[T.L: punisher87]
Immediately, the second, third, and fourth mana beam shot through the air, piercing the limbs of Carl.
"Ugh...!"
"Sir Carl!"
As Carl fell, the eyes of the three remaining knights and mages filled with despair. If Chukon were to attack them as well in this situation, they would have no way to defend themselves.
"Chu...kon, you..."
"I'm just returning the favor for what you've done. Hehehe."
As Jin shrugged his shoulders, the mages within Chukon's protective barrier simultaneously unleashed their offensive spells. Naturally, they were targeting the few remaining minions of Carl rather than Jin.
"Chukon!"
Before the screams even subsided, all of Zipfel's knights and mages met their demise. Ever since Jin decided to target Carl and Chukon made up his mind to stand by and watch, it was practically a foregone conclusion.
"You're not entirely clueless, Chukon. I didn't expect you to be this cooperative. It seems Tess won't have much to do now."
Carl remained motionless, and Jin effortlessly lifted him with his injured arm and threw him toward Chukon. As soon as Carl landed in front of Chukon, Kinzelo’s mages cast healing spells.
They were taking measures to ensure that the precious hostage wouldn't die from excessive bleeding.
"Don't you think it's your turn next after Carl?"
"I didn't think the great mage of Anz plains would be so foolish. Well, I did consider the possibility. However, I judged that it wouldn't matter even if you attacked me."
"You're bluffing until the end. Do you really think summoning Tess would make a difference for this Chukon Todlerer, even with a body that hasn't fully recovered?"
"Hahahaha..."
Gaak, gaak, gaak!
Jin and Tess burst into laughter simultaneously.
"Chukon Todlerer, you're not confident that you can kill me. That's why you've chosen the direction that benefits Kinzelo the most. The direction I suggested. So, stop saying things you don't mean."
For a while, Jin and Chukon exchanged piercing gazes.
Both of them were speaking the truth. Jin was bluffing, and Chukon lacked conviction.
'Even if I bring out all my shadow force, fighting Chukon in this condition would be insane. He's an opponent that can't be defeated without forcing various variables, even when my body is at its peak. If he truly intends to fight, I should escape.'
'He has mysterious lightning sword skills and enough magic skills to be chosen by Tess. He may have some hidden power as well. Retrieving the compass is already out of question, and I must take care of Carl Zipfel and return safely to show my face to the leader.'
He lost five high-ranking White Wolf tribe members, and most of the skilled members as well. The compass was taken away.
However, they had not lost everything like Carl Zipfel. The ships at the harbor were loaded with Bubare's other works, excluding the compass.
Jin was a variable that no one expected, anyway.
'If I let my ego get the best of me and things get even more complicated, the leader won't just let it slide. Moreover, when the leader receives the report, he will definitely try to make that guy one of our people in some way. We've gathered enough information to track him down.'
Chukon withdrew first.
"Fine, let's make sure we both get out of here alive."
"You haven't wasted your years. Your leader might even prefer capturing Carl Zipfel over the compass."
Jin dispelled Tess summon.
‘The first floor has suddenly gone quiet. I'm not sure if the situation has been resolved or if the battlefield has expanded outside.’
Thunk!
In an instant, Jin stomped his foot forcefully, creating a large hole in the ground. Even that was part of the basic technique of Plutonian Swordsmanship and left electric impulses running around it.
"Then, until next time."
As he descended through the hole, Jin saw the chaotic scene on the first floor.
Just like the second floor, it seemed there had been a fierce battle, with corpses, blood, and broken objects scattered everywhere.
Jin wasn't too concerned. To handle a party like Murakan, Cuicantelle, Kashmir, and Alisa, everyone on the second floor had to be on the first floor.
‘Did everyone go to the escape point? Or did they go to deal with the minions outside the gambling den?’
Jin had a lingering sense of unease.
‘No, if they had finished cleaning up the gambling den, they would have come up to help me. Something must have gone wrong.’
As soon as he exited the gambling den, Jin encountered Murakan, who was in cat form.
"Meow."
Murakan had not participated in the first-floor battle and had been hiding his identity in case Jin was in danger.
"Murakan."
Poof!
Murakan transformed back into a human and hugged Jin tightly.
"Kid, how much stronger have you become? I've seen almost all of your fights. It's praiseworthy; it makes me want to cry. I bet even Strawberry Pie would cry. Your arm has become a rag, Plutonian bastards must have put you through hell."
"Do these wounds look like they were inflicted by the Plutonians?"
"Well, I'll stop joking."
"What's the situation?"
"Your crazy fan managed to escape the island unharmed. She took the compass with her."
"Ha! At least our six months of efforts weren't in vain."
"Uh, but the rest of the situation isn't so great."
"What happened?"
"There were two other forces that we didn't anticipate."
"Not just one, but two?"
"Vermont Special Forces and Runcandel."
"Hmm..."
"They don't move with clear information like us. They only knew that Zipfel and Kinzelo were going to meet here, nothing more. They don't even know what they were exchanging. So, they were in the central part of the island and rushed here as soon as they heard the news of the gambling den being overturned."
"We might end up entangled with them at the last minute."
"For now, the creature and Alisa, your lover, are dealing with them or distracting them."
