Chapter 641: Land of the Malevolent God (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 641: Land of the Malevolent God (3)
Instead of answering, Padler swung his sword.
As the blade moved, a tempest of Azure Lightning poured from behind him. It was as if a sea of lightning had suddenly unfurled from his very being.
Kaio quickly fired a volley of God-Slayer arrows, intercepting the surging Azure Lightning. The space, already stained by chaos, grew brilliant as the two blue forces clashed.
“Seeing you again, it seems you are not a descendant but his wraith. Your name was… Padler Runcandel, was it not?”
[I no longer use that surname.]
Padler charged through the gaps in the Azure Lightning that the God-Slayer arrows had pierced. Kaio calmly widened the distance, and Jin lunged into the center of the fray to cut off Padler’s pursuit.
The sword blocking his path was not the black Bradamante, but Sigmund. Having switched weapons in an instant, Jin’s entire body crackled with lightning.
One was lightning energy based on Aura; the other was Azure Lightning rooted in Mana.
Though the foundations of the power emitted by the three were entirely different, they appeared to be of the very same essence.
“I do not know what caused you to become a wraith, but your killing intent is far too strong. Though my memories of Temar are not entirely intact, he seemed to cherish you dearly.”
[I, too, have forgotten much. However, I don’t recall hearing that the Pluto Tribe were petty men who did nothing but run their mouths. Is there any need for words? Let our weapons clash.]
Swift and precise.
If one were to summarize Padler’s swordsmanship in two words, those would be it. The only flaw in his transcendent swordplay was its destructive power—but even that was now compensated for by the addition of Azure Lightning.
Kaio fought from mid-to-long range, while Jin engaged in close quarters.
Consequently, both Jin and Padler fought with Kaio in mind. Padler was certain he had to break Kaio to overcome Jin, and Jin knew there would be no ‘next time’ unless Kaio remained safe.
This was because the battle with Padler would not be the end.
‘I must finish this before Kaio grows exhausted.’
‘I must kill that Pluto Tribe member, Kaio, quickly to deal with Jin.’
There was no probing phase.
From the very beginning, all three unleashed their full strength.
Every time blade, arrow, and lightning collided, the heavens and earth screamed as if they were about to be torn asunder. The lightning of the three combatants tore through the chaos filling the Garden of Swords, like a sun rising over a rotten sea.
If only this sight—this battle between an ancestor from a thousand years ago and his modern descendant—were not a fight, but a brilliant light meant to purify the clan.
It would have been perfect.
That unavoidable reality clawed at Jin’s heart. The fact pained him more than the Azure Lightning that threatened to shred his body.
Being a figure from a millennium ago, Jin had never shared any meaningful connection with Padler. He had merely glimpsed a few of his records as an observer. And yet, he felt as if he were cutting down a dear friend with whom he had shared a deep bond only yesterday.
[Kaaaaah!]
No such pain existed within Padler.
When he told Jin that he held no personal feelings toward him before they clashed, he had been telling the truth. However, in his eyes, Jin didn't appear as a distant descendant; he saw a double of Temar, the Runcandel of that era.
You, too, should try losing everything.
Padler’s dark eyes seemed to say as much.
“Brother Jin!”
A spray of blood erupted from Jin’s neck. The Rune of Mul-ta was now completely shattered, rendered useless. Even if it had been intact, it likely wouldn't have mattered against a former member of the Ten Great Knights.
The wound wasn't deep. But had it been even a fraction deeper, it would have meant instant death.
Only at that moment, after seeing the droplets of blood scatter through the air, did Jin realize that unnecessary emotions were weighing him down. Pity, compassion, a sense of debt, or some other complex emotion that was difficult to name. Padler was not an opponent one could face while harboring such feelings.
It wasn't enough to simply give his all; he needed the cold will to kill him.
Jin knew this better than anyone.
Though his body had transcended humanity, his heart had not. Whether Padler’s words were true or not, there was no doubt that he had once sacrificed everything for the old Runcandel.
But just as Padler had said that the heart that once belonged to the clan could not replace all he had lost…
The heart that once protected the clan could not defend the man who had become its wraith.
If it were man to man, Jin could try to understand him.
But now, Jin stood against Padler as the Next Patriarch of Runcandel.
Whatever the reason, harboring naive sentiment toward one who sought to destroy the clan was an unforgivable weakness.
“I have one last thing to ask, Sir Padler. Do you have any intention of stopping, even now?”
[None whatsoever.]
“Then, not as a descendant of Temar, but as a member of the current Runcandel, I shall execute you.”
Jin closed his eyes. In the fleeting moment his eyelids shut, the part of his heart that reached out to Padler closed as well.
Before he opened them again, Padler was unleashing the pinnacle of the magic sword he had achieved.
Azure Lightning Sword Profound Technique, Runcandel Magic Sword Secret Technique:
Karma Lightning – Padler Runcandel
A Magic Sword Secret Technique that formed a pair with the Karma Fire of Flame Emperor Sarah Runcandel.
