The intense fire spread with more ferocity than ever before.
'I feel filthy.'
The Living Golems engulfed in flames were civilians not long ago. The Illustrious Legend Tribe, his brethren, were being insulted.
Those facts had been making Jin uncomfortable.
"Did you think I wouldn't see through your plan of using them as shields to buy time? As someone with the title of archmage, do you not feel shame? Get over here, Joe! My desire to capture you alive is starting to decrease."
"Stop, stop! I will follow you, so just stop!"
When Joe raised his staff with both hands to show his surrender, Chukon's and Susan's eyes widened.
They were desperately fending off Murakan, but their leader, Joe, suddenly declared his surrender.
Ironically, it was Joe that first provoked Murakan by calling him just a dragon of shadows.
They couldn't believe their ears when Joe's attitude shifted as easily as flipping one's palm.
"Lord Joe, what on earth…? Are you saying you'll surrender?"
In response to Susan's question, Joe actually scolded her.
"Ha! You fool, can you not tell even after seeing the black dragon being idle?! They're opponents we can't handle. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before we're annihilated. Surrendering is our only choice!"
"However…"
"However what! Hurry up and announce your surrender before he changes his mind!"
If one looked at the situation after putting aside their dignity, pride, and respect, then Joe wasn't wrong. Chukon and Susan were also certainly aware that they had no answer to these monsters.
It was a feeling that all three of them hadn't experienced for a long time, ever since they reached the level of 9-star.
"Stop talking nonsense, Lord Joe! What happened to your head? Surrender? Is that really what the so-called leader should be saying? Do you think that devil will save us if we surrender?"
"You fool!"
Chukon suddenly turned his head and shouted.
"Lord Chukon, what did you say just now?"
"What we can't handle is the black dragon, not that brat. If we capture him as a hostage, we can force the black dragon to retreat. There's no guardian dragon that leaves their contractor to die!"
Chukon was the only one among them who had ever met Jin, so when he first appeared, only Chukon felt a strange sense of crisis.
Of course, Jin's skills were incredible for his age. Putting that aside though, he still felt a strong ominous intuition that he would again be pushed back in a 'fight of numbers' like last time and that things would only go as Jin wanted.
When he faced Jin at the island in the Bellard Empire, he thought Jin was just a magic swordsman. He never dreamed that Jin would be related to Solderet or the black dragon.
He had at least 7-star magic, beyond 8-star swordsmanship, that horrifying lightning, and even spiritual energy.
Even being a 9-star mage, Jin was not an opponent Chukon wanted to fight.
'If Lord Joe surrenders now, then we have no hope. We must catch that brat and make a deal with the black dragon…!'
As soon as Chukon realized that Jin was a contractor, his thoughts continued down that line. If they can just catch that fraudulent brat, this fight would end in their victory.
"Lord Joe, don't give up. Just capture him!"
"Lord Chukon is right, Lord Joe. Even though he's impressive, he's still just a newborn monster that's yet to fully grow. If we join forces, no… even Lord Joe alone is enough to subdue him, is that not so?"
When Susan joined in, Joe felt a flash of shame and couldn't say anything in response for a moment.
Because what they said was right in every way.
'What a disgrace. I couldn't think of such a simple way of overcoming this situation and only thought of relying on the leader!'
It wasn't because Joe was stupid.
'As Chukon said, he's dangerous. My body was gripped with fear because of that brat's spirit.'
This was just a shameful incident that only happened because Joe was more reliant on his instinctive fear than Chukon or Susan.
"I lost my composure for a moment. You're right. Regardless of whether the black dragon flies or crawls, he won't be able to do anything if we just catch his contractor."
"We will tie the black dragon up as much as possible. We won't be able to last long, so please capture him quickly."
Keuaah!
Keaaugh!
The screams of Living Golems, beastmen, and mages resounded throughout the entire battlefield.
Because of the surrounding noise, Jin and Murakan couldn't overhear the conversation between the 9-star mages.
However, Jin was able to see that some conversation took place between them, and as a result, Joe's attitude, previously showing the intention to surrender, had once again changed.
Joe's staff became imbued with mana.
Although it was masked by his characteristically nasty, cruel, and ill-tempered personality, he was still an archmage who was renowned as Andrei Zipfel's nemesis for a long time.
"Get out of the way! You useless junk!"
The remaining Living Golems began to scatter to both sides following Joe's orders.
As soon as the path opened, Tess breathed out fire at Joe.
And Joe was performing magic befitting his title of 'Cold'.
Kiriririk!
In the wake of Tess's fire breath, the ground beneath Joe exploded with erupting pillars of ice.
Unlike normal ice magic, this ice was glowing an ominous purple.
Creeek!
It looked like a pillar, but it was a muzzle made of ice.
The muzzle of another golem he created himself.
The gaping muzzle bit into Tess's raging breath, and soon the ground split once more, revealing the true nature of the golem.
Geueuk-!
A size slightly smaller than Murakan.
If there were an elephant with ten tusks and made of purple ice, it would look like this.
What looked like ivory was the muzzle that bit off Tess's fire breath.
It was gnawing Tess's flame breath into pieces, like a beast eating a snake, and then screaming with a nasty, low-pitched tone.
"Huh."
It was difficult to hide his bewilderment as a golem rose up from the ground out of nowhere.
