C534
At the moment the White Stone was handed over...
The war in Hairan would lose its meaning.
If the war could have been stopped simply by delivering the White Stone, Jin wouldn't have come here.
"If the fighting intensifies further, I won't be able to propose the same offer with my authority. I just want to minimize unnecessary deaths."
"Now that Zipple and I have offered support to our friends, it's hard to say this war is just a struggle between the Empire and Hairan. Unnecessary deaths? Does such a thing exist between Runcandel and Zipple? Anyway, it's our destiny to keep fighting until one side is completely finished."
In the end, Lalamakua, she, had no choice but to give up on negotiations.
"...You will regret this."
"The talk is over, return to your side. And don't add anything unnecessary to continue provoking me."
Indeed, Jin didn't trust pushing so hard.
A total war with Zipple was too heavy a burden even for Jin.
No, beyond the burden, it was a dangerous event, and there was still no answer.
However, Jin did not withdraw for a reason.
Zipple talks about a total war against Runcandel...
There must be something in the White Stone that makes it so important.
The White Stone.
If that cursed object, undermining the honor and pride of his friend's clan, was something Zipple had to acquire even at the cost of total war against Runcandel.
Then Jin must not back down.
Jin didn't retreat because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.
It was no longer just about the Sword Emperor Castle.
If the White Stone held so much value, Zipple would undoubtedly use it to take one step further.
And preventing Zipple was Runcandel's greatest mission.
Of course, there was a part of Jin that didn't believe that at all.
'My mother and the elites of the Family must be monitoring the situation.'
The Emperor revealed the existence of the White Stone to the world, and Zipple sent reinforcements even revealing the mass production ship.
It was impossible for Runcandel not to take action in the face of such a magnitude of incident.
My mother probably hasn't judged the value of the White Stone yet, so she decided to observe for now.
However, if Zipple shows a more desperate move, the Family will definitely intervene.
'Without a doubt.'
It's the same with Talaris.
She was still watching the battle as a spectator, but the moment she came to the conclusion that the White Stone threatened the world in any way, she would join the fight.
If Ron and Dante don't use the White Stone as a last effort, she will point her sword at Zipple.
'I don't know about Ron-nim, who is unconscious, but if it's Dante, he would never make that choice.'
Even if he made that extreme decision, I can stop him.
'If I can prevent it, there won't be a need for Talaris-nim to press the Sword Emperor Castle.'
Ron's condition was reported by the Hairan knights on the way to the front.
The thought that Dante was still holding Ron, who couldn't wake up, in the Sword Emperor Castle, pricked Jin's heart again.
"Beradin."
At the same time, Jin remembered another friend.
'I think you're also doing something for Dante.'
He would definitely do it if his mind were sane.
Jin sincerely hoped that Beradin wouldn't become a pawn of war, attacking Hairan like in the mission to assassinate Barton.
It was too cruel for everyone involved.
Lalamakua turned sharply, transforming into her true form.
The battle resumed as soon as she repositioned herself in the sky.
The brief pause in the fight until now seemed unreal, as the battlefield was now filled with cries and explosive sounds.
Most were the cries of Zipple's magicians and dragons, and the explosion that spread when their fleet was destroyed.
Along with Murakan, the power of the five sword saints stood out, especially.
Unlike Dante, they have a rigid body, so they suffocate their opponents with a burst of secret techniques.
Including the Divine Radiance, the successive secret techniques dazzled the night sky, and at times Jin's lightning energy revealed its dignity.
The imperial army's ground forces could no longer tighten the encirclement.
It was because Amela's cannon support had not ceased, and Jin's companions, including the Valkas brothers and Proch, were still active in the rear and flanks.
The initial and middle battles of the war were progressing towards the victory of the Sword Emperor Castle.
However, those fighting for Hairan were not enthusiastic. Rather, as the situation improved, they were preparing for the next fight with even stronger determination.
This was not going to end like this.
Zipple's initial reinforcements had significantly dwindled in number.
There were barely five battleships left, and most magicians and dragons had perished.
It seemed that even these remnants would find their fate in a matter of minutes.
The leader, the blue dragon Lalamakua, could barely let out a roar with a missing wing.
'At this point... I think it's enough,' Lalamakua thought.
There was an issue that neither the imperial army nor the knights gathered for Hairan knew.
In preparation for such a situation, the Zipples had devised a method combining unfinished technology and ancient dark magic.
Suddenly, the blood flowing from Lalamakua drew a magic circle in the air.
It wasn't especially large or brightly visible, and as it was drawn in an instant, no one in the chaotic battle recognized the moment it took shape.
Jin and his companions recognized it only a few seconds after the magic circle was completed.
What is that?
A blood magic circle.
