Episode 293
Chapter 91: Power, and the Worship of Power (Part 4)
“No way… That guy actually came to Ventica…!”
The distance was too great to make out his face clearly, but recognizing a friend wasn’t difficult.
Not a single sword had been swung, yet Jin’s heart was pounding faster.
He sensed it instinctively—Veradin was not himself.
Suddenly, the last conversation they had came flooding back.
“So, what are you going to do?”
“Do what?”
“Get out of Ziphl.”
“Ah, that… It’s probably impossible. The only realistic way is for you to become the Rider first, then capture me as a prisoner. But that could easily lead to all-out war. And who knows how much your brothers would torment me.”
“Either way, Runcandel and Ziphl will fight, with or without you.”
“That’s true, but Jin, I have my own responsibilities. If the family is heading down the wrong path, shouldn’t I be the one to set it right? I’ll restore everything to normal. I’ll bring Ziphl back to the proud family I once knew.”
Shouldn’t I be the one to set it right? Shouldn’t I…?
For a moment, time seemed to freeze as those words echoed repeatedly in Jin’s mind.
Restore the family.
Jin didn’t believe in Veradin’s ambition.
The evil empire that had never fallen in thousands of years had already gone too far to be fixed. The only answer was to destroy it.
But even destruction seemed impossible—it was too vast, too solid.
More than half the world was under Ziphl’s control. Their alliances were unbreakable, and countless people depended on Ziphl’s magic to live.
Could such a world power be toppled even if the entire world turned against it?
That was Ziphl.
So Jin hoped Veradin would run away. Leave the family behind and live as his true self.
“No, if it were me, I would have left Runcandel. If I ever felt my will slipping away without me realizing it…”
Massive sword energies and Kozek’s cannon fire clashed, showering the sky with fragments.
In that darkened sky, Veradin’s red eyes flickered dangerously.
He’s not himself, Jin repeated silently, clenching his teeth.
A life where memories are manipulated and the self slowly lost—no one would want that.
Veradin, stained with the power of fire, stepping onto the battlefield with bloodshot eyes, looked like a madman. Like a monster desperate to kill his enemies.
Boom! Boom! Crash!
Everywhere Veradin’s gaze landed, spatial explosions erupted.
“There’s no way you, who resisted the family until the very end, came to this battlefield willingly.”
Jin hadn’t expected to face Veradin on his first mission as Rider.
And of all things, to see him like this—anger and curses rose in his throat.
He wanted to pull Veradin out of the battlefield immediately, try anything to bring his mind back.
But that was just emotion.
In reality, it was impossible. Letting anger take over wouldn’t improve the situation.
“It’s probably impossible to restore Veradin to his normal state right now. Maybe forever.”
Jin forced himself to control his rage and look at the situation coldly.
He couldn’t erase his worry entirely, but he thought this:
Veradin wasn’t a child.
It wasn’t Jin’s role to throw himself into danger like rescuing a child in peril.
That was something Veradin had to do himself. Jin only needed to reach out when Veradin asked for help first.
Veradin had chosen to resist the family, and as a friend, Jin had to respect that—at least until he was sure Veradin was completely broken.
Calming his mind quickly, Jin’s gaze steadied.
“First, Veradin’s appearance has shifted the tide of battle.”
More precisely, it was the magic Veradin wielded—something close to divine power—his spatial explosions.
Only two people on Runcandel’s side could effectively strike the flying Kozek and enemy dragons: Dipus and Barton. They flew through the sky, attacking with sword energies.
But the spatial explosions blocked their movements.
Even with Runcandel’s blessed bodies, a 9-star and 10-star knight, avoiding spatial explosions midair was nearly impossible.
Veradin exploited this, relentlessly restricting their movements.
As a result, they could only respond by firing sword energies from the ground, leaving Ziphl to launch an almost one-sided assault.
Though the power of Veradin’s spatial explosions was on a different level from Midor Elner’s, a single spell had effectively pinned down two transcendent warriors.
“Dipus must be confused. It’s hard to accept that Veradin, not Keliak, is using spatial explosions. He probably suspects Barton leaked information about the Ventica mission to Ziphl.”
As expected, Dipus was struggling internally. He didn’t show it to the enemy, but Jin could see right through him.
“Barton probably did leak information before the operation started. Since he was assigned to Ventica, he must have been told to use ‘appropriate measures’ to secure the Ancient Eternal Steel.”
The “appropriate measure” was spatial explosions.
If they threw too many resources trying to stop Barton and Dipus, Runcandel would respond with reinforcements, making it pointless.
But if they could simply neutralize Dipus and Barton’s aerial combat with spatial explosions?
Runcandel had only two aerial fighters, while Ziphl had five dragons and Kozek in the field. No one knew how many of Ziphl’s elite mages, the White Nights, were aboard Kozek.
No matter how strong Dipus and Barton were, once their aerial combat was blocked, they were at a severe disadvantage.
