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Chiiiing!
The mana gathered in Jin's palm swirled in the form of a sphere and emitted a sharp noise. The gray-robed figures immediately recognized the magic and hastily deployed a protective shield.
The sphere of reversed sky shone like a moon beneath the dark night sky.
Bolts of lightning struck around the sphere as well. Lightning relentlessly pounded the gray-robed figures' protective shield.
Normally, the power of the lightning of the Plutonian Reign sword wouldn't have been able to break through the gray-robes' shield. After all they were also great mages.
However, the reversed sky's power was the problem.
The tightly maintained shield seemed as if it could crumble at any moment. Moreover, the lightning wasn't meant to break the shield but rather to disrupt their vision.
Pazuk! Pazit!
The lightning strikes against the protective shield scattered and disturbed the vision of gray-robes. Therefore, they couldn't easily track Jin's movements.
[Kaah!]
Living golems charged towards Jin. Each possessed considerable strength, but it was meaningless if they couldn't reach him.
The charging golems lost their balance because of the thunderbolts of suppression.
Jin didn't miss that moment and swiftly scattered his sword energy in all directions and killed them instantly.
Jin's close combat abilities are on par with those of superhumans, and his magical abilities are so advanced that it would not be an exaggeration to refer to him as a great mage. Such crude living golems like these couldn't pose a threat to Jin.
"Is this also the work of Joe?"
Jin asked as he focused the mana of reversed sky towards the gray-robes.
Cold Joe is Rolt Joe's older brother and the head of the Dark Magic Society. He had created living golems called 'Plutonian-type,' imitating the Plutonians.
'These are far less sophisticated than the Plutonian-type living golems. They probably want to conceal that Kinzelo was behind the terrorist attack and must have sent these golems deliberately.'
The gray-robes didn't respond but concentrated their mana.
There was something else that Jin was really curious about
How were this many living golems created, and for what purpose? Especially since they seemed like mere expendables.
The living golems in this plain numbered around three hundred, and the ones he had seen in the Sword Emperor Castle were undoubtedly going to surpass ten thousand.
At least ten thousand humans were used as materials for these living golems.
And there was a high possibility that this wasn't even all of it.
'Someone is aiding Kinzelo in gathering humans.'
Gathering such numbers on their own would be difficult for Kinzelo. It meant there were sponsors at least at the level of a high-ranking feudal state or even a kingdom.
Back in the days Kinzelo could barely gather thousands of humans with the support of the Holy Kingdom when the headquarters of the Dark Magic Society was in Oterium .
'If possible, I'd like to capture them alive and find out, but I don't think they are going to give information because of torture. They probably have means of suicide.'
Whoops!
In the blink of an eye, Jin had charged past the gray-robes' shields and struck down Sigmund.
The gray-robed figures couldn't perceive Jin's attack because the lightning had obscured their vision.
The blade did rebound, but the shield was also shattered. Shards scattered, and Jin adjusted his posture and thrust Sigmund forward.
He felt a familiar sensation of flesh and bone being cut by the blade. Jin had pierced the shoulder of the foremost mage, but other mages were casting attack spells behind him.
There were two types: a mana beam and an ice sword.
Jin avoided the mana beam and spread his sword energy to block the ice sword. The shattered ice fragments scratched Jin's cheek and droplets of blood sprayed.
But at that moment, the gray-robe, whose shoulder had been pierced, met his demise. The sword energy that had deflected the ice sword had torn through his entire body.
'Three left.'
The hood of the dead gray-robe person was pulled off when he hit the ground.
Jin would definitely recognize their face for a mage of this level, but this was the first time he saw them.
He couldn't tell if they were disguised by Bubare or a mage who had been active in the shadows.
The sphere of the reversed sky was rotating faster and faster. The mage who had casted the ice sword vomiting blood, and the other two began to restore their protective shield.
They were about to fall into mana backflow.
It seemed like the fight could end easily. While the gray-robes were great mages, they were unfamiliar with fighting against magic swordsmen like most people in the world.
Even top-tier martial artists found it impossible to control distance in close combat with Jin.
Moreover, mages had limited options when facing Jin. Without the reversed sky, they might have been able to create distance through other magic, but they couldn't find an opportunity to cast different spells while maintaining their protective shields.
The living golems continued to obstruct Jin, but each time they got close, they were swept away like fallen leaves.
"Ugh, damn!"
The remaining two gray-robes were also succumbing to mana backflow. When mana backflow started, even Jin's combat capabilities would dramatically decline, let alone the gray-robes.
"Why are you panicking so much? Did you think you could attack the Sword Emperor Castle with this much? I thought you came prepared to face death."
The reason the Sword Emperor Castle fell into chaos after this attack was mainly because it was a 'terrorist attack.'
The gray robes, the gigantic monsters, and the living golems were not weak and they could deal a catastrophic blow to a small or medium-sized country with them alone.
