Chapter 239
Episode 76: Broken and Burdened (Part 4)
The entire sky was bruised, dyed a deep, bruised blue.
A deafening roar filled the air, and the blinding light stung the eyes. Beneath it all gathered figures no longer human—monstrous forms.
They were the 813 victims transformed into living golems.
Each had completed their transformation, their bodies enveloped in a fierce, crackling energy—like the brain energy wielded by the Mingwang clan.
Kurr…!
With every surge of light wrapping the living golems, lightning spread across the sky. Murakan’s figure was obscured by the storm.
At first glance, the brain energy of these living golems seemed formidable.
But the visual effect of the sky being ‘covered’ was more impressive than the actual power. It wasn’t nearly as transcendent as Mertual had feared.
Though their methods of wielding power were similar, their brain energy was no match for that of a true Mingwang.
“So Murakan won’t be taken down by these living golems,” Jin thought.
Jin had rushed out in a panic, worried that the living golems might possess combat power comparable to the Mingwang clan. Mertual had even said something like, “Not even the Black Dragon could handle them.”
Mertual wasn’t entirely wrong.
If there were eight hundred living golems capable of generating such lightning, plus three nine-star mages, hundreds of dark magic council wizards, and the White Wolf and Red Tiger tribes all present—
Even a renowned warrior or dragon would be wise to flee.
But Mertual didn’t know the true might of the Black Dragon Murakan, nor the strength of Jin and the real Mingwang clan.
“Turning innocent citizens into monsters, humiliating my brothers? Those bastards…”
With a sharp snap, Jin drew Sigmund.
The Dark Magic Council—
Today, they would be wiped from the world.
“Murakan!”
Jin called out his name, pouring all his energy into it.
In the center of the bruised sky, a black vortex formed, revealing Murakan’s figure.
All the Dark Magic Council members, except the living golems, turned their gaze toward Jin.
“That—That guy! Why is he here?!”
The shout came from Chukon Toldrer, the Grand Mage of Anz. The moment he saw the rune of Multa—the magical helm Jin wore—he recognized it.
The other nine-star mages tilted their heads in confusion at Chukon’s sudden hesitation.
“Sir Chukon, do you know this man?”
A gaunt man with sunken eyes, Cha Go.
“He’s the one who stole the compass from the Velado Principality! Be careful—he wields brain energy far beyond that of any living golem!”
Just as Cho and Susan were about to respond, Murakan spoke.
[Have you confirmed everything?]
He asked about the location of the citizens and the evidence to be taken to the kingdom.
Jin nodded.
[Then there’s no need to waste more time. What’s the plan?]
“Kill all the living golems and the rabble. Cripple the nine-star mages and capture them alive.”
[That’s a bit tricky. Can’t we just kill them all?]
“Then let Cha Go handle the capture of one.”
A sly smile spread across Murakan’s lips.
[Understood. That won’t be difficult.]
“Those lunatics really think they’re Siron Runkandel or Keliak Ziphl or something!?”
Boom!
Cha Go slammed his staff into the ground, shouting.
Having been ambushed, their fortress destroyed, and their laboratory sealed off, he was already furious beyond reason. Now, this bloodied fiend was spouting nonsense provocations, making his blood boil.
Susan Rillista shared a similar reaction.
She believed they had only been ambushed—that the Dark Magic Council’s main base wouldn’t fall to just one dragon and one warrior.
Only Chukon Toldrer, who had faced Jin directly, wore a grim expression.
Even he, acknowledging Jin’s formidable power, judged that facing all of them together was like an egg striking a rock.
That black dragon hovering in the sky was terrifying, but as long as Cho and the others resisted, it couldn’t lay waste to this place. It simply couldn’t… could it?
“Why do I have such a bad feeling about this…?”
Just as Chukon tried to steady his breath against the ominous premonition—
Whoooosh!
From Murakan’s two wings, a tidal wave of spiritual energy poured forth.
In an instant, the spiritual energy scattered across the sky twisted into whirlpools, devouring the brain energy and plunging the land into darkness.
The living golems still generated brain energy, but whenever their lightning reached the boundary of the spiritual energy’s influence, it vanished without a trace.
“Oh ho, so the Shadow Dragon, huh? Let’s see how long that confidence lasts! Beastmen, capture that guy!”
At Cho’s command, the nearby beastmen raised their weapons and advanced toward Jin with fierce, murderous eyes.
Snap! Crackle!
The pale blade of Sigmund, wrapped in crackling brain energy, began to surge violently in response to Jin’s will.
The perceptive beastmen flinched and stepped back.
Those less perceptive, sensing no difference between Jin’s brain energy and that of the living golems, raised their auras.
The brain energy escaping from Sigmund formed pillars that spread in all directions.
