C742
When Jin entered the barrier of flames, the eternal flame that had been advancing toward his allies suddenly halted.
The colossal storm that had engulfed the entire fleet seemed to freeze in time, motionless.
The allies stared at the solid wall of flames and then at Jin, their eyes wide with disbelief.
In this era, blue flames symbolized Jin Runcandel.
Because of this, the allies had assumed that Jin must have encountered some kind of problem, as the eternal flame had been attacking them all this time.
They could only guess that Jin had either been captured or absorbed by the evil god, or that he had become a puppet of the god and was now attacking them.
It was natural for the storm of eternal flames to target the evil god rather than the allies under these circumstances.
But thoughts and feelings are different.
The temporary alliance believed and trusted Jin, regardless of the situation.Even if Jin had encountered a problem, they believed he would ultimately resolve it.
That belief was now becoming a reality.
"Twelfth Flagbearer...!"
"The Twelfth Flagbearer has arrived!"
Even the exhausted and fallen gathered their remaining strength and shouted with joy.
Hedo and Bianca carried the wounded comrades from Jin's side.
Among them, Octavia showed signs of regeneration, receiving energy from the Demon God's Orb even before the healers could reach her.
[...Father?]
And Tasha, who had been fending off the eternal flame from the surface, cried out unconsciously and ran toward Alpen.
[Tasha... You, too, didn’t yield to the evil god. Recover a bit and maintain your position. I’ll return to the fight soon.]
[Yes, Father!]
The medical team from the Holy Kingdom attended to Alpen.
Jin switched his sword and advanced.
Sigmund's pale blade gleamed with a blue light in the darkness.
While the eternal flame had completely halted its advance, the chaos mixed within it converged like a swarm of insects into a single place.
On the opposite side of Jin was where the evil god resided. The evil god, hidden behind the eternal flame and the chaos, seemed to reveal its dark and colossal form. ℞𝔞ΝO͍𝖇Е𝙨
"Jin."
Valeria approached Jin’s side.
She took out a small red sphere shaped like a ruby from her chest and handed it to Jin.
"I finished the checks when we separated. I was worried that the Evil God's Castle might alter its functioning, being a kind of subspace, but luckily, it can still operate normally here."
Jin nodded as he received the sphere, and Valeria said:
"However, I couldn't confirm the stability issue. I can only hope that the spatial characteristics of this place don't cause any unexpected side effects. So if you think there might be a problem during its use, come find me immediately."
Jin nodded.
"You’ve worked hard, Valeria. It’s probably thanks to your efforts that our allies weren't affected by the eternal flame."
Just like Jin’s side, the allies who were separated from him would have suffered immeasurable damage if not for Valeria's Record Magic.
They also experienced sudden falls and spatial teleportations on multiple occasions, but fortunately, they avoided permanent damage.
Valeria’s face was pale.
She had unleashed her Record Magic, even at the risk of her mana organs being destroyed, to save the temporary alliance.
Fortunately, she managed to avoid any permanent damage.
If it had been the Valeria of the past, or rather, the Valeria before she met Jin, she would never have risked her own life to save the temporary alliance.
Especially if Zipple was part of that alliance, it would have been even more unlikely.
But now, she had comrades.
There were people she wanted to protect, even at the cost of her own life.
People who had gradually changed her life.
"Thank you," Jin said, reading her inner thoughts.
"Don’t hurt yourself," Valeria added.
"You too."
The allies were organizing their formation.
The fleet had only 60% of its original strength left, but the battleships, including Kozec and Grenille, were all intact.
"I’m going to clear the path. Prepare for battle."
Jin’s thunderous voice echoed, and the once-stalled eternal flame began to surge again.
But this time, instead of approaching the allies, it headed toward the evil god hidden behind the chaos.
The fact that such a colossal flame was moving solely by the will of one person was something none of them had witnessed before, not even those who had directly experienced Kelliark's power.
"Is it true that he can control all these flames?"
'Perhaps even the evil god, despite its nature, can't resist all this fire. Considering the nature of the eternal flame power possessed by the Twelfth Flagbearer... that would be impossible...!'
The spectators were amazed.
At first, Jin couldn't fully control an eternal flame of this size.
It was impossible even to form an eternal flame on the scale that could engulf the fleet.
It had grown abnormally colossal due to the evil god’s resentment and chaos.
But just as the evil god had forcibly multiplied the eternal flames using Jin’s resentment, now Jin’s will to protect his comrades, his determination to fight alongside them until the end, was moving the eternal flame.
Inside the black curtains, the chaos erupted like a volcanic explosion, but the flames of the eternal flame burned even stronger.
The chaos and the eternal flame clashed, causing continuous explosions without rest.
