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Before Luna could say another word, Mort swiftly threw itself into the white portal.
Jin sighed with relief as he witnessed the portal closing. He had a strong intuition that their siblings who had been in Hell would be summoned from the suddenly amplified fracture.
"It's fortunate that our Ice Princess has a sharp mind. I think my head would have been sore if Toughie had stayed any longer. I should compliment her when I get back," Murakan remarked.
"You've been quite the busy bee yourself. Did your mind clear up during your recovery?" Jin replied.
"My mind has always been sharp, kid."
It was a difficult situation for the demons, who were in the modest of battle with Luna and Syris, to understand.
It is a very unpleasant situation for demons as the opponent is having a private discussion among themselves and treating them like air.
However, they couldn't rashly intervene. They were already struggling against Luna, and suddenly, the leader of the Vamel alliance and the closest to the First Sword of the Human world, Jin, along with his guardian dragon, appeared out of nowhere.
[And you guys aren't clueless either, huh? If you had dared to attack before Toughie went, I would have mercilessly killed you. Thankfully, you were smart enough to stay put. Oh?]
Murakan transformed into his true form and surveyed the surrounding demons. The three commanders and their subordinates were on high alert, encircling the two of them.
"I don't know what this little ruse is about, but let me inform you that sending White Whale was a bad judgment!"
One of the commanders shouted, and Murakan chuckled.
[Hoho, you know how to put on airs, even if it's childish. As a reward, I will send you all away as quickly as possible. If you want even a glimmer of hope, pray that those guys popping out of that fracture are the one in charge, whether it's Paellito or someone else. I'm also quite curious about their identity.]
Then, Murakan released his shadow force and unfolded his black chains. In an instant, a massive shadow force barrier enveloped the area, casting darkness all around. From behind the backs of the commander who had just shouted moments ago, a single black chain descended.
The commander was already worn out from facing Luna, and couldn't evade the black chain. The chain pierced through the back of the commander and spread like roots and slaughtered the soldiers around him.
It all happened in just about three seconds. The remaining commanders shouted in desperation, but even above their heads, the chains continued to fall.
The two remaining commanders barely managed to evade the falling chains, but their subordinates were not so fortunate. Their adjutants and squad leaders were devoured by the darkness of shadow force.
Amidst Murakan's ruthless massacre, Jin still hadn't drawn his sword, making the commanders even more uneasy.
Jin was focused on the amplifying fracture.
'Two Demon Kings, huh? One doesn't seem particularly outstanding compared to the other Demon Kings reported so far. The other one has quite a substantial aura.'
The amplifying fracture was opening. The surviving commanders were desperately rushing toward the fracture, but their forces had already been annihilated, even before Jin and Murakan arrived.
The commanders reached the fracture while being pierced by the black chains. The new Demon Kings appeared from the fracture.
"Lord Druga...!"
"Lord Siker...!"
Upon hearing the names that commanders had desperately shouted, Jin recognized them. It was thanks to the information provided by Visepps that he had received details about the Demon Kings and their main forces in the True Demon World.
'Druga Kilet, Siker Haita. In that case, the one with the substantial aura must be Druga.'
Siker Haita had attended the celebration of Ragal Fun's ascension as the Poison Demon and Kilet was an old ally of Fun.
'Since they need to make use of my siblings from Hell, I guess Ragal decided to send his own people.'
Fsssch!
The first thing Druga did after emerging from the fracture was to pierce the throats of the two remaining commanders with his fingernails. Murakan was left in awe of this sight, while Jin focused his attention on the black coffin summoned between Druga and Siker.
Jin had expected his siblings to be inside that coffin.
"Fortunately, you two are alive. Your remaining strength will come in handy," Druga said as he used the corpses of the commanders he had just killed as shields to ward off Murakan's black chains.
[Don't you demons have any camaraderie?]
The demon kings didn't respond and looked at Jin and Murakan seemed to question why they were here instead of the White Whale.
"…Siker, I will retreat."
"Alright... What? What are you..."
Before Siker could question further, Druga used the corpses of the commanders he had just killed as offerings to open a dimensional portal. It led to Grosch Castle.
"Hey, Druga! You crazy bastard, wait!"
"If you want to blame someone, blame the commanders. If only those two had survived a bit longer, I could have opened a dimensional portal for two people..."
And with that, Druga left the battlefield.
The reason he left this place was clear. The fact that it was Jin and Murakan here, not Luna, meant that, as Ragal had mentioned, there was a "Visepps spy" in the Poison Demon Castle. Furthermore, it was evidence that Visepps had allied with Runcandel.
Having confirmed this fact, there was no need for Druga to die pointlessly here. While Druga was a formidable Demon King, he knew very well that he had no chance against Jin and Murakan, especially in his current state, where he had no Zito's flesh to rely on.
