C673
Yona Runcandel.
Jin was about to lose his nerves as soon as he saw that figure and her ruthless eyes filled with chaos and murderous intent.
However, showing any vulnerability, even for a moment, in front of a being like her was nothing short of suicide.
Damn it, what have those bastards done to you, Elder Sister?
Jin’s love and affection for his only younger sister were much deeper and greater than his hatred for Rosa and the Garden of Swords, which had emerged in an instant.
The reason Jin could maintain his sanity at that moment was because he was solely focused on protecting his sister from guilt and pain.
When his sister regained consciousness, he didn’t want her to feel any pain or guilt he might have caused her.
Kang! Clang!
Bradamtante’s blade swiftly blocked Yona’s sword.Yona showed a moment of confusion, as if she hadn’t expected to be blocked so easily, and Dante didn’t miss that opportunity.
“Jin...!”
However, Dante didn’t take advantage of Yona’s moment of doubt.
He knew better than anyone what Yona meant to Jin, and he couldn’t hurt her carelessly.
Dante missed the chance to end the situation as soon as it began, so he didn’t know what could happen if he failed to subdue Yona quickly.
She could start an invasion in another tunnel while buying time, or she could indiscriminately massacre the people of the city if she managed to escape from the two of them.
In other words, Dante thought of his friend’s feelings before the empire’s safety.
As the supreme ruler of the empire, it was a decision he should never have made, but as Dante, he had no choice.
“Thank you, Dante.”
“Hmph, how should we proceed? I ask you this question too often, and it embarrasses me.”
Jin quickly regained his composure.
He felt a stronger anger than ever, but at the same time, his mind and inner self grew even stronger.
From now on, if he made the slightest mistake, he would lose Yona.
‘She’s in a state of loss of reason due to chaos energy, and the Prophet probably did something to deceive her even further.’
Maybe that’s why she was duller than the Yona Jin knew.
Although she was more destructive, it was clear that Yona’s unique movement, like a shadow, had faded.
Can she be subdued?
After two more attacks, Jin came to a conclusion.
“Dante, if we both get a little hurt, we can subdue her.”
If it was about killing, it would be possible without suffering so much damage.
For Dante, killing Yona was obviously the right thing to do, and Jin was making an unreasonable request.
“Alright.”
But Dante didn’t hesitate. If it had been Ron in the tunnel, he would have made the same request to Jin.
“I owe you a lot.”
“That’s ridiculous. I have a long way to go before I can repay what I’ve received from you.”
Jin put Shadow Energy on Bradamante.
However, even though such thick Shadow Energy shone like fire and pointed at Yona, she showed no reaction.
Is it because of her lack of reason? If it were my sister, she would have a strong negative reaction to the energy.
Yona calmly held her own sword against Bradamante, which was covered in Shadow Energy.
The sword was also not Yona’s ‘Death’ sword.
At first glance, it resembled ‘Death,’ but it was longer, and above all, it lacked the characteristic creepy feeling.
“Hup!”
Dante, who was on the side, exhaled sharply.
Yona’s blade cut a bit of Dante’s hair.
She had decided to eliminate Dante first.
“I have to be prepared for some serious injuries.”
“It seems there’s no major battle outside. There’s no commotion at all.”
“Can you sense that from here?”
“Thanks to experiencing a bit of transcendent sensation. I hope this tunnel was made only for Elder Sister Yona’s infiltration.”
Dante could barely concentrate on anything else as he was solely focused on watching Yona.
Even if that weren’t the case, reading the outside atmosphere in this deep underground was a daunting task for him.
“As expected, you’ve become a monster, my friend.”
“I keep experiencing these trials, and I wonder if that’s why.”
When Jin started to seriously constrain her, Yona had to change her plans and deal with Dante first.
The combination of the closest to the strongest magical swordsman in the world and the strongest swordsman of the Empire was a formidable force.
Moreover, the two worked together like twins, so Yona could only launch almost random attacks that were almost like reprisals.
The only problem was that each of her attacks was lethal.
Even if they were attenuated, they were still deadly, and the darkness of the underground made her even freer.
As soon as they saw her in front of them, a sword came from behind, and as soon as they thought they had hit her, a stab from the corner came back in.
Although Jin and Dante fought back-to-back, only Yona could make a blind spot and stab into it.
[I’m going to kill you... Jin... Runcandel...]
That person couldn’t be Yona.
This fact kept gnawing at him, but Jin didn’t lose his composure.
“Do you remember the day I first visited Nameless? Even then, my sister almost killed me with this friend.”
