[T.L: punisher87]
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Vamel alliance, Garden of Swords, Zipfel, and Kinzelo.
Jin never expected to enter the sixth tomb of Temar with all of them.
It all started with the possibility of encountering the living old Runcandel and the Sword's flight, leading up to the current situation.
This tomb opening was surpassing all expectations from beginning to end.
Whoa...…!
The shadow force that continued to escape from the sword was creating a huge whirlpool. Although it is covered by black sea water, something like a building or some kind of device has arisen every second on the seabed.
A crumbling fortress, a broken spire, and mysterious devices that looked like defensive equipment. The subspace that the sword had been holding was not normal and it looked like it had already been destroyed several times.
However, an unknown sense of crisis was making Jin's neck feel cold.
'Is it because of the guardian?'
Except for when he met Luet Damiro Yul, the "unremembered" living Runcandel figure, Jin had always been in danger whenever he opened a tomb.
Even this time, his whole body was sending danger signals. The source of the signal was not from the pursuit team sent from the Garden of the Swords but rather from the ocean.
'I have recovered the shadow force used to open the tomb, so there shouldn't be any problems before the battle.'
He decided to exclude the assumption that the Guardian would be able to discern friend from foe.
They would likely attack indiscriminately, and it would be best to use that to their advantage to prioritize eliminating their enemies.
'The problem lies with the Zipfel and Kinzelo factions. How much protection should we offer them….'
Thinking up to that point, Jin raised his head.
'They're not children. I don't need to worry about them.'
If they thought it was an important issue, they would have sent the right people for it. If it was a temporary alliance thing, Jin would have asked for support in advance, but this is more of a personal matter for Jin.
In other words, they were people who meddled in personal affairs, so there was no need to go out of his way to protect them, even if they wouldn't harm him.
'Anyway, I can feel the energy of Bianca Kaligo and Ranke Halovice from Kinzelo's side, so even if Zephyrin is powerless, they will protect them on their own. Since Kadun is undergoing treatment for Zipfel, Octavia or Ronil must have come, but they're not at a level where they can't take care of themselves.'
The Garden of Swords, Zipfel, Kinzelo's battleship and dragons were getting closer. Jin fired a light speed thrust in the direction of the Chaos Dragon and the black ship.
As the light-speed thrust, which was filled with killing intent, surged, the Chaos Dragon and Black ship rushing towards him left behind remnants of chaos as they perished.
In the midst of the scene of a myth where the sea seemed to create a different world, the glorious aura emitted by each faction's troops, and a single sword thrust at the center of it all.
Among all that, the guardian finally revealed itself from the depths of the ocean.
No, the guardians.
"My lord, there are giant creatures in the depths of the ocean...!"
Jin looked down.
Red eyes like distant wildfires were looking down at the invaders.
Giant bodies like castles, shields and spears befitting their stature. The giants, who had taken on the form of humans, seemed to have been sculpted from hard rocks that Jin couldn't even cut through easily.
Except for Jin and Hedo, the rest of the group was stiff with awe-inspiring pressure.
It wasn't just one or two.
At a glance, there were over a hundred giants preparing to slaughter the invaders.
Moreover, the number was increasing in real-time. It wasn't like buildings or underground places where they would emerge, they were forming in the air shortly after their outline became visible.
[Those are... cemetery giants?]
Cuicantelle said with a sigh.
Cemetery giant. It is an ancient weapon that almost endangered the youngest division when Jin was a cadet in the past.
At the time, it was Bubare Gaston's work that threatened the youngest division, and Murakan destroyed it at once.
'At that time, Murakan had barely regained his strength. Even if it was one of those things, it would have been impossible to subdue it. Does it make a difference because it is not Bubare's work, but the original?'
But it didn't seem like that was the reason from Cuicantelle's mood.
"Miss Cuicantelle, do you know about those things?" Valkas asked.
[I know them well, we dragons killed all the remaining cemetery giants 2,000 years ago. It was a war in which Murakan and I participated. But, the cemetery giants now are of a different kind than what we destroyed.]
-Well, God of Sculpture? I've never heard of that name before.
-It's natural that you don't know. Like Kullam, whom we met in Colon, he is one of the gods who have disappeared from history. Well has been in the graves of the dead gods.
A conversation with Murakan about the cemetery giant in the past.
As the dragons know, the cemetery giant is a weapon created by 'Well', the god of sculpture. They were made to protect the tombs of the forgotten gods and himself who had been degenerated into ordinary humans.
Cuicantelle expression twisted.
[A little while ago, Arya said that this tomb doesn't seem to be a Solderet subspace, right?]
