Chapter 738: Beyond Destiny (10)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 738: Beyond Destiny (10)
Jin gasped, his face contorting in shock.
The sight of the chain fragments falling from Rosa’s face seemed to unfold in slow motion, as if time itself had frozen.
‘Why… why is it Rosa?!’
The person hidden behind those chains was supposed to be a respected former patriarch, an ancestor worthy of honor.
Jin had fought at a deliberate disadvantage, driven by the single-minded goal of saving such an ancestor. He had passed up countless chances to end his opponent’s life, deliberately holding back even when he could have dealt a fatal blow.
The only reason he hadn't finished the fight quickly to help his comrades—who were struggling behind, beside, and in front of him—was for that purpose. All his efforts were meant to rescue the ancestor within the chains in the best condition possible.
Yet, the one he had struggled so desperately to save was Rosa.
And she looked perfectly fine.
Once freed from her bonds, Rosa didn't glow with the faint indigo light characteristic of the others who had emerged from the Mausoleum, nor was she grotesquely transformed into a monster of chaos.
She simply looked human—no, she looked like the very embodiment of Runcandel itself.
Long, raven-black hair that seemed to pull one in. Eyes that shone with an indomitable will. A gaze that bore down on those it met with silent, heavy pressure. And two hands, gripped tightly as if they would never let go of a sword.
The matriarch who had led Runcandel in Cyron’s stead for many years; a knight who had been a titan of her era.
Rosa Runcandel was locking eyes with Jin.
Damn it!
Jin cursed under his breath.
For a moment, his breath grew ragged, as if he were on the verge of succumbing to his inner demons. Barely suppressing a wave of nausea and vertigo, Jin reflexively put distance between them.
He felt that if he continued to exchange blows like this, he would make a mistake.
I’ve been played.
That was his first thought. If the Evil God had staged this performance to inflict psychological trauma on him, it couldn't have been more successful.
His allies were also in shock, so much so that they momentarily tore their eyes away from their own opponents to stare at Rosa.
‘I have to stay calm. This is just a scheme by the Evil God. That human-looking Rosa… must be some kind of fragment molded by the Evil God’s power.’
Jin tightened his grip on his sword.
“Your tastes have grown more twisted, Evil God. I didn't think you’d go this far just to confuse me.”
However, Rosa gave a completely unexpected answer to Jin’s words.
“Did you know it was me you were trying to save?”
“…What?”
“Why do you call me the Evil God?”
Once again, Jin felt his stomach churn.
The Rosa freed from the chains didn't even have the strange resonance in her voice that was characteristic of the resurrected. She sounded like a truly living person. She sounded like someone who had fought to protect Runcandel to her last breath.
His heart pounded frantically.
“I am Rosa Runcandel. Why are you confusing me with the monster that had me bound?”
“What kind of nonsense are you spouting…?”
“Jin!”
“12th Flagbearer!”
The urgent voices of Hedo and Octavia reached him from behind.
Sssshhh—!
At the same time, he felt a sharp energy piercing toward his back. It was sword energy fired by an enemy.
Because Jin had been focusing all his attention on Rosa, his reaction was a fraction of a second too slow. The sword energy grazed his lower back, and droplets of blood sprayed out.
The wound wasn't deep. The one who had fired it was the one-armed former patriarch.
‘…Wait, is that even a former patriarch?’
If he cut those chains, would another Rosa emerge?
An indescribable sense of revulsion continued to cloud Jin’s mind. Turning around while dodging the subsequent volleys of sword energy, he saw his exhausted allies.
Bianca had driven the 29th Generation patriarch to the brink of death, while Alphen and Leon were both covered in wounds, their duel still raging. Hedo, having finished off the 35th Generation, was now assisting Octavia.
Despite facing them simultaneously, the one-armed patriarch was now displaying even greater martial prowess than when the battle began. Since Jin had just released another chain, the Evil God’s influence acting upon that patriarch had increased accordingly.
“Cough!”
Octavia spat out a mouthful of blood as her waist buckled. Hedo had taken several direct hits from the patriarch’s sword energy while trying to protect her, and his massive body was covered in lacerations.
“The 12th Flagbearer? You are the 12th Flagbearer of the family? Now that I look, your sword is Bradamante. Your name is Jin… Jin Runcandel. How strange.”
Rosa spoke as if she knew nothing.
“Shut up!”
Jin threw himself toward Hedo. He had to buy him at least a moment to recover.
Rosa didn't interfere as Jin turned and ran. In fact, she even provided cover, intercepting the former patriarch's sword energy as it flew toward him.
The sword energy Rosa used to intercept the attack was nowhere near as powerful as the Evil God's, or even the Rosa Jin remembered from her time as the Acting Patriarch.
Jin decided to stop thinking about the Evil God’s intentions.
Clang—!
