Episode 113
Chapter 36: Allies on Each Side (3)

Though Mu-ron’s corpse, who had died standing, was cleared away, the natives couldn’t hide because of the ritual to retrieve the mirror.

For them, extracting the sacred artifact was more important than their own lives—there was no other choice. Jin and Murakan, too, couldn’t hide since they had to protect the natives against the impending assault.

“…It seems the Tower Lord activated the rune script because of those authors among the natives. They’re not alone.”

“Perhaps the Tower Lord has already been taken down by them. We should proceed cautiously, Deputy Tower Lord.”

“We must also consider the possibility that their other companions are holding the Tower Lord hostage.”

Jin concealed his face behind Multa’s rune, and Murakan masked his with a veil. To any onlooker, they looked like the culprits who killed Mu-ron.

Midor Elner, Deputy Tower Lord of the Seventh Tower, looked down at Jin’s group with eyes burning with murderous intent.

“If the Tower Lord—no, if Brother Mu-ron has perished at their hands… I will make them suffer a pain worse than death…”

He clenched his jaw tightly, grinding his teeth.

Jin couldn’t hear their conversation from this distance, but he felt a sharp hostility piercing his very core.

‘Six dragons, about thirty mages. Damn it. I expected this, but facing them directly really drives home that Mu-ron was the Tower Lord.’

This was a force more than enough to take on a decent-sized nation.

And yet, that force had come to face only about thirty natives with no combat skills, plus Jin—wounded—and a black dragon past its prime.

“Hmph, those vermin got here first after all. I hope that creature didn’t fail.”

Murakan’s face, as he looked up at the dragons and mages, showed a trace of tension.

“Clam…”

“Clam…”

Meanwhile, the natives quietly whispered the name of their god. Standing in a circle, they focused entirely on the ritual, not once glancing at the mages from Ziphl.

Suppressing their fear with superhuman willpower, they concentrated solely on the ceremony.

Eyes closed, they chanted their ancient, now-lost Kolon scripture.

Despite the dire crisis, the natives exuded a sacred and mysterious aura as they performed the ritual.

“Tch, having religion sure helps in times like this. You can just lean on your god. Maybe you and I should start a religion—Solderette, or the Shadow Brothers. That’d be a fitting name.”

“You’re still joking? So you think this situation’s manageable?”

“No, we’re screwed. Forget the natives, I can’t even guarantee you and I will escape. Do you have anything like Orgal’s pendant?”

“You think I do…?”

“Then decide quickly. Are we abandoning the natives and running, or fighting these bastards to the death? The first option doesn’t have a high chance of success.”

He wasn’t joking.

Murakan had made up his mind as soon as he assessed the enemy’s strength. There was no way they could win in a fight.

‘Damn it. If only this were their prime. Temar… that damn bastard. The heart you stabbed a thousand years ago still aches.’

Jin hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

“We can’t just abandon the natives and run now. Let’s buy a little more time.”

“What? How do you plan to buy time? If they start unleashing magic, it’s over.”

“But they’re not doing that. Come to think of it, they can’t just recklessly attack us. They don’t even know for sure if Mu-ron is alive. Maybe they think we have him hostage.”

Indeed, Midor and the Seventh Tower’s mages weren’t certain of Mu-ron’s fate.

‘If they were sure Mu-ron was dead, they’d have attacked us immediately. But since they’re not, they’re considering all possibilities.’

So Jin judged that the mages wouldn’t suddenly bombard the area with high-level spells.

Besides, even if Mu-ron were dead, the mages still had the problem of recovering his body.

Flap…!

The six dragons carrying the mages from Ziphl began descending toward the ground.

“Do you recognize any of those dragons? They’re all fire dragons.”

“No. They’re all young ones who came after I fell asleep. And those aren’t fire dragons—they’re red dragons, a subspecies of fire dragons. They must be subordinates of Kadun.”

The Seventh Tower’s dragons weren’t contracted guardian dragons of the mages but Kadun’s subordinates. This meant none of the mages who came to Kolon had contracts with the gods.

But only mages contracted with gods aren’t strong.

Jin was reminded of this fact once again as Midor approached alone.

‘He’s strong… on par with Mu-ron, maybe even stronger.’

Though Midor was still hiding his magic power, Jin’s instincts as a magic user told him so.

‘And he has the full trust of the other mages. No one stopped him from closing the distance alone against a warrior.’

Step, step…

Turning his back to the natives, Jin met Midor’s gaze.

“I am Midor Elner, Deputy Tower Lord of the Seventh Tower. Where is your brother?”

A name Jin had never heard in his previous life.

“Who knows.”

Jin answered indifferently, and Midor shook his head.

“I don’t know why you targeted my brother. He must have made enemies somewhere… or maybe it’s the dogs of Runkandel?”

“No reason to answer. How did you find us after we killed Mu-ron?”

Feigning ignorance, Jin asked. Surprisingly, Midor didn’t hide the existence of the rune script.

