Chapter 640: Land of the Malevolent God (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 640: Land of the Malevolent God (2)
The faint indigo light illuminating Lionel’s body was fading.
His soul was departing. Without its spirit, Lionel’s flesh collapsed into a hideous, dark mass, no different from any other lump of chaos.
Like a gust of wind, the soul drifted back toward the Mausoleum. Guessing this was the key to summoning Lionel again in the future, Jin immediately swung his Spirit Sword.
The blade met a strange resistance, as if cutting through human flesh, but even as the soul tore, its retreat did not slow.
Lionel would appear again.
However, the immediate problem wasn't Lionel, but the source of the new aura emerging from the Mausoleum.
This energy is...
A blue power, reminiscent of the Pluto Tribe’s lightning, was manifesting from the distant chaos.
It was the aura of one of the Ten Great Knights, a man Jin had once seen in Temar’s tomb.
Padler Runcandel.
He was the second knight summoned from the Mausoleum.
Like Lionel, his body glowed with an indigo light. There seemed to be a fundamental difference between ordinary chaotic summons and beings like Lionel and Padler.
—Ten Great Knight Padler Runcandel. Having been bestowed the name Runcandel by the Patriarch, I have enjoyed infinite glory. For attacking the Patriarch from this moment on, I will offer my apologies even in death.
The moment Jin saw Padler, the words he had spoken in the recording device flashed through his mind.
A thousand years ago, when a chaos-consumed Murakan decided to kill Temar at the Tower of the Black Sea, Padler was one of the two knights he took with him.
Jin did not know much about Padler. He had only caught a few fragmentary glimpses of the man’s character within the recording device Solderet had left behind.
But one thing was certain.
Padler was a man who should never have been standing here.
To begin with, none of the Ten Great Knights had been interred in the Mausoleum. Not just in the Mausoleum—no trace of their graves could be found anywhere in the Garden of Swords. The Zipple Clan had completely erased their history.
The Ten Great Knights Jin had encountered so far had all become guardians of Temar’s tombs, fighting a lonely war across the vast stretches of time.
—(Announced the discovery of relics belonging to the First Patriarch, Temar Runcandel, in the Garden of Swords... Though no specific details were released, the family expressed a strong will to reclaim their forgotten history.)
A sentence suddenly surfaced in Jin’s mind.
Temar’s fifth tomb... Sir Padler was likely guarding that place.
The Prophet was using Padler, the guardian of the fifth tomb.
Either the family had reached the tomb before Valeria, or they had ambushed her after she discovered it and taken him. Whichever it was, Jin felt as if his heart were rotting in his chest.
As Padler drew closer, the bodies of Ran, Vigo, Myu, and Anne—who had been flung far away by the battle’s aftermath—began to dissolve into particles.
Their particles flowed into Padler. They had become the raw materials for his summoning.
However, Jin did not believe this meant the four of them were dead.
“...Sir Padler Runcandel. You do not know me, but I know you.”
[No, I know of you. Jin Runcandel, the twelfth flag-bearer of the current Runcandel Clan. Ilina told me stories about you.]
“What did she say about me?”
[That you are one who resembles Temar Runcandel, the man who was once my lord.]
“I have heard that comparison often.”
[But I have almost no memory of him.]
“I was hoping to hear stories of those days. What a pity. In that case... is the reason you stand in my way now for the sake of Runcandel?”
Padler shook his head, his eyes widening as if he had heard something absurd.
[Jin Runcandel. If you had offered someone your kingdom out of respect, given them your body, sacrificed your entire life, and were then betrayed... could you still fight for them?]
Jin did not answer, simply meeting Padler’s gaze. Black tears, like congealed blood, streamed from the knight's eyes.
[I remember only one thing about Temar Runcandel. The fact that he personally destroyed Idal, my kingdom, leaving not a handful of soil nor a single living soul behind.]
Padler Runcandel.
He was not originally a pure-blooded Runcandel. Like Silderay, he was a man who had been moved by Temar and received the Runcandel name.
His original name was Padler Idal.
He was the King of the Idal Kingdom that existed a thousand years ago, a magic swordsman known as the ‘Blue Lightning King.’ He was a genius of his era who had independently perfected the flawless magic sword, a skill once thought to be unique to the Runcandels.
Jin had no way of knowing if Padler’s words were truth, lies, or a manipulated version of history.
However, it seemed no words could quench the hatred that filled the man’s soul.
[What I desire is not the revival of Runcandel, but its corruption and ruin. This power, chosen by Rosa Runcandel—Temar's descendant and your mother—will ultimately plunge the clan into the abyss.]
“Before meeting you, I met Sir Silderay and Lady Sarah in Temar’s tombs. To be precise, they were guardians fashioned from souls. I also caught glimpses of you conversing with them within Solderet’s recording device. They were...”
