Chapter 659: Temar’s Fifth Tomb (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 659: Temar’s Fifth Tomb (3)
The first chapter of the Fighting God Profound Technique was unleashed.
An immense repulsive and attractive force, generated alongside a shockwave, shook the subspace violently. The cracks that had already formed began to vomit Chaos energy like spurts of blood.
Within the crumbling, trembling space, the two glared at each other for several seconds.
Jin was the first to close the distance. His body and his blue-glowing sword rushed toward Luntia as fast as a bolt of light.
Krr-crack!
An earthquake erupted as Sigmund and Charles collided.
In the first exchange after unleashing Pluto's Sovereign Sword, Jin realized that Luntia had become even stronger than before.
‘Elder Sister Mary’s Volcano?!’
It was the family’s 7th Decisive Technique, independently modified by Mary Runcandel. Unlike the original, her "Volcano" was used as an enhancement technique rather than a self-destructive one.
Jin had never heard of Mary teaching that technique to Luntia.
‘...No, it’s different.’
Mary’s Volcano placed a massive burden on the user’s body, but it didn't completely destroy it.
However, the Volcano Luntia had unleashed was incessantly breaking her physical form.
Like a shattering stone statue, every part of Luntia’s body cracked and burst, only to be repeatedly regenerated in an instant. In other words, Luntia had only changed the form of the explosion; she was essentially performing Volcano while enduring a shock similar to the original self-destructive version.
It was a feat only possible because of her regenerative powers fueled by Chaos energy and her naturally transcendent Steel Body.
Facing that formidable power, the emotions Jin felt were sadness and regret—stemming from the fact that a blood relative, who had the potential to become a sword of the era, had ultimately turned into a monster.
“This is the sword I prepared for you, Youngest.”
“The Chaos-eroded beings I’ve faced so far never hesitated to let their own bodies break.”
This was true not only for those without status but also for most of those who possessed it. Rondo, Smarion, Stam, Lionel, Padler, and now Luntia, whom he was currently facing.
Among them, only Ron Hairan had eventually overcome his demonic nature to reach the realm of Creation. The meaning behind that fact was clear.
Only those who are wary of their own destruction can move on to the next stage.
Those who cannot eventually become nothing more than moths diving into a flame.
“And what of it?”
“It means you’ve become stronger, Sister, but that’s all.”
“And yet, you are already coughing up blood.”
Luntia maintained her composure even as her body repeatedly broke and regenerated without pause. On the other hand, Jin had been forced back step by step from the moment she began her full-scale assault.
Originally, Jin’s three powers were organically linked, each compensating for the others’ weaknesses. Since Spirit Energy was the core of his enhancement, and it was now almost entirely depleted, he was inevitably lacking in all aspects compared to his usual self.
“Of course, you must still have some hidden swords. Show them to me quickly. I want to feel the thrill.”
Luntia burst into a mad laugh, her voice filled with excitement. As the fight intensified, her inner demons grew even larger.
‘Is the madness masking the pain?’
Unlike the rampaging Luntia, Jin gradually minimized his movements.
Luntia judged that Jin’s stamina was depleting faster because he hadn't been in peak condition since his arrival, and while that was true, it wasn't the whole story.
Jin was simply becoming more cautious, waiting for the chance to end the fight in a single blow.
“It seems there’s nothing I have that you wouldn't know about.”
“Save the boring talk. This is my final battle.”
His bones shook and his brain rattled. As Luntia’s sword gained speed, he felt Charles digging a little deeper into his flesh with every block.
However, his time spent huddling in defense hadn't been without gain.
‘Gaps occasionally appear in her regeneration.’
Fighting while one's body is breaking in real-time naturally came with physical constraints. They were extremely short intervals, so fast that no warrior below Jin’s level could even perceive them.
Jin was analyzing the pattern of those widening gaps.
Though they were irregular to the point of being unpredictable, Jin felt he could impose a rule upon them—by inducing Luntia’s attack patterns in the direction he desired.
‘I don't have the senses of the Fighting God Brothers, but as long as Sister Luntia doesn't stop, it’s entirely possible.’
Jin’s swordsmanship began to take on a form as fluid as water. Luntia assumed this was merely a desperate measure Jin had chosen for self-preservation.
Of course, even so, Luntia hadn't left herself unprepared. She fully expected Jin to have a trick up his sleeve. It was just that, consumed by her inner demons, she couldn't keep up with Jin’s subtle maneuvers.
And when Charles grazed her neck twice more, Jin found the perfect opportunity to finish Luntia.
‘Now.’
As Luntia’s attacks began to shift from the lower to the upper body, Jin leaped into the air as if he had been cornered into checkmate.
Luntia did not miss that opening, unleashing a series of light-speed thrusts. They targeted the position where Jin’s body had risen, his predicted landing point, and a blind spot he shouldn't have been able to perceive.
There was no way to dodge.
In that moment, Jin opened the next chapter of the Fighting God Profound Technique he had been saving.
Pluto Sword Fighting God Technique 10th Sword, 2nd Form.
Pluto's Sovereign Sword – Beginning.
