C406 - Emperor Sword Banquet (11)
Even with its head destroyed, the Legends Golem remained standing.
It even swung its lightning-wrapped fist at Jin.
Jin spun Sigmund and struck the Legends Golem's fist with the hilt of his sword.
The Legends Golem was vulnerable when its fist sank down, and Jin thrust his sword into the opening.
Slash!
The sword pierced its chest, but once again, the Legends Golem didn't fall.
It used both hands to grip the sword and prevent Jin from moving.
Two other Legends Golems closed in on Jin from the sides.
Jin quickly analyzed their attack trajectories, cut the Golem in front of him in half, and blocked the attacks.
Their movements were surprisingly good.
As Jin dodged, the Legends Golems adjusted the trajectory of their fists.
Their movements would be difficult to imitate even for most martial artists.
Moments ago, they were mages, but now they moved like top-tier martial artists.
And their regenerative power seemed almost immortal.
Furthermore, the light energy was bothersome.
Jin felt frustrated, and anger welled up from deep within his heart.
The Legends Golem, with its head destroyed and its body split in half, regenerated quickly.
Beradin's guards couldn't help but gasp at the grotesque spectacle.
The first gray-robed mage, who had seemingly stopped breathing, was now standing again, and a blue aura shone on his chest.
The other four mages seemed unable to continue using magic as they became Legends Golems.
"Did you really renounce your entire lives as mages just to obtain such a false power?"
Jin's cold voice made the living golems burst into laughter.
"Can a mere mortal call an immortal body false...?"
What are you laughing about?
Have you gone mad?
Swoosh!
Sigmund made a horizontal slash, and the head of the living golem fell to the ground.
The fallen head was incinerated by the Flames Orb, as Jin struck its body with the Cascade, the Sword of Legends Technique.
The lightning attached to the sword rained down and covered the living golem.
As the name suggested, the lightning fell like a cascade, leaving only a massive pit where the living golem had been.
Only some small, charred pieces of its body were scattered near the pit.
It was hard for anyone to imagine they were the flesh and bones of a living being.
However, Jin had a hunch that this was not the end, and the Legends Golems did not seem to lose confidence.
"It seems you are ignorant of the true meaning of immortality, Twelfth Flagbearer of Runcandel."
The charred flesh quickly regained its original color.
The scattered bones and organs reformed from the empty space where the Legends Golem had been.
The living golems seemed to take pride in this fact.
Jin remained expressionless, but the living golems thought Jin was quite shaken.
For Jin, it was repulsive.
It sent shivers down his spine, as if a cockroach had suddenly appeared on his bed, and he had instinctively crushed it under his feet.
He struck the regenerating body with lightning again.
Without any other Legends Golem defending, the body once again scattered in all directions.
And once more, it regenerated.
By then, the Legends Golems were more than proud, and their expressions were intoxicated with victory.
Normally, in a situation like this, you'd be gripped by an unknown fear.
Your instinct would tell you to flee when facing an enemy you couldn't kill, no matter what you did.
The Legends Golems thought Jin would do the same.
After all, he was only nineteen years old and had no experience fighting an immortal like them.
"Phew."
Jin shrugged and let out a sigh.
You're a bunch of delusional fools.
Immortals?
This is just high-speed regeneration; you're nothing but idiots.
It wasn't the first time Jin had faced rapid regeneration.
He had recently fought against Ozdock, an ancient demon creature with an inner core, possessing a similar ability.
"It's almost laughable how you so-called great mages get caught up in this useless power."
Crunch!
Suddenly, ice crystals formed in Jin's clenched fist.
The ice crystals grew and shrank repeatedly with furious force, creating a chilling sound.
"Anyway, you can't kill us."
"Is that so?"
The Legends Golems still didn't quite understand the situation.
"Is this how it's done, maybe?
The ice barrier magic Jin was casting was the same one used by his master, Valeria Histor.
Ice Barrier Seal.
Jin remembered how Valeria had sealed the Demon Man's corpse in the Wantaramo Forest.
It seems to be a versatile spell, so I asked Valeria how to use it...
But I don't know if I can get it right in one go.
When Jin had left the Wantaramo Forest and spent several days with Yona and Valeria, he took every opportunity to ask Valeria for advice related to magic.
From that time, he remembered some clues about the Ice Barrier Seal magic.
-Anyone can use Ice Barrier Seal magic. But to seal and maintain it correctly, you need to know how to completely separate the mana from your body. You use that separated mana to form a kind of lock.
-How do you separate the mana?