Jin and Kaio instantly recalled the sword that served as the foundation for that technique. Karma Fire and Karma Lightning were only completed after Temar had passed down the subtleties of the Pluto Sword to the Ten Great Knights.
Kaio’s gaze hardened.
“It seems you, too, spent your life chasing the shadow of the Infinite.”
Kaio himself had dedicated his life to reaching that sword—to replicating the sword of the Fighting God.
“However, unless it is the original, that is a realm one can never reach.”
Against the Karma Lightning, Kaio was the first to unleash his Fighting King Ultimate Technique, ‘Tsunami.’
The zones of lightning originating from Padler and Kaio took on identical forms, almost as if they were the same technique. The paths of those seeking to climb the same summit eventually produce similar results.
[Are you trying to say that you are the original, Pluto Tribe member?]
“No. I simply wish to pay my respects to an enemy. To the fact that one who never belonged to the Pluto Tribe was struggling at the same height as I.”
If there was one difference between Kaio and Padler, it was the ‘body.’
Lightning energy, the power symbolizing the Pluto Tribe, required a body capable of enduring it, just as a blessed physique was necessary to use Runcandel’s decisive techniques.
“But can you endure it? In that frail human body of yours.”
That was the very reason Padler’s old comrades used to call him a weakling. His sword covered his innate deficiencies by wagering his very life.
[I am already a dead man. You keep spouting useless nonsense.]
Kaio smirked. Unlike Jin, he held no special feelings toward Padler. He had simply come to fight for his brother and was enjoying the fact that a satisfyingly strong opponent stood before him.
Tsunami and Karma Lightning overlapped. Jin continued to contain Padler within that clash, preventing him from closing the distance to Kaio. He was building up his strength while waiting for Padler’s energy to be consumed as much as possible.
From that point on, Padler began to pressure Jin primarily instead of Kaio, and Kaio moved to cover Jin with all his might. Because of this, wounds began to appear on Kaio’s body. Had they maintained the same cooperative formation as before, it would have been Padler who started taking serious damage.
‘It is inefficient.’
On the surface, it certainly seemed so.
Padler could only guess. There had to be a reason for this inefficient shift in their offense. It was likely due to that energy currently glowing within Jin’s Heart of Light.
Of course, it was an energy vast enough to make even him flinch.
But so far, that was all. He did not believe that power could be sublimated into the ‘original,’ as Kaio had implied.
Because Jin had not reached the Realm of Creation.
He didn't think Jin could show him that territory at the summit—the realm believed to have been reached only by Temar a thousand years ago—which even he himself had failed to step upon.
However, as Tsunami and Karma Lightning reached their climax, Kaio spoke in a confident voice.
“Now, show him, Jin. Show your ancestor’s wraith.”
The true sword of the summit.
As Kaio finished his sentence, the energy gathered in Jin’s Heart of Light began to explode in all directions.
Pluto Sword Fighting God Technique, 10th Sword:
Pluto’s Sovereign Sword – Open
In an instant, Tsunami and Karma Lightning ceased their movement, like predators hesitating before an even greater beast.
Jin did not stop there, opening the next chapter, the 10th Sword, 2nd Form: War.
A heavy will to annihilate those who opposed the Pluto Sovereign dwelled within Sigmund.
Kaio caught his breath, a look of pride on his face, while Padler stared at Jin, his body momentarily frozen. Through Jin, he now saw Temar himself, but soon realized that it was nothing more than an illusion.
The man standing before him was neither Temar nor a member of the old Runcandel.
He was Jin Runcandel. A peerless Runcandel living in the present, not a relic from a thousand years ago like himself.
‘However… nothing changes.’
Padler was neither moved nor frightened by the sight.
Nothing changed. His grudge—the desire to eliminate Jin and witness the ruin of Runcandel—did not budge in the slightest.
The black clouds gathered by Jin’s will covered Ram, who was weighing down the sky above. Rosa, the Prophet, and the massive forces invading Huphester could all witness that sight.
[Even if my body and soul ultimately fail to remain in any abyss of the earth, hell, or chaos. Even if my name and the things I lost are once again erased from the world.]
The light of the Karma Lightning, which began to surge again, blazed with an even more brilliant radiance. The resumed Karma Lightning transcended every sword Padler had ever wielded in life.
[I shall stop you from saving Runcandel.]
Suddenly, a faint memory surfaced in Padler’s mind. A long time ago, on some forgotten day, he felt he had said something similar to the words he just uttered.
— Even if my body, my mind, and those I love eventually vanish completely from this world. Even if what remains at the end is nothing but despair and nightmares. I shall protect Runcandel together with you all.
For some reason, the words Padler had spoken in those days echoed like a distant resonance within Jin as well.
But Jin did not stay his sword.
Tears burned in Jin’s lightning-soaked eyes, while the eyes of the advancing Padler held an endless void.