Chapter 212
Episode 69: The Secret of Island No. 32 in the Azure Bird Archipelago (Part 2)
If Jin hadn’t just returned from Samil and Lafrarosa, he wouldn’t have been able to react to their sudden ambush.
“There must have been a barrier. Damn it, the Tomb of the Thunder God. If it weren’t for your sword, we’d be in serious trouble.”
Murakan quickly deflected the lightning strike and spoke.
This land was the resting place of Gram, the Thunder God who had been slain by the Mingwang clan long ago. Naturally, as the tomb of a god, it was protected by a powerful barrier. Thanks to Sigmund breaking through it, Murakan had avoided the surprise attack.
Sigmund was a sword forged by sealing Gram’s power within it.
“You have no idea how much we’ve longed to see you…!”
Kuzan’s eyes gleamed fiercely as he shouted.
He and Beris hadn’t seen Jin’s face during their battle in the Delki Kingdom, but upon sensing Murakan’s spiritual energy, they immediately realized the intruder was the contractor of Solderet—their sworn enemy, one they’d tear apart if given the chance.
“Gah! You bastards!”
Beris couldn’t contain her rage at facing the one who had killed her mother.
‘So they really did fall under Joshua’s command,’ Jin thought.
Since Taimun Marius was one of Joshua’s men, it was expected that Kuzan and Beris, who had served Taimun, would also be under Joshua’s control.
But to suddenly run into them here on Island No. 32 of the Azure Bird Archipelago? That was unexpected—not just for Jin and Murakan, but for Kuzan, Beris, and even Joshua, who had sent them here with Yulian.
If Joshua had known that Jin had stolen the compass and what his true intentions were, he would never have sent his hunting dogs to this island.
“Today, I’ll tear you apart and honor the vengeful spirit of my mother…!”
Kwang!
The clash of Jin and Kuzan’s swords sent a shockwave rippling through the air, the aura on their blades exploding like a cannon blast. Jin immediately sensed that Kuzan had grown stronger.
Body modification.
Though Kuzan remained at the eighth star rank, he had surpassed his limits through the physical enhancements passed down by Taimun.
The magical power radiating from Beris was no less formidable. Also at the eighth star, her fierce magic use—at the cost of her own vitality—brought her power close to the ninth star.
“Yulian! Target the human first, then the guardian dragon!”
Beris’s voice was almost a scream, but she seemed barely able to hold onto her composure.
“I didn’t expect you to be waiting for me. What are you doing here?”
Jin locked eyes with Kuzan as their swords met.
“That doesn’t matter. You die here today. Without fail.”
“You’re the one who’s spitting out rage without reason. Shouldn’t I be the one grinding my teeth at you? You almost killed me back in Delki. And when you say ‘mother,’ you mean Taimun Marius, right?”
“Don’t you dare speak that name with your filthy mouth.”
There was no time to answer.
Kuzan’s poison-coated blade kept blurring Jin’s vision, while Beris provided magical support just like she had in Delki.
It was true that Beris and Kuzan had grown stronger through their body modifications.
But compared to the growth Jin had achieved since Delki, it was nothing. Back then, Jin had to risk his life every moment fighting them. Now, it was different.
He could continue the fight without fully unleashing Sigmund’s lightning power.
Besides, having obtained the Venomous Elixir, even brushing against Kuzan’s blade wasn’t much of a threat. And with Murakan by his side, Jin was confident he wouldn’t be overwhelmed.
‘These two aren’t a problem. If I handle them carefully, I can choose whether to subdue or kill them at will.’
Beris and Kuzan didn’t know all the cards Jin held: the Mingwang Sword, the Spirit Sword, the Reverse Heaven technique, and the Venomous Elixir. He had gained these after leaving Delki, so naturally, they were unaware.
That made it easy for Jin to create variables.
‘Yulian, huh? He’s the one who’s really annoying. A contractor of Feitel, and a wielder of the Thunder Bow…’
Feitel was a god famous for bestowing weapons upon his contractors.
Thunder swords, thunder spears, thunder bows—all forged from the power of storms.
Among them, the Thunder Bow “Harmila” was a weapon granted only to contractors who had fully satisfied Feitel. Yulian’s bow was precisely that.
Fzzt, fzzzt!
Lightning crackled all around. Unlike Sigmund’s lightning, this was the thunderbolt from Harmila, surging and falling in sync with Yulian’s will before even the bowstring was drawn.
Yulian seemed to have ignored Beris’s orders and decided to take on Murakan himself.
Murakan recognized Yulian as the more dangerous opponent compared to Kuzan.
“Hah, just because you’re past your prime, you think you can take me on? Kid! Finish those guys quickly and come over here. I’ll rough this one up until then.”
Jin, Beris, and Kuzan.
Murakan and Yulian.
The battle lines were drawn swiftly.
On Jin’s side, aura and magic flared wildly, while on Murakan’s side, spiritual energy and lightning intertwined, creating a chaotic scene.
With the rain and strong winds, Island No. 32 of the Azure Bird Archipelago was rapidly turning into a magical battlefield.
“But you know, I don’t really get why you’re so furious at me. It’s weird how you act like I’m the one who killed Taimun Marius.”
“Shut up!”
“Kuzan, I don’t understand why you’re so worked up. Back in Delki, unlike that crazy woman, you were pretty calm, weren’t you?”
