Chapter 98
"Kyaaaah!"
The piercing scream did not belong to Raph.
Even with his right arm severed, he kept his eyes fixed on his opponent.
That was his master's teaching.
Do not close your eyes.
Fear is not something to avoid but to overcome.
Observe your enemy until the very end.
That will save you.
A lecture he had heard so many times that it was ingrained in his ears.
That very lesson saved his life in this moment.
Sssshak!
A blade streaked toward him, leaving behind a deep blue afterimage.
Even with both arms intact, he wouldn't have been able to block this attack.
No need to think—he threw his upper body back with all his might.
The sword narrowly grazed the hem of his clothes, the chilling sound of slicing air ringing out as Raph's body began to tilt toward the ground.
At the same time, his now-lonely left arm blurred.
A sudden flash shot out from his waist.
A dagger tore through the air.
Even in a collapsing stance, his throw was impeccable.
But it didn't reach.
Clang!
Sparks flared as the summoned creature deflected the dagger.
Its retrieval speed after swinging the sword was astonishing.
Raph's desperate throw had amounted to nothing, and almost simultaneously, he executed a half-baked breakfall.
All of this happened in a single breath.
His severed arm landed beside his head in the next moment.
Blood gushed in torrents, staining his clothes as he clutched at his injured stump.
The summoned creature's sword fell straight toward him.
A fleeting instant.
Even now, Raph did not look away.
Because this, too, was his master's teaching.
It was utterly infuriating that among the hundreds of techniques his master had taught him, the only one he could use right now was [Facing Death Head-On].
But he adhered to his lessons faithfully.
Perhaps because of that—
He saw it clearly.
The stretched-out instant, warped like molten sugar.
Two figures appearing in front of him.
A flashing draw of the sword and a burst of crackling lightning.
Zzzzzzak!!
An intangible shockwave rippled violently across the arena.
In the midst of it, silver hair billowed.
As a descending blade clashed against another in a crosswise defense, Ryucard's eyes locked onto an old-fashioned helmet.
That wasn't all.
A hand firmly grasped the summoned creature's gauntlet—
And it belonged to Jin, who exhaled in surprise, brushing a hand over his startled chest.
If he were honest, his body had moved before his mind.
I mean, isn't this supposed to be a festival?
Cutting off someone's arm is a bit much, no?
His incredulous gaze naturally landed on Cecile.
"Did you want to kill him?"
Ryucard seemed to share the same thought.
Amidst the tense standoff of locked blades, he spoke.
"You've crossed the line. Since when did the tournament become a place to harm others? If I hadn't intervened, his head would be gone."
Cecile lifted her gaze.
Her expressionless face turned to the two intruders.
"Yeah, I suppose so."
The ease with which she admitted it was almost absurd.
Her detached, weary voice carried across the silent audience, who struggled to grasp the situation.
"You're right, that's how it would have gone. That's what I intended."
"…Sister?"
"I don't even know anymore, Ryucard.
Have you ever felt this way before?
Wanting to fix a mistake, but the mistake is so massive that it can never be undone?
Probably not.
You don't make mistakes.
You're a genius.
Unlike me."
Cecile's eyes drifted toward Jin, standing beside Ryucard.
"And you too."
"What?"
"I saw you fight Kendrick. You were dazzling.
And suddenly, I realized just how ridiculous I must have looked.
A foolish girl asking if you weren't afraid—
How pathetic must that have seemed? Hm?"
Jin frowned.
It wasn't the way she was presuming others' thoughts that annoyed him.
It wasn't even the cloying inferiority complex clinging to her expression, as if it were grease on her face.
It was the sweat soaking his palm.
The pounding of his heart.
Why?
He didn't know.
But one thing was certain.
Something was happening in this moment.
Cecile continued speaking.
"Why is everything always taken from me?
You could share, just a little.
But I was always, always alone.
No one ever cared.
Why did Grandmother even pass down the family name to my sister?
If she had thought about me even a little, she wouldn't have gone that far.
