
He didn't need to explain how he knew the weakness of Form 2, nor did he have to justify his seemingly groundless commands. He simply acted, and those who believed in him followed. Jin had never once let them down.
As the warriors of the Barmul Alliance and the Sword Saints hacked away at the runes, they watched the flames of Form 2 shrink and pale with every one of Jin's strikes.
It was a dispelling born of perfect harmony.
Ron’s Invisible Sword Wind protected and levitated the entire allied force. Jin provided the magical insight and the dispel formula. And the warriors were the elite of the elite. Had even one of these elements been missing, their counterattack would have failed. Even knowing the dispel method, few in the world could properly project their mana and wield a sword inside such a horrific inferno.
‘Sir Jin… possesses a power that summons victory. An inexplicable power.’
‘This is why I cannot help but serve my lord!’
The sight of Jin, the Barmul Alliance, and the Sword Saints holding back Form 2 while suspended in the Invisible Sword Wind was like a scene from a myth.
It was sublime. The desperate, pure struggle of people refusing to yield, refusing to break, fighting to protect what they held dear—such a sight always inspired awe.
This was why those standing against Zipple felt a deep sense of fulfillment, even amidst the vicious flames of Form 2, even in a battle where death loomed over them every second, even as they screamed and swung their swords until their arms threatened to snap.
“Urgh…!”
Kelliark glared, swallowing the blood rising in his throat. His eyes were bloodshot, and droplets of blood trickling from his nose stained his beard red.
“Patriarch!” Octavia shouted.
It wasn't Cyron, nor was it Ron. The fact that Jin Runcandel was the one to draw the Patriarch's blood for the first time in decades was something she found difficult to accept, even seeing it with her own eyes.
Kelliark raised a hand, signaling that he was fine. Despite the backlash, his grip on Hrotti didn't waver in the slightest.
“It seems the Histers taught him the dispel formula for Form 2. The Histers… they are a stubbornly persistent lot.”
Despite the backlash, Kelliark calmly began reclaiming the mana of Form 2.
He had long ago surpassed the limitation known as ‘mana backflow.’ While he might suffer physical damage, the inability to cast magic due to a backlash was a problem Kelliark Zipple had left behind long ago. This wasn't the power of the Demon God Stone; it was an achievement of the human Kelliark Zipple alone.
“Octavia, I will open the path again. You handle the nuisances so that I can focus on Ron Hairan.”
“Understood.”
Kelliark’s eyes were dyed a vivid azure. The Eyes of Azure Fire—a secret Zipple magic once used by Myuron Zipple.
Naturally, its power was incomparable to Myuron’s version. At the same time, another flame formed in his left hand, while Hrotti began to discharge frantic blue lightning.
Kelliark had moved beyond the realm of ‘Ultra-Simultaneous Casting,’ which involved using three or more spells. Including Form 2, which had not yet been fully reclaimed, he was now manifesting four great spells at once.
Eyes of Azure Fire
Mad Lightning
Destruction Flame Orb – Kelliark Zipple
Destruction Flame Orb of the Dark Heaven: Demon Emperor Form 2
Even as he reclaimed it, Form 2 was rapidly being converted into Zipple's secret ice magic, Frost Hell. Each of these four spells possessed power comparable to Form 2 on its own.
His total mana output was now three times that of Form 2 alone, meaning the pressure Ron had to endure had tripled.
Lightning rained from the sky like a mad deluge, and the vanishing fire of Form 2 was replaced by Kelliark Zipple’s improved Destruction Flame Orb. Cold explosions echoed through the freezing air, and blue flames bloomed wherever his gaze landed.
The advance of the Invisible Sword Energy spreading across the battlefield slowed. Blocked by Kelliark's spells, Ron's sword energy was losing its power.
The flight of the warriors riding the Invisible Sword Wind became precarious. Their footing, which had felt as solid as standing on the ground, wavered as heat, cold, and lightning lashed out at them from all sides.
Kelliark Zipple’s power was completely transcending the category of magic as they knew it.
It was closer to an irresistible calamity than magic. The group gritted their teeth, searching for safe patches of Invisible Sword Energy as if they were treading through a minefield.
With every step they took through the air, wreathed in a barrage of magic, cold sweat soaked their spines.
Stepping on frozen Invisible Sword Energy felt cold enough to sever their ankles, and when they sought another foothold, two different types of flames bore down on their entire bodies.
The surging Mad Lightning tore through their shields with ease, and every time they parried it with their swords, their wrists felt as if they would explode.
Before Ron reached his current realm, Kelliark Zipple had been the undeniable second-strongest person in the world. The only reason the allies felt like they were even ‘fighting’ him was because Ron was there.
Jin didn't know the dispel formulas for the new spells.
Even if he did, he couldn't unravel them in this state. In terms of pure magical achievement, Kelliark far surpassed the realm Jin had reached.
But that fact didn't break the fighting spirit of Jin and his companions.
Still, Jin's mind raced, his chest tightening as he wondered how he could possibly land another blow on that pinnacle of magic.
“Indeed, if you were broken just by taking a hit from Jin, you wouldn't be the Patriarch of Zipple. Isn't that right, Kelliark?”
Ron stood in a realm entirely different from those struggling below.
Therefore, he felt no such turmoil. For him, it was simply a head-on clash of power against power.
Ron watched Octavia’s ship heading toward the Sword Emperor Castle.
