The guardian in front of them had a strangely friendly tone.
Unlike Sylderay, who had treated intruders as tomb guardians, the guardian before them displayed a welcoming demeanor, as if meeting an old friend.
'Sarah... I heard her name from the first tomb's record device. She's the Runcandel, who took five magic swordsmen to the Tower of Stories where three hundred dragons gathered.'
Sarah was actually smiling as she looked at Murakan. It was rather odd to see the smile with the shadow force covering her face like blood.
"What do you mean I am late?"
[I had already killed those pests before you arrived. Well, to be precise, I swept them away with Padler. You're late again, man. Where have you been goofing off this time?]
"Sarah."
[Padler got a bit injured. I'm fine, as always. But it seems like you or the patriarch should give that weakling some training.]
Get a hold of yourself, Sarah!
Murakan was about to shout like that, but Jin grabbed his shoulder.
He tried to communicate with his eyes that this person isn't the real Sarah you know. It's a guardian created to resemble her.
The shadow force flowing instead of blood was the evidence of that.
Murakan was now overwhelmed by similar emotions that agonized Jin to slash his opponent in Mitra Desert, despite the fact that he knew they were merely illusions.
It was because the fake Sarah Runcandel looked almost like the real one. The way she spoke, her actions, and even her attitude toward Murakan.
It was impossible to distinguish the being created with shadow force from the real person, especially if the soul was infused into them.
[Murakan, why aren't you responding? You are late, but you're not going to say that you don't want to bother with such petty stuff, are you?]
"...You've been fighting for too long, Sarah Runcandel."
Cuicantelle stepped forward and spoke. She also remembered Sarah.
The guardian paused for a moment and then turned her gaze toward Cuicantelle.
[Oh, who do we have here? Cuicantelle. It's been a while since the bystander appeared on the battlefield. Although, the battle is already over.]
Murakan and Cuicantelle felt a deep sense of despair.
A thousand years- that was the time duration the guardian had spent alone while protecting the second tomb in this dark subspace.
Her body was covered in wounds, and the thousands of white bones scattered around bore witness to the fierce battle. In fact, the guardian's sword was broken, and only had half of its blade left.
The guardian no longer distinguished the past from the present, and at times, she didn't even remember what her mission was.
It was as if she wasn't in her right mind.
It was the price of enduring all those years alone ever since she killed the Zipfel mages who attacked the tomb a thousand years ago.
[What are all these newcomers doing here? I see unfamiliar faces.]
The guardian approached, and Murakan seemed to reach a decision.
Murakan transformed back to his true form and spread his wings. Following him, Cuicantelle also transformed and displayed the majesty of a silver dragon.
[My old comrade, Sarah Runcandel. Sorry for being late. I will help you unload the burden you've been carrying for so long.]
The guardian stopped in her tracks at Murakan's words.
At closer look, she was even more severely injured than they had initially thought. If she had been shedding blood instead of shadow force, just standing there would have felt like a miracle.
[What's this all of a sudden…]
[Draw your sword.]
[What? Do you want to have a duel with me?]
Vortexes of shadow force began to spread behind Murakan's back.
Shadow force release; the guardian knew without a doubt that Murakan used this move when he had to kill an enemy.
[Is this a joke?]
[Jin and everyone else, listen carefully. Despite her serious injuries, Sarah was known as one of the strongest among the ten great knights of ancient Runcandel. Don't even think about facing her carelessly.]
They wondered if it was possible to fight with such a body. Even her sword was completely broken, and it seemed like all her teeth had fallen out.
However, she was the same person who had single-handedly faced thousands of mages.
Crackle, clank!
The group drew their weapons simultaneously.
There was a moment of silence between the group and the guardian.
Soon after, a massive fighting spirit surged from the guardian's body like a tidal wave.
[I see... I understand now. Murakan, you weren't late. You deliberately waited until the fight was over and I was exhausted.]
Wuuuuung! Swoosh!
Sarah's sword emitted a brilliant light. If Murakan hadn't created a shadow force curtain, most of the group would have reflexively closed their eyes to shield themselves from the blinding radiance.
And if the guardian had been in perfect condition, those who closed their eyes would have all lost their heads. The martial prowess possessed by Sarah Runcandel in her prime was almost close to reaching the Genesis knight.
[Have you fallen under the trickery of the bystander? Or perhaps, even someone as egoistic as you is now afraid of Zipfel. Everyone believed in you, you filthy traitor.]
Every word was dug into Murakan's heart like a dagger.
Murakan's back, covered with shadow force, felt very small and blurry.
Whenever he faced his unforgettable past, Murakan's heart was slashed by sorrow sharper than the blade.
The guardian raised her blazing sword.
[You should prepare yourself. My body may be worn out and I've been betrayed by my comrade, but I am still Sarah Runcandel.]
Whoosh!
The sword stained with aura was covered with another layer of flames.
Scorching flames appeared around Sarah as well, like the vortexes of shadow force around Murakan.
