[T.L: punisher87]
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It is deep.
Even the underground tunnels in the castle seemed shallow compared to this cliff.
As Jin descended for several minutes, he felt two sensations simultaneously as the ground drew closer.
The first was the chaos that pierced his body like a knife, and the second was the sense of obstruction in his aura generation organs, as if he was exposed to Qwaul and Valeria's "Aura Jammers."
Just before landing, Jin countered the impact with his sword energy and gently touched the ground.
He had a strong intuition. This place was only the "Underground 1st Floor."
'Even if I don't know how many floors there are, Rosa must be at the lowest level.'
As he looked around, he could see faint lights in the distance.
Jin quickly recognized that those lights were the glow of their eyes.
The fierce aura emanating from their pupils was visible and tangible.
"This time, please."
Jin's low voice spread through the air like the wind. This time, the energy that the knights who had returned from the mausoleum had was completely different from the previous ones.
"I hope you are someone worthy of being called an ancestor."
The glowing eyes drew closer. Jin took steps forward towards them.
"About eleven knights."
The fact that all twenty-two eyes were glowing meant that they were all knights who had returned from the mausoleum.
As the distance closed, the outlines of the knights became clearer.
Examining their attire, Jin recognized that they were one former patriarch and ten black knights.
However, unlike the black knights, the former patriarch showed a slightly different appearance from the former patriarchs he had encountered.
'Is his face covered with chains?'
Black chains were wrapped around his face. The sword he held was also an ordinary longsword that former patriarchs had used extensively, making it impossible to determine his identity based on his weapon.
"I am the 12th flagbearer, Jin Runcandel. Knights, reveal your names."
Instead of the former patriarch, one of the black knights spoke up.
[You came down alone.]
"So you're the leader of the black knights. Can't the former patriarch speak?"
The chains covering the former patriarch's face seemed to twitch slightly.
"In that case, let's postpone taking the former patriarch's life for now. Everyone, come in."
Jin aimed his sword at the knights while holding it diagonally.
The feeling of his aura generation organs and blood flow being obstructed grew more intense.
On the other hand, the knights from the mausoleum were unaffected.
The knights were well aware of that fact.
However, they still formed their formation cautiously.
They understood that even if his aura generation organs were hindered, Jin was by no means an opponent to be taken lightly.
"If it's too burdensome, let me go first."
Pah-!
The ground beneath Jin exploded, and a sharp sound of splitting air echoed.
His sword was first aimed at the former patriarch's face, trying to remove the chains covering it.
However, the former patriarch parried the attack with his raised sword, and swords from the black knights surrounding Jin flew towards him.
Spinning and pushing aside two of them, Jin took advantage of the opening and thrust his sword towards the former patriarch's face once again.
Tick!
A chain snagged on the tip of the sword, and fragments flew off.
Then, as the former patriarch stepped back behind the black knights, a blinding thrust struck Jin's ear. A hot trickle of blood flowed from his ear, but Jin was not filled with a sense of danger. Instead, he was filled with doubt.
'I can't sense the sharpness or killing intent in the attacks of the former patriarch.'
The killing intent that pricked his skin was all from the black knights. In other words, the former patriarch did not harbor the intention to kill Jin.
'But each attack is clearly lethal…'
The former patriarch is being controlled.
Jin considered that case. Someone must be manipulating the former patriarch's body like a doll, and it could only be Rosa.
This time, the black knight's sword grazed Jin's shoulder. He had a few minor wounds, but Jin remained composed.
Disrupting the aura creation was undoubtedly happening through Rosa's chaos.
Although Jin couldn't immediately find the device or link that was causing it, it didn't bother him.
'It was a wise decision to come down alone. Rosa is using the disruption of aura creation to make it easier to kill others, not me.'
Unless the aura organs were completely destroyed, such disruptions would only temporarily inconvenience Jin.
Ka-aaah!
As Jin unleashed his aura, a shockwave spread with a flash of light.
Three approaching black knights were thrown back, and the central figure, the former patriarch, stumbled backwards.
His previously blocked blood flow and aura organs was now open.
The reason Jin didn't initially undo the aura disruption was due to his curiosity about the actions of the former patriarch and Rosa.
"Building a castle, digging underground, sealing the mouth of the former patriarch, and using disruptions of aura creation... You are doing things that don't quite fit with the evil god."
Blade of Bradamante pointed upwards, engulfed in white light.
Runcandel 3rd Decisive Killing Move: Meteor Shower.
The formed aura in the air poured down into the underground like a tsunami.
The black knights lowered their stances and spread their aura to intercept the meteor shower. In that moment, Jin once again penetrated their formation.
Skkk!
