Episode 641
Chapter 164: Land of the Ominous Spirit (3)

Instead of answering, Padler swung his sword.

Along with the blade, a storm of azure lightning poured out from behind him. It was as if a sea of electric energy had suddenly erupted from Padler himself.

Kaio swiftly unleashed a barrage of divine strikes, intercepting the oncoming blue lightning. The chaotic space around them brightened with the mingling azure forces.

“Looking at it again, it seems he’s not a descendant but a restless spirit. Was his name Padler Runcandel?”

[That name is no longer in use.]

Padler surged forward through the gaps pierced by the divine strikes. Kaio calmly kept his distance, while Jin slipped into the center of their clash to block Padler’s pursuit.

It wasn’t Bradamante who stood in Silus’s way, but Sigmund. Jin had switched swords without anyone noticing, and his entire body was now suffused with electric energy.

The lightning based on aura and the azure lightning rooted in magic.

Though the three wielders’ energies were fundamentally different, they appeared as if they were the same kind of power.

“I don’t know why he became a restless spirit, but his murderous intent is far too thick. Though my memories of Temar are incomplete, he seemed to care deeply for you.”

[Many things have slipped from my memory as well. But I’ve never heard the Lords of the Underworld described as mere babblers. Need I say more? We might as well just clash weapons.]

Swift and precise.

If Padler’s swordsmanship could be summed up in two words, those would be it.

The only flaw in his transcendent swordsmanship was its sole focus on destructive power—but even that was tempered by the addition of azure lightning.

Kaio fought at mid-range, while Jin engaged up close.

Because of this, both Jin and Padler fought with Kaio in mind. Padler was certain that only by defeating Kaio could he strike at Jin, while Jin believed that as long as Kaio remained unharmed, there was still hope.

Their battle with Padler was far from over.

‘We have to finish this before Kaio tires.’

‘If I can swiftly kill this Lord of the Underworld named Kaio, then I can deal with Jin.’

There was no need for reconnaissance.

From the very start, all three had revealed their full strength.

Each clash of blade, arrow, and lightning screamed as if the earth and sky themselves were about to be torn apart.

Like the sun rising over a rotting sea, their combined energies tore through the chaos filling the Garden of Blades.

If only this were not a fight between an ancestor from a thousand years ago and the latest descendant… but rather a brilliant light purifying the family.

It would have been perfect.

But the harsh reality clawed at Jin’s heart. More painful than the relentless blue lightning stabbing through his body was the bitter truth gnawing at him.

Because he was a figure from a millennium past, Jin had never truly connected with Padler—not once. He had only glimpsed a few records as an observer.

Yet, until yesterday, he had been close to him, sharing a deep bond of friendship. Now, it felt like he was stabbing a dear comrade.

[Kaaah!]

There was no such pain within Padler.

His claim that he held no personal feelings toward Jin before their blades crossed was undoubtedly true.

But to Jin’s eyes, he was not a distant descendant but Runcandel of that era, a living embodiment of Temar.

“Try losing everything once.”

Padler’s dark eyes seemed to say just that.

“Brother Jin!”

Blood spurted from Jin’s neck. The rune of Multa was completely shattered and useless now.

Even if it had been intact, it would have meant nothing against the old Ten Knights.

The wound wasn’t deep, but had it been just a little deeper, death would have come instantly.

Only then, as blood droplets scattered into the air, did Jin realize that unnecessary emotions had taken root inside him.

Pity, sympathy, a sense of obligation, or some complex feeling he couldn’t explain. Padler was no opponent to face with such sentiments.

It wasn’t enough to simply give his all—he needed the relentless determination to kill him.

Jin knew this better than anyone.

Though his body had transcended humanity, his heart had not. Whether Padler’s words were true or not, there was no doubt he had sacrificed everything for the old Runcandel.

But as Padler said, the feelings he once shared could never replace all that he had lost.

The heart that once protected the family could not defend the restless spirit he had become.

If this were a matter between people, Jin could understand it.

But now, as the next head of the Runcandel family, Jin stood against Padler.

No matter the reason, harboring a naive heart toward someone bent on destroying the family was unacceptable.

“I have one last question, Sir Padler. Is there any chance you’ll stop now?”

[Not a chance.]

“Then, as a member of the current Runcandel family, not as a descendant of Temar, I will bring you down.”

Jin closed his eyes briefly. In that instant, the resolve aimed at Padler closed with them.

Before he opened them again, Padler unleashed the pinnacle of his magic sword.

