C735
Crack!
The pieces of the chain fell to the ground.
Alpen, with his face now uncovered, blinked in surprise.
He had a much younger face than Jin had anticipated.
Jin instinctively recognized that the energy of Rosa, which had been controlling Alpen, had been released.
"It is an honor to meet you, Ancestor. I am Jin Runcandel, the Twelfth Flagbearer of Runcandel, and the youngest son of the current patriarch, Cyron Runcandel."
Jin knelt and formally greeted him.
Alpen glanced at the chaotic battle scene behind Jin and then nodded approvingly, seeming satisfied.
[In this current generation, there are those who shine with their own light. For now, the situation is urgent, so let's first massacre the traitors!]"Understood."
Alpen's sword, which had been engulfed in chaos moments ago, now shone white.
True to his title as the Knight of Light, his aura clearly possessed a stronger and brighter light than that of an ordinary martial artist.
[Traitors, you are not worthy of wearing the helm of the Black Knights....]
Alpen charged towards the center of the battlefield, brandishing his sword.
The Black Knight Commander, who had been locked in combat with Bianca, momentarily faltered at the sight of the sword, and Jin seized the opportunity to strike his head with his own blade.
The helmet shattered, revealing the face of a monster stained with black chaos.
Even the Black Knights present were in the same state.
They had once been individuals dedicated to the Family, enjoying the honor of being enshrined in the mausoleum, but now they appeared as grotesque creatures, so corrupted and exposed.
The faces of Alpen and the Black Knight Commander contrasted sharply.
In a desperate attempt to escape the crisis, the Black Knight Commander leaped forward, but once again, Jin and Bianca's swords thwarted his movements.
Then, Alpen's thrust pierced the Black Knight Commander's face.
Crack!
With a loud crunch, as if a spring had been released, the Black Knight Commander's head disappeared.
[Now, it is time to lay down your burdens.]
With the death of the Black Knight Commander, the remaining Black Knights lost their focal point.
From the start, they had never gained the upper hand, and now that Jin and Alpen had joined the battle, they had no means of defending themselves, not even against their allies. ȑÅɴŐ฿Ęş
Escape was impossible. In this desolate space, there was no path for them to flee.
Though they were engulfed in chaos, they managed to hold on for a time, but that was all. They were far from being able to face top-tier martial artists in the history of humanity.
Crack!
The long battle finally ended when Jin dominated the torso of the last remaining Black Knight.
"Now, it would be good if you could explain what has happened, Twelfth Flagbearer. Why has the Chaos Knight suddenly become our ally?"
"Why, do you think I have conspired with the Evil God?"
"That is not the case, but it is a situation that can be easily misunderstood."
"I... did not... misunderstand. If... the allies... increase... it is good. The Evil God... is too... powerful."
"As you can see, my ancestor has just been freed from the control of the Evil God. Octavia Zipple, as Bianca said, it is good that our allies have increased. There will be more ancestors like you, right? Ancestor."
[Being referred to as an ancestor feels strange, considering my young age. Just call me Sir Alpen, Twelfth Flagbearer.]
"Understood."
"Alpen Runcandel," correct? The battle for the protection of the Holy Kingdom?"
Octavia said, surprised.
[Yes, that is correct. You, who call yourself Octavia... you must be the descendant of Hanel Zipple, who fought alongside me in the protection of the Holy Kingdom. Hanel, though he was an eccentric Zipple, had a rather dignified presence. That is why, even when he pardoned the demons he defected to, I did not suspect him, as you are doing now.]
"Sir Alpen, I did not suspect you, I only..."
[When I was bound by the control of the Evil God, I roughly understood the situation through her interior. Twelfth Flagbearer, only you can defeat her and stop this situation. I, Alpen Runcandel, will dedicate myself to reclaiming the name of the Family, following you from now on.]
Alpen interrupted Octavia's words.
Jin felt his heart warm again.
It was clear that there was still hope within the Runcandel.
He was not the only one clinging to hope, fighting.
"Thank you, Sir Alpen."
They now had to call their allies above and inform them of the situation before moving again.
But Alpen brought up a completely unexpected topic.
[This castle of the Evil God is structured in such a way that once you descend, you cannot go back up, Twelfth Flagbearer.]
"You mean that once you descend, you cannot go back up?"
[Yes. Each floor of the castle is formed as a completely separate subspace. To be precise, it is not a subspace, but the interior world of the Evil God herself.]
The interior world.
Not long ago, Jin had fought against Rosa in her own interior world.
And conversely, the castle of the Evil God was Rosa's interior world manifested in reality.
That is why the lower forces were suddenly exposed to the mental attacks from the upper floors.
The weaker they were, the harder it was to progress through this interior world.
[Therefore, it is also impossible to send a signal to the allies who remain on the upper floors.]
