While the knights were leaving, Zipfel's fleet distanced itself from the castle.
As Amela predicted, the cannons of the Zipfel fleet, including Kozec, had a far superior range than the defense equipment of the sword emperor castle, so there was no reason not to widen the distance.
If it weren't for Ron, they could have swiftly finished off the Sword Emperor Castle without considering efficiency. However, the situation is different now.
While the knights of Hairan were leaving, the fleet also got a chance to get out of Ron's range even a little bit.
Except for Chiron, Zipfel had never fought against an enemy stronger than Ron.
Most mages aboard the fleet had not experienced Chiron firsthand.
Even the dragons, who had not encountered Chiron, recalled the nightmares from Ron.
It reminded them of Murakan in his prime.
To the dragons, there was no existence more fearsome than Murakan in his prime.
The problem was that the terrifyingly powerful Black Dragon, too, stood by Ron's side with its eyes wide open.
Of course, Murakan had not fully regained his former strength yet, but the dragons, who did not know this fact, found Murakan even more terrifying than Ron.
The wind dragon, 'Salion', took its place next to Kelliark. He was the one who had recently become the guardian dragon of Octavia when she became Melzaire's new contractor.
"It's like seeing one of ten great knights from old Runcandel and Murakan together... huh?"
Salion, who was saying that, tilted his head as if something strange had happened.
It was because he felt puzzled about himself using the word 'ten great knights'.
The other dragons who heard him only felt that Salion mistook the black knight for the name of ten great knights, and did not feel any other sense of discord.
Soon, Salion also forgot that he used the term of ten great knights.
The dragons would not be conscious of it even if someone else were to bring up that name again.
'Certainly, the power of the story seems to have weakened a little....'
Kelliark thought quietly.
'There may be an influence of Ron who is close to the domain of the Genesis knight and has the power to go against the fated... but the biggest problem is likely to be Jin Runcandel.'
Power of existence.
Kelliark was closely examining the power that Jin possessed.
Things were worse than he thought. The fact that Ron woke up, the fact that he became stronger, and the fact that Jin's power of existence is being expressed more greatly because of it.
All of this is beyond Kelliark's expectations. Kelliark felt a great discomfort in these unexpected events.
It was a discomfort derived from a kind of intuition.
It felt as if things were about to go awry... that kind of feeling.
"Octavia."
"Yes, lord patriarch."
"When the battle begins, you and the real Spectres will infiltrate the castle and secure the White Stone."
It was not too long ago that he lost his fleet, some blueprints, and machine in the Sota Desert.
If he didn't get the white stone today, Zipfel would have to go back without any gains even after fighting a knight close to the genesis knight.
"Yes, I will prepare the Demon God's Orb for infiltration."
In order to take the white stone that was already being opened, Demon God's orb was needed.
"It will take some time for the Demon's God's orb to open, so until then, I will fight alongside the patriarch."
"No, I will personally use the Demon God's Orb. You will take measures to ensure that the consequences of the battle within the castle do not affect the White Stone and wait."
"You seem to be concerned about the possibility of Runcandel joining forces with Hairan."
Since Ron had awakened and reached a new domain, there was a possibility that Runcandel would join Hairan from the beginning.
But Kelliark thought it was unlikely that Rosa would make such a judgment. As Ron appeared, Runcandel got a chance to observe more.
"No, the Demon God's orb is necessary even if it is only assumed that I am dealing with Ron Hairan. The current Ron...… No one will be able to defeat him except Chiron."
Octavia widened her eyes in surprise at this statement.
She also had seen Ron's transcendent battle prowess, but she did not recognize the level as perfectly as Kelliark.
Only those who stand on a similar level can know for sure. All of Zipfel's mages, including Octavia, were at a significantly lower level than Ron.
'I didn't expect not bringing Hedo and Kadun to lead to such a painful situation. I didn't want to reveal the power of the Demon God's orb unless it's time to fight Runcandel.'
-I heard that the power of the fire dragon is needed to use the perfect fire.
It reminded him about Jin's provocation earlier. Now he couldn't deny those words.
'It seems like maintaining dignity is not that simple. I understand now how the lower ones who have been facing Jin Runcandel felt until now.'
Octavia nodded her head.
"... Okay. Be careful, lord patriarch."
"You should be careful too. Infiltration won't be easy."
The spectres were gathering towards Octavia. Those thirty gray robes were real spectres on a different level from the resurrected ones.
Kelliark knew what they were worried about without looking at the faces of the dragons mixed between the fleets.
"Murakan has not regained the battle prowess of a thousand years ago. If he had it, there's no way the first battle would have ended like that in the first place, so don't let the dragons make a mistake being possessed by the ghost."