Azure Lightning Sword Secret Technique, Runcandel Magic Sword Art

Gale of Karma—Padler Runcandel

A magic sword art paired with the Flame of Karma wielded by Sara Runcandel.

Jin and Kaio immediately recognized the sword that formed the foundation of this technique.

The completion of Flame and Gale of Karma came only after Temar had passed the secrets of the Lord’s Sword to the Ten Knights.

Kaio’s gaze hardened.

“So you’ve spent your life chasing the shadow of the Infinite as well.”

Kaio, too, had devoted his life to reaching that sword—to resemble the Sword of the Fighting God.

“But if it’s not the original, it’s a realm you can never reach.”

Against Gale of Karma, Kaio first unleashed his Fighting King’s Technique, ‘Tidal Wave.’

The battlefield of lightning that erupted from Padler and Kaio took on nearly identical forms, as if they were the same technique.

Those who strive to reach the summit often end up with similar results.

[Are you saying you’re the original, Lord of the Underworld?]

“No. Though an enemy, I respect him. That someone who never belonged to the Lords of the Underworld fought on equal footing with me.”

The difference between Kaio and Padler was their bodies.

The electric energy, the power symbolizing the Lords of the Underworld, required a body capable of withstanding it—just as the Runcandel’s decisive technique required a blessed body.

“But can you endure it? In that fragile human shell of yours?”

Padler’s old comrades called him weak for this very reason. His sword concealed his innate shortcomings by risking his life.

[Already dead once, you keep spouting nonsense.]

Kaio smiled wryly.

Unlike Jin, he held no special feelings toward Padler.

He was simply glad to find a worthy opponent when he came to fight for his brother.

Tidal Wave and Gale overlapped. Jin continued to prevent Padler from closing the distance with Kaio.

He was buying time, forcing Padler to expend as much energy as possible to build his strength.

From then on, Padler shifted his pressure toward Jin, while Kaio fully covered him.

As a result, Kaio began to take wounds. Had they maintained their previous joint attack formation, Padler would have been the one seriously injured by now.

‘Inefficient.’

On the surface, it certainly seemed so.

Padler could only guess there was a reason behind this seemingly inefficient change in offense.

It was likely the energy now shining from Jin’s radiant heart.

Though vast enough to make even that flinch, it was still just that.

As Kaio hinted, there was no sign that this power could ascend to the ‘original.’

Because Jin was not Changseong.

He was unlikely to show the realm of the summit that only Temar had reached a thousand years ago—territory even he had never set foot on.

But as Tidal Wave and Gale reached their peak, Kaio spoke with confidence.

“Show us now, Jin. To the restless ancestor of our brotherhood.”

The true sword of the summit.

Kaio continued, and the energy gathered in Jin’s radiant heart exploded outward.

Lord’s Sword Fighting Technique, Tenth Sword

Lord’s Dominion Sword – Open

For a moment, Tidal Wave and Gale ceased their movements. Like wild beasts pausing when a greater predator appears.

Jin did not stop there. He opened the next chapter of the Tenth Sword, Form Two: Battle.

A heavy will to annihilate those who oppose the Lord was imbued in Sigmund.

Kaio took a proud breath, and Padler stared at Jin with a momentarily frozen body.

From Jin, he now saw Temar himself—but soon realized it was only an illusion.

The man before him was neither Temar nor a member of the old Runcandel.

He was Jin Runcandel. Not from a thousand years ago like himself, but the peerless Runcandel living in the present.

‘But… nothing changes.’

Padler was neither moved nor afraid by this.

Nothing would change. His resolve to destroy Jin and watch the ruin of Runcandel remained unshaken.

The black clouds gathered by Jin’s will blocked the sun above Ram.

Even the massive forces attacking Rosa, the Prophet, and Hupester could see the scene unfolding.

[Even if my body and soul fail to remain in this world, in hell, or in the depths of chaos… Even if my name and all I have lost are erased from this world once more.]

The surging light of the awakened Uproe flared even more brilliantly.

The resumed Uproe surpassed every sword technique Paddler had ever wielded in his lifetime.

“I will not let you save Runcandel,” it declared.

Suddenly, a faint memory flickered in Paddler’s mind.

Long ago, on a day much like this, he had spoken words similar to those just uttered.

—Even if my body and spirit, and those I love, were to vanish completely from this world, even if all that remained at the end was despair and nightmare, I would still stand with you to protect Runcandel.

For some reason, those words echoed faintly within Jin’s heart, like a distant reverberation from Paddler’s past.

But Jin did not falter.

Tears welled up in Jin’s eyes, soaked with determination, while Paddler’s gaze, stepping forward, held an endless void.