Chapter 305
Episode 93: Temar’s Second Tomb (3)

“A witch’s doing? What does that mean? It sounds like you’re saying that with a witch’s power, even someone who isn’t Solderet’s contractor can use spiritual energy.”

The name Helluram, Shuri’s former master, flashed through his mind.

But this wasn’t the time to ask about it.

Flames erupted, climbing along the broken sword. The crimson fire spread rapidly, from points to lines, then to surfaces, quickly coloring the dim pocket dimension.

On Sarah’s body, there was no longer any trace of the injuries she had carried for the past thousand years.

Instead of spiritual energy, flames flowed from her open wounds, and moments later, her entire body was engulfed in fire. Her hair, eyes, even her nails became blazing flames themselves.

Soon, the sword lost all semblance of metal and transformed into a shape of fire.

The Flame Empress—this was the name whispered in fear by those who had seen her like this before.

“Hey, you’re insane! The cursed sword technique, the Burning Karma? With that body!?”

Murakan shouted.

Until just moments ago, seeing the wounded Guardian had unsettled him, and every time he heard the word ‘traitor,’ his heart felt like it was being torn apart.

But now, it wasn’t just emotional pain—it was real.

Murakan had thought the Guardian couldn’t possibly wield the cursed sword technique.

It was true she possessed martial prowess close to her prime, but her injuries were far too severe.

“Are you seriously trying to kill us?”

“You’re whining, Murakan! Or are you not only betraying us but also insulting me? I know this lukewarm fire won’t be enough to take you down.”

“That’s not it.”

“Not it? What do you mean not it, you filthy traitor?”

I didn’t betray anyone, and I’m weakened too.

Murakan’s reply was drowned out by the roar of the flames and never reached the Guardian. Even if it had, it wouldn’t have changed anything.

The thousand years of brutal hardship and endless battles had damaged more than just her body.

Her mind was completely weathered. She was incapable of sound judgment, still hallucinating and hearing phantom voices even as she fought her comrades.

In her fractured mind, she blindly followed only the mission engraved within her: kill anything that threatens Runkandel.

There was another mission for Jin as well, but after so many battles, the Guardian had forgotten it.

Crackle! Boom! Crack!

If there was a fire that could burn the world to ashes, this was it.

If this were Sarah at her peak, uninjured, it wouldn’t be mere description.

The Burning Karma she now wielded was less than 20% of the power she had a thousand years ago, when she incinerated the mages of Ziphl.

Her injuries prevented her from fully harnessing her magic and aura, and without her old phoenix, ‘Manier,’ there was no other choice.

Still, the Guardian’s Burning Karma effortlessly erased the spiritual energies Murakan had unleashed and expanded its domain.

Fire and spiritual energy intertwined, creating strange, massive patterns across the sky of the pocket dimension. The space trembled as if on the verge of collapse, and the heat and energy made it impossible for the dragons to fly freely.

“Quikantel!”

“I know. I’ll try to hold it as long as I can. You focus on controlling the flames!”

Quikantel descended, his silver eyes shining.

A sharp resonance sounded—piiiing!—as waves of power radiated from his forehead.

It was a wave imbued with the power of time.

A divine power he had used before against Andrei Ziphl and the wind dragon Buretta.

Anything caught in the rapidly spreading, web-like waves inevitably lost time itself.

Buretta’s wings had stiffened completely just from the wave touching their tips.

But the Guardian’s flames, though consumed by the time waves, only slowed down. They still spewed terrible heat, devouring the space around them.

Quikantel’s power alone couldn’t stop the Guardian completely. Not even if the god of time, Olta, descended in person.

What’s more, the Guardian went beyond that.

She swung her burning sword, slicing through the incoming waves. The severed waves lost their strength like cut strings and vanished.

She couldn’t nullify every wave holding the fire, but even that was terrifying enough.

Step by step, brushing away the waves, the Guardian advanced toward Jin. But her gaze was fixed not on Jin, but on Murakan.

She kept focusing on Murakan’s power, believing no one else posed a threat.

And in truth, that was probably true—if both she and Murakan were at their absolute prime.

“Observer, or rather, no longer an observer. Quikantel, how about we call it quits here? Holding out any longer will only tarnish the name of your god who cares about pride.”

Gritting his teeth, Quikantel clenched his resolve.

Not because the Guardian’s words hurt his pride, but because he was desperately using his power.

Still, the Guardian easily countered Quikantel’s divine power.

Sarah Runkandel, the Guardian, was never someone Quikantel could afford to take pride against.

Though she called her Burning Karma lukewarm, that was only by her own standards. The flames still blazed fiercely from a considerable distance, and the others’ hair stood on end just from the heat radiating through their protective shields.

