C432 - Elderly In Crisis (6)
Shriiek!
Sigmund pierced Rox's bone and flesh with a sharp noise.
Rox wasn't the kind of person to be easily defeated, but the result of solely focusing on Lata was bitter.
He belatedly tried to step back, but blood was already spurting from the severed leg.
"Kugh...!"
The battle had ended the moment he lost his leg.
Jin calmly severed Rox's other leg, then shifted his gaze to Lox, who barely clung to his spirit.
"Make sure this one doesn't die, Lata-nim."
"How dare you, Rox!"
"Eh? Do you know who I am to speak so recklessly, Lox Seigal?"
Swoosh!
Jin's sword descended toward Lox's forehead. Lox easily reacted to the attack, but he was surprised by the force pressing his wrist when he stopped Jin's strike.
What kind of force is this?
He blocked the blow, but it felt like his wrist was about to break, and the muscles supporting his posture were on the verge of tearing.
Just as Lox pondered over Jin's identity.
Craack-le!
Lightning emanated from Sigmund's sword, faintly shining with a bluish tone.
Until a few years ago, lightning symbolized the contractor of Peitel, but not anymore.
"Jin Runcandel...!"
"If you recognize me, then accept my sword peacefully."
The lightning from the Sword of Legends descended upon Lox's head.
Lox, too, was a warrior who had reached a certain level, showing a resilient response against an attack he experienced for the first time.
But that was all he could do.
Even in pure swordsmanship skills, Jin was far ahead of Lox.
As the battle started in earnest, Rox was pushed back and seemed to be retreating.
"Have you really become Runcandel's hound, as I've heard the elders say, Lata Proch?"
Lata shrugged as he roughly bandaged Rox's leg.
"It seems the traitors informed you incorrectly, Lox. I've become a hound of Jin Runcandel, not Runcandel."
"You have no shame, bastard."
"Shame? Losing is the greatest shame in the mercenary world. You and the elders made a wrong decision, and you're paying the price for it."
Lox glared at Lata and charged at him, but Jin simply blocked his charge.
Clang!
Sigmund and his sword clashed, sparking as they collided.
Lox Seigal quickly came to the conclusion that escaping was impossible, not to mention winning this battle.
"Lox Seigal. We've just met as enemies, and I have no pent-up feelings against you. So, if you answer some of my questions, I'll bid you farewell without pain."
"It's frustrating that our throne was taken by that monster, Smarion, who appeared out of nowhere. But I never thought I would hear such words from someone like the Twelfth Flagbearer of Runcandel."
"Can I take this as you rejecting my offer?"
As Jin asked, some of the squadron leaders who had gone in another direction entered the Seigal brothers' room.
"My lord! We've captured them."
The squadron leaders had captured the traitorous elders from another room.
They had been poisoned to the point where they could barely speak.
Lata's eyes gleamed with bloodlust as he looked at the elders.
"These old rats... Did they think they could defy my will? They even dared to collaborate with Seigal and sought other factions that could end us."
Naturally, Jin felt no emotion about the betrayal of the Phantom Legion Mercenaries' elders.
However, for Lata, their betrayal was a shock. The elders were not only people from Seigal, but they had also been closely related to Lata for a long time.
"Thanks to you rats, my Lord had to bear the burden of the potential threat from the Phantom Legion Mercenaries as soon as we formed the blood alliance. So, from now on, answer my questions truthfully."
Lata seated Rox next to the Elders and continued speaking.
"First, which faction did you choose? Second, did you reveal the alliance between my lord and me, and the secrets of the Phantom Fortress? If you don't answer my question truthfully, I'll massacre you, your relatives, and even the dogs you raised."
It was not an empty threat. Lata was more than capable of carrying it out.
"Hahaha..."
There was silence for a moment, and then one of the captured Elders suddenly burst into laughter.
"Lata Proch! Do you think killing our relatives and family will be a tremendous pain for us?"
"What did you say?"
"What do you think, Jin Runcandel? Would we have left the Phantom Fortress if we were afraid of such things?"
Not only the Elders but also Rox Seigal was raising the corners of his lips.
"Lata, you said that I, Rox, and the Elders made the wrong decision and are paying the price. Losing is the greatest shame in the mercenary world. Yes... that statement is not wrong."
Lox spoke calmly, his voice firm and filled with a strange sense of confidence.
Jin felt like he had seen such an expression somewhere before.
"However, are we really the ones who made the wrong decision?"
