Fsssssshhh…
The former intact door’s dust flew away silently.
‘I’ve heard about it many times. Father’s blade beam is at the level of instantly disintegrating anything it touches.’
Since there were remnants of the object—albeit in the form of dust—saying that it was completely disintegrated was inaccurate. However, Cyron’s swordsmanship was still composed of techniques that transcended humanity.
In fact, he didn’t even have his sword in his hand. Instead, at the tip of his fingers were the glowing embers of residual aura—implying that he temporarily conjured a sword.
Although the destroyed door was a murderous threat, Jin felt like he received a present.
‘He was showing me a close-up of the edge of his sword.’
Cyron, with his eyes wide open, looked down upon Jin. This time, even Jin couldn’t decipher his expression.
‘Hm… Should I have greeted Father differently? Since my head is still intact, I don’t think it was that bad…’
And Cyron was doused with a strange feeling.
For five minutes, none of them exchanged any words. The patriarch could only feel his throat drying up as he thought of his youngest son.
It was because…
‘It’s the first time I heard my child say that they missed me.’
His feelings were genuine, and Jin’s words rendered him speechless.
He had thirteen children, but they all just called him ‘Father’. Beyond that name, he had never formed relationships with them.
The Runcandel children’s childhoods were the nannies’ responsibilities.
And as soon as the children became one year old and completed the Selection Ritual, they would be sent to the Mitel Kingdom to spend their early years.
After hitting the age of 10 and returning to the Garden of Swords, the children were bound to fear Cyron and Rosa.
It was because they learned about their parents through different classes and lectures at the Storm Castle.
Beyond being ‘parents’, they were the absolute rulers of the massive clan. In fact, they held power that could twist and turn the world. If possible, the children would be taught through blood and violence should they fail to produce good results.
So, of course, Cyron and Rosa didn’t expect any ‘I wanted you see you’ from their children after putting them into such an environment.
All they wanted was to determine the next-in-line to the throne—the one to continue Cyron’s grand legacy of being the world’s greatest swordsman.
Only that was important.
‘…Not bad.’
It had been a long time since his heart was filled with emotion.
Looking back, after rising to the demigod realm, it was his youngest son who always moved him.
‘Although I praise you for moving your father’s heart, that is still not enough. Alright, let’s hear what you have to say.’
Cyron gently smiled.
“You came to see me… Did you get infected with awkward familial love after drinking sewage water? I didn’t expect that kind of response from you.”
‘Not a bad reaction!’
Ascertaining a good response, Jin lowered his head and continued to lie a little more.
“I didn’t drink some sewage water. I have always loved you, Father.”
Cyron suppressed his laughter and unleashed his Fatal Air, causing the air in the room to suddenly become as sharp as a knife. Every breath he took felt as if spikes were piercing through his lungs. Jin gritted his teeth in pain and met eyes with Cyron.
“Enough with the nonsense. State your reason for your return to the Garden. According to the quality of your response, you and your sister’s fate will be sealed.”
And that was the truth.
Cyron had full intentions of beheading Jin the moment he responded with ‘some useless stuff’. Then instantly erase Jin from his heart afterwards.
The same way he slashed and killed his own siblings and companions before he became the patriarch.
“The one who was insulted by you during the banquet, the Zipfels’ second-in-command, has died.”
“What? Are you saying you killed him?”
“No, Father. A few days ago, Eldest Sister Luna killed him. And I was the one who called her. Would you allow me to state my experiences after being declared a provisional flag-bearer?”
“A provisional flag-bearer receiving help from Luna… How insolent. Well, keep talking.”
Finding the story to be interesting, Cyron stroked his beard. Jin then explained his narrative from his days in Akin and Tikan, all the way to the events in the Vermont Empire.
Of course, he didn’t report every single thing. Jin made sure not to mention the suspicions of Spiderhand Alu having ties with a Runcandel, Myulta’s Rune, Tzenmi’s Tome, and his alliance with the Seven-Colored Peacock.
“It seems you have experienced many things in a short period. So, you came to tell me that you killed Andrei Zipfel? Are you hoping that you caused some imbalance in the world after killing the second-in-command of a powerful clan?”
“That’s not all, Father. After confronting him, I don’t think that Andrei is the clan’s true second strongest.”
Cyron raised his eyebrow.
“Hoh? And why is that?”
“There is no way that man is the second-in-command of the one clan that could destroy the Runcandels. Well, it’s a hunch anyway.”
“Precisely. As you said, he is just second-in-command by name. He’s not really the second strongest in the Zipfel Clan. There probably is another strong being after Kelliark. Though, it’s not information that I could tell you now anyway.”
“Thank you for confirming my suspicions, Father. However, what I really wanted to tell you was regarding the existence of Andrei’s strange artifact.”
“Artifact?”
“Yes. An artifact called the Demon’s God’s Orb.”
Jin continued explaining what he knew about the orb. He mentioned that it was a replica of an item of the gods called the Orb of Origin, and that it got stronger after each contractor it consumed.