As soon as Kelliark finished speaking, a new and deeper sense of terror entered the dragons' eyes.
It wasn't because it is more fearful than the old Murakan.
Hiiii...…
A faint sound of wind echoed through the fleet from somewhere.
It sounded like the breathing of a monster. As soon as the sound began, Zipfel's dragons trembled and bristled their scales.
It was the sound of the Demon God's orb starting to open.
The replica, which reproduced the 'Orb of Origin', had the power to suppress the dragon with instinctive fear, just as Cuicantelle first experienced when fighting Andrei in the past.
The current Demon God's orb was still unfinished, but it was far more refined compared to back then. The fear felt by the dragons was amplified accordingly.
"Kuh...!"
"Cuicantelle!"
Even Cuicantelle, who was far away from the Demon God's Orb, stumbled as if toppling over. Murakan helped her, but she let out a rough, unsteady breath.
"Those Zipfel bastards have brought the Demon God's Orb... damn, I can't get any strength into my body."
"Don't speak, just take a deep breath. Kid, she can't participate in battle. In this state, she can't even retreat alone. I will evacuate her to the outside of the range of Demon God's orb and come back."
Cuicantelle did not insist on joining the fight. She's upset, but she admits that she's only a burden at this rate.
Among the currently active dragons, the number of beings capable of resisting the energy of the Demon God's orb could be counted on one hand. Among them, only Murakan and Misha are completely immune.
[If Cuicantelle is struggling this much, most of the dragons over there should already be foaming at the mouth and falling. That shining thing... is that a necklace? It seems to be blocking the Demon God's Orb's energy to some extent.]
Murakan said, transforming into his true form and putting Cuicantelle on his back. All the dragons in Zipfel's side were wearing something shiny around their necks.
[It's more like shackles than a necklace. It looks pretty unstable...… Ron, those things seem to fear you more than anything. Seeing that he took out the Demon's God's orb while harming his allies. Everyone fights well until I return.]
Ron felt the energy of the Demon God's orb more deeply than the dragons. The Demon God's orb gave off an aura similar to the chaos of the white stone that he had been fighting within while unconscious.
As Murakan flew towards the rear, most of Zipfel's dragons mistakenly believed that he had left because he feared the power of the Demon God's Orb and felt even more relieved.
"Jin."
"Yes, Sir Ron."
"There will be those who infiltrate the inner castle. Maybe Octavia will take on that role. I will cover the entire battlefield, but there will surely be gaps. You and the Vamel Alliance work together with the Sword saints to stop them. Can I entrust this to you?"
It was no different from Ron leaving his back to Jin.
"It's an honor."
"When the fight is over."
Ron placed his hand on Jin's shoulder and added a parting remark.
"Let's have a drink together with my lovely grandson."
It was an indescribably gentle voice, as if he was talking to Dante.
Jin seemed to feel the warm affection of 'grandfather', something he had never experienced before. It felt like receiving an unexpected gift ahead of an impending war.
Sureng...….
Rashid came out of the scabbard.
"Kelliark! Let's get started."
Ron's calm and low voice resonated throughout the area once again. At the same time, the fire surrounding Zipfel's fleet grew thicker, and the phoenix Beloit let out a roar.
The war had begun again.
The first attack belonged to the Sword Emperor Castle.
Ron directed his sword towards the center of the fleet, at a not-so-fast pace.
However, the trajectory that even ordinary people could easily read contained the state of transcendence he had attained.
His formless sword began attacking the fleet before the action was finished.
The invisible sword energy continued to frantically gnaw through the curtain of fire that Kelliark and Beloit had opened.
And that wasn't all.
The formless swords that passed through the curtain of fire soon became a typhoon and completely covered the entire area of Zipfel's fleet and sword emperor castle.
For allies, it served as a protective shield, for enemies, it was a terrifying gust of bone-chilling wind, slicing through flesh and bone.
In a single blow, Ron completely made the battlefield his own. Ron's words of 'covering the entire battlefield' was not just an expression.
From the start, Beloit was tired of those ignorant invisible sword energies, and Kelliark was wielding the Hroti with his eyes wide open.
Octavia couldn't penetrate Ron's territory, so it seemed like she couldn't even start infiltrating.
Kelliark forced a path through it, firing nonstop spatial explosions into it, but it wasn't easy to squeeze their body through the unstable opening.
As the real spectres spread out the Red Abyss to make room, Kelliark began chanting another legacy of Riol Zipfel.
"Ruyan!"
But Ron wasn't the only one on the battlefield. There was a reason why Ron stopped five sword saints of Hairan from leaving.
The Sword saints were able to display their greatest strength only when Ron was present.
"I allow the use of the Sword of the Overlord. Show the might of the Hairan sword saints to the enemies."