Chapter 237 - Individual Study, Group Study (2)
The Zipple will probably choose to take the blame.
A clan of such influence, especially one like Zipple that imposed its power over the entire world, would never sacrifice its power reputation.
Although their reputation as a clan defending justice and goodness would be tarnished, it was better to take the blame with a few people they could dismiss as scapegoats.
They could always rebuild their image of being good. However, once the power reputation of a clan was questioned, it would take a tremendous effort to restore it.
Even more so with an urgent competitor like the Runcandel Clan.
"The Fourth Master of the Zipple Tower is currently held hostage by Kinzelo. I set a trap and convinced Chukon Tolderer, a Kinzelo wizard, to keep him as a hostage."
Jin added a brief description of the Compass Interception Operation (omitting the compass part, of course), leaving Vitura speechless.
"So that's why you planned to use Karl Zipple, the Fourth Tower Master of the Zipple Clan. Now I understand your intentions. If everything goes as you say, Zipple will choose to take the blame instead of Kinzelo."
"Of course, things may not go exactly as I intend, but I believe it's the best plan we have. It will bring to the surface the current state of the Holy Kingdom and lay the groundwork for pursuing them."
Vitura didn't know what to say. He had originally planned to lead the last knights remaining loyal to the kingdom in their final battle.
His ultimate goal was to save Lani in the process and seek protection from the Runcandel Clan, the Hidden Palace, or the Nameless.
Whether Lani chose to cling to the bleak hope of the Kingdom to await its future or simply live her life in hiding, that decision would be solely hers.
But then Jin arrived.
"Maybe it was Ayula who sent us this boy."
Despite being a Runcandel, he was just a Reserve Flagbearer who had not yet turned twenty. Vitura would have never asked him for help in any other circumstances, no matter how brilliant he was, because he would have thought Jin was too young to handle such matters.
"Lord Jin?"
"Please speak, Sir Vitura."
"Please tell me what Lani and I should do from now on."
"I will head to Old Oterium immediately. Sir Vitura, you will continue to act as a puppet of the Zipple Clan and protect Lani until I return. You must not hand her over to anyone. She is highly likely to be drugged or tortured."
The Zipple and Kinzelo would still want to keep Lani close as the centerpiece of the final ceremony for the false Holy King's Manifestation Festival. Therefore, they would do everything possible to ensure that Lani obeyed their orders, especially after her escape record.
"You can leave that to me."
"And please make a list of the traitors who have allied with Kinzelo and the Zipple so that we can expose them as soon as I return. Lastly, gather the remaining loyal ones. There may be a confrontation in the process."
"Understood."
Lani approached Jin.
"Our brief encounter has put the fate of all Vankela in your hands. All I can do right now is sit here and pray for your safe return, but I promise to repay you for the kindness you have shown us."
"Hey, look, Religious Fanatic. You can thank us after we bring the rescued ones here. Just sit here and wait in fervent prayers. And your name was Vitura, right? I'm going to need you to act like you've been beaten so we can leave now," Murakan said.
Shluk!
Before Jin could react, Vitura suddenly cut his own arm.
Lani was horrified. She immediately raised her sacred powers, but Vitura shook his head and pushed her away. The deaths of the Golden Shield Knights would be impossible to explain if he himself was not injured.
"Sir Vitura, there was no need for you to cut your arm."
Vitura handed his own sword to Jin.
"Take my sword and escape. Your swords are in the wooden box in the central hallway on the ground floor. As soon as you leave through that door, I will send a group to chase after you."
"I will be back before the Manifestation Festival ends."
"I wish you luck."
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Fortunately, they retrieved Jin's swords and slipped away from their pursuers.
It took them a whole day to leave the Holy Kingdom because they were immediately included in the wanted list, preventing the use of portals.
They had five days until the Manifestation Festival came to an end.
Jin had to rescue the captives and return to the Holy Kingdom within those five days.
The schedule was quite tight.
Murakan's massive wings sliced through the winds.
Oterium did not belong to the Lutero Magical Federation and posed no restrictions on Murakan's flight.
The land had turned into a fallen wasteland after the battle for the Holy Kingdom. Oterium was now an unprotected region infested with demonic creatures and also the operating base of the Dark Magic Guild.
Although Jin had joined the ranks of the powerful by mastering the Shadow Blade and the Technique of the Sword of Legends, he was not strong enough to take down the place alone.
Cold Joe, Andrei Zipple's nemesis and brother of Rolt Joe, whom Jin had defeated, was there.
The same applied to Fegiron Hanserk, the grand elder of Vermont Academy, Chukon Tolderer, the Grand Wizard of Anz, and Suzanne Lilista, the Matriarch of the Lilista Clan.
These four figures were the Nine-Star Wizards of the Dark Magic Guild. Jin's group didn't even have an estimate of the number of Seven and Eight-Star Wizards there, and they didn't know what kind of traps awaited them.
"Are you getting nervous, kid?" Murakan said.
Jin chuckled.
"Why would I be? I have you by my side."
"Kuhaha! That's right. There's no need to fear the hordes of those wretched Wizards when I'm around."
