'That's…!'
Jin's eyes filled with awe as he looked up to the sky.
He had heard his brothers discuss the clan's different decisive killing moves multiple times in his past life.
Seeing the sky open up and an aura plummet to the ground, he was able to deduce that it was the clan's third decisive killing move, 'Meteor Shower'. But it was the first time he actually witnessed it.
As well as his first time seeing one of his clan's secret techniques.
'It's surprisingly beautiful…'
And strong.
Countless balls of energy fell like shooting stars. As each streak of light hit the ground, Jin could feel the impact throughout his body.
He felt like he was looking at the absolute limit of human ability.
He clenched his fist and focused on observing, not wanting to miss a single moment. He wanted to remember this scene and someday recreate it himself.
Recreate the same domineering power.
Quikantel mindlessly stared at the hundreds of aura stars falling from the sky. The only calm person was Murakan.
[Decisive killing move, Meteor Shower. It's been a thousand years. It's still lacking compared to Temar's, but your sister is still a monster.]
BOOM! KABOOM!
Every time a meteor smashed the ground, the entire island wailed.
The land became disfigured, rocks shattered, and dirt crumbled into smaller particles. Meteors thrashed the ground, powerful enough to disintegrate everything that makes contact into nothing.
Among the explosions, a helpless human and dragon looked pitiful as they searched for shelter.
They realized that they couldn't survive relying on some incomplete artifact—ultimately filling their hearts with hopelessness and misery.
'No…! This can't be!'
Andrei muttered words like a prayer as he gripped the Demon God's Orb. Vyuretta returned to his dragon form and leapt to protect him.
'We can win if I keep Andrei safe. If I protect Andrei…!'
Even if his body was torn into millions of pieces, as long as one broken bone or chunk of flesh remained, Vyuretta could be resurrected with the power of the orb. It was because of this that he never feared death.
However, Luna's strength was still horrific.
It didn't matter if he got revived and resurrected. He was guaranteed to die again anyway. Maybe, even with a complete Demon God's Orb, it would be impossible to defeat the human before him.
On the other hand, Luna overflowed with majestic might as she lowered her axe-sword.
She didn't even look at the meteor shower ripping Vyuretta apart, preoccupied by her dissatisfaction with the results.
She disintegrated the island and slaughtered the Zipfel grand magician as well as his dragon. And yet, she was not satisfied.
'Not even close to Father's.'
Cyron's Meteor Shower, which she had witnessed only once in the past, was much stronger.
It was difficult to explain, but it transcended… it wouldn't even be considered as something that was done by a human.
She had to do something that would absolutely dominate the battlefield. Only then could she consider comparing herself with her father.
'Still, this is a good experience for the youngest. Hopefully, it gives him some inspiration. If I'm not worthy of being Father's successor… it definitely has to be you, our youngest brother.'
With that thought, she looked behind her.
She wanted to send a message to her sibling who was watching the incomplete yet amazing technique. That he should grow and become much stronger in order to become the next patriarch of the Runcandel Clan.
And Jin felt his sister's sentiment. Even though she didn't voice it out, or even if she said it and Jin couldn't hear it… Even though Jin could barely see her from far away, he knew what she wanted to tell him.
'She is always teaching me something.'
She lit a fire in his heart.
Compared to any other moments, he had never felt more passionate about swordsmanship. The thought of surpassing his eldest sister and their father to succeed the throne suffocated him.
He would never forget this moment.
At the end of the meteor shower, a massive crater was left behind in the middle of the island, filling up with water. And, as if a submarine volcano erupted, a tsunami grew from the filled crater. Additionally, Vyuretta and Andrei were nowhere to be seen.
They surrendered their life to the body of water—for within the tsunami, parts of Vyuretta's corpse were visible.
The sky above was clear; every single bit of cloud had been dispersed by the meteors that pierced through them.
Luna lightly shook her head as she stood underneath the shining sun and in front of the growing tsunami.
"This is a little disappointing. In front of my brother… It's annoying if you hold on for too long."
Luna pointed Crantel at the tsunami.
Simultaneously, something inside the massive wall of water slowly revealed itself.
A black, massive, monstrous face.
It resembled the entity from the Demon God's Orb. However, it soon emerged out of the water with a full body. Its arms and legs broke out of the water's surface first, then its torso followed.
Andrei had fused with the orb.
"That crazy… What is that? Is that the result of unleashing the artifiact's powers?"
Orb of Origin, Demon God's Orb—whatever it was, Jin knew it wasn't normal. Moreover, the power was too horrific to simply be from an 'artifact'.
'I've never seen anything like it in my past life. It's as if a powerful god has descended.'
There was no word to describe the terrifying creature other than 'god'.
Quikantel's tail curled up, unable to resist the terror in front of her.
