Chapter 337

[T/L: punisher87]

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The mana gathered in the hands of the Spectres was so swift that it seemed as if it had suddenly materialized within their grasp.

However, the amassed mana was so immense that it distorted the surrounding space.

Jin instinctively conjured a protective shield, swallowing a breath of disbelief.

Whoosh!

If he had unfolded the shield just a second later, he wouldn't have been able to face the rising sun of tomorrow morning. The mana beam emitted from the hands of the two Spectres struck Jin's shield composed of shadow force and mana.

Even with the shield in place, it felt as if he were being pummeled by an unstoppable force. Jin deflected the beams that pierced through the shield, but a thick splatter of blood rose up in his throat.

Ugh!

Jin vomited the blood clot and composed himself.

'Damn, so this is what the Spectres are capable of.'

The fact that Jin could swiftly kill a Spectre named Lokai was purely the result of a perfect ambush.

As evidenced by his mistaking Lokai's mana for that of three individuals, the Spectres were originally the most formidable group of mages in the world. They were incomparable even to other mage units.

"...And you managed to block that? The 12th flagbearer of Runcandel?"

"It seems what those guys said when they went to Lord Veradin's secret mansion was true after all. I may have been complacent, but it wasn't just luck that you killed Lokai."

"Indeed, hearing about it and experiencing it firsthand are entirely different things."

Jin observed the two men while regulating his breathing.

'Both of them are on a level similar to the mage Lokai whom I just killed.'

They were not among the middle- or later-stage of the 9-stars.

If not the 10-stars, it was unimaginable to explain this vast mana.

'No, it might be difficult to explain even with the 10-star.'

There was an immense difference between the 9- and 10-star, but it was not like the level of mana gets triple.

Jin had already encountered several 9-star mages and, although he hadn't personally met a 10-star mage, he could roughly estimate the level based on the comparisons with the knights and warriors.

When considering it from that perspective, there was certainly something strange about the mana of the Spectres.

"What are you thinking, Jin Runcandel?"

Phew!

Once again, a beam of mana shot out from the mages' hands.

Aaargh! This time, Tess unleashed a surge of oppressive flames, distorting the trajectory of the beam, and Jin quickly erected a shield of shadow force to protect himself.

"Are you planning to fight us instead of running away? How foolish."

"The Spectres I encountered last time weren't so talkative. You guys sure like to chat."

In an instant, five curtains of shadow force unfolded.

Jin continued to evade the attacks of the mages by hiding his body between the curtains.

At first glance, it seemed like Jin was effectively opposing the Spectres, but there was no sign of a counterattack.

'I can't properly utilize my shadow force due to the backlash. I wonder how long I can drag this out.'

The obvious choice Jin should have made when encountering the remaining two Spectres was to immediately summon Shuri and flee. However, the reason Jin didn't run away while facing the new Spectres was different.

If he fled now, the small beastmen who had just begun to leave the cave would undoubtedly be annihilated.

'I can't hold out for long. Tess's summoning is also about to dispel.'

Tess could only exist in the presence of Jin's mana. As the mana backlash began, Tess's condition became increasingly unstable.

Unlike when they encountered Cold Joe in the past, Tess couldn't directly intervene by borrowing Jin's power in the current situation. Unlike before, Jin was on the verge of mana backlash, so if Tess mistakenly borrowed his power, it could endanger his life.

In the end, Tess had no choice but to return to the Fire dimension within a few seconds.

But there was one thing.

There was a means to salvage this situation.

Jin wanted to use the special technique of the Shadow Sword, the Black Light Call, to summon the Black Light Call.

Even an ordinary warrior, not just battle king, could easily buy time against the two Spectres.

But he wanted to save the Black Light Call for the worst-case scenario. Zipfel didn't know that Jin could summon the Plutonians, and if they learned that fact, they would be even more cautious when facing Jin in the future.

A trump card should always be saved for when it's truly needed. There would be many decisive moments in the future where Jin could outwit Zipfel with the help of the Plutonian brethren.

Furthermore, in Jin's opinion, the situation wasn't yet at its worst.

'Whichever side it is, hurry up and come!'

Either Runcandel or Kinzelo.

One of the two factions had to come to this cave. Otherwise, not only the cave but the entire area would soon be destroyed in the ongoing battle.

There was a high possibility that Kinzelo would arrive first. This land belonged to the beastmen.

Kwaang! Clang! Crash...!

The cave was collapsing under the onslaught of the Spectres' mana beams.

Jin was unaware, but in truth, more than half of the vast maze within the cave had already been destroyed when the barrier broke.

The continuous shocks caused an incessant rain of falling rocks, and the beams had pierced the ceiling, revealing the sky.

By that time, the Spectres must have been feeling extremely frustrated.

The Spectres were annoyed by the fact that the Runcandel's 12th flagbearer is holding against them for so long even though he had fallen into mana backflow and his phoenix also returned.