However, facing the Sword Emperor Castle in formal battle, especially one with Ron Hairan, was an impossible task.
If it weren't for the fact that it's a terrorist attack but a head-on attack, they would have been killed by Ron's sword before they even got close to the Sword Emperor Castle. They would have turned into corpses by the hands of Hairan's knights without Ron even needing to appear.
Even without considering Vermont as their backer, Hairan is one of the world's most powerful clans.
Shaaak!
As Sigmund traced its trajectory, another gray-robe's right arm was severed. The blade missed his head only because of the protective shield, but the fact that he was going to die was unchangeable.
Jin became increasingly relaxed, while the mages were endlessly caught in a dire situation.
Furthermore, the reversed sky's mana had now reached its peak.
Wrinkles forming in the hands of the mages were visible through the gray robes.
It was a common occurrence when someone tried to forcefully stop the backflow, and if it continued for a while, their bodies would shrivel up, and blood would pour from every hole in their bodies.
The faces of Veradin's guards turned pale as they watched this from behind.
They somehow felt distant that their lord had to compete against such a person.
While it seemed there was some sort of friendship between their lord and Jin, both of them were ultimately arch-nemesis.
Jin could deal with the mages, and he might suddenly change his mind in this situation and thrust his sword into their lord's neck without hesitation.
In fact, from the standpoint of the guards, it was more beneficial for Jin to kill Veradin and themselves.
Though he had come under Ron's special orders to save Veradin, Jin didn't necessarily have to fulfill it. There were no witnesses, after all.
If it had been another Runcandel, there would have been no one to save Veradin.
As if reading those thoughts, Veradin made eye contact with his guards.
"Jin isn't that kind of guy. Relax and wait."
Pzzzzz-!
Now, the gray-robes screamed every time lightning struck.
They couldn't withstand the shock even if the lightning hit their protective shields.
There is no need to use the Plutonian Swordsmanship or Battle God techniques, Jin was driving the gray-robes to their deaths with just his swordsmanship and magic.
Their breaths became rough, and it seemed like they would fall over any moment.
Jin looked at their tattered protective shields with a cold gaze.
It was time to end this.
However, just as Jin took a step to finish off the gray-robes, he hesitated and turned around.
Suddenly, a powerful and familiar aura was spreading from behind.
Kururur...
In an instant, the area was illuminated with a bright light.
When Jin turned around to see, he saw the Sword Emperor Castle covered by thousands of thunderbolts. It wasn't like the tsunami of thunderbolts that Jin had caused in Runcandel, but it was on a scale that couldn't be explained even by the 10-star lightning-type magic.
What was more surprising was that this thunderstorm wasn't produced by magic spell.
'The power of my brethren...!?'
The power of Plutonians, the most powerful fighting race in history.
The thunderstorm raging over the Sword Emperor Castle clearly resembled that power.
Slightly different but so similar that even Jin could have been mistaken.
Jin is suddenly reminded of the Plutonian-type living golems.
'Does it mean Cold Joe completes the living golems? Even if it's complete, I thought they sent other failed living golems to hide that Kinzelo is behind all of this...!'
Kii, Kiii, Kiii!
Amidst the sudden change in the situation, Jin heard an unpleasant laughter. It was the laughter of the dying gray-robes.
"Monsters like you have always made what we've devoted our lives to seem insignificant..."
"That's why we decided to become monsters ourselves. You, born a monster, will never understand the desperate choices we've made until you die."
The mages were pulling off the gray robes that had covered their bodies, revealing their bare chests. Jin involuntarily swallowed a dry gulp when he saw what was embedded in their chests. It was a jewel similar to 'illuminating heart.'
"You hope this power belongs entirely to you, Runcandel's 12th flagbearer."
"A new world is opening up. There will be no place for you there!"
Jin clenched his teeth as the jewel embedded in the mages' chests began to shine.
It wasn't because of the unexpected strength of 'lightning' that mages were releasing. Jin felt extremely uncomfortable.
The same unbearable discomfort that Jin had felt when he encountered the unfinished Plutonian-type living golems in Oterium.
Jin's expression twisted with anger.
"Ha."
Regardless of how similar the jewels in the mages' chests were to the illuminating heart, no matter how powerful the lightning energy might be, the power they possessed was ultimately stolen and, in itself, a fake that insulted his brethren.
"You scumbags... You have crossed a line far beyond the limit."
As if it wasn't worth watching anymore, Jin rushed forward and swung Sigmund.
Clang!
The mages had shown vastly different physical abilities from when they were wearing their gray robes, and they used their fists to deflect Sigmund.
The mages become confident while thinking they could defeat Jin. But in the next moment...
Crunch!
Jin also grabbed the head of the mage in front of him with his bare hand.
The mage's head was completely smashed and scattered in all directions as he clenched his fist.