The sky was filled with the bluest of hues.
A deafening sound and a blinding light. Below, a hoard of monsters that could no longer be called human.
Living Golem test subjects numbering 813.
They finished their transformations, and their bodies were wrapped with lightning. Just like a member of the Illustrious Legend tribe using the Heart of Light.
Each time the light got brighter, the lightning spread further throughout the sky.
The light of the golems looked impressive, but it wasn't as bad as Mertual's worries.
The form merely looked similar. There were vast differences in the power it had.
'Well, Murakan wouldn't have a problem with that.'
Jin came to check because he was worried about the golems overwhelming Murakan. Mertual mentioned that they could definitely overtake anything, and those words weren't completely wrong.
Some eight hundred golems with three 9-star magicians, an entire army of dark magicians, and two wolf tribes.
Maybe fleeing was a better option, even for the greatest dragon or warrior.
But Mertual didn't know Murakan's ability, and didn't know the true strength of an Illustrious Legend.
'To make these innocent citizens into monsters and insult my brethren? You motherfuckers…'
Pzzzt—
Jin drew Sigmund.
The Dark Magic Association.
They would disappear from the face of the planet today.
"Murakan!"
Jin shouted his name.
Under the bright blue sky, a black spiral appeared, signaling Murakan's arrival.
All of the non-golems looked at Jin.
"Him! Why is he here?!"
The Grand Magician of Anz, Chukon Tolderer, began to panic. He realized the moment he saw Myulta's Rune, while the others looked confused.
"Sir Chukon, do you know him?"
An anorexic man with a bony facial structure… Cold Joe.
"That's the one who intercepted the compass in the Bellard Empire! Be careful, the lightning he wields is incomparable to the golems' lightning."
Before Joe and Susan could reply, Murakan announced his question.
[Ready?]
A question regarding the location of the citizens and the evidence to show the holy kingdom.
Jin nodded.
[No need to play along. What shall we do?]
"Kill all of the golems and immobilize the 9-star magicians for capture."
[That's a bit restrictive. Can't I just kill them all?]
"Then just capture Joe."
Murakan smiled.
[Alright. That's not too hard.]
"They're beyond crazy. Do you bastards think you're Cyron or Kelliark?"
Thud!
Joe slammed his staff onto the ground.
With the castle destroyed, laboratory locked, and ego destroyed by some teenager, Joe's blood began to boil.
Susan Lilistar had a similar reaction. She never would've thought that the entire association would fall from one measly dragon and one little warrior.
Only Chukon Tolderer wore a grim expression. He knew how strong Jin was.
However, he still knew that Jin couldn't take on everyone at once.
Even the black dragon in the sky probably couldn't eradicate them all with three 9-star magicians present. He was confident that they would win.
'But why do I feel so scared…?'
Chukon felt a tightening around his chest.
Wooooooom~!
Shadows poured from Murakan's wings as he flapped them. It swallowed the lightning whole.
"Wow, truly a dragon of shadows. We'll see how high and mighty you are after we defeat you! Beastmen, get him!"
Joe shouted to the troops, and the beastmen raised their weapons. They proceeded to march toward Jin.
Pzzt!
Lightning began to dance around Jin and Sigmund.
Beastmen with good instincts flinched and backed off, but the others ramped up their march to a charge.
Pillars of light then shone on the ground.
[HAHAHA!]
Murakan released all of his spirit energy.
His eyes turned orange and the entire battlefield turned pitch black.
Excluding Jin, every entity around Murakan couldn't see a thing.
Although it was only for a short time, instantly losing one's vision definitely caused paranoia.
"My… eyes…!"
When their vision returned, the magicians and beastmen touched their faces to check if anything was wrong.
And they thought nothing had actually happened, but then their shadows began to move on their own.
"Ah, hey! What's that?!"
"My shadow!"
The shadows began to fall apart, while some of the people present merged with their shadows.
Seeing such a horrible sight for the first time, they immediately felt fear for what could happen next.
Only about half of them got eaten by their shadows. The other half could do nothing but watch in shock.
[I need to reduce the numbers, you see. It's a bit hard to deal with hundreds of corpses, and I hate stepping on them.]
Here and there, the sounds of explosions were heard.
"Help…!"
"Please…!"
Some of them began to face the effects of the release of spirit energy.
Their bodies began to shatter and fall apart like corroded statues. Each of them faced the same fate as their own shadow.
If the head of their shadow was severed, the shadow's owner was beheaded. If the shadow was bisected, so was the owner.
The number of corpses began to increase, and each time more and more shadows gathered around Murakan.
Joe and Susan realized something was truly wrong. Even after spending dozens of years studying magic, they couldn't process what was happening.
Chukon had been casting a defensive barrier, and Joe began to frantically copy him.
Losing six hundred to one ability was something they would never forget.
And during this time, Jin had already prepared his move.
With Sigmund embedded in the ground, shadows dyed the skies once again.
Illustrious Bladeworks, Fourth Form.
Disintegration.
Lightning bolts fell from the sky, tormenting all those below. The lightning swallowed the ground whole.
The 9-star magicians experienced what true lightning was like.
Krrrrr!
This was the move that the 10-star knight, Vanessa Olsen, barely avoided instinctively.
Normal beastmen wouldn't stand a chance.
A few seconds later, thunder arrived. The rumble shook the ground and vibrated the air, growling for more.
"Get away!"
Joe shouted at the beastmen charging toward Jin.
But it was too late. Countless lightning bolts indiscriminately descended from on high. Every beastman in Jin's vicinity perished.
Joe and Chukon managed to save a few with their barriers.
However, the other beastmen who dodged the attack just stared at the ground. Paralyzed in fear, they couldn't dare to look up at Jin.
Jin drew Bradamante.
The black blade sliced across the throats of the survivors. Heads dropped to the floor like swatted flies.
The eyes of Jin and Joe met.
About five hundred golems survived. Joe ordered the golems to attack Jin, and they charged without fear.
However, incomplete 4- or 5-star golems couldn't do anything, and Joe knew this. He just needed to buy some time.
No matter how many golems he had, no amount could make a dent in this battle. Their power was just beyond his comprehension.
'We should've escaped instead of gathering them here…! Shit!'
But there was no point in regretting it now.
Fwoooosh~!
Jin summoned Tess, burning through all of the peons as he stomped toward Joe.
"It's time for your debt to be collected."
Susan and Chukon were busy dealing with Murakan. Joe helplessly watched the golems fall to the blue flames, one by one. He imagined what Jin meant by 'capture'.
'I must survive. If I survive, the leader will save me…!'