CHAPTER 735

[T.L: punisher87]

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Hood-deuk-!

The pieces of chain were falling to the ground.

Alpen, with his face revealed, blinked his eyes in surprise.

He had a much younger face than Jin had anticipated.

Jin instinctively recognized that the energy of Rosa, who had been controlling Alpen, had been released.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ancestor. I am Jin Runcandel, the twelfth flagbearer of the Chiron Runcandel, the 59th patriarch of Runcandel."

Jin kneeled down and formally saluted.

Alpen glanced at the chaotic battle situation behind Jin and then nodded approvingly, seeming satisfied.

[In this current generation, there are those who shine brightly. For now, the situation is urgent, so let's first slaughter the traitors!]

"Understood."

Alpen's sword, which had been engulfed in chaos just moments ago, was now gleaming white.

True to his title of the Knight of Light, his aura clearly possessed a stronger and brighter light than that of an ordinary martial artist.

[Traitors, you are not worthy to wear the helmet of the Black Knights....]

Alpen charged toward the center of the battlefield, brandishing his sword.

The Black Knight Commander, who was engaged in combat with Bianca, was momentarily distracted by the sword, and Jin took the opportunity to strike his head with his own sword.

The helmet shattered, revealing the face of a monster stained black with chaos.

Even the Black Knights present here were in the same state.

Once, they had been individuals who dedicated themselves to the clan and enjoyed the honor of being enshrined in the mausoleum, but now they appeared as grotesque creatures, so corrupted and exposed.

The faces of Alpen and the Black Knight Commander were in stark contrast.

In a desperate attempt to escape the crisis, the Black Knight Commander leaped forward, but once again, Jin and Bianca's swords bound his movements.

Then Alpen's thrust pierced through the face of the Black Knight Commander.

Crack!

With a heavy cracking sound as if a spring had been released, the Black Knight Commander's head disappeared.

[Now, it's time to lay down your burdens.]

With the death of the Black Knight Commander, the remaining Black Knights lost their focal point.

From the beginning, they had never gained the upper hand, and now that Jin and Alpen had joined the battle, they had no means to fight back, not even against their allies.

Escape was impossible. In this desolate space, there was no path for them to flee.

While they were steeped in chaos, they managed to hold their own for a while, but that was all. They were sorely lacking in facing martial artists who ranked in the top tier among all of humanity's history.

Crack!

The long-lasting battle finally ended when Jin overpowered the last remaining Black Knight's torso.

"Now, it would be nice if you explained what happened, 12th flagbearer. Why did the Chaos Knight suddenly become our ally?"

"Why, do you think I have colluded with the evil god?"

"That's not the case, but it's a situation that can easily be misunderstood."

"I... didn't... misunderstand. If... allies... increasing... good. The evil god... is too... strong."

"As you can see, my ancestor has just been released from the control of the evil god. Octavia Zipfel, just as Bianca said, it's a good thing that our allies are increasing. There will be more ancestors like you, right? Ancestor."

[Being referred to as an ancestor feels strange to me, considering my young age. Just call me Sir Alpen, the 12th flagbearer.]

"Understood."

"Alpen Runcandel, is it? The battle for protection of the Holy Kingdom?"

Octavia said, surprised.

[Yes, that's correct. You, who is called Octavia... you must be the descendant of Hanel Zipfel, who fought alongside me in the holy kingdom's protection. Hanel, although he was an eccentric Zipfel, had quite a dignified presence. That's why even when he spared the demons he defected to, I didn't suspect him, like you're doing now.]

"Sir Alpen, I didn't suspect you, I just..."

[When I was bound by the control of the evil god, I roughly understood the situation through her inner self. 12th flagbearer, only you can defeat her and stop this situation. I, Alpen Runcandel, will devote myself to reclaiming the clan name, following you from now on.]

Alpen interrupted Octavia's words.

Jin felt his heart warming once again.

Clearly, there was hope remaining within the Runcandel. He wasn't the only one clinging to hope, struggling.

"Thank you, Sir Alpen."

Now they had to call the allies above and inform them of the situation before moving again.

But Alpen brought up a completely unexpected topic.

[This evil god castle is structured in a way that once you descend, you can't go back up, 12th flagbearer.]

"You mean once you descend, you can't go back up?"

[Yes. Each floor of the castle is formed as a completely separate subspace. To be precise, it's not a subspace, but the inner world of the evil god itself.]

The inner world.

Not long ago, Jin had fought Rosa in his own inner world.

And conversely, the castle of the evil god was the inner world of Rosa manifested in reality.

That was why the lower forces suddenly became exposed to mental attacks on the upper floors. The weaker they were, the more difficult it became to progress through this inner world.

[Therefore, it's also impossible to send a signal to the allies remaining on the upper floors.]

