Episode 413
Chapter 120. Why Hyiran? (7)
“Gr… and… fa…ther…”
The words were barely a whisper, almost a scream strangled by exhaustion. Dante’s voice, weak from just waking, barely carried—only Jin, standing right beside him, could hear it.
Yet, at that faint call, Ron turned his head. His gaze fixed precisely on the outer wall where Jin and Dante stood.
“Father!”
A faint smile curved Ron’s lips as he looked toward his grandson. Blood soaked his entire body, but thankfully, it didn’t seem to be all his own.
‘For Lord Ron to be wounded this badly… Berakt must be one of the world’s top fighters as well. I expected a fierce battle, but seeing Ron injured like this still feels unreal.’
Aside from Siron, Ron was among the very strongest in the world.
‘And from appearances, Berakt’s injuries seem lighter.’
Could Berakt actually be stronger than Ron?
It was hard to accept so easily. Jin had heard countless tales and praises about Ron since his previous life, but Berakt was someone he’d only just learned about in this life.
He’d recently discovered that Berakt was Rosa’s rival, but that was all.
Berakt wasn’t particularly famous in the human world. Even Ron and Berakt seemed to be strangers to each other.
“Calm down, Dante.”
Dante was struggling, trying to move toward his grandfather, but utterly drained, he could barely manage a feeble thrash.
“B-but… father…”
“This is Geomhwang Fortress, and that man is Ron Hyiran, the world’s greatest knight. There’s no way your grandfather would be defeated here.”
The idea of Ron Hyiran being bested in the heart of Geomhwang Fortress was unimaginable to anyone. Unless Runcandel or Ziphl launched a full assault, it was considered impossible.
Even if Emperor Biment led his army personally, many doubted anyone could breach the fortress Ron defended.
The world was vast.
Even if Berakt was stronger than Ron, it wasn’t an impossible story.
Still, Jin had a gut feeling something else was at play.
Trying to steady his racing heart, he carefully scanned the battlefield again.
The collapsed outer walls and buildings looked unfamiliar. The jagged edges were too uneven to be just from sword strikes. It looked as if some giant had savagely torn them apart.
Of course, the shards could have been scattered wildly by the clashing sword energies or shattered by shockwaves, but that alone didn’t explain it. Most of the debris was charred black.
Jin looked up at the sky.
‘Grnil…’
The Grnil, Kinzelro’s airborne warship.
Black smoke billowed from the ship’s forward cannon.
‘Is Lord Ron being pushed back trying to block that cannon?’
Just then, Jin saw magical energy gathering at the cannon’s muzzle.
Crackle—!
Even by Jin’s standards, an enormous amount of lightning energy was accumulating. The fact that such power could be gathered without any warning was shocking.
‘This is insane!’
Just before the cannon fired, Jin hastily raised a protective shield.
KRAAAASH…!
The cannon unleashed an absurdly massive lightning strike.
The blinding flash lit the surroundings brighter than midday, dazzling everyone. The shockwave radiating from the cannon shredded clouds and battered the ground below.
Invisible but immense sword energy blocked the blast.
It was Ron Hyiran’s sword energy, intercepting the cannonball before it could reach the ground.
The shattered cannon fragments rained down on Geomhwang Fortress like ominous blue meteors. Ron’s knights and warriors desperately tried to fend off the debris.
The cannon’s aftershock pounded fiercely against Jin’s shield.
Dante clenched his teeth in helpless rage, his bloodshot eyes trembling. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, his anger accelerating the reflux.
“Graaah…!”
“Dante, please listen to me. Once the explosion ends, we’ll evacuate you immediately. Calm down—your reflux is getting worse. Please, for Lord Ron’s sake. He wouldn’t want you to get hurt more.”
Jin recalled the moment at the Colon ruins when they faced Kozek.
He was certain: the Grnil’s power far surpassed Kozek’s back then. Talaris alone blocked most of the cannon fire, and Jin nearly died trying to protect the natives from falling debris.
Now, there were thousands of knights and warriors inside Geomhwang Fortress. Unlike Colon, where only a few fought off the fragments, here everyone was trying, yet it still wasn’t enough to prevent the fortress from crumbling.
‘So this is why they were so confident invading Geomhwang.’
But Geomhwang was still Geomhwang.
Normally, just one or two cannon blasts of this magnitude would be enough to bring the entire fortress down. Yet, Ron’s presence kept it standing.
His intangible sword energy, like the shattered cannon, intercepted the falling fragments.
In other words, Ron wasn’t just fighting Berakt—he was protecting the entire allied front.
A greatness that couldn’t be described by the word ‘strong’ alone.
That’s why, despite the grim situation, Jin didn’t envision Geomhwang Fortress falling today.
