Chapter 447
Episode 128. Zephyrin (3)
Murakan soared into the air, unleashing a fierce roar. The space around him, tainted with demonic energy, trembled unstable, and through the cracks, spiritual energy seeped in.
It was as if a massive black flame was flickering and shifting. His sharp amber eyes gleamed with a majestic aura befitting a dragon that once ruled the skies.
Just as if he had been waiting for this very moment, Zephyrin broke into a wide smile.
“Now this is what I call power!”
Kraaaah…!
Murakan opened his dark maw and exhaled a breath charged with spiritual energy far more potent than before he had fully unleashed his true strength.
Not only that, but from his twin wings and the veils of spiritual energy spread in all directions, black streaks like breath poured forth.
Dozens of matte black lines rained down relentlessly on the ground where Zephyrin stood.
Those lines were like a swamp—no matter how much you slashed or cut with your claws, they would only tighten their grip around Zephyrin again. It was like the vicious bites of dozens of snakes all slithering into the same burrow at once.
So this is how dragons fight.
Valkas had seen other dragons battle a few times in his life, but now he realized those were all mere imitations.
The fight unfolding before his eyes was on a completely different level from any other dragon battle he had witnessed. Just as there was an unbridgeable gap between elite warriors and ordinary soldiers among humans, the same was true between the highest-ranking dragons and the average ones.
Yet even to someone unfamiliar with dragon combat, it was clear who held the upper hand.
Zephyrin still maintained the advantage. She had yet to reveal her true form and was holding her ground against Murakan’s assault.
“I don’t know how long Murakan can hold out. We need to prepare for a quick escape.”
Jin sheathed Sigmund and spoke.
He wanted nothing more than to fight alongside Murakan.
Just as Murakan was only now beginning to reveal his full power, both Jin and Valkas still had untapped strength within them.
Especially Jin—he possessed the legacy of Riol Ziphl, Sara’s secret technique with the demon sword, and the King of Demons’ Reigning Sword of Ban. These ultimate weapons had never lost their luster, no matter the situation.
Murakan was certain they could never win, but if they unleashed all their power, maybe—just maybe—they could defeat this mad demon dragon.
Though the odds were infinitesimally small, Jin had no intention of risking his life here.
The best choice was to conserve their strength, break through the pocket dimension, and escape with the entire Black King’s faction.
Even if they used all their power to defeat or severely wound Zephyrin, they would likely die in the process.
They had to escape, identify Zephyrin’s true allegiance and purpose, and devise a countermeasure.
How many more enemies of this caliber are out there?
A new era had dawned.
Since meeting Jin, Lata Prochi often shared this thought, and Jin found himself agreeing more and more.
After the Sword Emperor’s Castle terror, Jin sensed that beings far beyond anything he had faced before lurked everywhere.
Kinzello, Ziphl, Biment.
Among these three factions, Biment was clearly inferior to Runkandel.
Ziphl was considered superior to Runkandel from the start, and Kinzello had fully revealed their power during the Sword Emperor’s Castle incident.
Zephyrin is probably affiliated with Kinzello, and while there may not be many dragons or humans with this level of combat power among them, Zephyrin is not the whole story.
A candle flickering in the wind.
Perhaps that was the state of Runkandel.
As far as Jin knew, Runkandel had no hidden reserves like the other factions. Sure, there was Siron and the former Black Knights, but they were all bound to the Black Sea.
Still, Runkandel remains standing only because of one man: my father, Siron Runkandel.
He was certain of it. The moment Siron disappeared, Runkandel would inevitably march toward destruction.
No wonder Mother supports Joshua so strongly. She must believe he has the means to face these terrifying enemies in the future.
Crack! Shak!
Murakan’s spiritual energy tangled wildly with Zephyrin’s claws. The black lines grew more intense, while the violet claw marks gradually faded—signs that maintaining her human form was becoming increasingly difficult.
“I’ll break through the pocket dimension. Sir Valkas, please watch over the Black Knights.”
“Understood, 12th Rider.”
Ssshhh…
Bradamante’s pure white blade slid from its sheath.
The gleaming sword instantly darkened with spiritual energy.
I didn’t expect to draw this so soon. If this works, I won’t be able to use it again for a while.
Before piercing the pocket dimension, Jin planned to open the door to Laprarosa.
Murakan was still holding the line alone, but once Zephyrin revealed her true form, the situation would surely change.
As long as this pocket dimension wasn’t a “dead space” like Solderet’s, there was no obstacle to unleashing the Black Flame.
Whoosh!
The darkened blade sliced through the air.
Thank goodness…!
The moment Jin swung the sword, he felt it—the door to Laprarosa was opening.
The only disappointment was that the figure who emerged from the freshly formed black portal was not a Twin King but a regular warrior.
“Ah, it’s me this time!”
Shaku, a member of the King of Demons’ clan, appeared with a bright shout.
