C482
Crack!
Jin released his lightning energy, and Mary felt a sensation as if thousands or even tens of thousands of punches were piercing through her flesh.
"He was just raising his energy, but it caused this overwhelming pressure. Jin...!"
Jin's eyes, tainted with murderous intent, emitted a colorful light in the lightning energy that spread like huge blue blood vessels.
When their eyes met, Mary involuntarily swallowed saliva.
Her blood was boiling like crazy.
Her life had always been filled with battles and wars, but there weren't many battles that made her heart burn so fiercely.
"Kugh!"
Cosmos staggered backward under the weight of Jin's energy despite being quite a distance away.
For someone as seasoned as him, he could barely stay on his feet, but other pirates nearby had already retreated to the end of the deck.
The fiery and sharp lightning energy even reached the Tikan's railing audience.
Of course, Jin's companions had already placed protective shields to ensure that the spectators wouldn't suffer any harm.
The energy caused waves that fiercely rippled.
A sea breeze loaded with lightning energy blew, creating flashes of light everywhere, as if the starry night sky had shrunk and spread over the fleet.
If Jin unleashed this energy, not only the fleet and pirates would be swept away, but even the spectators behind the protective shield might be caught in the catastrophe.
"Incredible! Jin-nim! This is the Sword of the Reign of the King of Legends! The sword that once belonged to the most powerful beings on Earth is now unfolding before all of you!"
Despite the danger...
Cosmos continued his commentary, and the spectators had no intention of leaving.
They didn't want to miss the greatest spectacle of their lives, even if it was slightly risky.
Hoo!
Mary took a deep breath and was the first to act.
She hadn't stayed still for a few seconds to wait for Jin, but to read the flow of his attack and find an opening to strike.
Mary waited patiently, unable to fully grasp the flow of Jin's attack.
She knew that waiting too long would mean being hit by a perfectly prepared technique.
Has he reached a new level since the Garden of Swords incident, or is it different from the sword back then?
He released so much energy, yet the fleet remains unharmed.
'No need to complain about cheating.'
To Mary, the phenomenon caused by Jin's lightning energy seemed the most peculiar of all.
The sea was turbulent, and such powerful energy even reached the spectators.
However, for some reason, not a single scratch appeared on the deck.
In any case, Mary had no choice but to nervously entrench herself.
Crack!
Mary moved into the area of the lightning energy, feeling a powerful repulsion as if her entire body was being torn apart.
Mary also increased her Volcano aura to push back the lightning energy, but overall, Jin's energy was stronger.
It was as if moving through water, and she found it difficult to advance.
"Fortunately, it seems that the younger one is struggling to maintain this energy," Mary thought, despite gradually closing the distance.
However, Jin remained motionless in his place, like a statue.
End him in one move.
That wasn't just Jin's judgment.
Mary also believed that if the fight dragged on, it wouldn't be in her favor.
That's why she had executed the Light Speed Thrust from the beginning.
The lightning energy became denser as she approached step by step.
The vision inside the lightning energy area was completely blurry, unlike when she had observed Jin's eyes from outside a while ago.
Now, the distance between them was about ten steps.
Mary decided not to get closer, as if saying:
"This should be enough."
Instead, like Jin, she adjusted her posture and began to focus.
"What's happening inside the lightning energy?"
Woo...
The aura that bloomed like smoke pushed back the lightning energy and formed its own area.
A hole was punched on one side of the lightning energy hemisphere, allowing the audience to see Mary inside.
What followed was a vortex.
A massive aura spun in a cross-shaped vortex around the snake's blade.
As the crossed vortex rotated, Mary's area in the lightning energy hemisphere expanded.
At that moment, Jin felt a chill, as if a cold blade had touched his throat.
"It seems she also wants to end this in one move."
Thank goodness.
Mary still misunderstood that Jin's lightning energy was a form of the Sword of the Reign of the King of Legends, or another equivalent technique.
"Probably why she's trying to counter with strength against strength."
However, just as Mary didn't know that Jin's technique was nothing but a trick, Jin also didn't know what kind of sword Mary was about to execute.
First of all, her current posture is that of a thrust.
He could anticipate that she would try the Light Speed Thrust again.
However, that couldn't be all.
Even with the Light Speed Thrust enhanced using Volcano, there was no way she would finish a failed technique.
Jin tightly gripped Sigmund.
He opened his eyes wide to catch the moment the snake moved. That moment would determine the outcome.
"I've prepared this sword for you, the younger one."
Mary's shoulders trembled.
The scene seemed to unfold in slow motion.
She was so focused that she barely managed not to miss that moment.
Runcandel's Fifth Secret Technique:
Light Speed Thrust.
Once again, she traced a trajectory that didn't cause any direct harm to Tikan, but the second Light Speed Thrust had an incomparable power to the first.
The hemisphere of lightning energy tore apart, scattering countless particles in all directions.
