[T.L: punisher87]
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Yona Runcandel.
Jin almost lost his temper as soon as he saw that figure and her ruthless eyes full of chaos and murderous intent.
However, showing any openings even for a moment in front of a being like her was nothing short of suicide.
'Damn it, what did those scumbags do to you, elder sister!'
Jin's love and care for his one and only youngest sister was much deeper and greater than his hatred for Rosa and the Garden of Swords which rose in an instant.
The reason Jin could hold on to his sanity in that moment was because he was solely focused on protecting his sister from feeling guilt and pain.
When his sister regained consciousness, he didn't want her to feel any pain or guilt that he may have caused.
Kang-!
Clang!
Bradamtante's blade quickly blocked Yona's sword.
Yona showed a moment of confusion as if she didn't expect to be blocked so easily, and Dante did not miss that opportunity.
"Jin...!"
However, Dante did not take advantage of Yona's moment of hesitation. He knew better than anyone else what Yona meant to Jin, and he couldn't hurt her carelessly.
Dante missed the opportunity to end the situation as soon as it began, so he didn't know what might happen if he couldn't quickly subdue Yona.
An invasion could begin in another tunnel while Yona buys time, or she could indiscriminately slaughter the people in the city if she managed to escape from the two of them.
In other words, Dante thought of his friend's feelings before the safety of the empire.
As the supreme ruler of the empire, it was a choice he should never have made, but as Dante, he had no choice.
"Thank you, Dante."
"Hmph, how should we proceed? I ask you this question too often, and I'm ashamed of it."
Jin quickly regained his composure.
He felt a stronger anger than ever before, but at the same time, his mind and inner self became even stronger. From now on, if he made even the slightest mistake, he would lose Yona.
'She is in a state of losing her mind due the energy of chaos, and the prophet has probably done something to trick her even more.'
Perhaps because of that, she was duller than the Yona that Jin knew. Although it was more destructive, it was clear that Yona's unique shadow-like movement had faded.
Can she be subdued?
After two more attacks, Jin reached a conclusion.
"Dante, if we both get a little hurt, we can subdue her."
If it was about killing, it would be possible without having to suffer such damage.
For Dante, killing Yona was obviously the right thing to do, and Jin was making an unreasonable request.
"Okay."
But Dante didn't hesitate. If it had been Ron in the tunnel, he would have made the same request to Jin.
"I owe you a lot."
"That's ridiculous. I have a long way to go before I can repay what I have received from you."
Whoa-!
Jin put shadow force on Bradamante.
However, even though such a thick shadow force glowed like fire and aimed at Yona, she did not show any reaction.
'Is it because of her lack of reason? If it's my sister, she would have a strong negative reaction to energy.'
Yona calmly held her own sword against Bradamante which was covered in shadow force.
The sword was also not Yona's sword 'Death'. At first glance, it looked like Death, but it was longer, and above all, it lacked the characteristic eerie feeling.
"Hup!"
Dante, who stepped on the side, exhaled sharply. Yona's blade cut a little of Dante's hair. She had decided to eliminate Dante first.
"I have to be prepared for some serious injuries."
"It seems like there's no major battle going on outside. There's no commotion at all."
"Do you feel that from here?"
"Thanks to experiencing a bit of transcendent sensation. I hope this tunnel was made just for elder sister Yona's infiltration."
Dante could barely concentrate on anything else, as he was solely focused on monitoring Yona.
Even if that wasn't the case, reading the atmosphere outside in this deep underground was a daunting task for him.
"As expected, you have become a monster, my friend."
"I keep experiencing these trials, and I wonder if it's because of that."
As Jin began to seriously constrain her, Yona had to change her plans and deal with Dante first.
The combination of the world's closest to the strongest magic swordsman and the Empire's strongest swordsmanship was a formidable force. Furthermore, the two worked together like twins, so Yona could only launch almost random attacks that were almost like retaliation.
The only problem was that each of her attacks were deadly. Even if they were dulled, they were still deadly, and the darkness of the underground made her even more free.
As soon as they saw her in front of them, a sword came out from behind, and as soon as they thought they had hit her, a thrust from the corner came in again.
Even though Jin and Dante were fighting back to back, it was only Yona who could make a blind spot and dig into it.
[I'm going to kill you... Jin... Runcandel...]
That person couldn't possibly be Yona.
This fact kept gnawing at him, but Jin did not lose her composure.
