CHAPTER 213

All of the lightning in the sky gathered around Julien. Each raindrop glowed blue with the electricity it possessed, and the restless winds flicked fire everywhere.

"…Is that all of his lightning? What the hell happened?"

Jin shook his head and shrugged. Just a moment ago, Julien was merely an 'annoying opponent', but he was now no longer a force to be reckoned with. 

"I got kinda bored beating him up. It looks like your sword is a little unstable. Remember spiritual energy congestion? Think of it as that, except it's a God taking over their Contractor's body."

"Haaa, it just got more complicated. This isn't a joke? Is fleeing an option?"

"Want me to fly through all that lightning? Just tell me to die."

"Sorry. I had to ask."

Fwooooom!

Sigmund resonated with Graham's grave. Unlike before, he felt that Julien's power empowered him.

'It feels like Sigmund is enraged…'

He didn't feel just any simple premonition; it was a sensation that only Sigmund's owner could feel.

Jin didn't feel it at the tip of his fingertips, but inside his own head.

He would've never known about inanimate objects that could convey emotion, but as he held on to Sigmund, he could tell that the sword spoke to him.

"The brother I'd kill—Peitel."

It didn't even take three seconds for Jin to hear the voices.

The God of Lightning, Graham. The remnants of his soul echoed within the blade.

"How dare you present yourself near my grave?"

Jin could hear Graham's voice, but Graham couldn't hear his. Sigmund merely housed Graham's power, not the God himself.

In addition to that, the voice only spoke to itself. It didn't request anything from Jin, as it only spewed vengeful comments towards Peitel.

And the rage towards Peitel snowballed into an avalanche. The electricity around Sigmund became more erratic and powerful.

PZZZT!

Suddenly, Sigmund went into flames. 

Jin fed some of his mana into the sword. 

With the rage of a God, power exploded from Sigmund.

"Hey, kid!"

Murakan jumped while pointing at Sigmund. He noticed that, clearly, something had changed with the sword. 

"Is this some rush of power? Or is it your Divine Onslaught?"

"Talk later. Cover me!"

The clouds looked ready to unleash lightning. All of the lightning that Julien absorbed were distributed to the raindrops, causing shocks to scatter on contact.

"Hey, Kuzan Marius. It looks like you didn't think this would happen. What's your move? Do we end it here, or do we tend to our allies?"

Jin pointed at Beris, who had been knocked unconscious and spasming from the raindrops.

The moment Julien initiated an attack, she would die.

Kuzan bit his lips. He couldn't withstand the confusion he was thrown into. If Jin really killed Taimyun, then he had to finish the job with Jin—even at the cost of Beris's life. However, if Jin's words were true… If Joshua had been the true culprit and had been tricking them all along…

Kuzan fell into thought, but it was at a bad timing.

BOOM!

The first bolt of lightning plummeted to the ground like a comet.

Though it didn't hit anyone, the strikes continued, landing on random locations both on and off the island. 

And one of them fell towards Beris. 

Kuzan sprinted towards her as the attacks began, but he couldn't parry any of Julien's attacks.

Tiiiiiing!

Two lightning bolts clashed together, creating a ringing noise.

Jin used his lightning spear to save her. 

"Wait—!"

"As I said, talk later. Don't think about returning the favor."

Jin used his lightning to generate an impact to the side of Beris, sending her flying towards Kuzan. 

"And if you don't want to die in vain, get your shit together. I don't have time for you guys anymore."

He chose to set them aside for the time being. 

He didn't want to exert any effort to save them. He only wanted to talk since he hated Joshua's tricks, but honestly, Jin didn't feel any pity.

'If they die from the lightning, then so be it. It'd be nice if they offered me some information on Joshua, though.'

He could kill them with his own hands as well. Even if Joshua framed him against them, he couldn't forgive the incidents at the Delki Kingdom. 

Jin ran towards Murakan while Kuzan threw himself in every direction to avoid getting struck by lightning. 

"Murakan!"

