Chapter 409

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The formless sword energies roamed around the vicinity of Ron and Berakt and made ominous sounds.

Berakt let out a sly chuckle.

"You're quite arrogant."

The blood flowing down from his thigh was rapidly stopping. It didn't seem like regeneration ability, but rather Berakt's own method of controlling his physical body.

Jin felt a strange sense of discomfort in Berakt's smile. No, it was more like a feeling of impending danger than discomfort.

'Why I am feeling such an ominous sense of crisis even with Sir Ron by my side.'

Murakan had assessed the White Wolf Tribe's great warrior as indomitable when he first saw him, a warrior even Luna couldn't guarantee victory against.

Berakt didn't show the slightest surprise despite his thigh being slashed by Ron's formless sword.

Rather, there was a strange sense of pride in his eyes. A pride in encountering even stronger beings, and defeating them all.

'The power of the battleship Grenil hasn't yet been fully revealed.'

So far, it only showed the transparent shield and thunderclouds, but there was likely more to it.

It wasn't only Jin who concluded that a crisis had come to Hairan, but also all people present here think so. Even though Ron still appeared composed, he also shared the same sentiment.

Berakt adjusted his posture and began to walk.

"There will be no shortage of humans who die in this fight. And they will all meet their demise because of you, Ron Hairan."

Thump, thud, thump...!

Berakt's footsteps were becoming progressively heavier.

He was just 'walking,' yet it felt as though the ground was splitting, and a deep, resonant tremor emanated from deep within the ground. It was as if the ground was screaming as it was trampled upon by Berakt.

In just a few seconds, his steps were causing an earthquake.

"It would have been better if you had listened when I said and left with me peacefully."

Ron's formless sword energies were gathering towards Berakt, but they couldn't reach him easily.

This was because Berakt was emitting an aura that distorted the surrounding space.

Fist-sized vortices spread across the distorted space and the piles of rocks rose under the influence of the aura and turned into fine powder after being sucked into these vortices .

The formless sword energies also seemed to be influenced by these vortices.

While formless swords didn't disintegrate like rocks or chunks of ground, they couldn't move along the trajectories as Ron had originally intended and crumpled just as a piece of paper crumples when exposed to heat.

The foamless swords whose trajectories changed turned to whitish color and became visible to everyone.

The earthquake initiated by Berakt's footsteps was growing more intense with each passing moment.

When the distance between Ron and Berakt narrowed to just ten steps, Berakt struck the ground with his greatsword.

An incredibly massive sword aura splitting the ground and the air as it charged towards Ron. It was even larger than the sword aura Ron had shot at the Grenil.

Rather than avoiding it, Ron stepped forward and swung Rashid. And the pure white blade stopped the approaching sword aura as if it were a lie.

The sword aura of Berakt disappeared just like that.

It was a battle between two individuals who were closest to the strongest. The landscape of the battlefield constantly changed whenever the two of them swung their swords.

Eventually, the two of them narrowed the distance and their swords clashed.

The entire ground around them collapsed under force generated from the clash of the greatsword and the longsword. 

The shockwaves were so powerful that even Jin had to move away because of being ripped apart.

The problem was that this single clash was just the beginning.

Kaaah!

Berakt and Ron's swords clashed continuously without rest. The shockwaves rippled outward with each collision, and the outer walls of the Sword Emperor Castle crumbled under the constant pressure.

At this rate, the Sword Emperor Castle would crumble.

"Murakan!"

A formidable energy was gathering on the battleship Grenil.

It was the cannon. Just like Kozec's, the golden-color mana was gathered in the cannon. The Sword Emperor Castle would not withstand that cannon fire.

"They won't fire the cannon right away. Not until the Bishkel group is secured."

Hairan's knights were searching for Bishkel, but it was not an easy task because of the chaotic situation.

"You also search for Bishkel!"

[Understood.]

Amidst the dizzying battlefield, Jin's mind was filled with all kinds of thoughts.

'It is important to hold the Bishkel group hostage, but those bastards undoubtedly have other plans...!'

If he were in their shoes. If he were a member of the group that attacked the Sword Emperor Castle, what choices would he make? How could he effectively pressure the Sword Emperor Castle?

Jin found an answer almost instinctively.

'Kinzelo mentioned the Bishkel group as soon as they appeared. It was as if they intentionally brought up their name and suggested that they would immediately leave if they found them.'

In other words, Kinzelo had redirected everyone's attention to the Bishkel group.

But what if Dante Hairan fell into Kinzelo's hands in the meantime?

'The moment Dante is captured, this battle is over. The Sword Emperor Castle will lose everything.'

Dante Hairan.

If Jin were a member of Kinzelo, his top priority would be to kidnap Dante. There was no easier way to win this fight than that.

He needed to find Dante.

"Shuri!"

[Mya!]

Jin mounted Shuri again and scanned the surroundings. Shuri still had Veradin strapped to her back.

"Let's head inside the castle; we need to find Dante!"

[Mya mya!]

Shuri started sprinting towards the inside of the castle with a leap, and Berakt didn't miss this sight even amidst his fight with Ron.

'Runcandel's 12th flagbearer... Could that guy be going to find Dante Hairan? That idiot Joe idiot should be keeping him in check.'

However, Joe wasn't even aware of Jin's movements.

"Kehehehe!"

