Episode 635
Chapter 163: Return to the Family (4)
“What… what exactly do you mean by ‘restoring things to how they were’?”
In Jin’s memory, the Garden of Swords and the Garden of Swords now before him shared only one thing in common: the thousands of swords planted in the very center.
Every knight he saw was completely consumed by chaos. Especially Rosa—her state was beyond even the reach of the chaos purifier she had brought from Laprarosa.
A single black horn jutted from Rosa’s forehead. It was impossible to hide, and she didn’t seem to want to.
Moreover, the buildings around them looked the same on the surface, but that was all.
From the moment Jin first entered the Garden of Swords—no, from the moment he stepped into Caron—he had sensed the thick, suffocating aura of chaos permeating the entire city.
Sighing, Jin pressed his palm to his forehead.
“…Are you saying you can turn back time? Or does Ilina Runcandel standing beside you—or the Prophet—have some other way?”
“You cannot undo what has already happened. But if you had kept your promise, you would be the head of the family right now. From this point forward, Runcandel would rely on you, not the Prophet, to survive.”
“You will become the family head.”
Those words, which Jin had longed to hear since his previous life, stabbed sharply at his mind.
Yet, naturally, he felt no joy. Instead, a sickening sensation crawled through his head, as if infested with worms.
A hollow laugh escaped him before he could stop it.
“Since when have you been in a position to choose the family head? Sir Shiron Runcandel—the head of Runcandel, master of Barisada, my father—none of this would have happened without his permission. This was all done on your own reckless judgment!”
Before joining forces with the Prophet, Rosa had hinted at making Jin the next family head.
But Jin had taken that as a sign she would no longer interfere with his succession—not that she intended to hand over the family like this.
Only Shiron could legitimately inherit Barisada.
“So, what’s your answer? Have you obtained the means to save the family from this chaos, or have you not?”
“No matter what I have gained, neither you nor your Runcandel will benefit from it.”
“Then… I have no other choice.”
The only option left is to kill you.
Rosa’s eyes narrowed.
She had no intention of persuading Jin.
Not because she didn’t care. Now that she had decided Jin must die, she was suppressing a pain deeper than any she had ever known.
But she couldn’t capture him.
The youngest son she knew was not a man to compromise. No matter the circumstances, he never yielded—and had never once broken.
Rosa knew better than anyone that this shining man was Jin Runcandel, her youngest son.
“Just one last question.”
Rosa expected Jin to ask about Temar or Hister.
But even that was beyond her expectations.
“Was this truly the best you could do?”
“Yes.”
“Then there’s no need for further talk.”
Jin’s gaze shifted to the knights standing behind Rosa.
“What were the family knights doing while the Garden of Swords fell into this state? Did they just stand by and watch Rosa Runcandel consort with chaos?”
“Oh, come now, Jin Runcandel. All you’ve done so far is tarnish the fate of Runcandel. And Shiron Runcandel? He’s been away from the family the entire time. What’s the result? Have you or he found any way to save the family?”
Jin ignored Ilina, who spoke for the first time.
“If it weren’t for Lady Rosa’s choice, Runcandel would have already fallen apart before the irresponsible Shiron and you returned. In a way, perhaps this too is the fulfillment of fate? After all, Runcandel has become far stronger than before…”
At that moment, a group of knights appeared from the far end of the main building.
They were the knights who had been trapped underground. Though exhausted and weakened, thanks to Stam’s care, they were clad in clean armor and wielded polished swords.
A faint trace of chaos still lingered around them.
But unlike the others who had been completely consumed, these knights bore clear signs of resistance.
‘These are the ones… who fought against chaos to uphold the family’s honor.’
They deserved to be saved.
But that was impossible.
They knew it too. That’s why the Tona brothers shouted for Jin.
“Jin, youngest brother…! Don’t worry about us—do what you must!”
“To die fighting you would be the greatest honor a Runcandel could have…!”
The Tona brothers, who had tormented Jin in his past life and often showed weakness before the strong in this one, had now become true Runcandels.
“Releasing them now is Lady Rosa’s final mercy to you and them. Make your last stand with these remnants, Jin Runcandel. Even in death, your power will serve Runcandel, so it’s not such a bad end.”
“Knights of the family, listen well.”
Jin looked at the knights who had emerged from underground. They alone were the true family knights.