Just as Kelliark had left Octavia to deal with the Barmul Alliance and the Sword Saints, Ron now had to leave Octavia to them.
The battle lines were drawn, with each side facing their designated opponent.
Kelliark, the fleet, and the dragons versus Ron.
Octavia and the Wraith Squad versus the Barmul Alliance and the Sword Saints.
The battlefield was rapidly dividing. As Octavia drew closer, Ron gradually reduced the Invisible Sword Wind protecting his allies. As the Barmul Alliance and the Sword Saints moved further away, Kelliark reduced the mana assisting Octavia’s infiltration.
It took less than three minutes for Kelliark and Ron to pour all their strength solely into each other.
By then, Jin’s group and Octavia’s ship had settled on the plains before the Sword Emperor Castle, escaping the clash of the two giants in the sky.
Anyone who hadn't reached their transcendent realm couldn't even breathe properly within the storm of their battle.
Creeeeeak—!
Octavia’s ship made a crash landing. Having been swept up in the vortex of sword energy and magic, it was already half-destroyed and barely functional.
Even that was only thanks to Octavia and the Wraith Squad desperately manifesting shields. Their flight distance had been much longer than Jin’s group’s, meaning they had been forced to endure the power of the two superhumans for that much longer.
“Jin Runcandel…”
A dark, low voice. The eyes Octavia turned toward Jin were steeped in vicious murderous intent.
Even from behind the hoods of the Wraith Squad, a thick aura of bloodlust vibrated. Every one of them remembered losing a comrade because of Jin.
“Octavia Zipple.”
“I never imagined that letting you leave Veradin’s island alive would come back to haunt me like this.”
Octavia recalled the conversation she’d had with Murakan that day.
—Do you truly believe Runcandel can defeat us and ascend to the throne of the world? You seem to have forgotten the lesson your old contractor left a thousand years ago.
—Puhuhu… Kahaha! Who said the Runcandel family would become the kings of the earth? I am speaking of my contractor right now. You lot are babbling without even realizing that today was your last chance to change the future.
Even then.
For some reason, Octavia hadn't been able to laugh at the absurd story of Jin Runcandel—not the Runcandel family—becoming the conqueror of the world.
That terribly unpleasant memory resurfaced, and the foul premonition was now carving deep wrinkles into her brow.
In all her life, she had never felt a more ominous sensation.
‘Just why?’
And how on earth?
It was early 1798 when she failed to kill Jin at Veradin’s villa. It was now April 1800. Only two years had passed.
Yet, in those two years, Jin had grown strong beyond all reason, becoming a true powerhouse who now stood before her as an equal in this war. In just two years…
“First, allow me to offer my sincere respects. Jin Runcandel, you are a maddeningly coveted yet terrifyingly impressive human. And your luck is astounding… to have survived encounters with both me and Sir Hedo.”
Jin did not answer.
Objectively, the Barmul Alliance and the Sword Saints were clearly inferior in power to Octavia and the Wraith Squad.
The thirty members of the Wraith Squad, led directly by Zipple’s second-in-command, were a force that could only be matched if Runcandel’s first-tier troops, including the Black Knights, were gathered.
Without the Sword Saints' sealing technique, the Overlord Sword, they wouldn't have stood a chance.
‘Even if I manifest Pluto’s Sovereign Sword, the odds of winning aren't very high. But if I’m pushed back… the family won't be able to just stand by and watch.’
Just as Jin thought, Rosa was reading the flow of the battle and deducing the situation he was in.
‘At his current level, the youngest can't handle Octavia and the Wraith Squad. Will the Palace Master intervene? If that woman doesn't step forward, I’ll have to send the Black Knights.’
Jin could not be lost here, even if it meant complicating future negotiations with Zipple or triggering an all-out war. That was Rosa's judgment.
However, rather than relying on his family, Jin envisioned a scenario where he pushed the variable of Pluto’s Sovereign Sword to its absolute limit to stop Octavia.
The odds were low, but they certainly weren't zero. He had pulled off such low-probability victories countless times before.
‘If Mother intervenes, Dante’s chance of survival disappears entirely. The family is only here to destroy or acquire the White Stone; his life isn't part of their calculations at all.’
That was more important than anything else.
His friend, Dante, might already be beyond saving, but Jin had no intention of abandoning their bond. That would never change, no matter the circumstances.
Octavia saw right through him.
“You want to save your friend. But if your family steps in, he will surely die. If you had handed him over to us instead, you might have been able to save him. With the eighty percent chance the Patriarch mentioned.”
“Do you think Runcandel would step in just to save me, Octavia Zipple?”
“Without a doubt. You have reached such a position within Runcandel now.”
“I appreciate the high praise, but that won't happen.”
“You say that because you still have a hidden power. I look forward to it. Show me everything.”
“And actually, you’re the one who should be praying my family doesn't step in—if you want to live.”
Octavia smiled.
She was not afraid of Rosa stepping in personally.
“Now that I think about it, I don't see your guardian dragon. I have something to pay him back for as well…”
Octavia suddenly cut herself off.
Above the sky where Kelliark’s magic and Ron’s sword clashed frantically, two black stars suddenly rose.
She had seen the exact same sight two years ago.
“Kid!”
Murakan.
“Jin.”
And Misha.
The two guardian dragons of Solderet's contractor were descending toward Jin. At that moment, the same horrific, unpleasant feeling weighed down on Octavia's mind once more.