C293 - Power and Reverence for Power (4)
How was he supposed to know HE would be in Bentica?
It was hard to see his face due to the distance, but it wasn't hard to recognize his friend.
Jin's heart began to pound, even though he hadn't landed a single sword strike. His instinct told him that Beradin wasn't his usual self.
Suddenly, he remembered the last conversation he had shared with Beradin.
"What are you going to do now?" Jin had asked.
"About what?"
"Leaving the Zipples."
"Ah, that. I suppose it won't be easy. The only realistic way to do it is to wait until you become a flagbearer and capture me as a hostage. But that could easily lead to a full-blown war. Plus, you never know how much your brothers might torture me."
"The Runcandels and the Zipples fight each other all the time, regardless of you."
"That may be true, but Jin, I also have my share of responsibilities. If my clan is going in the wrong direction, I should be the one to stay and correct it, don't you think? I will restore everything. I will make the Zipples the clan I have always been proud of."
It seemed like time had stood still. Beradin's words echoed in Jin's mind.
"I will stay and correct the clan."
Jin didn't trust Beradin's determination.
The evil empire that hadn't fallen even once in the past thousand years had gone too far to be corrected. The only way to set it right was to bring it down.
But it was so vast and sturdy that bringing it down seemed like an impossible feat.
More than half of the world was under Zipple's control, their alliances were strong, and countless people depended on Zipple's magic in their daily lives.
The most powerful clan in the world outshined the others by such a margin that even the alliance of the rest of the world couldn't guarantee its downfall.
That was the Zipple clan.
That's why Jin hoped that Beradin would run away, to live his own life far from the clan.
"No, if I were you, I would leave the Runcandel clan as soon as I was forced to live a life where my own will is gradually taken away without my knowledge," Jin had said.
Giant blade waves and Kozec cannons clashed with each other, and the collision of both forces created energy debris that covered the sky.
Beradin's red eyes flickered and trembled in the dark battlefield sky. He's not in his right state. Jin repeated the phrase to himself as he gritted his teeth.
Living a life with altered memories that slowly robbed one of their own personhood. Who would want such an existence?
Beradin looked like a madman as he entered the battlefield with divine fire powers evident in his red eyes. He seemed like a monster desperate to kill his enemies.
Boom, blam, bam! Spatial explosions erupted everywhere they met Beradin's gaze.
"You resisted your clan until the very end. It's impossible that you came to this battlefield willingly."
Encountering Beradin on his first mission as a flagbearer was something Jin hadn't foreseen. But it had to turn out this way, with Beradin in this state. Jin wanted to curse the situation.
He wanted to grab Beradin and leave the battlefield, so he could do something to bring his friend back to his right state.
It was impossible, being realistic. Succumbing to fury wouldn't improve the situation at all.
For now, I won't be able to bring Beradin back to his right state anyway. It's probably impossible.
It was necessary to control his anger and make an objective assessment of the situation.
Of course, Jin still worried about him, but he also had another thought. Beradin is not a child either.
It wasn't Jin's place to sacrifice himself to save Beradin, as if he were a child in need of rescue.
That was the challenge Beradin had to overcome on his own. Jin's role was to extend his hand if Beradin asked for help.
It was Beradin's decision to fight against his own clan, so Jin had to respect that decision as a friend, at least until it became evident that Beradin was completely shattered.
Jin quickly calmed himself. His state of calm was evident in his eyes.
First and foremost, Beradin's introduction to the battlefield quickly changed the tide of the battle.
It was the spell resembling a divine power that Beradin was casting, the spatial explosion.
The Runcandels had only two individuals who could deliver real blows to the flying Kozecs and red dragons. They were Dyfus and Barton. They could use their sword waves to soar into the sky and attempt attacks against them.
But due to the spatial explosion, Dyfus and Barton couldn't move in the air.
Not even a ten-star knight and a nine-star knight with the Runcandels' blessed bodies could avoid a spatial explosion in the air. It was nearly impossible.
Beradin used this fact to his advantage, disrupting their movements.
Therefore, the two could only respond to the Zipple's threat by firing sword waves from the ground, leading to a unilateral bombardment from the Zipple clan.
Beradin's spatial explosion was nowhere near as threatening as Midor Elnor's spatial explosion.
But this single spell was able to keep the two transcendent swordsmen on the ground.
Dyfus must be quite confused now. He's probably in shock seeing Beradin or the fact that someone other than Keliac can use spatial explosion, and he must think Barton must have informed the Zipples about the Bentica mission.
As expected, Dyfus was quite confused. Though he didn't make it obvious to his enemies, Jin could still see through him.
In reality, Barton probably would have informed the Zipples before the mission began. He would have let them know that he was assigned to the Bentica mission and advised them to take appropriate measures if they wanted to preserve the ancient eversteel.
And the appropriate measure came in the form of spatial explosion.