Although it was a replica, the Demon God's Orb still contained the power of the gods, which automatically drew the fear out of dragons.
[Whew, I'm certain now. Kid, the Zipfels used a contractor to recreate the Orb of Origin. Thankfully, it's not very strong right now. Just a little evil… I'll tell you the rest later. First, we have to get outta here.]
"We have to escape?"
Andrei's Windless Domain was long gone. Murakan opened his wings and began to rise, and Jin instinctively shouted.
"We have to get Elder Sister Luna! We can't let her fight that thing alone!"
[No, that thing needs to be killed. If we let it live, then it will torment the world. The Orb of Origin is like that. And the only person who can end that thing is your sister.]
"But…"
[Even though I lost my strength, my eyes are still sharp. Your sister can definitely take it head-on. If it were the real Orb of Origin, even Temar wouldn't be able to stop it.]
As if she were listening in on their conversation, Luna looked up towards Jin and Murakan. She waved her hand in the air as she shouted.
"Don't worry about me, and go somewhere safe!"
Jin still felt uneasy and thought it wasn't right for him to just escape.
Yet, he instinctively knew. As Murakan said, 'that' needed to be exterminated.
However, he was extremely upset and disappointed that he could only watch from the sidelines instead of help.
'After today, there will never be a day where I'm powerless…!'
Jin gritted his teeth.
Murakan grinned, for he was proud of Jin's hunger for improvement.
'Friggin' kid. I knew you had no fear. Looking at that thing and still emitting your battle aura… Looks like you really want to kill it yourself.'
A strong energy, enough to sting Murakan's plated back; it was undoubtedly Jin's.
An unbelievably prominent battle aura from a fifteen-year-old who just became a 5-star.
'You will become the best, Jin Runcandel, the contractor of a thousand years.'
Murakan didn't feel great about escaping as well. However, he was looking forward to Jin's future and potential.
[C'mon, don't be too down, and watch your sister. Watch the anomaly called the Runcandels. Today, Luna Runcandel will save the world!]
When she thought they got far enough from the island, Luna wrapped Crantel with aura. At the same time, Andrei stepped away from the massive water wall and looked down on her.
"Andrei Zipfel. Hmm… Your face is too disfigured for me to tell, but you're definitely making a confident expression. Since you became a monster with that artifact, you must think you could defeat me now."
Grrrrr, grrrrrrrrk, grrrrrrrk!
The monster let out a triumphant laugh that sounded similar to someone violently clearing their throat. As she said, Andrei was no longer afraid of Luna.
"The power of the Twelve Gods are currently inside me, Luna Runcandel! And what do you have? Even if your father was here, you wouldn't be able to defeat me!"
"Ah, the Twelve Gods. Unfortunately, I only have this one sword right now."
She responded with a calm face.
"Show me all you've got. I will gladly receive it!"
A belittling smirk then grew on Luna's face.
"As expected, you're still delusional. If you fought me using the magic you had trained for years, you could've seen half of my true skill at most."
Andrei tried to respond, but held back after seeing that Crantel was dyed in red.
'Crimson aura?'
Andrei tilted his head in confusion. He had fought hundreds of knights, but he had never seen any of them use a crimson aura.
"On that note, although you never deserved it…"
Crantel was set ablaze.
"In order to fix your foolishness… I shall show you what true swordsmanship is. And naturally, you will see the flaws in your ways."
'You allegedly caged the entities you proclaim as 'gods' inside that pathetic little rock, and you think that nothing can stand in your way just because you have it in your possession. Delusional. The man I've seen my entire life—who is deemed a 'demigod'—is dominating the world. Or are you saying that your gods are stronger than him?'
'Mind's Blade: Blood Moon.'
Luna whispered, a brilliant red light emitting from Crantel.
A light that swallowed the island and sky. Andrei didn't feel an ounce of danger, for he trusted the orb too much.
"Come! With your powerless attack!"
Luna swung her sword, and a massive red wave of energy traveled quickly across the island. The ground soon began to rumble, and in an instant, the ground split, forming fissures.
The slash of red light passed through the entirety of the island.
And Luna, thinking there was nothing to check, lowered her sword and turned.
"I'll…"
'I'll show you.'
He couldn't finish his sentence. And that became his last will.
Pzzzzzt!
Crack!
The orb hidden in Andrei's chest pocket shattered. The space around him cracked like glass, and the orb's dark energy was sucked into its crevices.
On the pathetic excuse of an island, even the biggest of boulders were being vacuumed into the void.
The moment Luna—who was kneeling on one knee due to exhaustion—was about to reach its edge…
Whooooosh!
Murakan descended at full speed, and Jin extended his hand towards her. She barely caught his hand, and she flashed a smile.
"It looks like our youngest has saved me this time."
—————