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Jin took out the Ruby from his pocket and summoned Shuri.
[Myaaah!]
As Jin rode on Shuri's back, Ron cleared a path for them.
Chuhaaaak!
Ron's enormous sword energy swept through the monsters in front of them in an instant. Blood and flesh sprayed like a fountain, and Shuri dashed through the chaos.
Seeing this, Murakan quickly descended and transformed into his human form. He appeared as if a black wind were rushing toward Jin.
"Kid, where are you going?"
"I have to find Veradin."
"Why?"
"Kinzelo is behind this terrorist attack. Their goal is to instill the hostilities between Hairan and Zipfel."
Murakan tilted his head but immediately showed a look of understanding.
"Well, I get the gist."
"Did you see Veradin from above?"
"No, it didn't seem like he was here."
"Go back up and check again. If you see him, let me know immediately. If not, you'll keep watch from above."
"Are you going to search for him alone? Who knows what kind of monsters might appear."
"They can't leave any evidence behind, and there shouldn't be anyone as formidable as Berakt. If I find myself in a situation I can't handle alone, I'll send a signal."
"Got it."
Murakan returned to his true form and soared into the sky.
After watching for a while, Murakan was unable to find anything. It means Veradin had already left the battlefield.
'There were terrorist forces mixed in the audience too. Veradin must have been avoiding them.'
Who were the ones sitting near Veradin?
The masked royalty were the closest. Given that Veradin was the next patriarch of Zipfel, it was only natural that he could stand shoulder to shoulder with the royalty of Vermont as well.
It was the most reasonable assumption that Veradin had been attacked by them and was running away.
There were Jin, Lata, and Ron at the front of the battlefield where the outer wall had collapsed. Since that was the only escape route excluding the internal passage, so there was no way that Veradin had escaped.
'They took advantage of the fact that the imperial family always wore masks, those Kinzelo bastards.'
Jin thought to himself as he changed direction, opting to examine the inside of the castle first.
However, they couldn't use the regular passage. The corridors were still completely congested with knights trying to evacuate the regular guests.
Without hesitation, Jin drew his sword.
Squeak!
With a single slash, the thick wall was cut like a sheet of paper.
The martial artists in the rear were struggling to stop the oncoming monsters and protect the guests, and they couldn't make a passage due to the pressure of damaging the castle wall.
Thud!
The square-cut wall fell with a heavy thud.
"Move to the passage!" Jin shouted before making his way out of the central arena.
The inside of the castle was just as chaotic. Servants were running around like crazy, and occasionally, you could see living golems entering from the outer wall.
As a group of servants was about to be attacked by a living golem, Shuri leaped forward and struck it with her front paw. When its head exploded, the servants let out a collective scream and their faces turned pale.
"Thank you...!"
"Have you seen Veradin?"
"W-who are you talking about?"
"Veradin Zipfel. He has long white hair and is wearing a white coat."
"I haven't seen him."
"But, Sir Jin. While we haven't seen Sir Veradin, there was also an uproar near the castle's pottery storage."
They were the servants responsible for the storage.
"Tell me more."
"We heard about the terrorist attack starting in the central arena and tried to spread the news to others. However, suddenly there was an explosion in the storage, and we were in the middle of trying to escape."
"I don't know the details, but it seemed like the explosion was caused by magic. Guards went in to investigate, but we haven't heard anything since."
As soon as Jin entered the castle, it seemed like he had a clue.
"Which way is the storage?"
"I will personally guide you there."
"I can't guarantee your safety while dealing with the situation. Draw me a map."
The servant hastily took out paper and a pen from his pocket and drew a map.
"Here it is."
"Other servants may come out soon. So don't move and wait here."
Jin followed the map and headed toward the pottery storage.
The pottery storage was one of the largest in Sword Emperor Castle, housing over 90% of the pottery collected for over a hundred years, starting from the previous patriarch.
The entrance to the storage was completely destroyed.
Embers could be seen here and there.
'It's not a regular fire; these are traces of flame-type magic. And it's at least 9-stars.'
Veradin's main attribute was fire.
As Jin went inside, pottery shards crumbled under Shuri's steps.
And there were traces of other types of magic, not just fire.
Earth, ice, lightning.
And darkness.
There were clusters of dark mana that looked like black beads rolling around. Jin hadn't seen much dark magic, but it was unmistakably that, or he couldn't explain the form it took.
'The Dark Magic Society was completely annihilated, so where did Kinzelo find mages like this?'
There was no way that a renowned great mage would have participated in the attack on Hairan. Mages like Chukon Todlerer, Susan Lillista, or Kidard Halll are already dead.
There had to be more unknown mages within Kinzelo, or they had allies.
Finding Veradin was Jin's immediate priority. It was clear that there had already been fierce battles, so the situation was urgent.