In the absence of Bishkel, Joe was laughing like a maniac and discharging lightning bolts from the Grenil. He seemed completely intoxicated by the overwhelming power of the Grenil.

'I was foolish to expect anything from that idiot.'

But Berakt couldn't give orders to Joe. If he raised his voice to issue orders, it would alert the Sword Emperor Castle to start actively searching for Dante. All their means of escape would vanish once Dante was mentioned.

"Ms. Cuicantelle!"

Jin stopped to address his comrades before entering the castle.

[Jin.]

"I need to find Dante. Take care of Veradin for me," Jin said to his companions.

Coincidentally, the others seemed to be too occupied to respond, so Enya ended up taking Veradin from Jin's hands.

"Oh, he is lighter than I thought... huh. Lord Jin, where are you going!?"

"Inside the castle. I have to find Dante Hairan. Kinzelo is probably targeting him."

"They are looking for Sir Dante, Sir Bishkel?"

"They are looking for Bishkel as well. I'm not sure if they've already been taken to a safe place. Secure them if you see them."

Jin and his companions couldn't move together because they were responsible for a significant part of the defense. Leaving their posts would result in significant casualties among the civilians.

Jin was greeted by an even more chaotic scene as he entered the castle. Many parts of the inner castle had already crumbled under the impact of Ron and Berakt's attacks.

Fortunately, the castle's residents had managed to secure an escape route to the back gate, but people were still trapped beneath collapsing walls and ceilings, screaming for help.

"Where is Dante Hairan!?"

"He was conducting a rescue operation in the main hall until a moment ago!"

Jin immediately headed towards the main hall upon receiving the soldiers' response. According to the map the servants had provided earlier, the main hall was included in the route.

Jin could immediately tell that his guess was correct as soon as he entered the main hall.

"Dante!"

Dante was surrounded by a group of people disguised as servants. 

It looked like he had been engaged in a tough battle, as his breathing was heavy. Dante's body was covered in wounds, and his clothes were stained with blood.

"Jin...!"

Jin could see dozens of dead bodies piled up near Dante. They were the members of the Hairan clan whom Dante was rescuing.

Jin could even see the corpse of a high-ranking knight of Hairan. It was the body of a high-ranking knight who had just fought alongside Dante against the attackers.

'They're not just any criminals.'

There were only three attackers.

And yet, they had completely overwhelmed Dante and the high-rank knight of Hairan. The fact that just three of them had done so tells everything.

They were undoubtedly Kinzelo's people, but there was no one among them that Jin could readily identify. Most of the skilled individuals of Kinzelo that he had encountered so far were either mages or beastmen.

On the other hand, these attackers were warriors.

Jin could sense it intuitively. They were pure human martial artists, unlike the gray-robed individuals he had fought earlier.

"As far as I know, Kinzelo was severely lacking in manpower. Are they now fully equipped?"

"These are not ordinary people, Jin," Dante replied with a bitter smile. 

As Jin approached, two of the attackers stepped forward to block his path.

Swoosh...

Jin unsheathed Bradamante.

"What are you lunatics doing at someone else's banquet hall?"

The two attackers were the first to swing their swords. Two of them simultaneously extended their blades towards Jin, and it was powerful.

'They possess at least 8-star or higher battle prowess. Still, these two shouldn't be a problem.'

What concerned him more was the one pressing Dante. That attacker exuded a much more dangerous aura than the other two. 

Jin had a feeling that even if he and Dante were to fight together, he might have to bring out decisive killing moves and magic sword secret technique to stand a chance against him.

And there weren't many who possessed such transcendent martial prowess among the famous warriors. It applied mainly to those who had reached the late stage of 9-star or 10-star aura. 

However, it was unlikely that a famous martial artist would suddenly join Kinzelo. The other Hairan swords would eventually come to fight if the battle prolonged in the main hall. So, even a 10-star martial artist could not hide under a mask for long.

Once his true identity is revealed, it is inevitable that he will have a hostile relationship with Hairan in the future.

So Jin had to quickly deal with the two and needed to assist Dante.

The swords of the two attackers slashed through the air.

And in the next moment, Jin took one of them's life with a single strike. This was because the attackers had fought out of habit as if they were facing an "ordinary knight".

Slash, swoosh!

The decapitated attacker had clearly struck down the Bradamante, but it was black blade that decapitated him. 

It was the Shadow sword 2nd technique, "Scissors," that severed his head.

Perhaps the attackers hadn't anticipated that one of them would die in the first exchange against a Runcandel 12th flagbearer, so it made the other one hesitate and he stepped back.

He was still unaware of what had cut his comrade's head. He simply perceived that Jin had used some kind of trick.

"You guys must have also prepared to die when you attack Hairan, so there's no need to feel regret."

Once more, the scissors rushed towards the attacker.

The attacker might have been able to parry the scissor blade a few times if he had been given one more chance to observe it.

It was only now that he realized the blade was forming behind him, and death seemed inevitable.

However, the attacker who had been facing Dante threw himself forward and blocked the black blade. The impact pushed Jin backward, and he struggled for breath.

The sword of the one who had deflected the scissors seemed strangely familiar to Jin, and that moment, Jin was reminded of a certain group of warriors.

'...The Black Knight!?' Jin tightened his grip on his sword and made eye contact with the attacker behind the mask.