Episode 339
Chapter 104: Debt, Debt, and More Debt (6)
The guardian knights called out as the 4th and 5th squads quickly divided their forces to take charge of the beastmen. The rest of the knights moved with military precision, conducting thorough inspections.
Their swords gleamed sharply as they swiftly encircled the Phantom Squad, and the aura radiating from the knights felt as if they could slaughter the mages in an instant.
These knights were the most loyal followers of Mary and Diffus, all candidates on the verge of promotion to “Execution Knights.”
In other words, they were just one step below the Black Knights.
‘Even for the Phantom Squad, this must feel suffocating. Just having Diffus and Mary alone would be a headache, but fifty knights at the Execution level? That’s a nightmare.’
Unlike Jin, Mary and Diffus had long since begun their careers as squad leaders. Naturally, their knights were all elite veterans, unlike Jin’s group.
The Phantom Squad had ceased their attacks and were now solely focused on defense.
They had expected Runcandel to come, but not this quickly.
Their plan hadn’t accounted for Jin’s presence, the Myoin tribe’s barrier, or Berakt Sidriker.
Originally, the Phantom Squad’s strategy was simple: crush the beastmen who were probably just counting their money, then leave before Kinzello or Runcandel arrived.
But from the start, everything had gone wrong. The Myoin tribe’s barrier was so sturdy it took two full days to break through, and when they finally did, one out of every five of their men died immediately.
And that was at the hands of Runcandel’s mere twelve riders.
Still, when they first saw Jin, they thought luck was on their side.
Capturing Jin alive was far more valuable to G-PL than simply wiping out the cosmetics business run by the Myoin tribe.
But as the results showed, everything had turned into a complete mess.
Now, the problem wasn’t whether to destroy the cosmetics business or capture Jin alive—it was about escaping Runcandel’s territory and returning safely.
Not even the two Phantom Squad members here knew that was becoming nearly impossible. One of their squad had already become Berakt’s dinner in the caves.
“Hey, youngest.”
Amid the tense standoff between the guardian knights and the Phantom Squad, Mary called out to Jin in a light voice.
“But why are you here? Weren’t you assigned to rescue some count or duke from the Ekan Kingdom? I thought I saw you leaving for that mission.”
Even though she clearly recognized the mages before her as monsters of ten-star caliber, Mary only seemed mildly surprised, as if she’d just bumped into a wild boar while hiking.
Of course, for an ordinary person, that would be terrifying—but for someone like Mary, it was like discovering a hearty meal.
“Well…”
Jin gave a sly grin.
“Something must be up?”
“Remember when we decided to fight once every three months?”
“Each fight’s outcome is decided by who gets knocked out first. The loser must obey one order from the winner. And of course, we’ll draft a contract to make sure no one breaks it.”
“I like that. Contracts are a bit of a hassle, but it’s worth it.”
Mary nodded, recalling the thrill of that day.
“Let’s say I won that last fight, and you just follow one of my orders.”
Mary’s eyes widened.
“What? That was a draw, and I even went easy on you.”
“You call dropping a magic bomb on me a fair fight? Come on, help me out here.”
“I’m already helping.”
“No one here saw me today.”
Mary’s eyes narrowed.
When she didn’t respond immediately, Jin worried he might have been too rude.
But Mary was simply enjoying the moment. She liked the youngest’s boldness—it was always refreshing and exciting.
“You little brat, what do you take me for? Some snitch who tattles on a little mischief from her youngest sibling? Huh?”
“Not at all.”
“I thought you were about to make some big request and start babbling nonsense. You and I are family—blood relatives! Not all your siblings look at you like Luna and Yona do.”
Jin’s eyes widened.
He’d never imagined hearing that from anyone but Luna or Yona.
He didn’t dislike Mary, but he’d always kept a certain distance, thinking that getting too close might only lead to becoming enemies.
“I’ll make sure those guys keep their mouths shut. And if the elders hear anything, I’ll do my best to block it. So don’t worry and just return to the family, second brother.”
“Why?”
“You should do the same.”
“…Alright.”
Diffus had already planned to do just that, even if Mary hadn’t said it.
Though unintentionally, they had saved Jin (they didn’t even know he was here), this was their way of ‘repaying the debt’ from the Black Knight assassination mission.
“Well, that’s about it. Youngest, see you at home. Oh, and about our three-month fight—time’s coming up, so get ready, okay?”
Hey!
Mary spun around and called out to the Phantom Squad mages standing with their backs to the river.
“You’d better not expect to leave here alive. But I’ll make sure you die without too much pain. This is going to be a fun fight after a long time.”
