Chapter 407

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Ron's aura was pushing away the thunder.

Each time he swung his sword, Rashid, a tidal wave-like aura shot up into the sky.

Even the thunderstorm that seemed like it could engulf the Sword Emperor Castle appeared like child's play in front of Ron's aura.

'How many people in the world can protect a castle of this size by spreading their sword aura like an umbrella?'

That was the question that crossed Jin's mind as he witnessed the scene. This was a feat only possible for the best among best 10-star knights

What was even more astonishing was that Ron showed no signs of exhaustion, even as he continuously unleashed such a powerful aura.

"Sir Ron!"

Ron turned his head as Jin shouted. He checked Veradin, who was unconscious and tied to Shuri, and then nodded vigorously toward Jin.

Good job!

That was the expression on his face. Even though Veradin had not emerged from this unscathed, Jin's rescue alone meant that they could now handle the enemy's plot with greater ease.

And Lata, who was still dealing with the monsters and living golems at forefront, felt a strange feeling upon seeing Jin return.

It could be described as a form of admiration. Truly, it was an emotion he hadn't felt in a long time.

Regardless of how his relationship with Jin had been until now, there was no reason not to admire him. Even Ron hadn't realized that Veradin was the key.

'He's an impressive guy. I never thought the day would come when this Lata Proch would fall in love (humanly) with a man.'

Shuri crushed giant monsters beneath her feet and leaped to Ron's side.

"I don't know why I forgot about this fellow. Is he seriously injured?"

"His life is not in danger."

"Alright. I will give you appropriate compensation after all this is over. Those ice chunks... I roughly understand."

Ron had only been slicing the mages to pieces whenever they regenerated.

He had not used the means of 'sealing' at all. That was because he did not have a mage's way of thinking, and all the mages waiting inside the castle had no experience with it either.

Furthermore, since Ron was able to continuously unleash such a tremendous aura without tiring, there was no need to find other means.

"Castle mages, listen! Seal the golems that use lightning attacks!"

Upon Ron's command, the knights behind him promptly cleared the way. Mages emerged through the gaps and released ice-attribute mana.

'But it's strange. Why isn't the thunderstorm subsiding?'

Despite the sealed bodies of the living golems appearing here and there, the lighting bolts pouring from the sky showed no signs of calming down.

'Are there other Plutonian-type golems? Sir Ron's aura is impressive enough to overshadow everything else, but this can't be the lightning energy of just about four or five golems. I haven't had time to think about it as I rushed here.'

At least over five hundred Plutonian-type golems.

Or something other than Plutonian-type golems. Otherwise, it was an inexplicable storm.

Ron was also thinking the same thing as Jin.

"It feels completely different from those sealed golems….."

Ron's pupils dilated as he looked up at the sky.

The sky was shining wildly because of the mixture of shadow force, sword aura and thunderbolts.

"I need to take a closer look at what it is."

Following his words, Ron withdrew the aura he had been emitting. The thunderbolts poured like a dam had burst, but it looked much weaker than before.

And then out of nowhere the sky was split 'open.'

What was revealed through it looked like the lower part of a battleship.

'What is that...!'

Everyone here, including Jin, knew that there was only one ship in the world that could float in the sky.

Kozec, the aerial battle weapon of Zipfel.

However, what emerged while pushing aside the dark clouds was not Kozec. It was a completely different flying ship, although its shape was similar.

"... Now that a flying ship appeared, it makes me think that they might really be Octavia's subordinates."

Ron muttered with a bitter smile and shrugged his shoulders.

"It is Kinzelo, not Zipfel, Sir Ron."

"That's right. But do you really think they have no connection?"

Ron asked as if it didn't matter.

Jin shook his head.

"I don't think Zipfel is entirely unrelated to this terrorist attack. Even if they didn't directly instigate it, they must have seen it as a situation that would benefit them, so there may be some tacit agreement after the incident."

"They're despicable bastards."

Crackle, crackle...!

Dark clouds carrying lightning bolts gathered near the battleship. The ship appeared to have a much more complex structure than Kozec on the surface, and there were protrusions resembling spikes scattered across its hull, gathering mana to form the clouds.

The battlefield fell silent when the battleship appeared.

The rampaging monsters stopped in their tracks, and the martial artists stared blankly at the ship with vacant eyes.

Most of them instinctively felt overwhelmed. It was a natural reaction considering the giant monsters and living golems emerging from the ground, followed by Plutonian-type golems, and now— a flying battleship.

Jin turned his head and exchanged glances with Murakan and Cuicantelle. Their reactions suggested that they had never seen a ship like this before.

Ron was the only one who remained unfazed.

"State your name, intruder."