"Lox Seigal, what nonsense are you babbling?"
"In my opinion, in the end, it will be you who pays the price, not us. Runcandel? You chose the wrong side, Lata."
The Seigal brothers and the Elders displayed enthusiastic behavior even in the face of death.
There was no sign of humility or mockery in their behavior.
What underlay their attitude was neither courage nor pride.
Jin made that decision intuitively.
And suddenly, he thought of a person.
'Barton Vicenna.'
The only Black Knight who betrayed Runcandel and sided with Zipple.
The last words of that man were like this.
-There are two things that will never change even if you kill me today. First, if Cyron-nim disappears, Runcandel will inevitably perish. Second, even if my body is destroyed, I can exist longer than you.
-When that time comes, you'll finally have to admit that Barton Vicenna's choice was not wrong.
The Seigal brothers and the treacherous Elders had the same look that Barton had that day.
The gaze that only those who believed they had already entered a world where death had lost its meaning could have.
"Zipple?"
When Jin opened his mouth, all eyes turned to him.
"They joined Zipple and leaked information to you. They must have promised you immortality or transcendent power. So the idea of dying here now probably doesn't scare them."
Jin wielded his sword and looked at Lox.
"But you know what? Someone told me the same thing before. And I told him how my sister and I broke the Demon God's Orb."
The words "Demon God's Orb" caught the attention of the Seigal brothers and the Elders, and they seemed bewildered.
"So... it would be wise not to put too much faith in the Demon God's Orb. If it truly possesses such omnipotent power, then your deaths here would be meaningless. Lata-nim."
"Yes, my Lord."
"We don't need to extract any information. Execute them all."
The moment Lata nodded, Lox stared at Jin.
"I have a gift for you, Jin Runcandel."
"It's not necessary..."
Swing!
Suddenly, red characters began appearing all over Lox's body.
Rox, along with the Elders, had suffered the same phenomenon.
And Jin and Lata had just seen something very similar to those red characters not long ago.
'It's the same seal that imprisoned Smarion...!'
A seal that uses the user's life as material, passed down from generation to generation only to the Elders of the Phantom Legion Mercenaries.
The remnants of Seigal were attempting to unleash this seal one last time.
Rox and Lox had inherited this seal from the Elders who had betrayed Lata long ago.
"You're going to be sealed just like your father, Lata!"
"These lunatics...! Do they really plan to kill every last member of their family?"
Lox released a mocking laughter in response to Lata's question.
"Is there any reason for me to even bother with those things? It will be enough if we later take care of the Phantom Legion Mercenaries."
In other words, the remnants of Seigal were attempting self-destruction.
It wasn't clear whether they sincerely believed that the remaining family members had no value in the fortress anymore, or if they were simply putting on airs of grandeur and pretending they were unharmed.
What was clear was that these remnants were planning to seal the entire fortress.
The red bodies seemed about to burst at any moment.
"Think about who really made the wrong decision in hell!"
Hahaha, kugh...!
Lox's laughter had continued for a long time, and suddenly, it quieted.
A red seal was drawn around, and the bodies of the Seigal remnants twisted and broke, being sucked into the seal.
They were attempting to imprison them just as they did with Smarion.
The red energy contracted as if the claw of a giant was closing.
Lata and the squadron leaders instinctively wielded their swords against the seal.
The swords made contact, but the imprinted areas soon returned to their original state.
"My Lord! The squadron leaders and I will clear the way for you. Please, escape."
Although only a few days had passed since they formed the blood alliance, Lata spoke without hesitating for an instant.
"If we keep cutting the seal before it fully recovers, there might be a chance for you to escape, my Lord."
While Lata spoke, Jin examined the properties of the seal.
When he tried to cut it with his swords, like Lata and the others did, it immediately reversed, and it was clear that it took longer to recover when Jin used the lightning.
They could probably escape together if he used the Cascade or the Battle God's Techniques, but there was no need for that.
I felt it when I cut open the gates of hell opened by Myuron Zipple in the past; undoubtedly, Shadow Energy will work better against it.
Jin wielded Bradamante infused with Shadow Energy, and the seal shattered like a sheet of paper.
Moreover, the recovery of the seal was extremely slow this time, unlike previous attempts.
"Lata-nim, there's no need for all of you to risk your lives. I'll clear the way for you. Let's go."
Lata and the squadron leaders snapped back to reality upon hearing those words.
In the upcoming new era, it was clear that they were the ones who had grasped the best lifeline.
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