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"Ridolos Trinak! I can't help but doubt my ears. Have you, too, succumbed to Zito's evil in the end? And become corrupted like Paellito?"
"Hahaha! Paellito, that pitiful fool became Zito's lapdog because of his obsession with Sakiel. And it was that very obsession that led him to defeat at the hands of Jin Runcandel. Don't even compare me to such a pathetic soul."
Whooong!
Ridolos charged at Basset and swung his greatsword. A gust of sword energy erupted and the corpses littered on the ground burst upwards and exploded.
Basset deflected the attack, and Tilias and Misol simultaneously attacked Ridolos from his sides. However, Ridolos didn't evade them and continued to pressure Basset.
Tilias's sword accurately pierced his side but it didn't go in deep, and Misol's powerful punch bounced off harmlessly.
"Kuk! So, it's not Zito but rather... Kelliark Zipfel!?"
"Well, I've never really entertained the idea of serving under humans. But I saw a possibility from him."
"A possibility?"
"A real chance to liberate this land from Zito! He is fundamentally different from Visepps. You guys chase after an ambitious dream, and when it doesn’t work out, you go far beyond merely leeching off the immense power of the human world. I am looking not only for liberation but also into a future beyond that."
"You're insane. You abandoned all the comrades you fought alongside for so many years for such a reason!"
"It's not me who's insane; it's all of you. What do you hope to achieve by destroying the artificial sun? Even if you manage to win, True Demon World will be nothing but a desolate wasteland without any light. There's no immortal who can live in this world without the sun, Basset. Kelliark has means to defeat Zito without relying on the artificial sun."
"So, you're saying that we should become Kelliark's lackeys even now?"
"No, you are unnecessary in the new True Demon World. I know very well what kind of people you are. You are just a hopeless and powerless struggle that continued for even ten thousand years….. So, after True Demon World is liberated with Kelliark's help, then it's certain that we'll stand against Kelliark. It is not even easy to eradicate you all like the old Melka tribe."
"The rise of Kelliark simply means that another Zito will be born in the True Demon World...!"
"Well, that's far better than obtaining freedom by destroying the artificial sun. Moreover, even if he merges with a god, he'll eventually die like a human, and from then on, the True Demon World will usher in a new era."
Basset was being pushed back throughout the conversation.
Basset had been Ridolos's master for quite some time. Therefore, he could somewhat mitigate the considerable gap in their abilities, but he could only buy time.
Of course, including Misol and Tilias, they might pose some threat to Ridolos.
However, Basset was more concerned about the ordinary members who were far behind them. Ridolos noticed this and smirked.
"Don't worry. I won't fight using the ordinary members. There's no reason for me to do that against you, right? We do have some history, after all."
"Ridolos...!"
"But it's inevitable that they'll get caught up and die in the aftermath. So fight well while guarding them. It's a strange situation, isn't it? You don't hesitate to plunge the entire True Demon World into darkness by destroying the artificial sun, but you're so desperate to protect around a million non-combatants."
Swoosh, crack!
Ridolos swung his greatsword like a club and sent Basset flying. In the meantime, Misol aimed a punch at the back of Ridolos's head, but Ridolos turned and deflected it with his horn.
"Ugh!"
"Misol, you little rascal. Are you trying to kill me with punches? Your fists alone won't do much."
"You son fo bitch, how can you treat us like this! You're even under the influence of the inner demon or brainwashed!"
"What drives me is the belief in protecting the True Demon World. So far, following Visepps was the best option. But now, I'm sacrificing the few for the greater good."
"Ha! Kelliark Zipfel will never rule the True Demon World. Even if he does, he's one of Jin Runcandel's greatest enemies. The True Demon World will become a battlefield again if Jin Runcandel and Kelliark fight!"
Ridolos shook his head at that statement, as if it were absurd.
"What are you talking about, Misol? You have a strange way of speaking. You used to have a good head, but now you're acting like a fool. How can Jin Runcandel fight Kelliark?"
"What did you say?"
"Zito, empowered by the artificial sun, is a monster that even Paellito in his prime couldn't handle. So how could that human defeat him? Today, Jin Runcandel will die. Therefore, the True Demon World won’t become the battlefield of those two, so die with a peace of mind."
"I won't die by your hands, never!"
Baaset took advantage of the momentary delay provided by Misol, and approached Tilias to give him an order.
"Protect Silkia at all costs, Tilias. If you can't seem to find a way, then just take Silkia and escape with you and Misol."
***
[We haven't encountered anyone we can call an enemy so far in the end.]
Jin and his group had already passed through the castle of the An Family, as mentioned by Orgal, and were heading towards Zito's residence.
Although almost a day had passed since entering Hell, the group hadn't engaged in a single battle.
