They couldn't really attack.
From the fire, many condensed mana spheres emerged and surrounded Myuron. The three had never seen this kind of magic.
However, they could sense it. It was dangerous.
'What's this? I can see the mana clearly with my own two eyes, but I can't sense it. And on top of that, Myuron knows my face.'
There was no need to know why Myuron knew. Among the four Zipfels who came to the Runcandel banquet, one of them could have drawn Jin's profile and shared it with the clan.
'I should be careful whenever I face a pureblood Zipfel.'
"Ehehehehehe. Kuhahaha!"
Myuron kept laughing like a hyena. It was hard to tell if he was confident in winning or just crazy.
"I pity that prophet bitch. She went to beg the Runcandels but didn't know that they sent a child to me. Wait, aren't you still a provisional flag-bearer? It could've been a personal request from her, then. Hehehe."
As Myuron chuckled, Jin was still thinking.
'It's hard to conceal one's presence even with spiritual energy. An artifact can't do that either. Is this guy also a contractor?'
Jin dug through his memories from before his regression but couldn't find any information on him. All the information known about Myuron was only about his crazy personality and crimes.
Jin glanced at Murakan, and he didn't seem to know either. He then looked at Kashimir but realized that the Ghostblade wouldn't know much about magic.
'It looks like he has a special ability, but he's still an 8-star. As long as we don't get distracted, we will never lose. If he doesn't cheat like Andrei who used the Demon God's Orb, that is.'
He was an opponent that Jin couldn't face by himself. But with Murakan and Kashimir, he had the upper hand.
'I just need to fight while keeping in mind that I can't read the flow of mana.'
Making this conclusion, Jin conjured his aura.
"Blah, blah. Shut the fuck up. Your laughter also sounds disgusting."
"Fufu, let's have some fun."
Crackle-crackle-crackle!
The mana spheres quickly froze. Instantaneously, Myuron threw the ice spheres at Jin.
The nine globes of ice the size of cannonballs each split into three smaller projectiles.
Jin and Kashimir dodged to the side. Murakan accurately punched each one, having the need to protect Dino.
"Oho. Was there a martial artist among the Runcandel guardian knights?"
"Who the fuck are you takling about? Guardian knight? You dumbass—You bastard!"
After seeing the rest of the projectiles fly to the natives, Murakan spat on the ground then carried Dino—the journalist's body placed across the dragon's shoulders. The natives froze in fear.
After all, normal people couldn't dodge the fast projectiles.
Papak! Crack!
Murakan threw himself towards the bullets and shattered them with his fists.
"Are you all gonna die standing still, you idiots?!"
"Euhhhhh."
"Uhhh."
It sounded as if something was stuck in the natives' throats.
Murakan then noticed a horrifying sight. Most of them had a deep cut in their necks.
It wasn't a wound that they had the day before.
'Their vocal cords… They're all cut?!'
Jin, Kashimir, and Dino also saw the atrocity. At least seventy percent of the nearby natives had their vocal cords severed.
"Aaaack! Y-You… You motherfucker!"
Dino—who had been frozen in place—looked at Myuron and screamed. His eyes filled with tears and hatred.
"How could you?! I'll kill you… I'll kill—!"
"Heehee. Dino, I ripped some of them out just to see what face you'd make. It seems that you like my little art project."
Myuron's maniacal grin distorted his face. His eyes curved like crescent moons, and his hair flipped in the wind.
Moreover, instead of targeting Jin and Kashimir, he was targeting the natives. Murakan was jumping here and there, but he couldn't do it for long.
It would be easier to transform into his true form. However, they were in a land within the Lutero Magic Federation. The moment he turned into a dragon, all of the dragons affiliated with the Zipfel Clan would find their way to the Kollon Ruins.
Kashimir couldn't believe his eyes. With feverous anger, he glared at Myuron. Dino kept screaming and shouting.
"Hehehe. AHAHAHAH! HAH!"
Myuron continued to laugh. However, it was only for a moment.
Jin froze.
And Myuron couldn't read anything from his expressionless face.
Nevertheless, Murakan could read his god's contractor's mind. A clear emotion.
Fury.
"Myuron Zipfel. Today is the last day."
"Hm…?"
The aura surrounding Bradamante receded.
Then, a black energy began to envelop the blade.
Badump!
Myuron's laughter stopped, and he stared at Jin. He wasn't scared of the young Runcandel's new sword. However, it was the first time his heart beat so hard, so rapidly.
A premonition.
Myuron hadn't felt this in a while.
'What is this? Solderet's power? Then is Jin Runcandel…?'
The spiritual energy slowly surrounded the blade.
"Keep laughing. Just like before."
Whoooom…!
The surrounding darkness slowly grew darker and deeper.