[Kill them... all...!]
“As I did then, today I won’t let you kill me. I’ll make sure of it, for your sake.”
There were many moments when Jin and Dante could end Yona together, but the opportunity to subdue her didn’t come, and the two were getting more and more injured. Ɽ�
After realizing that the two didn’t even try to cut her deeply, Yona became more daring and risky in her attacks.
“Is everything still fine outside?”
“If the situation worsens, I’ll let you know immediately... Wait, Dante.”
“Has it started?”
“No, not that. Did you call me a monster earlier?”
“Suddenly, why?”
Monster. Contrary to the name ‘...Runcandel,’ that word was accurately recorded in Valeria’s magical record window.
‘Why does Valeria’s record insist on calling Elder Sister Yona a monster?’
-But if it’s Joshua, is there any reason the Record Magic doesn’t show her name correctly?
-Well, maybe because she accepted chaos and became a completely new being. Of course, I can’t be sure; it’s just a hunch.
Suddenly, Jin remembered a conversation he had with his comrades before arriving at Sword Emperor Castle.
‘As I guessed then, if she became a new entity by accepting chaos, there should have been a blank space. Is there something different between Elder Sister Yona and ...Runcandel?’
Then maybe it’s not Elder Sister Yona.
Jin thought so. Maybe the Prophet made a clone of Yona or something like Joshua’s clone.
‘Moreover, judging by her state, she doesn’t seem to be under proper control. It’s strange that this vast underground space was created only for Elder Sister Yona. If they had planned to send more people, there would have been chaos outside already. It would be more effective to attack outside when Dante and I were trapped here.’
If the Yona in front of them is not the ‘real Yona,’ then there’s no reason to subdue her while enduring injuries.
And this Yona didn’t resemble the Yona they knew.
‘If it were Elder Sister Yona, she would have suffered at least once. Even if it wasn’t the prophet but someone like Heluram or Gliek who directly consumed her, by now, she would have suffered from fighting me...’
The Yona Jin knew is that kind of person.
Yona is always in danger because of chaos, and she had killed people without reason for a long time, and because of chaos, she always made others afraid.
But she was a person who overcame that horrible chaos and finally learned to love Jin, the family, and people.
She was the one who constantly greened roses for Jin, even while hearing a voice telling her to kill humans.
“Dante, go outside.”
“Jin, are you thinking of abandoning Lady Yona? Don’t do that!”
“I have no intention of doing that. I’m buying time, so go and bring Euria for me.”
“Princess Euria?”
“It may not be Elder Sister Yona. I’ll explain later. I can’t face her alone for long.”
It was natural for the two to prepare for serious injuries if they wanted to subdue Yona.
Because they were only taking the hits.
“I’ll be back as soon as possible!”
As soon as Dante turned around, Yona’s sword lunged at them without hesitation.
Jin vaguely cut the visible sword and blocked Yona.
“I used to feel like I was going crazy due to a dirty and ominous feeling, but now I feel like something is easing, and my head is clearing. I have a feeling you’re not the real one.”
Pik-!
Yona’s sword grazed Jin’s cheek and passed by.
That’s how he fought alone against Yona for about ten minutes.
Jin was covered in blood, but his breathing and movements hadn’t changed at all.
Instead, his senses, which had been scattered, were now focused on Yona.
“Jin!”
“Jin oppa!”
Dante bit his lip at seeing Jin covered in blood, but Euria saw there were no deep wounds and didn’t panic as much.
“And outside?”
This time, Jin asked Dante.
“It’s fine, you’re fine!”
“Jin oppa is fine. And that person is...”
Euria focused for a moment, activating Azmil’s power, her eyes glowing green as she perceived Yona’s truth.
“She’s not Yona unni!”
“A clone like Joshua?”
“I don’t think so, just... a soulless combat doll. That’s what it seems to me.”
“Are you sure she’s not Elder Sister Yona?”
“Absolutely not.”
Upon Euria’s confirmation, Jin’s knees gave way, and he knelt on one knee on the ground.
Of course, the fake Yona took advantage of this moment and lunged at Jin, intending to finish him off, and Dante, horrified, shot his sword to protect Jin.
But Yona’s sword was faster than Dante’s.
However, while kneeling, Jin swung Bradamante, blocking the fake Yona’s sword and then cut her neck.
“Yes... that seemed right. There was no way Elder Sister Yona would do this.”
The headless fake Yona twisted for a moment before disappearing into the air.
In her place, a black lump remained.
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