If the Zipples deployed too many forces to protect the land against Barton and Dyfus, the Runcandels would probably send an equal number, thus nullifying the purpose.
But what if they could simply deter Dyfus and Barton's aerial capabilities with spatial explosion?
While the Runcandels had only two swordsmen capable of aerial combat, the Zipples deployed five dragons and even the powerful Kozec, on which it was unknown how many of the supposedly more elite magical troops of the Zipples, the White Night, were aboard.
As strong as Dyfus and Barton were, the battle was completely against them if aerial combat was denied.
The Zipples played this well. If the Runcandels and the Zipples simply fought with a greater number of forces, spatial explosion alone wouldn't have been enough to change the course of the battle.
This was only possible if there were other knights who could cover Barton and Dyfus from spatial explosion. But the ten guardian knights who joined the mission were not capable of such things.
The infiltration group was blocked and couldn't advance further toward the enemy. The guardian knights positioned to kill anyone who left the battlefield were now being pursued by the dragons.
"Damn it, why is Beradin Zipple using Keliac's powers? Sir Barton! I will try to create an opportunity. You should take him down from a distance."
"Fourth flagbearer, how do you propose to create this opportunity? The White Night Magicians are concentrating their defenses on Beradin."
"I can tear through those useless shield barriers anytime."
"I'm not questioning your skill, am I, fourth flagbearer? It's too dangerous. Now that we're blocked from the air, we'll have to risk a lot if we really want to proceed with this."
"So you suggest we turn around without even trying?"
"Try to be rational, fourth flagbearer. I don't want to leave a record of my failure as a black knight either, but the enemy's tactical advantage is too effective."
"What did you say?"
"Is ancient eversteel worth more than the life of the fourth flagbearer? Confirming Beradin's use of Keliac's powers is a significant gain in itself."
Countless fragments and spells rained down in the midst of their conversation.
Dyfus and Barton were able to constantly keep themselves away from the spatial explosion, thanks to their superior senses.
However, the rest of the guardian knights couldn't do the same. Spatial explosion was extremely noticeable, as it had the capability to kill without the slightest indication.
One of the guardian knights screamed. His arm had suddenly exploded. The spatial explosion originally aimed for his head, but the guardian knight instinctively moved aside and ended up losing an arm.
Even Dyfus and Barton had to sharpen their senses to the maximum if they wanted to dodge the spatial explosions.
To make matters worse, Beradin's spatial explosions were launched with a triple simultaneous release, meaning three explosions occurred at once.
Dyfus and Barton could protect the guardian knights from all other attacks, such as Kozec cannons, spells, and dragon breath, but spatial explosion was an exception.
It was only a matter of time before the rest of the guardian knights were incapacitated by the spatial explosion.
"Fourth flagbearer! What is the role of a Runcandel flagbearer? It is to lead and protect the clan knights. Will you lead them to useless deaths just to keep your mission record clean? Make the call."
"You filthy traitor, I know what you're thinking!"
Dyfus had to restrain his anger that was dying to escape his lips and shook his head.
If it had been any other black knight besides Barton, Dyfus would have easily agreed with his recommendation to retreat. After all, he was right.
But Barton was a spy, and Dyfus's mission was to secure Bentica and eliminate Barton.
"As you say, Sir Barton, ancient eversteel certainly doesn't hold much value. But Beradin's head does. We can't go back empty-handed. We'll take Bentica and the head of the Zipple successor."
"Then I will be the one to give the order to retreat."
"Sir Barton!"
"You may be the fourth flagbearer, but you have no authority over mine. This is your last chance. Give yourself the order to retreat. If you don't comply, I will fulfill my duties as a black knight and leave the area with the rest of the knights. You will be responsible for any casualties that occur in the process, fourth flagbearer."
"Why are you saying that? Do you think we would have another opportunity to kill the Zipple patriarch successor?"
As Dyfus contemplated his next move, he thought of the one person who hadn't yet joined the battle. Jin Runcandel, his younger brother. If it was Jin...
Jin might have a brilliant solution to turn this disastrous situation around.
He had a hunch that Jin would, and though thinking about it was humiliating, things were pretty dire for Dyfus.
'Damn it. How did I let things get like this? Humiliation is not the problem now. I must kill Barton. Right here, right now. I must do it!'
Jin continued to watch them from afar on the battlefield.
He couldn't hear Dyfus and Barton's conversation due to the distance and the explosions, but it wasn't difficult to see how things were going.
Barton would have suggested retreat. It would be foolish to risk the lives of Dyfus and the guardian knights in the face of the threat of a spatial explosion just to obtain some ancient eversteel.
But Jin wasn't going to let Barton get away with it.
"First, I must neutralize the threat of the spatial explosion."
Jin made his decision and began to walk toward the battlefield.
Tags:
SYS (Novel)