Chapter 294

"I clearly gave you the opportunity to issue a retreat order, 4th flagbearer. What a disappointment," Barton said with a cold gaze.

The number of casualties had increased. The guardian knight, whose right arm was exploded, was surrounded by mages and facing the brink of death. The infiltration team tried to rescue him, but their advance was blocked by a spatial explosion.

"Don't expect me to defend you, 4th flagbearer."

All guardian knights, retreat!

Just as he was about to shout that order, Barton felt Jin approaching from behind.

"...12th flagbearer?"

"Sir Barton, my apologies for the delayed support. I was waiting because I didn't receive any orders."

"You should have just kept waiting. This mission failed. We are planning to retreat, so return."

"Why are you retreating?"

Jin's provocative question made a glint of anger appear in Barton's eyes. It implied, "How dare a mere 12th flagbearer show such an attitude towards me."

On the other hand, Diphus had quite a strange feeling. He was experiencing both anticipation that Jin might offer some solution and embarrassment from showing his own helplessness.

"...It's because of the spatial explosion. That magic spell completely took away our aerial combat. Continuing the fight has become difficult," Diphus answered on behalf of Barton.

Swooosh!

All three of them simultaneously took a step back because Veradin had triggered a spatial explosion between them.

"Indeed, it's quite dangerous," Jin said, looking up at the sky.

Veradin, as before, continued to fly on the Red Dragon and cast spatial explosions everywhere.

Jin maintained a calm expression.

"Do you have any plans?"

"4th flagbearer, do you plan to continue making a fool of yourself to the end? What can the 12th flagbearer possibly do..."

"I can suppress the spatial explosion," Jin interrupted Barton's words.

Diphus doubted his ears. 

And Barton suddenly turned his head. "What are you talking about? 12th flagbearer. Can you take responsibility for what you just said?"

"As long as there is no spatial explosion, can you carry out the mission?"

Jin stared directly at Barton and spoke.

Barton concealed his perplexed expression and remained silent for a moment before nodding.

"If it's truly possible, do it as quickly as possible. As you can see the guardian knights have reached their limit."

Barton knew that 'Spatial Explosion' was a magic spell that couldn't be neutralized.

'If a mere kid can do such a thing, then all the countless martial artists who challenged Kelliark before and died because their bodies exploded were all in vain.'

However, given that Jin had caused several miracles and unexpected events since his cadet days, he found it difficult to shake off an ominous feeling.

Barton was the only person among spies in Runcandel who reported directly to Kelliark.

Nevertheless, he had not received any explanation from Kelliark about how he planned to stop him in Ventica.

When he first saw the spatial explosion, he thought it was a brilliant move. 

There was no magic spell powerful enough to provide a good reason for his retreat. Also, he shuddered at the fact that Kelliark had given Veradin the authority of fire.

'If the 12th flagbearer can really neutralize the spatial explosion, it will disrupt our plans. If the battle situation changes dramatically, then I have to lead Zipfel to retreat.'

While Barton was organizing his thoughts, Jin began to cast a spell.

Swoosh, a blue flame spread out from Jin's palm, and the gaze of all the mages in the sky focused on him. They felt the unique energy of the blue flames.

Gaaahhh...!

It was Tess, the master of the Flame World. Tess roared and passed through a dimensional portal.

Their size had grown significantly compared to before Jin had visited Laprarosa. With their enormous wings fluttering, they resembled a dragon, but their intimidating aura was far from mere red dragons.

Tess's power had grown as Jin's mana had increased.

The mages were completely overwhelmed by the oppressive blue flames. Thousands of blue flames whirled and formed a circle, almost instantly covering the entire battlefield.

The air became heavy, not just a matter of expression. The battlefield was being crushed by the pressure of the flames.

The dragons' movements slowed down, and the mages had to regulate their breath and release their mana.

The guardian knights didn't need to endure the weight of pressure. Tess was controlling even the smallest embers of the blue flames perfectly. To ensure that Jin's allies were not harmed.

However, Kozec showed no signs of being affected even though it was the most exposed to the pressure.

"It's done, Sir Barton. Let's proceed with the mission," Jin said.

Barton didn't have to ask Jin what he meant. As soon as Tess appeared, the spatial explosion stopped, as if it were a lie.

Barton was not a mage, but he could instantly recognize that Veradin had not stopped his magic just because of the unexpected appearance of a phoenix.

In the area of absolute blue flames, not a single flame of Sheenu could penetrate unless it was being used directly by Kelliark Zipfel himself. 

Similarly, Tess's flames couldn't target Veradin either. Even for those who didn't know the relationship between the Flame world and Sheenu, it was apparent that the blue flames avoided Veradin.

Fragments of sword energies and cannon fire turned blue under the pressure of flames.

