Chapter 304
Episode 93: Temar’s Second Tomb (2)

There was something oddly familiar in the way she spoke.

Unlike Silderei, who treated intruders as enemies guarding the tomb, the guardian before him greeted him like an old friend.

‘Sarara… That’s the name I heard from the recording device in the first tomb. Runkandel, who took five demon swordsmen to the Tower of the Three Hundred Dragons.’

Indeed, Sarara was smiling as she looked at Murakan. But it was a strange smile, one that felt out of place on a face smeared with spirit energy as thick as blood.

“What do you mean I’m late?”

[Before you arrived, I killed all those bastards. Well, to be precise, I wiped them out with Fadler. You’re late again, man. Where were you slacking off this time?]

“Sara.”

[Fadler got a bit hurt. As for me, I’m as fine as ever, but that weakling definitely needs some training from you or the lord.]

Sara, get a grip!

Just as Murakan was about to shout this, Jin grabbed his shoulder.

Her eyes said it all: Murakan, that’s not the real Sara you know. This is a guardian fashioned in her image.

The proof was the spirit energy flowing through her veins instead of blood.

Just as Jin had felt pain when she cut down a mirage in the Mitra Great Desert, Murakan was overwhelmed by a similar feeling.

This guardian was too much like the real Sara Runkandel—her speech, her mannerisms, even the way she treated him.

A being forged from spirit energy was indistinguishable from the original.

Not just in appearance, but especially if their soul was intertwined.

[Murakan, why aren’t you answering? You’re late, so don’t tell me you’re too lazy to respond.]

“…Looks like you’ve been fighting for too long, Sara Runkandel.”

Quikantel stepped forward, speaking. She, too, remembered Sara.

The guardian hesitated, then turned her gaze toward Quikantel.

[Oh? Look who it is. Quikantel? What a surprise to see a bystander on the battlefield. The fight’s over, though.]

Murakan and Quikantel felt a deep sorrow.

A thousand years.

That was how long the guardian had stood alone, guarding the second tomb in this dark pocket dimension.

Her body was covered in wounds, and thousands of skeletons littered the ground—a grim testament to the brutal battle she had endured. Her sword was broken, the blade halved.

The guardian no longer distinguished past from present, sometimes forgetting even her mission.

Just like now.

In other words, she was not in her right mind.

This was the price she paid for enduring a millennium alone after killing the mages of Ziphl who had raided the tomb.

[Who are all these friends you’ve brought along? Faces I don’t recognize.]

As the guardian approached, Murakan made a decision.

He transformed back into his true form, spreading his wings. Quikantel followed suit, revealing the majestic silver dragon.

[My old comrade, Sara Runkandel. Sorry for being late. Let me help you finally lay down this old burden.]

At Murakan’s words, the guardian stopped in her tracks.

Up close, she looked far worse off than they had imagined. If she were bleeding blood instead of spirit energy, standing upright would seem a miracle.

[What are you talking about all of a sudden…?]

[Draw your sword.]

[What? You want to fight me?]

Behind Murakan, spirals of spirit energy began to gather.

Spirit Release.

The power Murakan unleashed only when he had to kill his enemy. The guardian knew this well.

[You’re joking, right?]

[Jin, everyone listen carefully. Even in this grievously injured state, Sara was always considered the strongest among the ten demon swordsmen of old Runkandel. Don’t underestimate her.]

Could someone fight like that in such a condition? Her sword was broken, and she had lost many teeth.

Yet she had faced thousands of mages alone.

Clang! Click!

The group drew their weapons in unison.

A tense silence fell between them and the guardian.

Then, a massive aura began to surge from her like a tidal wave.

[So that’s it… Now I understand. Murakan, you weren’t late. You waited on purpose. You waited until the fight was over and I was exhausted.]

Whoooom! Flash!

Suddenly, Sara’s sword blazed with radiant light. If Murakan hadn’t erected a spirit energy barrier, most of the group would have instinctively closed their eyes to shield themselves.

And if the guardian had been in full strength, none of those who closed their eyes would have escaped with their necks intact. The martial prowess of Sara Runkandel in her prime was nearly divine.

[Have you fallen for the bystander’s trick? Or are you, arrogant as you are, afraid of Ziphl? Everyone believed in you, you filthy traitor.]

Each word stabbed deep into Murakan’s heart.

His spirit energy-shrouded back seemed small and faint.

Every time he faced his unforgettable past, Murakan’s heart was torn apart by sharp, cutting sorrow.

The guardian raised her sword, blazing with aura.

[Prepare yourself. Even if betrayed by a comrade and shattered to pieces, I am Sara Runkandel.]

Flare!

The aura-drenched sword burst into flames once more.

At the same time, blazing fireballs erupted around Sara, like the spirit energy swirling around Murakan.

