C545
As the knights departed, Zipple"s fleet distanced itself from the castle.
As Amela predicted, Zipple"s fleet cannons, including Kozec, had a significantly longer range than Sword Emperor Castle"s defense equipment, so there was no reason not to increase the distance.
If it weren"t for Ron, they could have quickly dealt with Sword Emperor Castle, disregarding its effectiveness.
However, the situation was different now.
As Hairan"s knights left, the fleet also had the opportunity to move slightly out of Ron"s range.
Except for Cyron, Zipple had never fought against an opponent stronger than Ron.
Most magicians aboard the fleet had not experienced Cyron firsthand.
Even the dragons, who had not encountered Cyron, remembered Ron"s nightmares.
It reminded them of Murakan in his prime.
For the dragons, there was no more formidable existence than Murakan at his best.
The problem was that the terrifyingly powerful Black Dragon was also standing next to Ron with its eyes wide open.
Of course, Murakan had not fully regained his former strength...
But the Dragons, unaware of this fact, found Murakan even more terrifying than Ron.
The wind dragon, Salion, took its place next to Kelliark.
He was the one who had recently become Octavia"s guardian dragon when she became the new Contractor of Melzaire.
"It"s like seeing one of the old Runcandel"s ten great knights and Murakan together... huh?"
Salion, who said that, tilted his head as if something strange had happened.
It was because he felt confused about himself using the term "ten great knights."
The other dragons who heard him only felt that Salion had confused the Black Knight with the name of the ten great knights, and they did not feel any other sense of discord.
Soon, Salion also forgot that he had used the term of the ten great knights.
The Dragons wouldn"t be aware of it even if someone else mentioned that name again.
"Certainly, the power of history seems to have weakened a bit...", Kelliark thought quietly.
"There may be an influence from Ron, who is close to the Genesis Knight"s domain and has the power to go against fate... but the biggest problem is probably Jin Runcandel."
Power of Existence.
Kelliark carefully examined the power Jin possessed.
Things were worse than he thought.
The fact that Ron awakened, the fact that he became stronger, and the fact that Jin"s Power of Existence expressed itself to a greater extent because of it.
All of this exceeded Kelliark"s expectations.
Kelliark felt great discomfort at these unexpected developments.
It was a discomfort derived from a kind of intuition.
He felt as if things were about to twist...
"Octavia."
"Yes, Patriarch-nim."
"When the battle begins, you and the true Spectres will infiltrate the castle and secure the White Stone."
Not long ago, he lost his fleet, some blueprints, and the machine in the Sota desert.
If he couldn"t get the White Stone today, Zipple would have to return without any gain even after fighting a knight close to the Genesis Knight.
"Yes, I will prepare the Demon G.o.d Orb for infiltration."
To take the White Stone that was already being opened, the Demon G.o.d Orb was needed.
"The Demon G.o.d Orb will take some time to open, so until then, I will fight alongside the patriarch."
"No, I will personally use the Demon G.o.d Orb. You will make arrangements so that the consequences of the battle inside the castle do not affect the White Stone and wait."
"It seems like you are concerned about the possibility of Runcandel joining forces with Hairan."
Since Ron had awakened and reached a new domain, there was a possibility that Runcandel would join Hairan from the start.
But Kelliark thought it unlikely that Rosa would make such a judgment.
With Ron appearing, Runcandel had the opportunity to observe more.
"No, the Demon G.o.d Orb is necessary even if I am supposed to be dealing with Ron Hairan alone. The current Ron... no one will be able to defeat him except Cyron."
Octavia opened her eyes in surprise at this statement.
She had also seen Ron"s transcendent battle prowess, but she did not recognize the level as perfectly as Kelliark did.
Only those at a similar level can know for sure.
All magicians of Zipple, including Octavia, were significantly lower in level than Ron.
"I didn"t expect that not bringing Hedo and Kadun would lead to such a painful situation. I didn"t want to reveal the power of the Demon G.o.d Orb unless it"s time to deal with Runcandel."
-I heard that the power of the Fire Dragon is necessary to use the perfect fire.
He remembered Jin"s provocation from earlier. Now he couldn"t deny those words.
It seems that maintaining dignity is not that simple.
Now I understand how the inferiors who faced Jin Runcandel have felt so far.
Octavia nodded.
"....Alright. Be careful, Patriarch-nim."
"You be careful too. Infiltration won"t be easy."
The Spectres gathered around Octavia.
Those thirty gray robes were real spectres on a different level from the resurrected ones.
Kelliark knew what concerned them without looking at the faces of the dragons mixed among the fleets.
"Murakan hasn"t recovered the battle prowess from a thousand years ago. If he had, there"s no way the first battle would have ended like this, so don"t let the Dragons make a mistake by being possessed by ghosts."
As soon as Kelliark finished speaking...
