Chapter 549: Omen (18)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 549: Omen (18)
The Runcandels were now observing the battlefield from a closer vantage point. With Ron and Kelliark locked in a full-blown clash, no one on the battlefield could spare the attention to notice their presence.
The sky itself seemed to be exploding—a scene of pure chaos. The Runcandel knights watching the spectacle couldn't help but shudder.
“Ron Hairan…” Rosa muttered, her voice uncharacteristically thick with regret.
The reason for her lament was simple.
The Patriarch.
If only Cyron Runcandel, Luna, and the former Black Knights were here. And if only Ron Hairan had been willing to ask Runcandel for help.
She couldn’t help but feel that today could have marked the end of the thousand-year war between Runcandel and Zipple. No one had expected Ron to awaken so close to the realm of Creation.
“Acting Patriarch.”
The Black Knight Captain, Stam, stood beside Rosa. He was currently the only person who could discuss the matter of intervention directly with her.
“Sir Stam.”
“What is your assessment?”
Stam was asking whether Ron Hairan could actually defeat Zipple.
“Without Kadun and Hedo, Kelliark’s chances don’t look good. No… even if they were here, I doubt Ron would simply lose.”
“I am of the same mind. Unless it were the Patriarch himself, I doubt anyone could defeat the current Ron Hairan.”
“And yet, your reason for hesitating to join the fray is likely the same as mine.”
Stam nodded, slowly but firmly.
Zipple was losing ground, albeit gradually. Yet they maintained a formation that left no room for retreat, and they hadn't sent a single envoy to Runcandel to negotiate.
The implication was clear.
“Yes. Zipple must have a way to turn the tide on their own.”
“The fact that they aren't even feigning a retreat means it must be a sure-fire method. It's likely the Imitation Origin Stone the Patriarch mentioned.”
Cyron had deemed that power ‘dangerous’—a word he rarely ever used.
“We may have to be content with simply confirming the nature of that power before withdrawing—assuming the Black Knights sent to the Black Sea return without having met the Patriarch.”
The White Stone.
They both knew that if Ron were defeated, claiming that object would become nearly impossible for Runcandel.
They also shared the conviction that if Zipple revealed their trump card and Ron failed to deal a significant blow in response, Runcandel had to avoid a full-scale war at all costs.
“Acting Patriarch.”
“Speak.”
“May I take three Black Knights and infiltrate the battlefield?”
Stam was concerned for Jin’s survival. He worried whether Jin could survive if Kelliark unleashed his trump card against Ron.
He had already confirmed the battlefield was split into three fronts: Ron versus Kelliark, Octavia's Wraith Squad, and Jin's party. In truth, Stam believed Jin was in danger even before Zipple played their final card.
“Do so. I believe it’s necessary.”
“I will not intervene unless he is on the brink of death.”
“That is as it should be. But ensure he lives.”
* * *
Blood gushed from Octavia’s shoulder.
Because the Wraith Squad's magic was centered on Octavia, their coordinated attacks were bound to be somewhat blunted.
Ordinarily, that would have been the case. But Octavia was a mage who could wield the Light Attribute—a power long thought lost to history.
“Providence, you say? As expected of a dragon, you understand nothing. The history of mortals has always been a struggle to defy the absurd laws set by the gods. Just as we turned the incurable into the treatable, we turned the treatable into the cured.”
A sphere of light the size of a fist formed at the tip of Octavia’s staff.
As the sphere touched her shoulder, the light seeped in, and the wound began to heal at a rapid pace.
“The gods also severed the lineage of Light magic, citing Providence. They claimed mortals should not possess something so flawless.”
For any mage, Light magic was the stuff of dreams.
The legendary Light Attribute was an element that could handle offense, defense, and healing all at once, its power on a completely different level from other forms of magic.
While the equally lost Dark magic could achieve the same, it always demanded catalysts and sacrifices. Light magic had no such restrictions; its only price was mana.
Flash!
The mana of light extending from her staff formed a pair of wings on her back.
“So don't speak as if defying Providence is some great sin, Black Dragon Misha. It's sickening to listen to.”
As the wings of light shot forward, the air shrieked. Shards of piercing light fired like arrows, and Misha spun her Black Spear to deflect them.
But the shards scattered and exploded on impact. Misha used her footwork to evade the blasts while the other warriors struck down the lingering shockwaves.
Octavia hadn't become Zipple's second-in-command for nothing. Though she was slightly fatigued from enduring the shockwaves of Kelliark and Ron's battle, that fatigue primarily affected the rest of the Wraith Squad.
As a mage who had already reached the realm of Transcendence, physical strain was hardly an issue—unless she faced an opponent who was overwhelming even by her standards.
“I don't know why you're suddenly bringing the gods into this. Is it so hard to understand that your actions simply offend my principles and disgust me?”
“Life is too short to worry about such things. As you said with such superiority, we are merely mortals.”
