C213 - The Secret of the Island 32 in the Blue Bird Islands (3)
All the lightning covering the sky was converging towards Yulian.
Even the raindrops that fell contained tiny sparks of electricity, and blue sparks streaked through the powerful winds blowing over the islet.
"Are you telling me that all these lightning bolts are coming from him? What is happening here?" Jin shook his head as he looked up at the sky.
Until that moment, Yulian had only been an annoying enemy to Jin, but now it seemed like he had become something beyond his reach.
"I gave him a little strike. Then, suddenly, he went out of control. It seems like he became unstable because of your sword. You experienced a Shadow Energy overload, right? It's something like that. This God is partially manifesting in his contractor," Murakan said.
"Things are going terribly wrong. It looks quite serious. I guess we can't escape from him, can we?"
"Are you telling me to fly into that storm? Why don't you tell me to drop dead in your place?"
"Sorry. One might ask, you know?"
Wroom, wrooom!
Sigmund resonated once again within Gramm's tomb.
And unlike the first time, Jin could feel that Yulian's energy was also affecting Sigmund.
'It's as if my sword is feeling anger.'
It wasn't just his imagination.
The mysterious connection between the wielder of Sigmund and the sword flowed through its blade to Jin.
He also struggled to understand what it meant for an object to show emotions.
But right now, Jin could clearly feel Sigmund's emotions every time it trembled.
-Peitel, my brother suited for death.
A voice was heard in the end.
Gramm, the God of Thunder; the remnants of his feelings expressed through Sigmund.
-How dare you manifest yourself, over my very own tomb.
While Jin could hear Gramm's voice, the deceased God couldn't hear his wielder's voice.
Sigmund was never the embodiment of Gramm himself.
It was only a sword made to seal his powers.
Therefore, the voice was merely an empty echo of his own feelings.
The voice never demanded anything from Jin, and only vented its anger against Peitel.
But even if it was just a remnant of his feelings, Gramm was a God who had ruled over many other Gods.
The rage from his lingering emotions grew stronger and stronger against Peitel.
Gradually, it turned into a bolt of lightning that focused on the runes upon Sigmund's blade.
Kzzt, kzt!
Sigmund burst into a blue tone.
The energy clearly surpassed the lightning energy possessed by Jin.
The power within Sigmund was temporarily erupting due to the anger infused by Gramm's lingering feelings.
"You brat!"
Murakan jumped to his feet and pointed at Sigmund.
He seemed to have realized that Sigmund had also changed.
"Are you also overloading yourself? Or is it a Battle God's Combat Technique?"
"No, I'll explain it to you later. Put up your shield barrier!"
The thunder in the sky was about to strike at any moment.
The lightning that gathered around Yulian had now turned into a massive electric storm.
"Look, Kuzan Marius. It seems like you didn't expect things to turn out like this. So, what do we do now? Do we continue with what we were doing, or do we take care of each of our families for the time being?"
Jin pointed the Sigmund Sword at Beris.
She had completely lost consciousness and was convulsing.
In her current state, he was certain she would die if the lightning started to fall.
Kuzan clenched his teeth.
He hadn't yet escaped from his confusion.
If Jin was Taimyun's killer, he had to settle the score with him, even if it meant Beris would die in the process.
But what if Jin's words were true?
If Joshua was the true culprit behind Taimyun's death, and they had been fooled all along...
Kzzt!
That was when a forked lightning bolt struck the ground.
It didn't hit anywhere near Jin, Murakan, Kuzan, or Beris.
But the next bolt came before the first one could dissipate.
The lightning, randomly unleashed, not only stabbed the thirty-second island of the Blue Bird but also lashed out at the distant sands and waters.
One of them struck Beris.
Kuzan rushed towards her as the lightning began to fork, but the speed of Yulian's lightning was something he couldn't cut or stop.
Pa-ching!
The lightning met another lightning.
They created a sharp sound like that of shattering glass.
Jin used his lightning to deflect the one falling on Beris.
"You!" Kuzan shouted.
"We'll talk about the details later. But don't forget that you owe me one."
Jin then used the lightning to blast the ground beside Veris.
Her body was propelled into the air by the impact, and Kuzan sprinted at full speed to catch her.
"And if you don't want to have a pointless death, you better focus from now on. I don't think I'll have any more time to deal with the two of you."
Jin decided to forget about Kuzan and Beris until the fight was over.
He didn't want to deviate from his path to protect them.
The only reason he tried to converse with them was because of the hatred he harbored for the things Joshua did, not out of sympathy for them.
"If they can't dodge the lightning and die because of it, that's their fate, although I'd prefer if they survive and give me information about Joshua."
Or if they had to die, he wanted to be the one to kill them.
Whether Joshua had caused a misunderstanding or not, Jin wouldn't forget what they had done to him back in Delki.
Jin turned around and ran towards Murakan. Kuzan struggled desperately to jump out of danger while holding Beris in his arms.
"Murakan!"
"Yes. Let's go! Is this manifestation of a God really going to fight against us now? Luckily, the manifestation is defective, and there are ways to get out of this."
