Chapter 522

* * *

Whoa, whoa...

Jin caught his breath and looked up at the ice wall.

There was one huge hole that was exceptionally clean and deep between the traces of disorderly destruction, as if some gigantic beast had gone on a rampage.

It was a hole formed by the light speed thrust that Jin had just fired.

Only the last light speed thrust pierced the wall of Myriad ice among the ones he had practiced over the past two weeks.

The hole took the shape of a circle so perfect that it felt oddly artistic.

The works of great artists give the impression that if you look closely, you can see the spirit and tenacity consumed until it was born.

The hole formed by Jin's light speed thrust was also the same.

Jin and Talaris, who created the result together, remained silent for a while, unable to take their eyes off the hole.

"It is complete, my son-in-law. It took only 15 days to make a sword like this...… Haha, I wonder what Chiron will say when he sees it. I'm sure he'll be satisfied. Anyway, I don't know if Chiron is doing well."

"I think it's my first time seeing someone worry about my father, Madame Talaris."

"Well, because we are friends. And I made a promise to your father...…."

Talaris smiled bitterly.

Argh!

Jin tried to answer, but suddenly vomited blood.

"Son-in-law!"

"Looks like I used too much aura and got a shallow backflow. Don't worry, Madame Talaris."

"If you had been as strong as your first or second sister, you wouldn't have fallen into an aura backflow. Ahaha, you're weak."

She said so, but in fact, Talaris was also admiring his stamina.

However, she only joked in the sense of being alert.

"It feels like I can see a little bit in what kind of domain Elder sister Luna is standing in."

"White whale, Luna Runcandel, if that child's swordsmanship is stopped in my memory, then you are already technically equal or superior."

Jin shook his head.

"I don't know when Madame Talaris's last memory is, but my sister must have achieved great things too. I think I still have a long way to go to catch up with my sister."

"She wouldn't have grown as high as you. And Luna's real strength wasn't her great body or swordsmanship. She...… haha, how should I express? She has the ability to always win."

"The ability to always win...?"

"You are definitely stronger than Luna. You are ahead of her in almost every way. Even so, if you fight Luna, you can't be sure of victory. There's something about your eldest sister that's hard to describe in terms of potential or talent. Of course, you are strong too. And."

Talaris looked back at Jin and went on his back.

"As I teach you this time, I see something similar to that child in you. I think that is the greatest blessing a martial artist can have."

"It's pleasant to hear."

"Also, since neither you nor Luna got it for free, there's no reason to appreciate it even if you like it."

Jin felt a presence as he was about to convey his gratitude for the training

"Lord Jin!"

It was Kashmir.

As soon as he stepped inside, he couldn't help but be startled by the condition of his ice wall.

He was also briefly distracted by a single perfect trace among the destroyed ice walls.

'Are these traces the result of training? Especially that mark...… It seems that Lord Jin has completed a new sword.'

An ice wall reinforced with the power of myriad ice.

Kashmir had the feeling that even making a deep fissure in these ice walls would not be easy with his sword.

"Sir Kashmir?"

"Huh, I was about to send my son-in-law today. Did you come to notify that I have been holding him too long?"

"No, Madame Talaris. I have come because there is a problem that Lord Jin needs to check quickly."

When Kashmir took out the Seven Colored peacock's report and showed it to him, Jin's eyes grew heavy.

'A sign of purge?'

Talaris looked over the report together and snorted.

"Ahaha, that emperor bastard. When we were young, I saw he has eyes on Ron like a hawk. Ron had been on the soft side since before the Sword Emperor castle attack, but he's so fearless."

In fact, the imperial family has been keeping Hairan in check since they were young until now.

And as Talaris said, the imperial family's checks gradually increased in proportion as Ron became weaker.

Most of the time Ron just didn't deal with it, like a beast of prey who tolerates unknowing and nimble days of puppies.

He thought it was the way for the Empire, unless he was going to rebel.

All previous patriarchs had done that, and the imperial family knew that, so they rarely crossed the line.

But this time the imperial family crossed the line.

'According to the report, the emperor is intentionally dropping the dragon knights.'

Of course the reason was to prevent the dragon knights from immediately reaching the Sword emperor castle when something happened in Hairan.

Although the emperor held the command of the dragon knights, they were the ones who would prioritize the safety of the Sword Emperor Castle over the orders of the empire when Hairan was in danger.

