Chapter 547
Episode 145: Omen (16)
Aside from Ron, Jin was currently the warrior with the longest striking range within the Sword Sovereign’s camp.
His lightning-wreathed, blindingly fast thrusts didn’t lose any power even amidst the Type-2 flames. The fierce sword energy relentlessly tore through the runes and lines hidden deep within the fire.
If this had been in the past—
Before Jin had earned his place among the universally acknowledged “Great Warriors,” he would have faced endless doubt and scrutiny before attempting such a feat. He might have missed the chance altogether.
But not anymore.
There was no need to explain how he knew Type-2’s weakness, or why they should trust his seemingly baseless claims.
They simply acted on his will. Jin had never once let down those who believed in him.
Each time the Balmur Alliance and the Sword Sovereigns sliced through the runes and lines, they saw the Type-2 flames shrink and weaken.
This was a breakthrough born of perfect harmony.
Ron’s intangible sword wind that shielded and lifted the entire allied force, Jin’s magical prowess and dispelling techniques, and the warriors among warriors.
Without even one of these elements, this breakthrough would have been impossible. Even if one knew the dispelling formula, very few could scatter their magic and wield their sword properly amid such horrific flames.
“There’s… a power in Lord Jin that calls forth victory. An inexplicable power.”
“How could we not serve such a lord!”
The sight of Jin, the Balmur Alliance, and the Sword Sovereigns hovering on intangible sword winds, holding back Type-2, was nothing short of mythic.
It was filled with a sense of the sublime.
The desperate, pure struggle of people fighting to not yield, to not break, to protect what they hold dear—such battles always carried that feeling.
That’s why those opposing the GPL, even amid Type-2’s vicious flames and a battle where life and death stared them down every second, swung their swords with arms nearly severed, screaming in defiance.
They felt their spirits swell from within.
“Ugh…!”
Kelliak swallowed the heat rising in his throat and opened his eyes wide. Bloodshot veins stood out in his eyes, and blood dripped from his nose, staining his beard red.
“Lord!”
Octavia shouted.
Not Siron, not Ron—but Jin Runkandel had drawn the blood of a lord for the first time in decades. Even witnessing it firsthand, it was hard to accept.
Kelliak raised his hand to signal he was fine. Unlike the reflux reaction, his grip on Hrotti was steady, without a tremor.
“It seems Hister taught the dispelling formula for Type-2. Hister and his friends are stubborn to the bitter end…”
Despite the reflux, Kelliak calmly absorbed Type-2’s magic.
He had long since transcended the limits of a mage’s “magic reflux.”
Though his body might take damage, being unable to use magic due to reflux was no longer an issue for Kelliak GPL. This was not the power of the Demon God Stone, but a feat achieved purely by the human Kelliak GPL.
“Octavia, I’ll open the path again. You take care of the nuisances so I can focus on Ron Hiran.”
“Understood.”
Kelliak’s eyes turned a piercing blue—blue flame eyes, the secret vision magic once wielded by Muron GPL.
Naturally, its power was incomparable to Muron’s magic. At the same time, another flame ignited in his left hand, and Hrotti began emitting blue lightning.
Kelliak had surpassed even the realm of “super simultaneous incantation” involving three or more magics. Including the still-unabsorbed Type-2, he was casting four grand magics at once.
Blue Flame Eyes
Mad Lightning
Annihilation Flame Orb—Kelliak GPL
Annihilation Dark Sky Flame Orb Type-2
Type-2 was quickly absorbed and replaced by GPL’s frost magic, “Frozen Hell.” Each of these four magics rivaled Type-2 in power.
The total magical energy was three times that of Type-2, meaning Ron had to bear thrice the magical burden.
Lightning struck wildly from the sky, the vanished Type-2 flames replaced by Kelliak’s enhanced Annihilation Flame Orb, cold explosions echoed in the frozen air, and blue flames bloomed wherever his gaze fell.
Meanwhile, the advance of the intangible sword energy across the battlefield slowed. Ron’s sword energy was losing strength, blocked by Kelliak’s magics.
The warriors riding the intangible sword winds wobbled precariously. Their once-solid footing faltered as fire, cold, and lightning assaulted them from all sides.
Kelliak GPL’s power had completely transcended what they knew as magic.
It was closer to an unstoppable calamity than mere sorcery. Gritting their teeth, the group sought safe intangible sword winds as if stepping on bombs.
Each step through the magic-wrapped air sent cold sweat down their spines.
Stepping on the frozen intangible sword winds chilled their ankles as if they’d be severed; searching for footing brought the pressure of two kinds of flames crushing their bodies.
The raging lightning tore through their shields with ease, and parrying with their swords felt like their wrists would snap.
Before Ron reached his peak, Kelliak GPL was clearly a force rivaling the world’s strongest. The only reason the group could even “feel” like they were fighting him was because Ron existed.
Jin didn’t know the dispelling formulas for these new magics.
Even if he did, he couldn’t break them in this state. Purely in terms of magical achievement, Kelliak had far surpassed the level Jin had reached.
That fact didn’t break Jin and his comrades’ resolve.
It only muddled their minds. How could they strike back at the pinnacle of magic? Their chests tightened with frustration.
“Right. You can’t call yourself the lord of the GPL if you break after taking one hit from Jin. Isn’t that right, Kelliak?”
Ron stood in a realm completely different from those struggling in the sky.
