Chapter 585: Settling the Situation (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 585: Settling the Situation (5)
Normally, when someone points a weapon at you and asks who you are, they wait for an answer.
Boom—!
This man, however, seemed to have no patience for such clichés. He immediately fired the heavy cannon he was holding.
His target wasn't just Jin and Siris. He had aimed at the very hut where he had been cooking his meal moments ago—a place of memory that had stood in this remote wilderness for over thirty years.
That fact shocked Jin more than the sudden cannon fire or its power, which far exceeded his expectations.
Crackle!
Before Jin could step forward and slice the projectile in two, Siris reacted. An ice wall materialized from her palm, shielding the front of the hut and intercepting the shell.
Watching the powerful explosion batter the transparent barrier, Siris ground her teeth. Her eyes instantly clouded with dark, murderous intent.
"This piece of trash."
"Hold on, Siris. You can't kill him. I think he really is Quaul Ganesto. At the very least, he's definitely connected to him. I've never even heard of a portable heavy cannon with this much power."
Bang, bang! Boom!
Even as Jin spoke, the heavy cannon continued to spit fire. The man fired so relentlessly that within seconds, their entire field of vision was obscured by black smoke.
"Then I'll just settle for cutting off both his arms."
"That sounds more like something my sister Yona would say. Whether we maim him, kill him, or forgive him—let's subdue him first and decide later."
Jin threw himself out from behind the ice wall. The moment he whipped up a gust of sword-wind to clear the smoke, an unexpected sight greeted him.
He deployed all this already?
Mysterious blue rods had sprouted from between the gnarled trees, interspersed with what looked like gun muzzles and cannon barrels. The weed-covered ground had transformed into a flat metal floor, etched with complex lines that Jin instinctively knew could shift and spring traps, much like the defenses of a fortress.
All of it had appeared in less than ten seconds.
This is as surprising as when I first met Sir Amela.
Back then, Amela’s power had been amplified by the turbid energy of chaos. This man’s transformation of the landscape, however, was purely a product of magitech.
As expected, the moment Jin stepped onto the metal floor, a trap sprang. The lines on the surface split open, and sharp hooks shot out, snapping at his ankles.
It was undeniably impressive engineering. An ordinary martial artist—no, even a 7-star knight—wouldn't have lasted against more than a few of these traps.
But his opponents were Jin and Siris.
The hooks snapped uselessly, failing to even scratch Jin’s Spirit Energy Armor. It wasn't that he couldn't dodge them; he had intentionally let them strike his armor to gauge their power.
This heavy sensation around my ankles isn't bad. These would be quite effective if we installed them in Tikan.
It only felt "heavy" to Jin because of his Spirit Energy Armor. For any other reasonably trained knight, the force would have snapped their ankles like dry twigs.
Next, a cannon shell struck him squarely in the back. Jin was satisfied with the stinging sensation that bloomed across his spine. He didn't bother dodging the glowing net that lunged at him next, either.
A net so tough it would be hard to cut even with an 8-star strike… This will be useful, too.
Riiip!
With a smile playing on his lips, Jin tore through the net with his bare hands.
In truth, he had already decided to recruit this man.
Whether he was Quaul or not, whatever his personality, and regardless of his own wishes—none of it mattered.
He had talent. A person like this could not be allowed to fall into enemy hands, especially not in the world’s current state.
If the man was human trash, Jin would force him to work. If he could be reasoned with, Jin would show him mercy. If he was loyal to Zipple, Jin would break that loyalty.
He is someone who must never be allowed to serve Zipple.
A thought suddenly crossed Jin’s mind: what if the man could mass-produce these items with ease?
If so, the era of knights might truly be nearing its end.
In the next moment, that bitter premonition grew stronger.
Something is… interfering with my aura concentration!
The effect wasn't severe. If he would normally gather a hundred units of aura as easily as breathing, he was now only gathering about ninety-five.
However, that was by the standards of a martial artist of Jin’s caliber, whose affinity for aura far surpassed the norm. For an average warrior, this would be fatal. Even for Jin, it would be a dangerous handicap against a superhuman opponent.
Siris’s expression hardened as she felt the same sensation. It wouldn't stop them from subduing the man, but as a martial artist, the implications sent a shock through her.
Jin quickly scanned the area for the cause.
The blue rods protruding from between the trees—they were the source. A strange energy radiating from them was disrupting the flow of aura.
The rods only affected aura. When he tested his mana and spirit energy, their flow remained completely undisturbed.
For a moment, goosebumps broke out across his back.
If this man was Quaul Ganesto, then he was creating these rods so Zipple could deal with Runcandel more easily—just like the blueprints for the mass-produced ships and teleportation gates.
