Episode 602
Chapter 156: Purification of Chaos (6)
The creature sprang back like a startled cat. Though, compared to a cat, its massive bulk was far too heavy and imposing.
Thud—!
As it fell backward, the entire training ground trembled. Jin staggered back from the faint shockwave alone.
‘It definitely reacts sensitively to spiritual energy.’
Yona, Amela, Gliek—almost every chaos Jin had faced feared Solderet’s power or bore a deep grudge against him.
The first chaos derived from Helluram was no different. It was breathing heavily, eyes wide open as if ready to leap out at any moment.
Though invisible, it felt as if cold sweat was pouring down like rain.
“Oh? Looks like Brother Jin landed a solid hit right from the start this time?”
“Brother! Good job! Keep pressing, smash it to pieces!”
The Mingwang clan, who had come to watch (even bringing snacks and drinks to the stands), clenched their fists and shouted. Once again, they maintained a distance of five paces from Jin.
“Ugh…”
But for Jin, closing the gap with the creature was no easy task.
Unlike before, when the chaos was distracted or wary of Ban, now, having calmed its startled heart, it was clearly radiating fighting spirit toward Jin.
It was as if, overwhelmed by Tess’s power and pressure, Jin’s legs refused to move.
Not out of fear or loss of will—this was no mental block.
Jin’s legs were frozen purely by the tangible pressure created by the creature’s fighting spirit.
“How dare you.”
At Ban’s low-spoken words, the chaos immediately withdrew its fighting spirit.
Instead, it voiced its grievance in the uniquely ominous, oppressive tone characteristic of ‘chaoses of a different caliber.’
[Kiiiiiing… khing.]
The voice of such a chaos penetrated deep into the human psyche.
Beings like the Demon Stone or Gliek could break human morale with their screams alone—not just because they were strong.
The first chaos that escaped from Jin was no different. Even Jin felt a pang of pity at its pitiful whimpering.
‘Damn it, pity? What am I thinking?’
Especially, Jin couldn’t help but react more sensitively to its voice.
The chaos wasn’t made up solely of chaos energy.
It had Jin’s own energy, and naturally, it resembled a part of Jin’s inner self.
In other words, there was a kind of internal connection between Jin and the creature—a link that made their emotions clearer to each other.
So, even as Jin advanced to strike again, he had to steel his heart every moment. The creature was not to be pitied—it was simply a malevolent being that had to be eradicated.
[King, kiiiing, kiiing!]
“What do you want me to do?”
[Kiiing!]
“Enough noise. Shut your mouth and take Brother Jin’s blade.”
Meanwhile, the chaos found the situation absurd. That human was trying to destroy it, yet Ban was standing firmly behind Jin, making its stomach churn.
Appealing to Ban only brought cold, intimidating responses, which made it all the more frustrating.
In truth, the chaos was even willing to let things slide if Jin didn’t try to harm it.
Originally, it was supposed to devour Jin and become ‘one,’ but since they were now separated, it thought they could just live their own lives.
It didn’t even realize it had stolen Jin’s power—it felt it was rightfully its own.
The chaos began to put distance between itself and Jin, who in turn pursued it.
As it fled, the chaos wondered why Jin possessed spiritual energy.
Jin, meanwhile, pondered how to finally take down this sly, irritating creature.
‘Spiritual energy is definitely a threat to it, but my body can’t keep up enough to fully wield the spirit blade.’
Gritting his teeth, Jin realized spiritual energy alone couldn’t properly strengthen his body. Though he had unleashed the spirit armor (unable to use Multa’s rune due to lack of mana), opening up Bradamante was still impossible.
‘Should I learn how to strengthen my body with spiritual energy? But who knows how long that would take. If I rely too much on spiritual energy, when I regain my aura, it might throw off my balance.’
He never imagined he’d long for the aura that once filled every blood vessel. Filling his empty dantian and aura control organs with spiritual energy instead felt strange even to imagine.
“Hmm…”
“At first, it seemed like Brother Jin landed a hit, but now… this doesn’t even look like a proper fight.”
“Brother Jin, it’s so sad. He was so strong before…”
“Hey, don’t say that. If you say that, Brother Jin might never get strong again.”
But as time passed, Jin and Ban understood this battle on a completely different level than the others in the training ground.
‘Just as the Twin Warrior brother said. Closing the distance with it is still far off, but I’m starting to feel the powers the Twin Warrior brother mentioned.’
Like light hidden behind thick fog, Jin’s energy, taken by the chaos, glowed faintly throughout its body.