"Man, I've lived a long life… but I haven't seen shit like this. Good thing Peitel isn't completely in control, so we have a way out."

"What've you thought of so far? I'll try to catch up with your ideas."

The only safe area was under Murakan's shield. 

"Spiritual energy release, just like I showed you at the Storm Castle basement. Remember that?"

"Of course."

To take the shadow of every single thing.

"I can do a variation of that and forcefully end his Incarnation. Just buy me some time."

"How long?"

"Ten minutes, tops. Also, I need some of your spiritual energy."

"Is that enough?"

"Maybe, but it won't be easy. All this lightning isn't even their real attack. It's only a side effect of Incarnation."

As Murakan said, Julien didn't even try to attack yet. The surroundings only changed based upon his immense power. 

Lightning ripped across the sky, leaving bright crevices in the dark clouds. 

A Dimensional Portal opened.

From it, a bright bow slowly made its way out—the true form of Lightning Bow Halmilla.

"That's the real deal."

As if the God wanted to exact divine punishment, lightning struck only Halmilla, making it bigger and brighter.

His descent ended. 

「I can feel the presence of my foolish brother.」

Julien glared at Sigmund. Although incomplete, the God had truly taken over his body.

Jin could feel his breath getting heavy from the glare alone. 

'It's still nothing compared to Father or the Battle Goddess.'

"You worthless rat…!"

Sigmund raised its voice again. Jin walked out of Murakan's shield and took a stance.

Simultaneously, Julien drew the bow.

Creak—Fwoosh!

The lightning bolt left the bow, and Jin instinctively knew. Had Sigmund not powered up, he would have never been able to deflect or even react to the attack.

Jin sliced the lightning in half. 

Despite facing only one attack head-on, he felt as if his body were being ripped apart by a shocking sensation completely different from Sigmund's.

'Not bad.'

Ten minutes of taking that kind of impact was a piece of cake.

'The problem is that this probably isn't even a fraction of his power.'

Regardless, Jin had faith in his weapon. As long as he played it well, he could hold out for ten minutes.

「Fufufu, pathetic. You were so arrogant back then, but you are now sealed inside some weapon wielded by some human.」

Akin to adding oil to a chemical fire, Jin put some of his lightning into Sigmund along with the pure aura from his Heart of Light.

Sigmund felt like it wanted to violently explode—as if the sword would just go flying on its own if he hesitated for a single moment. 

Which signified the main differences between Jin and Julien.

Julien couldn't control his power and became a husk, while Jin wielded Sigmund to his will.

「How does it feel, scum? Do you admire your brother's power?」

"You talk a lot for someone who couldn't even descend completely. I guess Gods can't be good at everything."

He could win. 

For some reason, his instincts told him so. Jin looked directly at Julien, his nervousness leaving him.

「Haha, it seems this little bug thinks himself an Illustrious Legend. I may not know how you obtained the sword, however…」

Jin smirked, took off his coat, and undid the Black Light Cuirass to reveal his Heart of Light.

He also aimed to buy more time by doing so. 

Those ten minutes. Although Jin felt like he could win against Peitel's incomplete descent, it was still safer to let Murakan prepare his spiritual energy release.

「What? That's… only for…」

Jin couldn't read Julien's expression through the lightning. However, he could tell that fear began to grow within Peitel. The God misunderstood that the sword was not the only source of the lightning.

"I received this sword from the one who killed your brother. Battle Goddess Vahn. Have you heard of my Brethren?"

At the mention of her name, Peitel took a step back in the air, as if he were a human encountering an untamed beast.

「Urgh! Keurgh!」

As Peitel's Incarnate, Julien could feel everything the God felt—all of the pain and emotions.

As well as his fear of Vahn. 

The fear that Peitel experienced was inconceivable to Julien, and as a consequence, his consciousness fell apart, causing his ties with Peitel through Incarnation to slowly sever itself. 

Jin couldn't completely understand the situation, but he knew that Julien's connection with Peitel got weaker. 

Sigmund began to glow brightly. 

He heaved a mighty swing, sending a crescent slash towards Julien.