There was a moment of silence. Siker, looking at the closed dimensional portal, clenched his teeth.
"This damn bastard...!"
[I asked if there's no camaraderie among you demons, but instead of words, you answered with actions. Seriously, what are you guys? How can beings who are nearly immortal have such little dignity?]
As Jin began to take confident strides forward, Siker hastily opened the coffin.
With Druga having fled alone, Siker's only hope was a hostage situation.
"Don't come any closer! If you approach, I'll kill this guy!"
Click!
The coffin opened. When Jin saw who came out of it, he couldn't help but be shocked.
'…Anne?'
Anne Runcandel.
She was sobbing while trapped in Siker's grip.
And none of the pure-blood Runcandels in the current generation, no matter what her relationship was with them, could have imagined that Anne Runcandel would be crying so wretchedly like this.
Although, as a sword master of Runcandel, she never raised her name as high as other high-ranking flagbearers, and she had always been a pariah within the clan. She was corrupted and ultimately met a pathetic end.
But Anne was still a Runcandel. She was a monster tainted with hatred and madness, not the type of person who collapses due to sorrow. She was more twisted than the Tona brothers, who had been called crazy murderers in Jin's past life.
Seeing Anne in such a pitiful state made Jin feel strangely uncomfortable, even though he was nothing like Luna, who would have felt intense guilt upon witnessing this.
Jin heard that Anne was present in the form of a soul. But she looked the same as when she was alive.
"Jin... I'm sorry. I'm not of any help to the clan even in death."
Furthermore, Anne was speaking with a broken voice.
[What the hell... Is that really Anne? What happened to her in Hell?]
"Didn't I tell you not to come near me... That's right. That's what I need to do. While your sister is suffering like this."
"Jin! Don't pay attention to someone like me and just kill this guy!"
"Shut up!"
"I'm fine if I vanish today. No, I'd rather vanish. In Hell, I was able to realize the mistakes I made. I don't want to be tortured anymore. I don't want to, so please... kill me and end this..."
Anne's attitude was unexpected, not only to Jin and Murakan.
'I heard that the adjustments and conversion were over, but why is this girl acting like this? Did that bastard Druga, and Ragal too? Is there something that only I don't know about? Am I being used and discarded? Damn it, if things continue like this, it doesn't seem I will be able to go back alive unless Jin Runcandel has a special affection for this human…!'
Anne continued to plead desperately for her own death.
"Murakan, take care of him. I need to talk to Anne."
[Got it.]
Crack! A black chain of Murakan, which he had concealed, pierced through Siker's right arm, which was holding Anne.
"Ugh!"
[Are you crazy? Are you trying to have a hostage against me and the kid? Do something that makes sense. It's your turn now. You should just stay quiet and get beaten up by me.]
Murakan swiftly separated Anne from Siker. Even if Jin had genuine affection for Anne, Siker couldn't able to establish a hostage situation with his abilities alone.
Murakan began to push Siker, and Jin approached Anne. Anne was still writhing on the ground, tearing her own body apart and wailing. Blood flowed from her mutilated body.
Even though Jin was a Runcandel, he couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.
"...Anne. Honestly, ever since my days as a cadet, I had a feeling that your end wouldn't be pleasant. But you've committed even more horrific deeds than I thought, and now... it's the worst possible end a human can experience."
Although Jin felt uneasy, there was no sympathy in his heart. If he had to choose, the feeling he had now was regret.
Even though she was a Runcandel, even though they shared the same blood, couldn't she have lived a better life?
If she had been a villain, she could have been a magnificent antagonist with her own pride and ambition, or if she had repented and been reborn like the Tona brothers before crossing the line, or even if she had simply caused some minor incidents and then faded into obscurity.
There would have been no need for a reunion like this, where even sympathy seemed meaningless.
Jin looked down at Anne.
"I can't even feel pity or sympathy for you. You are more of a curse of blood than a bond of kinship."
"I'm sorry. I have nothing to say."
"The other siblings are most likely to be used for the same purpose as you, to torment elder sister Luna. Where are they?"
"I don't know... I've never met them. We were all in different prisons. Just... Kill me now. Erase Anne Runcandel completely from this world..."
Jin closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them slowly.
As the young patriarch of Runcandel, it was time to do what needed to be done.
"The path of reincarnation exists. Since you can't ascend to that path, I can't even wish for you to choose a better life in your next one. Farewell, Anne."
As he was about to draw his sword...
Jin suddenly felt an uncomfortable sensation, and he quickly moved his body aside. A sharp blade of energy shot up from where he had been standing.
It was a blade of energy fired by Anne.
"Ah, as expected. It seems like this sort of thing doesn't work on you at all, the youngest. If it were our big sister, she'd be making all sorts of faces and wouldn't be able to do this or that, you know?"
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