C217 - Bad Relationship (3)
"Alright, Shuri. Protect Murakan," Jin gently moved Shuri aside.
"What a pitiful sight. Do you really think I would keep that defenseless dark dragon hostage when I'm only facing you?"
"Based on what I've seen from you so far, definitely."
"Relax. I won't kill that dark dragon until this battle is over. The same goes for your beast."
"What an improper display of mercy. Did you know that most people who believed they had an advantage over me met a tragic end? You should keep that in mind, Joshua."
"Ah, now I understand. Jin, you must think that I can't afford to kill you. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to take your contract for myself. That must be the reason for your terrible rudeness."
Jin heard Joshua mentioning taking the contract in his own words.
He knew. Joshua knew a way to transfer the contract, just like Zipple and Kinzelo.
But unlike the two factions, it didn't seem like he already possessed a secure means to do so. If he did, he would have located Jin and taken the contract, no matter the cost.
"I congratulate you on deducing it. But that won't change anything. From today onwards, you will be unable to wield the sword ever again, and as a Runcandel, that will be a more horrible fate than death itself."
Joshua intended to sever Jin's limbs and keep him imprisoned, waiting for the opportunity to obtain the Solderet contract.
Jin gritted his teeth.
"Do you see the situation you're in now? If you start begging, I promise you'll suffer less for it. If not, you could try to escape. I'd say that's your best hope."
"You're talking nonsense. Well, you're right, Joshua Runcandel. I don't think you can kill me."
Jin spoke as he gathered his Shadow Energy once again.
Then he slowly raised his sword towards the sky.
"Although I didn't mean for you to keep me alive for the sake of my contract. You see, I'm awaiting the arrival of some friendly forces."
"Haha, I've imposed a movement restriction in the vicinity of the islands. That means even the Dragons can't reach the Bluebird Islands now. Too bad."
Jin smiled.
"The joke's on you. I'm not expecting a Dragon."
Special Move of the Shadow Blade: Call of Dark Light.
This was the reason why Jin swung Bradamante in the air.
Joshua didn't know what had just happened, but what Jin had done was dangerous.
His instinct told him so. Joshua's eyes showed his first hint of murderous intent, and the aura surrounding the silver Sran ignited.
"Enough with your tricks!"
The dense aura of the silver Sran's blade enveloped Jin.
Countless sword waves formed in that short span of time.
It was enough to cover all the scattered Shadow Energy in the air.
But it was already too late.
"I thought I had already told you. You should have killed me then. In other words, I was saying you wouldn't get a second chance."
Joshua couldn't stab anything.
The waves of his sword fell into the Shadow Energy like rocks tumbling down a cliff.
Immediately, he sent another wave with the same effect.
In two seconds, dozens of waves from the nine-star knight were absorbed by the Shadow Energy.
Joshua didn't dare to approach him. Although he had some knowledge about the Shadow Blade, he had never heard of something like this before.
Joshua could only grasp the handle of Sran while shaking his head.
"It seems like you've tricked me well this time, little brother. Yes, I may have let my guard down too much."
The force that unfolded where Jin swung his Shadow Energy and swallowed Joshua's sword waves had a specific purpose.
It was a Portal.
A Portal that opened the door to Dark Light, the other name for Lafrarosa.
It wasn't Jin's inability to control his temper that made him fight Joshua alone. He clashed swords with Joshua to gauge their difference in skills.
"As I expected, he had been preparing to steal the contract from me."
And his skills are better than I expected.
Jin never thought he was weak. Sure, he thought he fell short of being worthy of the successor of the Family Head, but it was proven wrong.
If it hadn't been for Luna, people would hardly have questioned his abilities.
The Shadow Energy began to spread.
The door of Laphrarosa opened.
"Since Sister Vahn can't be summoned, I'll have to wait for one of the Battle Kings."
He couldn't afford to relax just yet.
The Special Move of the Shadow Blade: Call of Dark Light, didn't give Jin a choice of which member of Lafrarosa would come to his aid.