Forty percent, that was the amount of power Murakan had regained thanks to Misha.
Would Murakan be able to take them all down on his own if all the Nine-Star Wizards were there?
Of course, it was unlikely that all the Nine-Star Wizards would be present in the area at once. Except for Cold Joe, the rest were leaders of their clans and organizations. They were unlikely to be at the Dark Magic Guild's base unless something required their presence.
"Well, I'm sure we'll find out. He's confident enough. It seems he can handle it."
It was a moonless night.
The land beneath them was pitch black.
Who would have thought that the base of the Dark Magic Guild was in the middle of this abandoned land, completely uninhabited and without a single speck of light?
An unidentified demonic creature howled somewhere below.
Murakan began to increase his flying speed.
"Kid, it seems we're close. Haha, the human mages did something clever here."
"Something clever?"
"They created a barrier. Something that creates illusions and serves as an alarm as well."
"Really? Well, I knew they would have some kind of barrier. Do you think you can neutralize it?"
Then Murakan burst into laughter once again.
"We just broke through it. Kehehehe, don't you realize it?".
"You're lying." Jin was about to say this, but he turned and gasped.
There were traces of barriers in the air they had just passed through. Hidden magic circles were broken and floating in the air. There were so many that Jin couldn't even count them all.
How many magic circles are those? And did they go through all of them without making any noise?
A dark form of energy contrasted with the magic circles that shone like stars.
It was the trail of Shadow Energy that Murakan had used to break down the barriers. And the mass of Shadow Energy was continuously expanding, absorbing magic circles around it.
The wizards of the Dark Magic Guild had established themselves in Oterium fifty years ago.
Over the course of five decades, countless wizards had poured their mana into maintaining this gigantic barrier, but it proved to be no better than an ordinary castle wall against Murakan.
"You simply released that amount of Shadow Energy without any preparation? And what is that? It's insane. There's more than just one mass there."
It wasn't just the place they had passed through.
Jin didn't realize when Murakan had placed them, but similar masses of Shadow Energy were scattered throughout the sky. The gigantic barrier was being erased by the Shadow Energy, as if it were mold.
Jin could only stare at the back of Murakan and the sky with his jaw dropped.
"Don't be surprised now by such petty tricks. Aren't you supposed to be the Millennium Contractor, remember? You can do it too, right?"
"Yes, of course."
Given enough time, I can create a hole on one side of the barrier too. Jin didn't say that out loud.
The gigantic barrier of the Dark Magic Guild had been completely erased, leaving no trace of it.
"Ah, now I see. That castle must be the base of those ugly guys."
A tall castle standing amidst the dark plains was revealed once the barrier was lifted.
The mages in the castle had no idea that the massive barrier had disappeared.
"Kid?"
"Yes?"
"Let's attack them immediately. The experiment victims won't be in the outer walls. I'll break down the outer wall. Infiltrate inside and locate the captives. Once you find them, shoot a flare immediately."
"Understood. But if we encounter civilians who are not from the Holy Kingdom during the battle, we must rescue them as well. They are important witnesses who will expose the Zipple for what they are."
"Don't worry. Hold on tight now. I'll descend at full speed right after I release my breath."
Murakan positioned himself in the air and took a deep breath. The Shadow Energy that broke the barrier now gathered in his mouth.
The Dark Magic Guild's castle was about three hundred meters away, which was quite far for most breath attacks.
But it wasn't for Murakan, not today. In fact, if there were no civilians to rescue inside the castle, Murakan could even bring down the entire castle with a single breath.
Fwooosh!
The dark breath streaked across the sky and headed towards the castle like a black meteor.
Unconsciously, Jin swallowed his saliva as his gaze followed the tail of the breath.
He shifted his attention to Murakan's target of attack. He was already striking the outer walls. The breath completely disabled the layers of protection surrounding the walls and pierced through.
The outer wall collapsed, causing a tremor. Immediately, a cloud of dust rose, covering the castle's foothills.
Jin didn't have time to look in awe.
They began to descend the moment Murakan's breath hit the outer walls. The descent was so swift that Jin's cheeks were pushed back. Murakan flew past the broken outer wall literally in the blink of an eye.
He could hear screams.
They were from the mages of the Dark Magic Guild and the Kinzelo Half-Orcs who had been guarding the outer walls. Some were still falling in the air, others barely held onto the broken parts of the wall, and the rest lay on the ground, completely knocked out by the sudden onslaught.
From Murakan's two wings, hundreds of lance-shaped forms of Shadow Energy emerged.
The force pierced the necks and hearts of those lucky enough to survive and penetrated the bodies of those who were already dead, confirming their certain demise.
Barely ten seconds had passed since Murakan initiated his attack. But over two hundred mages and half-orcs were dead, and the castle was already half-ruined, unrecognizable from its appearance just ten seconds ago.
Not even Jin expected Murakan to be so powerful with only forty percent of his original power.
"The living must prepare to meet death, for no one will escape from me," Murakan roared.
Jin leaped off his back and hid amidst the chaos.