"You remember the day I first visited nameless. Even then, I was almost killed by my sister with this friend."
[Kill... all...!]
"As I did back then, I will not let you kill me today. I will make sure of that, for your sake."
There were many moments when Jin and Dante could finish Yona together, but the opportunity to subdue her did not come, and the two were getting more and more injured.
After realizing that the two were not even trying to cut her deeply, Yona became more and more daring and risky in her attacks.
"Is everything still okay outside?"
"If the situation gets worse, I will let you know immediately... Wait, Dante."
"Has it started!?"
"No, not that. Did you call me a monster earlier?"
"Suddenly, why?"
Monster. Contrary to the name '... Runcandel', that word was accurately recorded in Valeria's record magic window.
'Why does Valeria's record insist on calling elder sister Yona a monster?'
-But if it's Joshua, is there a reason why the record magic doesn't show his name correctly?
-Well, maybe because he accepted chaos and became a whole new being. Of course I can't be sure, it's just a hunch.
Suddenly, Jin remembered a conversation he had with his comrades before coming to sword emperor castle.
'As I guessed back then, if she became a new entity by accepting chaos, there should have been a blank space. Is there something different between elder sister Yona and …Runcandel?'
Then, maybe it's not Elder Sister Yona.
Jin thought so. Maybe the Prophet made a clone of Yona or something, like Joshua's clone.
'Moreover, judging from the state, she doesn't seem to be under proper control. It's strange that this vast underground space was created for only elder sister Yona. If they had planned to send more people, there would have been chaos outside already. It would be most effective to attack outside when Dante and I were trapped here.'
If the Yona in front of them is not the 'real Yona', then there is no reason to subdue her while enduring wounds. And this Yona had no resemblance to the Yona that knew.
'If it were elder sister Yona, she would have suffered at least once. Even if it was not the prophet but someone like Helluram or Glyek who directly consumed her, at this point, she would have suffered from fighting with me... '
Yona, whom Jin knew, is that kind of person.
Yona is always in danger because of chaos, and she had killed people for no reason for a long time, and because of the chaos, she always made others scared.
But she was a person who overcame that horrible chaos and eventually learned to love Jin, family, and people. She was the one who constantly green rose for Jin, even while hearing a voice telling her to kill humans.
"Dante, go outside."
"Jin, are you thinking of giving up on Lady Yona? Don't do that!"
"I have no intention of doing that. I'm buying time, so go and bring Euria for me."
"Princess Euria?"
"She may not be elder sister Yona. I'll explain it later. I can't face her alone for too long."
It was only natural that the two of them had to prepare for serious injuries if they were to subdue Yona. It's because they were just taking the hits.
"I will be back as soon as possible!"
As soon as Dante turned around, Yona's blade rushed in without a doubt. Jin cut off the vaguely visible sword and blocked Yona.
"I felt like I was going crazy earlier due to a dirty and ominous feeling, but now I feel like something is being relieved, and my head is clearing up. I have a feeling that you're not the real one."
Pik-!
Yona's sword grazed Jin's cheek and passed by.
He still hadn't pierced her weakness.
That was how he fought Yona alone for about ten minutes.
Jin was covered in blood, but his breathing and movement were completely unchanged. Instead, his senses, which had been outside, were now focused on Yona.
"Jin!"
"Jin oppa!"
Dante bit his lip at the sight of Jin covered in blood, but Euria saw that there were no deep wounds and wasn't as shocked.
"What about outside?"
This time, Jin asked Dante.
"It's fine, are you okay!"
"Jin oppa is okay. And that person is..."
Euria concentrated for a moment, activating Azmil's power, her eyes glowing green as she perceived Yona's truth.
"It's not Yona unni!"
"A clone like Joshua?"
"I don't think so, just...a soulless combat doll. That's how it appears to me."
"Are you sure it's not elder sister Yona?"
"Absolutely not."
As Euria confirmed this, Jin's knees gave out and he knelt on one leg on the ground.
Of course, the fake Yona took advantage of this moment and rushed towards Jin, intending to finish him off, and Dante, in horror, shot his sword to protect Jin.
But Yona's sword was faster than Dante's.
However, while kneeling, Jin swung Bradamante, blocking the fake Yona's sword and then sliced off its neck.
"Yes… it seemed so. There was no way elder sister Yona would do this."
The headless fake Yona writhed for a moment before disappearing into thin air.
In its place, a black lump remained.
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