Chapter 1026
Episode 247: The Lafrarosa Liberation War (14)
Amid the vast sea of psychic energy, the final weapon of the Jeokmyeong tribe—an ancient beast hunched at the horizon—was melting away, dissolving into the boiling psychic waves.
The sword dance continued.
The psychic sea surged along the blades like waves, rippling across the surface in sleek, whale-like arcs.
An unstoppable, relentless tide crashed against the hull. Each time the hull was cleansed of the lingering spiritual energy, a soft frictional sound echoed.
‘This isn’t destruction—it’s almost like purification…’
Murakan calmed his swelling heart as he thought this.
A thousand years ago, Lokiya had been an ally. Now, hidden behind shadows, she sought to manipulate the world at will. Yet her magic was endlessly crumbling before Jin’s sword.
Just as Jin had said.
The era had changed. Runkandel had grown stronger than a millennium ago, becoming a family unshaken even by unseen darkness and threats.
They had become a united group—each member bound to their contractor. It was the young, fragile Jin who had made this possible.
“Murakan, are you crying?”
[Lynpa, what are you talking about? Annoying. And you’re slow to speak, too.]
Of course, the battle was not over yet.
But the outcome was already decided. Jin now was no one who could be toppled by schemes or traps.
Even if Lokiya had prepared some last trick, it would all be rendered useless.
[You’ve gone silent, Lokiya Kanesto. You must be feeling it too—the way the half-brother’s sword is tearing your curse apart…]
Tsu-zu-zu-zu-zzzt…! Thud!
Kri’s left gauntlet shattered under the impact. The broken piece fell into the psychic sea and vanished without a trace in an instant.
The massive spear that had projected Lokiya’s image had long since been destroyed. Lokiya now sent her spirit form outside the hull, positioning it above Kri’s central area.
Her spirit seemed ready to flee at any moment. The psychic currents struck the sky intermittently and slowly, never aiming at the spirit.
But that was impossible. The spirit could maintain Lokiya’s form and cling to one side of the Ruler’s Reign Sword only because Jin allowed it.
“Indeed, quite remarkable. What has made you so strong, Jin?”
Lokiya removed her hood.
Her face was unlike the image Jin had seen or the one Murakan remembered from a thousand years ago. It was strangely familiar.
[You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.]
“That may be true.”
The sword dance ceased.
Jin gave a subtle downward glance, and Lokiya fell onto the surface of the psychic sea. The psychic energy did not swallow her.
[Speak.]
“What? You want to ask why I betrayed Runkandel? If so, you’ve probably seen it in Keitam’s visions…”
[No, that’s not it. Are you satisfied with abandoning your family and becoming this monster?]
The spirit’s eyes widened.
“That’s an awkward question.”
[Parasitizing another’s body, unable to hold your head high, incapable of feeling death or fear, stained with sin. What has that ugly life brought you?]
Your ideals will be blocked by me and those like me, and your dreams will be trampled just the same.
Jin’s words were like a verdict. Lokiya remained silent for a long moment. No one had ever asked her this before, and she herself had long forgotten.
“Nothing yet.”
[I see. A fitting end awaits you.]
No sooner had those words left his mouth than the psychic sea began to engulf Lokiya’s spirit.
She was the last spirit left on the battlefield, the one that had encompassed all others. Without a single counterattack, the spirit scattered into blue particles.
In this battle, Lokiya had lost more than just part of her spirit. The unexpected force of Jin’s power had dealt serious damage to her real body.
Kri, too, would eventually sink into the psychic sea, never to rise again.
What remained was only the curse Lokiya had left behind in Lafrarosa—the Witch’s Pool.
[Murakan.]
[Yeah, kid.]
[You and I are going to Lafrarosa now.]
[To Lafrarosa? Won’t the liberation device inside activate in a few hours? Is it because of the curse Lokiya left behind?]
“Brother Jin! The fighting brothers are hurt!?”
There was no time to celebrate victory yet. Since this war was to liberate Lafrarosa, a perfect victory meant all the Ruler’s tribe had to escape safely.
[If it were just the curse, it wouldn’t be a big problem, Brother Teto. But the dimensional distortions keep happening, and the half-brother had to protect the others too.]
Even so, until now, Jin had been unable to venture directly into the passage to Lafrarosa.
There was the Jeokmyeong tribe’s interference, and the unpredictable chaos within the dimensional storm.
