Chapter 710: The Unavoidable Trap (9)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 710: The Unavoidable Trap (9)
Volgar and Bradamante collided, etching black crescents into the air. From the shockwave radiating between the two men, dark soul energy erupted from the cracked earth like surging lava.
Jin’s teeth bared as he glared up at Dipus.
The sharp horns, the black pupils that could never belong to a human, and the smirk that suggested he was savoring this horrific situation—nowhere could Jin find a trace of the second brother he once knew.
It had been the same when they met in the Empire, but the reality felt even more agonizing now.
Because today, he had to end him.
"4th Flagbearer… your sword is lighter than I feared."
Jin’s gaze shifted to Dipus’s left wing and chest. Though hidden by his clothes, Jin could feel the residual heat of the flames still lingering beneath.
"That is the result of my carelessness against you back in the Empire. I have prepared much because of it…"
Behind Dipus, in the distance, the fruits imprisoning the captives were falling incessantly. Each fruit held at least fifty people. Every time one slammed into the ground, dozens were killed or maimed.
"Let us take our time and enjoy this, Youngest."
Perhaps a part of Dipus still remained inside that monster.
However, Jin decided to cast that thought aside. As Mary had said, facing him with a half-hearted resolve would only make the situation more gruesome.
Even with the injuries from the Eternal Fire, the 4th Flagbearer is still a transcendent powerhouse. I must fight with cold blood—if only for my brother’s sake.
A murderous glint settled in Jin’s eyes.
"I’ll see if you can keep that composure when the fight is over, 4th Flagbearer. Or rather… you monster bastard who swallowed my brother."
"You spent the whole time barely hiding your distress, yet now you can speak such terrifying words."
Chiiiiing—!
The two locked blades began to move again.
Jin shoved Dipus back and unleashed a Light Speed Thrust, while Dipus took to the air, swinging Volgar as he retreated. Massive waves of black sword energy battered the ground, nearly blinding Jin with their sheer power.
Jin parried the energy and surged forward, refusing to let Dipus widen the gap.
He didn't have the luxury of freeing his comrades trapped in the subspace. However, even without a Spirit Sword, someone like Hedo could cut through a subspace; they would break out eventually.
When my allies escape the subspace, I must have Dipus completely pinned down so they can focus on rescuing the prisoners.
To do that, he first had to deal with Dipus’s mobility.
He had to sever the wings to inflict a fatal blow with the Eternal Fire. Since the Eternal Fire could not be projected as sword energy, he had to force the fight into a close-quarters brawl.
"You keep fighting like a coward on the run. Do you lack the confidence to face me head-on even after receiving the power of the Evil God?"
"I told you, let’s enjoy this slowly. Don’t worry, one of us is bound to end today anyway."
As Jin pursued Dipus, the prisoners remained constantly in his peripheral vision. Some fruits were already filled with nothing but corpses; from others, survivors screamed frantically for help.
If Dipus began to use them as hostages to threaten him, Jin would have no way to stop it.
The 4th Flagbearer can’t just kill the hostages recklessly either. He knows the moment he starts slaughtering them, the constraints on me and the alliance vanish. If he had planned to expend the prisoners that way, he would have done it from the start.
Then why was Dipus leaving the prisoners in such a state?
He wasn't hiding them, nor was he keeping them in a state that made them easy to use as hostages in an emergency. Instead, the fruits containing the prisoners were being scattered haphazardly near Castle Ricalton. It was as if he were inviting them to be picked up one by one.
As that thought took hold, Jin realized Dipus wasn't abandoning the prisoners—he was deploying them.
Deploying them for what?
Swaak—!
Dipus’s sword energy grazed Jin’s cheek. His blade, like Rosa’s, possessed the power to infect others with chaos; Jin’s Heart of Light throbbed as it repelled the encroaching energy.
Simultaneously, Dipus burst one of the nearby fruits while locking eyes with Jin. The people trapped inside were torn to shreds along with the fragments of the fruit, their remains scattering into the void.
"You shouldn't let your attention wander while I'm right in front of you. If you want all the prisoners to pop and die like that, then by all means, keep—"
Dipus couldn't finish his sentence.
Jin had suddenly lunged forward, slashing his left wing. Dipus failed to dodge the blade, which moved far faster than the speed Jin had displayed during the pursuit.
"Kh!"
Had they been in a melee on the ground, Dipus wouldn't have been caught by such a surprise attack. His sword would have reacted before his mind. However, flight—no matter how fast—imposed many restrictions on movement, and it hadn't been long since Dipus gained the ability to fly.