And surprisingly, Cyron was shocked. His eyes widened.
“A replica of the Orb of Origin… Is this true? There’s no way you could identify the artifact’s powers and abilities. It seems your guardian dragon, Murakan, informed you about this.”
“Yes, my guardian dra—Huh? You knew that he had awakened?”
Jin was startled and stared at his father.
“Would that be all that I know, I wonder? I also know that you are a magic-user. Did you think that you could fool me all this time?”
“I, of course, knew that you would sense it, but I didn’t know you detected Murakan’s presence all this time.”
“Hahaha!”
Cyron burst into laughter. He wanted to laugh because he was proud of his son, and he couldn’t hold it in much longer after the banter regarding Murakan.
“As you said, I merely assumed Murakan’s awakening! It’s nice to see him figuring out things for himself. ‘Nabi Runcandel’? Kukuku… The great and powerful black dragon has plummeted to a housecat!”
Jin couldn’t laugh along with Cyron due to embarrassment.
While feeling naked, Jin felt his ears burn up. He couldn’t even tell his father to stop laughing.
Instead, he scratched the back of his head.
‘Is “Nabi Runcandel” that funny? Well, at least the situation is unraveling well…’
Cyron immediately stopped laughing and fixed his posture. The carefree mood instantly became as heavy as a boulder.
“A replica of the Orb of Origin. You have really brought a heavy case onto the table. I must talk with Luna who broke the artifact.” 𝘪𝘦.𝘤𝑜
Cyron already knew about the Orb of Origin fairly well.
‘I wonder if the Kings of the Black Sea know about this as well. I should return to the Black Sea. Certainly, that power is dangerous… but I don’t know how well they mimicked the original.’
After rising to the demigod realm, Cyron spent most of his time in the Black Sea.
He dueled the Kings of the Black Sea many times, and each king was a ‘piece’ of the Orb of Origin.
“Just this once, I will pardon you for breaking the rules. But you wouldn’t be satisfied with just this, considering you physically came here instead of just telling me through a messenger.”
Jin slightly bowed and Cyron gently grinned.
“Declare your request.”
It was all Jin wished for. Before Jin even proposed the deal, Cyron offered the gift before him.
But Jin knew.
‘Father wouldn’t just let me walk away with something for free. Once I declare my request, he’ll definitely add some terms and conditions…!’
He had to think hard.
If he asked for something too big, then the conditions would be too strict. But that didn’t mean he could back off. The person sitting on the compromising end was Cyron.
“For the time being, please do not allow any Runcandel to travel through the Free City of Tikan.”
“Tikan? Interesting.”
Cyron’s eyes glinted with an eerie light.
‘Oho, youngest runt. You already made it your main base? The Free City of Tikan…’
Living up to its name, Tikan was a land that wasn’t affiliated with anyone—be it the Runcandels, Zipfels, or the Vermont Imperial Family.
Simultaneously, all three powers aimed to colonize that land. It wasn’t for power or resources; attaining the Seven-Colored Peacock, intellectual prowess, and the trade center would be a wonderful three-in-one gain.
It was just a free gold coin on the ground.
Tikan wasn’t worth fighting other clans to acquire the land, but it was still wasteful to leave such an easy acquisition alone.
‘If he is settling there and has it as his main base, it is likely that Tikan would be under the Runcandel Clan after all of this. This baby couldn’t have possibly already formed ties with Kashimir… Well, it’s worth watching for a while.’
Cyron hid how proud he was of Jin’s achievements and spoke.
“I shall accept your request if you pass the test I give you.”
“Yes, Father. Please tell me what kind of test it is.”
“Ghostblade Kashimir. Make him join you and prove to me that he is your ally. If you succeed, then no Runcandel will be able to step on Tikan without your permission.”
Doubting his ears, Jin let out a refreshing scream in his mind.
After all, Kashimir was already Jin’s ally.
“Yes, Father. I already planned on establishing a strong and friendly rapport with him. Because just leaving Tikan untouched would be wasteful.”
All this time, other provisional flag-bearers worked to raise their own name to fame.
However, Cyron found Jin’s attention towards the clan’s strength to be very impressive and interesting.
“You have one year. That insolent fool refused to become the instructor of the Runcandel cadet trainees multiple times… I’ll see if you could coax him into your cause.”
“I will bring him to you quickly.”
“Alright, now proceed on your path.”
After bowing and exiting the study, Jin would’ve hummed a song.
‘Everything I did in my past life didn’t go well, but this life is going pretty smoothly.’
However, when he reached the bottom of the stairs, his expression froze at the sight of two boys running towards him.
“J-Jin! Are you okay…?!”
“Did Father say that he’ll let you live? Why did you even do this?”
After Jin left the courtyard to see their father, the Tona twins were very concerned about his imminent death. However, they were afraid of their other siblings, so they stayed inside and bit their nails.
“You guys act too cute sometimes. I’m fine. Besides, I have a favor to ask.”
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