C468
Murakan didn't forgive Sandra Zipple for her rudeness.
He didn't need a special permission from Jin or carefully choose his words.
He just had to make her pay the price for being unpleasant.
Swoosh...!
The remnants of the Shadow Energy and blue flames near Sandra swayed at Murakan's will.
Silently, the remnants took the form of leznas.
Then, like a descending hawk, they rushed towards Sandra.
There were eight of them.
Most of Zipple's mages were on the verge of exhaustion from dealing with the flames, so they couldn't even react.
Some mages, including Midor, recognized Murakan's attack but didn't act.
It was because they didn't know what kind of trouble they might get into if they helped her.
Surprisingly, Sandra dodged three of the eight thrusts. She showed agile and light movements uncharacteristic of a mage, countering three with a protective shield.
However, the remaining two were a problem.
"Kugh!"
One pierced Sandra's shoulder, and the other went through her thigh.
Even at a glance, it looked like a serious wound, with fresh flesh and blood splattering.
Murakan looked at Sandra, trembling as she fell.
Murakan seriously injured a pure-blooded Zipple without a second thought.
It was only possible because he had such battle prowess to support his action, and it meant he could engage in a total war against "all of Zipple."
At least the members of the other main factions watching Murakan couldn't help but think so.
'He said he would interrogate the acting Patriarch, Rosa Runcandel, the Black Panther... Could it be that Murakan is not just symbolic as a guardian deity, but also has real power over Runcandel? Power beyond the acting Patriarch?'
'Indeed, the acting Patriarch of Runcandel might be the Black Dragon Murakan...'
'Then, what will be the true rank of the Twelfth Flagbearer?'
Anyway, Sandra Zipple is finished.
She's doing this even after seeing the best warrior of the White Wolf Tribe die in an instant with only the remaining ankles....
Has she become so insensitive to fear after living as a Zipple?
The special force had such thoughts.
The White Wolves of Kinzelo and the Red Tigers had no thoughts.
They just ran around in panic.
'Not only Sandra Zipple is finished. We won't survive without Zipple's reinforcements...!'
Latz's eyes were shaking.
Not a single person could survive.
Latz was convinced that what Murakan had just said was not a bluff.
The current crew members here couldn't even inflict effective damage on Murakan, let alone fight against him.
Because of this, Latz made the decision that they had no choice but to surrender to Zipple in order to survive.
Sandra didn't activate the master of the Magic Tower's staff and was gravely injured in a single blow.
She will die soon.
Latz felt the urge to scream.
The master of the Magic Tower is not Sandra but you, Midor Elnor. Activate the staff, Midor.
[The reason I haven't killed you instantly is because I'm curious to know where that arrogance and heaviness come from. A puppet? Me? Say it again, Zipple.]
The cold and deep voice once again sent shivers down the members of the main factions.
"Huh, huh."
Sandra took a breath.
It was natural to think that her breath had become faster due to the terror of death.
But in reality, she was simply a bit surprised by the intensity of her pain.
Clank, clank...
Everyone heard the sound of gears turning out of nowhere.
It came from Sandra.
Those who watched her couldn't help but doubt their own eyes.
It was because her pierced shoulder and thigh were healing rapidly.
Hey, she's regenerating.
A human!
The White Wolves and Red Tigers had never seen a human perform regeneration at such a fast pace.
On the other hand, Latz and his team watched with wide-open eyes, astonished.
Has Zipple's living golem experiment progressed this much?
It's at a level comparable to the Demon Man treatment received by the imperial guards.
Living golem experiment.
Zipple, Vermont, and Kinzelo have been experimenting with living beings for a long time.
Zipple wanted to create a perfect living golem, Vermont aimed to create a Demon Man, and Kinzelo sought to make a golem using the characteristics of Legends.
Recently, Vermont had been confident that his experiments with living golems were clearly superior.
There were still many unstable aspects in his experiments.
Just like when Rick Helter, the leader of the imperial guards' team in the past, lost his sanity after becoming a Demon Man.
However, Sandra's high-speed regeneration is at a level similar to that of a Demon Man, and she retained her sanity.
Latz thought that achieving this level of high-speed regeneration without using living golem surgery was impossible and superior to the Majin developed by the Empire.
'There may be someone within the empire who leaked information to Zipple. It's very possible...
While Latz gritted his teeth, Jin also observed Sandra's regeneration with a delayed heartbeat.
Jin had just escaped from the core of the murky aura, erasing his presence as much as possible with his Shadow Energy.
He thought it was necessary to check the outside situation in person.