His evaluation of the man's magitech was complete.
Jin suddenly let his aura explode, blasting away the traps and projectiles trying to bind him. As he lunged forward, the ground beneath his feet shattered from the sheer force of his kick, sending fragments flying.
Blue lightning sparked from Bradamante, leaping savagely toward the man's deployed artifacts. Most were instantly disabled or destroyed, but the rods—clearly a masterpiece of a different order—held firm.
Jin had no intention of breaking the rods anyway. It would be foolish to damage such precious items.
"Tingen Bauer."
One moment, Jin's voice was in front of Tingen. The next, it echoed from behind him.
As someone capable of fortifying an entire area in an instant, Tingen was naturally draped in a multitude of defensive artifacts. However, he saw a figure in front, heard a voice from behind, and before he could even process the words, a sword thrust at him from the left.
The instant the shield on his left shattered, the same thing happened on his right.
Lightning, spreading like light, was already battering him from all sides.
"Who the hell are you?! How did you find this place?"
The man's admission brought another inward smile to Jin's face. The nagging worry that things were going too smoothly vanished. He had hooked the catch of a lifetime, and his only thought was that he must never let it go.
"A sort of headhunter, you could say."
As the shields shattered simultaneously, Tingen’s body was sent flying. Normally, the impact would have transferred through the barriers and injured the person inside.
He told me not to kill him, yet he’s being even more violent than I would have… Wait, he only neutralized the shields?
But Jin's control was so perfect that he had miraculously shattered only the shields, leaving Tingen himself lifted by nothing more than the resulting gust of wind.
Jin gently caught Tingen before he could hit the hard metal floor.
Watching this, Siris clicked her tongue, feeling the gap between them widen once again.
Every time I see Jin Runcandel, he’s even further ahead…
Siris no longer felt resentment that Jin’s achievements were so far outstripping her own. She had come to truly care for him, and above all, she knew what kind of path he had walked to gain his power. Still, for some reason, she felt a bit lonely.
"Can't have such a precious person getting hurt now, can we? Tingen Bauer. Or should I say, Quaul Ganesto?"
This time, it was Tingen's turn to feel goosebumps prickle his neck.
As far as he knew, not a single person in the world besides himself knew that name. Even the high-ranking Zipple officials he had recently worked for were ignorant of it.
"What… did you just say?"
"The descendant of Lokia Ganesto, one of the Ten Great Knights of Old Runcandel—Quaul Ganesto. Judging by your reaction, it’s definitely you."
Flash!
A brilliant light erupted from Quaul’s hand—an artifact similar to Chenmi’s Flash Cannon, designed to blind an opponent.
Jin summoned a handful of spirit energy and swallowed the light whole. It had been a long time since he had surpassed the level where such petty tricks could work on him.
"I am Jin Runcandel, the 12th Flagbearer of the current Runcandel clan and the legitimate heir of the Old Runcandel."
"What is all this nonsense? What do you want?"
"So I have to ask: why is a descendant of the Ten Great Knights working for Zipple?"
Even in the face of overwhelming martial power that rendered his artifacts useless, there was no fear on Tingen’s face—only shock that Jin knew his real name.
"I don't see why I need to answer that."
"Even if a thousand years have passed, a member of the Ten Great Knights is still a member of the Ten Great Knights, and the same goes for their descendants. By working for Zipple, you have committed high treason."
Jin didn't truly believe that. Honestly, if the family they were sworn to hadn't protected or even remembered them for a thousand years, defecting for the sake of survival was inevitable.
"Hey, do you think that makes any sense? Even a passing dog would laugh at that."
"Even setting aside events from a thousand years ago, you have made numerous contributions to Zipple. That alone is reason enough to meet your end on a Runcandel blade. However, as I said, I’m a headhunter. Whether that means recruiting you or literally taking your head depends on your choice."
"Hmph. Then I refuse. Kill me, if you have the guts."
"You give up too easily."
"You must have felt it when you attacked me. You know how many techniques you can get from me, how much you want me. You could never kill me. What did you say earlier? That a precious person shouldn't get hurt?"
"That's right. That's why I'm thinking about how we can work together more amicably. Forced labor is always a miserable affair, isn't it? And judging by the way you live, it seems you have your own problems with Zipple. We might as well make the best of this."
"You want to talk?"
Jin nodded. "Unlike you, who started by firing a cannon without a word."
"Let me have a smoke. Then we'll talk."
"As many as you like."
After chain-smoking five cigarettes, Tingen finally spoke.
"If you answer a few of my questions and meet my conditions, I’ll consider leaving this hut."