Episode 260
Chapter 81: The Pursuers (Part 2)
How did those mages find their way here?
It was obvious. Either they manipulated Veradin’s memories to extract some clue, or there was some kind of eavesdropping or detection magic already set up in this place.
Either way, it wasn’t an unexpected development.
“If trackers have come here, I figured it’d be Baekya, some other elite mage, or the Tower Master… but those gray robes—who are they exactly?”
Their attire was unlike anything from his past life’s memories.
Still, one thing was certain: these mages were far superior to any mage guild he had ever encountered.
“Jin!”
Just as Dante reflexively reached for his sword, Jin grabbed his wrist.
“Don’t draw it. The moment you do, they’ll consider you an enemy. That’s the vibe I’m getting.”
“This doesn’t feel right, Jin. Those aren’t ordinary mages.”
“Exactly why you need to use Veradin as a shield. What are you waiting for, Veradin? Get Dante out of here.”
“Jin, these are my aunt’s personal mages. She must be here with them. I’ll try to talk to them.”
“You’re not going to listen unless you pass out again, are you? What do you think will happen if you shield me here?”
“Ha. Damn it, sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize.”
His aunt—the younger sister of Kelliak Ziphl.
Octavia Ziphl.
Jin knew her name, but only because she was part of the Ziphl family. He never thought of her as important.
She had retired as a 7-star mage before Jin was even born.
Naturally, she was considered mediocre by Ziphl standards. Despite being Kelliak Ziphl’s sister, her relatively low skill and early retirement meant she had never drawn public attention.
In other words, she was like background noise within the Ziphl family.
Yet now, Octavia had arrived here with a group of mysterious elite mages.
—You’ve got it right. As you said, he’s just a subordinate, not the second-in-command. There’s a true power figure after Kelliak. Not something I can tell you yet, though.
Suddenly, Jin recalled something his father had said about Andrei in the past.
‘Was the real second-in-command that woman?’
Outside the window, among the mages who had set up the barrier, one figure held a staff that shone more brightly than the rest. That was Octavia.
And her staff was pointed directly at the parlor where they were.
Flash!
Jin almost missed the moment the staff unleashed a beam.
Octavia’s beam of light magic wasn’t just magic—it was like the slash of a master swordsman who had reached the pinnacle of their art.
Swish!
Jin shoved Dante toward Veradin and drew Sigmund.
He didn’t draw his sword to block the beam—no matter how skilled, even a 9-star warrior couldn’t parry such a lightning-fast attack without prior warning.
He drew it to brace for the next move and avoid fatal injury.
A razor-sharp flash grazed Jin’s left cheek. A few strands of hair were cut, and blood splattered, but thankfully Dante landed safely near Tuyuan and Finia.
“Dodged? So you’re not completely reckless after all.”
Crack!
Before her quiet muttering ended, a crack appeared where Jin had just dodged.
Thin and straight, like a cut made with a blade, the crack marked the beam’s path through the entire villa.
Five such cracks appeared in an instant.
Octavia fired a follow-up attack the moment Jin dodged, but it wasn’t meant to kill him.
It was an attack to destroy the villa itself—the place Jin could hide.
The massive villa was being sliced apart as if it were nothing. The cracks widened, shattering stones and materials that made up the building.
Inside the collapsing villa, fragments flew like popcorn popping. Jin and the dragons hastily raised protective barriers against the flying debris.
No, the dragons had been shielding Veradin and Dante from the start. Their once playful, chatty demeanor was gone, replaced by cold, emotionless gazes.
They even blocked Veradin from approaching Jin.
Dante, too, couldn’t break free from the dragons’ barrier.
The moment Octavia appeared, the dragons calculated that if Veradin and Dante left their protection, they would surely die.
Octavia, aware of the dragons’ presence, was confident enough to unleash her magic freely, intending to capture Jin.
Just as Jin had predicted, Octavia and her subordinates—the “Phantom Corps”—didn’t care if they destroyed the entire island.
“This is no joke.”
Watching countless fragments shatter against the barrier, Jin felt a chill run down his neck.
A long-overdue sense of crisis.
From inside the dragons’ shield, Jin silently mouthed to the struggling Dante and Veradin:
Think I’m going to get caught?
We’ll talk later.
Creak…!
The villa completely collapsed. A dark cloud of dust rose, obscuring vision.
“Keep him alive and bring him to me.”
Octavia’s order came down, and the Phantom Corps simultaneously raised their staffs.
The blood-red sky swirled, raining countless particles of magical energy.
It looked like a crimson rain. The red magic particles transformed into blades and chains, pouring down on Jin.
This was magic Jin simply couldn’t counter. It was a chain spell cast by mages of 9 and 10-star rank.
The red magic surged toward him like needles to the eyes, sending shivers down his spine. Unlike the battles against Ziphl mages in the Holy Empire, there was no way to reflect this with reverse energy.