That was just too cruel..."
Jin ignored the rest of her words.
Now wasn't the time to listen to nonsense.
And then—the sky turned red.
"Huh?"
The audience lifted their heads.
One by one, their gazes converged on the same sight.
Mouths fell open unconsciously.
What they had mistaken for an early sunset was actually a presence exuding a blood-red aura.
Then, as the floating figure slowly descended to the ground, the vast coliseum was forcibly bathed in crimson light.
A calamity beyond resistance.
As the vision before them was dyed in an overwhelming red, the spectators fell into panic.
From the first-floor seating, a blinding flash of light erupted.
────!!
A wind like a raging typhoon tore through the air.
The bloodstained sky that had struck terror into thousands was split in half, revealing the clear blue beyond.
Yet the residual shockwaves still spread through the arena like the reverberations of a temple bell, washing over the trembling crowd before finally dissipating.
And then, as if by magic—
Heads began to droop, one by one.
The ones who had screamed, the ones left in a daze, the ones unable to process what was happening—
There were no exceptions.
Save for a handful with particularly strong minds, everyone's heads fell forward.
Their numbers were in the thousands.
An overwhelming sight.
Following the lingering breeze that still stirred his hair, Jin turned his head.
There, a Sword Saint stood.
At some point, a sword had appeared in his right hand.
Then, in the next moment—
The swordsman who had just cleaved the sky in a single stroke turned his calm gaze toward the figure that had descended into the arena.
"..."
The other man also stared at the Sword Saint.
Then, pulling back his hood, he revealed a face deathly pale—like that of a corpse.
"I greet the Sword Saint."
"You beast in human skin—have you lost all fear?"
The Sword Saint seemed to recognize him.
He slowly spoke.
"I remember you as the 11th Apostle. Do you still hold that title?"
"Twenty years ago, yes. Now, I am the Sixth."
"You've grown bold since you used to run with your tail between your legs."
"Back then, you weren't the Sword Saint—you were the Mad Blade."
Their voices were the only sounds in the hushed coliseum.
Even the few who had retained their senses dared not interrupt.
They merely shifted their gazes, scrambling to grasp the situation.
One of them was Jin.
What the hell is happening?
Raph's arm got sliced off.
I stepped in to stop the fight, but then Cecile started spouting weird nonsense.
Then my hands got sweaty, the sky turned red,
And now there's some corpse-looking bastard radiating bloodlust,
Chatting with the Sword Saint?
Amidst the confusion, Jin finally checked his status window—something he hadn't had a chance to do earlier.
"The Clan's Revolution (Looming Shadow)"━━━━━━
After seven years, the festival of the Purists has returned.
Win the tournament to prove yourself,
or accomplish ???? of ????.
Reward: Perk XP 30,000, ????
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
This bastard changed his words again.
At first, he was hyping me up to win, but now he's slipped in an "OR."
"Accomplish ???? of ????."
What the hell, damn it.
Listen to Cecile's nonsense?
Reattach Raph's severed arm?
Understand the status window's whims?
Damn bastard, if you're going to give a hint, at least do it properly.
What is this, some kind of joke?
You're enjoying this, aren't you?
Jin was boiling with frustration at this incomprehensible situation.
So, he decided not to understand.
Why should he care?
With that, he focused on the immediate problem before him, shifting his gaze to Raph, who lay on the ground, having barely stopped the bleeding.
"You cut off my friend's arm?"
The next moment, his steel-like knee slammed into the summoned beast's abdomen.
BOOM!!
And that wasn't the end.
Grabbing its forearm, he twisted and yanked it, dragging its head along, then seized it with his other palm and slammed it straight into the ground.
Then, raising his opposite hand, he channeled the imagery of tearing apart a stormy sky with his five fingers—
Take this, Claws of the Thunderbird!
CRASH!!!
Five bolts of lightning—like the talons of a Thunder God—buried themselves into the beast's armor.
The arena shook violently.
