Chapter 432
Episode 124: The Elders in Crisis (6)
Scritch!
Sigmund’s blade sliced through Rox’s flesh and bone, producing a sharp, grating sound.
Rox wasn’t the type to fall so easily, but his focus had been entirely on Rata, and the result was disastrous.
He tried to pull back too late, but blood gushed from the severed stump where his leg had been cut off.
“Ugh…!”
Losing a leg was practically the end of the fight.
Jin calmly severed Rox’s other leg, then shifted his gaze to Lax, who was barely clinging to consciousness.
“Make sure this one doesn’t die, Lord Rata.”
“How dare you, Rox!”
“Dare? Do you even know who you’re talking to, Lax Seigal?”
Swish!
Jin’s blade lunged down toward Lax’s forehead. Lax reacted quickly enough, but the force pressing down on his sword was overwhelming.
What kind of power is this?!
They had only exchanged a single strike, yet Lax’s wrist rattled, and the muscles holding his stance felt like they were tearing apart.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a crackle of blue lightning sparked along Sigmund’s blade.
Until a few years ago, lightning was the mark of a contract with Feitel—but no longer.
Jin Runkandel’s blade now radiated that electric energy, a symbol of his own power.
“Jin Runkandel…!”
“If you recognize me, then accept my sword quietly.”
The Thunderbolt of the Sovereign Blade crashed down above Lax’s head. As a seasoned warrior, Lax responded with flexible defense to this unfamiliar attack.
But that was all he could do.
From the start, Jin’s pure swordsmanship far outmatched Lax’s. As the battle truly began, Lax was pushed back relentlessly.
“So, as the elders said, you really have become Runkandel’s dog, haven’t you, Rata Prochi?”
Rata roughly bandaged Rox’s severed leg and shrugged.
“Seems the traitors misinformed you, Lax. It’s similar, but not quite the same. We didn’t become Runkandel’s dogs—we chose to serve Jin Runkandel himself.”
“You’re shameless.”
“Shameless? In the mercenary world, losing is the greatest shame. You and the elders made the wrong choice, and now you’re paying the price.”
Lax glared and charged at Rata, but Jin easily blocked his path.
Clang!
Sigmund’s blade clashed with Lax’s, sparks flying.
Lax quickly realized he couldn’t win, nor could he escape.
“Lax Seigal. We are merely enemies who have met on the battlefield, with no deeper grudges. So if you answer a few questions honestly, I’ll let you go without pain.”
“Losing the throne to that monster Smarion was already humiliating enough. But to be lectured by one of Runkandel’s twelve knights? I never imagined this day would come.”
“Does that mean you refuse my offer?”
As Jin spoke, some of the squad leaders who had been heading elsewhere entered the Seigal brothers’ room.
“My lord! We’ve captured them.”
They had brought in the traitorous elders from another room, poisoned just enough to keep them conscious and able to speak.
Rata’s eyes burned with fierce determination as he looked down at the elders.
“You old rats… Did you really think you could defy me and live? And on top of that, you were conspiring with Seigal and scouting for other factions to join forces with?”
Jin felt no emotional reaction to the elders’ betrayal—it was just another fact.
But for Rata, it was a heavy blow. The elders were not only Seigal’s people but had long stood alongside Rata through thick and thin.
“Because of you, right after forming our blood pact, my lord had to deal with the threat within the Ghost Corps. So from now on, answer my questions truthfully.”
Rata sat Rox down beside the elders and continued.
“First, which faction did you side with? Second, did you reveal our alliance and the secrets of the Ghost Valley Fortress to them? If your answers are insincere, I will tear the flesh from your bodies, and from your innocent kin, friends, and even your dogs—one piece at a time.”
This was no empty threat. Rata was more than capable of carrying it out.
Ha ha ha…
A tense silence fell before one of the captured elders suddenly burst into laughter.
“Rata Prochi! Do you think killing our kin and friends would cause us great pain?”
“What did you say?”
“What do you think, Jin Runkandel? If we feared that, do you think we would have left the Ghost Valley Fortress?”
Not only the elders but Lax Seigal himself curled his lips into a smirk.
“Rata, you just said that Seigal, Rox, and the elders made the wrong choice and are paying the price. That in the mercenary world, losing is the greatest shame. Well… you’re not wrong.”
Lax took a steady breath and spoke with calm confidence.
