Chapter 466
Episode 131: Those with Good Instincts, Those Without (10)
A black tidal wave, born from the heavens, was crashing down upon the land.
From the perspective of the four great powers hastily raising their protective barriers, it looked exactly like that—a merciless black tsunami poised to obliterate the entire island.
The oppressive weight of the blue flame’s pressure felt like the crushing force of Mount Tai bearing down.
Crack, snap!
Before the cursed flames even touched the ground, massive fissures appeared all over the island. To the humans below, it was impossible not to think: if this is what the end of the world looks like, then this is it.
In truth, if the protective barriers of the four great powers failed to hold, the cursed flames unleashed by Murakan carried enough power to erase the entire island without breaking a sweat.
This was due to a kind of amplification effect.
In other words, the cursed flames Jin had summoned were now fused with Murakan’s spiritual energy—restored to half its full strength.
Instead of canceling each other out, the cursed flames and spiritual energy combined as if planned from the start, displaying an even more devastating power.
Even Jin’s cursed flames alone had enough force to reduce the guardian knights in the Garden of Swords to ashes—if Runtia hadn’t blocked them.
So, with Murakan’s power added on top, it was on a whole other level.
Granted, it still didn’t quite match the peak power of Sarah herself, but it was close.
In short, among the four great powers who had come to the archipelago, there was no one capable of single-handedly stopping these cursed flames.
Fwoosh, crackle—!
The cursed flames began ravaging the land.
As the black tidal wave’s edge swept away the protective barriers, the humans below trembled in terror and shock.
The barriers—dozens of layers, painstakingly erected by the first armies of the four great powers—crumbled as easily as dry leaves.
Crack, snap, crunch!
Fragments of shattered barriers scattered, reflecting light in a chaotic dance. The black cursed flames blocked out all light, plunging the area into darkness in less than a second.
“Ahhhhhh!”
“Ugh—!”
Screams erupted simultaneously.
The cursed flames turned everything they touched to ash. Even a fingertip’s brush corroded the flesh, and the oppressive pressure made escape impossible. Even if one could run, it would be meaningless.
Those beneath the black tidal wave felt as if they were standing in a scene straight out of hell.
And if there was a god in that hell, it was surely that terrifying black dragon—Murakan—who laughed maniacally as he watched humans burn. (Though in reality, his gaze was aimless.)
“Khahaha! Khahak! Kahhahaha!”
His laughter was pure, uncontrollable joy—but to the humans below, it was anything but.
The first armies of the four great powers were being slaughtered like ants beneath a boot…
“Heh heh! Hey, bastard, are you really going to fight that thing? That black dragon—if you mess with it, you’re in serious trouble. If you want to be like Muron, I can suggest plenty of other ways.”
Sandra shouted as she cast frost magic to push back the cursed flames. Sweat poured down her face like rain as she fought the black fire.
“Every day, I imagined killing those bastards. Those who are Muron’s enemies…!”
Midore was protecting herself and nearby mages with spatial explosions and fire magic.
“Oh yeah? Enemies of Muron, huh? You’re one of the funniest people I’ve met. You talk like you lost a brother or something!”
Despite her words, Sandra wasn’t mocking; her tone was oddly cheerful.
“Whatever, do as you please! But with your skills, you won’t stand a chance even if you died and came back. I’ve always wanted to meet Jin Runkandel at least once… Aah!”
Suddenly, without warning, the cursed flames intensified, and Sandra screamed.
The elder mages nearby, unable to react quickly enough, were swallowed by spiritual energy and vanished.
With just one surge, the Ziphl faction lost nearly half their mages.
Yet Sandra only smiled wryly.
“Ha, I almost went too. Charming, really.”
The situation was even worse for Kinzello’s side.
Unlike the White Wolf tribe, the Red Tiger tribe was utterly useless in responding.
In fact, their reckless thrashing was dragging even the White Wolves down like drowning ghosts.
“Y-you crazy Red Tigers! Let go! Let me go!”
“P-please! I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!”
“Not good enough!”
“Save me too! Ugh!”
“Because of you, our kin are dying…!”
In the end, the White Wolves’ top and elite warriors had no choice but to smash the heads of the obstructing Red Tigers with hammers.
If they didn’t, total annihilation was certain. Occasionally, some of the Red Tigers fought back, but their claw strikes, wild and uncontrolled, posed little threat to the White Wolves.
Though the two tribes generally disliked each other, the White Wolves couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret as they killed the Red Tigers.
“Damn it! Soldiers for the great cause dying so pointlessly…!”
Losing even ordinary Red Tiger warriors was bad enough, but the loss of the king tigers was especially painful. The title of king tiger was reserved only for those who matched the White Wolves’ top warriors in combat ability.