Using the jagged terrain as a foothold, Jin launched himself high into the air, pulling his arm back.
WHOOSH—!
A spear of crackling lightning extended from his fingertips, piercing through the air as he hurled it with all his might.
"Kill Eiron!!!"
Cecile screamed in a frenzied roar.
At that moment, a deep blue sword strike erupted from the pit below, clashing against the lightning spear.
KABOOM!
The impact sent a massive shockwave, spinning Jin midair in a full rotation.
As he righted himself, his sharp gaze caught sight of the summon struggling to rise and Cecile muttering incantations.
Take out the summoner first!
Jin made his decision in an instant, blinking directly in front of Cecile.
The moment he arrived, his fist—already thrown—slammed into her side.
BANG!
A strong rebound coursed through his knuckles.
For a brief moment, a translucent, scale-like barrier flickered before disappearing.
Cecile barely survived thanks to her protective shield, but it couldn't stop her from being sent flying.
That was enough.
Even as the sky and earth spun around her, she gritted her teeth and finished her incantation.
Her fingertip pointed at Jin, who was already charging toward her.
"Explosion!"
A tiny ember sparked at her fingertip, racing along like a lit fuse before detonating into a chain reaction of explosions, swallowing Jin whole.
At that moment—
SWISH!
The sound of feet kicking off the ground rang out.
From behind Cecile, Ryucard suddenly appeared, bringing his sword down in a lightning-fast slash.
A decisive blow—
Yet a blade rose to meet it.
CLANG!
Eiron, the summoned beast, had already recovered and deflected Ryucard's strike.
In the blink of an eye, the two swordsmen's blades danced through the air, tracing countless silver arcs—
At the same time, Cecile gagged and spat out a mouthful of black blood.
The backlash had begun.
She had summoned a creature powerful enough to defy her own rank using foul methods—
And now, the price had come due.
But she clenched her jaw.
Veins bulging, she let out a wild scream.
"Sallist!"
At her cry, the fire from the explosion took on a humanoid shape.
[OOOOH!]
With a thunderous roar, the fire giant swung its fist.
Its strike collided midair with Jin's kick as he emerged from the flames.
A fierce gust lifted his bangs—
But Jin only grinned savagely.
Agni, was it?
Compared to the massive fire spirit summoned by that face-collecting freak wearing Thea's skin, this thing was nothing.
With that certainty, Jin's fists tore through the fire spirit, leaving gaping holes in its form.
FWOOSH!
As the flames scattered, Cecile struggled to stand.
"You geniuses don't get it! I just… I just wanted to be acknowledged too!"
She screamed.
Behind her, the air rippled.
From the distortions, a flood of nameless spirits poured forth—
A repeat of the same overwhelming assault that had once pushed Carlos to defeat.
But this time was different.
Eiron, who had led the charge last time, was now locked in battle with Ryucard.
Jin didn't hesitate.
Like a salmon cutting through rapids,
He shattered through the tide of spirits, smashing them aside one by one.
Blades of wind tore his skin, hands reaching from the ground tried to drag him down, flames and ice struck and pierced his body—
But he never stopped.
He took the storm of attacks head-on and charged like an unstoppable flood.
Finally, he slammed his shoulder into the last spirit blocking his path.
CRACK!!
The spirit shattered into fragments, and Jin stepped forward with a thunderous stomp.
Cecile's eyes widened in shock—
And his fist swung forward.
Unlike a certain blonde-haired chef from a neighboring country who refused to hit women, Jin had no such reservations when he was pissed off.
His lightning-fast punch smashed into her face.
SHATTER!
The protective barrier crumbled, and she was sent skidding across the ground.
Jin caught his breath, his mind screaming—
Give me my EXP!
But no notification came.
Instead, the ground trembled like an earthquake.
Before he could gather his thoughts, he turned his head—
And saw it.
A massive, blood-red tree, towering so high it blotted out the arena sky—
And in front of it, the Sword Saint walked forward, step by step.