Jin had intentionally throttled his speed to just barely keep up, baiting Dipus into making such a minor mistake. Of course, it wasn't as if he could close the distance at will whenever he wanted; he had simply used a hidden move he’d been saving.
"You're the one who needs to cut the bullshit. Threaten me with hostages? Go ahead and try. Let’s see who dies first. Do you think we came to Ricalton without that level of resolve?"
In truth, the final agreement among the allies was that even if the worst happened and every hostage died, they would still eliminate Dipus.
"Hoo, I see. You’re as good at lying and deceiving as ever. But to think you’d reveal a hidden move just for a single group of hostages."
Dipus’s left wing began to regenerate.
The strike hadn't been entirely without effect. Just before the blade connected, Bradamante had been momentarily imbued with the Eternal Fire. However, unlike when he had cut him in the Empire, the energy of the Eternal Fire didn't penetrate deeply. It had been a rushed strike, and the cut was shallower than before.
"Your choice just now revealed that you need a minimum amount of time to fully utilize those flames. I will be more cautious now. So, wake up, Youngest, if you want to win. You cannot bring down Mother or me with such a 'human' heart."
"We'll see about that. Everyone who talked to me like that is currently in the afterlife, 4th Flagbearer. Do you think you and the Evil God will meet a different end?"
Dipus was widening the distance again. His flight was noticeably slower than before due to the Eternal Fire clinging to his left wing. However, his harassment increased accordingly, making the pursuit no easier.
For some reason, as the chase continued, the two were gradually moving further away from Castle Ricalton.
Soon, they reached the vicinity of a black forest shrouded in dark soul energy. Jin realized there weren't many prisoner fruits around here.
Now is the best time to rescue the prisoners. My comrades should have escaped the subspace by now… but where is the alliance fleet?
At that moment, a massive surge of energy was felt from the direction of Castle Ricalton.
It was Hedo. He and the others had finally broken through the subspace and emerged at the castle. As soon as Jin confirmed his energy, he fired an orange signal flare.
It was a signal meaning he was safe and they should prioritize rescuing the prisoners.
Dipus immediately understood the meaning of the flare. Even though the orange light briefly stained the sky, he felt no one else approaching their location.
"It seems you took my advice to wake up lightly. Wouldn't it be better to abandon the prisoners and strike me together with your comrades?"
"That's not for you to decide."
The biggest reason Dipus had lured Jin away from Castle Ricalton was precisely because of Hedo and the others. He judged that in his current state, he couldn't handle a pincer attack from Jin and the rest of them.
Jin was vaguely aware of Dipus’s intention, but moving away from Ricalton wasn't a bad choice for him either. It avoided a situation where Dipus could threaten the prisoners' lives directly. Above all, Jin was confident he wouldn't lose even if he had to fight Dipus one-on-one—even if the man was hiding a great deal of power.
"I knew you’d say that. You probably stepped into this place knowing it was a trap anyway. Regardless, this should be far enough."
Suddenly, Dipus stopped flying. Black trees, rising like pillars, obscured the view between Jin and Dipus.
"I want to ask one last thing. Youngest, you… your comrades you brought, and the prisoners. Which of the two do you hope returns to Tikan alive and well?"
*
—"It’s getting frustrating. This is why you and Joshua lose to the Youngest every time. This is a greater crisis than ever before. Mother cannot move, and the fire attached to me likely won't go out until the Youngest arrives. This means if a battle breaks out, I might be pushed back by him."
—"You… might lose?"
—"Yes. So we must set the board. A board where Runcandel does not lose, even if I do."
The conversation between Ilina and Dipus before the operation began. The board Dipus had planned then was now finally complete.
Fwaaaaah!
The black trees dissolved into particles, and the surroundings were instantly engulfed in a black fog. Even when Jin whipped up a wind with his sword, the mist did not scatter.
It doesn't feel like a subspace. What is this?
Though he couldn't see Dipus, Jin didn't lose track of his energy and pointed his sword toward him.
A moment later, the fog suddenly began to lift.
As he checked his surroundings, Jin realized he was no longer in the heart of Ricalton. Even when he looked back, Castle Ricalton and the trees holding the prisoners were nowhere to be seen.
…Teleportation? Don't tell me that fog was a dimensional gate?
He was correct.
Dipus had just used the power of the Evil God to force open a dimensional gate and teleport them. He was standing on the ground now, not in the air. Jin saw the left wing he had slashed earlier, which had since regenerated, fall to the ground.
"It seems the answer is difficult for you. But regardless of which side you want to save more, you cannot go to them now. This place is quite far from Castle Ricalton…"
Dipus spoke as he raised the greatsword Volgar.