If he summoned a common warrior instead of a Battle King, he would have to postpone his plans to kill Joshua for another time.
"It's been a long time, Brother Jin!"
A familiar voice.
A smile appeared on Jin's face. Today, he wouldn't lose face.
"I apologize for summoning you, Brother Garmund."
Garmund, the eighth Battle King, the first Battle King who instructed Jin in Lafrarosa.
Fortunately, it was him who came through the door.
Joshua was surprised when Garmund appeared.
A summoning? Damn it, how could he have predicted this?
The fact that he had summoned someone with his own sword was surprising enough, but the majority of the shock came from the mysterious being called Garmund.
He could sense it clearly before they even exchanged blows with their swords.
"He's so powerful that I'll have to give it my all. I should have finished this before Jin could start the summoning."
Regretting his decision was useless now.
He had already been completely deceived by Jin.
"If you're sorry, promise me that you'll tell me everything that happened today when we meet again, brother Jin. So, what should I do here?"
"Kill him."
"It seems like this is the one who apparently cursed you. Are you sure that would be enough? Wouldn't you prefer to keep him alive so you can ask him questions?"
"No, it's fine. Anyway, all his confessions will only reveal pitiful and pathetic jealousy."
Garmund clenched his fist with Jin's.
Then he crushed Joshua with his deep, heavy gaze.
"I am the Eighth Battle King, Garmund, of the mighty Legend Race. I have come here on behalf of my brother's call, and my task is to annihilate my brother's enemy. If you have any last words, you may speak them now."
His voice was as solemn as an executioner's.
It displayed the power of a race that once ruled the entire world.
The voice alone created a wave that gently pushed against the island's ground.
Joshua felt briefly intimidated by the force and could only hold onto Sran tightly.
"Don't you have anything to say?"
"So, you're the ghost of a race that failed and went extinct five thousand years ago. I don't know what kind of trick my little brother is playing, but stop talking and unsheathe your sword. I will stab you and punish my brother."
Then Garmund burst into laughter. "You pretend to be a warrior, but you're not."
"And you pretend to be his brother, but you're not either."
Flash~
A blue light surged from Garmund's hand.
Jin could barely perceive how he unsheathed his sword.
In the same instant, a forked lightning bolt descended toward Joshua's head.
The bolt was brighter and sharper than the ones Yulian made rain in his divine manifestation.
And Garmund had unleashed such a lightning bolt while unsheathing his sword without any prior movement or time to gather energy.
Surprisingly, Joshua returned the lightning bolt with precision.
He raised his silver sword to cut the bolt right in half and even managed the wonder of counterattacking with a blade wave.
Garmund didn't bother dodging the wave that rushed toward him.
He simply remained motionless, like a giant tree against the wind.
However, the sword wave failed to cut through Garmund's body.
Joshua trembled at the chilling sensation that engulfed him.
It wasn't the fact that his sword wave had been easily blocked that made him panic.
In Garmund, Joshua could see Luna's image.
The same monster whom he could never leave a scar or wound on, despite having fought with swords countless times since their childhood.
The next sword wave Joshua sent was somewhat less precise, mainly due to his renewed feeling of inferiority.
Garmund had never known Luna. But he seemed to see through Joshua's thoughts because a smile appeared on his face.
"Do you see? I told you. You're not a warrior. You're quite impressive for a human, but the fact that your skills were achieved under safe conditions cannot be hidden."
"Keep talking, ghost. You won't protect Jin."
Garmund's sword flickered with lightning.
His illuminating heart throbbed and covered the lightning area once again.
Joshua raised his aura in response.
The aura extending from Sran reacted against the lightning and formed a kind of barrier.
Due to the limited space characteristics of the island, the relentless battle between a nine-star knight and a Battle King could only lead to mutual death by explosion.
Therefore, they used aura and lightning to create a resilient space where they could unleash all their powers at will.
They had created a sort of artificial arena.
Jin had never thought about those things because his aura was not as strong as theirs.
The battle between the two was beyond Jin's level of understanding.