It was a voice filled with a profound energy. Despite being spoken in a calm manner, Ron's voice resonated and reached the ship.

Eventually, the familiar faces appeared at the front of the ship.

"He is Berakt Sidricker! The great warrior of the White Wolf tribe, the chieftain of the Sidricker tribe, the master of the Great Plains of Roskal, the absolute ruler of the Antomac Mountains, and..."

The man who was introducing Berakt was indeed Cold Joe.

"Cut it short, Joe."

"Well, in that case, let me skip some details... He's the commander-in-chief of our Kinzelo!"

This time, deciphering the plans of these people proved to be more difficult for Jin.

Not only did they carry out the terrorist attack, but they also openly admitted that they were responsible, which was unexpected.

However, the next moment, the most astonishing statement came from Joe's mouth.

"The reason we brought the battleship Grenil to the Sword Emperor Castle is to rescue our vice-leader and his younger sister."

Crazy bastards...

The profanity came to Jin's mind reflexively.

'They carried out the terror attack and now claim they came to rescue Bishkel and Margiella?'

Jin couldn't readily comprehend the motives of these people this time.

It was excessively audacious and simplistic, to the point where one might wonder if they were even making calculations before taking action.

'Did they orchestrate the terror attack, deliberately causing injuries to Bishkel and Margiella, and then use that as a pretext to claim they had no involvement in the terrorism?'

Naturally, it was an unbelievable thing.

However, on the other hand, it was also plausible. It was a well-known fact that Bishkel cherished his sister more than anyone else in the world. No one would have thought that Bishkel would orchestrate such a terror attack using his sister's safety as leverage.

Above all, there was no evidence.

While the battleship Grenil could use lightning attacks through mana, except for conviction, there was not a single perfect evidence to prove that the Plutonian-type golems, living golems,and monsters belonged to Kinzelo.

'Or perhaps Sir Ron decided to label them as criminals based solely on conviction. They are underestimating Hairan too much.'

Were they planning this from the beginning?

In response to a fleeting question, Jin quickly concluded that it wasn't the case.

'They probably intended to do this moderately and withdraw. However, because I rescued Veradin, it caused problems for them too.'

If Veradin safely returned to his clan, it would be difficult to establish hostile relations between Hairan and Zipfel.

Ironically, because Jin rescued Veradin on Ron's orders, it gave them no grounds for that.

Even though their plan failed, there was only one reason why they showed up without even thinking

'Kinzelo is determined to inflict a significant blow on Hairan one way or another. Since they lost the pretext to create hostile relations with Zipfel due to my actions, they might as well trample on Hairan themselves.'

Otherwise, Berakt and Joe wouldn't have shown up and provoked Ron like this. The actions that Berakt and Joe were demonstrating were no different from saying, "Let's have a fight."

"Hahaha."

Ron burst into laughter.

"Even the Emperor uses his own voice when he wants to speak with me. Besides... I didn't expect that someone would ever look down on me in the Sword Emperor Castle. Come down, beastmen."

Upon hearing that, Berakt chuckled.

"What will you do if I refuse, Human Sword Emperor?"

"I will make you come down."

Ron didn't demand an explanation from Berakt and Joe for the current situation. Why they had attacked the Sword Emperor Castle, what this whole plot was about—those were questions to be asked when there was room for conversation. 

Ron had also made up his mind. He was going to wage war against Kinzelo.

'They think they can toy with Hairan as they please. There is no way Sir Ron wouldn't know that.'

Despite that, there was no way to withdraw from this situation. If Ron were to retreat now when Kinzelo had come out like this, the prestige of Ron's Hairan would never recover.

From the moment the battleship Grenil appeared, everyone here began to have the same suspicions about Kinzelo. Even though they hadn't discussed it, everyone seemed to agree.

Rashid's blade glimmered.

"I'll give you a warning only once. Come down immediately and show some respect."

"I clearly stated my purpose to you. Hand over the Vice-leader of Kinzelo and his younger sister."

"Is your life not that precious to you?"

The raised sword aimed at the battleship vomited its aura.

Ron's sword aura instantly bathed the entire area in dazzling light.

The battleship Grenil appeared to be completely submerged in the light, as if it had fallen into the sea.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the light to dissipate. Even though Grenil was a battleship at the same level of Kozec, it didn't seem like it could withstand such an attack.

It was a blow delivered with utmost sincerity.

It was sword wielded by the 10-star knight, Ron Hairan's sword aura struck the battleship, and surprisingly...

The battleship Grenil remained unscathed. Ron Hairan's pupils trembled slightly.

Grenil was still hovering in the sky just as before.

"If you truly want to fight me, how about we both find a more suitable location, Human Sword Emperor, Ron Hairan? If you and I fight here, not a single one of your clan members will survive."