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The black blade, imbued with the shadow force, cut through the dense cluster and was aimed straight at Amela.
Every swing was targeted at vital points. Jin's eyes flashed amid the torn and shimmering cannon fires, indicating one thing - Jin was truly determined to kill Amela.
Amela was startled and a chill ran down her spine at the vivid murderous intent that seemed to materialize into something like a dark and poisonous mass.
Kagak-!
Their eyes met, Jin and Amela clashed weapons, competing with each other's strength. The cannon barrels made of muddy aura and Bradamante collided, creating an unpleasant friction sound.
'It seems like she won't lose sanity like elder sister Yona when seeing the shadow force. Is it because of the type and size of the chaos or something else?'
The exact reason wasn't clear, but it didn't matter in the heat of the battle. In fact, it might have been more convenient if she had lost her sanity, as she hadn't fully been able to use her abilities.
Jin retrieved his sword that was in contact with the cannon barrel and tried to swing it again, but he felt something hard entangled with Bradamante.
They were thorns. They appeared on the cannon barrel out of nowhere and the cannon looked like a hedgehog. And the thorns entangled and held onto Bradamante.
There was an opening for a moment as he tried to remove them by force. Of course, Amela did not miss it, and detonated a bomb on Jin's head. It was a bomb she had conjured in an instant using the muddy aura.
The explosion felt like it could burst his eardrums, but it didn't cause any real damage thanks to Multa's runes and armor.
In the meantime, Murakan tried to protect Lata and Faye, but he suddenly sensed something unfamiliar and dangerous beneath his feet as he ran. He quickly moved out of the way.
If he had been just a moment slower, he would have suffered significant injuries because explosions were occurring beneath his feet.
"Ha, how bizarre. How are bombs exploding under the ground?"
Murakan looked at the oddly dug-up ground and clicked his tongue. He heard about these attack patterns from Valkas in advance.
She had a variety of tactics at her disposal: bombs that exploded from below, arrows fired at different intervals, various traps, and complex devices.
Normally, these types of things need preparation and a significant amount of time, but the limitless muddy aura made it possible.
Weapons and traps were forming ceaselessly in all directions according to her will. Bombs, mines, massive pendulums, spiked nets, rapid-firing crossbows, and more.
If it had been anyone other than Jin and Murakan, perhaps a warrior or a mage of less than 10-star level, they would have been helpless. The result would likely have been the same even if an entire renowned knight order or a magic corps had come.
However, their compatibility was unfavorable, to say the least.
There were no openings as her curses had no effect on Jin and Murakan, and the weapons and explosives she wielded were suited for mass destruction but not for breaking through the defenses of top-tier warriors or mages.
Of course, she had the infinite power of muddy aura, so their compatibility didn't seem to matter at all. Amela was certain that she would win as long as the battle continued until one of them perished. Because her opponent would eventually tire out.
Swhoosh!
Bradamante drew a sharp arc. Despite the overwhelming cannon fire and traps, Jin kept closing the distance with evasive maneuvers and his shadow force armor.
'The way he reacts to my attacks is nothing compared to the high-level knights I know.'
If she had fought without any prior preparation and completely exposed, Amela couldn't have beaten Jin even without her infinite power.
'She'd be a very difficult opponent if it weren't for infinite power and high-speed regeneration.'
What Jin believed in was Tess's flames.
Blue flames already proved their worth when he cut down the Gate of hell and subspace of Zephyrin. If this space, which acted as the core of muddy aura, was the source of Amela's infinite power, he could handle that as well.
If the situation couldn't be resolved through flame pressure, he would demolish the island completely. Or even if he had to destroy the entire archipelago from the face of earth. Jin was determined to settle things with Amela.
However, there was one strange thing.
'But why is she fighting so recklessly?' Jin wondered.
Amela continued to either evade or block Jin's attacks as if she had no high-speed regeneration ability.
Given the level of high-speed regeneration she had demonstrated just moments ago, Amela can use the strategy of 'give flesh and take bone' to the maximum.
She can intentionally allow attacks to create an opening, catch the opponent off guard, or occasionally attempt to commit self-destruction.
Jin had expected her to fight in that manner if she had high-speed regeneration. Rather she was gritting her teeth and hastily dodging the black blades.
Could it be that she couldn't stand the pain, regardless of high-speed regeneration? But this didn't explain why she had demonstrated her high-speed regeneration ability by cutting her left wrist voluntarily.
'Could it be…'
Jin's eyes narrowed inside the Multa's rune.
He quickly looked towards Murakan, and saw bombs and shields constantly forming with the muddy aura. Murakan refrained from breaking through recklessly, fearing that the Prochi siblings might get hurt, but Jin could see shadow force bursting through the gaps in the muddy aura.