Even if it means committing treason by disobeying the emperor's orders.

Of course, they cannot be sure that there will be a purge based on this situation alone.

Just as they have always increased the level of containment at every opportunity, this time around, it may be that they are just putting on an act to show the public that the imperial family's power is absolute by using the Sword Emperor Castle terrorist attack and its results as an excuse.

But Jin didn't seem to think like that.

'In the end, the empire decided to choose stone instead of Hairan.'

A white stone kept by the patriarch of Hairan.

The imperial family has long coveted the stone.

Just as Hidden Palace is sealing Elona Zipfel, Hairan is also handing down the white stone to future generations. So that the strongest patriarch can cut it down and get rid of it.

Jin did not know what the white stone was.

He can only guess that it probably has something to do with the chaos.

Instead, one thing was certain. It was a fact that the emperor clearly made a mistake.

'Crazy bastard. I don't know how great the stone is, but you're going to throw away the strongest knight in the empire like this?'

Ron's sword is the strongest ever in Hairan.

Although he suffered unexpected damage from the terrorist attack, as long as Ron and his key personnel are in good health, the fact that Hairan is the best martial artist in the empire and a prestigious family does not change.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the reason why the Empire is able to enjoy the status of a third force after Runcandel and Zipfel before the rise of Kinzelo in the current generation is because of the existence of Ron and Hairan led by him.

'The reason why I asked Veradin to urge Zipfel to put pressure on Hairan properly was to more clearly confirm the distinction between friends and foes and the purpose of the imperial family. Judging by the way it behaves, the results have actually come out. In other words, Vermont chose stone and Zipfel over Hairan.'

One surprising thing is that Ron has yet to react otherwise.

Even though there are signs of a purge that even the seven-color informants know about.

"Huh, there must be something that the imperial family believes in, so they are doing things like this. I have no idea. Aside from asking if there is a justification for purging Hairan in the first place, how are they going to handle Ron?"

Talaris thought that even if the imperial family 'joined hands with Zipfel', they would have no choice but to use Zipfel's power. Then it's nothing more than advertising that the imperial family had sold the empire to Zipfel.

"... It seems that there is something that they believe as Madame Talaris said."

"It makes me wonder if they are holding Dante hostage. Hmm, son-in-law, you seem to be quite worried."

"Yes."

"Ron was injured during the terrorist attack on the sword emperor castle, but a martial artist living in such an era would rather worry about the imperial family and the empire. Would you be concerned about Chiron if a group of Runcandels goes mad and threatens to purge your father?"

That's right.

If Ron was in a normal state, Jin wouldn't have worried at all whether the emperor had tied the dragon knight's feet or borrowed the power of Zipfel.

-I don't know if the crimson sword was the problem or if there were other factors. If the day comes when I suffer internal injuries that can't be controlled like this, I thought it would of course be the day when I mix swords with your father...… It's staggering that it was the leader of a group not long ago known as a third-rate terrorist group.

Right after the sword emperor castle terrorist attack, Jin heard from Ron about his internal injuries.

Ron was unable to recover from the injuries he had gained in the battle at that time.

For a superhuman like Ron, it is normal to recover quickly, but the internal injuries gradually got worse as time went on.

Even Dante did not know this.

Only Ron's five closest aides and Jin knew about this.

'... Perhaps the emperor noticed Sir Ron's condition.'

The Emperor didn't seem convinced yet that Ron wasn't normal.

'If I had fully grasped Sir Ron's condition, I would have rushed at once instead of checking him like this.'

Jin also did not know exactly what Ron's current condition was. Whether Ron's injury is the same as the first or worse.

That made Jin uneasy.

Ron's unresponsiveness so far (maybe he's dealing with it but hasn't been informed) may have something to do with his condition.

"You are right, Madame Talaris. Still, I will go to the sword emperor castle for myself."

"Yes, yes. Go and show off your new big skill."

"In the future, no matter who asks, I will tell them that I learned one of Runcandel's secret techniques from Madame Talaris. It was an honor learning from you, Madame Talaris."

"You're cute. Oh, and, as you can see, just in case. If you think something bad is going to happen to the sword emperor castle, be sure to let me know too."

"I will."

As soon as Jin left the hidden palace with Kashmir, he immediately boarded Tikan's transfer gate to the empire.

And the transfer gate only caused a warning sound and didn't work.

It was a phenomenon that appeared when the other side of the transfer gateway was closed.