C295 – Power and Reverence for Power (6)
It almost seemed like Bentica itself was melting under the heat of a dozen different flames. The sky was completely painted red, and it was impossible to see what it had looked like before the battle began.
The red dragon carrying Beradin continued flying towards Kozec, constantly evading Barton along the way.
Dyfus raised his giant sword.
Kozec’s cannon was fully charged and golden in color. Ziiing. The ominous sound of compressed mana pierced through the sounds of the battlefield.
An explosion roared out of the cannon.
Dyfus shouted in response. His giant sword, Bolgar, released a dazzling wave of light in the form of a blade wave. It collided with the cannon shots and showered the area with debris, creating punctual shadows on the ground.
The Magicians joined in with Kozec’s fires and unleashed their attacks on the ground. The White Night phoenixes screamed in fury as they tried to deter Barton’s movement.
The sky was in chaos. Barton’s sword waves stood out among the flames, magic, and cannon fire. However, the sword waves constantly failed to reach Beradin.
Dyfus had to restrain his anger at the pretense of the traitor, but Jin didn’t complain.
Kish, blam!
Dyfus frowned as he struck the falling debris towards Jin and Tess. The impact of the previous cannon shot had not yet subsided, but Kozec was already preparing to fire the next round.
“By the way, how do the Zipples create such monstrous weapons? Oh, Jin. I have a question for you.”
“What is it?”
“The traitor would never kill the Zipple successor. I think you should have told Sir Barton to take care of friendly forces and assigned me to kill Beradin instead. As you said, this was the last chance.”
Dyfus was aware that Jin had spent a night drinking with Dante and Beradin at the Arena of Cosmos in his days as a provisional flagbearer.
Dyfus had investigated Jin’s past after his identity was revealed, and there were some nobles from Bellardo who had been present at the finals and knew that the three young men had drunk together.
Of course, Dyfus didn’t believe that one single incident was enough to assume that Jin had formed a bond with Beradin. However, it was hard to understand why Jin had assigned the task to the traitor, Barton.
“It seems you question my motives. Why did you follow my orders then, fourth flagbearer?”
“Because I briefly lost composure, and the knight guardians were in danger of death if I hesitated.” .𝒎
“Fourth flagbearer, what is the mission assigned to us?”
“What?”
“The elimination of Beradin is not part of the objective of this mission. Surely, it would be better if we could bring Beradin’s head with us, but securing Bentica and eradicating the traitor are the key objectives.”
Dyfus kept his gaze on the cannon and didn’t turn to look at Jin.
“The reason I assigned Sir Barton to attack Beradin was based on the assumption that he is more likely to get injured if he pretends to attack Beradin without actually doing so. Because it would be easier to kill Sir Barton later, does that explain enough?”
Dyfus nodded. It wasn’t entirely satisfactory, but it was certainly acceptable.
Kozec fired its golden mana cannon once again.
The entire battlefield was filled with cannon shots, blade waves, and falling energy debris. The infiltrating knight guardians couldn’t bear the heat of the battlefield any longer and retreated to Dyfus’ position, and Barton seemed like he would soon fall from the air as well.
“We have secured the young master!” the Magicians shouted as Beradin’s red dragon reached Kozec.
Bum!
Beradin fired his spatial explosion at Barton once he boarded Kozec. Tess’s flames didn’t cover the entire battlefield.
“Klugh!”
Barton began to fall.
He could no longer go against the premise that humans couldn’t fly. But even as he fell to the ground after taking the full impact of the spatial explosion in his chest, he managed to slash two red dragons and over ten Magicians in his descent.
Enemy bodies splattered and plummeted along with the debris.
If Jin and Dyfus weren’t aware of his betrayal, they wouldn’t have even realized that Barton had purposely missed Beradin.
Now that Beradin was safe, the Zipples had no reason to hold back.
Tes posed a great limitation on the use of the spatial explosion, but now, it was only a matter of time before they gained the upper hand.
“Attack Jin Runcandel and Tess! The Runcandels can’t do anything without those two!”
The Zipple phoenixes began their descent. They still refused to attack Tess. Therefore, they went for Barton, who had fallen to the ground.
There were cannon shots, spells, and dragon breaths in the air.
The phoenixes unleashed their flames on the ground. The battlefield was reaching the climax of chaos.
However, Jin finally finished casting a spell he had been preparing.
“Fourth flagbearer, the tide of battle will change from now on.”
Dyfus turned and looked at Jin in response. His eyes widened in surprise. Jin had a grotesque appearance. His whole body was completely covered and painted in darkness by the Shadow Energy. 𝘪𝘳.𝒸𝘰𝑚
“Jin?”
“First, I will secure Bentica. Once Kozec withdraws, pursue it with Sir Barton and find a suitable moment to fall back.”
‘Fall back? What the hell are you talking about?’ Dyfus was about to ask out loud. Although they only intended to give it their all, neither Barton, the Black Knight, nor he could bring down the enemy’s gigantic flying ship.
But there was Jin, claiming that he would make it fall back as if it were no difficult task.
‘Wait, why is the sky so…?’
