Chapter 685: Restriction (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 685: Restriction (1)
The seabed where Vail had awakened now served as a makeshift sanctuary.
“Hedo! It’s been almost three days! What if something happens to Lord Jin?” Sandra shouted, stomping her feet in frustration.
Hedo silently gazed up at the sky, watching the battle rage between Jin and the mysterious, god-like being known as Vail.
Today was April 24, 1803.
The fight between Jin and Vail had remained undecided for over two and a half days. No one had expected it to drag on this long.
Jin and Vail had chosen the surface of the sea as their stage, rather than the seabed. The others had naturally assumed Vail would have the advantage due to the spatial constraints, but Jin was drawing out the battle, making full use of his skills as a Magic Swordsman.
“If I’d known it would be like this, I never would have listened to Lord Jin! Ugh, that Vail bastard won’t even listen to my orders anymore! I’ve screamed at him to stop so many times.”
“…It’s likely not that he isn’t listening, but that he can’t hear you. The Cemetery Giants have cast a powerful barrier. Why don’t you go wash your face, or maybe get some sleep? Your eyes are so bloodshot they look like they’re about to burst.”
At Hedo’s words, the Cemetery Giants nodded in agreement.
Most of the structures on the seabed were altars dedicated to Vail, but like any religious complex, they also included washrooms and rest areas. Thanks to this, those who remained behind could watch the fight in relative comfort.
Of course, while their bodies were comfortable, their minds were in turmoil. The Barmul Alliance was terrified that Jin might get hurt, and Hedo’s stomach churned just imagining the aftermath of the battle.
Yet, even in their distress, the onlookers often found themselves lost in awe. The battle between Jin and Vail produced moments so magnificent that they were completely captivated by the spectacle.
Hedo, in particular, was marveling at it as a martial artist.
Is it because of the 12th Flagbearer’s status? The authority Vail used to detonate the chaos dragons hasn’t appeared even once… While Vail is fighting ferociously, the 12th Flagbearer seems more focused on breaking through his own limits than on defeating his opponent.
Hedo wondered if Vail was truly an opponent one could afford to do that against, but to his eyes, it looked less like a fight to the death and more like a training session.
Shatter—!
The frozen seawater Jin stood on cracked apart, sending up a spray of mist. It was Jin’s mana that was freezing the sea; for two days, he had been fighting by creating his own footholds.
It was a stark contrast to Padler’s group, who had been quickly cornered, unable to overcome the spatial limitations.
The constantly shifting battlefield made the fight look less like a clash between a man and a god-like entity, and more like a duel between two deities.
[You are persistent. But surely you see the end now? Once you fall, Sarah and I will depart for a distant land…]
“Crazy bastard,” Jin muttered, landing on a newly formed sheet of ice.
Unlike at the start, he no longer showed Vail any respect. After exchanging words as well as blows, he had concluded that Vail was not an entity worthy of it.
He was nothing more than a disgraced former member of the Ten Great Knights, driven by a fanatical obsession with Sarah. A pitiful being who had rampaged and destroyed the world after her death, leading to his expulsion and imprisonment beneath the sea.
Even after waking a thousand years later, he was still denying reality, mistaking Sandra for Sarah. Jin felt more than a lack of respect; he felt utter disgust.
[I will admit, you are not easily broken. That must be why Sarah likes you. She was always fond of humans like that. But what will you do now, with that exhausted body?]
Jin had fought as efficiently as possible, but after such a long battle, minor injuries and fatigue were inevitable.
Vail, on the other hand, was no different from when he’d started. Just as Luntia had in the subspace, Vail was wielding a seemingly infinite authority. Most of his injuries healed instantly, and even wounds that would have been fatal to a human were restored within minutes.
And unlike with Luntia, Jin couldn’t sever the source of this infinite power. Vail’s authority didn’t come from a subspace; it was entirely his own.
[It seems you’re running low on mana to freeze the sea. You can barely form enough ice for your own two feet. You fought so fiercely for so long. I’m sure you have an ultimate technique left. I suggest you use it and perish.]
As he said, the patch of ice beneath Jin’s feet was incredibly small. It wasn’t even stable, making it seem impossible for him to move as freely as he would on land.
Despite this, Jin remained strangely composed. His breathing was heavy and blood trickled from wounds across his body, signaling that he was nearing his physical limit, yet his calm was unshaken.
In truth, even Jin hadn't expected to feel this composed.
Throughout this long and brutal battle, a certain realization had been dawning on him.
Just two days ago, he felt like an opponent I could never overcome… but now, I feel like I can end this whenever I want.
Lanke Halovice, Smarion Prochi, the all-out assault on the Garden of Swords, Luntia Runcandel, the fake Yona, and now this.
Since returning to the human world from Laprarosa, Jin had fought without rest.
The experience from all those battles was finally blossoming at once through his clash with Vail, leading him to an awakening.
“At first, I hoped fighting me might snap you back to your senses. I hoped you would accept Lady Sarah’s death and listen to the story of her final moments and the will she left for me. I thought that if you truly loved her, that’s how it would have to be.”
[Sarah is waiting for me down below.]
“But look at you now, still spouting the same nonsense. You’re playing house because you’re too afraid to accept that Lady Sarah is gone. She was a woman who loved Runcandel and lived like an unquenchable fire to save the world.”
[Shut up!]