'Magic!?'
She was a pure-blood Runcandel from before the humiliating pact Runcandels signed with Zipfel.
She was a magic swordsman.
[Gilly, Alisa, Kasimir, protect Enya and Jet. Jin, cover us!]
Cuicantelle shouted as she gathered energy for dragon breath. Murakan had already created thousands of awls with his shadow force, aimed at the guardian.
The awls descended to the ground silently, like shadows. They were dark and seemed like they could devour anything and targeted the heavily wounded body of the guardian.
But it was just a futile attempt.
The guardian easily dispelled the countless awls that rained down like a heavy rain.
The fact that her sword was broken didn't bother her at all.
The flames spewing from the broken sword continued to burn fiercely, unaffected by the awls that had been aimed at her.
It immediately created a sea of blaze.
The guardian's flame wasn't only capable of burning its target into ashes, but it could also cut them in half.
A razor-shape fire, it may sound a strange term to describe it, but the fire possessed that quality.
The shadow force of Murakan and the fire clashed in the air, entwining and devouring each other. Cuicantelle fired her breath, and activated her authority of time to momentarily halt the guardian's flames.
But there were just too many flames.
It exceeded the limits of what Cuicantelle's authority could restrain. Even if one source of flame momentarily stopped, the others continued to smother the battlefield.
It was an unbelievable sight. Despite her severe injuries, the guardian showed incredible strength, and fought two dragons without being overpowered.
Sarah Runcandel, the Flame Empress; this was what people called her a thousand years ago.
Though she couldn't fully unleash her power due to her long battles and solitude, her name still shone brightly in this lonely subspace.
[Murakan, what are you trying to do? Is this all the power you have? Are you feeling guilty because of our past?]
The flames were intensifying to a frightening degree. The flames were expanding, and Murakan and Cuicantelle's authority were struggling to contain them.
[Or are you pitying me?]
[It's none of those, Sarah.]
[Then what is it? If you decide to betray Runcandel, then do it properly, Murakan!]
Sarah leaped and unleashed a devastating strike. Murakan hastily casted a shield, while Cuicantelle twisted her body to bite the guardian.
Sarah moved freely in the air using her flames. She thrusted her sword forward.
Sparks flew everywhere. The clash of the dragons' claws and teeth against her sword created a deafening noise, and the ground was already torn apart by the shockwaves that reached the surface.
Pzzzz!
A lightning bolt broke through the flames and shadow force.
It was a Plutonian Swordsmanship lightning bolt. A sudden thunderstrike caused Sarah to stumble momentarily and crash onto the ground.
[The power of the Plutonian tribe, huh? How can a Zipfel use this power?]
[That kid is not Zipfel; he's Runcandel. Jin. He is the descendant of Runcandel that you all protected.]
[Jin? There is no one with such a name among the Runcandels.]
[Sarah, a thousand years have already passed outside. This place is the Tomb of Temar, and we have come here as a part of Solderet's plan…"
[I may be exhausted, but that doesn't mean my mind has collapsed. It was just two days ago that Padler and I received the orders from the patriarch to come here. You can see all those countless corpses, can't you? In the end, Zipfel will fall, at our own hands!]
She was still unaware that Temar had died, even though she was the guardian of the tomb.
The guardian's world was still stuck in the time of her glorious days, leading the Runcandel magic swordsman with Temar and glorifying the name of Runcandel.
It was a brutal thing to watch.
All Jin and his companions could do for the guardian was to offer her rest as soon as possible.
The guardian descended to the ground and met eyes with Jin.
[Tell me your real name, Zipfel's boy.]
"I am Jin Runcandel, the 12th flagbearer of Runcandel."
[You're lying to the end. Well, Zipfels are always like this, trying to taint the world with lies. Now, it seems they're even probing the name of Runcandel.]
"Regardless of what you think, Dame Sarah, my name remains unchanged. I came here to inherit the will of the ancient Runcandel and as a new contractor of Solderet."
Jin imbued the shadow force into Sigmund, which was covered with lightning energy.
Sarah's eyes twitched momentarily after seeing this.
[The Shadow Sword…]
The guardian couldn't accept Jin using shadow force since Solderet could only grant the power to Temar if he were still alive.
However, she remembered one possibility through which someone could use shadow force without being a Solderet contractor.
[The Witch. It must be her work.]
Helluram, the frighteningly eerie monster.
As far as Sarah knew, the witch Helluram was the only being capable of using shadow force without making a contract with Solderet.
All the flames converged around Sarah, and Jin prepared to execute the Shadow Sword.
[I shall meet my end here today. However, I will make sure you die in doing so.]
The guardian's entire body ignited, and Murakan released his shadow force to the fullest, enveloping his comrades. Cuicantelle's eyes also glowed as she let out a roar.
Runcandel Magic Sword Secret Technique
Flame of Hell – Sarah Runcandel
Sarah was in the midst of using the ancient Runcandel's magic sword secret technique.