He wasn’t troubled like them. For him, it was simply a matter of a direct clash of strength.
Ron watched Octavia’s ship heading toward the Sword Sovereign’s domain.
Just as Kelliak had entrusted Octavia with handling the Balmur Alliance and the Sword Sovereigns, Ron now had to entrust Octavia to them.
The battle had begun with each focusing on the opponent best suited to them.
Kelliak, the fleet, the dragons, and Ron.
Octavia, the Phantom Corps, the Balmur Alliance, and the Sword Sovereigns.
The battlefield was rapidly dividing. As Octavia drew closer, Ron gradually reduced the intangible sword wind protecting his allies, and Kelliak lessened the magic aiding Octavia’s infiltration as the Balmur Alliance and Sword Sovereigns fell behind.
It took less than three minutes before Kelliak and Ron poured all their strength solely into each other.
By then, Jin and his group, along with Octavia’s ship, had moved from the sky to the plains before the Sword Sovereign’s domain, avoiding the titanic clash overhead.
Those not yet at the peak of their power couldn’t even catch their breath amid the overwhelming storm of battle.
Crack-crack!
Octavia’s ship landed roughly on the ground, battered and half-destroyed by sword energy and magic, barely functional.
Even that was thanks to the desperate shields raised by Octavia and the Phantom Corps. Their flight distance was much longer than Jin’s group’s, meaning they had to endure the power of two superhumans for far longer.
“Jin Runkandel…”
Octavia’s dark, low voice was laced with deadly intent as she stared at Jin.
Even beneath the Phantom Corps’ hoods, a murderous aura radiated. They all bore memories of losing comrades because of Jin.
“Octavia GPL.”
“Who would have thought letting you live on Veradin Island would come back to haunt us like this.”
Octavia recalled the conversation she had with Murakan that day.
—Do you really think Runkandel will defeat us and claim the throne of the world? Have you forgotten the lesson left by your old contractor a thousand years ago?
—[Hahaha… Who said the Runkandel family would be the kings of the land? I was referring to my contractor. You fools babble on, unaware that today was your last chance to change the future.]
Even then,
Octavia couldn’t bring herself to mock the absurd tale that Jin Runkandel—not just Runkandel—would become the world’s victor.
That deeply unpleasant memory resurfaced, and that foul premonition still furrowed Octavia’s brow.
She had never felt a more ominous sensation in her life.
“Why?”
And how, exactly?
It had been early 1798 when she failed to kill Jin at Veradin’s villa. Now it was April 1800—only two years later.
Yet in those two years, Jin had grown incomprehensibly strong, becoming a true giant, now facing her directly in war. In just two years…
“First, I sincerely salute you. Jin Runkandel, you are maddeningly enviable and terrifyingly remarkable. Your life is extraordinarily long… surviving even after meeting me and Heedo.”
Jin said nothing.
Objectively, the Balmur Alliance and Sword Sovereigns were clearly outmatched by Octavia and the Phantom Corps.
The thirty-strong Jin Phantom Corps, led personally by the GPL’s second-in-command, was a force that required the full might of Runkandel’s first army—including the Black Knight—to counter.
If the Sword Saints hadn’t unleashed the sealed technique known as the Overlord Sword, there wouldn’t have been any chance of victory from the start.
“Even if I wield the Sovereign Reign Sword, the odds aren’t exactly in my favor. But if I fall… the family won’t be able to just stand by and watch.”
Just as Jin had predicted, Rosa was reading the flow of battle, piecing together the situation he was in.
“With the youngest’s strength alone, they can’t handle Octavia and the Phantom Guard. Will the Second Lady join the fight? If she doesn’t step in, we’ll have to send the Black Knights.”
Even if it complicated future negotiations with Ziphl or pushed them into all-out war, Rosa knew they couldn’t afford to lose Jin now.
But Jin wasn’t counting on the family’s intervention. Instead, he planned to push the variable he held—the Sovereign Reign Sword—to its absolute limit to stop Octavia.
The odds were slim, but not zero. He had won against impossible odds countless times before.
“If Mother gets involved, Dante’s chance of survival disappears entirely. The family is here only to destroy or claim the White Stone—they don’t care about that boy’s life.”
That was what mattered most.
His friend Dante might already be beyond saving, but Jin refused to let go of that bond. No matter what happened, that wouldn’t change.
Octavia saw right through Jin’s resolve.
“You want to save your friend, don’t you? But if your family steps in, he will die for sure. If you had handed him over to us, you could have saved him—with the 80% chance your head of house mentioned.”
“Do you really think Runcandel would risk himself just to save me, Octavia Ziphl?”
“Absolutely. You’ve reached that position in Runcandel now.”
“Thanks for the compliment, but that won’t happen.”
“You say that because you still have hidden power. I look forward to seeing everything you’ve got.”
“And you’d do well to pray my family stays out of this if you want to live.”
Octavia smiled.
She wasn’t afraid of Rosa stepping in herself.
“By the way, I don’t see your guardian dragon. Does he have debts to repay as well…?”
Suddenly, Octavia’s words cut off.
Above the sky where Kelliak’s magic and Ron’s sword clashed wildly, two black stars suddenly appeared.
She had seen the exact same sight two years ago.
“Kid!”
Murakan.
“Jin.”
And Misha.
The two guardian dragons contracted to Solderet were descending toward Jin. At the same moment, Octavia felt a crushing wave of dreadful unease press down on her mind once again.