The vision was completely obstructed, as if tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of pieces of glass had shattered at once.
Lightning energy particles fell like rain.
Not even Jin's companions could immediately determine if Jin had managed to avoid the Light Speed Thrust amid the swirling particles.
But the hit didn't end there.
Mary had decided to go all out on this attack without holding back, as it was the final duel with her dear little brother before leaving for her training.
Twice.
The Volcano Light Speed Thrust was not limited to a single attack.
Swish!
A delayed shockwave reverberated, revealing that the Light Speed Thrust had been deployed consecutively.
Three consecutive Light Speed Thrusts...!?
It was an unexpected turn for Jin.
However, it wasn't an inevitable situation.
As incredible or fast as the Light Speed Thrust was, it could only be executed within a range that wouldn't damage the fleet or the Tikan.
The Light Speed Thrusts came from both the left and the right sides.
So Jin had limited space to maneuver because the Light Speed Thrust attacked in both directions almost simultaneously.
The center.
Not even the center was entirely safe.
The two streams of Light Speed Thrust passing through the center constantly caused a vortex of destruction in the central area.
Amidst the lightning energy particles and the literally biting vortex, Jin could barely maintain balance.
"The two streams of Light Speed Thrust are just a means to keep me in place."
Now, Jin had no way to escape. With the Light Speed Thrusts occupying the space on both sides, the siblings were on a tightrope.
The light extended.
As the Light Speed Thrust spread and left behind flashes and remnants, the dazzling brilliance filled the space between the siblings.
And it approached.
Like a predator cornering its prey with no escape, Mary ran forward along the only path left.
There was no way out, only a final confrontation.
In other words, the central path where the two were was the true stage of this duel, created by Mary.
"You're really impressive, aren't you?"
Truly impressive.
Mary's Volcano emitted an even brighter dazzling light than before.
The light of the Volcano grew more and more, trampling other lights.
It was closing in on Jin.
Jin couldn't predict that Mary would create this situation.
When predictions went awry, one usually found oneself at a disadvantage.
But for Jin, this was the ideal scenario he desired most: an inevitable one-on-one fight.
For this, he pretended to use the Sword of the Reign of the King of Legends, and pretended that he could handle it more delicately than when he made the patriarchal declaration, so he sprayed lightning energy without aiming.
The lightning energy forming the hemisphere, now broken into incandescent particles, was nothing more than a means to disturb her vision.
It was a completely meaningless move.
At the moment Mary, stained by the aura of volcanic movement, was right in front of him, Jin released his grip on Sigmund's hilt.
The pale blade that fell defenseless exploded the lightning energy it contained as soon as it touched the ground and bounced somewhere.
What?
At that moment, Mary could only be surprised.
She naturally assumed that her younger brother would execute the Sword of the Reign of the King of Legends or an equivalent sword technique.
"This rascal dropped his sword out of fear of killing me...! I'm sure he wasn't that soft!"
Of course, she didn't want to kill her younger brother.
He was her brother, and she always wanted to compete with him or fight by his side.
"Right, he did something like this before. I heard that he even dropped his sword at a critical moment when he fought against Dante Hairan in the arena."
Even if Jin backed off, Mary had no intention of doing so.
That's because it wasn't the Runcandel way.
Right before driving the snake into her younger brother's chest, Mary couldn't help but feel a deep sense of disappointment.
Considering what Jin did during the patriarchal declaration, Mary couldn't comprehend or accept his erratic current behavior.
The fourth Light Speed Thrust.
That was the sword move she chose for this final moment.
Originally, Mary had a different sword in mind.
She wanted to show her respects to her younger brother by executing his unfinished final technique.
"If you act like this, you also need a lesson. As your sister, I'll remind you again."
The Light Speed Thrust directed at the center would undoubtedly damage Tikan.
"...But I don't have as soft a heart as you do."
Sibling love.
The two people Mary felt the strongest bond with were Dyfus and Jin.
That's why she decided to teach Jin a lesson by causing harm to his nest.
She wanted to launch the fourth thrust at the speed of light in a direction that wouldn't cause irreversible damage.
However, she was determined to hit Jin until he was on the verge of death once the fight was over.
Also, she made sure Jin wouldn't die by being hit by the Light Speed Thrust.
She planned to carefully examine Jin's condition before striking him.
But that very notion of mercy was her own arrogance, as she realized when she heard a distinct and chilling sound.
Shrung!
The sharp blade slid out of its sheath, producing a clear and chilling sound.
Mary momentarily forgot what kind of person her younger brother was.
Also, the fact that her younger brother had two swords.
It was her excessive love for her younger brother that made her forget these facts, even in this situation.
But in the world of warriors, one couldn't afford to be naive.
"I was fooled!
Shadow Blade.
Seventh Technique.
Shadow Assault.
The sword move Jin had been hiding while aimlessly shooting lightning energy everywhere."
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