"Yes, the name of the Solderet is not displayed in the record window."
[Apparently, this is a tomb of a dead god, not Temar's. It must be different from the tomb that we dragons dealt with.]
"Then, it was originally the tomb of a dead god, but it could have been used as Temar's tomb for a while in the process of moving his tomb."
[Perhaps... Ugh!]
Suddenly, Cuicantelle shook her head in agony. Just as Murakan responds to his manipulated and forgotten memories.
[The ten great knights who were supposed to protect this place... he was a figure related to the dead god who was originally the owner of this tomb...!]
It was impossible to recall any more memories. Cuicantelle regained his composure and breathed heavily.
"We can meet him and ask. What are the stories about this tomb?"
"The fact that Miss Cuicantelle's memories are starting to come back is proof that there is an old Runcandel alive inside, Jin."
Jin nodded at Valeria's words.
"This is a great harvest, Tower Keeper. I have a request."
"You have no boundaries to being shameless. It gets worse and worse, are you asking me a favor in this situation?"
"I will take care of all the cemetery giants myself. So don't just watch over Sandra, take care of my comrades as well."
"No, I will leave as soon as I find my sword."
Jin shakes his head apologetically.
"If that is possible, do it. But I can read the shadow force, and that sword is now firmly fixed so that no one can pull it out."
Jin pointed to the sword and said. It wasn't a lie.
Jin was convinced that even if he used all of his shadow force again, he would never be able to pull out Hedo's sword stuck in the seabed again.
Moreover, the sword was not in the shape of the long sword that Hedo used to know.
"My... sword, what kind of bizarre shape is that!"
"Perhaps that is the true nature of your sword."
Valeria shrugged and answered in place of Jin.
It would be appropriate to describe the sword as having horns on it.
Hedo, who had heightened his sense of sight, gritted his teeth while looking at the small blades that rose on both sides of the sword.
"12th flagbearer!"
Finally, Hedo exploded and screamed.
He had experienced situations where things worsened to this extent at the drop of a hat in the past, but this was the first time since he met Sandra.
There had never been a situation where Hedo could not control even if Sandra did something crazy.
It was impossible for Hedo to give up the sword and escape.
Even if he minimally grasped it, the size of the shadow force space formed in the sea was 4km. He couldn't run away by running because it was in the middle of the sea, and above all, the layers of shadow force barriers were a problem.
The barriers would not disappear unless they swallowed all intruders.
Some of the members of the Garden of Swords and Zipfel were already being sucked into the barrier and leaving behind the screams of despair.
There was no need to imagine what had become of those who were absorbed by the barrier. Flesh, swords, and debris like staff were pouring out on the opposite side where they were caught.
This place was already hell.
"I sincerely apologize. Since the situation has become like this, I can only suggest the best direction. After this job is done, I will definitely apologize and compensate."
Although he wanted to apologize more sincerely, Jin had to cut it short because the cemetery giants started to move.
"Miss Cuicantelle, Sir Valkas, Tower Keeper. Please take care of our comrades. Let's handle this as quickly as possible."
"Hey, Hedo! He's trying to go alone to those monsters, so you throw yourself in and help too!"
"Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh!"
While Hedo struggled to keep his sanity and made strange noises, Valeria grabbed Jin's shoulder.
"I'm going down too, Jin Runcandel."
"What!? Why you!?"
Of course, it was Sandra's reaction, not Jin's.
Other comrades were also puzzled. It's hard to understand why Valeria participates in a fight that even Valkas can't participate in.
But Jin accepted her words without even thinking.
"Thank you for helping."
Maybe in a past life, but the present Valeria is not the kind of person who run towards death because she was worried about Jin
Therefore, her decision to step forward meant that she had confidence in herself.
Valeria naturally reached out her hand to Jin.
Without any particular meaning, it meant that they would go down together for the fight, but as Sandra, she couldn't help but feel dizzy and nauseous.
"This person. This...… What are you doing! Stop, Stop! Ah, my head, I'm dizzy!"
"My Lady!"
In the end, Sandra fainted as if she couldn't bear to see that sight (Hedo took care of her), and Jin held Valeria's hand.
It was the teacher's hand that Jin hadn't held in a long time.
Would he be able to share the heavy burdens that lay within those thin and fragile hands together in this life, or perhaps he was already sharing them?
Jin suddenly had that thought.
"Let's go."
As Jin and Valeria jumped off Cuicantelle's back, the cemetery giants fired red beams as if they had been waiting.
Jin's lightning energy mixed with Valeria's blue magic, illuminating the dark seabed.
Jin felt the same sense of crisis that made his neck cold when the subspace first opened, but it quickly faded away.
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