Chapter 194
Episode 62: Compass Seizure Operation (6)
Without hesitation, the second, third, and fourth magical beams shot out, piercing through Kal’s limbs.
“Ugh…!”
“Sir Kal!”
As Kal collapsed, despair clouded the eyes of the three remaining knights and mages. If Chukon was attacking them now, they had no way out.
“Ch-Chukon, you bastard…”
“I’m just returning the favor for what you did to me. Heh heh.”
As Jin shrugged his shoulders, the mages hidden within Chukon’s protective barrier unleashed their offensive spells all at once. Naturally, they targeted not Jin, but the few remaining underlings of Kal.
“Chukooon!”
Before the screams could even finish, all of Jiple’s knights and mages met their deaths. From the moment Jin decided to go after Kal, and Chukon chose to stand by, this outcome was all but inevitable.
“You’re not completely clueless, Chukon. I didn’t expect you to be this cooperative. This leaves Tess with very little to do.”
Kal fainted outright, and Jin, despite his injured arm, easily lifted him and tossed him toward Chukon. The moment Kal landed in front of Chukon, Kinzello’s mages began casting healing spells.
They were taking care to prevent their precious hostage from dying of excessive bleeding.
“Didn’t it occur to you that you might be next, Kal?”
“I don’t think the Absolute Ruler of the Anzu Plains is that stupid. I did consider it. But I decided it didn’t matter if you all came at me.”
“Still all bluff. You think summoning Tess will let you handle me, Chukon Tolder, even in your crippled state?”
“Hahaha…”
Kaak, kaak kaak!
Jin and Tess burst out laughing simultaneously.
“Chukon Tolder, you’re not confident you can kill me. So you chose the option most beneficial to Kinzello—the one I suggested. So cut the crap.”
For a moment, Jin and Chukon exchanged deadly glares.
Both were speaking the truth. Jin was bluffing, and Chukon was uncertain.
‘Even if I unleash all my spiritual energy, fighting Chukon like this is madness. Even at my best, he’s an opponent I can’t break without forcing countless variables. If he’s serious about fighting, I have to run.’
‘A mysterious brain sword, magic powerful enough for Tess to choose it… who knows what other hidden powers he has. Trying to retrieve the compass now is already a lost cause. I need to at least get Kal Jiple out alive to face the captain with some dignity.’
They had lost five White Wolf warriors of assault squad rank, most of the senior members, and the compass had been seized.
But unlike Kal Jiple, they hadn’t lost everything. The harbor ship was loaded with Bubarr’s other works, excluding the compass.
Jin was an unpredictable disaster no one had foreseen.
‘If I let my pride get the better of me and things go south, the captain won’t just let it slide. And once he hears the report, he’ll definitely try to turn that guy into one of ours. We’ve got enough info to track him.’
Chukon withdrew first.
“Fine. Let’s look out for our own interests today.”
“You’re not wasting your years. Maybe your captain will be happier about bringing back Kal Jiple than the compass.”
Tess was dismissed.
‘The first floor suddenly went quiet a while ago. Not sure if the fight’s over or if the battlefield has moved outside.’
Bang!
Jin stomped hard, cracking a large hole in the floor. Even that was part of the basic swordsmanship of the Meiwang Sword, sending tingling spiritual energy through him.
“Well then, see you next time.”
Descending through the hole, the chaotic scene of the first floor came into view.
Like the second floor, it looked like a fierce battle had taken place—bodies, blood, and shattered objects scattered everywhere.
He wasn’t too worried. To handle a party like Murakan, Quikantel, Kashmir, and Alisa, all the forces from the second floor would have had to be on the first.
‘Did everyone head to the escape point? Or did they go to deal with the underlings outside the gambling hall?’
Something felt off.
‘No, if they’d cleared the gambling hall, they’d have come up to help me by now. Something’s wrong.’
As soon as he left the gambling hall, Jin encountered Murakan, who was transforming into a cat.
“Meow.”
Murakan hadn’t joined the first-floor fight, hiding his identity in case Jin got into trouble.
“Murakan.”
Bang!
Murakan shifted back to human form and pulled Jin into a tight embrace.
“Kid, just how strong have you gotten!? I’ve seen almost all your fights. I’m so proud I could cry. Strawberry Pie’s probably crying too. Your arm’s a total wreck. How did you handle those Meiwang brats?”
“Do you think those wounds came from the Meiwang?”
“Hmph, you’re cutting back on the jokes.”
“What’s the situation?”
“Your biggest fan got off the island safely, compass in hand.”
“Phew! At least half a year of effort wasn’t wasted.”
“Yeah, but the rest of the situation isn’t so good.”
“How so?”
“There are two more forces we didn’t know about.”
“Two? Not just one?”
“The Bimant Special Forces and Runkandel.”
“Hmm…”
“They’re not acting on solid intel like us. They only know Jiple and Kinzello are meeting here. They don’t even know what’s being exchanged. So they were in the island’s center and rushed over when they heard the gambling hall was flipped.”
“That could really complicate things at the end.”
“For now, Mibul, Alisa, and your lover are all dealing with or evading them.”
