C560

Gliek.

It was clear that the Black Sea King, existing in the form of a white stone, had awakened using Dante as a vessel.

As Gliek had stated, it was highly likely that Dante"s body had already vanished, but there was a possibility that his consciousness still lingered, even if only partially.

Of course, Jin could be wrong.

The desperate hope that his friend survived might be clouding his rationality.

Nevertheless, Jin couldn"t comprehend why Gliek hesitated for a moment when the enormous chaos sword attacked him.

Is it because he just woke up, and his condition is not perfect?

Jin was aware that Gliek was not in perfect condition. Although it was the first time he saw him, his distorted body was full of flaws.

Above all, Gliek mistook Jin for "Solderet."

He spoke as if he knew Solderet well and hated him intensely, yet he"s so confused as to mistake me for Solderet. There must be an issue with his senses.

This fact sent a chill down Jin"s spine.

Despite not awakening in full condition, Gliek overwhelmed everyone on the battlefield.

Boom!

Rashid, tainted in gray, soared towards Gliek"s upper body.

Ron struck with all his might, managing to break several of Gliek"s swords and spears for the first time since Glyeck had awakened.

The broken weapons fell like an avalanche, crashing to the ground.

Ron jumped once again through the shattered weapons, riding the sword"s wind burst, and slammed Rashid into Gliek"s face.

Hundreds of arms once again blocked his path, and this time, a repulsive force instead of attraction pushed him.

Nevertheless, Ron managed to leave a long and deep scar on Gliek"s face.

It was not without cost.

Ron was also pierced everywhere by the spikes protruding from Gliek"s face out of nowhere.

Jin and the Black Knights jumped at the same time to protect Ron, who was momentarily defenseless.

A total of fourteen spikes stabbed his body, and dark red blood oozed from his body, fortunately without very deep wounds.

However, the fact that Gliek"s reflexive attack injured Ron was a problem in itself.

The speed of the spikes that Jin and the Black Knights sensed was certainly not at a level that a knight like Ron couldn"t avoid or block.

Ron was physically reaching his limit.

He wasn"t normal since the beginning of the second battle, so it wasn"t surprising that Ron could collapse at any moment.

"Ron-nim, are you okay!"

At first glance, Jin saw that Ron"s pupils were clouding over.

He sensed the peculiar scent of ash characteristic of those nearing death.

"I"m... fine."

Jin and the Black Knights protected his sides and back.

Talaris remained seated, and support from Runcandel and Zipple continued to come from afar.

Although Gliek"s senses were not intact, he directed almost all his attacks at Jin"s side.

But Gliek didn"t completely neglect the rear.

He continued to explode Chaos outward to prevent Runcandel and Zipple from getting closer.

More than 90% of Eaos"s energy was spent blocking reinforcements.

Therefore, what Jin and the others were enduring were mostly pure physical attacks from Gliek.

Ron stood up, planting his sword in the ground.

In the process, he suddenly noticed that the ground was turning strangely black. Jin and the Black Knights also saw the same phenomenon.

"The earth, this..."

It wasn"t darkened by the roar of battle or cannon fire.

"It"s similar to... the Black Sea."

The land called the Black Sea.

Stam, who partic.i.p.ated in Cyron"s expedition long after becoming a Black Knight, had personally experienced this phenomenon firsthand in the past:

The phenomenon of land turning into the "Black Sea."

Jin also encountered the same when he heard about Ozdock from Picon Minche.

-[When the Black Sea expanded rapidly, Ozdock was covered by the toxic land of the Black Sea. It must be a.s.sumed that he was buried alive while trying to hibernate.]

The land where the Sword Emperor Castle once stood was turning into the Black Sea due to Gliek"s energy.

A land where people cannot live...

Crunch!

Ron clenched his fist and grabbed a handful of soil.

Instead of black soil, his fist was filled with solid chaos crystals.

"To what extent will you trample my land..."

The chaos crystals disintegrated into particles in Ron"s grip and dispersed.

Jin couldn"t say anything to him.

Perhaps all the tragedies that occurred in the Sword Emperor Castle were caused by its own regression, so a terrible guilt clung to Jin"s heart like rancid oil.

Even before his regression, Zipple created the Demon G.o.d Orb, and the imperial family always sought an opportunity to expel Hairan, and the white stone was always there.

The War of the Sword Emperor Castle was destined to happen regardless of Jin"s regression.

Rather, it might be that Jin is now advancing towards a better outcome.

However, no one could tell Jin that it wasn"t his fault.

Jin himself couldn"t think otherwise, and the sorrow experienced by the giant in front of him was bitterly intense.

All that was left was for him to fight with all his might.

As always, that was the best Jin could do.

The strong pressure pressing on Gliek was fading.

Tess"s energy had run out.

Gliek paused for a moment from the impact of the slash on his face, but then wielded hundreds of swords and spears again.

And Ron stumbled.

Ron trod on unstable ground with his wavering legs, so Jin and the Black Knights were almost in position to protect Ron.

As the Black Sea began to form, Gliek"s energy quickly blackened the ground.

Jin was also getting tired.