‘Kinzelro and those bastards wouldn’t plan to destroy Hyiran completely. If they did, they wouldn’t have let Vishkel’s group get trapped inside the fortress in the first place.’
Also, the fact that the cannon was still firing meant they had already secured Vishkel’s group, so a retreat was likely imminent.
The shockwaves pounding Jin’s shield began to subside.
“Shuri, get Dante to the healers. The infirmary seems destroyed, so send him to the best healers in the rear lines.”
[Meow!]
Jin tied Dante onto Shuri’s back. Dante had no strength left to hold on.
Just as Shuri started moving, Jin gripped Dante’s shoulder tightly.
“My fight is your fight, and your fight is mine. Today, I’ll fight for both of us. I won’t let those scumbags get away. So hold yourself together.”
Dante blinked his bloodshot eyes in response.
As Shuri leapt down from the outer wall and moved off, Jin’s gaze hardened.
No sooner had the aftershock ended than Ron and Berakt’s swords clashed again.
“If you had accepted my offer and withdrawn, there wouldn’t be so many corpses, Ron Hyiran!”
Ron didn’t answer, only swung his sword, Rashid.
But it wasn’t that he was too exhausted to reply—it was as if beasts without a shred of honor had no words worth wasting.
Their fight remained evenly matched. Without the Grnil warship, Ron might have gained the upper hand.
—You will gain a great advantage, Jin.
Suddenly, Jin recalled the expression Margiela had made when this all began.
Watching the half-ruined Geomhwang Fortress, a fierce heat rose within him.
Geomhwang Fortress was a friend’s home. It was also the place where comrades who would one day fight alongside him against Ziphl would stand.
‘Advantage? I’ll make sure you suffer a loss so great you’ll never dare do this again…’
Ssshhh…
Spiritual energy gathered in the Bradamante sword. Jin was preparing to unleash his last resort, saved for moments like this.
Special Spirit Sword Technique:
Summoning the Black Light
The sword, enveloped in spiritual energy, sliced through the air.
Where the blade passed, the space darkened, turning pitch black. The spiritual energy formed a black gate leading to the ancient realm of the Myeongwang tribe.
No one could predict what brother might emerge through the Black Light Summoning.
Even if it was just a regular warrior, it would be a huge help in turning the tide. Jin focused his mind and completed the special technique.
As the spiritual energy dispersed, a figure appeared from within the black gate.
Jin couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction.
The one who stepped through was Linpa, the King of Death Matches.
“It’s been… a long time, Brother Jin. Looks like I got lucky.”
His speech was a bit clumsy, having just completed his Golden Word training, but in those few words was a deep, powerful aura that stunned the entire battlefield, causing everyone to look up at the outer wall.
‘Who is this guy?’
‘Could he be a new enemy…?’
‘No, he’s with Jin Runcandel. He seems to be an ally.’
‘Still, where did he come from all of a sudden?’
As the warriors exchanged glances and murmurs, Linpa drew the greatsword from his back.
Whoosh—!
Even just drawing the sword sent heavy gusts of wind swirling around.
“Sorry for calling you out, Brother Linpa.”
“No… I’m glad. Are those… enemies?”
Linpa pointed his greatsword at the Grnil warship and Berakt.
“What do you want, Brother Jin?”
“To annihilate the enemy.”
Jin’s firm answer made Linpa nod.
“Understood…”
The Grnil warship was reloading its cannon. Ron was gathering strength to block it, while Berakt couldn’t take his eyes off Linpa.
‘Is that… the Myeongwang tribe the captain mentioned?’
A strange feeling Jin had never experienced before swirled in Berakt’s mind.
He hadn’t even laid a hand on a sword. Naturally, he’d never fought the Mingwang tribe before; he’d only heard tales of their immense power. He had no firsthand experience.
Yet, a wave of nausea surged through him, his body’s hair standing on end. If it had been any other Baekrang warrior, their legs would have surely given out by now.
An overwhelming sense of dread pressed down on him. Berakt, who had never felt even a flicker of fear facing Ron Hailan, was now gripped by terror.
“Damn it…! I am Berakt Sidriker, the strongest warrior of the Baekrang tribe. How strong could that thing really be?”
Kyaaaah!
Berakt roared, steeling his resolve. The fear inside him was replaced by burning anger directed at Linpa.
“I am… the great… fourth Tuwang of the Mingwang tribe… Linpa.”
The cannon had finished aiming, and everyone on the battlefield braced themselves for the hellish aftermath.
Yet Linpa, having witnessed the immense thunder energy contained within the cannon, spoke calmly without hesitation.
“Summoned by my brother’s call… I have come here. My duty is to become his… sword. The enemies…”
Let them leave behind their last words.
Flash—!
As soon as Linpa finished speaking, the cannon unleashed a bolt of lightning that painted the ground a deep, electric blue.