Jin’s sword clashed with the one-armed patriarch’s.
With just a single exchange, Jin understood why Hedo and Octavia had struggled so much. The patriarch's sword possessed the same power as the Evil God's, injecting chaotic energy into his opponent with every strike.
The former patriarch was no longer merely being controlled; he was on the verge of being assimilated by the Evil God itself.
Jin once again ignited the Eternal Fire on Bradamante. He had to finish off the former patriarch as quickly as possible and resolve this chaotic situation.
‘I can’t rule out the possibility that this patriarch is another Rosa, but I have to check.’
He couldn't simply dismiss the chance that this was a real ancestor, like Alphen. If he closed off that possibility just because the situation was overwhelming or because he was filled with doubt, he would be abandoning an ancestor who had fought for the family in life, in death, and even after this unwanted resurrection.
Therefore, he had to cut the chains without killing him.
While Jin deliberated, Rosa maintained her covering stance, staring at his back. She looked like someone who had something to say but didn't know how to begin.
Without checking Rosa’s expression, Jin lunged with his sword toward the former patriarch.
‘I don’t care if it’s a trap, Evil God. I will not give up on a single ancestor who resisted you until the end.’
Even if another Rosa appeared instead of an ancestor, he would simply have to cut them all down, including the Rosa behind him.
The sword Jin thrust toward the patriarch no longer held any hesitation. The inner turmoil he had felt upon Rosa’s sudden appearance was settling.
As a composed Jin began to take on the former patriarch, Hedo and Octavia quickly found some breathing room.
By the time Jin and the patriarch had exchanged a hundred blows, Bianca had finally obliterated the 29th Generation. Hedo and Octavia rejoined the fray, and the fierce bloodbath between Alphen and Leon also came to an end.
The corpses of Leon, Tucker, and Nef rolled across the ground, dissolving into particles from the shockwaves of the battle.
The battle, which had begun with even numbers, had now become a many-on-one assault.
No matter how assimilated he was, the former patriarch was ultimately not the Evil God. Until now, he had wielded a sword that was virtually flawless despite his missing arm, but he had reached his limit.
In the first place, the only reason he had lasted this long against five opponents was because Jin had decided not to kill him. Had Jin fought with lethal intent, the battle would have been much shorter.
‘Evil God, stop this pathetic charade and come out yourself.’
Skritch, whoosh—!
Bradamante sliced through a strand of the chain covering the former patriarch’s face. The Eternal Fire clung to the cracks, melting the links.
Bit by bit, the face inside the chains was revealed. This time, Jin’s judgment had not been wrong.
‘It’s not Rosa…!’
Though the chains weren't completely severed, even a glimpse showed a face entirely different from Rosa’s.
Just as Jin was about to strike the chains again, the former patriarch suddenly threw himself toward Bradamante, as if intentionally trying to be impaled.
Jin reacted instantly, stepping to the side. With the Eternal Fire only needing a few more seconds to burn through the chains, he had no intention of losing an ancestor now. In a few moments, the former patriarch’s bonds would melt away on their own.
The former patriarch did not pursue Jin as he stepped aside.
‘He’s just passing me by?’
The goal of the Evil God controlling the former patriarch was not to have him die by Jin’s sword. The Evil God had accurately predicted that Jin would dodge.
The Evil God's target from the very beginning had been the person watching Jin from behind all this time.
It was Rosa.
All of Jin’s allies were positioned in front of him. The only person at his back was Rosa.
Thuck—!
‘Huh?’
The former patriarch’s sword pierced through Rosa’s chest.
The Evil God had displayed near-perfect swordsmanship while controlling the patriarch, yet for some reason, the Rosa standing behind Jin failed to parry a single strike from that sword—even though it was technically her own.
“Urgh…!”
Rosa swallowed a groan and grabbed the blade that had entered her body. As the former patriarch who had stabbed her collapsed and ceased moving, Rosa fell to one knee, gasping for breath.
“Ugh…”
Jin couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. Why had the Evil God stabbed itself? Why was Rosa suffering like a mortal? And why was such an ominous premonition washing over him?
He understood nothing.
However, Jin unconsciously ran toward Rosa. It was a fatal wound. If the Rosa who had been stabbed was truly human, she would soon expire.
“Evil God… what the hell is this?”
“Do I still… look like the entity known as the Evil God to you?”
“Why are you acting like a human—!”
Jin flinched and stopped mid-sentence.
It was because Rosa's face was much younger than he remembered. Jin suddenly realized she had looked this young from the moment she emerged from the chains.
As he stared at her face, which looked to be in its early to mid-twenties—roughly his own age—his heart sank. Jin’s breathing grew ragged.
“I think… I finally understand the situation,” she whispered. “Jin. You must be my and Cyron's son. Because we… we had decided to give that name to our last child…”