Shit, whats going on now?

After propping one of Mesas arms over his shoulders, Jin was about to get up.

Boom! Boom!

But due to the sudden explosions, they had to stay crouching. The Kinzelo branch headquarters shook as if it were about to collapse on itself.

An earthquake?

Or did someone upstairs accidentally blow up some explosives?

Jin stared at the ceiling and sharpened his senses. He had a bad feeling, but kept his composure.

Young Master, please escape first!

Silence, Mesa.

Please promise me one thing.

Mesa spoke as she stared directly into Jins eyes.

If were confronted with a life-threatening situation, you must abandon me. You cannot lay down your life here.

Jin nodded silently.

But that didnt mean he agreed with Mesa. If he actually agreed with her, he wouldnt have come to rescue her on his own in the first place. However, he judged that pretending to agree with her was the best way to calm her down in this situation.

We need to figure out whats happening up there first.

Could it be magicians attacking the building? It feels like itll collapse at any moment.

The magicians here dont have this much power.

The reverberations and explosions continued throughout their conversation.

Were going up. Unfortunately, I wont be able to support you. Concentrate and stay right behind me.

The two of them sneaked up the stairs.

The impacts were happening on the outside, but the walls inside the building already had fissures and cracks all over them. The murals with Kinzelos symbols were destroyed as pieces fell to the floor.

However, oddly enough, despite the critical situation on the inside, not a single member of Kinzelo had entered to check up on the building.

Theyre either still outside trying to figure out whats happening, or theyre already dead.

Jin exited the headquarters accompanied by Mesa. Once they were outside, he finally understood what was going on.

It was the latter. When he opened the iron gates, he was greeted by the corpses of the Kinzelo members. They appeared to have been slashed by large claws, as their bodies were covered in scratches and lacerations.

They were killed while trying to return to the building. And this is the work of beastmen.

They ended up encountering the one group of foes he wanted to see the least. Jin felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

The outside was synonymous to hell.

The blaze Jin had caused had already reached the building, and the small paths that werent burning between the flames were covered in corpses in hideous states.

Mesa.

Yes.

Its the beastmen. Looking at the corpses, its a tribe that fights with their claws. Shush, dont say anything. Follow that path and keep walking. Im sure you can avoid the flames yoursshit.

Having stopped midway through his sentence, Jin unsheathed Bradamante and raised it. Something was slowly walking out of the inferno not too far from them.

His fur was far too white to belong to someone who had just stepped out of the fire behind them. A height that exceeded two meters and eyes that shone blue.

The White Wolf Tribe.

Their opponent held an enormous hammer in his right hand, and that weapon was the cause of the tremors so far that shook the entire building.

With his herculean strengtha characteristic that belonged to their tribe specializing in combathe had smashed the hammer around the building the entire time, as if to get some cornered mice to reveal themselves.

Huh? I was wondering who subdued these pieces of shit, but its just a kid?

Their opponent stopped on his tracks and began swinging his hammer. Meanwhile, Mesa was struck with fear. Not because of her impending death, but because of the Young Masters.

Young Master, its the White Wolf Tribe. I will buy you some time. Please keep your promise.

Haaah.

Jin exhaled deeply. He then turned around and karate-chopped Mesa in the back of the neck. Her trembling body flopped as she fell unconscious before she could say anything else.

The beastman shrugged and grinned as if they found the situation amusing.

Geez, what a tearful scene. Such a shame Im the only one here to see it. Is this yknow, that thing you humans talk about. That thing, um Ah, right! Love! Are you two lovers? Hm?

He spoke like some crude, backstreet gangster, but the White Wolf tribe couldnt be compared to such weaklings.

When compared to a knight, White Wolf beastmen were at least 6-star. And that was for your average adult beastman. In other words, they were a race born and raised solely for combat.

Therefore, if Jin faced him in battle right now, his chances of survival were close to zero.

I am Jin Runcandel, legitimate son of Cyron Runcandel. Reveal your name, beastman.

Runcandel?

The smile on the beastmans face vanished. In these situations, there are only two reasons why an individuals smile disappears after hearing the Runcandel name.

Either they fear the Runcandels

Looks like among the prey Ive killed so far in life, todays prey takes the win as the most pricey one Come to think of it, your robes do have the Black Sword on it. My name is Quazito Truka, warrior of the Truka Tribe.

Or they loathe the Runcandels.

And the White Wolf beastmens case is the latter. Back in the day, it was the Runcandel Clans first patriarch who killed Javier, a White Wolf beastman the tribe worshipped as a god.

Today I will offer you to Javier at the altar to soothe his grudge and sorrows! Jin Runcandel! Make a choice. Will you have an honorable duel with me, or will you attempt to run away like a coward before being torn to thousands of pieces?

Jin imbued aura into his sword.

I shall have an honorable duel.

Jin made that decision after taking the White Wolf beastmens characteristics into account.

Generally, they considered humans as mere preys or toys they could mess around with. They never showed honor or dignity, and cruelly killed their prey.

However, there are specific situations in which they put their honor on the line to battle the enemy. It happens when they consider their enemy to be strong enough, or when theyre a Runcandel.

In these cases, they attempt to have an honorable duel with their opponent. They will put aside all underhanded methods and face their adversary with respect.

Since those who die through this duel dont experience unfairness or corruption, they can be offered to Javier at the altar.

Quazito Truka, I would like to make a suggestion before the duel begins.

Speak, Little Runcandel.

During the duel, you cannot harm the unconscious human behind me.

Quazito nodded in agreement.

Alright. But if I win, that lass is mine to kill as well.

Understood.