-That's a bit complicated to explain. I gave you a simple concept to work with, so try practicing on your own.
Valeria's explanation was wrong from the start.
Among ice barrier magic spells, sealing was considered the most advanced spell.
Only a small fraction of mages specialized in ice barrier magic could handle seals.
Furthermore, maintaining the seal as intended was an entirely different skill.
Normal mages' seals only lasted until their mana was depleted.
As far as Jin knew, Valeria was the most talented mage in the world, and Jin was her only recognized disciple.
Separating mana from the body.
Suddenly, he remembered his first mission as a cadet.
Back then, I infused Shadow Energy into my sword when I fought Quazito Truka and also separated Shadow Energy from my body when I lost control of it.
It's a similar feeling to back then.
Jin had that feeling.
The randomly changing ice crystals in his palm gradually stabilized.
"You won't die. Instead, you'll be sealed and become subjects for research."
Soon, Jin reached out, and white energy emanated from the ice crystals, enveloping the regenerating Legends Golem.
Crack!
The Legends Golem froze instantly and stopped regenerating.
However, the horrible part was that the heart of the Legends Golem, encased in ice, continued to beat.
Using the mana separated from his body, Jin applied another layer of magic to maintain the seal.
Jin felt that his mana was no longer depleting, which meant the magic spell had been successfully cast.
It worked on the first try.
In my past life, I had never succeeded so well, not even when learning from my master.
However, there were still other bodies to seal.
When the Legends Golem's body fell to the ground, the remaining Legends Golems lost their triumphant expressions.
"It seems you don't understand the definition of 'immortality,' after all."
"You...!"
"You simply denied yourselves because you no longer had the will to achieve anything more. And is battle prowess really the criterion for determining the value of life?"
"If you simply think that immortality means you can regenerate your body infinitely, it's because your world is nothing more than that. Humans like me tend to deny what we've achieved in our lives."
Jin said with a chuckle.
"...Anyway, your mana won't be infinite. You can't maintain that seal forever."
"You're still mistaken. It can be maintained; I don't need to do anything. I'll cut it into pieces and seal it. Then, I'll hand it over to the mage researchers. From then on, they will maintain the new seals."
In an instant, the Legends Golems felt their "immortality" slipping away.
Just as Jin explained, once placed in the mage research laboratories, the inability to die as they desired became a bitter curse.
One of the Legends Golems who especially feared this reality was the first to turn around and start running.
They were trying to escape.
"Where do you think you're going?"
A burst of energy from Jin's sword pierced through its two legs.
Though their regeneration was swift, they couldn't recover their fear-filled hearts along with their bodies.
Their regenerated legs refused to move due to fear.
Meanwhile, the random lightning attacks posed a threat not only to Jin but also to the other golems.
"Tsk."
While the other golems dodged the lightning bolts, Jin skillfully positioned himself between them and swung Sigmund.
It didn't take long to cut them into suitable pieces for sealing.
"It's even more bothersome when it's a mage."
As he watched the random lightning rain falling indiscriminately, he couldn't help but feel bitter.
The fact that so many powerful figures in the world had fallen for Kinzelo and Zipple's empty promises.
Crack-le...!
Soon, all the Legends Golems lay on the ground, sealed within Jin's Ice Barrier Seal.
"Hey."
Jin turned around and called Beradin's guards.
"Guards, return to the Sword Emperor's Castle on your own. I'll take Beradin with me. Shuri, pick them up."
[Nyaah.]
Shuri swallowed the entire seals, and Jin reached out to Beradin.
Beradin stared at Jin's hand for a moment.
"It's hard to believe you got beaten by these kind of bastards if I think about how you fought in Ventica."
It made no sense.
From the beginning, he didn't ask for help, and the fact that Beradin had been brought to the brink of death by these guys.
With the power Beradin had demonstrated in Ventica, he could have easily dealt with these living golems.
This only fueled Jin's suspicions, not about Beradin, but about who was controlling him: Kelliark Zipple.
"At that time, I wasn't myself, Jin."
"You can still do it. The proposition I made to you back then still stands."
-I want to make you a proposition.
-What is it?
-Leave Zipple.
Jin made this proposition to Beradin when he visited his mansion during his days as a Provisional Flagbearer.
Beradin didn't respond but took Jin's hand and got on Shuri.
Since then, the two didn't exchange a single word until they returned to the Sword Emperor's Castle.
That was because Beradin had passed out due to his injuries.
But even if he had been in perfect condition, it would have been the same.
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