Chapter 192
Episode 62: The Compass Seizure Operation (4)
A solitary victory.
The transcendent martial art granted to only one person—the Divine Blade Technique. Only the rightful wielder of Sigmund, the sacred sword of the Meiwang clan, could master it.
And now, Sigmund was no longer just Ban’s Divine Blade—it had become Jin’s sword.
“Remember this, brothers Jin. You are kin and heirs of the Meiwang clan, the sole inheritors of this legacy. So fear no one, no matter whom you face.”
Was it because he had seen the despair etched on the faces of the Baekrang tribe confronting the Execution? Or perhaps because Ban’s face flashed before his eyes, wielding the Divine Blade Technique within the Execution’s piercing spear?
Though the battle raged on, suddenly, the story Ban had told him back in Laprarosa came to mind.
A brilliant flash of lightning illuminated the dim room.
“Dodge! Get out of the way!”
A Baekrang warrior named Duroka shouted. His voice wasn’t the usual deep, rough roar—it was a high-pitched cry of terror.
The moment he saw the Execution’s lightning spear, he instinctively knew.
This was no mere hammer to be blocked or parried.
Kuzzujuj—!
The massive lightning spear, forged from pure thunder energy, resembled a whale more than a mere weapon. The overwhelming power that erupted from a single longsword was almost unbelievable.
He shouted to dodge, but—
The Baekrang warriors couldn’t escape. There was no space to evade, and a crushing fear heavier than honor or pride pinned their shoulders down.
Had it been the aura of an ordinary Meiwang soldier, they might have trembled in fear but still swung their hammers.
But this was the aura of a Divine Blade wielder. The awe-inspiring majesty of a technique their distant ancestors dared not even glance upon, from over fifty thousand years ago.
It was all contained within the blade of a man less than two meters tall, and in his eyes.
“Today, I am not here as a thief to find you.”
Crack!
The Execution’s spear pierced through Duroka’s body.
Not a drop of blood, not a shred of flesh spilled. The moment the spear penetrated him, it consumed, incinerated, and disintegrated the rest of his body—reducing him to ash.
As fast as a lightning strike.
“I have come as a conqueror.”
The warning to dodge was nothing but an empty cry. In the blink of an eye, Duroka turned to dust, and the Baekrang warriors standing nearby could not even summon anger at their comrade’s death.
They only felt that something was terribly wrong.
This couldn’t be real…
As that thought pierced their minds, all they could do was squeeze their eyes shut against the blinding light of the lightning spear descending upon them.
Flash!
The Execution flared once more, and he too was reduced to ash. The spear, still unsatisfied, flashed its light toward the next prey.
Who could have imagined that two Baekrang assault captains would perish so utterly and so quickly?
While everyone doubted their own eyes and refused to believe what was happening—
Sigmund pointed toward Chukon.
The Baekrang warriors guarding Chukon had been shaking their heads reflexively for some time, unconsciously begging for mercy.
But Jin’s gaze did not waver. Like a king standing before the executioner’s block, he was resolute and unyielding.
“Ughhh!”
Three Baekrang warriors squeezed their eyes shut.
Unlike the two who had turned to ash earlier, they did not die immediately. Thanks to the protective barrier cast by Anz’s Absolute, the Execution’s advance was momentarily halted.
“Has Chukon’s vision already recovered? No, it seems more like an instinctive shield.”
Crackle! Fzzzt!
The protective barrier, known as the Extreme Defense System, was indeed worthy of its name. It was clear it had been hastily erected the moment his sight returned, and for a brief moment, it held back the Execution.
Though the Divine Blade Technique had reached its third form, Execution, Jin’s aura was still in the late 7th star rank. Had he been at the early 8th star, Chukon’s shield wouldn’t have lasted three seconds.
“Of course, this isn’t the whole story, Chukon Toller.”
Crack!
The barrier cracked. As the spear’s lightning pierced the fissure, the Baekrang warriors curled into balls, like small animals hiding in burrows from a predator.
The Divine Blade was no merciful sword. The spear tore through the shield completely, and the Baekrang warriors hiding within left behind only their final screams.
Kyaaaak!
Before the screams could even reach their ears, all the Baekrang warriors had lost their lives.
Only then did Jin cease the Execution and recall the remaining lightning spears back into Sigmund’s blade.
As the fierce lightning bolts were withdrawn, the unstable aura of the Radiant Heart, strained by the Divine Blade Technique, began to settle.
“You need to be at least 9th star to use this without strain.”
A meaningless restriction, really. Even with an aura unworthy of the Divine Blade’s rank, he had wiped out five Baekrang assault captains in an instant.
The room darkened once more.
None of Jin’s enemies wished for this darkness to lift. For when it did, it meant the monster’s lightning would begin anew.
“Did Sir Siris manage to safely pass the compass to Enya?”
He wanted to rush down and check immediately.
But Chukon and Kal Zipple were already watching the situation, their eyes recovered.
“This is insane… What on earth is going on?”
