Chapter 897
Episode 225: An Unwanted Reunion (Part 2)
Before Luna could even respond, Mote swiftly scooped up Siris and plunged into the white dimensional portal.
Jin exhaled in relief as he watched the portal close behind them. A powerful intuition told him that, amid the suddenly intensified rift, the brothers trapped in hell would soon be summoned.
“Well, it’s a relief our Ice Princess is sharper than I thought. If Tuntun had held out any longer, I’d have had a headache. I’ll have to praise her when we get back.”
“You’re good at covering your tracks too. Did some clarity come to you while you were resting and recovering?”
“I’ve always been smart, kid.”
For the demons of the True Demon Realm, who had been locked in battle with Luna and Siris, this situation was hard to grasp quickly. They were deeply displeased at being treated like air, as if some secret scheme had been hatched behind their backs.
Yet they dared not interfere rashly. They were already overwhelmed by Luna’s monstrous strength, and now, unexpectedly, Jin—the head of the Balmel Alliance and the closest to the title of Supreme Sword of the Demon World—had appeared, accompanied by his guardian dragon.
[And you guys aren’t exactly clueless either, huh? If you’d attacked before sending Tuntun away, I’d have slaughtered you mercilessly. But you wisely cowered on your own. Huh?]
Murakan shifted into his true form, scanning the surrounding demons. The three great generals and their troops tensed, encircling the two newcomers.
“I don’t know what your scheme is, but sending Baekgyeong was a grave mistake!” one of the generals shouted.
Murakan scoffed.
[Ha, you even know how to put on a little show. I’ll send you all to the afterlife in one blow. If you want to cling to hope, pray that the ones bursting out of that rift are those ‘Faelito’ or whatever. I’m really curious about that guy’s head.]
Without waiting for a response, Murakan unleashed his spiritual energy and spread his Black Chains. In an instant, a massive veil of dark energy blanketed the area, and from behind the shouting general, a black chain plunged down.
The general, already exhausted from fighting Luna, couldn’t dodge the Black Chains. The chains pierced his back and spread like roots, annihilating the soldiers nearby.
All of this happened in barely three seconds. The remaining generals panicked and ordered their forces to scatter, but black chains were already raining down above them.
Two of the generals narrowly avoided the falling chains, but their subordinates were not so lucky. Their officers and squad leaders were swallowed helplessly by the darkness of the spiritual energy.
As Murakan’s ruthless massacre continued, the fact that Jin hadn’t even drawn his sword sent chills down their spines.
Jin kept his gaze fixed on the intensifying rift.
‘Two Demon Lords, huh? One seems unimpressive compared to the others reported so far. The other carries a heavy, solid energy.’
The amplified rift was opening. The surviving generals desperately charged toward it, but their forces were already all but wiped out. Even before Jin and Murakan arrived, they had been on the brink of annihilation.
The generals, battered and pierced by the Black Chains, barely reached the rift. There, new Demon Lords were being summoned.
“Lord Druga…!”
“Lord Siker!”
Jin immediately recognized the names the generals cried out in desperation, thanks to the intelligence on the True Demon Realm’s Demon Lords and main forces provided by Biseps.
‘Druga Kilet, Siker Haitar. So the heavy energy must belong to Druga.’
Siker Haitar was a Demon Lord who had attended Lagal Pun’s coronation banquet, and the Kilet family was an old ally of the Pun family.
‘If they’re using the brothers from hell, then Lagal must have filled the ranks with his own people, just as he said.’
Snap!
Druga was the first to emerge from the rift, and his first act was to impale the two generals who had come to him with his claws. Murakan frowned at the sight, while Jin focused on the black coffin summoned between Druga and Siker.
Their brothers must be inside that coffin.
“Fortunately, you two are still alive. I’ll make good use of your remaining strength.”
Druga said this as he used the generals’ bodies as shields to block Murakan’s Black Chains.
[Don’t you demons have any sense of camaraderie?]
The Demon Lords didn’t answer, instead staring at Jin and Murakan as if to ask why they were here instead of Baekgyeong.
“…Siker, I’m returning.”
“Alright, understood… What? What did you say?”
Before Siker could protest, Druga opened a dimensional portal using the corpses of the generals he had just killed as a sacrifice. It was a portal leading to Groshae Castle.
“Hey, Druga! You’re insane, wait!”
“Blame the generals if you want. If two more had survived, I could have opened a two-person portal…”
And with that, Druga abandoned the battlefield.
Left in the Oken Desert, tainted by magic, were Siker, a handful of remaining low-ranking demons, and the black coffin Druga had left behind.
Druga’s reason for leaving was clear.
The fact that Jin and Murakan were here instead of Luna meant, as Lagal had said, that there was a ‘Biseps spy’ in the Demon Castle.
It was also proof that Biseps had allied with Runkandel.
