Episode 27
Episode 10. Jin, the Cadets, the Beastmen, and… (5)

“What the hell is this now?”

Jin lowered his body, supporting Mesa as he did so. Boom! Boom! It sounded like a massive siege hammer was relentlessly pounding Kinzello’s headquarters, and it felt like the entire building could be blown apart at any moment.

An earthquake?

Or maybe just some kind of explosion upstairs?

Jin sharpened his senses, watching the trembling ceiling. Something felt off, but he had to keep his composure.

“Young master! You should get out of here first.”

“Quiet, Mesa.”

“Just promise me one thing.”

Mesa looked Jin straight in the eye.

“If things get truly dangerous, you have to leave me behind. You’re someone who can’t afford to go down here.”

Jin nodded.

He didn’t agree with Mesa’s suggestion—otherwise, he wouldn’t have come to rescue her in the first place. But when dealing with a kid, sometimes you had to be pragmatic.

“First, let’s check what’s going on upstairs.”

“Could it be the mages who started the attack? It feels like the building’s about to collapse.”

“The mages here don’t have that kind of power.”

Even as they spoke, the deafening noise continued without pause.

“We’re going up. I can’t support you this time. Stay sharp and stick close behind me.”

The two climbed the stairs.

The impact seemed to have started outside, as large cracks spiderwebbed across the walls. Murals bearing Kinzello’s emblem had all fallen to the floor.

But the strange thing was, despite the chaos inside, not a single Kinzello member had entered the building.

‘Either they’re still assessing the situation outside, or they’re already dead. It has to be one of the two.’

As Jin led Mesa outside, he quickly found the answer.

The latter.

Four corpses of Kinzello members lay just beyond the iron gate, their bodies grotesquely torn as if clawed by enormous talons.

‘They must have died trying to get back inside. And these are the marks of beastmen.’

Of all things, they’d run into the one group Jin least wanted to face here. He grimaced.

Outside, the scene was pure hell.

The flames Jin had summoned had already crept up to the building’s front, and along the narrow path through the fire, shredded and torn bodies were strewn everywhere.

“Mesa.”

“Yes?”

“There are beastmen. Judging by the claws on those corpses, they’re a combat tribe. Shh, don’t say a word. Keep walking along this path. We don’t have time to be distracted by the fire—damn it.”

Jin stopped mid-sentence, raising Bradamante into a ready stance. From within the blazing inferno, something was slowly emerging.

Pure white fur, towering over two meters tall, and eyes glowing with a fierce, icy light.

A white wolf tribe member.

In his right hand, he gripped a massive hammer—the source of the thunderous pounding that had been shaking everything.

With the incredible brute strength typical of his kind, the beastman had been hammering the building’s surroundings nonstop, as if trying to flush out a rat hiding in a hole.

“What the hell? I thought some worthless punks got taken down by someone, but turns out it was just a kid like you?”

The beastman twirled his hammer casually and stopped walking. By then, Mesa was completely terrified—not for herself, but because Jin was in danger.

“…Young master. He’s from the white wolf tribe. I’ll buy us some time. Please keep your promise.”

With a deep breath, Jin turned and lightly tapped the back of Mesa’s neck. Her eyes filled with despair as she trembled, then fainted.

The beastman shrugged, amused by the sight.

“Heh, a scene that could bring tears to your eyes. Too good to keep to myself. So this is what humans call… love? Are you two lovers?”

Though his tone was rough, like a street thug’s, the white wolf tribe was no ordinary gang.

If compared to knights, they’d be at least six-star rank. And that was just the average for an adult white wolf.

They were a race born solely for battle and slaughter.

In other words, Jin’s chances of winning against this guy were practically zero.

“I am Jin Runcandel, rightful heir of Siron Runcandel. State your name, beastman.”

“Runcandel…?”

The smile vanished from the beastman’s face. Hearing the name Runcandel in a situation like this could mean only two things.

Either he feared the name.

Or he hated it.

In this case, it was the latter.

Long ago, the first head of the Runcandel family had killed ‘Xavier,’ a white wolf tribe member they once worshipped as a god.

“Today, I will offer you as a sacrifice at Xavier’s altar to soothe his restless spirit! Jin Runcandel! Choose now—will you fight me honorably, or run like a coward and be torn apart?”

Jin’s sword glowed with a pure white aura.

“I will fight honorably.”

This was a calculated move, based on the white wolf tribe’s nature.

Normally, they regarded humans as nothing more than prey or toys, showing no regard for honor and fighting mercilessly.

But in special cases—if the opponent was strong enough to warrant honor, or if it was a Runcandel—they sought an honorable duel, fighting with respect and without any dirty tricks.

A prey killed in such a way was considered ‘untainted’ and could be offered at Xavier’s altar.

“Quazito Truka. Before we begin, I have one proposal.”

“Speak, Runcandel brat.”