A new and deeper sense of terror entered the eyes of the Dragons.
It wasn"t because he was more fearsome than the old Murakan.
Shii...
A faint sound of wind echoed through the fleet from somewhere.
It sounded like the breath of a monster.
As soon as the sound started, Zipple"s dragons trembled, their scales standing on end.
It was the sound of the Demon G.o.d Orb beginning to open.
The replica, reproducing the "Origin Orb," had the power to suppress Dragons with instinctive fear, just as Quikantel, herself, experienced for the first time when fighting Andrei in the past.
The current Demon G.o.d Orb was still unfinished, but it was much more refined compared to back then. The fear the dragons felt was amplified accordingly.
"Ugh...!"
"Quikantel!"
Even Quikantel, who was far from the Demon G.o.d Orb, stumbled as if she had fallen.
Murakan helped her up, but she let out a rough and unstable breath.
"Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds from Zipple brought the Demon G.o.d Orb... d.a.m.n, I can"t draw strength from my body."
"Don"t speak, take deep breaths. Kid, she can"t partic.i.p.ate in the battle. In this state, she can"t even retreat on her own. I"ll evacuate her outside the range of the Demon G.o.d Orb and come back."
Quikantel didn"t insist on joining the fight.
She was disgusted, but she admitted that at this rate, she would only be a burden.
Among the currently active dragons, the number of beings capable of resisting the Demon G.o.d Orb"s energy could be counted on one hand.
Among them, only Murakan and Misha were completely immune.
[If Quikantel is struggling so much, most of the Dragons there should already be foaming at the mouth and falling. That shiny thing... is it a necklace? It seems to be blocking the Demon G.o.d Orb"s energy to some extent], said Murakan, transforming into his true form and putting Quikantel on his back.
All the Dragons on Zipple"s side wore something shiny around their necks.
[It"s more like shackles than a necklace. It looks quite unstable... Ron, those things seem to fear you more than anything. Seeing that he brought out the Demon G.o.d Orb while harming his allies. Everyone fight well until I return]
Ron felt the energy of the Demon G.o.d Orb more deeply than the dragons.
The Demon G.o.d Orb emitted an aura similar to the chaos of the white stone within which he had been fighting while unconscious.
While Murakan flew towards the rear, most of Zipple"s dragons mistakenly believed that he had left because he feared the power of the Demon G.o.d Orb and felt even more relieved.
"Jin."
"Yes, Ron-nim."
"There will be those infiltrating the inner castle. Maybe Octavia will take on that role. I"ll cover the entire battlefield, but there will surely be gaps. You and the Vamel Alliance work together with the Sword Saints to stop them. Can I entrust you with this?"
It wasn"t different from Ron leaving Jin his back.
"It"s an honor."
"When the fight is over..."
Ron placed his hand on Jin"s shoulder and added a farewell comment.
"Let"s have a drink together with my lovely grandson."
It was an indescribably gentle voice, as if speaking to Dante.
To Jin, it seemed as if he could feel the warm affection of a "grandfather," something he had never experienced before.
It was like receiving an unexpected gift before an imminent war.
Rashid emerged from the sheath.
"Kelliark! Let"s begin."
Ron"s calm and deep voice resonated throughout the area again.
At the same time, the fire surrounding Zipple"s fleet grew denser, and the phoenix Belot roared.
The war had started again.
The first attack belonged to Sword Emperor Castle.
Ron directed his sword towards the center of the fleet, at a not very fast pace.
However, the trajectory that even ordinary people could easily read contained the transcendent state he had reached.
His formless sword began to attack the fleet before the action even ended.
The invisible energy of the sword continued to fiercely gnaw at the fire curtain that Kelliark and Belot had opened.
And that was not all.
The formless swords that pierced the fire curtain soon turned into a typhoon and completely covered the entire area of Zipple"s fleet and Sword Emperor Castle.
For allies, it served as a protective shield; for enemies, it was a terrifying icy wind that cut flesh and bones.
In one fell swoop, Ron completely took over the battlefield.
Ron"s words of "covering the entire battlefield" were not just an expression.
From the beginning...
Belot grew tired of that ignorant invisible energy of the sword, and Kelliark wielded Hroti with wide-open eyes.
Octavia couldn"t penetrate Ron"s territory, so it seemed she couldn"t even begin to infiltrate.
Kelliark forced his way through, continuously firing spatial explosions inside...
But it wasn"t easy to squeeze his body through the unstable opening.
While the real Spectres spread the Red Abyss to make way, Kelliark began chanting another legacy of Riol Zipple.
"Ruyan!"
But Ron wasn"t the only one on the battlefield.
There was a reason why Ron prevented the Five Sword Saints of Hairan from leaving.
The Sword Saints were able to deploy their greatest strength only when Ron was present.
"I allow the use of the Supreme Sword. Show the power of the Sword Saints to the enemies."
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