If it were a normal subspace, Jin could have solved it by cutting through it with his Shadow Blade, but that was not applicable to the Evil God's interior world.
"Then we have no choice but to wait for our allies to come here."
[That may not go as planned either. The magician of Zipple... that slow-talking demon must be the princess of the Kaligo Family. In any case, it was fortunate that the magician, the princess, and the knight joined us. The structure of the interior world constantly changes.]
Above all, the interior world was more like a labyrinth than expected.
If you tried to go back the way you came, you wouldn't end up in the same space.
As Alpen said, the reason Hado, Octavia, and Bianca could join them so far was because the structure of the interior world hadn't changed.
"...If Sir Alpen's story is true, we're in trouble," Hedo said.
"If there is no contact from our allies even after ten minutes, we will proceed to the next floor."
Jin concluded.
There was no reason to wait too long.
If no more allies joined them, the paths had already diverged.
While waiting, Alpen provided the group with information about the forces of the Evil God.
[To my knowledge, currently, thirteen former patriarchs have been resurrected.]
Among them were Alpen and Lionel.
The fact that the resurrected patriarchs were of the same number as the second generation of purebloods was strangely unsettling for the group.
[Each floor is guarded by the resurrected patriarchs. However, I don't know how many of them have resisted the will of the Evil God like I did. As for the forces aside from the patriarchs, I don't have exact information, but the recently fallen Black Knights are only a small part of them.]
So, roughly speaking, the battle would involve the heroes of the temporary allied forces, the resurrected patriarchs, the forces below the fleet, and the chaos knights.
[The elements that disturb mental attacks and aura generation will become more severe as we descend. It won't be a major problem for the people here, but it could be fatal for the less skilled.]
"We brought the entire fleet with us, anticipating an aerial battle with the battleship Ram... It may have been a wrong choice."
Just as Jin was caught up in that question, Alpen raised his head for a moment.
[When we fought in the war to protect the Holy Kingdom, I too was caught in the same dilemma as you. Unlike the representative figures of the time, the lower elites died like flies. However, if it weren't for them, we would have been ultimately defeated. The Evil God will undoubtedly use everything she has, and before that, she will want to minimize the forces of the temporary allies in this place.]
Ten minutes had passed.
No allies had descended from above.
During that time, the group had made several attempts to confirm whether returning to the upper floors was truly impossible, but they were unsuccessful.
In the end, the destination that Jin and the temporary allies had to reach was the abyss of this interior world where the Evil God resided.
Hoping that the allies would join them there, they had no choice but to keep moving forward.
They resumed the journey.
After a while, the group encountered a deep and massive cliff, identical to the one they had seen on the upper floors.
"Let's descend."
Jin, Alpen, Hedo, Bianca, and Octavia. The five began descending the cliff simultaneously.
-------------------------
Meanwhile, the allied forces remaining on the upper floors were descending the cliff, boarding the entire fleet, following Jin's path.
However, what they found upon reaching the ground was not Jin and his group, but three resurrected patriarchs from the mausoleum and countless forces of chaos.
In the center stood the Lion King, Lionel, who spoke in a dry voice.
[Attack.]
As Lionel spoke, the army of chaos surged forward like a tidal wave.
In the sky were chaos dragons and black ships, and on the ground were monstrous beings and knights with an unknown resemblance to Giants.
There was no trace of the battle between them and Jin.
I don't know the reason, but it seems we have diverged from Jin...
'Could it be due to the unstable structure of the castle?'
Beradin quickly made a judgment without flinching.
"Initiate the battle. Fire Dragon Kadun, Sword Emperor Dante, and Knight Bale will handle the enemy commanders. Orgal and Zephyrin, focus on protecting the fleet."
Beradin immediately gave orders and initiated the combat.
The problem was that the firepower of the main cannons of the fleet, including Kozec, had significantly decreased.
It was due to the Evil God's influence, which was hindering aura generation and mana creation.
Moreover, as the interior world deepened, the intensity of mental attacks had also increased.
The lower and middle-ranked forces of the fleet screamed and fell.
A battleship was not controlled by a single person.
As the number of unconscious magicians increased, the fleet's operation inevitably slowed down.
"Ronil, take command. I will descend as well."
"Yes, young patriarch."
"Except Kadun, Tuyan, Phinia, all dragons return to the fleet and report that the Demon God Orb has been activated."
Kozec was spreading an ominous resonance from the energy system.
As the Demon God Orb began to activate, Beradin's rapidly descending body aged rapidly.
In no time, he transformed into an elderly man with white hair, extending the patriarch's staff, "Hroti," before him.
[You are not the only ones who can wield absurd power like monsters.]
From Hroti, a modified Decimating Flame Orb Of The Dark Sky, unleashed by Kelliark, was unleashed.
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KO-FI:
https://tinyurl.com/SHADOWK
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