He was the demon king who had sparred with Jin the most before Jin earned the recognition of all twelve Twin Kings and became a true brother. They had fought over fifty times, with Jin coming out victorious.
“Sorry for calling you out, brother Shaku.”
“No, it’s an honor to fight for my brother. What do you need?”
Shaku slung his lightning-infused greatsword over his back. Before the King of Demons’ clan fell, he was known as “Shaku of the Thunder.”
“Help me with that one.”
“Got it. I think I understand the situation. We need to break through here and get to Insero, right?”
“That’s right.”
Shaku’s gaze landed on Zephyrin, trapped within the black lines.
“A demon, no—a demon dragon? It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a terrifying fiend. This is a situation where the Twin Kings should have been summoned, not me. Get out of here quickly. I’ll hold them off with the Black Dragon as best I can.”
As Shaku joined the fight, lightning energy mixed once again with the spiritual and demonic energies. Despite the swirling chaos, Shaku showed no sign of faltering.
Though a regular warrior, he was still a member of the King of Demons’ clan. His uniquely resilient body shone in this brutal melee.
Watching this, Valkas couldn’t help but be amazed once more. He had witnessed Jin summon ancient battle masters at the Sword Emperor’s Castle, but it was still unfamiliar and fascinating.
He also shared a similar thought with Lata Prochi.
No matter Zephyrin’s allegiance or motives, the fact that she’s rampaging in the Black King’s stronghold like this means… there’s no longer any room for neutrality in this world.
It was clear Zephyrin had reacted to seeing Jin and Murakan.
But it wasn’t something Jin could be held responsible for.
The Runkandel Riders and Black Knights had come to the Black King’s stronghold and gotten caught in an unexpected danger. If anyone could be held accountable, it would be Jin or Joshua.
First, I have to escape with the 12 Riders and the others, no matter what. Even if it means abandoning the Black King’s stronghold!
Valkas gritted his teeth.
Strangely, he felt a deep sense of trust. If it was the 12 Riders and Jin Runkandel, as always, they would achieve what they set out to do.
Since reaching the 10th Star, this is the first time I’ve felt this kind of trust in someone less skilled than me.
Flare!
Blue flames flickered along Bradamante’s blackened blade.
Tess was still recovering her true form and couldn’t respond to the summoning directly, but the weight of power she had inscribed on Bradamante was growing stronger alongside Jin.
The blue flames spreading from the sword began to press down on the demonic energy-tainted space.
The trembling space seemed to shudder in fear, as if it were a living being. The blade, steady and unyielding, prepared to slice through the dimension.
It was then that Zephyrin, who had been enduring Murakan and Shaku’s attacks in one spot, finally reacted.
“Cheonghwa! Bringing such transcendent power into a fight between mere underlings is cheating, 12th Rider.”
Just as Murakan and Quikantel had feared Tess’s power when they first faced her, Zephyrin was terrified of Tess’s might as well. She knew well the awe-inspiring presence Tess held in the realm of flames.
Though the Cheonghwa Jin wielded was but a fraction of Tess’s true power, Zephyrin instinctively felt a paralyzing fear. It was as if her breath had been cut off.
That terror could only be felt by those who had witnessed the true “Master of the Flame” firsthand.
Rumble, crackle!
Perhaps distracted by the Cheonghwa, or maybe reaching the limits of her human form’s endurance, Zephyrin’s defenses finally broke.
Murakan’s spiritual energy and Shaku’s lightning engulfed her, tearing her body apart.
Even as her flesh was shredded and disintegrated, Zephyrin did not utter a single scream.
Instead of blood, violet particles of demonic energy scattered in all directions, accompanied by a long, eerie laughter echoing like a haunting refrain.
“Ahahaha… ha ha, ha…!”
As the ominous laughter faded, a massive cloud of violet smoke began to form from the torn void where Zephyrin had been.
The smoke billowed on a scale easily several times larger than Murakan’s.
And hidden within that smoke was the true form of Zephyrin. So massive it was as if an entire mountain was moving, making Murakan standing before it look tiny by comparison.
Through the gaps in the smoke, Zephyrin appeared less like the dragon people commonly imagined and more like a colossal serpent.
“Ugh, seriously. Seeing that blue flame just gives me the creeps. Before you get angry, put it out and wait quietly, okay?”
Zephyrin poked her head out from the smoke and spoke.
Jin didn’t respond. He kept his focus sharp. Just like when he cut through Myuron’s Hellgate, he had to unleash the power of the Spirit Sword Type 1 and Tess simultaneously to open a space in a single strike.
Crack!
Just as Zephyrin was about to say something more, Murakan darted in like a bullet and slashed at her eye with his claws.
But the eye took no damage at all. Instead, Murakan was knocked back by the recoil.
“Damn it! Why is this thing so damn tough?”
Murakan shouted as he regained his stance midair.
Without reacting to Murakan, Zephyrin prepared to unleash her breath toward Jin.