When his subordinates had panicked about lightning strikes, he hadn’t fully grasped the gravity. But now, with everything scorched black, the stench of burning thick in the air, and the Baekrang warriors who had shouted moments ago nowhere to be found—
Kal’s subordinates trembled, their eyes pleading to flee.
What terrified them most was that they had no clue what this monster really was. Neither Chukon nor Kal could think of anyone who fit the description.
If it had been a Manbing user, they would have guessed Talaris. If a Divine Sword wielder, then Lunara. If a brutal sword technique, then the Black Knight of Runkandel.
But Jin’s technique was lightning. As far as they knew, no one in the world wielded lightning like that.
“Unknown swordsmanship, lost ancient light magic… And the light magic he used resembles Chenmi’s Flash Cannon, recorded in the clan’s secret archives.”
A magic swordsman, then.
Kal and Chukon reached the same conclusion.
Zipple and Kinzello had also recently heard rumors of a mysterious magic swordsman showing his skill in Delki. The rumors had spread since Jin had faced Beris and Kuzan.
Especially Zipple’s faction was considering the possibility that the one impersonating Veradin in Akin among the few remaining Tesing remnants might be this magic swordsman.
“Could it be that the author of all this…?”
As chaotic speculations swirled in Kal and Chukon’s minds, Jin took a single step toward them. Just one step—but the reflexive flinches of Kal and Chukon’s subordinates were telling.
“What are you thinking, Chukon Toller, Kal Zipple?”
“…Where did you come from?”
Chukon answered.
Both he and Kal were at their wits’ end. They had no idea where the information about the compass had leaked.
They couldn’t grasp anything—how many of Jin’s comrades were downstairs, their strength, or why they were after the compass.
They had thought that as long as they guarded against Runkandel and Biment, there would be no problem. But to have someone of this caliber suddenly appear—
“Not Runkandel. Most likely Biment.”
“Could it be the perfected form of the demon they’ve been experimenting on?”
Jin shrugged.
“It’s pointless for you to find out who I am. You’re all going to die today.”
He spoke coldly, but he didn’t expect to kill both Chukon and Kal outright. It was just a tactic to buy time—to stabilize his Radiant Heart and allow his comrades on the first floor to handle the situation.
It was also a way to gauge Chukon and Kal’s attitudes.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve felt such unpleasantness. The opponent knows me, but I don’t know them… Living in Zipple, that rarely happens. Let me introduce myself properly, noble sir. I am Kal Zipple, the fourth tower lord of Zipple.”
“I know who you are.”
The fourth tower lord, the third son of Kelliak Zipple.
Jin didn’t know much about him. He had never appeared in the news, nor had Jin encountered him in a past life. He had only heard that the fourth tower handled the dirty work within Zipple.
Handling dirty work might sound like a bad position, but it was quite the opposite. The fourth tower was the second largest institution after the first tower, known as the Tower of Stories.
In other words, it was one of the most influential factions within Zipple.
“You’re bluffing now. I admit you’re incredibly strong. But I don’t think you can handle both me and Lord Chukon at the same time.”
“Is that so? You were just tearing apart Kinzello’s bugs, and now you’re back to being Lord Chukon?”
“Mistakes can be cleared up. I believe in turning formidable foes into allies while we still can. In that spirit, I have a proposal. Join Zipple. Whatever you want, I promise to give you more than that.”
“Kal Zipple! Nenoohm!”
Chukon’s eyes widened.
“I hear you, Lord Chukon. The compass has fallen into his hands, hasn’t it? And he seems to know about our relations and many secrets. Fighting won’t do us any good.”
“Nonsense…!”
“Calm down. If he refuses, then we join forces to kill him. If you’re displeased, Lord Chukon, you can also propose recruiting Kinzello. Honestly, I don’t have the confidence to handle him alone. Can you, Lord Chukon?”
Five elite White Wolf warriors were killed, along with countless knights and mages ranked seven stars and above. It wasn’t impossible for Chukon and Karl to pull off such a feat, but not at this speed.
“How about joining Ziphl’s side? Judging by your interest in the compass, it might not be a bad deal for you either,” Jin said with a faint smirk.
Deep down, he was certain.
“There’s no sign of the White Night’s airship, Kojek, nearby.”
Kojek.
That dreadful ship he’d encountered before in the Colon ruins.
Jin deliberately threw out unnecessary words to confirm whether Karl had brought Kojek along.
“If Kojek were here, you wouldn’t be making recruitment offers—you’d just show your strength outright. Even if the island vanished from the map, you could just escape on Kojek.”
This had been on his mind since they first set foot on the island. While he’d confirmed there was no ‘White Night’ presence in the gambling hall, Kojek, being an airship, could be hiding somewhere in the clouds.
But the absence of Kojek made sense. Kojek was a ship that only moved when Ziphl declared war; it wasn’t the kind of asset to keep on standby in a place like this.
The same went for Kinzel. If they had such overwhelming forces hidden near the island, it could easily provoke Ziphl’s suspicion and spark a war.
“No Kojek, then,” Jin murmured.
Karl’s eyes widened at that, a reaction more telling than any words.
“What…?”
“In that case, there’s no need for further talk from my side, mages. Let’s just finish what we started.”