A low rumble filled the air.
Mary’s entire body began to glow with aura. The waves of energy made her hair flutter eerily, and the ground beneath her cracked under the pressure.
‘It wasn’t this intense when we fought before.’
The aura Mary emitted was so powerful that just being nearby made Jin’s whole body tingle painfully.
Mary had a secret.
She had named her own family battle technique.
And it wasn’t the family elders who approved it—it was the family head himself, Siron Runcandel.
‘This is… a volcano!? No, something different.’
The volcano battle technique Jin had seen on Blue Seagull Island, number 32.
Mary’s aura closely resembled that form. As it turned out, she was about to unleash a variation of the volcano technique.
But hers wasn’t a self-destruct move.
‘Now I understand why Father always seemed to have such high hopes for Mary.’
Just watching her back sent chills down Jin’s spine.
She wasn’t necessarily stronger than Luna, Joshua, Runtia, or Diffus.
But whenever asked to pick the opponent they least wanted to fight, they all chose Mary. She had a power that, regardless of skill level, could wear down her enemies with sheer ferocity and will.
“Looks like Mary’s really angry. Might as well pray for the Phantom Squad’s souls in advance.”
Diffus prepared his own battle technique and said.
“Because they invaded Runcandel’s land?”
“No, because they touched you.”
If this had been before, Jin wouldn’t have thought much of Diffus’s answer.
He would have assumed Mary’s anger was ‘for herself’—that she was furious because her own amusement was being trampled by mortal enemies.
But not anymore.
He could feel that his third sister was angry for him, not for herself.
He felt relieved.
If it had been any other siblings besides Mary or Diffus, he wouldn’t have witnessed such a warm scene.
“Go quickly. And congratulations.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Because of G-PL’s recent invasion, your cosmetics business is about to take off.”
“Young master! Young master Jin!”
As always, the first to greet Jin upon his return was Petro’s urgent voice.
“I was wondering why you weren’t running to find me today. So, what’s the matter this time? Did you get into some trouble I don’t know about?”
“No, it’s not that. While you were on your mission, chaos broke out. A secret G-PL unit called the Phantom Squad attacked the Zhan Kingdom, apparently to destroy your cosmetics business.”
“What? My business?”
Jin feigned ignorance.
From the atmosphere, it seemed Mary and Diffus had kept their promise. Bellop hadn’t been exposed while disguised as Jin on the mission.
“They sent their top mages just to wipe out a cosmetics business?”
“Yes, that’s why an emergency meeting was called. You should come inside quickly.”
“What happened to those mages?”
“The 4th and 7th squads handled them.”
“Are those two okay?”
Jin hid his expression as he asked.
“Yes, young master. Both only suffered minor injuries. Along with the heads of the enemies who attacked our territory…”
No one in G-PL could have imagined losing five Phantom Squad members so easily.
Three to Runcandel, two to Kinzello.
‘I hate to admit it, but this time we really did work well with those lunatics.’
Jin breathed a sigh of relief. At least Mary hadn’t been seriously hurt.
‘Now, it’s time for my business to take flight.’
Diffus’s last words in the Zhan Kingdom had been exactly what Jin expected.
G-PL had sent their elite secret mage unit into Runcandel’s territory to destroy the business run by Runcandel’s riders.
This was, without question, an act of grave aggression—tantamount to a declaration of war. No, it had to be treated as such. Letting it slide was simply out of the question.
Screech.
As Jin stepped into the conference room, he saw the captains and elders gathered together.
They briefly glanced at him before returning to their heated discussion.
“Those bastards! Do they think they can just walk all over us…? From today onward, the Black Blade Society will strike every single one of the enemy’s magical product manufacturing sites—wipe them all out!”
“Exactly, Elder Chairman! What G-PL did was basically unleashing the Black Knights right in the heart of the Lutero Magic Federation! Those sons of bitches wouldn’t have dared if they didn’t think we were beneath them.”
“Not to mention, countless civilians could have been caught in the crossfire. What the hell happened to the war treaty? Like it means nothing!”
“Even if the 12th Squadron were wanted men, this crosses the line. If we don’t retaliate, the whole world will laugh at Runcandel.”
Even if the whole world mocked them, G-PL would be the one suffering in silence. Losing five of their top operatives so senselessly was a bitter pill to swallow.
In truth, Runcandel had already gained an immeasurable advantage.
But Jin had no intention of settling for that.
“Elders, may I have a word regarding the current situation?”
The moment he spoke, all eyes snapped to him in unison.