Chapter 549

549

* * *

Now, Runcandels were closely examining the battle situation. Since Ron and Kelliark were fighting in earnest, no one on the battlefield was conscious of their location.

The battlefield was a chaotic landscape, as if the entire sky was exploding. All the Knights of Runcandel who were watching couldn’t help but shiver.

“Ron Hairan…..”

Rosa spoke in a low voice.

Surprisingly, her voice was filled with a lot of regret. The reason for such regret was none other than the absence of the patriarch.

If only Chiron Runcandel, Luna, and the old Black Knights were here right now. And if only Ron Hairan had just sought the help of Runcandel.

It was all because of the thought that today might mark the end of the thousand-year war between Runcandel and Zipfel. No one expected Ron to wake up so close to the genesis knight domain.

“Acting matriarch.”

The Black Knight commander, ‘Stam’, stood next to Rosa. He was the only person who could directly discuss the current war situation with Rosa.

“Sir Stam.”

“How do you see this?”

He was asking about whether Ron Hairan could actually win in the fight against Zipfel.

“Without Kadun and Hedo, Kelliark’s odds don’t seem high. No, even if they are here…… I don’t think Ron will just lose.”

“I think so too. Unless it’s the Patriarch, no one can  defeat the current Ron Hairan.”

“But still, sir, you seem skeptical about participating in the war. Probably for the same reason as mine.”

Stam nodded his head.

Slowly but clearly.

Zipfel was showing signs of distress. Despite that, they were still maintaining the momentum without considering a retreat, and they hadn’t sent anyone for negotiations with Runcandel.

What that meant was clear.

“Yes, Zipfels must have a means to overturn the situation on their own.”

“Seeing that they don’t even pretend to be cautious of us, it must be a very sure way. I think it’s the replica of the Orb of Origin mentioned by the patriarch in the past.”

Chiron had evaluated that power as dangerous.

It was indeed a rare case for him to use the expression ‘danger.’

“This time, we might have to be satisfied with just confirming that power. What if the black knights who went to the Black Sea return without meeting the patriarch?”

White stone.

The two of them judged that the moment Ron was defeated, it would be difficult for Runcandel to possess it.

There was also a thought that an all-out war should never be waged if Zipfel pulled out a formidable move and Ron could not deal a serious blow to them.

“Acting matriarch.”

 “Speak.”

“Would it be acceptable for me to infiltrate the battlefield with three Black Knights?”

Stam was concerned about Jin’s survival. If Kelliark brings out a means that can defeat Ron, it is questionable whether Jin can survive.

It was confirmed that the battlefield was divided into Ron and Kelliark, Octavia’s Spectre Corps and Jin’s group. In the first place, Stam had the perception that Jin would be in danger even before Zipfel brought out a formidable move.

“Do so. It seems necessary.”

“I will not intervene unless it’s right before the battle.”

“That’s how it should be. And one more thing, make sure to bring him back alive.”

 * * *

Blood gushed from Octavia’s shoulder.

Since all the magic of the Spectres was centered on Octavia, their joint efforts were bound to become somewhat dull.

Originally, that should have been the case.

However, Octavia was a mage who can handle the ‘attribute of light’, which was said to have been completely lost a long time ago.

“Predestined fate…… Maybe it’s because you are a dragon, but you don’t know much. The history of mortals, including humans, has always been an effort to go against the absurd principles and laws set by the gods. Just as we changed incurable disease into curable, and just as one would turn misfortune into fortune.”

A fist-sized orb of light materialized at the tip of Octavia’s wand.

When the orb touched her shoulder, the light penetrated and the wound healed rapidly.

“Even the magic of light was cut off, with gods’ muttering about it being a predestined fate. They said mortals shouldn’t possess something completely flawless.”

Light magic is almost a dream for all mages.

The light magic passed down like legends was an attribute that can handle attack, defense, and healing at once, and its power differs significantly from other magic spells.

Likewise, the lost dark magic can achieve all of that, but it always requires catalysts and sacrifices. Light magic had no such restrictions. The only thing consumed in return is mana.

Hwaaak!

Then, the magic of light extending from her staff formed wings on Octavia’s back.

“So don’t talk as if defying fate is a great sin, Black Dragon Misha. It’s disgusting and hard to listen to.”

As the wings of light stretched forward, a sharp sound of cutting wind echoed. Shards of sharp light shot out like arrows, and Misha rotated her dark spear to block the attack.

However, fragments of light splattered in all directions caused an explosion. Misha used her footwork to avoid the explosion, and the rest of the martial artists dealt with the aftermath.

The position of second-in-command of Zipfel was not handed to her on a silver platter. She was a little tired from enduring the battle between Kelliark and Ron, but only the Spectres were greatly affected by that fact.

Octavia was a mage who has already entered the realm of ‘transcendence’, so her physical burden was not that much of an issue. As long as she wasn’t dealing with overwhelmingly powerful foes from her perspective.

“I don’t know why you’re suddenly mentioning the gods. Is it difficult for you to understand that your actions were offensive to my standards and I feel disgusted?”