If Quikantel’s power faltered, only Murakan, Quikantel himself, and Jin—who wielded the Sovereign’s Reign Sword—would be able to fight within those flames.

But Jin’s body hadn’t fully recovered yet. If he pushed himself to use the Sovereign’s Reign Sword now, he risked permanent damage to his heart.

They had to make their move before Quikantel’s power ran out.

“Quikantel, how much longer can you hold?”

“Five minutes.”

Quikantel trembled as he answered. Shorter than expected.

Fortunately, an idea came to mind immediately.

‘The shield is melting. Even with Murakan and Quikantel holding the line, the destruction is this severe. Once Quikantel’s power fades, we won’t get away with just minor injuries.’

Jin, Gili, Kashimir, Alisa, Enya, and Zett—all six were maintaining the shield together.

They were protecting each other, but the warriors’ shields weren’t efficient for protecting others.

“Enya.”

“Yes, Lord…!”

“I have to rejoin the fight. If I step back, you’ll have to take on the main role in the shield.”

Jin was currently the main pillar. Unlike the others, he combined aura and magic to form the shield, and his mastery was the greatest.

Enya, a mage, had to take over Jin’s role. Though she was only at the early stages of six-star rank, her protective magic was far more efficient than the warriors’.

“Can you do it?”

“I’ll try.”

“Give me a more certain answer. If you can’t, we need to consider other options.”

He wasn’t scolding or pressuring her—he just didn’t want to gamble their lives on uncertainty.

If all the warriors were mages of similar caliber, this wouldn’t be a concern.

After a moment, Enya opened her eyes wide and nodded.

“I can do it, Lord. But only for about two minutes. Until I finish casting the new spell.”

She recalled an old memory.

—It’ll be tough for now, but I’ll do my part. I don’t want to be someone who’s always protected by you, like today. So please don’t tell me to rest easy.

—Austin.

—I’m Olta’s contractor, Enya. Someday, I’ll be the archmage you trust most.

A conversation they had when they went to wipe out the remnants of the Dark Magic Council.

Jin smiled, recalling the same memory.

Though not yet an archmage, Enya had grown terrifyingly fast while Jin was away in Laprarosa. Olta, who cared deeply about bloodlines, had even offered her a contract despite her commoner status—proof of her exceptional talent.

“Understood.”

Enya sat properly and released her shield.

Naturally, the burden on the others increased, and Jin had no choice but to raise his magic output, teetering on the edge of his limits.

Enya trembled as she began weaving the spell.

Two minutes felt agonizingly long.

But she controlled her urgency well, avoiding backlash and smoothly completing the spell.

The magic she prepared was something Jin had given her near the end of his preliminary training.

The Extreme Barrier.

A legacy of Chukon Toldrer, the essence of the extreme barrier magic he called the Dragonfire Blockade.

Runes inscribed on Enya’s shoulder glowed with the seal of the Extreme Barrier.

“Go quickly, Lord Jin!”

Even as blood dripped from her mouth, Enya gave a thumbs-up, and suddenly a blue barrier formed all around.

The Dragonfire Blockade was exactly what its name suggested—a magic Chukon devised to fight dragons, a shield that blocked their fiery breath.

Though she hadn’t mastered it fully, Enya compensated for her lacking magic with Olta’s power.

“Then I’ll leave the rear to you.”

Three minutes remained.

Jin stepped outside the shield. In his hand, a new spell was already forming.

Simultaneous casting.

One of the reasons Jin was a genius even among mages. While covering Enya’s role in the shield, he prepared a spell alongside his initial spirit sword.

A spell that was a nightmare for magic users alike.

Yeokcheon, the Legacy of Kidard Hall.

“The magical power Lady Sarah is currently wielding is barely around an 8-star level.”

Although Up-hwa was tearing through Murakan’s spiritual energy like paper and even reducing Quikantel’s divine power to nothing more than an annoying rope, the actual magical power was only at an 8-star level. It was this 8-star magic, combined with a 9-star aura and the unique strength of a Runkandel swordsman, that produced such formidable force.

It was more than enough magic to drag Jin into the backflow.

Of course, he couldn’t be certain.

“Given how extraordinary she is, she might be able to maintain that level of magic and even counter the power of Yeokcheon.”

That was why he had prepared the spirit swords as well.

These were new forms of spirit swords recently passed down to the Twin Kings in Laprarosa.

Among them, Jin chose the second and seventh forms.

Scissors, and Shadow Assault.

“Even if she falls into the backflow, the opportunity will only last a moment. No matter how injured Lady Sarah is, engaging in close combat without the Reign of the Underworld Sword is suicide.”

Kiiiiiing!

The magical power left Jin’s palm, forming the orb of Yeokcheon.

As Yeokcheon fully unfolded, Jin’s shadow at his feet rose up, merging with him in perfect unison.