Chapter 382

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Splash, splash...!

Blood sprayed from Jin's severed arms. Puddles of blood quickly formed on the ground, and the enforcement knights took a step back with their swords still pointed at Jin.

Jin still had a composed expression. And he never looked away from Jorden.

For Jorden, that composed gaze of the rookie couldn't be more eerie. Even though Jin was approaching him with severed arms, Jorden felt a chill in his spine, as if a blade were slicing through his back.

'It's a leap forward...!'

Such a thought briefly crossed Jorden's mind.

A leap.

[T/L: 비약 : Leap; a sudden, rapid rise or improvement of one's position, level, etc.]

To say that what he can see in this arrogant young blood is a reflection of Chiron Runcandel's youth would not be an exaggeration.

Back then, when Jorden competed with Chiron as 2nd flagbearer, Jorden had received a warning from Chiron.

A gaze.

A gaze that said, "If you keep challenging, I will eliminate you."

Young Jorden only truly realized the weight of Chiron's nonchalant warning after facing it. They were on different levels, living in different worlds, and were beings from different dimensions.

He was nothing more than an ant that Chiron could crush at any moment.

'At that time, the patriarch was already at the pinnacle of the world. He was truly a supreme ruler.'

But why, then, did this 12th flagbearer with severed arms possess the same aura? A terrifying aura that Jorden had never experienced from anyone since Chiron!

Blink...!

He closed his eyes for a moment, and in that instant, all these thoughts passed by as fast as light.

All this sensation of deja vu was melted away into a fleeting moment when he barely blinked

Call for the medical team, now!

Someone urgently shouted, and he heard the sound as if it were coming from underwater.

Ugh!

It was only then that Jorden could finally swallow the lump in his throat and break free from the deja vu. Jorden got goosebumps all over his body.

"Get the medical team here quickly! Damn it, hurry!"

The one shouting was Butler Petro.

A mere butler couldn't use such language when the elders and the flagbearers were standing in front. But in Petro's mind, there was only one thought: to start treatment before Jin's arms became necrotic.

Even for top-tier healers, completely healing a severed limb was not an easy task.

Reattaching a detached limb might seem simple, but the arm of a martial artist is different from that of an ordinary person. If it didn't fully regain its original function, a martial artist was no different from a bird having their wings broken.

Even the most renowned healers on the continent couldn't restore a severed limb if they missed even a moment after the amputation.

"Medical team!"

Mary also called for the medical team, biting her lower lip. Her knights rushed towards the medical facility as if they were possessed.

In less than twenty seconds, the knights returned with the medical team. Meanwhile, Diphus and Mary were doing their best to stop Jin's bleeding and applied pressure to his arms.

'Uncle Jorden, your end won't be good.'

In the midst of the chaos, Jin swallowed a victory smile.

However, even though Jin hid his smile, everyone in the central court who had witnessed this scene knew who the winner was between Jin and Jorden.

"Make way!"

"Both of you, go and fetch the necessary medicinal herbs! We need emergency treatment first, then we'll move the 12th flagbearer to the operating room!"

The healers from the Runcandel shouted as they examined Jin's body.

"Is the youngest all right!? Can you restore his arm!?"

Tona brothers, who had been watching with bated breath, eventually ran over to the medical team to ask.

"We can't give a definite answer!"

The situation was not good. Jin had accumulated fatigue from fighting assassins even before returning to the clan, and his bleeding was severe.

Although the Runcandel medical team consisted of the finest healers, they couldn't be sure if they could completely restore his arm.

"Make sure to treat him perfectly, no matter what!"

"7th Flagbearer, don't worry about me too much."

Jin gave Mary a faint smile. The healers were working hard to pour mana into the severed limb.

"And I apologize for leaving the meeting to you alone."

"Don't worry about it. Damn it. I still have to fight with you for a long time."

"Petro."

"Yes, Young Master!"

Jin gestured with his chin to Faye in the carriage.

"That's my spoils of war."

It means don't let anyone touch or check it during his surgery. 

Originally, it was a difficult order for Petro to carry out. In such a situation, if the Elder Council demanded it, Petro and Jin had no choice but to hand over Faye.

But with this incident, the name Jin Runcandel within the clan had gained a higher status. No one could casually interfere with Jin and his people.

Even the president of the Elder Council had pressured Jin with some plausible reasons, but ended up with such a disgrace. Now, it had become a matter that required serious determination to touch Jin within the clan.

"Understood!"

Despite still being worried about Jin, Petro's chest swelled with pride from deep within.