[Hahaha!]
At the same time, Murakan laughed at Cho’s ignorance and unleashed all the spiritual energy covering the sky.
The Release of Spiritual Energy.
The beginning and end for those who wield spiritual energy. Murakan’s amber eyes glowed, and darkness swallowed the entire area.
This wasn’t just a figure of speech—everyone on the ground, except Jin, felt their vision go pitch black.
Though brief, losing sight involuntarily is a terror no one can ignore.
My eyes…!?
When their vision returned, the Dark Magic Council’s mages and beastmen instinctively rubbed their eyes and checked each other’s faces, silently asking if they had all just experienced the same thing.
They thought nothing had happened.
Until they saw their own shadows moving on their own beneath their feet.
“Wha—ugh, what is this?!”
“My shadow…!”
Their shadows were tearing apart. The natural, flowing shapes were gone, replaced by rips and stretches.
Some even merged with the shadows of those nearby.
The grotesque sight, something none had ever imagined or experienced, triggered waves of nausea and a chill down their spines.
Not everyone’s shadow was affected.
Among the roughly six hundred remaining mages and beastmen, about half experienced the same phenomenon. The rest were equally shocked.
[We need to reduce their numbers a bit. It’s not pleasant to see them writhing like that.]
As soon as Murakan finished speaking—
Screams and dull sounds of breaking and shattering echoed across the land.
“Gah, ugh!”
“Help…!”
Those caught within the Release of Spiritual Energy began to change.
Three hundred bodies twisted, tore, and shattered like statues hammered to pieces.
They suffered the same fate as their shadows.
Those whose shadows’ necks were severed had their real necks cut. Those whose shadows burst had their bodies torn open.
As the corpses collapsed lifelessly to the ground, their shadows escaped and were sucked upward into Murakan, absorbed into him.
Cho and Susan sensed something was terribly wrong. Even after decades of mastering magic and rising to Grand Mage status, they had never heard of anything like this.
Chukon had been maintaining a protective barrier since earlier, while Cho and Susan were just beginning to prepare their spells.
But the few seconds they were distracted by the chaos unleashed by the Release of Spiritual Energy would become a grudge they’d never forget, even in death.
Because Jin had already finished his preparations.
With Sigmund plunged into the ground, the land scattered with drifting shadows was once again bathed in a deep blue light.
The Four Swords of the War God—
Erosion.
The pillars of brain energy floating around Sigmund all slammed into the ground simultaneously.
A dense brain energy stained the entire battlefield, just as the 813 living golems had once turned the sky a fierce blue before Murakan unleashed his power.
But this brain energy was different. Even the nine-star mages, who had never seen the true power of the Mingwang clan, instinctively knew this was the real deal.
Kurrurr!
Even Vanessa Olson, a ten-star knight, instinctively tried to evade the eroding brain energy.
No ordinary beastman warrior could withstand it.
The pillars of brain energy embedded in the ground began to rumble like thunder. Jin’s brain energy flickered across the darkened sky.
“Get out of the way!”
Cho shouted to the beastmen charging at Jin, raising his staff.
But it was too late. The thunderous energy had already claimed the lives of more than half the beastmen near Jin.
Crack!
The protective barriers raised by Cho and Chukon barely saved the rest.
But those who dodged the thunder stood dazed, staring at the ground. Their bodies were paralyzed by the fierce Mingwang energy Jin radiated—more savage than ever before.
Sssrrrk!
Jin’s two swords gleamed.
As Sigmund continued his relentless assault, Bradamante slipped out of her sheath.
The blackened blade surged toward the necks of the beastmen huddled beneath the protective barrier. With every arc of the blade, severed heads dropped to the ground.
Jin, killing the beastmen like a ghost, locked eyes with Jo.
About five hundred of the bio-golems were still alive. “Take him down!” Jo shouted desperately, and the bio-golems all charged at Jin at once.
But Jo didn’t shout because he thought these incomplete bio-golems, each packing the power of a four- or five-star warrior, could actually stop Jin.
He just needed to buy a little time before Jin reached him.
He had realized that no matter how many bio-golems there were, they were useless against Jin and Murakan. Their martial arts—especially Murakan’s—were far beyond anything he could comprehend.
“I should have run instead of gathering them all… What a fool!”
But regret was pointless now.
Whoosh!
Jin summoned Tess as he pushed through the bio-golems—no, the unfortunate civilians turned bio-golems—and closed in on Jo.
“It’s time to pay for the desecration of my brothers.”
Susan and Chukon were busy fending off Murakan’s follow-up attacks. Jo watched the bio-golems fall mercilessly into blue flames, recalling Jin’s words about “capturing alive.”
“I have to surrender and survive. If I just survive, the captain will find a way to save me…”