It hadn't been that long, just a few minutes.

"I wanted to take you away in good shape, but I guess I'll have to force it."

Whish, whish! Swiish...!

A new magic spell began to intertwine in the hands of the Spectres.

Each of them was forming two 9-star destruction spells. It was Zipfel's vision magic, something Jin had never seen before.

Both of them were simultaneous casting users.

"Judging by your appearance, it seems like you'll survive even if you take this hit."

"Is that so? It seems like you've overestimated me."

Jin smiled as he parried the attack.

"No, if anything, we've underestimated you all this time. And it doesn't really matter if you die."

With a determined expression, Jin gritted his teeth.

It seemed like he would have to summon the Plutonian brethren after all.

"Let me propose one last deal. When my brethren arrive, there's a chance that you won't be able to leave here alive. How about it? Let's call it quits at this point. This, after all, could turn into an all-out battle with just one wrong move."

It was nothing more than idle talk meant to buy a few more seconds, up until the very end.

"By the time Runcandel's flagbearers arrives, you'll already be in the Lutero Magic Federation. I didn't know you had a talent for jokes."

Flagbearers weren't really my brethren, but there was no need to correct them.

"You guys should work on your sense of humor if you want to take jokes. What's the point of being powerful in magic if you can't do anything else? It's inhumane."

"Don't get too full of yourself. Oh, and let me tell you something in advance."

The Spectre shrugged and continued his remark.

"The only reason you're holding out here is probably to save the small beastmen, right? Well, that's not really significant. By now, other guys have probably gone to capture those damn cosmetic peddlers."

"The barrier of the Felinoids Tribe was quite interesting. Things are more troublesome than you guys think."

Total five Spectres attacked the Felinoids Tribe's barrier.

However, the reason Jin decided to face these three Spectres was because Lulu had informed him that she had detained the remaining two just before leaving.

-The other two are trapped in our maze and can't get out. They'll be trapped for at least three days.

Lulu had clearly stated that.

But the Spectres' were stronger than the Felinoids Tribe had anticipated.

They had unleashed their unique link-casting magic, erasing the entire barrier and entering this place.

In the process, there had been a problem with the barrier, and the remaining two had entered the land of the beastmen outside the cave directly.

'Damn it, if the barrier has collapsed... Is the Felinoids Tribe safe? This wasn't the time to save the Black light call.'

Jin let out a sigh of frustration.

And in the moment when he was about to unleash the Black light call.

Thump...!

Unexpectedly, a large steel door formed between Jin and the Spectres.

The sound of the steel door hitting the ground was so beautiful that there would never be another moment like this in Jin's life.

"Hello, everyone!"

The first voice that rang out was cheerful and lively.

To Jin's knowledge, the most "peculiar" woman.

It was Margiella Ivelianos. She was sitting in a wheelchair as always, wearing a whimsical mask shaped like a cat's face.

'Does she really think she can conceal her identity with that? Everyone knows that the Ivelianos clan has a woman with a disability.'

Surprisingly, the Spectres didn't recognize Margiella.

Who are these guys?

The Spectres looked at Margiella with such strange expressions. They didn't immediately attack, but it seemed they found Margiella's arrival through the "steel door" quite perplexing.

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Moruriella. To put it simple, I am the owner of this land."

And by her side was another familiar face.

"Huh, Spectres? There might be a few of my old acquaintances among them. How's Lokai, that piece of trash, doing?"

Cold Joe.

He laughed with a smirk as he looked at the Spectres.

Although Jin had personally fought against Joe and knew that he was at a level where he could not dare to belittle the Spectres, there was another reason why Joe was so confident.

"Joe, shut up. I'm sure I've warned you several times not to piggyback on me and act all tough. You damn trash, try to resemble at least half of the vice leader. I feel like killing you several times a day."

Berakt Sidricker.

The White Wolf Tribe's great warrior and one of Kinzelo's core members. The reason Joe could smirk at the Spectres despite facing them.

-Kid.

-Yeah?

-He's quite strong. Even your big sister's safety is not guaranteed.

A conversation between Murakan and Jin when they saw Berakt, who came to pay respects to the Holy King during the Holy Kingdom incident.

True to those words, Berakt was the strongest warrior among the beastmen and truly lived up to his title "great warrior".

"There's no need for a long conversation, human mages. I'm not in a very good mood right now, so if you don't disappear within three seconds, I'll swallow you whole and poop you out after 20 minutes. One, two, three."

Quaaaah!

Without any chance to react, after counting what felt like one second, Berakt drew the greatsword on his back and swung it. The entire cave disintegrated in a single strike, and the Spectres staggered back.

Jin thought Murakan's evaluation might have been somewhat lacking.

As Berakt launched his attack, Margiella rolled her wheelchair closer to Jin.

"Retreat quickly. And remember, you can't forget this debt, understood?"

Margiella winked at Jin and smiled.