And every time the shadow force emerged in this way, Jin felt a slight change in Amela's breathing. It was as if she was barely suppressing her fear.
It couldn't be deceived.
Unlike ordinary warriors, fear was an inevitable weakness that could neither be deceived nor concealed when facing someone like Jin.
"The wounds caused by shadow force can't be recovered, can they, Amela?"
Amela's two eyes widened within the hood of her bush clothes.
'H-How did he know that…!?'
She almost cried it out in surprise but managed to swallow it the next moment. Bradamante's fierce thrust had just missed her shoulder.
Swish! A piece of her shoulder armor dropped as leaves and twigs shattered around her. The bright red drops of blood splattered in the midst of this.
Amela had failed to react properly to the thrust. Nonetheless, her shoulder armor was instantly repaired by muddy aura, but Jin hadn't missed the moment just before the leaves and twigs formed.
'Her shoulder isn't regenerating.'
The fact that her shoulder armor regenerated before her shoulder was an unnatural order of regeneration.
Jin was therefore convinced that his assumption was correct: the chaos energy, or at least part of the chaos abilities that Amela possessed, could be neutralized by shadow force.
"Look at this, the chatty person has become quiet."
Szzz!
A razor-sharp blue flame swirled above the shadow force surrounding the blade.
"I'll make sure you don't suffer too much."
The shadow force and blue flames were growing stronger. Amela stared at the blade pointed at her without the slightest tremor, but she had an intuition.
'If this continues, I will definitely die!'
Amela had experienced many battlefields throughout her life. The Great mercenary, incarnation of battlefield, the nightmare of Gaifa Archipelago, etc. The titles that followed her represent the kind of life she lived.
There were intense battles where she felt suffocating, and there were battlefields as comfortable as playgrounds. She enjoyed war, but she had never felt a death threat as intense as this before.
Like many titles, the names Amela acquired did not represent the depth of her nature.
In other words, the reason why she showed little interest in the world despite experiencing so many wars, and to top it off, the reason she didn't even know the name of the person who had stirred up the world for the past few years, Jin Runcandel.
Chaos.
Amela had always listened to the voice of chaos that echoed within her.
Chaos kept her from merging with a conventional life and shielded her from getting too absorbed in the lives of others. The Proch siblings were exceptions because they had a "scent of chaos."
No one had ever taught her what loneliness was in a life of war and death, and it was very difficult to find someone strong enough to teach and guide her on the battlefield
Even if they were to meet, there was no room to form such bonds on place where people use evil to kill each other.
The power of chaos had covered many emotions that she should have naturally felt.
In a way, Amela was like a child who was abandoned alone in her own world. Thanks to the power of chaos, she had naturally become a mercenary, but in reality, she was not much different from a wild beast.
'I'm scared...! I don't want to die!'
Some might find it amusing that Amela could wish to live. After all, she had killed countless people on the battlefield, and she rarely spared those who annoyed her.
But was this really the will of a poor newborn abandoned in a well, or was it the will of chaos? One thing was certain, no one had ever guided Amela throughout her life.
Now, the shadow force and blue flames were not just emerging but pushing the fire outwards.
"Kid! I saved the snake eyes, so let's destroy it now!"
While Amela was terrified and lost her concentration, Murakan was able to rescue the Proch siblings.
There was no need to hold back his power any longer.
"Your lifelong fame won't even come close to being enough compared to this sword."
The blue flames and the shadow force, which had spread in all directions, rapidly converged toward Jin.
Soon, Jin became the embodiment of the blue flames.
Sarah Runcandel's magic sword secret technique, Flame of hell. Jin looked down at Amela with his burning eyes.
The blue flames illuminated her face hidden by the bush hood.
Amela had an unbelievably young face, almost too young to be the same age as Valkas.
For some reason, Jin felt uneasy.
Despite having grown accustomed to a world where life and death were constantly on the line.
'What a waste that this wasn't a better encounter.'
Jin cleared his mind and focused on swing his sword to unleash the blue flames, in that very moment,
[I Surrender!]
Suddenly, Amela extended both of her hands and wildly shouted, shaking her head in the process.
[I surrender! I was wrong, please stop...!]
Even more astonishingly, Amela sat down and frantically shook her head.
'What...!'
Amela's sudden actions triggered a myriad of thoughts in Jin's mind.
'Is this a trap to escape the situation, or is she genuinely surrendering? Even if it's the latter, is it right to spare her? Amela already decided to join Kinzelo, didn't she?'
Jin would face severe injury if he forcefully stopped the half unleashed blue flames.
However, Jin made a decision.
He would spare her for now and hear her out. But he couldn't stop the blue flames.
"Murakan!"
Bradamante was imbued with blue flame rushing toward Amela, and Jin gritted his teeth and called out the name of his guardian dragon.
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