Even unleashing all his spiritual and life energy wouldn’t help. The power gap was just too vast.
If he hadn’t anticipated this and prepared, Jin would have been helpless this time.
‘Seems like they’re a bit late.’
Screech! Clang!
Jin dodged sideways, knocking away the red chains and blades one by one. His hands felt like they were being torn apart—a sensation he hadn’t felt in a long time.
At most, ten times.
Even managing to block that many was a miracle. Someone had to show up.
Just like Tuyuan and Finia were protecting Veradin and Dante, Jin needed his guardian dragons.
Two, three, four.
Each time he blocked the red magic, it felt like his stamina and aura were being sliced away. It was brutal, but the Phantom Corps mages were also shaken.
An eighteen-year-old apprentice from Runkandel was fending off their chain spell multiple times—it was only natural they were rattled.
The island was already breaking apart. Every time Jin deflected the red magic, the ground trembled and chunks of the island fell away.
Of course, if the condition wasn’t to capture him alive, this would have ended long ago. Jin looked like he was walking on thin ice every moment.
But even so, this was a blow to the Phantom Corps’ pride.
Seven, eight.
Nine.
Finally, Jin coughed up blood and dropped to one knee. Aura reflux spread through his body, making it impossible to swing his sword any longer.
Yet, a smirk tugged at his lips.
Because the moment he blocked the ninth red magic attack, a dark, massive hole appeared in the middle of the sky.
Not a single guardian dragon.
Plural—guardians.
Being protected by two dragons was not Veradin’s exclusive privilege.
From the black void that pierced the Phantom Corps’ barrier, the last remaining black dragons of Inse revealed themselves.
[So the losers of Inse are going all out just to catch one kid, even unleashing the Red Abyss. The old Phantom Corps would be speechless.]
Misha.
Suddenly, her voice echoed, and the chain spell “Red Abyss” aimed at Jin froze in place.
It wasn’t that the Phantom Corps stopped.
The spiritual energy and shadows clinging to the red magic were being disrupted by Misha’s power.
[Kid, how’s that? Feeling a little dizzy now? If not now, when will you learn how scary the world really is?]
Then Murakan’s voice followed.
He was darkening the blood-red sky anew. Like when he annihilated the Dark Magic Council, swirls of spiritual energy rippled with his wingbeats.
Where the sky should have been, a fierce, dark sea seemed to spread.
Amid all this, Jin mulled over Murakan’s greeting.
‘“You need to know how scary the world is”? That crazy dragon—he didn’t come late on purpose, did he?’
In truth, Murakan and Misha had been delayed by the unexpectedly thick Phantom Corps barrier. But the truth would never be told to Jin.
Kraaaah!
Before the Phantom Corps could regroup, Murakan’s breath shot down to the ground.
Even as they were forming a new protective barrier after the massive chain spell Red Abyss, the Phantom Corps mages remained calm, neither staggered nor thrown off their rhythm.
Just as Murakan’s breath was about to strike the barrier, Octavia’s beam shot up.
Amazingly, the beam split the breath in two and surged toward Murakan’s neck, but he didn’t dodge—instead, he blocked it with his wing.
Misha, still holding the Red Abyss spell, was slowly descending toward Jin.
“Murakan and Mishara, the legendary Black Dragons, meeting in such an unexpected place. So, it’s true—Jin Runkandel was your contractor all along. Looks like the wounds Kadhun dealt you have fully healed.”
Octavia didn’t even flinch under the gaze of the Black Dragons. She was a monster in her own right.
[Wizard, if you return alive, tell Kadhun this: the King of the Sky has come back.]
“That’s not a difficult message to deliver.”
[And tell him the King of the Earth will change as well.]
“Do you really think the Runkandel family will defeat us and claim the throne of this world? Have you forgotten the lesson left by your old contractor a thousand years ago?”
Murakan’s lips twitched—not from anger or shame.
[Phuhuhu… Hahaha!]
A mocking laugh.
The kind of amusement great beings feel when looking down on foolish humans who know nothing.
[Who said the Runkandel family would become the King of the Earth? I’m talking about my contractor right now. You babble on, unaware that today was your last chance to change the future.]
It wasn’t the Runkandel family that would push aside the Gipl and become King of the Earth—it was Jin Runkandel.
Octavia couldn’t bring herself to scoff at such a ridiculous joke.
Though she had been calm in front of the two Black Dragons just moments ago, suddenly it felt like a huge thorn had lodged itself in her throat.
Why?
It was a gut feeling—not the insight of a ten-star wizard, but a simple, ominous, and intense intuition any human might experience. And it made Octavia deeply uneasy.
“…Very well. If the great Black Dragons have gone this far to warn me, there’s no need to hesitate. No need to capture the phantoms alive. Shoot Jin Runkandel on sight.”