Without the Kozak, the Kinzelos and Zipfels had to fight for their lives.
At the venue, there was a diverse set of people; 7- and 8-star knights, magicians, and even a 9-star grand magician.
If they went all out, the entire island would be blown off the face of the planet. And it wouldn't end there. Where the island stood, a massive whirlpool would be birthed by all of the aura and mana they would cast.
All kinds of natural disasters would occur.
How many people would survive the aftermath? Even grand magicians couldn't survive underwater, and even the strongest knights couldn't swim through a massive whirlpool.
On the off chance that someone did survive—hypothetically, a dragon—it would still be a lose-lose situation. There would be no way that the Runcandel Clan and Vermont Empire would let the incident slide under the rug.
The Zipfel Clan and Kinzelo Group had to hide their alliance as well as the existence of the Compass. Additionally, if the Compass were to break or get lost, the Kinzelo Group would face an immense loss.
If Jin and his crew's identity got out, then they'd lose their hideout in Tikan. Essentially, they'd become nomads for the rest of their lives since they lost the only safest place in the lands.
'I thought he was bluffing and stalling for time when he wanted to kill all of us, but he was actually checking for the Kozak…?!'
Kal felt like he got backstabbed.
'Now that I think about it, he's wearing a magic helm. It has to be the one that the Midnight Sun Magicians talked about at Kollon. I recall that, along with Talaris and her daughter, a figure wearing a helmet was also present. Damn it. How could I be so forgetful?!'
Midor Elner, his other brother, said the same thing.
That the one who killed Myuron Zipfel wore a helmet.
There was no point regretting it now. Knowing of it ahead of time wouldn't change his fate either.
'Why did he go to the Kollon Ruins in the first place? Did he know about the divine artifact? What's his affiliation with the Master of the Hidden Palace? Wait, maybe this guy is the one who destroyed the Palace instead of Talaris? What kind of grievances does he have with the Zipfels? How does he know about the divine artifact and the Compass? How does he just see through our secrets?'
Hundreds of questions ran through Kal's mind.
Pzzzt!
More lightning wrapped around Sigmund. Jin planned to have full control over the lightning while fighting.
'I should lead them on and then make my escape soon.'
The ultimate goal was to kill Chukon and Kal together with all of their subordinates within the building.
However, that was impossible. With his remaining strength, penetrating Chukon's Polarized Field was challenging. Not only that, they'd probably go all out, which would undoubtedly lead to mutual destruction.
Then what kind of result should he try to induce? Jin managed to arrive upon a conclusion before he lowered his sword.
'I need to make Kal unable to fight, and have the Kinzelos take him hostage. If I were Chukon, I would immediately turn to Kal once I leave.'
The Zipfel Clan and Kinzelo Group didn't want to fight each other. Their true intentions hadn't broken the surface of the water, but the Kinzelos definitely had the potential to become a superpower.
However, they didn't get their Compass back and instead suffered many casualties. Therefore, they would hold Kal hostage and request something from the Zipfels as a last resort to reap some benefits.
There'd be no reason not to.
Of course, breeding hate between the two groups was good on Jin's end as well.
'Interesting. Chukon Tolderer, you will soon realize my true intentions. And you will blindly follow my prediction. Well, if you're not stupid, that is.'
Flash!
Lightning began to fall from the sky. Simultaneously, Chukon stomped his staff to the ground and formed a huge barrier, and the rest of the Kinzelo warriors huddled under the magic umbrella.
However, the strikes ignored the barrier and concentrated its attacks on Kal and his team.
"Erk! Don't underestimate us, bitch!"
"You keep changing my nickname. Is it a habit?"
Five guardian knights remained on the side of the Zipfels, the veterans among veterans. They got used to the attacks a bit, so they didn't look too beat up.
The magicians used barriers or predicted where the strike would hit. Some even deflected the strikes using their swords.
Chukon and his subordinates were tapped under the barrier, observing the massacre.
"Sir Chukon! What are you doing?!"
Kal screamed, and Chukon shook his head. With disappointment written on his face, their alliance ended, and the feeling of betrayal soon arose.
Clang!
Kal's knights tried to fend off Sigmund. The magicians, Kal included, couldn't help but single cast as they were busy saving themselves from the unending lightning.
They were scared that Chukon might strike should they start multicasting. Apart from Kal, the other magicians were struggling to set up a new barrier over and over again.
"Sir Kal! Please escape. We will do our best to protect you!"
"Shut up! Wasn't his crew on the first floor? The magicians there haven't come here yet. Sir Chukon, we must fight together!"
Chukon did not respond.