'... Has she healed? High-speed regeneration?'
Jin never imagined, not even in dreams, that he would see Sandra using high-speed regeneration.
As Murakan mentioned while looking at Amela, high-speed regeneration is the specialty of inner core demonic creatures or demons.
Amela had a special power of Chaos and murky aura, which had been fully amplified, so she could be like that.
'Is Sandra also born with Chaos? If so, I don't think she would have suffered so helplessly in the murky fog.'
Contrary to what Jin thought, Sandra is an ordinary human not tainted by Chaos.
And others didn't even notice, but in Jin's opinion, Sandra's high-speed regeneration was something different from what he had experienced so far.
Sandra's high-speed regeneration doesn't seem to heal the wound itself; it's as if the time of the wound is being reversed.
Jin wasn't sure.
The wound was healing too quickly, and she was too far away for him to see up close.
Sandra Zipple.
Jin had never interacted with her in his current life.
However, in his past life, he had encountered her by pure chance.
He had been waiting for Valeria at the campus fountain when he had a casual conversation about magic with Sandra.
-"Matthew Morniak's three-stage classification of magic? Wow, you're reading an interesting book. It's hard to come by."
-"Who are you?"
-"I mistook Matthew Morniak for Matthew Worniak once, so I was scammed by a scammer. I guess you're the type of person who doesn't get easily fooled."
-"Do you know me?"
-"I'm not so out of my mind to be fooled all the time, but sometimes I get fooled even when I know. Cute, isn't it?"
'I didn't find out she was Sandra Zipple until a year later.'
Jin believed she was the typical mage lounging in the park, but he was taken aback to confirm her face in a newspaper article.
Looking back, I wonder if she approached me with some intention.
She must have wondered how miserably the exiled Runcandel lived and why he was wandering around the mage area.
That was the extent of Jin's interaction with Sandra.
So, in his current life, he didn't pay too much attention to her.
It was because she wasn't making a name for herself as a mage or contributing to her clan as a tower master, like the other children of Kelliark.
Just looking at the mages of Zipple who arrived at the Gaifa Islands right away, Midor Elnor is the master of the Seventh Magic Tower, and he had the highest rank externally.
In other words, he was a pure-blooded Zipple holding a rank equal to the second-class Flagbearer of Runcandel.
From Sandra's behavior and Midor's look, Jin could deduce that Sandra had more influence in reality.
Did she deliberately hide her power and abilities as Octavia Zipple?
I thought Octavia wouldn't be the only one, but Sandra is really unexpected.
The reason Jin thought so was that, through the "marriage" article, he learned that the woman who spoke to him at the fountain was Sandra.
In Jin's past life, she had an arranged marriage with a lower-ranking member of the Vermont imperial family.
It was a common practice that various powers, not just Zipple, used to their advantage.
The "surpluses" of the second generation were bound in political marriage and used as hostages or for some other purpose.
If Sandra was a powerful person and hiding her power in my past life, she would have had to retire or live secluded like Octavia, but I can't think of any reason for a political marriage.
The moment Jin thought to that point, Sandra opened her mouth.
"Ouch, this hurts a lot. I don't understand. Did my words bother you, Murakan-nim?"
[What?]
"I was afraid that the Twelfth Flagbearer and Murakan-nim would get into trouble, so I prevented the bastard from trying to activate the master's staff. I just wanted to meet Jin Runcandel and have a fight; I didn't know it would make you feel so bad!" Sandra said sincerely.
She thought there was no problem with the expression of a puppeteer or a puppet. To her, it's just a fact and not said sarcastically.
(If others heard this)
What she told Midor was also in a similar context.
"To be honest, even if you receive praise, it falls short. I know the Black Dragon is strong, but I think it's better to avoid troublesome things, right?" she said.
At that moment, even Murakan was momentarily silent.
Sandra's calm way of speaking left no room for anything other than thoughts like:
"What's going on here...?".
"Well, you're not wrong."
Jin revealed himself and spoke.
Continuing to force Murakan to deal with her would undermine his dignity.
So, he decided it was better to deal with her himself.
He needed to confirm the details of her regeneration.
"Oh! Jin Runcandel!" Sandra exclaimed with sparkling eyes.
"Do you want to fight with me?"
Their gazes met.
And just as Sandra was about to nod, Jin closed the distance in an instant and stabbed her in the clavicle.
"I think you're not worthy of that, Sandra Zipple."
Before even pulling out the blade he stabbed in her clavicle...
Kung!
The sound of gears turning scratched Jin's ears.
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