There was something oddly familiar about that expression—Jin felt like he’d seen it somewhere before.
“But tell me, who do you think truly made the wrong choice?”
“Lax Seigal, what nonsense are you spouting?”
“I believe that in the end, the ones paying the price won’t be us, but you. Runkandel? You’re the one who’s wrong, Rata.”
Despite the desperate situation, the Seigal brothers and the elders looked triumphant. There was no hint of desperation or pleading.
It wasn’t courage or pride behind that expression.
Jin sensed this instinctively—and a name flashed through his mind.
Barton Vichena.
The only Black Knight who betrayed Runkandel and sided with Ziphl.
His final moments had looked just like this.
“Even if you kill me today, there are truths that will never change. First, if Sir Siron disappears, Runkandel will surely fall. Second, even if my body is destroyed, I will endure longer than any of you. When that time comes, you will have no choice but to admit that Barton Vichena’s choice was right.”
The Seigal brothers and the traitorous elders shared that same look—the look of those who have stepped beyond the meaning of death.
“Ziphl, huh?”
Jin spoke, drawing their attention.
“You sided with Ziphl, leaked information, and were promised immortality or transcendent power. So you’re not afraid of death now, are you?”
Jin gripped his sword tighter and stared at Lax.
“But you know what? Someone once said the same thing to me. I told him a story about how my sister and I shattered the Demon Stone.”
The moment Jin said “Demon Stone,” the Seigal brothers and elders visibly flinched.
“So… don’t put too much faith in the Demon Stone. If it truly held that much omnipotent power, you wouldn’t be dying here today, Lord Rata.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“There’s no more information to gather. Kill them all.”
As Rata nodded, Lax glared at Jin.
“I’ll give you a gift, Jin Runkandel.”
“No need…”
Zzzziiinnng!
Suddenly, glowing red runes appeared all over Lax’s body. The same appeared on Rox and the elders.
Jin and Rata exchanged a glance—they had seen something very similar just recently.
“It’s the same seal that imprisons Smarion…!”
A seal passed down only to the elders of the Ghost Corps, using the caster’s life force as its material.
The remnants of Seigal’s faction were attempting to activate that seal one last time. Rox and Lax had long ago passed it on to the traitorous elders who betrayed Rata.
“You’ll end up like your father, Rata!”
“These madmen… Are they really willing to kill even their own kin?”
Rata’s question was met with Lax’s cold chuckle.
“Why bother saving them? We’ll retake the Ghost Corps and get them back later.”
In other words, Seigal’s remnants were attempting self-destruction.
Whether they truly believed their kin and followers were worthless, or were just bluffing that they wouldn’t be affected, was unclear.
But one thing was certain—they intended to seal off the entire fortress.
The bodies of the red-glowing traitors swelled as if about to burst.
“Think carefully in hell about who truly made the wrong choice!”
Ha ha ha ha ha… Ah, ah, ugh…
Lax’s long laughter abruptly faded.
Red seals appeared everywhere, twisting and tearing the bodies of Seigal’s remnants as they were sucked into the seal.
The same seal that trapped Smarion was now trying to imprison the group. Like a giant’s grasp closing in, the red energy tightened.
Rata and the squad leaders instinctively swung their swords at the seal.
The blades struck, but the slashes quickly healed as if cut through water.
“My lord! The squad leaders and I will try to carve a path. You must escape.”
Though only days had passed since the blood pact was formed, Rata said this without hesitation.
“If we keep cutting before the seal fully recovers, there might be a chance for you to break free.”
While Rata was speaking, I was examining the nature of the Jin-do seal. When cut with aura, it immediately snapped back, just like with Rata’s group. Using psychic energy made the restoration noticeably slower.
It seemed like if I used psychic energy alone to consecutively unleash the seasonal or martial techniques, we could all break free together—but there was no real need to go that far.
“I felt this back when Myuron Ziphl cut through the Hell Gate in the past—this kind of seal definitely responds best to spiritual energy.”
As I wrapped Bradamante in spiritual energy and swung, the seal tore apart like a sheet of paper.
Unlike before, the restoration was agonizingly slow.
“Sir Rata, there’s no need for all of us to risk our lives. I’ll open the way—let’s get out of here.”
At those words, Rata and the squad leaders realized once again: in the new era about to dawn, they were undoubtedly the first to grasp the finest lifeline.