That was somewhat fortunate. Since the compass had already been seized, the problem would be resolved if they could escape the island without revealing their identities.
Just as Vermont Special Forces and Runcandel hadn't fully grasped information about Zipfel and Kinzelo, Zipfel and Kinzelo themselves were unaware of their presence on the island.
"How did you know that the Special Forces and our clan didn't know about the compass?"
"If they knew all of that, they wouldn't have sent just this much."
"Well, then are the three of us planning to distract them and make our way to the escape point separately?"
"Yes, but unfortunately, there's another problem. And it's the biggest one."
"Damn it, nothing is ever easy. Tell me."
Murakan furrowed his brows in annoyance.
Then he pointed with his finger to the sea spread out behind Jin's back. When Jin turned around, he saw a densely packed collection of tiny dots far out on the sea.
"Those are warships, all of them. This island will soon be completely surrounded. Even if we gather everyone and get on the ships within 10 minutes, we won't get far before we are pursued."
This island has no means of transportation.
You can only enter or leave by boarding a ship, swimming, or flying.
And naturally, being an island, there was no escape or hiding place. Moreover, the escape boats prepared by Jin's party were not fast enough to outpace cheap pirate ships or warships.
"...It must have been sent by the Feudal State of Bellado. It must have been prepared by the Special Forces headquarters to support the members waiting on the island during a similar situation. The Special Forces will be swarming inside."
In that case, for Jin and his group, the only option left was to "ride on Murakan."
That was the last resort they had decided on during the meeting six months ago.
Even if they could escape immediately by revealing Murakan's true form, he would forever become a special target of Vermont and Zipfel and Kinzelo's relentless pursuit.
There wouldn't be many things as exhausting as that in the world.
‘This is insane.’
The fight on the second floor now seemed like the easiest task.
"What are we going to do?"
Murakan decided to follow Jin's decision as always.
"If there's only one option, there's no need to hesitate. We'll escape together on you. Accepting the fact that we'll become special targets is a problem we have to endure."
"In that case, we need to find everyone first. Shall we fly around and search for them?"
"No, that's too risky. Divide the search mainly around the vicinity of the escape point, and regroup here in 30 minutes. If there are any companions who haven't joined by then, we'll start aerial reconnaissance."
Whoosh...!
After starting the search for their comrades, just five minutes later, Jin heard the sound of something breaking in the distance.
It was the sound of Runcandel’s guardian knights destroying the ships that were anchored at the northern port.
"Destroy every single ship! So that no one can escape until the warships from the Feudal State of Bellado arrive."
"Especially that woman named Julia! She must be a key figure in this incident!"
Runcandels were displaying typical Runcandel-like handling of the situation.
In someone else's land, in the midst of someone else's approaching warships, they were smashing other people's ships to prevent the target individuals from escaping.
It was something only Runcandel could do. They could request money from the clan for any damaged items later, and once the warships arrived and the relevant individuals were identified, they could forcibly take the necessary people with them.
‘I know it’s going to be my clan in the end... Well, what should I say? It's quite extraordinary in various ways.’
The intentions of Vermont or other factions were not important in this process. Especially in a place where these major factions were upto shady activities.
"Oh my, knights, why are you doing this?"
"We're just honest people who catch fish to make a living. But if you destroy all the ships like that...!"
The men who seemed to be the owners of the ships approached the knights and lowered their heads.
"Do you think we are unaware of the fact that there are only pirates, beggars, and drug addicts on this island? From now on, anyone who babbles nonsense or causes trouble will be executed."
Indeed, every single ship was a pirate ship.
But from the pirates' perspective, their actions were just as ruthless. However, it was impossible to resist the Runcandel’s guardian knights in their current state, and they are getting frustrated.
"Damn it. There are barely ten of them, including those in the west and south! They don't even seem to be pureblood knights, just guardian knights. Let's just escape on a boat, you guys! The ship is our life and soul! We can save the island later!"
One of the pirates who had been hiding to escape the knights boldly raised his voice.
"That's right! Even guardian knights can't catch all ten of us. There are over fifty ships left at the northern port!"
"They probably sent the warships to put us all in prison anyway. Somehow, get on a boat and drop the anchor, you pathetic bugs!"
"Only those who manage to board the ship will survive!"
Whoosh!
Unexpectedly, pirates hidden throughout the port began to surge forward.
They were underestimating the "guardian knights" too lightly. These lowly pirates had no idea what kind of people the knights from the world's strongest swordsmanship clan were.
"Lowly pirates. They're thinking about boarding the ship under our control."
Three of the ten guardian knights were present at the northern port.
With just those three individuals, the guardian knights overwhelmed the pirates who were rushing at them like a pack of wolves.
Regardless of whether their comrades lived or died, there were a few pirates who desperately ran and managed to board the ship. The problem was that they were swept away along with the ship by the knights' swordsmanship, unable to raise the anchor.
‘There's no escape from this hell. For now, it seems there are no comrades nearby... By the way, the one who incited them to board the ship in the first place is the one running away now, huh?’
Just as Jin was about to turn around.
Boom!
Boom...! Boom! Boom, boom!
The warships from the Feudal State of Bellado, began firing cannons towards the island.
They seemed to have the same idea as the guardian knights. First, they wanted to sink all the ships on the island to ensure that no one could escape.
Amazing