Jin moved to the empty area in front of the building. By doing that, he walked past Quazito. Nevertheless, the beastman didnt attack the boy who had shown his back to him. It was due to the White Wolf tribes laws about honor and duels.

This seems like a good place. That way, you can keep your promise during the duel.

Good idea. It seems youre knowledgeable about our laws. But keep this in mind, Little Runcandel. If you take advantage of our laws to double-cross me

Youll tear me to pieces, whether or not that corrupts me. I dont plan on doing that.

Kuhaha! It seems there are some honorable humans even among the Runcandels.

Jin smiled as he listened to the beastmans words.

This Quazito seemed to have met a Runcandel for the first time ever. If he had encountered one of Jins siblings instead of himself, there was no way he wouldve survived and talked for so long like this.

Jin and Quazito faced each other with around ten steps between them.

Lets begin!

Quazito lifted his hammer and took a stance. He planned on making the first move.

Swoosh!

Quazito darted forward as he wielded his hammer. He was unbelievably fast that no one would think his speed came from someone with over 200 kilograms of pure muscle mass.

Jin avoided the blow by stepping backwards with skilled footwork and thrusted Bradamante towards the beastmans chest.

However, a White Wolf beastman wasnt about to get injured from Jins swordsmanship. Quazito adeptly changed his attack patterns as he overwhelmed the boy. Jin could only helplessly get pushed around by the giant enemy.

Clang!

During these few seconds of exchange, their weapons only made contact once. But that single blow was enough to make Jin feel like his wrists were about to fall off.

No, it wasnt just his wrists. His entire body was stinging and in pain, from his head to the tip of his toes. Jin judged that he could only parry ten blows from this beast at most, before his body collapsed.

Ill only get one chance.

If he had no chances at winning at all, Jin wouldve immediately broken Orgals Pendant to summon Luna. And if his eldest sister were here, a weakling like Quazito wouldnt have lasted a single second against her.

But this crisis wasnt life-threatening enough that hed break the pendant.

Moreover, if he couldnt overcome a simple crisis like this, he wouldnt have the right or qualification to become the worlds most powerful magic swordsman in the future. All the powerful and mighty individuals Jin knew overcame deadly crises in their lives and became symbols of strength.

In cases like this, having a weapon that the opponent wasnt aware of was always an advantage.

There were two crucial things Quazito didnt know about Jin. The fact that he could use both spiritual power and magic.

I cant use magic, though.

Magic was out of the question. If he missed the opportunity and failed to kill Quazito, he would have to break the pendant to summon Luna.

If Luna noticed the traces of magic and Quazito blabbed about it, Jins life would take a turn for the worse.

Furthermore, 4-star magic spells wouldnt be strong enough to pierce through the White Wolf beastmans thick coat.

In other words, he only had one choice: spiritual power. And Jin had already made up his mind on how to use it to overpower his opponent.

Ill awaken the sword.

Awakening Bradamante.

The exclusive function that was only available to a contractor that controlled spiritual energy. The function Murakan told Jin not to dream of using until he reached 5-star in spiritual release.

The day Jin received the sword from Luna, he actually attempted to awaken Bradamante that evening.

When he awakened the sword, Jin felt a surge of power overflowing within and coiling around him. However, Murakan intervened and pummeled him, so Jin couldnt complete the awakening.

Are you trying to kill yourself, Jin Runcandel?! Youre the unique contractor! If something happens to you!

That was the first time Jin saw Murakan get genuinely angry and furiously yell like that. In order to make up for that, Jin had to buy countless types of erotic magazines for the perverted dragon

And now, Jin was waiting for an opportunity to experience that surge of power again.

Slam!

Jin groaned loudly as he blocked a heavy blow from Quazitos hammer. Despite Bradamantes perfect shielding, the boys body was nearing its breaking point.

Thats a good sword, Little Runcandel. It doesnt have a single nick even after receiving my hammers attacks.

Thanks for the compliment.

But it doesnt match well with your symbol, the Black Sword. Its too white and dazzling.

Clang!

Another blow came at him. This time, Jin was sent flying all the way to the Kinzelo buildings wall.

Slam!

Feeling the hard stone wall in his back, Jin felt like his skull and spine would shatter. But he somehow managed to hold onto his consciousness and stay awake.

Haaaa. Cough! Haaaa

As he panted while coughing up blood, Jin could see two Quazitos approaching him, his vision doubling due to the concussion.

Its over now. Ill offer that sword along with you to Javier. That was a good duel.

Quazito raised his hammer up high. If that boulder-esque weapon fell on Jin, he would perish without a doubt.

Farewell!

The moment he was about to deal the finishing blow, Quazito felt his vision suddenly go dark. It was only for an instant, but for some reason, he felt like several hours had gone by.

Quazito couldnt swing the hammer.

Time had stopped momentarily for him.

When he regained consciousness and looked down, his now-clear eyes saw a black blade impaling his body.

A black blade that seemed to have been dyed by the shadows within the darkness.

And on the other end of the sword was Jin, whose hair was swaying in the air like a blazing fire being fueled by a warm wind.

Just when

I didnt know why a black sword was the clans emblem either until recently.

Quazito coughed and red blood splattered on the ground. But suddenly, Jin let out a horrible shriek.

Once he calmed down, he spoke in a voice that was completely different than usual. A coarse, rough and unsettling voice.

That was a good duel.

Shhhhraaaaaaaa!

The dead Quazitos shadow. Mesas shadow in the distance. The shadows of the burning trees.

They all flew towards Jin before getting absorbed by him.

The shadows moved as if they were avoiding the light and taking cover inside the boy.