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'Is that the battleship of Kinzelo that withstood the Sword Emperor's sword? Was its name Grenil?'
Hedo belatedly checked the battleship, and he felt a surge of irritation. Thick veins wriggled fiercely over his rugged muscles.
Since entering the transcendent domain as a martial artist.
Hedo had never experienced such a frustrating situation. His skill always simplified complex matters.
But now, it was the opposite. What should have been a simple task of saving Jin and Murakan had become tangled and complicated like a twisted rope.
Nothing went as planned.
The vault was suddenly breached, and even when he was trying to save Jin, he continued to resist with his oddly spiteful tongue. It turned out Yona was the one who opened the vault, and he received a serious injury from her sword. Sandra, more impatient than usual, shattered the ceiling on her own, and now even Kinzelo's battleship was causing trouble.
Even the timing of Grenil's appearance seemed absurdly coincidental.
'If things continue like this, it will look like I requested support from the main house not because of the Runcandels, but solely because of Kinzelo.'
Haa, Hedo sighed and swept his white hair neatly. Suddenly, he thought that maybe this situation might be less troublesome in various ways.
'Well, it might have been more of a headache to explain to the patriarch that the reason I asked for support was because I couldn't handle these intruders. So it is better.'
Hedo, considering everything from his perspective, glanced at the hundreds of black dots in the dark dawn sky behind the Runcandels.
They were dragons of the Drakka, flying towards them with mages on board. Among them, the one that stood out most was the flagship Kozec, with Octavia probably on board as commander. If Kelliark had not been absent, it would have been him instead of Octavia.
A request for support from Hedo meant that such a situation had occurred. Something has happened that even he cannot handle alone, so the clan needs to be on guard.
'Ridiculous. Is it time to shed the shells of arrogance and conceit once again?'
Pfft, Hedo let out a laugh and shook his head.
He found it amusing that he, who considered himself strong, had dealt with the situation so negligently. Chiron Runcandel, the strongest being that even he could not match, would certainly not have let down his guard even in this situation.
"Huh? What's that, Grenil?Are they firing cannons at our fleet?" Sandra said.
Boom, boom...!
Cannons were firing from all directions of Grenil. The anchored mass-produced battleships began to be ruthlessly destroyed.
The majestic flames swept away the darkness as if the gods were playing with fireworks, and the fragments pouring down looked like a meteor shower.
If the public witnessed this, they would probably think that Zipfel was collapsing. It was only natural to think that considering the astronomical investment in creating such a fleet.
However, the Runcandels swallowed their dry saliva and were captivated by the unpleasant intuition that even this horrific blow to Zipfel might not be enough.
Only after participating in this mission did the Runcandels truly experience the dominance of Zipfel, the greatest in the world.
"Hedo! If we do this, it increases the chance of saving Jin! The main house will surely think that you requested support not because of the Runcandels but because of Grenil. Right? Honestly, it's absurd for you to request support from the main house for intruders of this level."
Whether she was right or not, Sandra's voice was cheerful. That fact made the Runcandels more frustrated.
"So, let's save them all, open the way! If you don't move quickly, I'll tear your mouth apart into a cross, you incompetent muscle pig!"
As Sandra shouted again, Hedo made eye contact with Jin again.
'Truly, heaven favors Jin Runcandel.'
Hedo came to a conclusion, and Jin peered into his thoughts.
Jin intuitively read the look in his eyes at the moment when he decided to discard arrogance, shed conceit, and step into a higher domain of martial arts, thinking about Chiron.
It was a look that only someone with that level of determination could understand.
'Is it mean you are going to become stronger next time we meet? Is that possible, Tower Keeper!'
Chilling, shivers ran down his spine.
He had to be prepared. Before that monster achieved another transcendence, he and the Runcandel had to achieve growth even more dazzling than that.
Ching-!
Suddenly, the longsword Bale made a sharp metallic sound and was colored with bright white light. Hedo swung his sword in the blink of an eye, and the Runcandels barely reacted, taking a defensive stance.
However, the wave of the sword energy did not touch the Runcandels, but spread out behind them and towards the upper part of the magic tower.
"Oh, no!"
"Hedo, oh, oh... no... no...!"
His sword aimed at the Spectres who were panting and draped in various places in the Tower of the White Night.
If light moves like waves, it would look like this.
Due to the sword energy spread by Hedo, the Spectres disintegrated like coarse salt and scattering out of the cracks that opened up throughout the Magic Tower, disappearing.
The screams that Spectres let out in their final moments disappeared like weak echoes.
At this moment, the Runcandels were once again shocked.