“Ziphl played this smart. If Runcandel and Ziphl had just fought with more troops, spatial explosions alone wouldn’t have changed the tide.”
This was when Dipus and Barton had knights protecting them from spatial explosions. The ten guardian knights who came along didn’t have that capability.
The infiltration squad was blocked and couldn’t advance further, and the guardian knights assigned to eliminate retreating soldiers were instead being chased by dragons.
“Damn it! Why does Veradin Ziphl have Keliak’s power…? Sir Barton! I’ll create an opening—take the shot!”
“Fourth Rider, how do you plan to create an opening? The White Night mages are heavily protecting Veradin.”
“That shield is nothing—I can tear it apart anytime.”
“You’re not saying the Fourth Rider’s skills are lacking, right? It’s just too dangerous. With aerial combat blocked, if we want to see this through, we have to accept heavy losses.”
“So you’re saying we should just retreat empty-handed?”
“Think rationally, Fourth Rider. I don’t want to leave a mark of failure as a Black Knight either, but the enemy has brought a strong advantage.”
“What did you say?”
“Is the Ancient Eternal Steel really worth risking the Fourth Rider’s life? Just confirming that Veradin can use Keliak’s power is a big win.”
Even as they spoke, fragments and magic rained down relentlessly.
Dipus and Barton, with their transcendent senses, kept dodging the spatial explosions.
But the other guardian knights couldn’t.
Spatial explosions were notorious because they could kill without warning.
A sudden scream pierced the air as a guardian knight’s arm was blown off. The explosion had aimed for his head, but the knight reflexively took the hit on his arm instead.
Even Dipus and Barton had to push their senses to the limit to avoid spatial explosions.
Moreover, Veradin’s spatial explosions were being cast with “simultaneous triple activation”—three explosions erupting in midair at once.
While Dipus and Barton could defend against Kozek’s cannon fire, magic, and the dragons’ breath, spatial explosions were a different matter.
It was only a matter of time before other guardian knights fell victim.
“Fourth Rider! What does it mean to be a Rider of Runcandel? It means leading and taking responsibility for the family’s knights. Do you want to lead them to a senseless slaughter just to avoid failure? Make a decision!”
That filthy traitor bastard—I know exactly what you’re up to!
Swallowing the rage rising in his throat, Dipus shook his head.
If the Black Knight here wasn’t Barton, Dipus would have agreed wholeheartedly to retreat. There wasn’t a single wrong word in what was said.
But Barton was a spy, and Dipus’s mission was to secure Ventica and kill him.
“As you say, the Ancient Eternal Steel may not be worth that much. But if it’s Veradin’s head, that changes everything. We can’t just turn back. We’ll seize Ventica and bring back the head of Ziphl’s next family head.”
“Then I’ll give the order to retreat.”
“Sir Barton!”
“Even the Fourth Rider can’t override my authority. I’m giving you one last chance—give the retreat order yourself. If you refuse, I, as a Black Knight of Runcandel, will lead the knights to escape. If even one person dies, it will be your responsibility.”
“What are you saying? When will we get another chance to kill Ziphl’s next family head…?”
“To me, it looks like the Fourth Rider is blinded by ambition and making a mistake. You said this was a chance to kill Veradin? Do you really think Ziphl would be so careless as to leave the next family head alive?”
Deefus was at a loss for words, his frustration nearly driving him mad.
He couldn’t possibly reveal Barton’s betrayal in front of all their enemies.
Even if he did, killing Barton in this situation was out of the question. In fact, it was a relief if Barton didn’t end up killing him first.
“Damn it! I need to fall back for now and look for another chance… all because of a single spell!”
If he retreated now, it would be a guaranteed humiliation.
That wasn’t even the worst part. Rosa would hand over the Black Knight assassination mission to another knight, most likely Joshua or Runtia.
If they managed to cleanly take Barton down, unlike him, there was no way Deefus wouldn’t lose standing within the family.
Suddenly, a thought struck him.
Jin Runcandel—his youngest brother—hadn’t joined the battlefield yet. If it was Jin…
If it was Jin… maybe he had a clever plan to turn this damn situation around.
The mere thought stung Deefus with humiliation, but from his perspective, things couldn’t be any worse.
“Damn it. How did it come to this, Deefus? But right now, personal pride doesn’t matter. Barton has to die. Today. Here. No matter what!”
Jin was still watching from outside the battlefield.
The distance and the roar of battle kept him from hearing the conversation between Deefus and Barton, but it wasn’t hard to read how things were unfolding.
“Barton must have urged a retreat. With the spatial explosion thrown into the mix, risking Deefus and the Paladins’ lives just to get the ancient eternal steel would be madness.”
Jin had no intention of standing by and letting things go Barton’s way.
“First, I need to neutralize that spatial explosion.”
Having made up his mind, Jin began moving toward the battlefield.