Stam and the Black Knights were better off than him since their battle wasn"t as prolonged, but they had to deal with chaos all the time and quickly lost their stamina to fill Ron"s vacancy.

What was even more painful was the fact that Gliek"s distorted appearance was becoming more stable as the transformation of the Black Sea progressed.

Gliek"s attacks became fiercer as time pa.s.sed, and his energy expanded.

The advance of Runcandel and Zipple was further delayed.

Crack!

In the end, Ron was brought down by a single scythe-shaped blade that Jin and the Black Knights had overlooked.

He managed to counterattack but fell to the ground without more ado.

He had surpa.s.sed his limits several times already.

Since he woke up after a long period of unconsciousness until now, Ron had been performing miracles.

But now, he had reached the end...

"Ron-nim!"

"Twelfth Flagbearer!"

Jin and Stam shouted simultaneously.

Jin instinctively rushed to save Ron, which Stam thought was a wrong decision.

Stam was right.

If he lost focus while defending Ron, he would only be giving an opportunity to Gliek.

Jin thought that Gliek would naturally target him if he approached recklessly.

If that happened, with Stam and the Black Knights, they could still save Ron even if he was injured.

But Gliek was regaining sanity as the land turned into the Black Sea.

He decided it would be better to kill Ron first when the chance presented itself.

Furthermore, Gliek"s lance was faster than Jin"s.

A ma.s.sive black lance descended towards Ron like lightning.

"d.a.m.n it, d.a.m.n, aah!"

Jin raised his energy and thrust at the speed of light.

Blood flowed from his mouth, nose, and ears.

Jin narrowly missed hitting the lance and failed.

In that fleeting moment, Jin bitterly resented not being able to intercept the ma.s.sive lance.

Ron no longer had the strength to repel the lance.

At the moment when the blade of the lance was about to strike Ron, it imprinted like a slow-motion screen in Jin"s field of vision.

And the next moment, Jin saw it again.

He saw Gliek hesitating.

The lance stopped just before hitting Ron.

[What is this....]

It was only a brief moment, around a second, but enough time for Jin to throw himself again and push Ron.

"Aaaahhh!"

Instead of Ron, Jin let out a scream as he caught the lance.

Due to the recoil, he felt like his bones and organs were about to burst, but Jin felt a sense of relief that he almost thanked the pain.

Stam and the Black Knights repelled the attack.

And now, they also felt that there was something off with Gliek.

However, they hadn"t thought about Dante.

Ron, on the other hand, was clearly aware, even as his consciousness faded and his eyes darkened.

Dante...

Dante, my grandson...

How are you?

Ron"s eyes clouded over.

Earlier, when Jin asked if he was okay.

Ron responded vaguely, not just because he was exhausted.

At the moment when the fourteen spikes protruding from Gliek"s face pierced his body, he also thought that Dante"s consciousness might linger somewhere within that monster, just as Jin thought.

Ron was convinced now.

"I sense it, Jin. Dante, my grandson, is inside him."

[You"re persistent]

Ron"s vision faded.

He lost sight.

"Yes, grandson, it"s your grandfather."

The fire of the flesh faded, and all that remained for Ron was the unwavering will of his blind love for his grandson.

He kept talking with a hoa.r.s.e voice and little sensation in his entire body.

"Ron-nim, Dante is in there. So, you must hold onto your consciousness!"

"Dante. I will save you..."

Crack, thud!

While Ron murmured, Gliek swung his sword again.

Jin and the Black Knights responded, but if they missed one more attack, Ron would be shredded without a trace.

Unlike Jin, the Black Knights no longer saw sense in protecting Ron.

It was because reviving him seemed impossible unless the Tears of Numerus were used.

But Jin insisted on protecting Ron.

"Twelfth Flagbearer, you have to give up. More than this is impossible."

"No, we must save him. Stam-nim."

"Are you saying that you really don"t know that this is a situation where acting emotionally won"t help!"

That statement was incorrect.

Rather, Jin was now making judgments almost without any emotion.

The reason he wanted to save Ron wasn"t different.

Kelliark Zipple.

It was because Jin was aware that the culprit who pushed Hairan to such a desperate fate was about to arrive.

"He... will definitely save Ron-nim."

With the power of the Demon G.o.d Orb.

Jin doesn"t know if he should describe it as "saving," but one thing was certain.

Using the power of the Demon G.o.d Orb, Ron could fight again.

Although it"s far from the limits.

Stam read Jin"s thoughts and recognized his true intentions belatedly, and a chill ran down his spine.

If it were a matter of facing grief, Jin might have given up on Ron.

It would be better for him to rest now than rely on that d.a.m.ned object called the Demon G.o.d Orb to force him to fight again.

However, what Ron desired was not to rest.

What he wanted was to fight until he found any trace of Dante in this desolate battlefield.

Even if it meant using extreme and brutal means, there was no need to hide it.

Ron knew that his grandson"s presence lingered somewhere inside that monster.

"Kelliark Zipple will act to save Ron-nim, and Ron-nim will fight. Above all, Ron-nim is absolutely necessary for this fight. Because our patriarch is not here. Leader of the Black Knights, do you really think I"m ruining things because of emotions?" Jin retorted, barely suppressing his miserable feelings.

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