“I honor your painful resistance. From now on, your task is to survive. I will open the path for you.”
The Tona brothers and the knights nodded solemnly.
“From this moment, I declare Rosa Runcandel and her followers traitors. As the family’s twelfth knight, I will execute them.”
“Effective immediately… your status as a knight is revoked, Jin Runcandel.”
Both Jin and Rosa spoke simultaneously.
As if on cue, every knight in the courtyard except those two drew their swords.
And all of them recalled an incident from years ago in the Garden of Swords.
—“Even the seat where Mother sat must be destroyed to give true meaning to my declaration today.”
—“Everyone, open your eyes wide… See clearly what true Runcandel is, what has protected Runcandel, and what the current Runcandel has forgotten.”
The declaration of the family head.
A fierce blue flame ignited in Jin’s eyes.
The secret sword technique of Runcandel’s demon blade—
The Burning Flame of Runcandel.
A blue fire blazed in Jin’s gaze.
The will of the Flame Emperor, who had fought for the family to the very end and preserved Runcandel’s values for a thousand years after death, now manifested through Jin.
Those tainted by chaos couldn’t help but flinch before that blue flame.
The chaotic energy paralyzed their minds completely.
It had been so until Jin unleashed the Burning Flame.
But a colossal fear, impossible to conceal even by chaos, an overwhelming presence, pounded against the rotten minds of the knights.
“Stop him!”
As Miu and Anne stepped forward, the chaos-tainted knights followed. Among them were knights wearing black helmets.
The Black Knights—once reserved only for the most honorable and powerful of Runcandel.
There were nearly fifty black-helmeted knights in the courtyard.
Yet Jin felt no particular thrill despite being surrounded by so many.
Wearing a black helmet doesn’t make one a true Black Knight, nor does reaching the tenth star make one a transcendent warrior.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
Hundreds of dark sword energies poured toward Jin.
They could topple even a mountain in an instant. No one outside the great powers could withstand such an onslaught for even a few seconds.
Yet their blades couldn’t even pierce the outer edge of the blue flames Jin spread. They vanished without a trace before even touching the fire.
Jin had trained not only with the Underworld Sword and the Spirit Sword in Laprarosa.
Now, he had nearly perfected the Runcandel demon blade as well.
Anyone who had seen Sara Runcandel would recognize that the one standing here was her incarnation.
A fire that could burn the world to ashes, a flame that never extinguished no matter how powerful the enemy, a fire that fought to the very end.
That fire’s eyes were fixed on the chaos-tainted traitors.
“Gaaaaah!”
Tess, freshly summoned, let out a roar.
Unlike the Chaos War, this was not a dangerous manifestation through chaos, but a pure summoning through Jin’s magic—yet Tess radiated an even stronger azure flame than before.
As Tess appeared, Jin swung his sword at the traitors.
Over a hundred knights, including five who had become Black Knights through chaos, were incinerated.
Their bodies melted away without even a scream.
Though their flesh dissolved, their chaos cores remained like living golems. Those cores were drawn like whirlpools toward the Prophet.
Jin grabbed one of the chaos cores being pulled toward the Prophet.
Chaos tried to invade Jin’s grasp like a parasite, attempting to consume him.
But when Jin clenched his fist, the core exploded.
For the first time, the Prophet faltered.
‘Is he immune to chaos!? Like the ancient Underworld clan…!’
This was something the Prophet had never expected.
The contrast between Jin, wrapped in the ancient Runcandel flames, and the chaos-tainted knights was stark.
And as Jin’s flames blazed, just as he had said, a path was opening for those freed from underground.
“Ilina Runcandel.”
“Yes, Lady Rosa.”
“Show me your power. There must be no chance of that child escaping alive today.”
At Rosa’s command, Ilina bowed her head.
“Understood. So, you’re granting permission to open the Garden of Swords?”
“I grant it.”
The prophet felt nothing but relief.
If Rosa, having witnessed Jin’s transformation, were to break their contract, it would mean yet another long detour for her.
“I will recreate that nightmare, you rotten ones. If not today, then tomorrow; if not tomorrow, then someday—no matter when. In the end, not a single one of you will survive.”
The moment Jin spoke those words,
the sun suddenly vanished, and darkness spread, swallowing everything around them.