C720
As Jin approached Mort, the white dimensional door closed. The black energy of chaos spread like mold throughout the snowy garden.
"If I kill him... will the power of the evil god be restored?"
"Yes, technically, the curse is triggered when he dies, but it specifically requires his death at the hands of his brothers."
"In that case, the Prophet has no reason to summon Dyfus now. Could it be because she was unaware of the situation on this side of the battle?"
"It's hard to say, but something seems to have disrupted the Prophet's plan. Despite being bombarded by our allies, she suddenly became enraged and attempted to summon the Fourth Flagbearer. I have come here to inform you of the information I gathered about the Fourth Flagbearer."
While the two conversed, Mort opened a new dimensional door leading into the interior of Rikalton Castle.
[Boong, booo!]
The moment they emerged from the dimensional door, they could hear Ilina's furious voice.
"Are you insane?! Cutting off the connection with the matriarch so suddenly! Don’t you realize the danger you’re putting the matriarch in...?!"Ilina cut herself off and covered her mouth.
She had noticed the white dimensional door that had opened on the other side.
'I hurriedly called Sir Dyfus since he suddenly cut off the connection with the matriarch. What a disaster...'
She had summoned Dyfus without expecting that Valeria could track her. That’s why she was shocked when Jin and his group suddenly appeared in the castle, within earshot.
Because Elder Brother Dyfus severed the connection, is the evil god in danger?'
Upon arriving at Rikalton Castle, Jin received unexpected information.
Not missing Ilina's bewildered expression, Jin immediately fired a sword toward her chest.
As it pierced her chest, Ilina deployed her protective barrier.
"So you insist on distorting things again. Couldn't you have thought that, instead of summoning me, you should have prevented them from coming to the wasteland?"
Had that been the case, Jin would have ended up killing Dyfus, and the curse would have been unleashed.
Ilina's protective barrier was mercilessly torn apart by Jin's sword.
Ilina attempted to escape while lifting Dyfus, but she couldn't be faster than Jin.
[Aaargh!]
Swish!
Bradamante stabbed Ilina in the back as she turned around. The shadow energy attached to the sword exploded, causing Ilina's body to burst in all directions.
However, the physical body was nothing more than a shell; her essence was chaos.
The scattered flesh soon turned into black smoke, spreading throughout the castle.
More specifically, not only Ilina's physical body but also Rikalton Castle itself was composed of the Prophet's chaos.
The Prophet had been accumulating chaos here long before Runcandel was tainted.
Now, the region known as Rikalton was practically synonymous with the Prophet herself.
[Damn... I didn't expect this to happen. Yes, I admit my mistake. But it's better this way.]
"Aaargh!"
"Save me... please!"
As the castle disintegrated into smoke, the sight of the prisoners trapped in various parts of the castle became visible.
Unlike the prisoners in the open field, they weren't trapped in the fruit of the Giant Tree.
The fruits that had confined them were also just returned to the Prophet.
Similarly, the Giant Trees in the open field were also dissipating into chaos and converging toward Jin and his group.
[These insects rely on their mother's power, pretending to be important... I'm sick of it.]
A black storm.
The immense chaos that spread in the place of Rikalton Castle couldn't find a more fitting representation of the Prophet's true nature.
Dyfus disappeared somewhere within that chaos.
Examining the situation, Jin quickly came to a conclusion.
"Valeria, you and Lady Syris should immediately escape and join our allies. I will face the Prophet alone."
"Why did you bring allies and temporary alliances if you're going to fight alone?" Syris asked.
"I don't mean for the two of you or the other allies to just leave. I'll handle the battle, and the rest is about rescuing the prisoners," Jin replied.
Syris narrowed her eyes, looking concerned.
The Prophet's revealed power was immeasurable. They had never encountered an enemy of such magnitude before.
The Prophet seemed more like a natural disaster, a calamity, than a living being.
But on the other hand, Jin also thought there was no calamity that could physically kill him.
"Alright, we'll focus on retreating and rescuing the prisoners and protecting our allies. Some of our comrades may have been lost due to the unexpected chaos," Syris nodded.
Especially considering that Valeria and Syris possessed Record Magic and teleportation, they needed to take on the role of relaying the situation in real-time.
When the two left, Jin looked up at the sky. It was filled with the Prophet's chaos.
"Has the transformation finished? Indeed, you turned out to be the one who had been manipulating Runcandel from behind. You have a rather convincing form. People who don’t know you would think you're Witch Heluram."
Shiiiik!
Black smoke coiled around Jin like a snake.
Jin didn’t intentionally dodge it and assessed its strength, only to suddenly unleash his power, dispersing the chaos in an instant.
[If I were my mother, you wouldn't even be able to look me in the eye. The Fourth Flagbearer and the evil god are nothing.]
Once Jin familiarized himself with his senses, he felt that the Prophet was continuously unraveling the threads of chaos in the vicinity to deal with the temporary alliance and the prisoners.
Of course, Jin had no intention of allowing it.
"Oh, really? Anyway, let's make it clear. Our fight will be one-on-one, Prophet. Stop tormenting innocent people. It seems that summoning the evil god is out of the question."
[And if I don’t?]
"Then I will have to intervene personally."
When Jin responded with a determined expression, the Prophet suddenly felt the sensation that encompassed all of Rikalton fade away.
That was a signal.