Only Jin could see it, and it felt as if, if he could just grasp it, the energy would surge back to him like a wave.
‘Damn it, it’s dangerous for the Twin Warrior brother to break the shield for me. Even just breaking the shield, not a direct hit, could cause problems with the energy inside it. That’s probably why the Twin Warrior brother is staying quiet.’
Jin’s thoughts were correct.
But Ban was sensing something else too, maintaining five paces from Jin—a strange resonance between them.
‘There’s some kind of resonance happening between Brother Jin and me…?’
The Mingwang clan’s radiant hearts and the power within them could amplify in response to Ban’s energy.
When Jin first sought Lapraroza, the radiant hearts of the Twin Kings in the Twin Warrior battle shone especially bright for this reason. The Mingwang clan called this phenomenon ‘Twin Warrior Resonance.’
Jin also possessed a radiant heart and could resonate in the same way—but not yet.
‘Right now, Brother Jin’s radiant heart probably doesn’t even have the minimum energy left for resonance… so why?’
Suddenly, as if an idea struck, Ban grabbed Jin’s shoulder.
“Twin Warrior brother?”
“Brother Jin, can you feel it?”
“What…?”
Jin stopped in his tracks. Thanks to Ban strengthening the resonance, Jin could now sense the same feeling she did.
‘The Twin Warrior brother’s power feels like it’s connecting directly to me…!’
It was unfamiliar to Jin—but not the first time.
On Bluebird Archipelago, Island 32—
-(My brother I want to kill, Feitel.)
-(How dare you… think to descend in my grave.)
He remembered how the lingering spirit of the thunder god ‘Gram’ inside Sigmund resonated with his sword, strengthening his brain energy.
A similar sensation now enveloped Jin.
“It seems I can help you, Brother Jin.”
Rooooar…!
Suddenly, as if the sky had opened or a tsunami had risen, the entire training ground filled with blue brain energy. Ban had unleashed her power.
[Kek, keng!?]
The chaos mistakenly thought Ban had changed her mind and was trying to harm it regardless of Jin’s fate—but that wasn’t true. If that were the case, the chaos would have been torn apart by Ban’s energy alone.
Ban had unleashed her power to send it to Jin.
Like a god bestowing power upon a human.
Ban had never lent her power to another before, but she was certain Jin could accept it.
Still terrified and confused, the chaos curled up, while Jin shuddered with a sensation like being reborn.
Fzzzzzt—!
Like flames spreading, light flared from Jin’s chest. His radiant heart began flashing with blue brain energy again.
Blue brain energy also shimmered over the black blade of Bradamante, soaked in spiritual energy.
His body, once as heavy as a stone, felt much lighter, and the chaos’s shield seemed ready to be sliced through without difficulty.
‘Now, I can finally fight properly.’
How the two had come to resonate, how to cultivate this new form of ‘inheritance,’ and what problems resonance might bring—those could wait until after this fight. After all, Jin wasn’t going to die or be crippled fighting the chaos.
“I recently found out I’m on borrowed time. You should try that feeling too, chaos. Now you’re the one with a deadline.”
Shing!
In just two leaps, Jin closed the distance to the shield that had once felt impossibly far.
His eyes almost gleamed with exhilaration as he swung his sword, while Ban maintained five paces behind him.
From the chaos’s perspective, it was maddening.
Raaaaar!
Though it was knocked back by the roar, it didn’t faint like before.
‘I can manage. Not like last time when I was taken down so easily.’
Of course, the power the chaos showed was only a fraction of its true strength. But now, it was no longer an unbreakable wall for Jin. After enough clashes, it would definitely be vulnerable.
Bradamante sliced through a chunk of its shield. The chaos, startled by Jin’s sudden strength, couldn’t immediately restore the shield—and Jin was not the type to miss such an opening.
Stepping inside the shield, Jin dodged the creature’s reflexive swipe and aimed for its instep. There, a cluster of energy that had originally belonged to Jin was gathered.
Before the chaos could thrash about in earnest, Jin swiftly lunged at its instep.
As I stretched out my hand, grasping the fallen object like a lifeline, it was as if I bit into fruit so sweet after days of starvation. That sweetness jolted through every vein in an instant!
I could feel the lost strength flooding back into my core. The power I reclaimed from Jin was only about ten percent of my aura.
But the joy was fleeting.
No sooner had the energy returned to my body than my consciousness snapped like a severed thread, fading away once more.
Yet, even as I fainted, a blissful smile lingered on Jin’s face—just like anyone who’s just regained something precious.