“Life is too short to care about such things. As you expressed out of a sense of superiority, we are mortal.”

“And you’re the ones who erased the history of Chenmi, the Archmage loved most by light.”

Boom-!

Octavia’s light magic and black spear were constantly clashing. Octavia, who began to use her light magic in earnest, showed no signs of being pushed back even in close combat against Misha.

Jin and Misha were in charge of Octavia, and the rest were in charge of the Spectres. Murakan also tried to focus on Jin and Misha, but snapped at him.

“Hey. Protect our allies while playing the role of my source of shadow force. It’s much more efficient for you to deal with that over there if you want to capture it. Don’t waste your energy attacking and charging in.”

[What did you say? Source of shadow force? Me, Murakan? Ha! Are you crazy?]

“I don’t have the luxury to care about your feelings, so shut up and listen.”

[No matter…… tsk!]

Crack!

The black spear and lance of light collided again, creating a shock wave. Part of Misha’s helmet, made of shadow force, burst open and revealed her eyes, and beams of light poured through them.

Pit, the shadow force from the cut under her eyes spurted out like drops of blood.

However, Misha also left a stab wound on Octavia’s thigh, and Jin continued to press to keep Octavia from attacking further.

“Open the sword of overlord formation!”

As Ruyan shouted, the sword saints formed a circle and raised their aura. The reason the rest of the martial artists could fight on equal footing with the 30 true Spectres was because their lives were guaranteed.

From then on, Murakan decided to play the role of a support without saying anything. His wide-area attack was somewhat lacking in breaking through the shield of all Spectres, and there was a great deal of concern that his allies would be endangered if he concentrated on breaking through at one point.

Black smoke extending from Murakan enveloped Misha. The black spear and armor were stained even blacker, and Misha’s movements became sharper.

As the sword of overlord formation was executed, the magic of the Spectres could not be directed towards Jin, Misha, and Octavia at all.

The patterns on the bodies of the sword saints were getting more and more ugly. Deep wrinkles appeared on the hand holding the sword, revealing the fact that they were rapidly aging.

Jin felt uneasy about this development, but Ruyan said.

“Sir Jin, don’t worry about us. We won’t collapse until the end of this war.”

The entire sky and ground vibrated wildly from the impacts of the war. The aftermath of the battle in the sky hit the ground like cannon fire, but no other shocks intervened in the battlefield between Jin, Misha, and Octavia.

Plutonian Swordsmanship Battle God Technique, 4th sword

Erosion

Taking advantage of time bought by Misha, Jin stabbed Sigmund in front of Octavia and used battle god technique erosion.

A pillar of lightning surged up, and a thousand blue dots were aimed near Octavia.

Right after Jin pulled out Bradamante, lightning bolts of erosion raged along the mark.

When lightning bolts began to fall, Octavia had already left the area where the mark was concentrated, leaving only the lingering traces of light where she stood.

‘The battle reached the point where I have to use a battle god technique to create an opening.’

It was not easy to even create an attacking opportunity without that level of technique.

Fortunately, Octavia faced a similar predicament. She had no choice but to use magic at the level of secret technique to attack Jin and Misha.

Amidst the entanglement of lightning bolts and elemental magic, the three individuals merely observed each other through their afterimages.

Boom-!

The tip of Octavia’s wand stabbed someone in the chest. As it was, she concentrated her mana on the tip of her staff and exploded it, and it was only after seeing the opponent tear apart that she was able to recognize who it was.

‘Jin Runcandel? No, it must be a shadow force doll created by the black dragon.’

Octavia calmly prepared for her next move. Looking around her, she could see that shadow force dolls were laid all over the place.

‘Encirclement……!’

Octavia couldn’t dismiss the possibility that it was all baits or traps.

Each ten dolls were in different postures. The posture of wielding the Shadow Sword and the Shadowless Spear.

Which one was real, and were the swordsmanship and spear techniques displayed were just illusions?

Octavia had no way of knowing.

‘Handling them all at once should resolve the issue.’

A radiance hung over her grip and staff. She intended to completely erase the entire battlefield where the three were fighting with light-element magic.

“Kaaaa……!”

The moment Octavia let out a scream, the shadow force dolls that rushed at her exploded or melted in the shockwave of light.

‘Were they all illusions? I don’t sense any resistance at all.’

If so, the attack on the illusion has been proven to be an illusion. Thanks to this, she is able to remove one of the trap elements.

At that time, Jin and Misha briefly left the battlefield while taking advantage of the opportunity to set up the doll.

They headed directly to the ground where the group and the Spectres were fighting.

The two of them took advantage of this opportunity to surprise attack the rear of the Spectre Corps that was confronting the group, successfully slashing the throat of one individual.

“It’s like watching a stupid bullfight, Octavia Zipfel. Did you really think we would concentrate all our power on you alone?”

Misha spoke with a smile, and Jin shrugged his shoulders while tossing the decapitated head of the Spectre.

“The Spectre Corps has never had a favorable outcome when encountering me. Now, there are only twenty-nine left. How many do you think will survive and return?”

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