Ultimate Shadow Sword Technique: First Technique
The First Night
When Jin unleashed the first night, the entire land of Rikalton began to tremble.
It wasn't due to the destructive power, but to the unease felt by the Prophet's distorted form.
Jin was recalling his last battle with Lingling in Lafrarosa.
On that occasion, Jin had overwhelmed Lingling through this sword within the subspace.
The Prophet was no different despite being called the Prophet.
It is impossible for a creature resembling a parasite, gathering human despair and evil, to have the willpower to resist this.
Jin slowly observed the Prophet's form.
Since it had the shape of a black storm, there was no way to determine its weakness.
Just as weaknesses cannot be found in the fog.
But in other words, that meant that the entire black storm was an attack point.
It was overwhelming to the point of feeling the need to find weaknesses.
Shh, shwack!
The sword infused with shadow energy continued to disturb the Prophet's form.
It was as if a fierce storm of swords was striking the Prophet.
"How does it feel? Are you starting to focus on me now?"
[You...!]
Though partially wrapped in the shadow energy of the first night, the Prophet still maneuvered her massive form.
However, she couldn't make any more moves toward the allies and prisoners.
All her power had to be concentrated on Jin.
Thanks to that, the allies were easily rescuing the prisoners.
Jin seemed calm as he spoke, but in reality, he was in a state where he could explode from extreme hatred.
How could he understand that his clan had been corrupted by such a being, and that the corrupted clan was now destroying the world?
The monstrous Dyfus, the countless people mercilessly slaughtered here today.
All this provoked Jin's anger.
Jin let out a roar that he hadn't even realized he was emitting. His voice shook the entire battlefield, even though he himself couldn't hear it.
A boiling fire began to spread through Bradamante.
The Eternal Flame, an inextinguishable fire, began to mix with the black storm.
As the first night continued, the Prophet screamed incessantly.
[Kaaah!]
"Shut up. If you compare what you've done to what you've suffered, this is hardly a punishment."
Thanks to Jin's ultimate technique, the allies had already rescued nearly 70% of the prisoners.
The Prophet had planned to use those prisoners as sacrifices to confront Jin, but it was a problem that the first night consumed so quickly.
The Prophet had no choice but to admit that fact now.
"I see, so you were the very essence of Rikalton. Today, this land will completely disappear from the world."
Jin drove his sword into the trembling body of the wavering Prophet.
He grabbed the scattered fragments of the chaos pieces and crushed them, stomping and tearing apart the large chunks that fell heavily.
If there was any sign of regeneration, he set them on fire mercilessly, burning them even more fiercely.
If a beast were to tear through the fog, this is what it would look like.
Even the allies shuddered at the terrifying sight of Jin.
Vengeance.
Jin wasn't fighting a battle, but seeking revenge.
From time to time, the Prophet attempted futile counterattacks, but not once did they pose a threat to Jin.
There was only one reason why the Prophet couldn't be annihilated.
Until the rescue of the prisoners was completed, Jin had no intention of finishing her off.
And there was only one thing the Prophet still clung to.
'If the evil god comes even now, the Twelfth Flagbearer will have no choice but to retreat... Somehow, I have to... make this guy... kill Dyfus.'
However, Jin realized and smiled.
"It seems the curse is still in effect. You can't be seen much, but somehow I can see your expression. It's probably the only thing left for you to hope for."
As Jin mercilessly slaughtered the Prophet like a madman, he kept an eye on Dyfus's location.
Dyfus's fading energy was so weak that even Jin had trouble finding him. He barely clung to life.
When Jin unleashed the first night, Dyfus was sent flying and crashed to the ground, getting trapped there.
That area had long since finished the prisoner rescue and suffered a severe collapse of the terrain, so the allies didn't include it in their search.
It was also the point where Mary, who resisted Jin's attacks within the castle, was repelled by Zipple's bombardment.
In other words, Mary was the closest to Dyfus right now.
"Haa, haa."
She regained consciousness and staggered as she took a step.
Because she could hear a familiar groan coming from somewhere amidst the blackened ground.
Soon, the image of a person lying broken and shattered entered Mary's blurred vision.
Even if it wasn't Dyfus lying there, it would still appear blurry to Mary due to her blurred vision.
However, Mary could be sure. Even in that blurry state, it felt strangely familiar to her.
"Dyfus oraboni...."
Dyfus didn't respond and just gasped for breath.
Mary called out to him several more times before collapsing on the spot.
"Usually, I'm the one causing problems. But this... this isn't right."
For a while, Mary laughed, sobbed, and hugged him tightly.
She wiped away her tears, stroked his cheek, and brushed his hair.
Then, after a moment of stillness, she drew her sword...
Her beloved Viper had already been destroyed inside the castle.
The tip of the sword aimed at Dyfus's throat trembled.
"Let's stop now... Dyfus oraboni."
Mary hesitated several times and then, with determination, lowered the sword.
The sensation of piercing flesh and bone reached her clearly.
However, Mary soon realized that the sword hadn't pierced Dyfus's throat but his palm.
He had raised his hand to stop it.
He felt the blood and tears, both his and his younger sister's, fall onto his face as she spoke.
"Mary... If you kill me, the curse will be fulfilled..."
"What did you say?"
"In any case, I'm going to die... So wait a little longer... for the younger one."
Thud! Boom!
Signal flares indicating the completion of the prisoner rescue were fired throughout the battlefield.
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