Heads and bodies of Red Tigers flew everywhere, disappearing into the black flames. Even the weaker White Wolves kept falling.
While Kinzello wandered through the chaos within chaos, the Biment squad endured a horrific ordeal.
‘Fighting Amela all this time was bad enough, and now the black dragon Murakan…!’
Ratz, leader of Special Unit 3, gritted his teeth.
Like the others, Biment’s members never imagined such a situation would unfold upon arriving at the Gaipa Archipelago.
Who could have guessed Amela would fight all four great powers? And even curse them.
They had assumed the four powers might have minor disputes but would never engage in full-scale battle.
Everyone would be cautious. Sending large forces to show strength was one thing, but actual combat meant huge losses for all. Whoever gained Amela would be better off negotiating.
Yet here they were, facing a sudden, massive area attack.
And this was only the beginning—Murakan’s power alone was overwhelming the four great powers.
Ratz and the other leaders felt their heads spin watching their comrades fall without pause.
It wasn’t just a few. Replenishing so many special operatives would take an unimaginable amount of time and resources. Whether they could even survive and return to the empire was uncertain.
Ziphl, Kinzello, Biment.
Those three factions naturally assumed the cursed flames were Murakan’s technique, but Runkandel had a different conclusion.
‘This isn’t Murakan’s power… It’s the youngest’s!’
Vigo swallowed hard as he cut through the cursed flames.
Though slightly different from when it was first unleashed during the Gaju declaration, Vigo clearly recognized the cursed flames as a demonic sword technique.
‘It’s even stronger than when Runtia blocked it back then, but one thing’s certain: this isn’t Murakan’s sword—it’s the youngest’s!’
A chill ran down his spine as if a cold blade had grazed his back.
A strange mix of inferiority, admiration, shame, self-loathing, and determination swirled inside him, making it hard to describe.
The black tidal wave of cursed flames spread unusually weakly toward Runkandel’s side.
Of course, that was Murakan’s doing, but Vigo mistakenly believed Jin was sparing him and his family.
In any case, unlike the other factions, Runkandel suffered no casualties.
In other words, the knights of Runkandel believed their lives depended entirely on Jin. If he wished to kill them, they would die; if he wished to spare them, they would live.
[“Feel it, you insignificant worms! Experience the power of the great black dragon and die! That will be the greatest moment of your worthless lives.”]
Murakan paused his laughter and said this with a satisfied expression.
He gazed upon the land ravaged by the cursed flames, admiring his enhanced power.
It thrilled him, making him laugh uncontrollably. His mouth stretched into a grin that looked anything but dignified, but thankfully, no one was looking at his face while trying to stop the cursed flames.
Only one person—Jin—looked up at him and sighed in relief.
‘That guy suddenly seems incredibly strong. What’s going on? It feels like some kind of limit has been lifted.’
Whatever the reason, it was good news without question.
Amela was saved, Murakan had grown stronger, and unexpectedly, the four great powers were being overwhelmed.
Jin quickly calculated how to maximize his gains. There was no need to overthink it.
“Lady Amela.”
[“Yes, no… Thank you for saving me.”]
“I’ll hear your thanks and the full story after this is over. For now, I have a proposal for you.”
[“Say whatever you want! I’m no longer a friend of Bubar and Kinzello—I’m your friend now.”]
“That remains to be seen. Whether I can accept you as a friend is important too. For now, hide yourself.”
Whoosh!
[“Mya!”]
Shuri was summoned from the jade stone. The moment Amella saw Shuri, her eyes sparkled intensely, just like when she saw the Prochi siblings.
“This one will help us. Before things get chaotic, we need to hide as quickly as possible. Somewhere not too far from the mountain pass, and stay there until I say it’s safe for me to come out.”
Jin planned to declare Amella ‘dead.’
Since Amella had already turned her back on the four major factions, it was better to officially mark her as deceased and secretly bring her under his own faction’s protection.
Of course, that was a plan for after he could trust Amella. But once the karmic flames were extinguished, she wouldn’t have another chance to hide.
[With this one? Really? Can I bring the cuties too?]
“No. And if you try to deceive me or run away, no matter where you are or whose protection you’re under, I will find you and kill you…”
[That won’t happen! See you later then.]
[Meow meow!]
As Amella rode Shuri and disappeared somewhere, Jin watched the spirit of Bubarr, who had been bound with the Prochi siblings, rapidly fading away.
‘I’ll hear about that from Amella directly later… For now, let’s finish cleaning up here.’
Jin’s eyes met Murakan’s.
Through his lips, Jin silently conveyed the message:
‘Prepare the third line, Murakan.’