One black knight's right arm fell off, and a full-fledged melee began. One sword and eleven swords intertwined, leaving countless complex afterimages in the darkness.
Amidst the chaos, the meteor shower continued relentlessly bombarding the battlefield.
With each falling blade, the terrain changed, and the black knights were always a step behind Jin in following the proper techniques.
Only the former patriarch could read the constantly evolving battlefield at a speed almost identical to Jin's.
Still, Jin could not read any killing intent in his shining eyes.
Instead, they seemed to hold some desperate cry.
Clearly, he did not desire this fight.
"This swordsmanship isn't yours."
Runcandel's swordsmanship did not possess any distinctive form other than the secret techniques and decisive killing moves.
However, Jin could discern a familiar flow in the swordsmanship used by the former patriarch.
He could feel the flow of the person who wielded the sword fiercely, even without possessing Runcandel's physical form.
"Are you reminiscing about your human days? Evil god."
The former patriarch's swordsmanship perfectly matched Rosa's swordsmanship.
Rosa was controlling him.
There was only one reason why Rosa would "control" him.
'The former patriarch is standing against the evil god.'
Jin could see a bitter-sweetness and a glimmer of hope for the Runcandel clan in his appearance.
'Not all knights who come out of the mausoleum completely submit to Rosa. There are those, like the former patriarch, who are against the evil god.'
The former patriarch had not uttered a single word, nor had he ever swung his sword to kill Jin, not even once.
Jin could discern one aspect of Runcandel's mindset that he had never given up.
A struggle that never bends even against the will of the Gods.
In the long and extensive history of Runcandel spanning a thousand years.
There couldn't be just one person left who could match such a figure.
If there were those who groveled like Lionel or Senga, there had to be someone who would never crumble. Now, just like the former patriarch, who burned with more determination than when he was alive.
Jin finally understood Rosa's intention.
'She must want to show that even the ancestors who fought until the end are ultimately helpless and that she wants to kill all such individuals.'
Not only Rosa but also the former patriarch entwined with Jin, he desired his own death.
To escape from becoming such a disgraceful puppet, there was only one exit: death.
Even if he died and his soul was not liberated, he would still be better off than fighting as puppets for evil god.
Even if his mind shattered and he completely vanished from this world, it was still better than fighting for those who defiled the clan.
Jin had no intention of joining Rosa's vile intention.
"I will release you soon, Ancestor."
Jin's attitude toward the former patriarch had changed.
Although the sword pointed at him became even more menacing, it was only to break the chains that bound him as quickly as possible.
However, the Black Knights persistently attacked Jin.
He couldn't preserve the former patriarch's body while unleashing the power of Plutonian Swordsmanship or similar techniques.
Of course, even if he freed the former patriarch from his shackles, there was no guarantee that Rosa wouldn't take away his soul or life.
But Jin wanted to break the chains and have a moment to converse with him, even if it was brief.
He wanted to tell the ancestor that he fought honorably until the end.
And if possible, he wanted to keep him alive and overcome this hell together.
Clank!
A chain that wrapped around the former patriarch's face was severed.
His pupils became slightly clearer.
At the same time, blood spurted from Jin's shoulder.
It was the blade of the Black Knight Commander.
Although it didn't penetrate deep, if the bleeding continued like this, Jin's movements would inevitably become sluggish.
However, there were comrades leaping from the upper levels to the lower levels.
"Jin!"
Hedo's voice reached him.
Bianca and Octavia were also descending toward the battlefield.
Ten minutes had passed.
Even when they were absent, the situation was flowing in Jin's favor, so the knights of the mausoleum would inevitably be in a more difficult situation.
Hedo's sword techniques and Octavia's light magic attacked the Black Knights.
It had not been long since they were on the same side, and now they showed perfect coordination.
While the Black Knights were momentarily startled, Bianca positioned herself behind Jin. As a result, the Black Knight Commander had to block Bianca's greatsword instead of thrusting his sword at Jin.
For a moment, Jin had a chance to concentrate solely on the former patriarch.
The moment Jin struck his sword towards the chains, the former patriarch momentarily released Rosa's control.
The sword that was moving to repel Bradamante paused for a moment.
'It's because I've severed some chains!'
That was the best and greatest result the former patriarch could achieve by refusing to be controlled by the evil god.
Jin didn't miss the opportunity.
Crack, clank!
Finally, with a single blow, Jin was able to break the chains that covered the former patriarch's face.
The face revealed belonged to a person Jin had heard about many times in his past life while studying Runcandel's history.
Alpen Runcandel.
He was the 20th patriarch of Runcandel and a figure known as the "Knight of Light" in the past.
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