As soon as Murakan recognized the magic circle, he unleashed his breath against Lalamakua.
The dark breath pierced through Lalamakua's chest, and the blood drawing the magic circle was also scattered by that power.
However, the blood soon gathered again, maintaining the form of the magic circle.
And it wasn't just Lalamakua forming the blood magic circle.
The surviving dragons and high-ranking magicians of Zipple also drew similar blood magic circles.
What served as a catalyst for them was death, which was constantly blossoming all over the battlefield.
Keek-!
The blood magic circles resonated, producing strange metallic sounds.
Hairan knights capable of aerial strikes continued attacking the magic circle, but even if the magic circle was torn, it continued to maintain its shape and merged.
Soon, the combined magic circle took the form of a cube.
Cube?
Suddenly, Jin remembered Gaifa.
The artifact that Midor Elnor used to summon Myuron Zipple was also a perfect cube like this.
'It can't be.'
Space-time artifact.
'It's possible to perform the summoning by magic, not by artifact...!'
Lalamakua collapsed, spitting blood, and her death completed the magic circle.
There was no need to shout that it was dangerous.
Allies in the sky already sensed that something was wrong and were retreating.
The magic circle began to emit a dark red light.
The light, resembling an ominous sun on an ill-fated day, soon formed a massive portal.
The first thing that emerged from the portal was a battleship, similar in shape to Kozec.
The battleship came out, distorting the space around it.
Tremendous force sucked in the bodies and blood remaining in the air, creating a peculiar noise.
Kozec, who was the only flying battleship before the existence of mass-produced battleships, is known to have different performance depending on the occupant.
The same applied to mass-produced battleships.
All battleships could either be just a means of transportation or a formidable combat weapon, depending on the occupant's mana.
Zipple's mass-produced battleships, which were destroyed earlier, didn't show much effectiveness.
However, the new fleet was powered by magicians of another level.
It was something that could be known without having to fight.
The mana density surrounding the battleship was completely different.
It was so dense that even knights who couldn't read mana could feel it throughout their bodies.
"Specters."
More reinforcements were expected.
Summoning through dark magic simply accelerated time, and it wasn't so shocking because Jin was aware of the appearance of Specters from the beginning.
Still, the reason Jin let out an empty laugh was that there were too many.
The number of mass-produced battleships coming out of the portal reached thirty.
And all those mass-produced ships were being operated by the Specters.
How is it possible that they have so many Specters...
In his time as a Provisional Flagbearer, the first number of Specters Jin encountered on Beradin's island was fifteen.
At that time, Jin was sure their number would exceed at least twenty considering the instability of Specters' chain magic.
However, in front of him were more than 30 battleships, and each of them was powered by the mana of at least two Specters.
Even with simple calculations, it meant there were at least sixty of them, and that was an impossible number without even delving into contemplation.
If Zipple had maintained that level of Specters all along, they could have ended Runcandel as much as they wanted before Cyron's time ran out.
In that case, two hypotheses fit.
'Maybe they have recently invented a training method that far surpasses the conventional, and the number of Specters has rapidly increased...'
Or they resurrected the dead.
The fact that Zipple could resurrect humans through the Demon God Orb had already been proven long ago when he fought against Andrei Zipple.
Jin assumed it was the latter.
Magicians were resurrected with Myuron Zipple in Gaifa...
It's the same as back then.
Only the size and quality were different.
Hahaha!
Jin heard a familiar voice from the first battleship that appeared.
It was the voices of Midor Elnor and Myuron Zipple.
[Fate is fate, and you are also here...!]
[I, Myuron, have returned from hell twice...!]
Before they could finish speaking, Jin and Murakan simultaneously fired a Light Speed Thrust and exhaled breath.
The power of Runcandel's Secret Technique and the breath of the Black Dragon shattered the protective shield and shattered the front of the battleship where Midor and Myuron were.
Midor and Myuron found their second and third deaths in vain.
Only their ankles remained aboard the battleship after Jin and Murakan's power swept through the vanguard.
[They're not some kind of cockroach, but they keep coming out even if we kill them. They'll only disappear after showing such a pathetic state.]
Murakan spoke sarcastically.
But he and Jin knew.
The reason why Zipple's idiot brothers died was that the Specters from other battleships didn't protect them.
Despite being on the front line, Myuron and Midor were not the commanders of the Specters.
The Specters considered them mere scavengers who only held their positions because they were Kelliark's sons.
It didn't matter if they were dead or not.
Because of this, the Specters quietly elevated their mana even though the vanguard fleet was destroyed, and Myuron and Midor died.
Those guys...
They are quite tenacious.
Jin gritted his teeth and thought.
He hoped that the resurrected Specters wouldn't be as good as the real ones he had experienced the first time.
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