"What are the options? Tell me, and I'll try to work on it as much as I can."
The lightning bombarded the ground around them.
Murakan's shadow force shield barrier was the only safe zone around.
"Releasing Shadow Energy. Remember what I taught you in the dungeons of Storm Castle, right?"
"Of course."
The movement capable of absorbing the shadows of every object.
"I'm going to use a variation of that ability to forcefully release it from the manifestation. Buy me some time. By that, I mean you have to protect me."
"For how long?"
"For ten minutes. And I'll need some of your Shadow Energy as well."
"Will it be enough?"
"Probably. But it won't be easy. The lightning that has been falling isn't even his attacks. They're just the result of the divine powers overloaded by the manifestation."
As Murakan described, Yulian wasn't attacking the people around him.
He had only manifested as the natural power of the lightning itself.
A crack formed in the thunder-filled sky.
It was a dimensional gate.
From it emerged a massive luminous arc.
Covered in crackling lightning streams, the arc was the true form of Harmilla.
It gradually shrank to fit in Yulian's hands.
"That's the real Harmilla."
It was as if a God was preparing to bring divine punishment.
A notably long and sharp lightning bolt came out of the storm and embedded itself into Harmilla's bowstring.
The manifestation had been completed.
'I sense the power of my foolish older brother.'
Yulian's imposing gaze settled on Sigmund.
Though it was defective, it was still the manifestation of a god.
Jin found it difficult to breathe just from his gaze.
'But it's not as imposing as my father or my Battle Goddess Sister.'
Vahn, the Battle Goddess, was the very one responsible for ending the life of Gramm, the Thunder God.
-Insect-like demon!
Sigmund raised his voice again.
Jin then left Murakan's shield barrier and assumed his stance.
Yulian pulled the string of his bow.
Crunch, pew!
Jin's instinct told him the moment the lightning shot out from the bowstring that he wouldn't have dared to block that attack if Gramm's feelings hadn't awakened Sigmund.
A sharp, blue slash of the sword pierced through the center of the lightning.
Shluk! Pzzt!
He had only blocked a single lightning bolt, but he felt as if his body would tear apart from the current, which was completely different from Sigmund's.
"Not bad."
He could definitely withstand ten minutes if each strike was as strong as the previous one.
The problem is that his power is likely much stronger than this.
But Jin also felt the power of his newly awakened Sigmund.
If he could handle it properly, he would also be able to strike Yulian before Murakan finished releasing his Shadow Energy.
Hundreds of Shadow Energy vortices of various sizes surrounded Murakan's shield barrier, and Jin's Shadow Energy was also absorbed by them.
-Hahaha, how amusing this is. After all your pride, your powers have been sealed, and now you're swinging in the hands of an insect.
Jin sent lightning towards Sigmund.
Even a small amount of his Light Heart's aura was enough to amplify the lightning, as if adding fuel to the fire.
It seemed as if the energy could burst out of the blade and wreak havoc randomly if he ever lost concentration.
In other words, Sigmund could overload at any moment.
That was the difference between Jin and Yulian.
Yulian couldn't control the power that went beyond his own physical limitations and overloaded, becoming a manifestation of his God.
Meanwhile, Jin completely manipulated Sigmund according to his own intentions.
-How about it, insect? Do you like my brother's power?
"Don't you think you're talking too much about yourself when you wouldn't even be able to manifest if it weren't for an insect? If you're a God, can't you have more class?"
I can defeat him.
For some reason, Jin's instinct told him so, and he repeated it mentally.
He no longer felt tense.
He looked directly at Yulian.
-Kuhaha. Insect. It seems you see yourself as the legends of old. I have no idea how you obtained the Sword, but...
Jin sneered and unbuttoned his soaked coat.
When he loosened the Black Light Armor, his heart that emitted a brilliant white light was revealed.
The reason Jin bothered to boast about his confidence was to buy time.
Murakan had asked him for ten minutes.
Although he felt capable of defeating the defective manifestation of Peitel, it was safest to allow Murakan to have his Shadow Energy release ready as well.
-What? Are... those the Legends?
It was difficult to read his expression through the lightning.
But Jin felt that Peitel's eyes showed fear when they landed on his Light Heart.
Peitel had mistaken Jin's lightning for the exclusive power of Sigmund.
"I received this sword from the one who killed your older brother. Vahn, the Battle Goddess. Have you heard the name of my sister?"
The mere mention of her name made Peitel take a step back in the air, as animals and people often did when invaded by fear.
Something completely unexpected happened.
While Peitel was manifesting in Yulian, the Contractor could feel everything his God felt. He was locked inside Peitel's inner soul to receive any emotion or sensation that descended from Peitel's consciousness.
The fear Peitel felt towards Vahn was something that Yulian couldn't endure with his own willpower.
As a result, the fear nearly destroyed Yulian's mental capacity, creating disruptions in his union with Peitel.
Jin didn't fully understand this process, but he understood that his enemy was losing concentration.
He didn't hesitate to seize an opportunity to attack.
The immense thunder within Sigmund began to surge.
The strength soon turned into a gigantic wave of blades and flew towards Peitel, engulfing the void between them.