They occasionally encountered demon armies driven mad by mind control, but they didn't engage them. There was no reason for senseless slaughter.
Even if they had not fought among themselves and combined their strength to oppose Jin, it wouldn't have ment much. The gap between them was too much for a proper fight to take place.
Instead, Jin spread his authority of regeneration like lighting a fire on the corpses of demons.
That light would continue to serve as a beacon for the approaching forces even if Jin started fighting against Zito.
"It’s a bad sign. It means that an entire world is being ruthlessly ravaged by Zito."
Jin could sense death relentlessly spreading all around. As a result, the pain generated continued to flow towards Zito.
Then, it occurred to him that one of the members of the Visepps family should have appeared. The Visepps' side had promised to send someone when Jin came to Hell during their last contact.
"It doesn't seem like the Visepps family is controlled by Zito like the others."
"I think the same way, Jin. The Visepps family was the only group in the True Demon World that wasn't originally brainwashed by Zito."
"I just thought the Visepps family had managed to escape each time by luck or coincidence so far. But now, I have a feeling that they might have some means to prevent brainwashing or mind control."
"There must be a reason why they haven't appeared in front of us to provide information if we assume that the Visepps family hasn't been turned into berserkers like the other demons thanks to those means."
"Yeah, Valeria. Something seems to have gone wrong on their end."
"Could they have betrayed us?"
Jin shook his head at Bale's question.
"We can't completely rule it out, but from what I've seen, they're not the kind of people who would do that. If they were planning to betray us, there have been many better opportunities."
[Hmm, so what should we do then? We had agreed that we would receive detailed information about how to kill Zito when we entered Hell.]
"We need to find them. And we need to help them if they're in a dire situation."
[Ah, for some reason, I have a feeling that this annoying task will fall to Lord Murakan.]
Jin nodded.
"We have no other options, so you have to go."
[What? I don't have any information about the Visepps' hideout, and I barely know the geography of the True Demon World. Where am I supposed to go and how? At least give me some clues. We have the historian, but this is like finding a needle in a haystack.]
"Then all three of you should go."
Jin pointed ahead.
The entrance to Zito's residence could be seen in the distance. It was a giant circular dimensional portal, and it had the power to suck in all objects around, even just by floating in the air.
Are you sure you'll be okay alone?
Murakan didn't ask that question anymore as he once did. After all, the sealed plague gods in Bascala wouldn't be able to stand up to Jin. Excluding the forces held by Kelliark, the only entity in the vast True Demon World that could threaten Jin was Zito himself.
[Fine, I got it. When should we meet again?]
"Exactly 24 hours from now. You must return within that time, whether you find Visepps or not. We'll decide what to do next once you're back."
[So, are you going to stay here and wait for us while dealing with the guys sealed in Bascala?]
"Yeah, I plan to meditate while waiting."
[.....Meditate?]
At the unexpected word, the group turned to look at Jin and then at each other.
"It's a battle against god, so I think I need to refine myself once more before the final battle begins. I heard that even Sister Vahn always meditated before entering the battle when she had to kill some powerful gods during the great war against the gods."
[If it's the words of the strongest mortal in history as acknowledged by Ayula, then it must be the right thing to do.]
"And there's a sword I want to master. I've wanted to learn it from the moment I first saw it, but I couldn't muster the courage to do it until I became a Genesis knight."
[Oh, what sword are you talking about? Is it Battle god Vahn’s sword?]
Jin smiled and shook his head.
"No, it's Temar's sword."
Murakan's eyes widened.
[Wait, are you talking about the Sun Splitter?]
The Sun Splitter, the Runcandel Magic sword Ultimate Techinque seen in Kaytam's painting.
According to the records in the painting, Solderet had described the Sun Splitter as a sword that could cut him even if it just touched him.
And Jin believed that he was right.
A completed Sun Splitter could potentially kill every immortal being in the world.
‘The fact that the sword is named Sun Splitter... It might have some connection to the sun god.’
Jin met eyes with Murakan.
"You may have some unpleasant memories related to that sword, but it's necessary. As a martial artist, I am also coveted it."
[Unpleasant memories? Hah! Don't worry about that. Anyway, you could say that the sword is Temar's most precious legacy. It suits you, kid.]
"Thank you for saying that."
[But, kid, I have told you this before. Temar is still superior to you in terms of the pure swordsmanship potential. Even if you've gained insight of the Genesis knight, you won't be able to complete it with just a day of meditation. Temar put in a lot of effort to use it, too.]
Jin nodded, flashing a sly smile.
"You're right; it will likely take a lot of time to complete, and I may never complete it. But for now, I just need to be able to cut down Zito. I have a feeling that's possible. Temar probably did everything he could to wield this sword even before becoming the Genesis knight, but I'm not Temar."
Amazing