Whip!
Myuron's hand ripped through the air. He didn't have a single drop of mana left, so it looked as if he was just swinging his wand around.
'Is it over…?'
The hell gate—which was cut by the sword engulfed in spiritual energy—let out a loud screech as it shriveled up into nothing.
Thump!
Jin fell to the ground. His face was stained with blood, but he didn't have any severe injuries. Bradamante returned to its original form.
"Kid!"
"Young Master Jin! Are you alright?"
Murakan and Kashimir frantically rushed over to him, and Tess drew back the fire. The phoenix slowly faded and disappeared while worriedly looking at Jin.
Jin couldn't keep Tess summoned as his mana had been all used up.
"Wh-What about… Myuron?"
"He burned to death while standing. Well done, kid."
Murakan pointed at Myuron who failed to cast his final spell. He died to Tess's flames, but apparently, standing and dying emotionlessly wasn't enough for him. Even in death, Myuron had a creepy smile stretched across his face.
'From all of the enemies I've faced, he's the most terrifying. Did he swing his wand unconsciously?'
Although the magician's death left a weird aftertaste, Jin couldn't think much longer. His exhaustion made staying awake unbearable.
Dino and Tika as well as all of the other survivors surrounded Jin.
They were shivering from fear—enough to trigger a seizure. It was because of Myuron's still-standing corpse.
"Eerk, Murakan. You're alright. And what about Sir Kashimir…?"
"Everyone's okay except you, so shut the fuck up. Three insane powers are having an orgy inside your body. Damn it, if the mana overflow causes a counter current…"
"Will I die?"
"Yeah, you'll die."
"Really…?"
"Nah, I'm joking, you good boy! I knew you could do it. Anyways, you're not gonna die. But if we don't do anything, you're gonna be crippled for half a year. Show me all of the medicine we have."
"Right here!"
Kashimir took out the medicine that he brought.
He had brought many luxurious remedies for the heat of battle. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything that could help Jin.
"What the fuck? Who told you to bring all these useless stuff? Why didn't you bring the unicorn horn powder? You also had other healing stuff in your bag. Anything else? How about blue fish scales?"
"I don't have those in my bag. I apologize. You said to bring immediate healing items…"
"Huh! Well, shit. Kid, say goodbye to half a yea—Hey, hey! Jin! Don't die on me, kid!"
"Hey."
Murakan turned his head. It was Tika.
"What?"
"There may be medicine in Myuron's basement. I heard that he captured some unicorns while drunk."
A magician's laboratory usually had many items for experimentation. Such was especially true for a lab that belonged to a pureblood Zipfel. One would be able to find a plethora of weird compounds there.
"Lead me there. Now."
"Over there… with the pile of corpses."
Murakan ran towards the destroyed building and began to shuffle through the debris. He found a barely-intact cabinet and ripped off the lock.
"Whoa."
A big unicorn horn met his eyes. He crushed it as if it were nothing, then slipped the powder into Jin's mouth. The young Runcandel's body jolted.
"Kurgh!"
Jin vomited dark red blood.
Unicorn horn was the best to deal with mana overflow.
However, if the consumer was above 7-star, then it would be ineffective.
"Finally. That feels better. Though, my spiritual energy and aura were all twisted up… Where'd you get the unicorn horn?"
Murakan tried to answer but was interrupted by Tika who began to cry and bow to Jin.
"My name is Latika Tika Mamutika, and I greatly thank you for saving us. Our people will never forget your deed."
And the other natives began to bow as well. Dino joined them too.
"Oh… Please stand. Lady Laosa sent me here."
"We know. Jin Runcandel, our savior. If it weren't for you, we would never have executed our objective and succumbed to the Zipfels' rule."
There were only around thirty natives left.
About twenty died from Myuron's ice projectiles, and a hundred and fifty died after being brought to the basement.
It was depressing.
The natives finished their bowing and went to the pile of corpses. They mourned at the horrifying sight.
"The prophet… She asked you to save us. Is that right?"
"Yes, that's right."
This couldn't be called saving. So many people had already died.
Jin made a bittersweet smile.
"She didn't mean to bring everyone back alive. She was asking us to recover the divine relic of Kollon."
The mirror.
'We have to "recover" it? Does that mean it's broken or something? I've never heard of that in my past life.'
