Episode 107
Chapter 35: The Tragedy of Colon (6)
They couldn’t afford to launch another attack recklessly.
Before they knew it, countless spheres of magical energy had risen from the campfire, enveloping Myuron. All three of them had never seen a spell shaped like this before.
Yet their keen senses warned them: this was dangerous.
“What is this? I can see it so clearly with my own eyes, but I can’t sense any magical aura at all. And to think Myuron actually knows what I look like.”
There was no need to wonder how he knew. Last year, four of Ziphl’s heirs had attended the Runcandel banquet. One of them must have sketched Jin’s face and reported it back to their family.
“I’ll have to be more careful when facing pureblood Ziphl from now on.”
Heh heh heh… Kheh kheh!
Myuron kept laughing like a madman. It was hard to tell if it was pure confidence or just insanity.
“That priestess is pathetic too. She probably never expected to send such a brat to Runcandel. Wait a minute, aren’t you just a trainee? Maybe this is a personal mission. Heh heh heh.”
While Myuron babbled on, Jin kept pondering.
How exactly was he hiding his magical energy?
“Even using spiritual energy, erasing your presence this thoroughly is difficult. There’s no artifact that could do this. Could he also be a contractee of a god?”
But no matter how much Jin searched his past memories, there was no useful information. All the public knowledge about Myuron was about his personality and eccentricities.
Glancing sideways, Jin noticed Murakan seemed just as clueless about Myuron’s abilities. Kashimir, who knew little about magic, was obviously in the dark.
“He seems to have some special power, but he’s still an 8-star. As long as the three of us don’t let our guard down, we won’t lose. Unless he borrows the power of the Demon Stone like Andrei.”
Of course, Jin alone would struggle against him. But with Murakan and Kashimir, their combined strength was clearly superior.
“All we have to do is remember that we can’t read his magical flow and fight accordingly!”
Having reached that conclusion, Jin summoned his aura once more.
“You’re annoyingly chatty. And your laugh is disgusting.”
“Heh heh, let’s have some fun.”
Crack!
Myuron’s spheres of magic suddenly began freezing rapidly. In an instant, they turned into massive chunks of ice, sliding down his fingers and shooting toward the group.
Nine spheres fired like cannonballs, splitting into three groups to attack them.
Jin and Kashimir dodged with ease, but Murakan, protecting Dino, smashed the ice with his fists head-on, showing incredible strength.
“Oh? Was there a brawler among Runcandel’s guardian knights?”
“Who said I’m a guardian knight? You idiot… Ah, you bastard! That’s dirty!”
Murakan spat out his words and suddenly slung Dino over his shoulder.
He had seen the ice chunks that missed Jin and Kashimir flying toward nearby natives—who were too terrified to even think about dodging.
The speed was impossible for ordinary people to evade.
Thud! Crack!
Luckily, Murakan dashed over and smashed the ice aimed at the natives with his fists.
“Are you all just waiting to die, you stupid fools?!”
“Ugh…”
“Ughh…”
The natives’ voices were muffled, as if something was blocking their throats.
Murakan flinched and looked at them. Not all, but most had long wounds on their necks.
And those wounds hadn’t been there last night.
‘They cut their vocal cords…!’
Jin, Kashimir, and Dino all saw the same thing. Among the dozen or so natives nearby, over 70% had lost their voices.
“Ahhh! You… you filthy bastard!”
Dino, who had been frozen in fear moments ago, now glared at Myuron with eyes stained by tears and murderous intent.
“How could you do this! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you…!”
“Heh heh heh. Dino, I was curious what kind of expression you’d make, so I tore it a little… Seems you like it.”
Myuron’s eyes curved like crescent moons. His long silver hair whipped in the wind, making his face chillingly eerie.
And instead of attacking Jin and Kashimir directly, he was obsessively targeting the natives. Murakan jumped around trying to block him, but he couldn’t hold forever.
If Jin transformed into his true form, it would be easy—but this was Lutero Magic Federation territory. The moment he turned into a dragon, all the dragons allied with Ziphl would come hunting for Colon.
Kashimir turned his furious gaze to Myuron, unable to watch any longer. Dino kept screaming.
“Heh heh heh.”
Myuron trembled with laughter, if only for a moment.
Jin stopped moving.
His expression was unreadable.
But Murakan, Jin’s guardian dragon, could read his mind clearly.
Pure, intense anger.
“Myuron Ziphl. Your life ends today.”
“Hm…?”
The aura surrounding Bradamante faded.
In its place, a dark energy began to stain the blade.
Thump!
For the first time, Myuron looked at Jin without a trace of laughter. He wasn’t scared, but his heart was pounding wildly on its own.
A sense of crisis.
It was a feeling Myuron hadn’t faced in a long time.