“Lady Sarah is one of a kind. No one can replace her. So stop insulting her memory. You didn’t love her; you just used her for your own selfish desires. You talk as if you’d die without her, but even knowing she’s gone, you chose the cowardly path of denying reality instead of mourning her or carrying on her legacy.”
Vail swung his sword and wings at Jin. Sword energy and golden power churned the sea into a violent vortex, but Jin remained unperturbed, as if he were an illusion untouched by the chaos.
He had simply parried the impact.
Vail didn’t care. Throughout the fight, Jin had stalled for time by parrying attacks just like that, so there was no need to overthink it.
And yet, for some reason, a chill ran down Vail’s spine.
Is he finally going to use his hidden card? Karma Fire? A Spirit Sword? Or a technique of the Pluto Tribe?
Whatever it was, Vail was confident he could handle it. He could see exactly how much strength Jin had left. If Jin had prepared an ultimate technique from the start, it might have been different, but at this point, nothing he did could possibly generate enough power to threaten him.
Whoosh…!
The blue flames that began to coat Bradamante were woven from a meager amount of mana. Mana was the resource Jin had consumed the most, having used it constantly to freeze the sea.
Vail couldn’t understand why Jin would attempt his final attack with mana instead of his more potent spirit or lightning energy.
[The Karma Fire you showed me two days ago, the one you claimed to have received from Sarah, was plausible. But this… this doesn’t even pass as a cheap imitation of her flames.]
Vail continued to unleash his sword energy and authority, but Jin did not waver.
“This isn’t Lady Sarah’s Karma Fire, Vail.”
When Jin replied in a calm voice, Vail let out a monstrous roar and unleashed his authority in a massive explosion.
Like a cornered beast wary of a torch, Vail stubbornly kept his distance, relying on long-range attacks.
He should have fallen by now, yet he hadn’t.
That was how Vail saw Jin. And just as Jin refused to fall, the faint fire enveloping Bradamante refused to go out.
The moment Vail wondered why…
Jin met his eyes and smiled. Down on the seabed, Hedo knew. This was the moment Jin had broken through his wall. Only he recognized it for what it was.
“You probably can’t understand why I haven’t fallen despite my exhaustion, or why this weak fire won’t go out. And your instincts must be screaming at you. Screaming at you not to close the distance between us.”
Vail’s face, which had never lost its composure, was rapidly twisting with anxiety.
[…That fire. What is it?]
Vail had believed himself to be absolutely superior in every way. Jin’s energy was at rock bottom, while he was in the same condition as when they’d started.
But his thinking was changing rapidly.
The conviction that he would lose the instant he touched that fire weighed down on him like a mountain.
“A fire that began with Lady Sarah… and has now become entirely my own.”
The flame on Bradamante remained faint.
Because this was its completed form, it would not flare into a more intimidating shape. It would always be the same, whether Jin was exhausted or at his peak.
A new Magic Sword, not yet named.
In a sense, Jin had forged his own unique ultimate technique while fighting Vail.
With that sword drawn for the first time, Jin began to walk slowly toward him. With each step, the frozen sea formed a path before him like a staircase.
“Whether this fire becomes your new path forward or a weapon that binds you… depends on you.”
Vail screamed and lunged at Jin.
However, he flinched and skidded to a halt just before his sword could connect. He had charged in a fit of rage, but his instincts told him that the moment their blades clashed, he would be instantly overwhelmed by those strange flames.
“I’m giving you one last chance. From now on, think carefully before you answer my questions, Vail.”
“Who is the person down there?”
At the question, Vail squeezed his eyes shut and remained silent for a long time. His closed, cross-shaped pupils trembled violently.
[…Zipple.]
“Yes. Lady Sarah died in battle a thousand years ago. The person you believed to be Sarah is a descendant of her enemy, a Zipple, and she is my comrade.”
[Why did you wake me, only to tell me this horrible truth? What did I ever do to you? In this wretched world, I am a being who cannot even die as I wish… You are cruel.]
Jin felt a pang of pity at Vail’s reaction.
Now that they were having a proper conversation for the first time, the Vail before him seemed like a young, vulnerable beast, stripped of its shell. The immense sorrow he felt as he finally accepted Sarah’s death seemed to radiate from him, palpable even to Jin.
But regardless of that sorrow, Jin had to keep pressing him.
—Sarah! If she is dead, I will destroy the entire world!
Vail might still go on a rampage to fulfill the words he’d spat out the moment he awoke. According to Quicantel, he had a history of doing just that—destroying the world in a frenzy a thousand years ago, all because of Sarah’s death.
“So, are you going to destroy the world now?”
At those words, Vail let out a hollow laugh.
[If that woman, Sandra Zipple, desires it… then I must.]
“Ha, even after realizing she’s Sandra Zipple and not Lady Sarah, you still won’t stop this madness… Wait, Vail. Don’t tell me?”
Suddenly, the conversation Vail and Sandra had shared two days ago drifted through Jin’s mind like a dark premonition.
—It’s all fine, Sarah. You look different from what I remember, and you’ve lost your right arm and grown weak… but I’ll protect you now. Just as you protected me.
—You’ll protect me?
—Yes, Sarah Runcandel. My life, my soul, and my authority exist solely for you.
“A Restriction… Have you already sworn an oath to Sandra and placed a Restriction on yourself?”
Vail nodded weakly.