If it were a normal subspace, Jin could have solved it by slashing with his Shadow Sword, but that didn't apply to the inner world of the evil god.

"Then we have no choice but to wait for our allies to come here."

[That might not go as planned either. The Zipfel clan's mage... that slow talking demon must be princess of the Kaligo family. Anyway, it was lucky that the mage, the princess, and the knight joined us. The structure of the inner world is constantly changing.]

Above all, the inner world was more like a maze than expected.

If you tried to return the same way you came, you wouldn't end up in the same space.

As Alpen said, the reason Hado, Octavia, and Bianca were able to join them until now was because the structure of the inner world hadn't changed.

"...If Sir Alpen's story is true, we're in trouble."

Hedo said.

"If there's no contact from our allies even after ten minutes, we'll move to the next floor."

Jin concluded.

There was no reason to wait for too long. If no more allies joined them, the paths had already diverged.

While waiting, Alpen provided the group with information about the forces of the evil god.

[According to my knowledge, currently, thirteen former patriarchs have been resurrected.]

It included Alpen and Lionel. The fact that the resurrected patriarchs were of the same number as the pure-blooded second generation was oddly unsettling to the group.

[Each floor is guarded by the resurrected patriarchs. However, I don't know how many of them have resisted the will of the evil god like me. As for the forces other than the patriarchs, I don't have exact information, but the recently deceased Black Knights are only a small part of them.]

So, the rough outline of the battle would involve the heroes of the temporary allied forces, the resurrected patriarchs, the forces below the fleet, and the knights of chaos.

[Elements that disrupt mental attacks and aura generation will become more severe as we go down. It won't be a big problem for the people here, but it could be fatal for those who are less skilled.]

"We brought the entire fleet with us, anticipating an aerial battle with the battleship, Ram... It may have been a wrong choice."

Just when Jin was caught up in that question, Alpen raised his head for a moment.

[When we fought the Holy Kingdom protection war, I was also caught in the same dilemma as you. Unlike the figures representing the era, the elites below them died like flies. However, if it weren't for them, we would have ultimately been defeated. The evil god will undoubtedly make use of everything it has, and before that, it would want to minimize the forces of the temporary allied forces in this place.]

Ten minutes had passed.

No allies had descended from above. During that time, the group had made several attempts to confirm if returning to the upper floors was truly impossible, but they found no success.

In the end, the destination where Jin and the temporary allies had to reach was the abyss of this inner world where the evil god resided.

Hoping that the allies would join them and unite there, they had no choice but to keep moving forward.

They resumed their journey.

After a while, the group encountered a deep and massive cliff, just like they had seen on the upper floors.

"Let's go down."

Jin, Alpen, Hedo, Bianca, and Octavia. The five of them began descending below the cliff at the same time.

***

Meanwhile, the allied forces that remained on the upper floors were descending the cliff, boarding the entire fleet, following Jin's path.

However, what they encountered upon reaching the ground was not Jin and his group, but three resurrected patriarchs from the mausoleum and countless forces of chaos.

At the center stood the Lion King, Lionel, said with a dry voice.

[Attack.]

As Lionel spoke, the army of chaos surged forward like a tidal wave.

In the sky were chaos dragons and black ships, and on the ground were monstrous beings and knights with an unknown resemblance to the Giants.

'There is no trace of the battle between them and Jin. I don't know the reason, but it seems we have diverged from Jin... Could it be due to the unstable structure of the castle?'

Veradin quickly made a judgment without being flustered.

"Initiate the battle. Fire dragon Kadun, Sword Emperor Dante, and Knight Bale will take care of the enemy commanders. Orgal and Zephyrin, focus on protecting the fleet."

Veradin immediately gave orders and started the engagement.

The problem was that the firepower of the fleet's main cannons, including Kozec, had significantly decreased.

It was because the influence of the evil god was preventing the generation of aura and the creation of mana.

Furthermore, as the inner world grew deeper, the intensity of mental attacks had also increased. The lower and mid-ranking forces within the fleet were screaming and falling.

A battleship was not controlled by a single person.

As the number of unconscious mages increased, the operation of the fleet inevitably became sluggish.

"Ronil, take command. I will also descend."

"Yes, young patriarch."

"Except for Kadun, Tuyan, Pinia, all dragons return to the fleet and inform them that the Demon's God's Orb has been activated."

Kozec was spreading an ominous resonance from the power system.

As the Demon's God's Orb began to activate, Veradin's body, descending rapidly, aged quickly.

In no time, he transformed into a white-haired old man, extending the patriarch's staff, "Hroti," before him.

[You are not the only ones who can wield absurd power like monsters.]

From Hroti, a modified decimating annihilation flame orb by Kelliark, unleashed.

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