Even Jin had no choice but to hesitate for a moment, as the creature appeared while chewing on Tess's flame.
'What on earth is that? There was something absurd like that beneath the ground?'
Not just Jin but even Murakan looked surprised.
"Poluk, put out Tess's flames and protect me!"
Unlike the 'Master', an unfinished living logical golem that had recently begun to be created by borrowing the leader's wisdom and memories, this golem named Poluk was a finished product.
An ice golem resistant to fire.
To create Poluk, he searched ancient glaciers to find a white elephant, kidnapped young demons, and used the hearts and wings of five phoenixes.
From the time when he had the vain dream of surpassing Andrei and defeating Kelliark, it took nearly twenty years to complete.
In other words, Archmage Cold Joe's magnum opus, his masterpiece.
It was the reason why even though Chukon and Susan were also 9-star mages like Joe, they still viewed him as one step above them.
As soon as Poluk appeared, the blue flames that spread across the battlefield began to fade away.
At the same time, Joe was multicasting his self-created exclusive magic, 'Cold Limit'.
Purple ice fragments spread out from his staff and instantly surrounded Jin.
It was as if hundreds of archers were aiming to pierce Jin's entire body.
'I guess he wasn't Anderi Zipfel's rival for nothing.'
Jin calmly took his stance and prepared to strike the ice.
He then looked in the direction where Chukon and Susan were, in a way that Joe wouldn't notice.
It'd be too risky to face such a monster alone if the flames of Tess didn't work.
Moreover, while Joe had been able to conserve most of his mana by using the golem as a shield, Jin was under a much greater physical burden due to the use of the divine energy and the summoning of Tess.
'He doesn't have that title for nothing. His defense is incredible.'
Two 9-star mages, one of whom had a reputation as a master of defense. Even Murakan, who had regained 40% of his strength, could not easily break through the shield.
This was also because Murakan could not attack with all his might on the side where Jin was.
'I'll have to wait until Murakan clears them out. I don't know much about Joe's exclusive magic.'
The moment Jin decided it was time to fight more strategically…
[Tsk, even if you're crazy, this is too much. He probably did this because he didn't know what he was doing, but this bastard…]
Murakan shook his head with his eyes wide open.
Everyone on the battlefield was closely listening to the majestic voice that was characteristic of dragons.
[You brought out a golem that was made using phoenix bodies in front of the master of the fire dimension? It's the same with trying to bring back the Illustrious Legend Tribe, but you guys have a real knack for bringing about disaster…]
Swoop!
Murakan stopped attacking and descended toward Jin.
He transformed into his human form and used spiritual energy to spread a protective shield, surrounding himself and Jin.
'They've royally pissed Tess off. It's a situation where you shouldn't be hasty to stop her, and from now on, she'll ignore the contract and forcibly use all your power. No matter how much she cares for you, this is something she can't hold back on.'
It was a very quiet voice.
"Huh?"
Thump.
Jin stumbled, falling to one knee. As soon as Murakan's explanation was finished, he felt all his strength leaving his body.
'Since she cares for you so much, she won't use your lifespan but… well, she probably won't? She won't. Shit, I'll give you a better explanation later.'
Jin's eyes slowly closed. A huge wave of drowsiness that he couldn't shake off was consuming Jin's entire body.
Murakan pinched his forehead in annoyance.
In the next moment, Tess roared and the surrounding area turned into a blue hell.
Keahak—!
The blue fire was spreading at exactly the same speed as the sound of the roar.
It took less than thirty seconds for the hundreds of remaining Living Golems to completely turn to ash and disappear. The beastmen and the mid- and low-rank mages also met the same fate.
The entire Dark Magic Association perished, leaving behind the three 9-star mages.
"Wh-What on earth is this?"
Joe, who barely escaped the fire, ran toward Chukon's shield. He glanced over his shoulder, and…
He saw Poluk, his masterpiece, being consumed by the flames of Tess.
Rather than catching fire or being bathed in flames, it was literally being 'eaten'.
Just like the first time Poluk chewed and swallowed Tess's fire breath.
Joe, Chukon, and Susan were terror-struck and had no choice but to step back.
They knew that Tess was one of the greatest phoenixes, but this was a phenomenon that they could not explain with their knowledge.
On the other hand, Murakan was relieved as he watched this scene unfold.
'You were able to control that temper of yours. I was wondering what I would do if you took the kid's lifespan and completely destroyed this area, but you were quite rational, weren't you?'
Poluk disappeared without a trace. Not even a single footprint was left behind. The only remnant was scattered blue ash.
Naturally, Tess seemed as though she wasn't satisfied with just the golem and targeted the 9-star mages. Murakan was worried Tess wouldn't be able to control her anger and would cause an incident.
"Well, wouldn't it be better if you turned back now? Look here, the kid passed out. At this rate, things could get bad. I'll make sure those bastards suffer, so take a deep breath and… Hm? Hang on, what's that...?"
The place Murakan pointed to was the collapsed outer wall.
A ghostly, pale, human-like figure was on the remains of the outer wall.
"Before you go, could you check out what that is? Or do you know what it is? It feels strangely unpleasant."
...…
"Huh? You don't know what it is, you're going to go, and you're leaving the kid to me now? Fine, fine, I get it. Good choice, so trust me and go back."