“What… is this? The power of Solderet? Could it be… Jin Runcandel?”
Particles of spiritual energy gradually dyed the blade.
“Keep laughing. Just like you were.”
Whoooosh…!
The darkness that had briefly colored the surroundings deepened.
Jin’s release of spiritual energy briefly blackened everything. The deepening shadow gathered into Bradamante, forming a single blade.
Blade Release.
It was the first time since reaching 5-star spiritual energy.
“Prince Jin… is this the power of shadows?”
Kashimir swallowed hard without realizing it. Having watched Jin’s swordsmanship for a long time, the sight of Jin wielding the released Bradamante made him feel like a completely different person.
When the rune of Multa activated, Jin’s expression was hidden behind a black helmet.
“Hahaha… So Solderet has sided with Runcandel again? Breaking our pact!”
The ice chunks raining down on the natives stopped.
Jin didn’t answer but called Murakan and Kashimir over. Then he pointed to the sky.
“You two need to stop that.”
At the same time, both looked up.
“Huh.”
“What is that? When did that crazy bastard do this?”
Countless ice chunks floated in the sky—many times more than what Myuron had been using moments ago. Though hidden in the night’s shadow, they were visible with a little focus.
Murakan and Kashimir only just noticed because Myuron’s magic had no flow.
Jin, who understood magic best among them, had anticipated something troublesome.
“Heh, you noticed just in time? I was about to show you how those primitive redskins would pop like bugs. Too bad.”
Myuron regained some composure and smiled slyly.
“But I doubt all of them will survive.”
Jin didn’t want to waste words. It felt like fighting a monster, not a human.
Shiiik!
Black particles flowed from Jin’s legs as he moved. His steps felt weightless, yet he charged at Myuron with astonishing speed.
Myuron hastily raised a shield and poured every remaining ice chunk on the ground toward Jin.
But the ice was useless against Jin. As the blackened blade slashed through, the ice shattered into dozens of pieces and lost its power, falling to the ground.
Screech, screech, shing!
In Myuron’s vision, the blade drew closer with every blink. In that instant, he hesitated.
No, he doubted whether this shield could block Jin’s sword again.
“It won’t.”
Deciding this, Myuron quickly raised his staff and began chanting several high-level spells. Still, no magical flow could be detected.
Three spells were cast.
7-star fire magic: Wall of Flames; 7-star ice magic: Ice Barrier; 8-star wind magic: Hellstorm.
Few mages in the world could cast such powerful spells in such a short time.
“Fast, but not simultaneous casting. In a way, that’s even more impressive.”
The two 7-star spells were defensive, while Hellstorm was offensive. Hellstorm was notorious for its hundreds of razor-sharp winds that constricted and shredded targets—a favorite of Myuron’s.
That meant he was highly skilled. Jin, who had been charging, paused briefly and wrapped himself in spiritual energy. Myuron smiled triumphantly.
“As expected, even if he’s contracted with Solderet, his understanding of magic is lacking. He’s just trying to block. Hellstorm won’t stop until the core is destroyed or my magic is depleted.”
Just as the blades of Hellstorm began to gnaw at Jin’s energy shield, Myuron suddenly felt a chill and turned his head.
Within the black helmet, two eyes gleamed sharply—it was Jin.
The barrier of spiritual energy was nothing but an illusion.
Jin had precisely timed the moment when the hellish wind would flare up, briefly clouding Myuron’s vision, and had already shifted direction.
Only someone who fully understood the magic called “Hell Wind” could attempt such a move. Even among mages who wielded Hell Wind, few could read the timing so perfectly.
“What—!”
Startled, Myuron hastily withdrew the Hell Wind. He wanted to conserve his magical energy and focus more on the walls of fire and ice.
He couldn’t even begin to guess how heavy the blow from Jin would be.
Jin’s eyes flashed fiercely as he swung the Bradamante.
Kuzjuk…!
And then Myuron witnessed something he had never seen before. He had faced countless warriors, many of whom were knights skilled enough to “slice through” magic with their swords.
But the way the open Bradamante cut through magic was beyond anything he had imagined.
“It’s erasing the magic…!”
The walls of fire and ice weren’t sliced or shattered. Instead, like paper burning in flames, they oxidized and evaporated.
The ice barrier was breached first, and the fire curtain layered beneath it flickered out.
Next came the pure magical shield. When the blade reached that far, Myuron had no choice but to retreat, his face etched with shock.
Yet beneath that expression was a fierce excitement.
As Myuron stepped back beyond the shield, he slammed his staff down. Hundreds of ice chunks that had been hovering in the sky began to rain down to the ground.
“You’re going to be a real treat to devour. All this time, tending to this worthless land has finally paid off…!”
Suddenly, magical circles began to spread out in every direction beneath Jin’s feet.
It was a magical trap.