Having confirmed this, there was no need to die a pointless death here. Druga was among the stronger Demon Lords, but he knew well he stood no chance against Jin and Murakan—especially without a shred of Jito’s flesh.
A brief silence fell. Siker ground his teeth as he watched the portal close in an instant.
“You worthless bastard…!”
[You asked if we had no camaraderie, and they answered not with words but actions. Seriously, what are you guys? Immortals, yet you have no dignity at all?]
As Jin took a step forward, Siker hurriedly opened the coffin.
With Druga gone, Siker’s only hope was to take hostages.
“Don’t come any closer! If you do, I’ll annihilate this one!”
Click!
The coffin opened. Jin flinched, eyes widening at the figure inside.
‘…Is that Ann?’
Ann Runkandel.
She was sobbing, held captive in Siker’s grasp.
No one in this generation of Runkandel had ever imagined Ann in such a pitiful state, regardless of their relationship with her.
Though she had never risen to fame like the other high-ranking sword spirits of the Runkandel family, always discriminated against by the family’s predators, and had fallen into ruin with a meaningless end—
Ann was still a Runkandel. She was a monster stained with hatred and madness, not someone who would crumble under human sorrow. She was even more twisted than the Tonah brothers, who had been called mad murderers in Jin’s past life.
Yet here she was, bowing her head like a criminal, wracked with anguish. Even Jin felt a strange unease.
He was certain that if Luna were here, she would be overwhelmed with guilt at seeing this. Ann was not a spirit; she looked exactly as she had in life.
“Jin… I’m sorry. Even in death, I’m no help to the family.”
She spoke in a cracked voice.
[What…? Is that really Ann? What on earth did she go through in hell?]
“Don’t come… Yes, that’s right. How could I let you come when my own flesh and blood is suffering like this?”
“Jin! Don’t worry about me, just kill this bastard!”
“Shut up!”
“I don’t mind disappearing. No, I want to disappear. In hell, I realized the mistakes I made. I don’t want to be tortured anymore. So please… kill him, and end me too…!”
Neither Jin nor Murakan had expected Ann’s desperate plea.
‘I was told the arrangements were all settled. Why is she like this? Druga, Lagal… What’s going on? Am I the only one left in the dark? Am I being used and discarded? Damn it, at this rate, there’s no way I’ll make it back alive—unless Jin Runkandel has some special affection for this person…!’
Ann kept crying out in a pitiful voice, begging to be extinguished.
“Murakan, take him. I need to talk to Ann.”
[Got it.]
Crack! Murakan’s hidden Black Chain pierced through Siker’s right arm, which was holding Ann.
“Ugh!”
[Are you crazy? You think this hostage act will work on me and the kid? Do something reasonable for once. I’m so done with this. You’re about to get your ass kicked.]
Murakan quickly tore Ann away from Siker. Even if Jin had genuine feelings for Ann, Siker’s abilities alone couldn’t make this hostage situation work.
Murakan pressed Siker back, while Jin approached Ann. She remained collapsed, clawing at herself and sobbing uncontrollably. Blood trickled down from the wounds her nails had made all over her body.
Even Jin couldn’t help but feel a heavy weight in his heart.
“…Ann. Honestly, ever since our academy days, I had a feeling your end wouldn’t be a good one. But you went far beyond what I expected—you committed acts far more horrific. And now… you’re facing the absolute worst fate a person can endure.”
It was complicated, sure, but pity? That wasn’t part of it. If anything, what Jin felt now was regret.
Still, you’re a Runcandel. Still my brother by blood. Was there no way for you to live a better life than this?
If you were a villain, at least be a villain with some pride and ambition. Or like the Tona brothers, repent before crossing the line, atone for your sins, and become a pillar of the family. Hell, even if you’d just caused some minor trouble and faded away quietly.
Then we wouldn’t be here now, meeting again with nothing but contempt—no shred of sympathy to offer.
Jin looked down at Ann quietly.
“I can’t feel pity or sympathy. Our blood ties are worse than a curse.”
“I’m sorry. I have nothing to say.”
“The other brothers… they’ll be used just like you. To torment Luna no doubt. Where are they now?”
“I don’t know… I’ve never met them. They were all locked away in different prisons. Just… end this for me. Erase the name Ann Runcandel from this world completely…”
Jin closed his eyes slowly, then opened them again.
As the head of the Runcandel family, it was time to do what had to be done.
“There’s something called the path of reincarnation. You won’t be able to walk it. I can’t even wish for you to choose a better life next time. Farewell, Ann.”
Just as he reached for his sword—
Suddenly, Jin’s senses prickled with a sharp, unpleasant warning. He jerked back just in time as a blade of deadly energy shot up where he had been standing.
It was Ann’s attack.
“Ah, as I thought. Little sister, this kind of thing doesn’t work on you at all. If it were our eldest sister, she’d be standing here now, torn and unable to act, her face troubled.”