Not just pretty calm.
Back in Delki, Kuzan was one of the most cold-blooded and insightful enemies Jin had ever faced—up to that point, and even now.
He hadn’t panicked after being hit by the flash cannon, immediately deduced Jin was a magic swordsman, and acted cautiously.
Even when Tess attacked Beris, or when Multa’s rune blocked a critical strike, Kuzan never lost his composure.
When Beris—someone clearly precious to him—was on the brink of death, Kuzan didn’t save her but pressed on with the fight, completely overturning Jin’s expectations.
The only moment Kuzan was caught off guard was for a single second, right after Jin revealed his spiritual energy.
Even then, Kuzan counterattacked with his poisoned blade, nearly killing Jin.
If Prince Laika of Delki hadn’t arrived that day, Jin’s fate would have ended there.
In contrast, Beris had been unable to control her rage from start to finish, wielding her eighth-star magic clumsily, as if wasting it.
And now, to Jin’s eyes, Kuzan was no different from that Beris back then. Though clearly stronger, he showed no intimidation—only the weak image of a man consumed by anger.
“Ah, are you pretending? Trying to pin Taimun’s death on me to cover for Beris?”
“What nonsense…!”
“Taimun wasn’t killed by me, but by five assassins disguised as Runcandel executioners. And their daggers were coated with your poison.”
For a moment, Kuzan’s eyes flickered.
‘The cold, calculating Kuzan shaken so easily? Just at the mention of Taimun’s death?’
A strange sense of dissonance stirred in Jin’s mind.
“I naturally assumed Joshua used your poison to take out Taimun. But seeing your reaction, I can’t help but be confused.”
“Sh-shut up…!”
“Kuzan, don’t listen to him! He’s just lying to save his own skin…!”
Crack!
For the first time, Sigmund’s blade was tinged with a sharp blue lightning.
The Mingwang Sword’s Lightning Slash.
Jin had been waiting for the right moment to unleash this attack, aiming to quickly subdue Beris.
Lightning had been crackling across the battlefield since the fight began.
Of course, it was all Yulian’s lightning. So even when Sigmund glowed blue, Kuzan and Beris didn’t immediately realize it was Jin’s lightning.
“Kah!”
The Lightning Slash struck Beris from a distance.
The first bolt cracked her protective barrier, the second tore it apart completely, and the third struck her, leaving her scorched and unconscious.
Jin wouldn’t allow her time to repair her shield. The three bolts hit almost simultaneously.
She had only prepared a shield strong enough to block sword energy, pouring the rest of her magic into offense, so she couldn’t withstand the lightning.
Not knowing Jin wielded the Mingwang Sword, she had no way to anticipate this.
“Beris!”
“She’s not dead. I just had to put that noisy one to sleep for now. I could have killed her anytime—I barely held back. I owe you guys, after all. But I spared her because I think we need to talk.”
Kuzan glared at Jin without answering.
“Kuzan, do you really believe I killed Taimun?”
“If not you, then who?”
“Joshua Runcandel. The one who owned Taimun Marius. From what I see, he had more reasons to kill Taimun than I did.”
“What are you talking about…?”
“Unfortunately, Joshua is my eldest brother. He ordered Taimun to recruit Kidard Hall and tried to curse me—but failed. While tracking that, I ran into you guys in Delki.”
Kuzan’s eyes widened.
“Could it be… you’re… Jin Runcandel…?”
“The moment it was confirmed that Taimun was involved in my curse, I went straight to her villa with my eldest sister. And I saw her final moments with my own eyes—the miserable end of a hunting dog abandoned by its master.”
A heavy silence fell.
Kuzan’s eyes, bloodshot and blazing red in an instant, began to weep tears of blood.
“If you think I’m Taimun’s enemy, it’s because Joshua deceived you. Am I wrong?”
“…Where’s the proof? Can you prove it?”
Though his voice sounded calm, an indescribable fury simmered beneath it. Regardless of Kuzan’s power, even Jin felt a chill run down his spine.
“The very fact that you didn’t know my name until now is proof enough. Joshua—he knows I’m the Demon Swordmaster, and that I’m the contractor of Solderet. If he had no qualms, he would have told you that himself.”
“That’s not enough.”
“You don’t believe me, do you? Fine. I have no intention of explaining further. You just want to pin the blame on me, don’t you? Because you feel guilty for failing to protect Taimun.”
Kuzan’s sword trembled in his hand.
“Or maybe you’re just afraid to fight Joshua, the real killer of Taimun. You think if you die fighting me, that somehow makes up for your duty to her?”
Crack—!
Before Jin could finish speaking, thunder roared down from the sky.
The thunder was so immense it could have rivaled the power of a divine warrior’s aura, striking not Murakan, but Julian directly.
Jin instinctively turned to look.
Julian convulsed, wrapped in the electric charge left by the thunder, and for some reason, his body began to slowly lift off the ground.
“…Kid. We’ve got a problem.”
“What?”
“It seems the power of Gram, the god of thunder, has provoked Feitel.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“It looks like that guy has become Feitel’s incarnation.”
Crack! Crackle—! Crack!
As Julian’s eyes snapped open, it was as if the pupils of the dark night sky had split apart.
The entire sky was engulfed in a storm of lightning.