“There’s a rune script. When my brother is in danger, activating it turns the Seventh Tower’s crystal orb red.”

“Is that so? I’ll be careful when fighting the Tower Lords of Ziphl next time.”

Midor’s willingness to reveal the secret rune script, which was supposed to be confidential, showed he had no intention of sparing Jin’s group.

“I won’t tell you to remove your masks or surrender your weapons. But since I answered your question honestly, I want you to answer one for me. Is my brother… alive?”

Midor’s eyes held not only killing intent but also deep sorrow.

When Jin remained silent, Midor spoke again.

“Answer me. I beg you as family. You have families too, don’t you? If you tell me honestly, I, Midor Elner, Deputy Tower Lord of the Seventh Tower, swear on my honor: even if I kill you, I won’t harm your families.”

Midor’s earnestness made Jin smile bitterly.

“Yeah, it’s painful and sad when family gets hurt or dies. But look at the mages from Ziphl.”

Jin pointed to the left.

“What do you see? Graves. Graves of natives your precious brother killed for fun. And look behind me. Nearly thirty people who lost their families, just like you.”

“Don’t you dare equate those insignificant vermin with my brother’s life!”

Midor’s face twisted in rage.

“You don’t mean to say those vermin and my brother are the same kind of human! Then it wasn’t hatred—did you attack him to save those creatures?”

“Yes.”

“So my brother is no longer in this land… right?”

Jin nodded quietly.

“Mu-ron is dead.”

“Ugh… ha… haaa…”

Suddenly, Midor broke down in tears.

As thick tears streamed down his face, Jin and Murakan felt the air grow heavy.

Midor was beginning to release his magic power.

“I will honor my brother’s soul with your screams and blood. And you will be forced to watch as the vermin you tried to protect are mercilessly ravaged. Mages of the Seventh Tower, hear me! Capture them all alive. No killing allowed.”

The moment Midor finished speaking—

Bang!

‘What?’

A small explosion erupted just to Jin’s immediate left.

Beeeeeep…!

The sharp blast damaged his eardrums, and a maddening ringing filled his ears. Jin knew exactly what spell Midor had memorized.

‘Spatial explosion? That’s a Shinu contract spell. Only mages blessed with perfect grace can perform it…’

And there was only one such person in history.

Keliak Ziphl.

Before his reincarnation, when Jin walked the path of a mage, he often heard stories like this. Keliak Ziphl could cause explosions in midair without any warning, using only his will.

When Keliak Ziphl unleashed a spatial explosion, he was said to be like a god delivering judgment.

‘Why would this guy use it?’

There was no time to ponder.

‘He said we’re family. Is he Keliak’s son? Even so, is it possible to share Shinu’s power?’

Then a second explosion went off.

This time to Jin’s right, and again he couldn’t dodge. Even at full health, it would have been difficult. With his internal injuries, reacting was nearly impossible.

Beeep—another ringing overlapped.

Multa’s rune-formed helmet could almost perfectly block a strike from a seven-star knight, but it didn’t block sound.

Midor had immediately identified Jin’s helmet as a masterpiece and chose the most effective way to suppress him.

If only he had the magic left to summon Tess…

Jin could have created an absolute domain of blue flames impervious to spatial explosions. After all, the fire of the Flame Lord wasn’t affected by Shinu’s flames.

But summoning Tess was out of the question because of the backlash.

Turning his head, he caught sight of Murakan barely dodging attacks from the other mages.

The natives weren’t being attacked at all—that was Midor’s strict order to capture them alive.

Even though the battle had begun, the natives didn’t lose consciousness. A single minor spell would have snuffed them out instantly. Since they weren’t trying to escape anyway, there was no need to break Midor’s command by attacking them.

“Were you already injured from fighting my brother? You sure put on a good act, pretending nothing was wrong when we talked. I’ll give you credit for that. At least it’s some consolation that my brother wasn’t caught off guard… I’ll keep my promise.”

Jin could barely make out Midor’s voice over the growing chaos in his head.

To make matters worse, dodging the spatial explosions had aggravated the backlash. Blood was pouring from every orifice—eyes, nose, mouth, ears—streaking his face dark red.

‘If this keeps up, the kid’s going to die! Damn it, how the hell am I supposed to stall for time in front of those crazed maniacs…?’

Murakan had no choice but to make a decision.

‘I’ll transform into my true form… and somehow get the kid out of here. Damn it, one wrong move and it’s goodbye for us.’

Memories flashed through Murakan’s mind like a slideshow.

For some reason, the past six years as Jin’s guardian dragon came to him more vividly than the decades spent as Temar’s protector. A bitter smile crossed his lips.

Suddenly—

Whoosh!

A pure white dimensional gate opened right in the middle of the ruins.

Out of it emerged an enormous, dazzling white toad.

Riding atop it were a silver-haired woman and a young girl.

“Hmph, looks like I’m not too late after all.”

It was Talaris Endorma, the Mistress of the Secret Bow.