But now Jin could feel it.
The two Ruler’s Reign Swords wielded by him and the half-brother were carving a path across dimensions, like two rivers merging.
Though the dimensional storm was not yet over, and the swords’ aftereffects persisted, Jin believed only he and Murakan could endure it and not lose their way.
[But don’t worry, brothers. I’ll bring every single one of you back.]
Jin looked around.
Luntia and Veil stood with their shields raised, waiting for the aftereffects of the Ruler’s Reign Swords to subside as they intermittently emerged from the passage. The fighting kings looked at Jin not with worry, but with faith.
‘Luna will soon meet Simat.’
Luna was entering Kri, passing through the wreckage of the destroyed aerial fortresses. That would be the final battlefield for Luna and Simat.
[Brothers, stay here and cheer for Sister Luna while you wait.]
“Got it, Brother Jin.”
“You won’t jump in even if it looks like she might lose?”
[Of course not. Though I doubt she will.]
Jin and his brothers exchanged knowing smiles.
[Then, I’m off.]
Without hesitation, Jin threw himself toward the passage to Lafrarosa.
The lingering spiritual energy near the passage scattered like insects fleeing the light.
A pit as deep as the abyss—Jin’s eyes clearly pictured the shining image of Lafrarosa beyond it.
[Let’s go, Murakan.]
[Right.]
Moments later, the two disappeared into the passage to Lafrarosa.
‘Jin has gone somewhere. Probably Lafrarosa.’
Inside Kri’s hull.
Luna felt the sudden surge of the Ruler’s Reign Sword’s energy and was certain. Jin had moved to rescue the brothers trapped in Lafrarosa.
It was intuition. And it didn’t feel unsettling at all. The sword’s power was only stirring, not unstable.
‘The power of the Ruler’s Reign Sword moved to protect Jin. That means I won’t be able to rely on it during my fight with Simat.’
Luna welcomed this fact.
No matter how hard she tried to ignore it, deep down she might unconsciously wish for Jin’s help during the battle.
But defeating Simat with Jin’s support would mean nothing. Luna wanted to defeat him with her own sword alone.
“Your brother has entered the passage to Lafrarosa, Luna Runkandel.”
Whip!
Startled by the sudden voice, Luna turned sharply. The radiance of the Ruler’s Reign Sword cast deep shadows inside the hull, and from that darkness, Simat strode toward her.
With each step he took, a deep, vast violet energy spread over a section of the sword. It was almost unbelievable that she hadn’t sensed such power until now.
Seeing him, Luna immediately recognized the accuracy of Jin’s assessment.
‘He’s much stronger than before. Stronger than the day he went to get the master and the parts.’
Luna lightly swung her Krantel, aiming it at Simat.
“You recognized me too.”
“You’re the only one who hasn’t crossed the wall yet, but I couldn’t fail to notice. So, you’ve come to repay your debt?”
“Something like that. I wanted to defeat you with my own hands… You’ve become quite formidable, Simat. Back then, using weapons like the aerial fortress didn’t seem so unfair.”
Simat smirked at Luna.
He confirmed that she had come to fight him alone. The Ruler’s Reign Sword would never protect her during this battle.
That made Jin seem all the more magnificent.
“There are times when you must fight alone to overcome, and times when you must fight together to win. Your master, Cheongpungje, often said that. And your brother knows it just as well.”
A new violet sword formed in Simat’s grasp, and at that moment, Luna’s axe-sword was enveloped in a red glow.
Luna struck first. She unleashed a spray of red sword energy and closed the distance to Simat in an instant.
But unlike the destructive, tyrannical sword she wielded in the past, Luna moved lightly like the wind, swinging her axe-sword at Simat.
Though the vast energies of the two clashed, the sound was that of small, sharp metal strikes—like a duel between ordinary knights.
Still, each time their blades met, Luna had to endure the shock of violet psychic energy surging through her body. Her red sword energy struggled to penetrate Simat’s defenses.
“I owe a debt to Cheongpungje, and in some ways, to your younger brother as well. But I can’t let this slide.”
Swish!
A violet blade grazed Luna’s cheek. She took a step back, steadying herself, but Simat didn’t press the attack any further.
He was certain of one thing: Luna would never back down or run away. This fight would only end when one of them was dead.
“Just as I hoped. If you were afraid of dying in battle with me, you wouldn’t have come here. So show me everything you’ve got—this will be your final fight.”