“During the duel, do not touch the humans who fall behind me.”

Quazito nodded.

“Fine. But if I win, that woman is mine.”

“Agreed.”

Jin moved to an open space in front of the building. Quazito passed by him without attacking—bound by the white wolf tribe’s code of honor.

“This is a good place to fight. That way, we can keep our promise during the duel.”

“Good thinking. You know our laws well. But remember, Runcandel brat—if you try to cheat…”

“I won’t. No tricks. I’ll just tear you apart.”

“Hahaha! So there is a Runcandel who knows honor.”

Jin smiled inwardly.

This beastman, Quazito, was probably meeting a Runcandel for the first time. If he’d encountered any of Jin’s brothers, he wouldn’t be alive right now.

They faced each other about ten steps apart.

“Begin!”

Quazito raised his hammer and took a stance. The first strike was his.

Whoosh! Quazito charged forward, swinging the hammer. Despite his massive, muscular frame—easily over two hundred kilograms—his speed was astonishing.

Jin stepped back with a footwork technique, dodging the attack and even managed to stab Bradamante once.

But Quazito was no ordinary opponent. He shifted seamlessly between offense and defense, pressing Jin relentlessly, who was forced to retreat helplessly.

Clang! In the few seconds of their clash, their weapons met only once, but the impact sent searing pain through Jin’s wrist.

Not just his wrist—the pain radiated through his entire body, down to his toes, as if he’d been beaten all over.

Even the strongest could only withstand such a clash fewer than ten times.

‘There’s only one chance.’

If this had been a hopeless fight, Jin would have already shattered the Orgal pendant Luna gave him. The moment his eldest sister was summoned, Quazito would have been torn apart in a second.

But this wasn’t a crisis worth using that pendant for.

And if he couldn’t overcome even this level of danger, it meant he wasn’t worthy of being strong. Every strong person Jin knew was a symbol of countless reversals, having survived many deaths.

Having a secret weapon the enemy didn’t know about was always an advantage.

There were two things Quazito didn’t know about Jin: that he could use spiritual energy and magic.

‘Magic is out of the question.’

He couldn’t use magic. If he missed the chance to kill Quazito, he’d have to use the pendant, no matter how much it pained him.

If Luna arrived and there was any trace of magic left, or if Quazito bragged about it before dying, it would cause trouble later.

Besides, magic of around fourth rank couldn’t even pierce the white wolf’s hide.

That left only one option: spiritual energy. And Jin had already decided how to use it.

‘Time to unleash the sword.’

Bradamante’s awakening.

The power of the contractor, which Murakan had told him not to even dream of until he reached the fifth rank of spiritual energy release.

On the dawn he received the sword from Luna, Jin had already tried to awaken it once.

The moment the sword awakened and immense power surged through his body, Murakan had beaten him down, causing him to fail.

“Are you crazy, Jin Runcandel?! You’re the only contractor! If you go down…!”

Murakan, who had shouted like that, truly looked furious. To calm him down, I had to track down every lewd picture book imaginable…

And now, once again, Jin was waiting for the perfect moment to rekindle that very feeling.

Kwang!

With a powerful swing from Quajito, Jin groaned. Even though he blocked it perfectly with Bradamante, his body couldn’t hold up.

“A fine sword you’ve got there, you little Runcandel. Not a single chip from my hammer.”

“Thanks.”

“But it doesn’t suit your symbol—the black sword. It’s too white, too flashy.”

Zheong! Another strike sent Jin flying into the outer wall of Kinzel’s building. The cold bricks slammed into his skull and spine, making him feel like they were shattering, but somehow he managed to stay conscious.

Huff, huff…

Blood mixed with his breath as Quajito approached, but his figure blurred into two—an aftereffect of the impact.

“This ends now. I’ll offer that sword at Javier’s altar along with you. A good fight it was.”

Quajito raised his hammer high.

If that hammer came crashing down like a massive boulder, Jin would surely meet his death.

“Farewell!”

But just as the hammer swung down, Quajito suddenly felt darkness swallow his vision. It was only for a moment, but strangely, it felt like hours had passed.

He couldn’t bring his hammer down.

Time itself had paused for him.

When he regained his senses and lowered his head, what met Quajito’s eyes as the darkness lifted was a black blade piercing through his own body.

A blade as dark as a shadow in the night.

Jin’s hair flickered like flames, waving wildly as if caught in a ghostly wind, gripping that sword.

“When… when did this happen?”

“I didn’t even know why the black sword was our family’s symbol until recently.”

The moment Quajito spat out bright red blood, Jin suddenly let out a scream—harsh, terrifying, nothing like his usual voice.

“A good fight it was.”

Kaaaaa!

The shadow clinging to the fallen Quajito, the shadow of Mesa collapsed over there, the shadows of the burning trees—

All the shadows in the area were being absorbed into Jin. They moved like beasts fleeing the light, slipping away to hide somewhere.