It wasn't surprising that he had killed the four Spectres, but the sword technique he just displayed was evidence that Hedo had never revealed his full power until now.
Moreover, his sword completely 'disintegrated' the target, resembling the level of mastery that Chiron had achieved.
"Leave, Runcandels."
In the midst of the eerie silence, Hedo finally spoke.
The Bale held in his hand still emitted a dazzling light.
[Hey, Physical beauty. If you're going to open the way, how about putting down the sword and talking about it? Huh? It's not like we're going to continue this. Aren't the kids getting startled?]
"I am saying this because I do not believe that the courage of the Runcandels who opposed me so much until now is a lie, Lord Murakan. If you are offended, let me apologize."
[Well, you don't have to go that far.]
Murakan transformed into a human and stood next to Jin.
"Keep that sword safe. It seems to have a connection with me. Let's go, kid."
As Jin removed the blade from Sandra's neck, the rest of the group exchanged glances and followed behind.
Passing by Hedo without showing his back was almost like an act of suicide, but Jin didn't look him in the eyes and moved forward.
Jin had no fear that Hedo would swing the sword from behind.
It was a matter beyond doubt that he was not a man to be taken lightly.
"If heaven favors you."
Hedo spoke in a low and deep voice as Jin passed by him.
"It must be because your father became heaven itself."
It was a story about a coincidence and heavenly luck that worked in Jin's favor in a way that Hedo cannot understand now.
"I'll make sure to tell my father that I learned a thing or two from you."
"Young lady Sandra."
"What again!"
Looking at Sandra who impatiently turned her head, Hedo smiled gently. Then, he carefully adjusted Sandra's disheveled clothes with his huge hands.
"Have a good time."
Hedo was still confident that Jin couldn't escape with Sandra. It was not an easy situation for himself either.
Also, Jin acknowledged that Hedo was not an easy man and passed by the longsword Bale.
Hedo, too, judged that Jin was not someone who would kidnap Sandra and take her to Garden of Swords.
Sandra had only provided tremendous help to the Runcandels, and Hedo was just considering it as her short adventure.
Even if they were an enemy.
Forcing and greedily using Sandra more here would tarnish the kind of trust they shared as martial artists.
"Alright."
"Don't come back with a missing limb in the name of celebrating your meeting like last time. During your playtime, you should consider recovering the items they took."
Sandra chuckled.
"Why take away what I gave? It's not that big of a deal, is it? Is it important to have 'mine' and 'yours' between a couple? I was a little upset when Mr. Jin killed that bastard instead of me last time."
"Is that so?"
"We'll be going, so you take care of the matter over there properly. In my opinion, that is a bigger problem than the vault being raided."
Sandra pointed with her finger to the sky on the other side. The battleship Grenil was literally ramming through the battleships like crazy.
"Yes, understood. See you later."
Paaang-!
In a single leap, Hedo's figure shrank to a point in the blink of an eye. He shot into the sky of the Sota Desert almost as fast as a cannon fire.
The Drakka's dragons were also getting closer to Grenil and the fleet.
As if the fierce battle just fought was a lie, a cool morning breeze swept across the broken White Night Tower.
When Hedo disappeared, the Runcandels breathed as if they had awakened from a nightmare. Undoubtedly, he was the worst and strongest enemy among those the flagbearers had ever faced.
The flagbearers' chests were filled with a fever-like heat. While it couldn't be called brotherhood, the flagbearers accurately read each other's emotions without saying a word.
It was a firm determination and resolution to become stronger.
However, one person, not a flagbearer but a Runcandel, had a different thought. Yona had been enduring backflow and internal injuries since inflicting a severe injury on Hedo.
"Elder sister, are you okay? Backflow...!"
Jin supported her, expressing concern with a worried tone.
"I'm... fine."
"What?"
Yona pointed at Sandra with a trembling finger.
"The youngest, that noisy and troublemaker said she is your lover... Couple? Jin... I will kill her."
She had been indifferent to everything else since a while ago, and Sandra's affection for Jin was so annoying that she wanted to kill her.
Even facing Yona's cold and deep killing intent, Sandra's eyes sparkled.
"Oh, little sister! Can I call you little sister? Look at me, are you okay? You're really close to my Jin, right? I know, I know. Sandra knows everything. Just wait a moment, I'll help you quickly so you won't hurt anymore!"
"Go away... Die..."
"It's not good if you continue to suffer until we leave the Sota Desert, little sister. We still have a long way to go, right? Where was the anesthetic?"
Everyone who saw that scene could not help but be speechless for a moment out of absurdity.
Jin and the Runcandels left the Tower of White Night like that.