Instead of laughing at Kal, he concentrated on determining Jin's strength.
'I've been confused since this is a very foreign combat style, but his aura is below 8-star, or at least in the early 8-star. His actual swordsmanship, on the other hand, is around 8-star.'
In that case, even if Kal weakened Jin, Chukon couldn't do anything. Conversely, Chukon thought that Kal could take down Jin on his own.
'I'm sure he has the ability to injure him. I'm just afraid of him alerting the Towers.'
As a Pillar, he had runes carved into his staff. If the runes were activated, reinforcements from the Fourth Tower would arrive, and the Runcandels and Vermonts would smell their way into the mess.
That would be a disaster for the Kinzelo Group and Zipfel Clan.
No matter the scenario, Kal had to prioritize his life.
'Might be a little rude, but I'm gonna have to start helping…'
* * *
The moment such thoughts appeared within Chukon, the lightning stopped. The knights took their chance and charged towards Jin. Kal began to cast his first offensive spell.
And Jin unleashed another one of his skills from Illustrious Bladeworks.
'Standard, Suppress.'
Sigmund tugged the swords of the five knights.
It hadn't even been a minute of Standard Bolt, yet Jin presented them with a new nightmare.
"Kurk!"
Two knights who were surprised by the sudden pull immediately lost their heads. The remaining three instinctively backed off, and Jin jumped towards Kal.
"Die!"
Kal swung his staff and screamed, a flurry of icicles flying from the tip of his staff.
Kzzzt!
Sigmund cut through the edge of the staff. The flurry of ice continued, but Jin didn't even try to dodge them. He faced them head-on with Myulta's Rune and the Black Light Cuirass. All of his clothes ripped, and he took cuts to his arms, but nothing reached his bones.
Drip, drip…
From his arms and shoulders, flesh and blood dropped to the floor.
If it weren't for his armor, he wouldn't have survived.
"Are you startled? I can't go easy, since you are a Pillar."
Crack!
Jin stomped on the little wooden chip that had been cut off from the staff. The runes on the chip were destroyed as a result, and Kal turned pale.
It wasn't that he couldn't use his staff anymore, but he lost his last guarantee of safety.
"Don't be too sad. If you activated it, you'd be putting your entire Tower in danger. I did you a small favor."
At those words, Kal and Chukon felt a chill up their spines.
Not due to their impending defeat, but due to Jin seeing through all of their back-up plans.
Goosebumps ran across Chukon's nape.
As if Jin had been staring through Kal's mind the entire time, he targeted the staff's rune.
Jin shook off the icicles on his arm and turned towards Chukon. He still had some business with him.
'The cuts are rather deep. I should wrap up and get out.'
The injuries weren't severe, but since his arm became a little numb from it, he couldn't use his sword to its full extent.
Kal did not expect the emergency rune to be destroyed. However, since the very beginning, 'Icicle Blizzard' was meant to be a hoax.
He had been preparing another spell.
Fwoosh!
Blue fire emerged from Kal's eyes.
The Zipfels' vision spell, Gaze of Azure Flame. Just by looking at the target, he could start an inextinguishable flame.
The very same spell that Myuron Zipfel used in the Kollon Ruins.
'Burn in hell.'
Kal mouthed those words with hatred towards Jin. He wanted to witness Jin die in pain and agony as he burned to his death.
However, his smug smirk disappeared not even a second later.
Cawww!
The Lord of the Fire Dimension, owner of the blue flame.
Tess had been summoned.
"T-Tess…!"
Chukon's jaw dropped. On top of the strange lightning abilities and insane endurance, the unknown warrior could also summon Tess. He knew that the opponent was a magic swordsman, but after Photon Cannon was used, he had completely forgotten about it.
Assuming that his magic was 'okay'.
Jin's aura was depleted, and despite his bloody arms, he was still full of spiritual energy and mana.
"Ha…"
Kal let out a sigh of forfeit as the blue flames on Jin were extinguished instantly.
Even Midor Elner wouldn't have known that Jin's phoenix was Tess. Since the sole witness of Tess, Myuron, died before anyone else could arrive at the scene.
"What… the hell… are you?"
Kal's exhaustion was evident in his voice. He still had enough mana for a battle, but he didn't have the determination to go on.
He predicted his loss. No matter what he did at that point, he would face defeat. No matter how incredible his magic was, no matter how much mana he had left, all he could see was defeat.
"No idea. There's nothing for you to know about me, but I got something else to tell you."
Jin's eyes flicked to the man behind him.
"Watch your back, Kal."
Fwooom!
A mana beam shot through Kal's shoulder.