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The blood shed by Rick and his subordinates stretched out on the ground like a snake. It didn't happen before he died.
Jin raised his head in surprise.
"Body transformation? Something like a living golem?"
"Similar, but slightly different. The ancient dark mages called this 'majinifcation'."
[T/L: 마인 [魔人] - a demon of a man/Majin. It is a living golem formed using dark magic.]
"You always know everything."
Jin shrugged his shoulders and replied.
'She never passed it on to me, but my teacher was certainly capable of using significant levels of dark magic. Whether she can use it even now is uncertain.'
In Valeria's past life, she had a history of acquiring dark magic from Hister's succession temple.
However, due to its danger and the dreadful catalysts required, she never used it herself and didn't share it even with her only disciple.
She believed that dark magic should disappear.
"First the Plutonian-type living golems and, now it's 'Majin.' Annoying. I am always getting involved with these types of guys. Rick Helter. I thought he was a good guy in his own way, but he stabbed me in the back."
[T/L: 명인 - Plutonian-type living golem. The living golems developed by Kinzelo while imitating the Plutonian tribe.]
It was funny that Jin showed mercy so that Rick could say his last words to his Emperor.
Jin naturally thought that he would possess the pride and self-esteem of a martial artist. Anyone would. It was the sight of maintaining resolve and loyalty even in the face of overwhelming opponents that could not be easily handled.
'It is an honor to be able to serve even after death... I knew it would turn out like this, Rick Helter.'
Looking back, the first time Jin encountered an opponent who transformed out of blue was during his cadet days.
Starting with the guards who transformed into living golems when he went on a mission to seize relics in Colon, Jin had often faced victims sacrificed in magical experiments.
"The magic circle is not perfect."
Jin nodded at Valeria's words.
"I see it that way too. Activation is slow, and it looks needlessly complex and messy at a glance."
"It's the complexity often seen when trying to force a magic that shouldn't work to actually work."
As both of them spoke, the magic circle formed by the blood of the Imperial Guard was incomplete.
In other words, it was still in the experimental phase.
'Using the imperial guard as test subjects, it means that the Imperial family has some level of confidence in this magic circle.'
Setting aside ethical issues, the members of imperial guard were undoubtedly the highest-tier personnel within Vermont.
They wouldn't have just used them as test subjects. Jin judged that Vermont had reached the final stage of the magic called 'Majinification.'
Furthermore, unlike the transformed humans or martial artists he had encountered before, Rick and his subordinates couldn't be considered victims. They were simply disgusting humans who participated in the experiment under the pretext of loyalty to the imperial family.
Amidst the raging anger, there was a part of him that found it somewhat satisfying.
'I've gained unexpected information. Kinzelo is also in the process of creating a golem known as a 'Plutonian-type,' and Zipfel is continuing experiments on living golems. So it's safe to assume that Vermont is preparing something as well.'
Suddenly, one fact crossed his mind.
'Vermont is looking for Temar's body…'
The reason the Imperial Guard came to the Wintaramo Forest, looking for Temar's body.
'Are they planning to do something with his body? 'Majinification'? Using Temar's body to create a majin?'
Clang...
Jin's molars grinded against each other. If that were true, it was an issue that he, as a Runcandel, couldn't simply ignore.
Even if it meant destroying the Imperial Family.
Of course, it wasn't certain. At least, there was no magic in Jin's knowledge that used 'the body of the deceased' as a material.
However, ancient dark magic was still an unknown realm to Jin, so it was entirely possible.
'Would my clan also know about Vermont' Majins?'
It didn't matter either way.
Even if the clan had information about the Majins, they wouldn't have shared it with him.
It was evident that Rosa, Joshua, and their subordinates could have continued to ignore this, waiting for the moment when they could use it in the way that benefited them the most.
Therefore, whether the clan had information about the Majins or not was not important.
'I'll use this information before my clan does.'
Jin had already calculated how to make use of the information about Vermont' Majins.
'Whether they plan to complete the 'Majinification' using Temar's body or for some other reason, from the moment they secretly started searching for the body, they are already committing a crime against Runcandel. I will make them pay for it.'
Thud!
Jin slammed his fist onto the ground. The sight of the earth cracking mercilessly under his fist, filled with anger, continued. He attempted to shatter the magic circle.
"...you think you can break a magic circle with your fist?"
He didn't actually expect to destroy the magic circle by striking it with his fist. He was merely testing it, as it was the first time Jin and Valeria encountered such a magic circle.
"Well, it's an unstable magic circle, so I thought I'd give it a shot just in case. As I thought, it doesn't work."
Despite the ground being completely disrupted, the ominous magic circle continued to form. It looked like squirming insects.
"We need to collect evidence, Arya Aulhart."
"Why is someone who attempted to break the magic circle just now trying to collect the evidence?"
"I thought I could just cut off the magic and take care of the bodies. If I entrusted the research to skilled mages like you or others, we could easily expose that the dark body transformation magic was used on the Imperial Guard... um, well, this."
Jin stopped talking as he turned his head.
Ugh, squelch!
It was because he heard a bizarre sound of the dead Imperial Guard' flesh and bones twisting.
"Seems like it might be difficult to take care of intact corpses."
Jin stepped forward toward Valeria and spoke.