The lightning energy gathered in Jin’s eyes emitted an even deeper blue radiance.
As if she had been waiting for exactly that, Luntia concentrated her energy into the tip of Charles. Along with the murky black light unique to Chaos energy, the heavy dark light of Aura formed alongside it.
Runcandel 4th Secret Technique.
Black Cross Star.
It was a technique Jin had seen once before when facing Hedo. The blades of Charles, drawn in a cross, appeared to cleave Jin apart. Luntia felt the sensation of the sword cutting through flesh, but it was shallow.
‘There are actually moments when Joshua is helpful.’
In the past, while facing Hedo at the Tower of White Night, Jin had seen the Black Cross Star unleashed by Joshua. The secret technique Luntia performed was incomparable to Joshua’s, but because Jin had that memory, he was able to minimize his injuries.
Soon, the sword energy of the Black Cross Star surrounded Jin in a massive circle, and the cross-shaped dark sword energy pouring from within instantly obscured his figure.
It all happened in an instant—including the moment the sword energy of the Black Cross Star was torn apart by the lightning of Pluto's Sovereign Sword.
The profound technique of Pluto's Sovereign Sword that Jin unleashed exceeded Luntia’s expectations. For the first time, she was forced backward, but she took most of the lightning energy digging into her flesh head-on.
“Kh-aaack...!”
Holes the size of human heads repeatedly appeared and vanished all over Luntia’s body. The speed at which Pluto's Sovereign Sword destroyed her flesh and the speed at which the Chaos energy regenerated it were nearly equal.
‘The Volcano hasn't been deactivated yet. Even so, to have this much regenerative power… as expected, Sister Luntia is nearly immortal within this subspace.’
Between the damage from the Volcano she unleashed herself and the second chapter of Pluto's Sovereign Sword, there were only a handful of humans in the world who could withstand such a shock—even including those stained by Chaos.
Luntia wouldn't normally be among them, but the reason she was holding on was that this was "Luntia’s Subspace." All the Chaos energy making up the subspace was practically synonymous with Luntia herself. She was essentially using all the energy of a space that Solderet himself must have created.
In other words, to finish her, the entire subspace had to be destroyed. As long as Chaos energy remained in the subspace, killing Luntia was impossible.
“Kaaaaah...!”
Blown far away by the shockwave of Pluto's Sovereign Sword, Luntia struggled like a wild beast tearing through a trap.
She knew. If she could reach Jin just one more time, she could take the Youngest’s head. She also knew that if Jin had arrived without his stamina being depleted, she could never have won.
Jin was breaking into a cold sweat as he controlled the lightning of Pluto's Sovereign Sword. Because he had reached the necessary realm, a backflow reaction did not occur, but he couldn't stop the rate at which his Aura was being consumed.
It was as Luntia said. If Jin had entered the tomb with his Spirit Energy fully intact, the outcome would have been different even if the progression was the same. If his Spirit Energy had remained, Jin would have surely grasped victory even in such a draining battle of strength against Luntia and her subspace.
But that wasn't the case now.
Though her regeneration speed was now failing to keep up with the destructive power of Pluto's Sovereign Sword, Jin’s energy would eventually run out first. It would be the same even if he added magic from this point on. Adding magic while the second chapter of Pluto's Sovereign Sword was active would only make things more dangerous. If an inevitable opening occurred while casting magic, the precarious struggle would instantly tilt toward Luntia. Furthermore, since the subspace was a "dead world," he couldn't even summon Tess.
Luntia’s strides toward Jin were gradually widening. Even as her body twisted, the rapier Charles she held pointed accurately at Jin without a tremor, like a vengeful ghost.
“Exhaustion… is… your… downfall… How… frustrating… it must be.”
At Luntia’s words, Jin closed his eyes for a moment.
However, the turning point Jin had envisioned was precisely this moment. He had no intention of risking magic or releasing Aura beyond his limits while bracing for backflow.
The final move Jin had saved to deal with her—a woman who wielded the Chaos energy of the entire subspace—was Spirit Energy.
The connection point.
Jin had been certain from the very start of the battle that a connection point linking Luntia and the subspace must exist. Luntia was not the original owner of the subspace. She had only become its master forcibly through the Prophet’s schemes. As such, a connection point was inevitably required for her to synchronize with the subspace, and Jin had been reading the patterns of her Chaos energy throughout the fight.
Unleashing Pluto's Sovereign Sword had been a means to accurately confirm the location of those connection points.
‘There they are.’
Ssh-ring…!
Amidst the roar, Bradamante quietly slid from its sheath.
Almost all of his Spirit Energy had been consumed in the act of opening the door, but not every last drop was gone. Jin drew upon every last bit of that remaining Spirit Energy to release Bradamante.
“No, it’s over now, Sister.”
Pluto's Sovereign Sword was deactivated.
Immediately after, Luntia healed all her wounds in an instant. Taking advantage of the moment Luntia moved, expecting her own recovery, Jin used the black-stained blade to sever the connection points between Luntia and the subspace.
The moment the connections were cut, Luntia was no longer able to recover.
Jin took advantage of the opening created by her failed expectation of healing and plunged his blade into her chest.