In most cases, Jin would have chosen to analyze the fight to study it.
But today, he wanted to savor the moment instead of analyzing it, because his lifelong archenemy was finally going to meet his miserable end.
"But I don't understand, no matter how much I think about it. Why did he come here alone, without a single guard by his side?"
He must have known that a considerable battle was taking place when he embarked on this path.
Jin couldn't understand it.
Joshua wouldn't have had any problem bringing a few Execution Knights with him if he couldn't recruit the Black Knights.
Since Jin encountered Joshua, he had been thinking about how strange it was for Joshua to be alone.
"In any case, today he dies. If he had prepared something in case of his own death, I can always find them one by one and crush them all. From today, Joshua's name will soon be forgotten from the Garden of Swords."
Although Garmund had not yet fully mastered it, the fight was on his side from the beginning.
Although the battle seemed evenly matched from a distance, a single mistake could mean Joshua losing his life.
Meanwhile, Garmund kept Joshua on edge like a catapult squeezing the life out of a castle.
His attacks were so impeccable that even Jin felt like he was suffocating just by watching them.
Bzzzt! Kzzt! Crrrrt!
Sran emitted agonizing screams as it was dragged by the movement of despotism.
Although the silver Sran was not as good as the Dark Sword Kainer, it was still a legendary sword in its own right.
But before they could exchange even three hundred moves, a crack formed on the blade of Sran.
It would have been enough to fight against Jin. However, having a good weapon was essential to fight against someone with equal or superior abilities.
Garmund's weapon was unknown to humanity, but it was one of the masterpieces of the Legendary Blacksmith and Fifth Battle King, Boras, just like all the other weapons wielded by the Battle Kings.
Garmund had an advantage both in terms of his abilities and his weapon.
Joshua's defeat had already been decided the moment Garmund entered the battle.
Joshua would regret not bringing Kainer with him, even in his death.
Of course, it was not over yet.
Joshua's eyes trembled as he hastily withdrew his sword and jumped back.
Garmund was about to push him and end the fight when he suddenly stopped and caught his breath.
The reason he halted his attack was that his instinct told him it was dangerous for the first time in this fight.
Jin thought the same as Garmund.
The final moves of the Runcandel Family.
That made both of them tense.
That had to be the last thing Joshua had up his sleeve.
It was only natural, considering his sword was about to break, and his enemy was too powerful.
Joshua had to go beyond his limits and try to deliver a critical blow.
But it was already too late.
"If I were him, I would have used the final moves as soon as I realized I was being pushed back."
Jin hadn't learned the final moves of the Runcandel Family yet because he was still a Reserve Flag Bearer, but he knew their overwhelming power.
If he had used the final moves before his sword shattered, he might have created some kind of disruption in the fight.
Joshua certainly would have known that too.
But why?
"Is it because he thinks there's no hope if he fails?"
Joshua's aura, which had been blocking the lightning around him, began to gather into Sran while Jin was lost in his thoughts.
"Your aura is certainly impressive. It's almost a shame it had to be yours," commented Garmund as if it were not threatening at all.
But Jin's eyes widened when he saw Sran's sword rapidly expanding.
"Why that one, out of all the moves? It couldn't be. Did he decide that he was going to die anyway?"
Joshua's final move was the Seventh Final Move of Runcandel: Volcano.
"Brother Garmund! You must get away! That move is..."
"If I get away, who will protect you now, my brother? I'm fine, so get away from here. Go as far as you can."
Volcano was the only move in the Runcandel Family that caused one to detonate themselves.
It wasn't the power of Volcano that surprised Jin. It was the fact that Joshua chose to collapse with it. From what he knew of Joshua so far, he certainly wasn't someone who chose suicide.
The expansive blade of Sran had not yet exploded.
Garmund raised his Thunder Energy to its maximum to form a shield barrier, and Shuri picked up Yulian with her mouth.
Jin carried Murakan on his back and climbed onto Shuri.
"That bastard is planning something!"
The thought flashed in Jin's mind. But for now, he had no choice but to listen to Garmund.