Dark. The sky was growing dark.
The sky that had moments ago displayed dazzling colors with cannon shots and spells was now completely black as coal, the same color as Jin’s body, which was covered in Shadow Energy.
This was the conversation Jin had with Murakan during his first lesson on Shadow Energy. That the sky would turn black was something natural.
“For a Magician, releasing their magical energy is an act that connects their magic with the one already present in nature. And what did I say was the purpose of such actions?”
“Mana replenishment and strengthening their magic,” Jin had said.
“Yes! You replenish the lost mana by using the forces of nature and increase the power of the next spell. The same goes for releasing your Shadow Energy. However, there are some differences.”
“What kind of differences?”
“When you release your Shadow Energy, you don’t connect with nature. You connect nature to yourself.”
It had connected to Jin, who released his Shadow Energy.
It was darker than night. Not even moonless skies devoid of starlight could seem darker than that. Dyfus wasn’t the only one bewildered. Upon noticing the dark sky, even the Magicians briefly halted their attacks in surprise.
Everyone seemed confused.
But they could all feel it in their instincts. Something dangerous was about to happen.
There was a good reason why the spell based on the flame orb came with that descriptor.
The legacy of Riol Zipple was based on the powers of Solderet.
It didn’t take long for everyone on the battlefield to realize that the dark energy covering the entire sky was Shadow Energy, and there was only one person here wielding Shadow Energy.
Both the Runcandels and the Zipples reacted in the same way. The commanders of both forces immediately gave decisive orders.
“Deploy shield barriers and take down Jin Runcandel!”
“All Runcandel knights, gather around the twelfth flagbearer and protect him!”
Meanwhile, Jin calmly gazed at Kozec.
He wanted to see the face of his friend, who stood at the helm of the ship with his pale hair flowing in the wind.
Their gazes met in the darkness of the battlefield.
Beradin chuckled with madness. His eyes gleamed redder than ever. Certainly, he wasn’t laughing because of his memories.
Jin contemplated Beradin’s twisted smile as he unleashed the Decimating Flame Orb Of The Dark Sky-The Final Version.
“I hope he doesn’t get gravely injured.”
A hole opened in the sky like a giant beast opening its jaws.
Then, a massive fireball emerged from the hole. The fireball was much larger than Kozec. It almost resembled the sun itself.
Jin’s body levitated in the air, as if drawn by the gravity of the blazing orb.
The runes left by Riol Zipple swirled around Jin’s body. The runes left Jin’s body and left glowing trails all over the battlefield.
One of the Mages saw the shining runic character flying towards him and unconsciously reached out his hand towards it.
At that moment, the commanding Mage remembered what he had read about the Decimating Flame Orb Of The Dark Sky and shouted in panic.
“Stay away from those runic characters! They are the marks of…”
The runic characters, shining like beautiful petals, were target marks.
Marks that the giant orb in the sky would apply its punishment to.
The commanding Mage couldn’t even finish his sentence. The fireball began to rain down a fiery deluge with countless flame tendrils, making it impossible to anticipate their trajectory.
The flames assaulted the floating runic characters. At each point marked by the beautiful shining rune, someone was scorched, someone screamed, and ashes flew.
“Shoot down Jin Runcandel!”
The commanding Mage’s order couldn’t be carried out because all the Mages could barely erect shield barriers against the ultimate spell they had never experienced before.
But even those barriers meant little. Partly because each flame tendril had power close to a ten-star spell, but also because the Shadow Energy covering the sky was crushing their shield barriers.
Shadow Energy didn’t just serve to change the color of the sky. Just as the flame orb spewed fire, the shadows extended through the veil of Shadow Energy to shatter the shield barriers.
This is madness. Is this really the power of magic alone? And is this supposed to be Jin’s spell? Dyfus could only swallow his saliva as he looked at Jin, who levitated in the air.
It was impossible for him to understand a spell that not even the Mages could comprehend. He could only think that Jin’s spell was closer to divine power than a magical spell.
Suddenly, he was reminded of the enemy leader, Keliac Zipple. Dyfus had encountered him once ten years ago. The last time he felt like this was when he faced Keliac’s prowess back then.
The fact that Jin reminded him of that experience sent chills down his spine.
The flames grew more intense.
More than half of the Mages flying outside Kozec were already dead. The number of red dragons was decreasing horrifyingly fast.
The tide of battle had changed in an instant.
But the Mages who had read the records of Riol Zipple knew it wasn’t over.
This was only the beginning. If the flame orb stopped raining fire and detonated, it could mean the destruction of Kozec.
“Young master, we must retreat! We are unable to handle this surprise attack.”
Beradin shook his head at the words of the commanding warlock. The dark emotions rippling behind his vacant eyes were hard to read.
“Young master!”
Beradin took a step forward as if captivated by Jin’s flames, which were engulfing the entire battlefield.
He, too, was forming flames on his hand. The flame was more than just red. It was menacing and ferocious.
Decimating Flame Orb Of The Dark Sky-The First Version Of The Demon Empress was another spell left in the legacy of Riol Zipple.
Beradin’s staff pointed towards Jin.
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