"4th flagbearer, save the injured guardian knights. And Sir Barton."

Jin lifted his head and looked for Veradin.

The Red Dragon carrying him was flying towards Kozec. Now that Tess had appeared and made it impossible to use spatial explosions, Veradin's safety could no longer be guaranteed outside of Kozec.

Veradin didn't look at Jin. His eyes, which were still shining red, held a hollow hatred.

"Don't let Veradin Zipfel escape. This is the last chance to cut his throat."

At that moment, Barton had only one choice.

To attack Veradin Zipfel with all his might. If he showed any hesitation, it would be equivalent to admitting betrayal, so he had to leap forward with all his strength.

Among the Zipfels present, there was not a single one who knew that Barton was their spy.

'Sir Barton will never kill Veradin. He will pretend to fight with all his strength, though.'

The reason Jin told Barton, not Diphus, to kill Veradin was because Diphus was fighting for the Runcandel and would be responsible for saving the lives of the guardian knights.

Barton Vicenna, who was on Zipfel's side, was responsible for securing Veradin's life.

"Protect the young master!"

"Stop the Black Knight!"

Suppressing the 10-star knight' leap without spatial explosions was close to impossible.

Various offensive spells poured down like a waterfall, but Barton secured an attack route solely with his swordsmanship, making the mages' efforts seem futile.

The mages' faces were growing pale as they watched Barton flying toward them using his sword energy as thrust.

However, reaching Veradin directly in a straight line was impossible even for Barton. Pursuing the flight of the Red Dragon carrying him was not easy, and as he got closer, the mages became increasingly desperate.

"All Phoenix Contractors, summon the Phoenixes! Groups one and two, attack Jin Runcandel, and the rest, restrain the Black Knight! Do not let him reach the young master!"

A commander mage on Kozec shouted, and dimensional portals opened all over the sky. Phoenixes, numbering almost thirty, covered the sky of Ventica.

Various colored energies swirled and obscured one's vision.

Mages with lesser strength were practically blind within their protective shields, and even the guardian knights couldn't swing their swords recklessly.

Gaaah!

Tess roared fiercely towards the newly summoned Phoenixes.

'If Murakan were here, he would definitely make fun of them, saying that you humans have no fear. You summoned Phoenixes to attack the master of Flame World,' Jin chuckled at this thought. It was something that didn't make sense.

Tess was simply known among the mages as the strongest phoenix. There weren't many mages who knew that they were the sole absolute ruler of the Flame world.

Only those who have actually been to the Flame World or beings equivalent to it knew this information.

Unfortunately, not a single White Night mage on Kozec knew this information.

There were quite a few well-known phoenixes among the summoned as well, but the Phoenixes simply roamed the sky without following the mages' orders.

They showed signs of fear.

As a result, even the Phoenixes from Groups one and two, who had originally intended to attack Jin, started moving towards Barton.

Given the current situation, the mages had no time to figure out the cause of this phenomenon.

It was exactly what Jin had hoped for. The thirty Phoenixes would serve as a device to make Barton's fake threat more convincing.

'If all goes well, Barton might suffer an appropriate injury and fall to the ground.'

Barton was now completely engulfed by the flames of the Phoenixes and was no longer visible. Veradin, too, could only be seen briefly through the flames, with only the tail and wings of the Red Dragon carrying him appearing now and then.

Amidst the confusion, Kozec was preparing its cannon. Its target was Tess.

"Fourth Flagbearer!"

In response to Jin's booming call, Diphus turned his head abruptly. He had just been in the process of evacuating the injured guardian knights and returning to his position.

Jin pointed at the cannon with his finger, signaling him to stop it. It wasn't a gesture that the Twelfth Flagbearer would typically make to the fourth Flagbearer, but Diphus rushed over and prepared to defend.

Diphus already realized that the core of this mission was not himself or Barton, but Jin.

Though he didn't want to admit it, that was the reality.

Diphus wasn't the type to make foolish choices driven by wounded pride.

"How did you stop the spatial explosion? Was it Tess's power? If you had this ability, then why did he not intervene earlier...!"

He said it in a somewhat sarcastic manner, but Diphus had never been this happy to see his younger brother as he did today.

Jin replied with a cold tone, "First, shouldn't you thank me?"

"Because I'm not used to it. Thank you. And I mean it."

"Keep blocking the cannon fires until Barton returns or falls to the ground. The spatial explosion will start again if Tess is hit by the cannon and the summoning gets canceled."

Diphus nodded in agreement. Jin adjusted his stance and prepared a new spell.

Now, it was time to turn the tide.

'It looks like I'll be using this spell on Zipfel first.'

Final version of Annihilating dark sky flame orb.

The spell Jin was about to unleash was a legacy of Riol Zipfel.