C260 - Trackers (2)
How did those Magicians find their way here?
It was quite obvious. Either they obtained clues while manipulating Beradin's memory, or they were eavesdropping on the detection spells cast in the area.
Jin expected both scenarios, to some extent.
He thought that the White Night, or elite Magicians, or even tower masters might appear if someone pursued him here. But those gray robes. Who exactly are they?
Jin hadn't seen those robes in his past life either.
But he was convinced that they were stronger than any other group of Magicians he had faced to date.
Dante was about to react and unsheathe his sword when Jin grabbed him by the wrist.
"Don't draw your sword. If you do, they'll consider you an enemy too. That's what it seems like."
"I have a bad feeling, Jin. Those guys don't seem like ordinary Magicians."
"And that's all the more reason for you to use Beradin as a shield. Beradin, move. Take care of Dante."
"Jin, those guys are Magicians directly under my aunt's command. My aunt must have come with them, so I'll try to reason with her."
"I don't have to knock you out again, do I? What do you think would happen if you spoke on my behalf here?"
"Damn. Shit, I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry."
The aunt was the younger sister of Keliac Zipple: Octavia Zipple.
Jin knew who she was. But he only knew her name because she was part of the Zipple clan. He didn't think she had a key role.
She had retired at a seven-star level even before Jin was born.
Obviously, most people considered her abilities to be quite ordinary for a Zipple, and despite being Keliac Zipple's own sister, her relatively low abilities and early retirement kept her hidden from the public eye.
In other words, she was the wallflower of the Zipple clan.
However, there she was, leading an unknown group of elite Magicians. Jin immediately remembered what his father had said about Andrei.
"It's accurate. He may be the vice patriarch, but he's not second-in-command, as you say. The second position of power after Keliac is held by someone else, although it's not information you need to know yet."
So, she must be second-in-command.
On the other side of the window, he could see a person wielding a shining staff amidst all the other Magicians casting the chain spell. It was Octavia.
And her staff was pointing directly at where he was.
Whoosh!
Jin almost missed the moment when the staff released its bolt.
The magical light beam Octavia fired wasn't a spell. It was more like a thrust from a master swordsman.
Shing!
Jin pushed Dante toward Beradin and unsheathed Sigmund.
He didn't unsheathe it to block the attack. Not even nine-star Swordsmen could block such supersonic attacks if they didn't see them coming.
Jin unsheathed his sword only to avoid any critical damage and prepare for the next series of movements.
A sharp, thread-like beam of light grazed Jin's left cheek. It cut a few strands of hair and drew blood from his flesh. Fortunately, Dante was safe. He landed somewhere near Tuyan and Phinia.
"You just dodged that? Seems like you have some skills to back up your claims after all."
Crack!
Following her soft words, a line passed through the place where Jin had been standing. The line was straight and narrow, as if someone had drawn it with a ruler. It ran through the entire house.
Five of those lines appeared in an instant. Octavia followed immediately after Jin dodged the first attack, but none of them were aimed at Jin.
Her intention was to destroy anything he could hide. In other words, she wanted to bring down the whole house.
The gigantic vacation house was sliced like butter. Cracks formed by the beam widened, sending rocks and various materials through the gaps.
Debris flew everywhere in the collapsing building, like popcorn in a kettle. Jin and the dragons hurried to cast shield barriers against the debris.
No, the dragons had already cast their shield barriers to protect Beradin and Dante. They were no longer the adorable dragons chattering and cleaning the house. Their gazes were cold and devoid of emotion.
In fact, the dragons even prevented Beradin from approaching Jin. Dante couldn't break through the dragons' shield barrier either.
When Octavia appeared, the dragons understood that Beradin and Dante would die for sure if they left their shields.
Similarly, Octavia felt more at ease using all her power to capture Jin because the dragons were present.
As Jin had predicted, Octavia and her followers, the specters, didn't care whether they blew up the entire island or not.
This was definitely no joke.
Chills ran down Jin's neck as he saw the countless debris shatter upon contact with the shield barriers.
It had been a long time since he felt such a crisis.
However, Jin directed the following words to Dante and Beradin, who were desperately trying to leave the dragons' shield barrier.
It's impossible for them to capture me.
I'll see you later.
The entire house collapsed. It caused a dark cloud of dust and blocked their view.
"Beat him half to death and bring him to me."
The specters raised their staves immediately after Octavia gave her order. Then the red sky swirled, and countless mana particles rained down.
It was as if blood rained from the sky. The mana particles turned into blades and chains as they fell toward Jin.
Jin couldn't do anything against that spell. It was a chain spell created by nine and ten-star magicians.
The red mana rained fiercely, sending shivers down his spine. The power was so immense that he couldn't even think of reflecting it with the Inverted Sky as he did against the Zipple Magicians in the holy kingdom.