The sight of the dead Imperial Guard' bodies swelling and then shrinking repeatedly played out at a rapid pace.
The gruesome scene could make someone with a strong stomach feel nauseated. Moreover, the decapitated bodies were picking up their own heads and reattaching them. Even the detached heads were grotesquely swollen, to the point that Jin and Valeria felt disgusted.
There was no need to continue watching that sight.
Swoosh!
Jin dashed forward like an arrow and severed the neck of a corpse that was in the process of reattaching its head. The corpse lost its head and hands again and slumped forward. Now that the opponent was no longer human, he proceeded to ensure the kill.
With a swift motion, as the body was about to hit the ground again, Bradamante traced a trajectory and scattered the remains, sweeping through the corpse.
The reddened flesh and bones poured out with a thud. Even a top-tier demonic creature with super-speed regeneration would not be able to breathe again once they were cut to pieces.
Nevertheless, Jin didn't seem to have any intention of ending it, as he used his mana to ignite the shattered remains on fire.
The charred remains began to blaze fiercely. Before long, the three corpses were reduced to ashes. Valeria also unleashed her magic, helping Jin eliminate the remains.
In a flash, they tidied up the three bodies that had attempted to reanimate.
However, the other three were already nearing the end of their transformations. Moreover, the first of them to complete the transformation was already raising its sword to strike Jin.
Clang!
Jin rotated his body and parried the sword aimed at him.
The impact transmitted through his wrist was quite powerful. It was notably stronger than the Imperial Guard he had just faced.
It was a natural progression for them to become stronger now that their transformations were complete. Even if the force transmitted through a single strike had increased, Jin didn't consider it necessary to tense up. It was likely they hadn't controlled their strength with rationality.
Among the transformed corpses, the characteristic curved swords unique to Vermont caught Jin's attention first. He immediately recognized the sword as belonging to commander Rick Helter, and as he confirmed the face...
He couldn't help but be taken aback.
'No face? Moreover, this appearance...'
When he saw the repeatedly forming and shrinking bodies within the completed magic circle, Jin had naturally expected the Imperial Guard to transform into grotesque forms, just like the living golems and unfinished Plutonian-type golems.
However, it was not the case.
The transformed bodies resembled human-like figures carved from marble. However, they had completely smooth and peculiar faces, lacking hair and facial features.
They looked like dolls with skeletons covered in cotton.
"It seems you don't even have a consciousness."
The transformed Rick, now a majin, didn't answer. Since he didn't have any kind of mouth-like organ, he couldn't produce sound.
Though he lacked eyes as well, whether it was moving through senses or if there was some unique method, it seemed like it had some form of vision.
Rick distanced himself calmly. Meanwhile, the other two also completed their transformations and began to position themselves near Rick.
'Even if they lack consciousness, they don't seem like simple beasts.'
The Imperial Guard were displaying a calm demeanor in battle, even more so than before their transformation.
It was an entirely different sight from the victims of other living experiments Jin had witnessed so far.
In other words, ready to use combat units. Despite being unfinished, the Vermont Majins were not inferior to Zipfel's living golems or Kinzelo's Plutonian-type golems.
Hwoooom...!
The shadow force imbued in Bradamante became even denser.
"Jin."
"What?"
"The three Majins you just killed turned to ashes too quickly when set on fire. They might have been designed to oxidize rapidly to erase any information after sustaining a certain level of damage."
"You mean one guy should be captured alive?"
"If possible. As you said, collecting evidence would be wise. If capturing them alive is not possible, give me a signal before killing them. I can preserve parts of their bodies using magic to prevent them from oxidizing."
Jin nodded. If it was Valeria's magic, it was possible.
The Majins launched an attack, charging towards Jin.
'The forest mustn't be harmed' seemed to be a deeply ingrained principle in their minds. They were only using concentrated sword techniques without causing damage to the forest.
Shuaaak!
With a single strike, the waist of the Majin that had charged first was sliced in two.
The Majin had clearly blocked Jin's Bradamante strike accurately. The Majins' physical abilities were not lacking to the point where they couldn't even deflect Jin's direct sword strikes.
Yet, the reason the Majin's waist was severed and it fell mercilessly to the ground was unknown to the Majin.
When facing the former human Imperial Guard, Jin hadn't used the Shadow Sword at all.
What had sliced through its waist and continued on was the Shadow Sword 2nd technique, Scissor. The moment the Majin blocked Bradamante, the blade of Shadow Sword extended from behind the Majin like a mirror image cut through its waist.
And just as Jin was about to attack the next Majin...
Chiiing!
Unexpectedly, several beams of light shot from the other side of the forest, aiming for Jin, Valeria, and the Majins.
While Jin parried both his own and Valeria's share of the beams, and even counterattacked with his sword technique, the Majins barely managed to roll on the ground to evade the beams.
"Zipfel, it seems the second unwelcome guest has arrived."
Once again, it was a situation where Jin could only think it was fortunate.
After all, before entering the tomb, he had planned to clear out all the pursuers.
"You might need to fight while protecting the Majins. If Zipfel kills them without a signal and they oxidize, we might not be able to preserve the evidence."
"I've been saving your strength for that scenario. Now it's your turn to show your skills, Arya."