Jin knew about the mirror, but Murakan did not.
"Hey, you're Tika, right? What is this 'divine relic'? Myuron's mana got super boosted or something, and you said that you orally activated the relic, right?"
"Yes, that is correct. And you probably noticed that his mana was unreadable. That is also due to the relic's power."
"I'm actually a dragon who has lived for over three thousand years, but I've never heard of such a relic. What the hell is it? What kind of god do you serve?"
"Our god goes by Kullam."
"Hm… Never heard of 'em. Well, alright. Let's get that relic and return home. We have some ships awaiting us. The survivors gotta survive."
Although he spoke without care, Murakan still felt pity for the natives.
Whoever saw their plight would have felt pity as well. As long as they weren't a man named Myuron.
"…We should. I know that we are always in grave danger. However, O Great Dragon, recovering the divine relic would take until tomorrow noon even if we start now."
"What? Tomorrow noon? It takes that long?"
"We must gather our people and unseal our land. And so, we need the sun's energy. I apologize that we are causing such a hassle for our saviors…"
"Young Master Jin, Sir Murakan. We can't wait until tomorrow morning. This land is within the Lutero Magic Federation, and we just killed a pureblood Zipfel.
Kashimir pointed at Myuron's corpse—charred but still standing.
"Lady Laosa indeed mentioned the recovery of the divine relic, but staying until tomorrow… We will all be slaughtered."
He was right.
However, since there were no witnesses other than the natives and Dino, holding until the next morning was possible.
In fact, they were in restricted land managed by the Zipfel Clan. Even if the sun was high, no one would come near the area.
"Hm, well the decision always goes to the kid. What's the next move? Do we wait until noon tomorrow, or do we escape with the survivors?"
Tika's eyes flickered.
Including her and the natives, the recovery of the divine relic was more important than their life.
Jin opened his mouth to speak.
"Miss Tika. Is there a Zipfel inspection team that comes here regularly? Or checks on Myuron?"
"There are almost no cases where outsiders come to us. There hasn't been anyone other than Dino for the past month. Before that, his underlings came sometimes, but they really didn't want to be with him."
"Probably because Myuron knew they were supervisors. If there isn't anyone who comes regularly… I think that we could wait until noon and take the divine relic with us."
"Young Master, will that be alright? It's too dangerous."
"Sir Kashimir, I'm sure you've fought with an 8-star magician before."
"About three times."
"As you felt, Myuron had cast spells with mana close to that of a 9-star. In fact, we couldn't read his mana flow at all. And that wasn't even using the divine relic properly. If such an item goes into the hands of the Zipfels…"
Silence.
Jin already experienced what happened when the Zipfels obtained the mirror.
'They cranked out 7-stars like a factory. Only their mana was 7-star, though they were pathetic excuses of magicians… And the world was just ruled by the Zipfels.'
On that note, they had to acquire the mirror before them.
"The kid's right. Runt, that kid isn't stupid. Getting out of here would be the most reasonable decision. However, the Zipfels with that artifact? We can't deal with that. Never."
"Good point. I didn't think it through that far."
"And even if we wanted to leave, Miss Tika wouldn't. Isn't that right?"
Tika nodded.
"Our reason for living and our life's ultimate goal is to guard Kullam's will. We would only become a hassle to you."
"Which is probably why you didn't give the Zipfels the relic even after going through three hundred years of oppression. No need to be sorry. We are only working for ourselves. Miss Tika, you should go help your people."
Jin glanced at the demolished building, where many were weeping.
Tika bowed with moist eyes.
"Hey, uh…"
Dino approached Jin.
"Yes, Journalist Dino Zeglun?"
"I didn't know that you were Jin Runcandel…"
"Let's try to brainstorm how we could write an article which would deliver the most discomfort to the Zipfels. Of course, you would leave out our names in the report?"
"…As a journalist, I solemnly swear that I will not write your names in the article. I would never betray those who saved my friends."
"You do seem like a person who would do that, Dino. Well, I have some stuff to think about, so you do your thing. Find solid evidence until noon. Evidence that will prevent the Zipfel Clan from lifting a finger."
"Understood."
Dino then disappeared into the woods.
Jin looked at Myuron's corpse, eyes slowly dilating, and continued his earlier train of thought.
'Was… was the last swing of his wand really done while unconscious?'
—————