All that could be seen were shattered pottery and debris, and it seemed like Veradin and Kinzelo's terrorists had already moved to another location.
'Apart from the entrance, there were no signs of a battle inside the storage. There had to be another passage leading into the pottery storage.'
The map shows another passage leading into the pottery storage. It's long and dark. Even after riding Shuri for a while, the passage continued.
But Jin stopped Shuri while she was running after seeing the corpses. Three bodies lay there, and they were the bodyguards Veradin had at the banquet, though not all of them.
Still, it wasn't difficult to deduce that Veradin was in dire straits, given the situation he was in.
As Jin exited the passage, a drainage canal appeared in front of him. One of the passages from the pottery storage served as an escape route for emergency situations.
Above Jin's head, the dark sky was strained with the shadow force. The distant loud explosions and shockwaves from the battlefield still signaled the ongoing conflict.
Which direction should I go?
There were no visible footprints, and there were too many obstacles to find the route using earth or wind magic.
As Jin pondered, he saw a faint glimmer of light in the distance.
It was a familiar light that appeared when Flame Orb exploded, and its unmistakably Veradin's magic.
And as soon as he saw that magic, Jin became certain that Veradin was already 'injured.'
Veradin had achieved the 9-star mana, but the magic felt unstable and feeble.
"Let's go, Shuri!"
[MyaMya!]
Finally, Jin saw Veradin in the open field.
Veradin, with his remaining two bodyguards, was engaged in a battle with mages in gray robes, along with the living golems they commanded.
"Veradin!"
Veradin turned his head at Jin's voice.
"Jin!?"
Zzzzzz!
The living golems surrounding Veradin exploded as Jin dropped the thunderbolts.
Jin rushed in to check Veradin's condition. Blood was dripping from his lips, and his body was covered in wounds. Fortunately, there were no fatal injuries, but the bleeding was severe. If the battle had continued, he could have easily died.
"I knew you'd come."
Veradin said with a faint smile, and his words carried a strange significance.
"What do you know? You got yourself into this mess, and were beaten up by these guys."
"They are quite powerful. It makes me wonder if there are mages like them among those I don't know. At first, I thought they might be my aunt's subordinates."
At that moment, a question crossed Jin's mind. Was Veradin really in perfect condition?
Even if he wasn't in perfect shape, rescuing Veradin was still the top priority. However, a strange thought suddenly occurred to him.
Why had Veradin not sent out a rescue signal even once on the way here?
Even if he didn't have a signal flare on him since he was just attending the banquet, he could have used magic to send a signal at any time.
Even if he was under attack by those disguised as royalty in the audience, he could have shouted. There were surely many other martial artists who would have come to his aid.
'If his mind is manipulated, then he deliberately staged this situation. It would be advantageous for Zipfel in various ways if Hairan gets in trouble.'
Jin thought back to the traces of magic left in the pottery storage. Now that he reconsidered, there were certain artificial aspects to those mana traces.
In particular, the traces of dark magic were conspicuously left behind, as if it were evidence that Veradin had fought alone against those who used dark magic. All this in the heart of the highly-guarded Sword Emperor Castle.
But as Jin looked back at Veradin, who sighed with relief upon seeing him, he was just the familiar white-haired idiot.
'I can't be sure. Just like at the banquet.'
Jin turned around and looked at the gray-robed figures.
The gray-robes had momentarily stopped their attacks upon Jin's arrival and, though their hoods hid their expressions, they seemed bewildered.
"Veradin Zipfel."
"Yes, Jin."
"Why didn't you send a rescue signal?"
"I didn't have a chance. I was attacked from the audience, and I had to escape. I couldn't think of anything else."
It was the expected answer, but Jin still couldn't shake the feeling that Veradin's mind was at least "not completely" intact.
"I, Jin Runcandel 12th flagbearer of Runcandel, has come to rescue you under a special order of Sir Ron, Lord of Sword Emperor Castle. Be sure to Remember this fact. Do you understand?"
".... I understand. I am indebted to Sir Ron."
"Your escort guards are recuperating. I'll deal with these bastards."
As Jin raised his energy, small stones from the field began to float in mid-air. The gray-robes also began releasing their mana once again.
'They're definitely not on the level of the Spectres.'
Even though they fell short of the Spectres, they were still skilled mages. If their true intention was to kill Veradin, they would have targeted him inside the Sword Emperor Castle as well. They intentionally sent just enough numbers for Veradin to barely escape.
If four mages were sent because they believed Veradin could handle himself in a fight...
It meant they are too insignificant to be a threat to Jin.
Jin only needed to be cautious of the dark magic.
"Don't even think about going back alive."
As Sigmund began to shine, mana swirled and gathered in Jin's palm.
It was the legacy of the great mage Kidard Hall, the reversed sky.