"12th flagbearer, we will move to the operating room!"

"I'm counting on you."

"I'll do my best."

The medical team, having finished the emergency treatment, began moving Jin to the operating room.

Jorden and the elder council members watched in silence for a while. It wasn't the atmosphere for the elder council to tell everyone to step back, reprimand the butler for calling the medical team, or for the enforcement knights to punish the flagbearers for breaking the law.

The elder council was not in the mood to do such things.

Above all, Jorden somewhat lost his fighting spirit.

'For a moment, I, Jorden Runcandel, felt fear from that kid just with his aura.'

Was the fear he felt from Chiron in his younger days really that tremendous, or had the 12th flagbearer shown an indescribable will? Jorden couldn't quickly distinguish between the two.

'One thing is for sure, he's not an opponent to be taken lightly...!'

In fact, Jorden had recognized Jin's potential a long time ago. Jin had some exceptional qualities that set him apart from the other flagbearers.

Yet, even so, Jorden had never judged him as a "real opponent" with whom he could genuinely fight. He had always thought of him as someone who could be crushed at any moment, just like Chiron had done back then.

And today, that thought had completely changed due to today's humiliation. For the first time in his life, he felt the bitterness of being defeated despite cutting down his opponent as he pleased.

'He might be a bigger threat to me than the 2nd flagbearer. No, perhaps...!'

He couldn't turn around to see, but Jorden was aware of Rosa's gaze from the main house.

'He might be even more dangerous than Rosa.'

There was someone else who shared a similar thought as Jorden.

Joshua Runcandel, the clan's 2nd flagbearer. He gazed down at the puddle of blood Jin had spilled with a sense of foreboding.

'...It seems reckless at first glance, but it was clearly a calculated move. Starting from the point when Mary publicized the matter of the first patriarch's tomb, he was preparing to detonate this bomb within the clan.'

What had just unfolded between Jin and Jorden was just the beginning.

Joshua was certain of that.

'He is definitely not the kind of person who would be done with this much. He must have had a well-founded reason for doing this.'

After Mary publicized the information during the previous meeting.

Joshua had been pondering Jin's intentions the whole time. 

The legacy.

Mary had undoubtedly mentioned that Solderet had left legacies in the first patriarch's tomb for Jin.

'It's not merely because he found it challenging to search for those legacies on his own. There's something else. What is it, Jin?'

Before Jin's surgery was completed, it was crucial to understand his intentions. There would undoubtedly be another disturbance in the clan right after the surgery.

Various scenarios swirled through Joshua's mind. His head felt like it was about to explode, and an inexplicable anxiety weighed on his chest.

'There must be something fundamental. All of the youngest's actions are ultimately aimed at obtaining what he desires.'

After much contemplation, Joshua finally arrived at one conclusion.

Succession battle!

He wondered why he hadn't thought of it immediately.

'Why didn't I think that the youngest leaked the information about the first patriarch to Mary in order to gain an advantage in the succession battle?'

Encouraging other Runcandels to participate in finding the tomb through Mary, having Mary attend the meeting alone while he stayed out of it, and even undermining Jorden's prestige by losing both arms, all of these actions were aimed toward gaining an advantage in the succession battle.

'Having Mary leak information about the first patriarch's tomb was to gain legitimacy. Having Mary attend the meeting alone was to obtain the last legacy that could be obtained without relying on the clan's power. And weakening the elder council president's prestige..."

A show of presence.

Joshua, who had reached this conclusion, looked around once.

What he saw was the agitated Runcandels.

Jin's actions were now undeniably having a significant impact on the Runcandel clan. From a certain point on, Jin had stopped observing the clan's atmosphere and instead, the clan had begun following the flow created by Jin.

This meant that the position of the 12th flagbearer carried considerable weight.

It also implied that cracks were forming in his position as the next patriarch, which he had built up until now.

"Howard."

Joshua called for his butler.

"Yes, my lord."

"After today, people who stake their fate on the youngest will start to emerge."

Howard was surprised after hearing this.

"Don't be surprised. He was originally someone my father had an eye on, so it's only natural that it turned out this way. It may be a small number, but it only takes an instant for the rolling snowball to grow."

"How do you plan to deal with it?"

"Gather all my knights in the Garden of Swords. Make sure every single one, who can reach before the youngest's surgery is over, arrives."

"Understood."

The reason Joshua was assembling his knights was simple.

It was for the moment when Jin woke up after his surgery and set off another bomb.

As the 2nd flagbearer of the clan and the next patriarch, he needed to display his dignity.