Even with his lightning energy and Shadow Energy, he couldn't do anything. The power gap was too wide.
If Jin hadn't anticipated this and hadn't planned any countermeasures, he would undoubtedly be finished this time.
They're quite late.
Jin swiftly dodged the red chains and swords. It had been a long time since Jin felt such terrible tearing sensations in his hand.
At most, ten times.
In fact, blocking this attack ten times was a miracle in itself. They had to arrive before he exhausted himself.
His own guardian dragons were on their way, just as Tuyan and Phinia were here to protect Beradin and Dante at this moment.
Two times, three times, four times.
His physical strength and aura diminished greatly each time he blocked the attacks of the red mana. It was killing him, but the specter magicians were equally shocked.
This eighteen-year-old provisional Flagbearer of Runcandel was constantly blocking their chain spell.
The island was already crumbling. Every time Jin severed the red mana, it fell onto the island, causing a huge piece of land to shake and tremble.
Of course, if the specters didn't need to capture him alive, this battle would have ended long ago. Jin was walking on thin ice every time he stopped the attack.
But that in itself was insulting to the specters.
Seven, eight.
Nine.
Jin coughed up blood and dropped to one knee. The backlash of aura spread throughout his body. He could barely wield his sword anymore.
But Jin had a slight smile on his face.
When he struck against the ninth attack of red mana, he saw a huge dark hole appear in the middle of the sky.
Guardian dragons. Not in singular.
He said it right. They were guardian dragons.
Beradin wasn't the only one privileged to receive the protection of two guardian dragons.
The last two dark dragons remaining in the human world emerged from the dark hole, piercing through the exclusion zone formed by the specters.
"Watch as the champions of humanity plunge into the red abyss to capture a little boy. The previous generations of specters will rise from their graves in shame."
It was Misha.
Her voice resonated. The swords and chains of the chain spell, red abyss, immediately stopped pursuing Jin.
It wasn't the specters who halted the spell.
It was the Shadow Energy. The shadows blending with the red mana were overpowering the red abyss. It was the power of Misha.
Jin heard Murakan's voice.
"Kid, how did it go? This time it was really close, huh? How else were we going to teach you to swim, if not in moments like this?"
He was turning the red sky into darkness. Whirlwinds of various sizes swirled as he flapped his wings, just like when he crushed the Dark Magic Guild.
It was as if a dark sea had unfolded where the sky should have been.
Meanwhile, Jin pondered Murakan's greeting.
How was he supposed to learn to swim? Don't tell me that crazy dragon intentionally arrived late.
Actually, Murakan and Misha were delayed due to the strong exclusion zones set up by the specters. But Jin would never find out the truth.
Kroooar!
Murakan breathed down toward the ground before the specters could even form their formation.
The specters had cast a gigantic chain spell like the red abyss and were now erecting shield barriers, but they remained calm and serene. None of them showed the slightest sign of retreat.
Octavia's lightning bolts shot up toward the sky before Murakan's breath could hit the barriers.
Surprisingly, the lightning cut through the breath in half and shot toward Murakan's neck. The dragon returned the lightning with his wings instead of dodging it.
Misha descended slowly toward Jin while holding the red abyss.
"Murakan and Misha. I didn't expect to encounter the legendary dark dragons here. So Jin Runcandel was your contractor after all. How is the wound Kadun inflicted on you? Is it healed?"
Octavia was a monster in her own right. She didn't even flinch when the dark dragons looked down at her from the sky.
"Magician, if you ever make it out alive, tell Kadun that the king of the skies has returned."
"Not a difficult request."
"And that the king of the world will change too."
"Do you really think the Runcandel clan can defeat us for the throne of the world? It seems you've forgotten the lesson your previous contractor left you a thousand years ago."
Murakan's lips moved in response.
But it wasn't out of anger or humiliation. He scoffed.
It was the kind of mockery that supernatural beings often hurled at those terribly foolish humans out of genuine amusement.
"Who said the Runcandel clan would become the kings of the world? I was referring to my contractor. Fools, keep babbling, completely unaware that today was your last chance to change the future."
It won't be the Runcandel clan that will bring down the Zipples to become the kings of the world. It will be Jin Runcandel.
For some reason, Octavia couldn't mock this ridiculously exaggerated claim. She remained calm when facing the two dragons, but now, for some reason, she felt as if she had a big fishbone stuck in her throat.
But why?
It was her intuition. Not the senses of a ten-star Magician, but the ordinary premonition that all humans feel from time to time. This ominous yet powerful sensation made Octavia feel distress.
"Very well. If the great dark dragon deviates from his path to warn us, there's no need to think too much about it. Specters, there's no need to capture him alive. Kill Jin Runcandel."