That was a relief. Since the compass had already been seized, all they had to do was escape the island without revealing their identities.
Just as Runkandel and the Bimant Special Forces hadn’t fully grasped the situation with Jiple and Kinzello.
And Jiple and Kinzello hadn’t realized those forces were on the island.
“How did you know the Special Forces and our family don’t know about the compass?”
“They said if they’d known, they wouldn’t have sent only that many.”
“Right. So the three of you decided to split up and head to the escape point separately?”
“Yeah, but unfortunately, there’s one more problem. The biggest one.”
“Damn, nothing’s easy. Spill it.”
Murakan frowned irritably.
Then he pointed behind Jin, toward the sea. Looking back, the ocean was dotted with countless tiny specks.
“Those are all warships. Soon this island will be completely surrounded. Even if we gather the scattered ones and board a ship within ten minutes, we’ll be chased down soon enough.”
There were no teleportation gates on this island.
You could only enter or leave by boat, swimming, or flying.
And of course, since it was an island, there was nowhere to run or hide. The escape boats Jin’s party had prepared were cheap pirate ships—not fast enough to outrun warships.
“…So the Velado Principality sent them. The Special Forces headquarters must have prepared them to support troops stationed on the island in emergencies. The ships are probably crawling with Special Forces.”
That left Jin’s group with only one option: escape on Murakan.
It was the last resort they’d agreed to keep for emergencies during the meeting six months ago.
If Murakan revealed his true form, they might escape for now, but they’d become permanent special targets for Bimant, Jiple, and Kinzello.
Nothing would be more exhausting than that.
‘This is maddening.’
The fight on the second floor suddenly felt like the easiest part.
“What will you do?”
Murakan, as always, deferred to Jin’s decision.
“If there’s only one choice, there’s no need to hesitate. I’ll ride you out. Becoming a special target is a risk we have to accept.”
“Then we need to find the scattered ones first. Should I fly around and look for them now?”
“No, that’s too risky. Let’s split up and search near the escape points, then regroup here in thirty minutes. If anyone’s missing by then, we’ll start an aerial search.”
Crack…!
Rustle…!
Five minutes into the search, a distant crashing sound echoed in Jin’s ears.
It was the sound of Runkandel’s guardian knights smashing the ships docked at the northern harbor.
“Destroy every ship! No one escapes until the Velado Principality’s warships arrive.”
“Especially that woman, Zelia! She’s definitely a key figure in this incident!”
True to form, Runkandel was handling things in a typically ruthless way.
On foreign soil, with enemy warships approaching, they were smashing all the ships to prevent their targets from escaping.
Only Runkandel could get away with such recklessness. They could always reimburse the owners later, and once the warships arrived and the culprits were identified, they’d forcibly take whoever they needed.
‘They’re going to be my family someday… but damn, they’re something else.’
The intentions of Bimant or other factions didn’t matter in this. Especially in a place where huge powers were all smelling each other’s dirty secrets.
“Oh dear, knights, why are you doing this?”
“We’re just humble fishermen trying to make a living. But if you destroy all the boats like this…”
The men who appeared to own the ships approached the guardian knights, bowing their heads.
“Do you really think you came here not knowing this island is full of nothing but pirates, beggars, and drug addicts? From now on, anyone spouting nonsense or trying to pull a fast one will be shot on sight.”
Every single ship here was indeed a pirate ship.
But from the pirates’ perspective, this was outright tyranny. They couldn’t just take on the Rune Kandel Guardians, so frustration boiled over.
“Damn it! Even if you add up all the Guardians from the west and south, there’s barely ten of them! They’re not even purebloods, just some regular Guardians. Let’s just get on our ships and run, you idiots! Our ships are our lives, our souls! We can always reclaim the island later!”
One pirate, trying to hide from the Guardians, suddenly raised his voice.
“Exactly! Even if they’re Rune Kandel Guardians, how can ten of them catch all of us? There are over fifty ships left in the northern harbor!”
“Maybe those warships were sent just to lock us all up. We’ve got to board their ships somehow, drop the anchor, and wish for luck, you filthy bastards!”
“Only the ones who get on a ship will survive!”
A roar erupted!
Suddenly, pirates hiding all over the harbor swarmed out.
They severely underestimated the Rune Kandel Guardians. These lowlife pirates had no idea what kind of warriors the world’s strongest swordsmanship clan’s knights really were.
“Bottom feeders are bottom feeders. Even with us controlling things, they think they can just get on a ship and escape.”
In the northern harbor, three of the ten Guardians were stationed.
With just those three, the Guardians were ready to cut down the charging pirates like a pack of wild dogs.
Some pirates, crazed and desperate, managed to board ships despite comrades falling left and right. The problem was, many were swept away along with their ships before they could even raise the anchor.
‘This is nothing short of hell. Looks like no allies are nearby… Wait, the one who first urged everyone to board the ships is actually running away?’
Just as he was about to turn away—
Boom!
Boom…! Boom! Boom, boom!
The warships of the Velado Principality began bombarding the island.
They seemed to share the same plan as the Rune Kandel Guardians: to sink every ship on the island so no one could escape.