In Jin's spiritual energy release, the surrounding environment was dyed black. The deepened darkness then gathered to his blade.
Blade: Unleash.
It was his first time using it after his spiritual energy reached 5-star.
'Young Master Jin… Is this the power of the shadows?'
Kashimir gulped. He had seen Jin's swordsmanship for the longest time. However, Jin looked like a different person with Bradamante unleashed.
Jin activated Myulta's Rune, and his grim face was covered by the helm.
"Ha, haha… Does this mean Solderet stands with the Runcandels once more? Breaking the deal with us!"
The ice particles that were flying towards the natives stopped.
Jin did not answer and called Murakan and Kashimir before pointing to the sky.
"The two of you need to block that."
They simultaneously looked up.
"Huh."
"What the hell is that? When the hell did that bastard make that?"
Hundreds of ice balls floated in the sky, several times more than the Zipfel had shot. The transparent projectiles were barely visible, camouflaged in the night sky.
There wasn't a special reason as to why Murakan and Kashimir couldn't detect it. Myuron simply did not have a detectable flow of mana.
Jin—who was the most knowledgeable of magicians among the three of them—found out after some time of deduction. He deduced that Myuron was preparing something nasty.
"…Heh, you finally noticed? I was gonna explode you and those pathetic crimson-people like bugs. Pop, pop, pop. Well, I guess I can't anymore."
Regaining his composure, Myuron grinned.
"But saving all of them will be hard."
Myuron didn't want to talk further. He felt like he was facing mongrels instead of humans.
Shweeek!
Jin lifted off his feet with his sword overflowing with aura. His feet were light as a feather as he charged at Myuron with tremendous power and speed.
Myuron frantically cast a force field and shot the nearby ice bullets at Jin.
However, the ice projectiles were futile in stopping Jin. In the blink of an eye, all of the bullets shattered into ice crystals and helplessly fell to the ground.
Crack! Slash!
Every time Myuron blinked, the blade was closer than before. At that moment, he fell into a dilemma.
No, he was doubting. Would his force field be able to deflect Jin's blade?
'It can't.'
Quickly making a conclusion, Myuron quickly drew his wand. Instantly, he had cast multiple advanced spells. Jin couldn't read his mana this time as well.
Three spells were cast.
7-star flame spell, Fire Barrier; 7-star ice spell, Ice Wall; 8-star wind spell, Mystic Hellwind. There weren't many magicians who could cast so many spells in such a short amount of time.
'It's fast, but it's not a simultaneous cast. Still, pretty impressive.'
Two 7-star defensive spells, and Mystic Hellwind was an offensive spell. Mystic Hellwind was a spell that conjured hundreds of sharp wind blades. A cruel and brutal spell infamous for its ability to chop up the enemy. It was the spell that Myuron enjoyed using.
Furthermore, it was a very complex spell. Running through the ice projectiles, Jin halted to a stop and covered himself with spiritual energy. Myuron smiled as he let out a sigh of relief.
'As expected, he did contract with Solderet, but his understanding of magic is lacking. He thought of just blocking it. Hellwind doesn't stop until the caster either dies or their mana runs out.'
The spell began to scratch and tear at Jin's barrier, and feeling an ominous chill, Myuron turned his head.
A helm with two glimmering eyes—Jin.
The spiritual energy barrier was a diversion.
Jin had waited for the moment that the wind blades were deflected, spread, and blocked Myuron's vision. Then, as Myuron's sight of Jin was obstructed, he quickly moved out.
If Jin hadn't known about Hellwind, he wouldn't have been able to pull it off. Even the caster of the spell themself would not be able to read the exact timing that Jin could react to.
"What?!"
Surprised, Myuron quickly withdrew the spell. He wanted to stop wasting mana and focus on his fire and ice barriers.
He finally found out how heavy and strong Jin's strike was.
Swinging Bradamante, Jin's eyes flared up.
Kzzzt…!
Myuron had never seen something like this before. He had fought many knights, and there were some who could 'cut away' his magic with a sword.
However, he never imagined how quickly the unleashed Bradamante could pierce the barriers.
'He's just erasing my magic…!'
His Fire Barrier and Ice Wall did not get cut or shattered. Instead, the fire was being extinguished.
The Ice Wall was penetrated first, and the overlaying Fire Barrier died down.
His pure mana force field was the only defensive layer remaining. As the sword approached him, Myuron could only step backwards with a shocked expression on his face.
However, along with that expression came excitement.
He ducked out of his force field and struck his wand on the ground. The floating ice projectiles began to fall, accelerating to the speed of bullets.
"You would taste very good. Oh how glorious it would be! Good thing I stayed on this land…!"
On the ground that Jin was standing on, a magic circle started to glow.
A trap.
—————