‘Magic!?’

She was a pureblood before Runkandel made that humiliating pact with Ziphl.

A demon swordswoman.

[Gili, Alisa, Kashmir, protect Enya and Jet. Jin, cover us!]

Quikantel shouted, gathering her breath. Murakan had already formed thousands of spirit energy spikes aimed at the guardian.

The spikes fell silently to the ground, dark and ominous, targeting the wounded guardian.

But with a single stroke, she erased them all.

The broken sword was no obstacle for her.

The flames pouring from her blade not only wiped out the spikes but burned fiercely without losing momentum.

Suddenly, a sea of fire spread out.

The guardian’s flames carried the heat to turn targets to ash, but also the cutting edge to cleave them in two.

Sharp fire—an odd but fitting description.

Spirit energy and fire tangled in the air, devouring each other. Quikantel exhaled and activated her power over time, briefly freezing the guardian’s flames.

But there was too much fire.

It exceeded the limits of Quikantel’s control. Even if one flame was stopped, others suffocated the battlefield.

It was almost unbelievable to witness. Despite her grievous wounds, the guardian fought the two dragons without faltering.

Sara Runkandel, the Flame Emperor.

The name people called her a thousand years ago.

Though worn down by endless battles and solitude, unable to fully unleash her true power, and erased from history by Ziphl—

Her fire still shone brightly in this lonely pocket dimension.

[Murakan, what are you trying to do? There’s no way your power is only this much. Are you feeling guilty because of old ties?]

The flames grew fiercer by the second. Murakan and Quikantel’s powers were being overwhelmed by the expanding inferno.

[Or are you pitying me?]

[That’s not it, Sara.]

[Then what is it? If you’ve turned your back on Runkandel, then do it properly, Murakan!]

Sara leapt forward, shouting fiercely.

Shaaak! Her strike forced Murakan to hastily raise a shield, while Quikantel twisted her body to bite at Sara.

Sara used her flames as a foothold, moving freely in the air and slashing her sword.

Sparks flew. The clash of dragon claws and teeth against steel rang out, the shockwaves shaking the ground, which was already torn apart.

Crack!

A bolt of lightning split through the fire and spirit energy.

A sudden flash of lightning made Sara hesitate briefly as she scanned the ground.

[That’s the power of the Myungwang clan. Why would someone in Ziphl use that power?]

[That one isn’t Ziphl. He’s Runkandel, Jin. A descendant of Runkandel you’ve been protecting.]

[Jin? No one in Runkandel uses that name.]

[Sara, a thousand years have passed outside. This is Temar’s tomb, and according to Solderet’s arrangement…]

[Don’t think I’m so tired that my mind’s broken. It was only two days ago that Fadler and I came here under the lord’s orders. You can see all those corpses, right? Ziphl will fall. Because of us!]

Despite being the tomb’s guardian, she hadn’t realized that Temar was dead.

The guardian’s world was still stuck a thousand years in the past. Frozen in the thrilling days when she led the Runkandel demon swordsmen alongside Temar, raising the name of Runkandel high.

It was cruel.

All Jin and her companions could do for the guardian was to offer her rest as soon as possible.

The guardian descended to the ground and met Jin’s gaze.

[Tell me your real name, boy of Ziphl.]

“I am Jin Runkandel, the 12th Knight of Runkandel.”

[So you persist in your lies to the very end. Yes, your kind’s G.P.L. has always been like this—trying to drown the world in falsehoods. Now it seems you even covet the name of Runcandel.]

“No matter what Lady Sarah thinks, my name remains unchanged. I am here to carry on the will of the old Runcandel, and I am the new contract bearer of Solderet.”

A fresh surge of spirit energy enveloped Sigmund’s blade, now tainted with psychic power.

At the sight, a twitch flickered at the corner of Sarah’s eye.

[Spirit Blade…]

She could not accept Jin’s use of spirit energy.

If Temar were still alive, Solderet’s blessing would belong solely to him.

But there was one thing—one way to wield spirit energy without being Solderet’s contract bearer.

[Witch. This is the work of that one.]

Helluram—the chilling, sinister monster. As far as Sarah knew, the witch Helluram was the only being capable of manipulating spirit energy without a contract with Solderet.

Flames suddenly erupted, converging from all around toward Sarah.

Watching this, Jin readied his spirit blade.

[I will meet my end here today. But you—there is no way I will let you live.]

As the guardian’s entire body ignited, Murakan unleashed his spirit energy to its fullest, enveloping his comrades. Quikantel’s eyes gleamed fiercely as he let out a roar.

Runcandel’s Demonic Sword Secret Technique

Karma Fire — Sarah Runcandel

From Sarah, the ancient Runcandel demonic sword secret technique began to unfold.