Finally, the sight of chaos being pushed back began to unfold.
A hole opened.
As the eternal flame fiercely plunged into that gap, the curtain was torn apart at great speed.
Ah...!
The sound of the evil god’s scream resonated along with a shockwave.
The shockwave was powerful enough to push even the eternal flame surrounding the curtains.
Jin momentarily flinched and came to a halt.
Behind him, the protective shields of his allies shattered, and the fragments scattered.
More than 80% of the shield covering the entire fleet had shattered with a single cry of agony from the evil god.
The allies felt a chill as they realized the gravity of the situation and quickly deployed new shields.
With each cry from the evil god, the shields shattered.
In an instant, most of the energy sources of the battleships became scorching hot, as if they were about to explode, and the Magicians connected to the energy sources worked tirelessly.
They continued to replace fallen comrades without even a moment to tend to them.
The moment the energy sources lost their mana, the entire battleship would suffer fatal damage.
The dragons and knights on the ground faced a similar situation.
It meant that the evil god had the power to kill them all with just her screams.
On the other hand, it also meant that the eternal flame was definitely delivering significant blows to the evil god.
That’s why the allies desperately hoped that the eternal flame would finish off the evil god, that this relentless battle would come to an end, and that they could see beyond the torn curtains the vision of the evil god disintegrating without a trace, consumed by agony.
However, the evil god wouldn’t end like that.
Jin endured the shockwaves and kept advancing.
He was convinced that to end the battle, he needed to drive his sword into the evil god’s neck.
Pakkk...!
After about ten seconds, the barrier of chaos finally broke completely.
As if a door had opened, the barrier split in two, and inside, the eternal flame surged like a tidal wave.
Finally, Jin could face the hidden entity known as the Evil God.
Is this... the Evil God?
The evil god had a completely different appearance from what Jin remembered.
It wasn’t the form she had as a human, nor the demonic form she adopted after being tainted by chaos.
She resembled a massive ghost floating in the air.
The lower half of her body was composed of black smoke made of chaos instead of legs, while the upper half had a humanoid form.
She wielded hundreds of arms, each holding a different type of sword from this world, and her eye sockets, where eyes should have been, were hollow and empty.
"That... is the King of the Black Sea, Glyek!"
"That appearance resembles the King of the Black Sea...!"
The allies were terrified.
Their faces paled as they recalled the nightmare of that day.
They felt as if the monster that could have brought about the destruction of the entire world had reappeared under the name of the evil god.
The evil god resisted the eternal flame that enveloped her colossal body.
Although her entire body was engulfed in flames, the evil god no longer screamed.
[I’m curious.]
The evil god’s hollow gaze rested on Jin.
[Is the fire you possess truly inextinguishable? Is it something that nothing can stop?]
Jin’s pupils dilated.
The eternal flame surrounding the evil god was gradually diminishing.
[Unfortunately, it’s not. It’s a wonderful sword technique, but it’s not enough to kill your mother.]
Jin stared intently at the evil god.
[However, you should be praised. You’ve killed the ghosts of the mausoleum, witnessed the total loss of my last shred of humanity, and burned everything that carried my name as a knight... In the end, you’ve come to face me.]
"There weren’t only ghosts. You failed to subdue three of our ancestors who were there. Furthermore, it’s likely that those ancestors still remain. Don’t you understand yet? Evil God, your power is not absolute."
Fwizzz...!
Jin’s Light Heart filled with lightning energy.
Upon sensing that power, Rosa’s lips curled into a sinister smile.
In a grotesque form, it was a smile unrecognizable to anyone.
[Younger, now it’s your turn to die here... It’s your turn to become the myth of this black land that I will rule in the future.]
"It won’t be me who dies; it’ll be you. And you’ll be remembered as a nightmare in this world."
I’ll send you to where the young Rosa Runcandel awaits.
With those words, Jin crushed the red sphere clenched in his fist.
Suddenly, the energy accumulating in his Light Heart surged and began to tremble as if it were about to explode.
From the moment the sphere shattered, Jin could feel the presence of a being who had reached the pinnacle of power.
The Goddess of Battle from the Tribe of Legends, Vahn.
The God of Battle Fusion was unfolding, connecting Jin with his inner self.
(...Brother Jin? What’s happening? Suddenly, your thoughts are reaching me. Is this another coincidence like before?)
‘It’s not a coincidence, Sister Goddess of Battle. I apologize for borrowing your power without notice. But I thought the connection would be with Lingling first, but luckily, it was you who connected first.’
Vahn instantly understood the situation by reading Jin’s inner thoughts and responded.
(Haha, I’ve been waiting for this day. Brother Jin, let’s fight together.)
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