[Are you trying to say they were different from me? Is that why you wish to force sacrifice upon me as well?]
A sneer formed on Padler’s face.
“Do you remember them?”
[No. I do not remember, nor do I wish to.]
Sring...
Padler slowly drew his sword. Silus, the blade that symbolized his blue lightning a thousand years ago, began to radiate a cerulean light.
That sword was no mere construct of chaos or soul energy; it was the genuine article, the very blade that had existed a millennium ago.
[My defeating you today is simply my revenge against Temar and the sole reason for my existence as a vengeful spirit. I hold no personal grudge against you.]
“I do not know everything that happened a thousand years ago, Sir Padler. And my reason for bringing up the names of Sir Silderay and Lady Sarah was not to say that you should have been like them.”
Jin closed his eyes for a moment.
“...I only wanted to say that you and they seemed to cherish one another deeply. That was likely at a point in time before the Idal Kingdom in your memories was destroyed.”
—I killed all those bastards before you got here. Ah, to be precise, Padler and I swept them away together. You’re late again, you punk. Where were you slacking off this time?
—Padler got hurt a bit. I’m fine as always, but that weakling... looks like you or the Patriarch need to give him some training.
—For heaven's sake, can you please stop using expressions like ‘melting’ people?
—To me, the word ‘people’ only applies to those who aren't enemies of Runcandel, you weakling. You know that, so why act surprised now?
—Still, it doesn't seem good for your temperament.
—What, am I some adolescent girl? Instead of worrying about my temperament, worry about your own health.
The words he heard when facing the guardian Sarah, and the conversations he glimpsed in the recording device.
Sarah and Padler had seemed particularly close. So close, it felt they were more than just comrades—they were almost lovers.
Yet now, Padler felt nothing, even as he looked upon the remnants of Karma Fire left in the surroundings.
Opening his eyes again, Jin raised Bradamante.
It was entirely possible to unleash the Karma Fire again. Though his stamina was drained from the previous battle, he could manage that much without issue.
However, it felt too cruel to strike Padler with the sword he had inherited from her.
Regardless of the circumstances Jin didn't know, he held back for the sake of Sarah, who had called out Padler’s name the moment she awoke after a thousand years.
[The heart I once shared cannot replace the entirety of what I have become, now that those feelings have vanished.]
Jin nodded bitterly.
“My cutting you down today goes beyond discerning truth from lies... I do it because I believe it is for your sake. Do not forgive me, an unworthy descendant, for this inevitable choice.”
Padler had certainly died a thousand years ago.
The life of a dead man, reawakened by chaos, was filled only with hollow hatred.
Stopping that twisted existence, like a broken wagon being forced down a path, was the only thing Jin could do for Padler.
[Indeed, you speak as arrogantly as Temar. To think you would dare to cut me down in your exhausted state...]
As he said, Padler was not an opponent an exhausted Jin could handle alone.
He was one of the strongest of the Ten Great Knights and, specifically, one who had always fought alongside Sarah. The meaning of that was simple.
He was the comrade to whom Sarah—often called the strongest of the Ten Great Knights—could entrust her back without reservation. Even if Jin were in perfect condition, victory would not be guaranteed.
“Also, do not forgive me for not facing you entirely alone.”
Spirit energy swirled around Bradamante.
Spirit Sword Special Technique
Black Light Calling
Bradamante’s black blade sliced through the chaos-filled air. Then, as always, a black gate leading to Laprarosa opened along the trajectory of the blade.
Jin was tense.
To suppress Padler as quickly as possible and get help for the battle and escape that would follow, he needed to summon one of the Fighting King brothers.
Even an ordinary warrior would be a great help, but against Padler, that would be too much of a gamble.
Fortunately, Jin breathed an inward sigh of relief when he saw which brother answered the call.
A bow so massive it was hard to believe a human could wield it—the Great Bow, God-Slayer—crackled with lightning.
The Tenth Fighting King of the Pluto Tribe, Kaio, was stepping through the portal of Black Light Calling.
“I’m sorry for calling you out, Brother Kaio.”
“Brother Jin, has the time already come for you to borrow your brothers' strength, even after becoming the Second Sword of Pluto?”
Though he spoke gruffly, Kaio had been looking forward to this moment more than anyone since Jin’s departure.
Just as Jin felt a lingering apology toward him, Kaio felt the same. Not that brothers kept a tally of favors and debts.
“At any rate, this is what it feels like to be the lucky one. I am Kaio, the Tenth Fighting King of the great Pluto Tribe. I have come at my brother's call. Name the enemy.”
Kaio suddenly stopped speaking.
He had sensed Padler's lightning energy, which was a near-perfect match for the aura of the Pluto Tribe.
“A human wielding a power so similar to our own... Could he be a descendant of that man they called the Blue Lightning King, Temar's comrade?”