“And yet, it was your kind who erased the history of Chenmi, the archmage most beloved by the Light.”
Creeeeeak!
Octavia’s light mana and the Black Spear clashed without end. Now that she was using Light magic in earnest, Octavia no longer fell behind Misha, even in close combat.
The battle shifted formation: Jin and Misha focused on Octavia, while the others handled the Wraith Squad. Murakan tried to join the fight against Octavia, but Misha barked at him.
“Hey! Protect our allies and act as my auxiliary spirit energy tank. It's more efficient if we want to catch her. Don't waste spirit energy on attacks.”
[What? An auxiliary spirit energy tank? Me, Murakan? Ha! Are you insane?]
“I don't have time for your ego. Shut up and do as I say.”
[Still… Tsk!]
Crack!
The Black Spear and spikes of light clashed again, unleashing a shockwave. A piece of Misha's spirit-energy helmet shattered, revealing her eye. A beam of light shot past her guard and grazed her.
Slice. A cut opened beneath her eye, and droplets of spirit energy splattered like blood.
In return, however, Misha left a deep gash on Octavia's thigh, while Jin maintained pressure to prevent her from launching a follow-up attack.
“Deploy the Overlord Sword Formation!”
At Luyan’s shout, the Sword Saints formed a circular array and surged their aura. The remaining warriors could only fight on par with the thirty members of the Wraith Squad because they were staking their very lives on it.
From that point on, Murakan resigned himself to his role as a spirit energy tank. His wide-area attacks were not quite strong enough to pierce the Wraith Squad's collective shields, and focusing on a single point risked endangering his allies.
Black smoke poured from Murakan and enveloped Misha. Her Black Spear and armor darkened to an even deeper shade of black, and her movements grew sharper.
With the Overlord Sword Formation deployed, the Wraith Squad's magic could no longer reach the duel between Jin, Misha, and Octavia.
The patterns etched onto the Sword Saints' bodies were turning increasingly hideous. Deep wrinkles appeared on the hands gripping their swords, revealing that they were aging rapidly.
Jin felt a pang of unease watching them, but Luyan called out.
“Sir Jin, don't worry about us! We won't collapse from exhaustion until this war is over.”
The entire world seemed to vibrate from the war. Aftershocks from the battle in the sky rained down like cannonballs, but nothing could now intrude upon the private battlefield of Jin, Misha, and Octavia.
Pluto Sword Fighting God Technique, 4th Sword: Erosion
Taking advantage of the opening Misha had created, Jin slammed Sigmund into the ground before Octavia and unleashed the technique.
A pillar of lightning erupted, and over a thousand blue, dot-like marks appeared in the air around Octavia.
The moment Jin drew Bradamante, the thunder of Erosion surged between the marks.
But by the time the thunder began to fall, Octavia had already vanished, leaving only an afterimage of light behind.
‘I have to use a Fighting God Technique just to create an opening,’ Jin thought, frustrated.
Without a technique of that caliber, creating an opportunity to attack was nearly impossible.
The only saving grace was that the same applied to Octavia. She, too, was forced to spam secret techniques just to land a blow on him and Misha.
Amidst the storm of lightning and elemental magic, the three could only track each other through fleeting afterimages.
Thud!
The tip of Octavia’s staff pierced someone’s chest. She immediately concentrated mana and detonated it, only realizing who she had struck as the body was torn apart.
‘Jin Runcandel? No, it must be a spirit energy doll from the Black Dragon.’
Octavia calmly prepared for the next exchange. Looking around, she saw that dozens of such spirit energy dolls now surrounded her.
‘A pincer attack…!’
She couldn't afford to assume they were all decoys.
The ten dolls each assumed a different stance—some for wielding a spirit sword, others for a shadowless spear.
Which one was real? Were the techniques displayed by the fakes mere illusions? Octavia had no way of knowing.
‘I'll just have to deal with them all at once.’
Radiance gathered in her palm and on her staff. She intended to obliterate the entire area with Light magic.
“Kaaaaah…!”
The moment Octavia shrieked, the spirit energy dolls rushing toward her either burst or melted away in the shockwave of light.
‘All of them were illusions? I felt no resistance at all.’
So, their attacks had been fakes as well. With that, Octavia had eliminated one part of the trap, but…
In that instant, under the cover of the dolls, Jin and Misha had already left the battlefield.
They had moved to the adjacent battlefield, where their allies were fighting the Wraith Squad.
The two ambushed the Wraith Squad from behind, and in one clean motion, decapitated one of its members.
“You look like a stupid bull in a ring, Octavia Zipple. Did you really think we'd focus all our strength on you alone?” Misha said with a smirk.
Jin shrugged, casually tossing the severed head aside.
“The Wraith Squad has never had much luck against me. Twenty-nine left. I wonder how many of you will make it back alive.”